Chapter 1614 - 227 - Love and War (2)
When I arrived, Alice was the first to notice me walking over.
"Leon?" she asked as she tilted her head with a puzzled expression. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh... well..." I rubbed the back of my neck. "I actually came because there’s something I need to talk about... with the person you’re with."
"Miss Luna?" Alice looked back and forth between the two of us with obvious confusion written across her face. She probably had no idea that Luna and I already knew each other before today.
"It’s alright, Alice," Luna said in a calm voice that immediately put her at ease.
She looked toward Alice for a brief moment before giving her a small nod, silently telling her that everything was fine. Seeing that signal, Alice decided not to ask any more questions. She politely excused herself and quietly walked away, leaving the two of us standing there by ourselves.
Luna watched Alice disappear into the orphanage before letting out a soft chuckle.
"You already have such a cute girl around you," she said with a teasing smile. "Yet you’re still running around the capital collecting even more cute girls. You really don’t seem capable of slowing down, do you?"
"I could say they’re finding me instead," I replied with a small shrug. "Although I’m guessing you wouldn’t believe that."
She laughed quietly.
"Probably not."
"I’ll take that as expected, then," I muttered.
After the light exchange, I looked directly at her.
"So... why are you here?"
"What do you mean?" she asked while meeting my gaze without looking the slightest bit nervous. "This is where I’ve been living."
"You chose to live in the same place where the people I grew up with are staying now," I said while carefully watching her expression for even the slightest change. "Naturally, I’d end up thinking you have some kind of hidden agenda. Or am I wrong for assuming you’re trying to threaten me in some way?"
She simply smiled without looking offended.
"Well, if that’s what you believe, then I won’t judge you for thinking that."
Her answer was calm enough that it almost sounded genuine.
"Then why did you approach me earlier?" I asked, refusing to let the subject go so easily.
"Fufufu..."
She covered her mouth with one hand before letting out a quiet laugh.
"I think you’ve gotten the wrong idea about that."
"What exactly do you mean by that?" I asked while keeping my eyes fixed on her.
"I wasn’t looking for you specifically," she explained in a relaxed tone. "I was simply trying to learn more about the current state of things. Meeting you was nothing more than a coincidence."
As she spoke, her eyes slowly drifted toward the children happily playing near the orphanage.
She quietly watched them laugh and run around together without saying another word for several seconds.
Seeing her like that made me hesitate.
For some reason, she didn’t look like someone who was planning anything dangerous at that moment.
She looked strangely peaceful.
That feeling made me question my own assumptions.
Maybe I’d been too quick to judge her simply because she was a witch.
That certainly wouldn’t have been the first time I’d jumped to conclusions about someone dangerous.
"What do you think about everything that’s happening right now?" she suddenly asked without taking her eyes off the children. "About the current state of the world."
"If you think we’ve already reached the point of no return," I answered after thinking about it for a moment, "then I’d have to say I agree with you."
"A point of no return, huh?"
She quietly repeated those words to herself while giving a thoughtful little nod.
"I’d say that’s a pretty accurate way of putting it."
"What do you know about the Clash of Worlds?" I asked while looking straight at her again. "You know something about it, don’t you?"
She remained silent for a short while before finally turning to face me.
A faint smile slowly appeared across her face.
"My knowledge only goes as far as knowing which world would survive if they were forced to fight one another," she replied. "It’s a conflict between worlds themselves, where the continued existence of one depends entirely on destroying the other. Meanwhile, the higher beings simply watch it all unfold as though it were entertainment made specifically for them."
She paused for a brief moment before continuing.
"But just like you, that’s the limit of what I know. Everything I learned came from Lilith, after all."
"I see..." I quietly murmured while thinking over everything she’d just told me. "So, just like the Seven Deadly Sins, you were saved... and eventually raised by Lilith."
That was the only explanation that really made sense to me.
Although the feeling was incredibly faint, I could still sense traces of Lilith’s presence lingering inside her.
It wasn’t enough to prove anything with certainty.
Still, it was enough to make me suspicious.
If that connection was real, then it was entirely possible that she possessed strength comparable to the Seven Deadly Sins. Maybe she was even stronger than I imagined.
"Raised, huh?" she repeated while smiling to herself. "When you put it that way, I suppose you’re right."
Silence settled between us for a few brief moments after that exchange.
Without any warning at all, her body suddenly began to change shape before my eyes.
Her figure gradually shrank until a cat stood where she had been only seconds earlier.
"I’m heading out now," she said in her usual calm voice. "I only waited because it looked like you wanted something from me. If you don’t have anything else you’d like to ask, then I’ll be on my way."
"Wait a second," I called out before she could leave just yet.
She immediately stopped walking without showing any sign of annoyance.
Turning her head slightly, she looked back at me while quietly waiting for my next question.
"Which world did you come from?" I asked without taking my eyes off her.
The moment those words left my mouth, she stared at me for several quiet seconds before slowly shaking her head.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about," she answered in the same calm tone as before. "Just like you, I was born in this world."
After saying those final words, she turned around once more without another change in expression.
Then she quietly continued walking away until she disappeared from my sight altogether.