After picking up the mountain of food Leo had ordered in advance, we finally began to head towards the stadium.
"Aren't we a little too early? This place is basically a desert now." I commented as we passed through the gates.
At this moment very few people were inside the building, and most of them were either cleaning the place, preparing the food to serve, or just placing many of the signs and ads inside the building.
"See, I told you it's way too early; there are still 4 hours left." I commented after checking my watch.
"We're not here to stay, just to drop off the food." He replied.
"So many things to do…" I complained as I dropped the food.
Leo used his flames to make a small platform underneath it to catch the food.
If you could've just done that. Why make me carry it all morning?
I could tell he was desperately trying to stop himself from smiling, trying to keep a poker face after that revelation.
You…
I wanted to punch him so badly but refrained myself and exhaled to calm myself down.
Because of how much we were carrying, we had to take the stairs and left the food in a VIP room, a small box with a glass window directly facing the arena, prepared at the center of the stadium.
Many people inside the arena were currently leveling the sand and turning on some sort of barrier that separated the arena from the rest of the stadium so that any stray attack couldn't hit the crowd.
"Now we can properly enjoy ourselves, don't you think?" Leo announced after dropping all the food he had bought.
"What did you want to do?" I asked as I turned around.
I caught him admiring yet another artifact he had most likely stolen from my magazine.
A small kitchen knife, something I made out of laziness, is supposed to float and cut things on its own so that I don't need to peel and cut my own apples anymore and let the artifact do all of the work.
When did you…
"I heard there's an auction house around these parts. Don't you want to sell your prototypes there? Just to gauge the reaction of the public?" He asked me with a smug look on his face.
What are you planning now? What's with that annoying smile?
"What's the point if you're going to buy them anyway?" I replied.
"Why would I buy them?" He pretended to look offended, placing his hand on his chest as if his word meant anything.
"Ah right, you don't buy them; you steal them while I'm asleep." I corrected myself as certain memories resurfaced in my mind.
"I rescue them. Sometimes I just borrow them." He protested, puffing up his chest.
"And never return them," I added.
"You already mass produce them; what's going to change if I take one or two?" He said, crossing his arms.
"It's just rude; you could've just asked for them…"
"But you would refuse; out of hundreds of weapon requests, you only made three, and you gave me weapons I never even asked for." He complained.
That's… it's just that… I don't find your ideas fun.
"You don't need risky prototypes." I said to change the topic back to him stealing prototypes.
"Then don't abandon the interesting and unique ones! Stop wasting time making mostly weapons; you should make other tools, just like my armor or the dice you first made." He yelled.
I was surprised; it was rare to see him get this heated over something.
"The uncle doesn't really like that."
"The uncle doesn't really like that," Leo repeated my words in an annoyingly mocking tone.
"Stop waiting for his permission to do everything; who cares if it could be dangerous… it's not like anyone besides us will handle those kinds of weapons." He assured me.
I took a long sigh and then decided to cooperate to end the argument.
"What is that you want?" I asked frankly.
"Promise me you'll do it." The mood had completely shifted; he rapidly put on fake glasses and took out his phone to read something.
"Fine, I promise," I said.
Anything to stop you pestering me.
"I really liked the tie you made a long time ago that created an illusion around your body to change your appearance."
That one? I also thought it was pretty. That doesn't seem all that bad. Wait, why are you readin—
"Also, if possible, I would like for you to remake the bracelet that allowed you to phase through any solid object." He added.
Ah… Figures he would want the incinerated items.
"I want the Zealot's set, everything, necklace included. I know you didn't write it down; I have my eyes on that," he said as he took out his phone to read from a long list of items.
"It doesn't even… you don't need it," I complained.
"I want it, anyway." He replied.
"Next are the angelic wings." He then began scrolling on his phone through the long list of items he had prepared.
You can already fly…
"The baseball bat that changes the weight of the things it hits and a set of balls to hit."
You're not planning something crazy, are you?
"Why do you need that?" I asked him.
"I've got a few ideas I want to try."
"I want the reverse name lineup, all of them, the original prototypes, if possible. Also, I want your own variant of Recoil, Collapse, Lucid Dream, and the Sword of Dawn."
"You've got quite the list already…" I jokingly commented.
"This is not even 10% of my total wishlist; want to see more of it?" He said as he turned his phone around to show me.
"No thank you, not right now." "I said," pushing it away.
"You promised now, no backing away." He reminded me.
"Yes, yes, I'll keep my word."
Although I don't know if I can just hand over the reverse name lineup—they were meant originally for the uncle—I guess I could always make a copy of them.
As we headed outside our VIP room within the stadium, I detected a hidden individual. He was different than my bodyguards; his invisibility was emitting demonic energy, making the act of tracking his location surprisingly easy.
"I didn't think there would be a thief here… And here I thought we hired some good security." Leo complained with his usual playful tone.
The intruder was startled by his statement and immediately tried to make a run for it.
"We'll take care of it." A familiar voice whispered to me, then he dashed forward, tackling the intruder and pinning it to the ground.
Wow… So fast… Why wait until we get to point it out for you? How annoying.
"Don't kill him!" I ordered as soon as I sensed killing intent from the bodyguard.
"Call Uncle; we've got an emergency." I told Leo as I activated a transformation.
I could feel the levels of demonic energy rising all around us.
Are they testing their luck? Do they think they could even last a second against us?
Then everything disappeared; a familiar yet overwhelming pressure devoured everything around us. Even the invisible bodyguards were forced out of their invisibility along with the girl they had apprehended.
Mother… Why are you here?
"Uncle, we've got a situation over here; we need some support and a quick cleanup if possible. The aunt has dealt with most of the intruders; we have no idea of their status. We captured one." He quickly relayed all the relevant information.
In the meantime, his hand was digging in the pouch I gave him, trying to find the right artifact to summon.
Then his body rapidly stiffened.
Something about him changed; he seemed worried, he was feeling pity, and he had some killing intent.
"So? What did the uncle say?" I asked.
"We're going to take her for a round of questioning. The uncle said we can—"
A red flash suddenly blinded us, and before we knew it, we were already face-to-face with my mother.
She was dressed in a red dress; a golden necklace adorned her neck; strange tattoos were traveling up and down on her arms; those were long carps that appeared to be swimming on her skin.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her.
I didn't even bother hiding my hostility.
"Yes, the aunt is right here; do you want me to pass the phone to her?" Leo asked the uncle on the phone.