The Reincarnated Hitman

Chapter 23: Let’s Eat

"Run, Liam!"

It was the first thing he heard as his eyes opened.

His eyes widened at the scene before him, and as much as he wanted to follow the voice’s request for him to run, he found himself unable to move.

There was also the fact that he felt smaller, forcing him to look down at his hands, noticing that they belonged to a child.

Surrounding him was blood and corpses everywhere, and ahead of him was a woman lying on the ground, screaming for him to run.

Liam couldn’t properly make out her face, but her words were suddenly off when something stabbed through her back and out of her chest.

He watched as the woman went completely still before he lifted his head towards her attacker.

The person was covered in complete darkness as they withdrew the sword that stabbed through the woman’s chest.

They finally turned towards Liam and slowly started walking towards him, yet he still couldn’t move from where he stood.

The person stopped directly in front of him before leaning down, allowing the light to illuminate his face, revealing a face that caused little Liam’s eyes to go even wider.

The man looked at him with a smile before saying,

"Hello, little me."

***

Liam’s eyes snapped open, and he was greeted by an unfamiliar white ceiling.

Slowly, he sat up, confirming that he was definitely not in his apartment anymore; after all, this looked like the interior of some type of modern home.

One which he assumed was similar to the other houses he could currently see through the floor-to-ceiling glass by his side.

Liam got off the bed and started walking towards the door, only to pause as he caught a reflection of himself.

His hair had reverted to black, but that wasn’t what he was paying attention to.

Instead, he looked down at the plain grey shirt and pants that definitely weren’t his.

’Someone undressed me?’ He couldn’t help but think.

Though that wasn’t of much importance right now, so he continued out the door and towards a set of stairs that seemed to lead down.

Towards the living room, he hoped.

"You’re awake."

The moment he reached the bottom of the stairs, a voice suddenly pulled his attention.

Seated on the couch with a mug in hand was Riley, her overcoat traded for a plain shirt and her hair seemed a lot messier than earlier.

There were a couple of band aids here and there on her body, but she seemed mostly fine.

In her hand was a mug that she was slowly sipping from.

"Whose house is this?" Was the first thing he asked.

"Mine," Riley simply responded, looking at him.

He looked around the living room, noticing exactly how expensive everything seemed before adding, "Detective work pays well."

"When you’re good at it." She nodded as she looked away from him and back at her mug, "I brought you here instead of a hospital since I’m certain you wouldn’t want to appear in the HA’s files."

"Thank you," Liam muttered before pausing and turning back to her, "speaking of which, how long was it out?"

He rarely had that dream unless he’d been unconscious for an extended period; at this point, it had become his body’s natural alarm clock.

"Two days," Riley confirmed his thoughts.

Though it wasn’t as long as he had expected, given the amount of venom in his veins before he passed out.

"And Lea?" He asked again.

But before Riley could respond, a voice came from behind him, "Big brother?"

Liam turned around and noticed Lea walking out of the kitchen with what seemed to be an apron on.

Her complexion looked a lot healthier, and there seemed to be no signs of Ophion’s venom within her, which was a relief. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

Behind her were both Eli and Noa, who seemed to have been helping her in the kitchen.

Before anything else could be said, Lea suddenly rushed towards him and wrapped him in a tight hug with her face buried in his chest.

Liam felt a warm liquid soak through his shirt almost immediately, and he quickly realized that she was crying.

Returning the hug, he gently patted her head as he whispered, "I’m sorry."

After all, there was still the undeniable fact that it was because of him that she had been in danger in the first place.

He slowly continued patting her head as he felt relief wash over him. He was now assured that both the pill and Ophion’s venom had been dealt with.

"Don’t apologize."

Lea finally said, her voice sounding muffled against his chest, but the words were clear enough.

Liam didn’t say anything in response; instead, he just looked towards Eli, who also seemed to have tears in his eyes, before beckoning the kid closer.

Eli rushed towards the two and joined their hug, and the family of three stayed like that for a while.

Lea finally pulled back, wiped her face, and, muttering with a chuckle, "This is embarrassing."

"No, it’s not," Eli said, wiping his own face with his sleeve, completely unbothered.

Lea looked at him for a second before letting out another small laugh at the kid’s expression.

"I smell food," Liam muttered as he turned towards the kitchen, and Lea finally recalled what she was previously doing.

"Ah, I was just about to let Miss Riley know that the food is ready," she said, turning toward Riley, who was quietly observing the two of them.

"You don’t have to add Miss to my name," She finally spoke up, "it makes me feel old."

Liam looked at her with a blank expression, but Lea punched his arm before he could say anything.

"I wasn’t going to say anything," he defended as he looked at his sister’s expression.

Lea just narrowed her eyes at him before pointing towards the dining table and saying, "Sit."

He followed her instruction, with Noa, Eli and Riley joining him there.

Noa looked at Liam for a while before she said,

"Thank you for rescuing me, again."

"Don’t mention it," Liam replied, waving a hand before him.

Lea soon returned with bowls of food, setting them down one by one before taking the last seat herself.

"Let’s eat."