The Second Strongest Has Returned

Chapter 64

The End of the Break

A blink.

Ariasphil’s blue eyes and Leo’s red eyes blinked in sync.

The difference was that Ariasphil’s face, which had almost been exposed, was flushed red, while Leo, who had almost been stripped, surprisingly maintained a calm expression.

“…Um, could you please step back and turn around for a moment?”

“…Huh?! Oh…!!”

She hurriedly withdrew her hand from his waistband and turned around. Her face, burning red, was now dripping with cold sweat.

“…The clothes… are here.”

During that time, Leo had been changing his clothes behind her. The rustling sound that continued to echo behind her kept Ariasphil’s nerves on edge.

She felt an overwhelming urge to sneak a glance, so it’s best to leave out the detailed explanation.

“…Are you… done?”

Ariasphil, who had tightly shut her eyes to suppress various impulses and dark thoughts, cautiously opened them.

“Yes, I’m done changing.”

When she turned around, Leo stood there, having changed into a new pair of pants and underwear. Beside him were his neatly folded pants and underwear stained with coffee.

Unfortunately, the underwear was hidden under the pants, so even if she enhanced her vision with aura, she couldn’t see it.

“My lady.”

Leo was staring at her. No, it was more accurate to say he was glaring.

Which, of course, made sense.

Imagine someone pulling down your pants while you’re lying in a hospital room.

And not just anyone, but someone of the opposite sex, and though she hadn’t been caught, Ariasphil had tried to sneak a peek at Leo’s most private and sensitive area by pulling down his underwear.

“…That is… I mean…! I didn’t intend to…!”

“It’s okay.”

“…Huh? What…?”

He said it was okay, but what exactly did he mean by that?

Was he forgiving her for trying to undress him, or was he implying that it didn’t matter if Ariasphil saw even that part of him…?

“I didn’t get burned. The coffee was lukewarm, so I’m fine.”

“…Ah… I’m glad to hear that…”

She felt embarrassed for various reasons. Not only because of the misunderstanding she had internally, but even more so because she had forgotten that the coffee was lukewarm in the first place.

“I understand you were flustered, but please call a nurse next time. After all, they can be of help if I ever really do get burned.”

Leo’s quick understanding and thoughtfulness deserved immense gratitude, but she couldn’t bring herself to agree to what he had said.

‘…All the nurses here are women…’

Ariasphil’s jealousy was burning more fiercely than she expected. Even the idea of a nurse changing his clothes for purely medical reasons was something she couldn’t stand.

“…How’s your body?”

“I’ve rested well, so I’m completely recovered. I could be discharged right away.”

“Still, take it easy for a bit. And honestly, I was mad too.”

He had said he wouldn’t die, yet he took a direct hit from lightning. Such a blatant lie was unforgivable.

“I have a resistance to electricity, so it wasn’t a big deal.”

“…But you couldn’t even lift a finger after getting hit, right?”

He had no excuse for that. If Rios hadn’t shown up at that time, and if Ariasphil hadn’t given him the potion…

The Memory of That Moment

The scene from that time suddenly flashed through Leo’s mind.

His face flushed, and he found it impossible to meet Ariasphil’s gaze. He felt an inexplicable sensation, as if his chest was being tickled by a feather, making it difficult to even stay in the same room with her.

“…Um… My lady… about that time…”

Just as he was about to ask about what had happened,

Knock, knock.

At that moment, someone knocked on the hospital room door. Leo, eager to escape the awkward feelings and situation, quickly responded.

“Come in.”

“…Ah… Excuse me…”

The person who entered was unexpected.

“…Um… Hello…?”

It was Irina Ritei.

She was the woman who had been threatened by Jehad, and the girl who had pretended to be on a date with Leo.

“Ah, it’s Miss Irina.”

“…You remember me?”

“Of course. It’s hard to forget.”

Leo spoke with a slight smile on his lips, and the tension in Irina’s face eased a bit in response to his expression.

‘…What is that woman doing here…!?’

But beside him, Ariasphil’s eyes were burning with fury and resentment.

That detestable woman had been given the opportunity to have a sweet meal with Leo and had even managed to save her own life.

Ariasphil could barely contain her anger.

“Um… I have something to say…”

Irina glanced cautiously at Ariasphil. Even at a glance, the hostility in Ariasphil’s gaze was clear, as if she were staring at an enemy.

“My lady, could you wait outside for a moment?”

“…Why.”

She seemed genuinely angry. It reminded Leo of the last time they had eaten together.

Leo couldn’t understand what Ariasphil saw in that woman. Ariasphil knew she was prettier, had a better figure, and was far more skilled.

‘…Could it be the hairstyle?’

Come to think of it, Rios had once mentioned in a romance novel that men sometimes had specific preferences when it came to women’s hairstyles.

‘…Back then, I thought it was just nonsense…’

Otherwise, there was no way she could be outdone by such a plain woman. The only thing Irina had going for her was that ponytail.

“My lady?”

“…I’ll step out for now.”

But Ariasphil knew that was something she could easily compensate for. So, for now, she decided to yield the space. For the record, Leo didn’t particularly care about such things.

“…Phew… huff…”

But Ariasphil never said she wouldn’t eavesdrop. Her aura-enhanced ears could clearly pick up the sounds from beyond the door and walls.

“Are you… feeling better?”

“Thanks to Miss Ariasphil, yes. I was lucky.”

Hearing this, Ariasphil clenched her fist in a victorious gesture. As expected, Leo was her knight.

“…Actually…”

Whoosh!

Just as Ariasphil was focusing more on the conversation, she felt a breath of air blow against her ear.

“Ah!!”

Instinctively, Ariasphil threw a punch in the direction from which the wind had come.

Thwack!

“Ugh…!”

Rios’s face crumpled as a sharp breath escaped his lips.

“Rios!?”

“…Brother?”

“Hello, little sis…!? I was feeling a bit better, so I came to visit… but it seems my nose is blocked again…?”

Rios, feeling slightly recovered from his cold, had come back to the hospital room, intending to pay a visit. Had a fist not landed on his face, he surely wouldn’t have sounded so nasally.

Holding his nose, which was miraculously unbroken, Rios waved his hand. The mask covering his mouth and nose seemed to have acted as a cushion.

“Are you okay, Rios?”

Ameri hurriedly removed Rios’s mask. Inside, it was already soaked with blood.

“…I’m… I’m sorry.”

Seeing this, Aria instinctively apologized.

“…Wait, why is there so much blood, yet not a single bruise?”

Rios’s face, aside from the blood, was perfectly clear. It was as if the punch had left no impact at all.

“Oh, this is just a nosebleed. It happens sometimes when I get excited.”

In fact, he had blocked the punch with a protective barrier. The nosebleed was simply caused by his own heightened excitement.

“Now, now, is that really important? What’s important is what’s going on over there.”

Though it was indeed strange how a nosebleed had occurred despite not being hit, Aria lacked the composure to make such a rational judgment.

“…Where…”

Rios etched a small magic circle on the door of the hospital room. Then, he activated the magic circle with his own hand.

[Telepathy]

-[So, what is it that you want to say?]

As he did this, the voices inside the room were transmitted directly into the minds of Rios and his companions.

“…What is this…?”

“It’s an application of telepathy. The sound waves inside are transmitted through the magic circle on the door, making them audible through telepathy magic.”

It was similar to the modified telepathy magic that Leo had developed when they acquired the Sage’s Legacy.

“Is it okay to do something like this?”

“It’s fine. Our Leo is very principled!”

“…I was talking about privacy…”

“Hold on. I can’t hear the conversation.”

“…Oh… okay…”

At times like this, the siblings seemed to be in perfect sync, ignoring everything else and focusing on the conversation. Ameri, too, was caught up in the flow and was soon engrossed in the conversation happening inside the hospital room.

-[…That…]

After hesitating for a moment, Irina opened her mouth again.

-[…Please contact me later…!]

-[…This is…]

Though the scene inside was obscured, the sound of paper being handed over gave them a rough idea of what was happening.

-[It’s… my contact information…! Even if it’s later… please…!]

After hesitating shyly for a moment, she ran out of the room. It seemed she felt too embarrassed to stay any longer.

Thud…!

-[Wait a moment.]

Judging by the situation, it seemed Leo had stopped Irina. The thought of such a cinematic scene made Aria bite her lip until it turned pale.

-[But I… can’t stay here any longer…]

-[Oh, before you go, take this.]

A hand was naturally extended. What was so great about a woman like that, that he would give her more attention? If it were her, she could treat him better than that woman…!

-[…What? Why are you giving me this…?]

-[Take it back. I have no intention of contacting you.]

The unexpected twist left everyone momentarily speechless, including Irina, who was still in the room.

-[…What do you mean… Why…?]

-[Because I don’t like you.]

The straightforwardness continued, and the verbal assassination began without pause.

-[If you were a person with any sense or decency, wouldn’t you apologize first instead of handing this over? Who do you think is responsible for me ending up like this?]

In truth, Leo’s hospitalization had partly been due to his battle with Jehad. And Irina was one of the reasons that fight had happened.

-[Th-that… I didn’t mean… for it to happen like that…!]

-[Oh, I’m sure. You probably wanted to survive too. That’s why you sold people’s lives to the demons, right?]

The tone was gentle, but the words were anything but.

-[You seem to be mistaken, but the reason I helped you back then was because you were also a victim. There was never any personal goodwill or connection involved.]

Rios, who was now munching on popcorn, seemed to enjoy the show. Even Ameri, who had tried to stop him earlier, was now gulping down a caffeinated drink and stuffing popcorn into her mouth as well.

-[But what do you expect me to do when you give me your contact information without even an apology? If I hadn’t caught on and died there, were you planning to leave your contact info at my funeral too?]

The words were closer to a scathing rebuke, and what made them truly terrifying was that they were all logical and based on facts.

-[Just leave. Before I get more upset.]

Leo’s voice exuded a chilling aura. Even without telepathy, the coldness in the room was palpable outside the hospital room.

-[…If you had a scar on your body, you would have had to meet me whether you liked it or not.]

With those words, Leo suppressed his menacing aura.

-[Go. And don’t do this again.]

With those gentle words, the conversation ended. As Irina’s footsteps echoed, Aria and the others quickly moved out of sight.

Irina’s face was as pale as if she had just seen Jehad.

Watching her, Aria and her companions entered the hospital room, feeling quite satisfied.

“Wow~! How’s your body holding up?!”

“I’m fine. How’s your cold?”

“I’m good. You know, colds usually get better after reading a good romance novel.”

What they had just witnessed was almost on par with a scene from a classic romance novel.

“Well, it makes sense~ Our Aria treated you with so much love that it would be strange if you didn’t recover.”

At those words, both Aria and Leo blushed. Both seemed to vividly recall the taste of the potion and lips they had shared.

“…It’s… it’s not like that…! I helped Leo because he was in danger…! Don’t make things difficult for Leo…!”

Normally, Aria would have expected Leo to say something similar, as it was a common sentiment he expressed.

“…Is… is that so?”

However, Leo’s face was unusually flushed that day.

“…Leo?”

“…I… I’m sorry. I know that wasn’t your intention, but… this is… my first time experiencing something like this…! I can’t help but be a bit conscious of it…!”

Leo’s embarrassed confession gave Rios the perfect opportunity to stockpile enough romance for a whole year.

“It’s okay~! It was probably Aria’s first time too.”

“Do you really have to say it like that?”

Everyone’s attention turned to Aria. Naturally, they all assumed it had been Aria’s first kiss.

“…Well… I mean… in a sense…”

But Aria hesitated, fumbling with her words and struggling to give a clear answer.

The reason for her hesitation was understandable. Aria had a distinct memory of her first kiss—a beautiful dream where the sensation and the scene had been so vivid that it lingered in her mind.

“…Sis, you don’t mean…”

“No…! It’s not like that…! I mean…!”

The atmosphere around her grew colder, and the looks she received carried the unspoken question, “We didn’t see you that way before.”

“…Leo…! I mean…!”

“It’s okay, Miss.”

Leonardo smiled warmly.

His smile radiated a refreshing and invigorating aura.

“Shall we go for a walk? I haven’t seen the ‘Ornament of Truth and Facts’ in a while.”

Of course, that refreshing and invigorating smile held a hidden menace.

That day, Aria truly came to understand what fear was.