Either by some miracle or by the great wit of the nicer of the twins, the whole situation ended before things could really get into swing.
The murderous twin didn’t step into the room, satisfied after exchanging a few more tense words with her sister.
The men of that murderous twin didn’t bother to follow her sister into the room either, due to… respect for their own leader? Or maybe fear of what her more emotional sister was capable of?
‘There’s an obvious disparity… and strange tension between the two of them.’
There was no doubt that right at this moment, it was the least pleasant of the two sisters that held the power in her hand. And yet…
Leo’s eyes twitched when he figured it out.
‘This balance of power… is flipped!’
The more emotional and witty the saint, the more collected and cold the murderer. The two both represented the traits usually held by those on the other side of their current conflict!
Before long, the nicer of the twins returned to the room before securely locking the crude doors behind her. Then, she rested her back against those doors before sliding down an inch on it while simultaneously breathing out a long, exhausted sigh.
And then, the inevitable happened.
The girl’s deep, blue eyes turned to the bed with Leo on it. And as the inquisitive look scanned the young man’s features…
‘I guess that’s what it feels like to be checked out?’
A shiver moved down Leo’s spine as he uneasily gulped down his saliva.
Faced with the suspicion inevitably growing in the nicer of the two, Leo had no other choice… but to take charge of the situation.
‘As ridiculous as it might sound… isn’t confidence alone enough more often than not?’
An internal sigh later, Leo lowered his head before giving the girl a look with his upturned eyes while scratching himself behind the ear.
“So… What’s a dimensional slip?”
The already focused expression of the girl instantly turned into a wary one… forcing Leo to battle his own flesh when his lips followed his guts and attempted to stretch out in a small, helpless smile.
‘She has the same reaction as I had when I figured out how I can learn their language so fast,’ Leo thought, his eyes twisting in a slightly troubled look.
“You can speak Halarian…? But… But didn’t you…”
Leo released a shallow breath.
‘So far, so good.’
Leo had no plan for how this conversation would go. He knew too little about this world, its rules and beliefs to make any kind of call. And so, in a moment of doubt, securing his ability to talk with the other party was of utmost importance.
“I’ve just learned. And I’ve caught about half of what you two said over there,” Leo revealed while trying not to grit his teeth. Aware of the weight of his words, he simply couldn’t bear the fear underlining it.
There was a good chance that his words would doom him, causing this girl to hurriedly report him or maybe take him down herself.
But that wouldn’t fit her actions so far.
On the other hand, though…
‘As long as I appeal to her mercy… I should have a shot, right?’
“A dimensional slip is…”
Contrary to the few of the expectations Leo dared to harbor, the girl didn’t start the conversation by turning it into an interrogation. In fact, rather than asking questions, she was actually willing to answer them?
“A dimensional slip is a technique used by the members of the heavenly sects to traverse through great distances in a great hurry.”
‘Welp… That doesn’t sound good.’
“Long distance travel, you say…” Leo muttered, only to quickly shake his head. “That part I can’t deny. But heavenly sects?”
The shaking of his head only intensified before suddenly coming to an end as he raised his eyes and looked right into the girl’s face.
“It’s the first time I’m hearing the name.”
Once again, the girl refused to freak out, despite all the rights she had to justifiably do so. She simply stared at the young man’s face for a while… Only to finally breathe out a long sigh.
“I don’t think you are lying,” she said, allowing her back to slide all the way down the doors to the point she simply sat down on the floor. The girl then brought up her knees up to her chin before wrapping her hands around her legs. “No spy from a heavenly sect would be so dumb to claim they didn’t know what a heavenly sect is…”
The girl’s voice was full of… exasperation? As if she couldn’t believe those words were coming out of her mouth. Or rather, as if she couldn’t believe she found herself in a situation warranting their use.
“Judging by how you brought up heavenly sects… does this mean you belong to some sort of…” Before Leo could even voice out his question properly, he openly bit down on his lips and lowered his chin, stopping his sentence right as he was about to reveal its crux.
“Nevermind, I’m sorry, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to know or ask. Forget about it.”
Leo lowered his eyes and, in a perfectly acted-out manner, raised his hand up, only to end up chewing at the nail of his thumb. His squinted eyes and a long wrinkle cutting across the young man’s forehead completed the picture of anxiety and distress.
The silence that followed was extremely heavy.
“Serene kept stressing out how today is different,” the girl sighed while leaning her head behind and resting its back against the door.
Leo’s face kept still, even if his soul stirred up. The short pause the nicer of the twins took only served to make her words ring stronger in Leo’s eyes.
“And for once, I can agree with her. You really are different than the usual…” the girl lowered and then shook her head.
Strangely enough, her voice inspired fear… but their tone contrasted that feeling.
“Tell me,” as if the position of her head narrated the girl’s mood, she raised her eyes and looked straight into Leo’s face. “What is it that you want or need?” A short pause followed. “What is your goal here?”
This time, it was Leo’s turn to give the girl a particular look.
“In all honesty, I just want to go home. I already exhausted my luck by not dying on the spot when testing out a new technique. With the massacre of my entire party that followed, I can’t honestly understand how I’m still alive…” Leo shook his head, breaking the eye contact in favor of restoring the distressed look to his eyes.
“Listen,” Leo forced himself to raise his eyes and look at the girl again. “We never intended to spook anyone. And sure, we might’ve come to a bad place in a bad time…”
Leo allowed his voice to break as he acted out his hesitation…
Which wasn’t even all that hard, given how he actually hesitated whether or not he should utter his real and actual intentions.
Still, the young man gritted his teeth and steeled his resolve.
‘You are in charge… if you act like you are.’
“But do you think it would be possible for me to go back home? All I need for that is to get back to my tools and…” Leo suddenly pulled his eyebrows together as he recalled an extremely important detail that he already buried in his thoughts. “Right, on that note, how long has it been since you found me? And what time was it back when you did?”
Either by some miracle or by the great wit of the nicer of the twins, the whole situation ended before things could really get into swing.
The murderous twin didn’t step into the room, satisfied after exchanging a few more tense words with her sister.
The men of that murderous twin didn’t bother to follow her sister into the room either, due to… respect for their own leader? Or maybe fear of what her more emotional sister was capable of?
‘There’s an obvious disparity… and strange tension between the two of them.’
There was no doubt that right at this moment, it was the least pleasant of the two sisters that held the power in her hand. And yet…
Leo’s eyes twitched when he figured it out.
‘This balance of power… is flipped!’
The more emotional and witty the saint, the more collected and cold the murderer. The two both represented the traits usually held by those on the other side of their current conflict!
Before long, the nicer of the twins returned to the room before securely locking the crude doors behind her. Then, she rested her back against those doors before sliding down an inch on it while simultaneously breathing out a long, exhausted sigh.
And then, the inevitable happened.
The girl’s deep, blue eyes turned to the bed with Leo on it. And as the inquisitive look scanned the young man’s features…
‘I guess that’s what it feels like to be checked out?’
A shiver moved down Leo’s spine as he uneasily gulped down his saliva.
Faced with the suspicion inevitably growing in the nicer of the two, Leo had no other choice… but to take charge of the situation.
‘As ridiculous as it might sound… isn’t confidence alone enough more often than not?’
An internal sigh later, Leo lowered his head before giving the girl a look with his upturned eyes while scratching himself behind the ear.
“So… What’s a dimensional slip?”
The already focused expression of the girl instantly turned into a wary one… forcing Leo to battle his own flesh when his lips followed his guts and attempted to stretch out in a small, helpless smile.
‘She has the same reaction as I had when I figured out how I can learn their language so fast,’ Leo thought, his eyes twisting in a slightly troubled look.
“You can speak Halarian…? But… But didn’t you…”
Leo released a shallow breath.
‘So far, so good.’
Leo had no plan for how this conversation would go. He knew too little about this world, its rules and beliefs to make any kind of call. And so, in a moment of doubt, securing his ability to talk with the other party was of utmost importance.
“I’ve just learned. And I’ve caught about half of what you two said over there,” Leo revealed while trying not to grit his teeth. Aware of the weight of his words, he simply couldn’t bear the fear underlining it.
There was a good chance that his words would doom him, causing this girl to hurriedly report him or maybe take him down herself.
But that wouldn’t fit her actions so far.
On the other hand, though…
‘As long as I appeal to her mercy… I should have a shot, right?’
“A dimensional slip is…”
Contrary to the few of the expectations Leo dared to harbor, the girl didn’t start the conversation by turning it into an interrogation. In fact, rather than asking questions, she was actually willing to answer them?
“A dimensional slip is a technique used by the members of the heavenly sects to traverse through great distances in a great hurry.”
‘Welp… That doesn’t sound good.’
“Long distance travel, you say…” Leo muttered, only to quickly shake his head. “That part I can’t deny. But heavenly sects?”
The shaking of his head only intensified before suddenly coming to an end as he raised his eyes and looked right into the girl’s face.
“It’s the first time I’m hearing the name.”
Once again, the girl refused to freak out, despite all the rights she had to justifiably do so. She simply stared at the young man’s face for a while… Only to finally breathe out a long sigh.
“I don’t think you are lying,” she said, allowing her back to slide all the way down the doors to the point she simply sat down on the floor. The girl then brought up her knees up to her chin before wrapping her hands around her legs. “No spy from a heavenly sect would be so dumb to claim they didn’t know what a heavenly sect is…”
The girl’s voice was full of… exasperation? As if she couldn’t believe those words were coming out of her mouth. Or rather, as if she couldn’t believe she found herself in a situation warranting their use.
“Judging by how you brought up heavenly sects… does this mean you belong to some sort of…” Before Leo could even voice out his question properly, he openly bit down on his lips and lowered his chin, stopping his sentence right as he was about to reveal its crux.
“Nevermind, I’m sorry, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to know or ask. Forget about it.”
Leo lowered his eyes and, in a perfectly acted-out manner, raised his hand up, only to end up chewing at the nail of his thumb. His squinted eyes and a long wrinkle cutting across the young man’s forehead completed the picture of anxiety and distress.
The silence that followed was extremely heavy.
“Serene kept stressing out how today is different,” the girl sighed while leaning her head behind and resting its back against the door.
Leo’s face kept still, even if his soul stirred up. The short pause the nicer of the twins took only served to make her words ring stronger in Leo’s eyes.
“And for once, I can agree with her. You really are different than the usual…” the girl lowered and then shook her head.
Strangely enough, her voice inspired fear… but their tone contrasted that feeling.
“Tell me,” as if the position of her head narrated the girl’s mood, she raised her eyes and looked straight into Leo’s face. “What is it that you want or need?” A short pause followed. “What is your goal here?”
This time, it was Leo’s turn to give the girl a particular look.
“In all honesty, I just want to go home. I already exhausted my luck by not dying on the spot when testing out a new technique. With the massacre of my entire party that followed, I can’t honestly understand how I’m still alive…” Leo shook his head, breaking the eye contact in favor of restoring the distressed look to his eyes.
“Listen,” Leo forced himself to raise his eyes and look at the girl again. “We never intended to spook anyone. And sure, we might’ve come to a bad place in a bad time…”
Leo allowed his voice to break as he acted out his hesitation…
Which wasn’t even all that hard, given how he actually hesitated whether or not he should utter his real and actual intentions.
Still, the young man gritted his teeth and steeled his resolve.
‘You are in charge… if you act like you are.’
“But do you think it would be possible for me to go back home? All I need for that is to get back to my tools and…” Leo suddenly pulled his eyebrows together as he recalled an extremely important detail that he already buried in his thoughts. “Right, on that note, how long has it been since you found me? And what time was it back when you did?”
