Chapter 20: Risky Investment

The lady froze. She stared at the spot. She could not believe that she had just witnessed a human die. She collapsed to her knees and hurled, throwing up on the floor. Her body trembled.

Leon looked at her. He could understand what the issue was. Even if that fellow had harmed her, he was still human, so watching him die was surely going to be a lot to take in, adding to that was the fact that she was already shaken up immensely.

He stared at her for a few seconds and then scratched the back of his head.

’Could it be that I am not normal? I understand that killing is wrong, but killing the wrong person is considered right. Or so Dad taught me.’ He turned it over in his mind for a few seconds, and then he snapped out of it. He turned and looked at her, stretching his hand towards her.

"Hey, let me help you up. It’s not safe here."

She looked at his hands, shaken up by the fact that Leon had killed a man, but her rational mind told her that he had done it for her. She should be grateful. She stretched her hand and grabbed his own. He helped her back to her feet.

"I’m sorry you had to see that," Leon said.

"No, you saved me. I would have been in hell if you had not come and helped me," she explained.

"Alright then. If you can walk, let’s head to somewhere safe. I’m sure all this blood will surely cause some monsters to gather around."

When she heard monster, she trembled a bit.

’Damn, she is really not fit for this lifestyle, but she is here. Something is pushing her to be here for sure.’

He started walking ahead, and she followed beside him.

"What’s your name?" he asked.

She hesitated for a bit before she finally responded.

"I am Lucia."

"Leon," he replied to her and kept walking.

"I could not help but notice that you are extremely ill-suited for this hunter work."

When he said that, she shrunk, looking at the ground with shaky eyes.

"I’m guessing something is driving you to keep being here," he said.

She paused, clenched her fist tight, and swallowed hard.

"Ye-yes. My mother is extremely ill," she said as tears gathered in her eyes. "When I awakened as a healer, I thought for sure that I could finally save my mother, but my ability failed to be enough. I was not strong enough.

So I have been working as a hunter to gather money for treatment while training my ability so that one day I can really help her."

Her shoulders slumped down.

"I see," Leon replied. He immediately had an idea and decided to try it out and see.

"Appraisal," he muttered, and the system turned on. He expected to see her potential. He wanted to know if at all she had any chance in the dream that she was chasing.

[#{^￥{~*} Error]

’What the hell?’

This was the first time that he was faced with such a thing when he tried to see the details of someone. It was all nonsense and error warning signs.

[Level not high enough]

’What the hell? What could possibly be her potential that the system can’t even see it? Tch, I’m not sure if it’s good or bad.’

He stared at her. He was not sure if this was a good investment at all, and the system was not helping at all.

He took a deep breath and then spoke. "I have an idea that can help you.

"Come work for me. I am looking for someone who can cook and do a bit around the house. I stay in a small place, but I have plans to move out soon, and so I’ll need someone to help.

"And before you worry about your mum and your growth, you’ll come into gates with me for training, and you’ll get resources from me to get yourself better. I’ll fund all of that and also take care of your mother’s health bills while you get better.

"You will also receive a pay of ten thousand credits monthly."

Her eyes kept getting wider the more he spoke.

"Do you think that’s enough, or is there anything more that you could need?" he asked, and she did not answer. She stood there frozen and unsure of what was happening.

Was this some sort of cruel joke? Was fate really trying to mess with her or something? She could not wrap her head around what was happening at this moment.

Leon saw that she was frozen and decided to speak. "So, what do you think?"

Him saying that again snapped her out of it, and she immediately responded.

"Is this a dream?"

That was all that she could say. Nothing else made sense in her mind. She could only believe that this was some sort of dream that she was in.

"Not a dream. When we leave here, you can start."

’Something tells me the error is hiding something great, and I want to find out what it is. The best way to do that is to keep her close and loyal.

I might be wrong, and this might be a wrong investment, but that’s the point of investment. Sometimes we have to take some massive risks to see massive returns. I just hope that my choice is right.’