Free Web NovelChapter 259: _No Wonder He Loves Teasing You
Steel Falcon Guild
"Yes, take them to the training hall—no, the other one. The one for newbie Hunters."
Out of all the voices bouncing off the walls of the lobby in the Guild, Leon—yes, Loki—picked up that particular voice. He shoved his hands into his pockets, arching a brow.
The lobby appeared to be alive with activities. Which was mostly moving people carrying crates of aether weapons. With barely a glance he could tell most of them were C-Rank.
A few were B-Rank.
But he didn’t care about the weapons, narrowing his eyes on the person directing the moving people instead.
Guild master Dorothy.
She had her back facing him and was donned in a cream white dress with floral designs. So she didn’t notice when he walked up to her with his biggest smile.
"Guild master," Leon called, staying still as the woman turned to face him. "Good morning. The Guild seems quite busy today."
Dorothy blinked twice before smiling as well. "Oh, yes." She appeared rather indifferent at first. Until his natural charms began setting in.
Her mouth parted and closed a couple times, cheeks reddening a bit. "Dear me, I’ve forgotten your name."
Leon smirked.
Too easy.
"It’s right here," he tapped on the name tag attached to his Hunter suit. "Leon, miss."
"Leon." She repeated, stretching a hand to shake him. "I don’t think I see your handsome face around here much."
Well, well.
Perhaps his charm was working a little too well.
Yet Leon only beamed with a broader smile as he shook her. "I’ve been here a while, Ma’am."
"Please, call me Dorothy." She reluctantly withdrew her hand, those eyes fluttering at him almost dreamily. "Also, that’s a surprise. What was the last raid you were on?"
"The C-Rank dungeon." He answered quickly. "The one with some unexpected mishaps. You know... the one with our new recruit, Ambrose Hale in it."
He instantly noticed the way her expression shifted at the mention of Ambrose’s name. He nearly frowned—but held himself back.
"Oh, yes." The way she collected herself fast added to his suspicions. "I recall that mission."
"Wonderful... speaking of which. Have you seen Ambrose around today?"
"No. Why?"
"Oh, nothing much. It’s just..." he looked left and right before leaning in. "Since that mission I’ve had reasons to believe people here don’t like the poor guy."
Dorothy nodded slowly. "Is that so?"
"Mmhm. And I’d like to know if you’ve seen anything suspicious from someone else. Literally anything at all."
More and more he could feel something wrong with Dorothy. She either knew something... or there was something beneath he couldn’t understand yet.
For now, when he viewed her Aether, he saw an A-Rank Esper. Nothing crazy.
"No, I haven’t." She shook her head, eyes blinking like she just woke up out of something. "I—if you don’t mind I was in the middle of something, Hunter Leon."
... Oh?
Leon didn’t budge for a beat.
Then he backed away, with an understanding bow of his head. "Of course," he lifted his head, "Dorothy."
He watched her walk away without even bothering to direct the moving people like she was doing before. So much for being in the middle of something.
’Looks like we’ve got ourselves our first suspect already,’ Loki thought internally. ’Question is... what negative emotions could she possibly harbour against a Guide who only joined days ago?’
As they pondered this they spun back to the lobby’s entrance, pulling out their phone to give Apollo the update. There was one of the moving men who stared too long at them.
All they did was wink after holding their gaze.
The next second, the man flushed redder than a tomato, falling with the crate in his hands after trying and failing to stay focused.
Loki held back a chuckle as they left the Guild.
★★★★★
Ambrose stood at his house’s backyard when Gabriel appeared beside him with that characteristic quiet grace.
The space god’s presence always carried a subtle shift in the air, like the universe itself bending slightly to accommodate him, and today was no different.
Ambrose felt the familiar weight of the system’s latest directive settling in his mind.
[Gabriel Silverstone Permanent link progress: 22%.]
Gabriel turned to him, his eyes reflecting the soft daylight with an almost ethereal calm. "Ready?" He asked simply, extending a hand.
Ambrose nodded, slipping his fingers into his grasp without hesitation. The world around them blurred in an instant, the backyard dissolving into streaks of colour and light as Gabriel teleported them effortlessly across the continent.
When the disorientation faded, crisp Canadian air greeted them, carrying the scent of pine and distant water. They materialised on a scenic overlook near Niagara Falls, the thunderous roar of cascading water filling the space between them like a living symphony.
Ambrose marvelled at the scene, placing his hands on the railing alongside the tourists taking pictures or otherwise walking past.
"Wait," he cut Gabriel a look when he got beside him. "Why here though? I thought you were going to take us to your house or something."
A sly smile that had no business on Gabriel’s face stretched his lips. "Oh?" He came closer just a bit. "Then once we’re there what would you want us to do?"
Ambrose blinked with confusion at first.
Then he noticed the implication behind those words and almost jumped into the water. "W–What? I didn’t mean—I would never—"
Gabriel barked a laugh, slapping Ambrose playfully on his shoulder.
"God. No wonder Valentine loves teasing you so much."
The Guide was caught between glaring and blushing at the SS-Rank. But when he saw the way he laughed... his chest warmed a bit.
It was nice seeing him like this after last night.
Without thinking much about it, Ambrose nudged Gabriel’s side gently with his elbow. The latter instantly froze, his smile faltering.
Those iridescent eyes flitted from his elbow to his face. For a second Ambrose noticed a rare glint of warmth.
"Gabriel?" Unfortunately, the moment or whatever the heck that was was cut abruptly by a voice behind them. "Is that really you?"
Both men paused before slowly swerving their heads.
