Chapter 59: Goodbye Mathilda
"Are you here to take me away this time?"
"Maybe yes, maybe no," Jake shook his head. "Following me isn't as stable as with Leon." He gestured toward the apartment.
This was the truth; compared to constantly changing residences, Jake's travels through different movie worlds were clearly more unstable.
"But he doesn't like me. We haven't even exchanged more than twenty sentences this whole time."
"He's always been a bit taciturn."
The two then talked about many things, but most of the time it was Jake asking questions, inquiring about Mathilda's life during this period, and asking her opinions about Leon.
However, the more they talked, the more Jake realized that Leon was really just going through the motions, simply letting Mathilda stay here without caring about anything else.
Of course, he had given Mathilda a few guns and some basic gun-handling skills; these training materials were things Jake had left behind.
"Take me away from here," she asked Jake again.
Her large brown eyes stared at Jake, making him reluctant to refuse.
"Let me test your progress first," he said, standing up and walking toward Mathilda. "If you can hit me with a bullet, I'll take you with me... You should know that following me is dozens of times more dangerous than following Leon. I won't take dead weight with me."
After the incident with the Invisible Man case, Jake had been thinking that he didn't want to be alone anymore. Perhaps having a companion would be better for the long journey between different worlds.
The two arrived at the rooftop of the apartment building. Mathilda pointed her gun at Jake. "Can't we have other options? I'm very accurate."
"If you can hit me, I'll take you with me."
"Okay," she sighed.
Bang! She decisively fired.
From everything Jake had seen, it was clear that Mathilda was a very mature girl. She had her own way of understanding the world, her own judgment, was very opinionated, and was also good at reading people.
The bullet whizzed from the barrel, and her slender, pale arms involuntarily trembled from the recoil.
Facing the incoming bullet, Jake's brain began calculating based on the muzzle position. If he stood still, in half a second—or even less—the bullet from the six-round revolver would accurately hit... about four inches to the right of his right foot.
So he didn't move.
Sure enough, the next moment, a shallow dent appeared four inches to the outside of his right foot.
"You should be more serious," Jake pointed to his head. "Shoot here!"
"I was afraid of hurting you!" she frowned, her cute little nose scrunching in annoyance.
Then came three shots in quick succession! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Mathilda swore she had never seen such a cool move. Under the pressure of three bullets from different angles, Jake remained completely calm, as if he had calculated it precisely. He turned his body to the left, raised his left hand high, and pulled his right leg back...
All the bullets just barely grazed past him!
"Whoa~" she exclaimed, her mouth agape. "That was amazing!"
She then fired another shot, aiming at Jake's head. Jake deftly leaned back, the bullet grazing his nose, passing his forehead, and piercing through his bangs... it just missed!
Seeing Mathilda about to fire again, Jake quickly waved his hand to stop her. "Okay, you passed."
"How did you do that? That was so cool!" Mathilda immediately ran to him, hugging his arm and asking sweetly.
"It's gun-kata, want to learn?"
Her head nodded rapidly, like a bobblehead. "Of course!"
"Then you'll have to earn it with your grades. I don't want someone illiterate by my side."
Mathilda's face instantly fell. Those kids at school were too immature; she hated being around them.
"This is called gun-kata. If you learn it, one person can take down a small army," Jake added another powerful incentive.
"Okay, I'll come back to you with straight A's."
After a simple test, Jake had a general understanding of Mathilda's abilities. "She can use a gun and isn't afraid"—that was her level. She was far from being a professional.
When the two returned to the apartment, they found Leon sitting on the sofa drinking milk.
"Hi, Leon," Jake greeted him.
"Hmm," he replied, still as taciturn as ever.
The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
Perhaps because they hadn't seen each other in a long time, Leon felt bad about ignoring Jake and asked, "Are you back to take her with you?" He gestured toward Mathilda, who was always clinging to Jake.
Jake scratched his head with a wry smile and said, "What do you think?"
"Take her away. She keeps calling your name every night," Leon said slowly, taking a sip of milk. "But she always gets your name wrong."
"Leon!" Mathilda was somewhat embarrassed and angry, but she didn't dare go too far. A taciturn, cold-blooded hitman was far more intimidating than a warm-hearted older brother like Jake.
"I came back to see you both, and it might not be safe for Mathilda to stay with me."
"I'm not afraid," Mathilda immediately stated her position.
Leon ignored her, standing up and pulling out a gun, pointing it at Mathilda. "I only agreed to take care of her for three months. Once the time's up, I'm done with her."
Mathilda shrank back behind Jake, terrified.
Even though he knew Leon wouldn't actually shoot, Jake still stood up. "Alright, I'll take her. But before that, I need to explain what my life is like..."
He didn't hide the fact that he traveled between different worlds from Leon; he even extended an olive branch. If Leon was willing to travel to another world with him, their partnership would be seamless.
Of course, he didn't mention that they were in a movie world. People love watching movies, but no one wants their life to become one.
"The Truman Show" was the best proof. After Truman learned that his life was written in someone else's script, that everything was fake, he only wanted to escape.
That was Truman; he only needed to escape the film studio. But this was a movie world. How could a movie character escape?
Run into the real world, and then what? The real world wasn't prepared to welcome two Jean Renos and two Natalie Portmans, one big and one small.
So Jake chose to keep it a secret.
After he finished speaking, the room fell silent for a moment.
A gentle breeze outside the window rustled Leon's potted plants, as if to prove that time hadn't stood still.
"Sorry, I'm used to my profession," Leon said apologetically, shaking his head. He was getting older, his heart was weary, and what Jake was describing was somewhat beyond his comprehension.
Mathilda, however, asked eagerly, "Will we be able to see the Transformers?"
If it were a movie version, perhaps it really was possible, so Jake nodded. "Of course."
The story of the hitman and the little girl remained unchanged in the end.
This adorable little girl had fallen in love with the assassin who risked his life to save her and avenge her family, even though the man was much older than her.
The only difference was that the protagonist was now Jake, and their story didn't end in tragedy.
"Why are you carrying a paper bag?"
"So that if you feel like throwing up later, you can use the bag..."
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