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Chapter 51

“I do not know how many years it has been since we have come across an Arcadian,” her bodyguard added.

Leonard’s heart sank when he saw their reactions. If he were near the Empire’s borders, they would have no reason to be this surprised when they heard where he was from. If it had been several years since they had met an Arcadian, he had no doubt that this so-called Atlantis Maritime Alliance was very, very far away from the Empire.

Sure enough, Frances began to question him with a face full of interest. “It must have been very difficult to come all the way down here from the Empire. Why are you at Atlantis? What is your business here?”

“I was caught in an accident,” Leonard said with a deeply bitter smile. That was the best way he could describe it.

I shouldn’t have let my guard down when Fabian arrived.

The battlefield was always unpredictable, and he knew that unexpected events could work both in and against his favor. But if there was something Leonard had learned from this fiasco, it was that he was too slow to react to magic.

How could someone cause such an unbelievable disaster just by tearing a piece of paper and muttering a few words? Not even the sects famous for their bizarre techniques, such as the Mount Mao Sect, the White Lotus Sect, and the Quanzhen Sect, would be able to accept it.

“I was caught in an explosion of spatial magic. A spell called Mass Teleport was cast twice in succession, and that’s how I ended up here. I don’t even know where I am,” Leonard explained.

“Mass Teleport?! That’s an Eighth Degree spell!” Frances’s eyes widened as her voice grew higher. “If you’re telling the truth, you must be quite powerful to have survived! Such great magic can break the body of even someone in the Transcendence Tier, you see. And you could have ended up buried in the ground instead of the ocean.”

Only then did he realize what a precarious situation he had been in. There was a reason the Fifth Shadow had been willing to launch a suicide attack.

From now on, Leonard would be much more careful around magic.

“Even if I got lucky, you are the one who saved my life, Miss Frances. I managed to avoid being transported underground, but I would have died if I had kept floating around in the ocean.”

“Ahem! Well, I suppose!” she said enthusiastically, turning up her nose. She didn’t have an ounce of humility, and she acted so ridiculous and straightforward that he couldn’t help but smile.

But Frances’s expression grew blank when she saw his face.

“D-Do it again,” she whispered.

“Pardon?”

“Smile again! Like you did just now!”

But Leonard couldn’t. He hadn’t even noticed he’d smiled in the first place.

“Oh, what a waste! You’re already handsome, but your smile is absolutely fatal. Don’t you think so, Marianne?”

“I... am inclined to agree.” Even the bodyguard standing behind her had the faintest blush on her face.

Though Leonard hadn’t realized it before, the Cardenas bloodline didn’t just grant powerful physical abilities and mana cores. Their figures’ proportions were flawless, and their facial features were as finely chiseled as a statue, unlike most people’s.

Moreover, he was no longer at the Cardenas estate or the Galapagos Island, where every person he saw was a Cardenas descendant. He was in Atlantis, one of the farthest regions from the Empire.

To them, he looked like nothing but a handsome, golden-haired, red-eyed, youthful boy.

“Ah.” Unlike Leonard, the Sword Emperor Yeon Mu-Hyuk had never garnered any benefits from his appearance, so their comments didn’t sit right with him. “Um, Miss Frances?”

“Yes! Anything you need?”

“Am I on the attractive side?”

“Uh.”

“Um.”

For a moment, Frances and Marianne looked a little tense. Eventually, Frances burst into a mischievous smile. “Geez, are you trying to flirt with us?”

“Flirt... What does that mean?”

“I’m asking you if you’re trying to seduce us. If you say that to unmarried maidens like us, people may misunderstand, don’t you think?”

This was something Leonard had never experienced before, whether it was in his past life or his current one. His face grew stiff. “No, I am not.”

“Really? I wouldn’t mind if you were,” Frances replied.

This back-and-forth was exasperating. “I’m asking you seriously. The topic of my appearance has never come up where I live.”

They looked at him with distrust for the first time. They didn’t question his background or his name, but the fact that this was what had made them suspicious was laughable.

“I don’t think you’re lying... Well, whatever. We will answer your question truthfully without any exaggeration. Marianne, if you would?”

“There is not a single other person in these seas who would be able to live off their looks alone,” the bodyguard stated.

“...That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”

“But it is.” Marianne grinned devilishly. Her confusing, insinuating comment seemed to be revenge foe their earlier exchange.

“I suppose you can’t resist the lull of a mysterious younger man either, Marianne,” Frances said, snickering.

The bodyguard remembered herself and blushed. She squirmed. “M-My lady! That isn’t so!”

“It’s all right. I’m a very generous employer, aren’t I? I won’t try to stop you from getting married.” Frances clapped her hand over Marianne’s mouth and turned to Leonard. “I haven’t lived very long, but I’ve met a lot of people, you see. And I have never seen a man more handsome than you. You know nothing ever comes for free, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Leonard, if you had a bushy beard, a balding head, and a rough face and body, I would have fished you out and thrown you into the storage room, or something. You know, instead of gently laying you down on my very own bed.”

Leonard froze. His norms were still more aligned with his old world than this one. Not only had this unmarried girl saved his life, but he slept in her bed? He wouldn’t blame Frances’s family if they straight-up killed him.

“Ahaha! Are you worried about that? How adorable. You’re finally acting your age.” Frances waved away his embarrassment with a few words and continued to talk lightheartedly.

Leonard wasn’t the most sociable person, but he knew that her affability and knack for conversation were impressive. When he had something he was curious about, she explained it in an engaging manner, and she avoided personal topics so she wouldn’t make him uncomfortable. She had a way with people that rivaled high-ranking leaders in merchant groups and escort agencies in the Central Plains.

“... So, in order to return to the Arcadian Empire, you’ll first have to leave the Alliance’s territory and reach Empire land. Then, you’ll have to travel for thousands of kilometers and find a major city that has a Peak Distance Spatial Portal. And once you get there, well, I assume you’ll have some way to activate it.”

Frances’s explanation was accurate, but it also showed the harsh reality of his situation.

It’ll take me years to get there.

Leonard let out a long sigh as he looked at the map of the Empire laid out before him. The one good thing about this mess was that he wasn’t in any rush to return. He planned to stay here for a while.

The Atlantis Maritime Alliance was a transnational coalition located in the farthest region from the Empire. Once he returned to the family, it would be difficult to return to Atlantis.

But real experience is better than anything you can obtain from books or stories. I have to gain as much knowledge and experience as I can from this opportunity. And I should increase my mana cultivation level by a few Degrees, just in case.

He would have been able to defeat the Fifth Shadow had he been at the Tenth Degree External Force Tier instead of the Third—no, even the Seventh Degree would have been enough. That bastard had manipulated augmented energy shields like water but only had ninety years’ worth of cultivation, so even if the bastard did everything he could, Leonard would have been able to meet all his blows.

“Oh, right! Leonard?” Frances exclaimed, interrupting his thoughts.

“Yes?” He looked at her with a curious expression. She had a rare look of hesitance on her face, and she twisted her hands as she spoke.

She said, mumbling, “Well, you see, when we fished you out, your hair was so messy that I trimmed it a little bit. I think I’m decent enough at cutting people’s hair, but I hope you won’t feel offended.”

“My hair?” Only then did he realize it felt lighter. As he stroked it, Marianne brought over a round mirror from the table and presented it to him.

He was met with a pair of eyes that sparkled like rubies. Up until now, he’d cut his hair with his sword without much care. Now, it had been cleaned up. His haircut made him look like a young nobleman, but there was still a rebellious air about him. Even Leonard was a little impressed despite the fact that he had never cared enough to maintain his appearance.

“On the contrary, I should be thanking you. It must have taken quite some effort,” he said.

“Hehe. I enjoyed it, so don’t worry about it. Make sure you take care of your appearance from now on, okay? We can’t let that face go to waste.” Frances cut herself off and fished out a pouch from her pocket. She handed it to him. “You’ll have to excuse me, but I couldn’t skip searching an unidentified stranger. I didn’t take a single thing, so you can check it right now.”

“Thank you.” Leonard leaned down and reached into his pouch.

She’s telling the truth.

Just as the girl had said, the items in the subspace pouch had remained exactly as they’d been. His sword was still there, of course, and so was the golden fruit, which was no doubt a high-grade spirit herb.

Even if she hadn’t returned the pouch, Leonard would have assumed she had taken it as repayment for saving his life and allowed her to do so. But she was far more gracious than he’d expected. So gracious, in fact, that he found it hard to believe she was only treating him like this because of his handsome face.

“I won’t forget your generosity,” he promised, his voice serious.

“Then call me Fran. How about it?” she said mischievously.

“Okay, Fran,” he said without a second thought.

His use of the nickname made Frances blush. “Wow, I didn’t know I liked this kind of stuff.”

“My lady, you were being senseless.”

“Should I tell him to call you Mari?”

“My lady!”

They stopped bickering, and Frances stood up from her seat. When she did, Marianne walked ahead and opened the cabin door for her.

“We’ll be going now, Leonard. I’ll come visit again next time, so don’t get too lonely, okay?” Frances teased.

Marianne added, “And I will bring you your meals. If possible, please do not leave this room. If there is something you need, pull on that cord over there.”

Not only had Frances saved his life, but she was also lending her bed to him, so it wouldn’t do him any good to gather needless attention. Therefore, Leonard had no complaints. He simply nodded.

Frances smiled at that. Just as she was about to leave, her head popped back. “Leonard!”

“Yes?”

“You know that fruit in your subspace pouch? Would you be willing to sell it for the right price?”

“I will consider it.” He looked at her as a test. “If you want it as repayment for saving my life, I will be willing to give it to you for free at any time.”

“Huh? It wouldn’t be a fair trade, though,” Frances replied without another moment’s thought. She sounded so confident that even Marianne was surprised. “Even though that fruit is very valuable, it is nothing compared to the price of your life! Anyway, rest up!”

“Understood.”

This time, the cabin door actually closed, and their footsteps disappeared.

Leonard sat up on his bed and burst out laughing. He couldn’t help himself.

“‘It wouldn’t be a fair trade,’ she said...”

He’d initially assumed she was an immature and naive young lady, but she had a very discerning eye. Leonard closed his eyes and began to circulate his breath.

It was his very first experience being outside of the Cardenas family’s supervision, and he was already enjoying himself.