Chapter 266- Things Are Weird! (Part 1)
Acht hugged her tightly and rubbed her head gently to calm her down. He knew how vulnerable she was at that moment so the only thing he could do was to make her feel relaxed enough to return to her calm state.
Besides, he didn't hate hugging her so it was a win-win situation, he obviously hid that fact from her for less awkwardness.
"Did you get angry because I ignored your request?" She suddenly asked with a stifled voice.
"Not really, I knew how much you cared about me. I'm not angry at all." He replied with a small smile.
"Mmm, I wanted to take revenge for you. But, I want to know, why are you not angry? Why are not seeking revenge on her? She caused you a lot of trouble."
Acht sighed as he looked at Lein with a conflicted gaze.
"I still feel like she's hiding something from me. Something that could really affect the world if was leaked. I don't know what it is. But I'd rather know what it was even if it meant leaving her alive. Besides, I still believe that people could change."
"Impossible!!" Leislet shook her head.
"I'm the best example of that. You changed me."
"..."
She averted her gaze from him and didn't reply properly. That was because she knew his words were right but didn't want to admit it and give him a chance for Lein to sound in a good light.
"You finally calmed down you rabid dog! Damn, I almost wanted to kill her." Lein interrupted them as she cracked her neck and limbs.
"You still want to talk?"
"If that bitch ain't coming then I will."
"Sigh, fine. We will talk alone."
"But, Acht…" Leislet tried to protest but Acht touched her cheek to coax her.
"I can take care of myself. Just go home and sleep. We will talk tomorrow."
"...Fine."
After that, she stood up, glared at Lein, and then walked away.
"Take care of the others. They will have many questions to ask."
After making sure that left, Acht sat down.
"We are alone now. This domain is totally secretive so you can rest assured."
Lein nodded her head and sat in front of him.
"Wine?"
"No, thanks."
"Suit yourself."
Lein then opened the flask and poured some into her wine cup. Then, she swirled it a little and took a sip from it. Her gaze seemed to be nostalgic in a sense.
"I used to make our bartender make this for me all the time. This is the last flask I have."
"..."
Acht understood what she meant with those words but didn't want to comment on it. He didn't want to create another problem.
"So, how have you been for the past 5 years?" She asked.
"Calm life. Tried to change the pace for a while. Did you do what I told you?"
"Yeah… I mean, I at least tried to do so. I continued working as a hunter while living in a small city far away from here. It worked I guess."
"I see… You didn't get into problems, did you?"
"..."
"You did, huh."
"I'm hot-blooded by nature. You can't expect me to become a fucking pacifist!"
"Fine. You at least tried to move on. Now, why did you come here?"
"... Well…" Lein scratched her head with a complicated gaze.
"Just spit it out…"
"Fine… The truth is, after you left, I carried the other members to bury them. I wanted to give them a proper funeral but I didn't have to ability to do so in the middle of that chaos."
"So?"
"The thing is. I couldn't find Jack and boss' corpses."
"Huh? I'm pretty sure I saw Lenny's corpse in front of me."
"That's what I'm saying. I searched the whole fucking city and I couldn't find them."
"Maybe they were picked by someone?"
"Why would they be the only ones to be picked? It doesn't make sense."
Acht frowned slightly at her words. He was 100% sure that Lenny was dead, he didn't see Jack, but he saw Lenny drowned in his own blood.
"Are you thinking of what I'm thinking?" She asked.
"There's no way. I made sure he was dead. It can't be."
"Explain then how he magically disappeared then?"
'This is a bad joke. If he's actually alive, that would change many things.'
"Jack and Lenny. Did they escape when you were not looking? But, why?"
"Like hell, I know. That's why I've been searching for you. I wanted to see whether you had any idea or not."
"No idea at all."
"Guess so…"
"There is something fishy with this but I can't put my hand on it yet."
The fact is, all of this mystery somehow doesn't fit together at all. Lenny was dead and that was a certainty for Acht… Except if he had something that could resurrect him from death.
But, such a strong ability shouldn't exist, it defies the laws of this world. Things like death… time and.
'Wait, time…The ability to manipulate time.' Acht's eyes widened in shock as he realized something.
"Did Lenny tell you about his ability?"
"No. He kept it a secret from everyone."
"I see… I think I know what his ability is. I had my suspicions before but I never thought about it but it now makes sense."
"What? What do you mean?" Lein asked urgently.
"The ability to manipulate time. That's most likely Lenny's power."
"Manipulate time? There is no way a person could be able to manipulate time itself. That's absurd."
"I can manipulate gravity to my will quite easily," Acht explained as he easily made a giant boulder float beside him as he spoke.
A flicker of his finger made this seemingly impossible-to-lift boulder float like a leaf.
"If the possibility to manipulate something like gravity exists, manipulating time shouldn't be that outlandish if you think about it. Besides, if you think about it with that, it makes sense now. Lenny was most likely the one that used that ability to restore him to his peak form. The only mystery left is why did he run away? Why did he revive Jack and why did he leave the others dead?"
"This shit is getting way too messy. I never thought it could be this complicated."
"It's still only a possibility. It could be wrong and it could be right. That's all I could think of."
"The ability to manipulate time, huh? What the hell?! He hid something like that from us. Did he not trust us."
"That old man is unpredictable. You can expect everything from him. It's not all about trust."
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