A Strange Family
A few days passed, and Leon began to grow a little accustomed to the atmosphere in this house. But getting used to it also meant recognizing the true nature of the danger more clearly.
The man was always smiling. The creepy part was that his smile seemed genuine. One might wonder here: Why? How? Smiling means you're in a good mood, right? And being in a good mood means you won't suddenly decide to harm someone, doesn't it?
'But it's different.' Leon realized that his smile wasn't like the smiles of normal people. Whenever he smiled sincerely, Ella was always by his side. When Ella showed some kind of reaction, he would grin as if he found it delightful. Like someone raising a pet, assigning meaning to every little action and reveling in it.
'...Crazy bastard.'
And Ella was always on guard. No, "on guard" wasn't quite accurate. Obsession. Yeah, that fit better. There was an invisible line between Ella and the man. Leon tried hard to find that line. She needed to know where she stood.
The opportunity came sooner than expected. While Ella was off somewhere, Leon approached the man alone.
"Um..."
"Yeah?"
The man turned his head.
"...Why did you bring me here?"
The man answered nonchalantly, as if to say, You know the answer, so why ask?
"You asked me to take you."
"Th-that's it?"
"Yeah. You asked, so I did. Do I need some other reason?"
Leon was at a loss for words. Having witnessed countless deals, negotiations, and deceptions in the shantytown, she knew one thing: selfless kindness didn't exist.
'...But it's true.'
She had begged him to take her. He accepted and brought her. What ulterior motive could there be? They had just met then—it was the first moment she'd even registered his existence.
'He's plotting something, sure. But why me...?'
Maybe he was already scheming something and happened to spot her while scouting for a target.
If so, the real problem was elsewhere. 'What if I hadn't been there? What if it had been some other kid?'
A chill ran down Leon's spine.
'Does that mean I'm just replaceable...?'
To this man, it didn't matter who it was, did it?
'...Fuck.'
Leon pushed those thoughts aside and shook her head for now.
"...No. I was just curious."
"Curiosity is good. Keep being curious."
Keep being curious? Was that really an answer?
'...His way of thinking is definitely not normal.'
After that day, Leon tried asking the same question several times, rephrasing it, changing the context, sometimes acting casual. But the answer was always the same.
"Because you asked me to take you."
In that simplicity, Leon gained a strange conviction. This man didn't lie. At least not about this. And yet, he was hiding his true intentions.
Even now, watching the man smirk, Leon broke out in cold sweat.
'My reactions... He's enjoying them.'
What a sick hobby.
Leon decided to change tactics. Asking the man directly had its limits. She needed clues from the other side—Ella.
But Ella was hard to approach. When Leon appeared in the living room, Ella wouldn't spare her a glance. If Leon tried to speak, Ella would stand and vanish into another room. If Leon sat at the table, Ella took the farthest seat possible.
Still, Leon didn't give up. She kept watching for a chance. First, she observed what Ella did. Mostly sword training. When the man occasionally came to instruct her, her intensity spiked, as if proving her worth.
One other thing: Ella always frowned at Leon. But Leon noticed it wasn't pure disgust. More precisely, Ella's attitude toward Leon differed depending on whether the man was around.
When he was present, Ella openly ignored her or showed clear dislike. But when he wasn't? Ella didn't ignore Leon. She actively avoided her. She'd look away if their eyes met, and seemed uncomfortable in the same space.
Leon was certain. 'She doesn't hate me. Well, maybe a little... but this is deliberate avoidance.'
Why? Leon realized it had to do with the man.
After he left the house one day, Leon approached Ella. If she couldn't get answers from him, she'd ask the person involved.
Ella was training as usual. Leon lingered near the training area to enter her view, then deliberately stumbled to make noise.
Ella turned, sword in hand. She scanned around, confirmed the man wasn't there, and relaxed slightly. Then she approached Leon.
"...You. Hah."
Ella hesitated a moment, then spoke in a low voice.
"I'll say this once. Listen well."
Leon nodded.
"Don't stand out. Be as inconspicuous as possible. And don't hover around me."
Leon didn't understand.
"Huh?"
"Don't stand out. Got it? Answer me."
Ella offered no more explanation. She just turned and walked back into the training area.
Leon stood there blankly, mulling it over.
'I thought she didn't hate me...'
Then something clicked in her mind. She recalled Ella's gaze when looking at the man: wariness, fear, obsession, pity... and an unbreakable resolve bordering on utter fixation.
Realizing it, Leon felt a chill down her spine.
'This is a warning.'
Not in the usual sense. The omitted subject and object meant—
Rustle.
Leon's head jerked around with a creak.
"...!!!"
There stood the man, half his body covered in burns. Smirking just like always.
He'd said he had business and left, but he'd actually been hiding, watching the whole thing.
'Wh-when did he...?'
Leon's vision went white.
Contrary to Leon's fear that something terrible would happen any second, the man did nothing unusual. He just took Ella around, taught her swordsmanship, read the newspaper when he had time, sipped coffee, and chatted idly with Leon.
As time passed, Leon grew increasingly uneasy.
It was one such day. After dinner, as the man sipped his coffee, he brought it up casually.
"Leon."
"Y-yes?"
"From now on, I'll teach you magic."
"...!!"
In the shantytown, survival meant fists and street smarts. Magic was a pipe dream. The chance to learn it was unimaginable luck.
"...!! R-really?"
The man nodded with a faint smile.
"Of course. I'm serious."
Leon was thrilled, but a strange thought crossed her mind.
'...Serious?'
This psycho pervert? The man before her wasn't normal. He endlessly observed Ella's reactions for amusement, relishing Leon's fear. And now he offered to teach her magic without conditions?
'...Obvious ulterior motive.'
But Leon had no choice. Refusing might lead to who-knows-what. This man could make her disappear without a trace anytime. Besides...
'A chance to learn magic might never come again.'
For an orphan doomed to rot in the shantytown, it was a ray of light.
'Dangerous? So what. Starve to death or die horribly here—either way, I'm dead.'
If she was going to die, she'd climb higher first.
"Thank you!"
And so the magic lessons began.
"Mana is the power flowing inside you. Focus your senses."
The man sent mana from behind Leon. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her body. She began to feel something unknown stirring within.
"Right, that's mana. Now send it to your fingertips."
Leon sweated profusely, focusing. A fist-sized flame flickered in her palm, then puffed out.
"...Ah!"
"Not bad for a first try. Keep going."
A month later, Leon could expel mana from her body.
"Whoa..."
She marveled at the sparkling light in the darkness.
Next came learning spells. Unlike swordsmanship, magic depended on aptitude and talent, so there were many caveats. The man emphasized one in particular.
"Mana Explosion Phenomenon. It's a type of mana backlash that occurs when you pour mana into a spell formula like a mold and derive the magic."
"...Is it dangerous?"
"Yes. If you mess up a spell..."
The man smiled brightly. His light attitude clashed with the gravity of his words, like explaining his own scheme.
"Boom. Your body explodes."