Chapter 17: Take These Weird Things—I’m Not Looking at Any of Them

Through a series of events, Leon’s impression that Fiora and Vivian were in a yuri relationship grew stronger and stronger.

But Leon just didn’t want to accept this fact.

He was, by nature, a persistent person—persistent to the point of stubbornness.

That’s why, even after witnessing Fiora’s formidable strength, he still chose to train on his own, determined to defeat her someday.

At this point, unless he personally witnessed Fiora and Vivian engaged in an impure scene with his own eyes, he just couldn’t fully believe it.

And yet, he’d heard it directly from Fiora’s mouth.

The two of them were about to ascend the stairs to adulthood…

What else could that mean?!

Leon had read yuri smut before; he wasn’t an idiot.

Just as he was about to properly guide Fiora and tell her not to do such things, he heard some familiar voices.

“The team to subjugate the Ice Dragon King is almost formed, right?”

“Yeah, the King has been recruiting a lot of experts lately.”

Leon’s eyes narrowed, and he looked over cautiously.

At the street corner, he spotted some familiar figures.

They were members of the dragon-slaying team from four years ago.

They hadn’t seen Leon and Fiora yet. The group was just walking over, chatting and laughing.

Why did I have to run into them here of all places?

Fiora’s appearance is too eye-catching. I absolutely can’t let them notice her unless I have no choice.

Without hesitation, Leon grabbed Fiora’s delicate shoulders, pinned her against the wall, and used his own body to shield her completely, casting her in his shadow.

“Wh-What are you doing?!”

Fiora’s voice suddenly shot up several octaves as she struggled.

Leon had no choice but to apply more force to keep her still.

To block her from view more completely, he even pressed his face closer.

“I’m not going to do anything to you.”
“Calm down.”

Leon frowned.

Her voice was too loud; it was bound to attract attention.

Besides, he could barely make out what the group was saying.

“Shh. Be quiet.”

“Wuwu… even if you say that…”

Leon grew anxious and gave up on choosing his words carefully.
“Shut up.”
“Behave yourself for me, right now.”

“…I—I…”

“You’re just a s*ave. Don’t talk back.” His tone hardened into something close to a command.

Fiora unexpectedly went quiet.

Her arms and legs, which had been struggling, became still. She obediently tucked her hands behind her back.

“…Ha… fine… I’ll endure it.”

“I’ll just pretend my first kiss was stolen by a pig.”

“Do as you please…”

Fiora closed her eyes and slightly tilted her face upward.

That made things a lot easier for Leon, allowing him to focus fully on the conversation nearby.

“In about two weeks, the vanguard reconnaissance team will head up to the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Mountain to scout the situation…”

“The King is dead set on getting the Ice Dragon King’s gem.”

“Of course.”

“This time, we can finally defeat the evil dragon and save the humans who’ve been oppressed on the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Mountain…”

Out of the corner of his eye, Leon noticed that the dragon-slaying team seemed to have mistaken him and Fiora for an ordinary couple.

Since they couldn’t see their faces, they didn’t recognize them and just passed by.

Leon breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

He had overheard some important information and began to ponder it, remaining in the same position with his head lowered until Fiora’s voice snapped him back to reality.

“Pervert! Are you trying to toy with me again?!”

“Huh?”

“I already braced myself to be insulted, and now you’re just leaving me hanging here—what exactly are you trying to do?!”

Leon looked at the silver-haired girl before him, her face red as a ripe apple.

He realized he’d been just a hair’s breadth away from kissing Fiora.

“I—I’m not! It’s not what you think!”

What the hell am I doing?!

Leon’s whole body shuddered with shock.

He’d never forced a girl like this before, let alone the girl he liked.

His heart pounded wildly in his chest, but he quickly realized—

A strange atmosphere had formed between him and Fiora.

It felt like if he just went with the flow and kissed her, it would somehow be a reasonable course of action…?

“Fiora! I’ll tell you what the fortune-teller said—”

Her voice arrived before she did.

Leon and Fiora both heard Vivian’s voice at the same time.

Fiora’s face turned deathly pale.

With a sudden burst of strength from nowhere, she kicked Leon away.

Then she rushed over to Vivian’s side and greeted her, pretending like nothing had happened.

“Hahaha… so, what did the fortune-teller tell you?”

Fiora…

She really seems to hate me.

Leon felt a sharp sting in his chest as he watched Fiora laughing and chatting with Vivian like nothing had happened.

***

On the way home, Vivian proposed something Leon found completely unacceptable:
Going to the hot springs together.

One of Sunrise City’s famous attractions was its hot springs.

Beneath the city lay an active volcano, giving rise to a luxurious hot spring resort.

The moment he heard this, Leon was extremely opposed.

But Fiora, who seemed to still be angry about what happened earlier, went against him and deliberately stirred up support for the idea.

Outvoted two to one, Leon had no choice but to go along.

Since the baths were divided by gender, Vivian and Fiora went to the women’s side together.

As she entered, Fiora’s face carried a mysterious blush.

She was extremely reserved and shy—but at the same time, she seemed to be looking forward to something.

It was just incredibly strange.

Leon remembered the fortune: Today is the day Fiora and her destined person will ascend the stairs to adulthood.

This must be what it was referring to.

And even more crucially, Fiora and Vivian had chosen a private room where no one else could disturb them.

In this situation, what else could they possibly be doing?!

“I absolutely refuse to accept that my sister and my first love are yuri…!”
“Damn it! I have to find out what’s going on!”

Leon paced anxiously back and forth in front of the women’s entrance, looking helplessly toward the building.

His suspicious behavior quickly drew the attention of passersby, who started whispering.

“Mama, what’s Lord Sword Saint doing?”

“Uh… Lord Sword Saint is probably protecting this place from perverts who try to peek in.”

“But Mama, Lord Sword Saint looks like the pervert.”

“Shh! Don’t say the quiet part out loud!”

The mother quickly covered her child’s mouth and carried her away.

A small crowd had already gathered, quietly watching Leon.

Among them was a black market merchant with a goatee, wearing a pair of round sunglasses.

At his waist hung a pouch filled with bottles and jars of all kinds.

The merchant watched for a while, then his eyes lit up as if he’d had an idea.

With a sly smile, he sidled up to Leon and pulled him into a corner.

“…Who are you?” Leon asked, frowning.

“Hehehe, Lord Sword Saint, to think you’re a kindred spirit,” the man said, lowering his sunglasses to reveal a pair of shifty, rat-like eyes.

“Waiting for your girlfriend, huh? Can’t… take… it… anymore, can you? Well, lucky for you, I’ve got all kinds of good stuff right here.”
“You can try all sorts of fancy plays…”

Leon looked him up and down.

From the merchant’s suggestive smile, he immediately realized what kind of things he was selling.

“Take it away.”
“I don’t need anything you’re selling.”
“I’m not looking at a single one.”

Leon turned to leave.

A glint flashed in the merchant’s eyes as he quickly grabbed Leon again.

“Lord Sword Saint! Don’t be in such a hurry!”
“You don’t have to buy, just take a look! This potion here will make a strong-willed girl shy, this one can make an introverted girl unleash her true self…”

“I said, I don’t need it.”
“If you keep pestering me, don’t blame me for getting angry.”

“No, no! If you’re not interested in things for girls, I’ve got potions to buff yourself! Strength! Agility! Technique! Or—there’s even an invisibility potion for special PLAY! The kind for rapid-firing Noble Phantasms—”

“…Hm?”

Leon, who had been determined to shake him off and leave, suddenly stopped in his tracks when he heard a certain word.

He turned back, eyes sharp.

“Wait.”

“Did you just say you have… an invisibility potion?”