"W-what?"

Gwen blinked in surprise, but she didn’t recoil from his touch. She simply stayed there, looking at him innocently.

Releasing her soft cheeks, he asked, "You killed them all?"

Gwen nodded, her expression clear, "I did. I even leveled up again."

’Wait, you’re seriously telling me that?’

Sure, they had known each other for weeks, but he still didn’t think it was right to share personal information like that. Well, he told Selene his level yesterday, and she did the same, so...

Leon sighed, then stood up and picked his sword, "Let’s get back your arrows and rewards."

"Hm," She nodded.

Together, they went downstairs and out of the building, heading for the ranch. There were over twenty mutated pigs in the ranch, but only five had their corpses intact. The rest had been devoured by their mates who later died to Gwen’s arrows.

They jumped over the fence of the ranch, then approached the corpses.

"Hm, I wonder how mutated pork would taste," Leon said, turning a pig’s head with his boot.

"Mutated pork? It should be pretty delicious," Gwen nodded, pulling out her arrow from the pig’s ribs. "These arrows are very sharp and lethal. I didn’t have to use my first ability."

He agreed with her as he went to another corpse to remove her arrow.

After a few minutes, they had gotten back all the silver arrows and washed them clean at the well. Gwen had also picked up the few rewards that had been dropped, taking them with her.

"We should be picking one to take with us," Leon said, walking over to the pig that had been killed with a shot to the head.

The pig’s body was still untouched, so he grabbed it and slung it over his shoulder.

"Let’s go."

The two of them left the ranch and made their way back to the hotel. A few minutes after they left, two guys emerged from a nearby building, dressed in ragged clothing.

They had seen how Gwen had sniped the pigs to death, and the other guy who just said a few things to her and guided her.

"They look strong. Where did they come from?" The sleek-haired guy asked, walking over to the ranch.

The other guy followed him, his hair a tangled mess, "I don’t know. But they’re probably not from the slums around here."

"Definitely. They look too clean and healthy," The neat-haired guy snickered, lifting one of the pig carcasses effortlessly.

"This pig should be able to please the boss and he might even promote us."

The other guy gasped in surprise, "Promote? That means... more food, better shelter, and lots of baddies. Hehehehe."

Quickly, he picked up another pig carcass.

The two of them continued chatting and laughing as they disappeared into the local neighborhood.

Meanwhile, Leon and Gwen had already returned to the hotel where Reymond and Selene were waiting for them.

"Where is Marie and the others?" Leon asked, noticing that the building was empty.

"They went out to hunt again," Selene answered, calmly seated in a chair.

"Hunt again? That’s intense," Leon hummed, then went upstairs. "I’ll drop the pig for them in the kitchen. You guys can discuss."

Leaving them behind, he went to deliver the pig corpse to the three other students in the kitchen, then went to his room to refresh himself.

’Thyra still hasn’t come back,’ He thought, wiping his hair with a soft towel. ’Am I... missing her presence?’

An hour later, he came back downstairs only to find Gwen sitting alone.

"They left?" He asked her, settling into the chair beside her.

"Un, Rey wanted them to return before nightfall," She replied, suddenly feeling nervous.

Why was she feeling nervous...?

She didn’t know, and she didn’t want Leon to know. So, she offered him a smile and asked, "Leon, can you tell me more about yourself?"

"Hm?" He seemed surprised, then said, "There’s nothing really worth knowing about me. But you can ask. What do you want to know?"

Gwen shifted slightly, turned to face him, and said, "Your family. Can you tell me about your family? Oh! I’m sorry if it’s a sensitive topic. I just used to wonder how different other families are from mine."

"Okay," He nodded, then answered. "Well, my family was quite normal. My father, my mother, and I—the only child."

Then, his smile dimmed.

"We were three, until my father left us and my mother died."

Gwen’s eyes widened in shock. "You’re an orphan?"

"Not really. Before my mother died, she adopted a little girl who’s now my little sister," He explained.

"Oh, that explains the family member you’re looking for." Gwen sighed, her smile frail. "I’m sorry about the loss of your parents."

"Oh, it’s totally fine now," He smiled brightly. "After all, I have Clara."

Gwen didn’t need to ask to know that Clara was his sister.

"Well then, here’s another question!" She smiled, deciding to change the topic. "Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

He paused at the question, then shook his head. "No."

"Why? You weren’t interested?" Curious, she leaned closer, seemingly wanting to confirm if he was telling the truth.

"I was interested. But strangely, Clara would fall ill whenever I planned a date, so I couldn’t go to any," He said casually. "I guess that was my sign that it wasn’t going to work out."

Gwen blinked in surprise, then frowned inwardly. ’Fall ill whenever you plan a date? Isn’t that too coincidental?’

Suspicious, she asked, "You don’t have a nanny to take care of Clara?"

Leon shook his head, a fond smile appearing on his lips.

"Nah, Clara didn’t like them. She said they’d steal her big brother, so I had to stop trying to hire them and take care of her myself."

Then, he noticed Gwen giving him a weird stare.

He quickly explained, saying, "Uh... of course I stopped taking care of her when she turned sixteen. I convinced her that she was old enough by then."

She nodded slowly, but inwardly, she had a frightening suspicion. ’That girl... doesn’t seem...’