Chapter 22: Leaving soon

The Minotaur looked her way the moment the stone hit it. It locked onto her with brutal killing intent.

’Shit, why the hell did she come back?’

Leon rolled back to his feet. He watched the Minotaur turn to her and rush at her fast. He wanted to panic, but in that moment, he found his opening. He gritted his teeth and gave chase, leaping into the air with his katana. The sword stabbed into the back of the Minotaur.

It let out a thundering roar of pain. Its eyes turned blood red, and it moved its hand to grab Leon, managing to grab his leg and hurl him away. Leon flipped in the air and landed on the ground. He looked up and saw the Minotaur struggling to remove the sword from its back.

Leon got up. He rushed ahead at full speed. As the Minotaur saw him and attacked, he leaped into the air, evading the hand, grabbing the head of the Minotaur, and slamming his knee right into its head hard enough to knock it back.

He held tight onto the head and swung over it, letting go and then grabbing the sword. It immediately started tearing through the back of the Minotaur as Leon came down, soon opening its entire back up. Blood gushed out nonstop. The Minotaur let out a guttural roar before collapsing to the ground.

Leon stood there with his sword in his hand, staring at the body of the Minotaur with heavy breaths.

"Well, that took care of things," he muttered and then looked at her. She was still a bit shaken up after all of it.

"Yeah, I’m not sure this place is really safe anymore. We should head out and report what happened here," he said while walking to the Minotaur to gut it.

Leon crouched beside the body and got to work.

It was messy, and it took longer than he liked, but he cut out the core and dropped it into his bag. Then he sliced off as much meat as the waterproof bags could hold. Lucia kept her eyes on the trees the whole time, jumping at every sound.

"Done," he said, wiping his hands. "Let’s get out of here."

They left the gate together. The blue light swallowed them, and then they were standing in the fenced area again, with guards in grey uniforms and a few hunters waiting in line.

Leon did not go home. He went straight into the guild with Lucia beside him and walked up to the counter.

"I need to report something," he said. "There was a Minotaur inside the F-ranked gate. In the forest, not far from the entrance."

The receptionist stared at him.

"A Minotaur? In an F-ranked gate?"

"It attacked us. It was about seven feet tall, and it carried a mace."

She jumped up from her seat and ran into the back. Within seconds, the guild was in a panic. Hunters stopped talking, and a few of them got to their feet. Someone shouted for the guild master, and someone else asked where it was now, whether it was still alive, and what had happened to it.

Leon watched the panic spread.

He was holding the Minotaur core in his bag. It was worth a lot, probably more than everything else he had earned that day. But seeing how scared they were, he made a decision. If he sold it, people would ask how an F-ranked hunter without abilities had killed a monster from a C-ranked gate.

’Better to keep it quiet.’

"It’s still in there," he said instead. "I ran as soon as I saw it."

Nobody questioned that. After they confirmed that the forest section was where it had been spotted, the guild locked down the F-ranked gate and sent a team to investigate what had happened.

Leon waited until the noise died down. Then he went to the buying desk and sold every core he had, all the ones from the demon dogs and the rabbits. The clerk counted them and handed over the payment.

He turned and gave it all to Lucia.

She looked down at the money in her hands and then back up at him with wide eyes.

"Leon, this is... this is a lot."

"I don’t have any use for it," he said. "And you earned it. You healed me and threw a rock at a Minotaur."

She laughed weakly, still stunned.

"There’s one more thing. Do you know how to cook?"

"I do," she said. "A little."

"Then I’ll be storing the monster meat. I’ve always wanted to know what it tastes like. When you start working for me, you can help me prepare it."

Her face lit up. "I’d love that."

"Good. Tomorrow at noon, we’ll meet with the others. Get some rest."

She bowed her head, thanked him twice, and walked off toward the street, clutching the money to her chest.

[.....]

Leon walked home through the back streets, with his backpack hanging from one shoulder.

The sky was slowly turning dark, orange fading into purple. The lights in the shop windows were coming on one by one. He was tired, hungry, and sore in places he did not know could be sore.

Somewhere around the second turn, he got the feeling that someone was following him.

He did not look back. He kept walking and turned down another alley, then another. The feeling stayed with him. A faint presence just behind his shoulder, always the same distance away.

’Am I imagining this?’

He cut through a narrow lane between two buildings. The light grew dimmer. The feeling did not go away.

He stopped at a corner, pressed his back against the wall, and waited. He counted slowly to ten and then leaned out and peeked into the alley behind him, watching for whoever would pop out.

"Leon?"

He jumped and spun around.

Sophia was standing at the end of the street, with her bag over her shoulder and her hair tied up. Her boots were dusty, and her shirt had a few scratches. She looked like someone who had just come back from a raid.

He glanced back into the alley. The presence was gone.

He watched it for a few more seconds, then walked over to her.

"Hey," he said. "I didn’t expect to see you here."

"Hey. I just got back from a gate." She tilted her head. "What were you doing over there, hiding behind a corner?"

"Nothing. I was resting. Today has been stressful."

"Lectures?"

"No." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I tried out the F-ranked gate."

Her face changed at once.

"You what? You’re not a hunter, Leon! Why would you go in there? Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"I’m fine," he said quickly, holding up his hands. "I promise. I have a battle suit."

He pulled down his collar and showed her a small part of his neck, where the black lines were visible, but he did not show her the rest, so she could not tell that it was a platinum star.

"I only hunted some of the rabbits. It was safe."

She looked at him for a few seconds. Her eyes moved over him slowly, from his boots to his face.

"I feel like you’re hiding something," she said finally. "But for some reason, I still feel like you’re a good person. And my feelings are hardly ever wrong."

Leon scratched his head and smiled sheepishly.

"Maybe after a few dates, you can get to know everything about me."

She let out a small laugh and shook her head. "We’ll see."

They walked back to the apartment together. The stairs creaked under their feet, and they stopped on the landing between their doors.

"Still on for tomorrow?" Sophia asked. "The date?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Good. Goodnight, Leon."

She turned toward her door.

"Wait," he said.

She stopped.

"I might be leaving this apartment soon," he said. "When I do, I’ll show you my new place."

Her eyebrows rose, and she looked genuinely surprised. Then she smiled.

"Okay," she said. "I’d like that."

They both went inside.