Since today was a holiday, I let myself sleep in.
Longer than I should have...
By the time I finally opened my eyes and checked the clock, it was already 9:20 AM.
I sat up with a yawn, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. The room was quiet—too quiet. I looked around.
I frowned, confused. She was here last night, wasn’t she? Then I spotted a folded note on the kitchen table.
I dragged myself over and picked it up.
> [I’ll be waiting for you at the meeting spot.
Remember, if you’re late, I’m breaking your balls.
A cold sweat instantly ran down my back.
She wasn’t joking. Knowing Leona, she’d definitely follow through with that threat.
I checked the time again.
I scrambled to get dressed, still halfway tangled in my shirt as I brushed my teeth with my other hand. I shoved a piece of bread in my mouth, half-burnt from the toaster, and ran out the door with my shoes barely on.
This was all her fault anyway! She was the one who started teasing me last night!
I was just defending myself with a little harmless teasing of my own, and now she’s threatening violence?
But of course, no one’s here to witness the injustice I, a simple man, am enduring at the hands of a crossdressing lunatic with too much free time.
And now I’m sprinting through the street, half-awake, trying to save my future children from being kicked into the next era.
Some holiday this turned out to be.
I arrived early. Two minutes early, to be exact—just enough to earn a few seconds of pride and maybe avoid getting called "loser and breaking my balls" within the first minute of our outing.
A few cadets passed by, throwing glances in our direction. Well, in her direction.
Leona had ditched the academy uniform and was now in civilian clothes—clean white tunic under a sleeveless brown coat, pants tucked into leather boots, and a satchel slung across her shoulder. Despite trying to look casual, she still gave off that noble-born glow that screamed someone important.
Too bad she was also pretending to be a guy.
I approached cautiously, trying to hide the fact that I was still a little out of breath. She glanced at me from the edge of the fountain she was perched on, one leg crossed over the other, her fingers tapping against the rim of the stone like a ticking clock.
She didn’t say anything right away. Just stared.
"Hey. I’m here, right? Two minutes early, actually."
She blinked once. Slowly.
Then her lips curled into a smirk. "Congratulations. You get to keep your balls today."
I rolled my eyes. "What an honor. Really. I’ll write it down in my gratitude journal later."
Leona stood and gave me a once-over. "You didn’t comb your hair."
"I didn’t have time! You didn’t give me a warning, just a threat!"
"You think threats don’t count as warnings?"
"I think they count as trauma."
She laughed. Not a full-on cackle, but enough to tell me she was in a good mood now that I was here—on time and thoroughly flustered. Great.
"You still haven’t told me why you dragged me out from my bed like that? You know, you didn’t have to threatened me," I grumbled, adjusting my jacket.
"I didn’t drag you out of bed," she said innocently. "I just said I’d hurt you if you were late."
"Which is completely different, obviously."
Leona turned and started walking, casually waving for me to follow.
"Alright then. Ready to waste your achievement points?"
I shrugged. "I prefer the term invest."
She shot me a smirk over her shoulder. "Invest in what? Detergent for your personality?"
I exhaled through my nose. "Shut it, will you?"
There was no bite in my words. Leona just laughed, clearly enjoying herself.
"So, what are you planning to buy?" she asked, her hands behind her head. "If you want my opinion, I’d say go for something that boosts your stats or helps in training. Of course, I won’t stop you if you’re dead set on blowing it all on something flashy..."
She blinked, caught off guard by how fast I shut that down.
Leona probably thought I was itching to buy some new weapon or rare artifact—something shiny to show off. But that kind of thing was meaningless to me right now. With my current abilities and trait, those expensive tools wouldn’t give me the return others expected. There were better ways to grow.
"I’m just planning to buy nutritional supplements. Some boosters too," I explained.
For a second, Leona was quiet. Then her face lit up with a proud smile—genuine this time.
"Finally," she said. "Someone who actually gets it. No need to rush into the flashy stuff. Build your foundation first."
We turned a corner, entering the marketplace wing of the academy. The air was filled with the scent of polish, fresh scroll paper, and mana-infused herbs. Students milled about, chatting excitedly about what they were going to buy. Most of them looked like they were on their way to buy something loud and expensive.
Meanwhile, I headed straight for the low-key corner booth run by a sleepy-eyed clerk and stacked with bottles and vials.
Leona followed, grinning. "You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were starting to take this whole ’growth’ thing seriously."
I picked up a bottle of high-grade stamina tonic, checked the label, and nodded. "It’s not about taking it seriously. It’s just... I want to survive."
Leona’s smile faded slightly, becoming softer. "Fair enough."
Then she nudged my shoulder. "Still, don’t forget to enjoy yourself a little. You’re not just here to survive. You’re here to live too."
I glanced at her. The way she said it... it felt oddly sincere.
"...I’ll try," I said.
She rolled her eyes. "I’ll take that as a win."
We moved on to the next stall. For once, I didn’t mind the company.