Chapter 404

Three days after his first visit, Leon decided to return to the underground city. He was calmer, and now he looked more like a human since he cut his hair, shaved, and took a long shower to get rid of all the dirt on his body. After putting the clothes, he received from Hector, Leon really felt like a human again...

"As expected, the difference between humans and animals is the clothes... and the brain... and the fact that we do many shitty things."

Although many people got surprised when Leon suddenly appeared, no one looked at him as if he was some sort of weird creature. The clothes really do make the man... Leon ignored the stares and just walked around the city since a spherical magic barrier was protecting the city; every single meter was being well-used. There was a limit of how the city could grow, and it looked like it already reached that limit since Leon couldn't see cars or any vehicles.

"Come to think of it; those are pretty much useless now..."

Although Leon couldn't see any vehicles, he could see several points being monitored by soldiers. When he approached, he felt the mana similar to the places when he created a Checkpoint. Most likely, those Checkpoints would move the inhabitants of that city to the dungeons of the world without being noticed by anyone or anything.

The city was five kilometers long and wide, Leon didn't see any signboards with the name of the place, but it wasn't necessary. Despite everything, that was just a hideout. It wasn't their home... While Leon was thinking about that, he saw Hector approaching. Probably some of his soldiers recognized Leon by his presence instead of his appearance, and that was why he decided to come.

"Hey... you really came," Hector forced a smile. "Sorry for before... we treated you like a monster."

"I can't blame you, I looked like a mess," Leon said without looking at Hector in the eye. "Anyway, you have a really nice place here. It is almost as good as Japan... you guys did well consider that you have to start from scratch."

"Are you talking about the immortal empress?" Hector frowned. "You talk as if you know her or saw her recently."

"I know, and I visited her recently," Leon said. "It was thanks to her that I found you guys."

"I see..." Hector hesitated. "About what you said before... We feel like we knew someone called Leon before, but it looks like that was a long time ago. So, we..."

"Neither of you remember me," Leon said. "The same thing happened to Yuki and Ren... it doesn't surprise me all that much."

"Yeah... so we knew you, but then you died or something?" Hector asked.

Leon sighed, but then he started to explain what happened to him over the last eight years. It was a pain to give a summary of his life to every single person, but it was necessary. A lot of time passed, so since they didn't remember him, Leon decided to leave some critical parts hidden... It pains to admit him, but they could become his enemy.

"Summoning, teleport, and time dilation..." Hector massaged his eyebrows. "This is pretty difficult to digest."

"I know, you don't have to worry about that," Leon said. "Putting that aside, it looks like Amanda and Maya are fine. You did well protect them."

"Mmm? Ah... I don't think I did all that much," Hector forced another smile. "I feel like I was the one who had been saved all the time."

"I see... how are Betty and Sasha?" Leon asked.

"You know them too?" Hector frowned. "Come to think of it. I don't even know the first time I met them... They were doing well; they are doing a good job training our recruits. You said that you taught us magic, right? Maybe this runs in the family, but Amanda is the best magic teacher of the city... even though she is an archer. As for Maya, no one can fly as fast as her."

"Is that so..." Leon looked to the barrier above and let out a long sigh.

Leon knew that feeling very well, that sense of distance... but he had never been on the receiving end of it. Regardless, there was no point in thinking about it.

"Do you want to see them?" Hector asked. "Perhaps spending time with them will make them recall something."

"Did this conversation made you remember something?" Leon asked.

"No... but they are your family," Hector said. "Some events may make them recall those lost memories."

"I doubt that," Leon shook his head. "When they needed me most, I wasn't around, but... I guess it is fine. Lead me to where they are."

It would hurt a lot, but Leon at least had to try in order not to regret it later. Amidst that city, some buildings were different; those were the training camps, the shops, and the warehouses. Those were also the only buildings in New York that were different from most.

"It almost looks as if Sarah was the one who made the design of the city," Leon frowned.

"You know her, too?" Hector said, surprised. "She was actually the one who designed the city. We don't have much space, so we had to build everything while being cautious about using every single meter efficiently."

After entering one of the training camps, Leon saw Amanda teaching some teenagers how to create fast enough Steel Arrow. For a while, he just observed her. Amanda also looked a bit tired; she was forcing herself to keep a smile on the face, and she showed an even bigger smile when someone succeeded... Most likely, she taught thousands of people that, but she was still was doing that in order to make her students feel proud of themselves.