Only I Am A Reader
chapter-498

'That should be right about it…'

He wasn't there, and the novel couldn't have possibly included a situation that didn't happen, but Leo almost cooked a chapter's worth of imaginary words to describe the situation as he envisioned it.

Naturally, he wasn't making everything up. He not only relied on his Sherlockian observation, but he also integrated the character they showed in the novel, especially in their inner monologue.

'I think?'

It was a lengthy description, but it could be summarized in a few words. Clara's ability was flexible enough to save both her and 'Porter' without any trouble.

However, just because it wasn't infinitely sustainable, Clara pushed the porter to play bait and pull the monster away from her as far as he could. That way, her bubble would stay intact for as long as possible, which would result in higher chances of survival.

Unfortunately, she wasn't smart enough to consider the effect of her instant betrayal, she expected the poor man to keep running for his life with a shattered heart.

Having ended up dead in a few seconds, Clara suffered the exact fate that she dreaded. Her bubble was getting slashed non-stop.

Stuck counting the minutes and seconds leading to her death, her stress-eating got the better of her. Of course, that was until another scapegoat appeared in place.

"Let's see what you are made of."

Leo's appearance was no short of a miracle. Of course, it wasn't that Clara trusted in his ability that cut a part of Ken's barrier, rather, he was perfect to take on the role that the porter failed to perform.

Even if he was unable to lead the monster away as she hoped, Clara was convinced that he, as a combatant, could at least stall for some time, thus extending the clock on her Impenetrable Bubble.

'Sure, I don't mind.'

For the sake of an easy and convenient lesson, Leo didn't mind playing the role of the foolish hero. Naturally, being a scapegoat wasn't it, he was going to become Aurora's replacement!

In order to put on a more believable show, Leo took a minute of his tight time to play around with the lion-faced monster for a little bit.

Just like the monsters that he encountered in this Gate so far, this was another brute force monster that had no abilities whatsoever.

Leo reckoned that the deformed Gargoyles had something that they could do, but he killed them too fast before they could use anything.

That being said, the muscle monster worked well for Leo's current circumstances. He could spice up the situation without having to reveal any of his other abilities to counter his enemy's.

"Don't worry, Clara. This will end soon!"

Convenience was one reason, but the second reason why Leo wasn't wrapping things up as quickly as possible was very simple. He didn't want to rely on assumptions too much.

He had prejudice toward Aurora's teammates because of the novel. However, the world Leo was currently in hadn't been exactly faithful to the source material.

Even the core parts of the story seemed to be slightly different. So in the end, Leo wanted to check his targets out to make sure they were as bad as they were in the novel. Although…

"Thank you! The area beyond this cave is more spacious, things should be easier for you there."

'You really don't disappoint.'

In this case, there was no deviation whatsoever. When it came to the character of the teammates, they appeared to be even worse… At least when it came to the living ones.

'Thanks but no thanks.'

"It's okay."

Having analyzed Clara's face and her responses, Leo found no sincerity whatsoever. In the end, she was still trying to push him and the monster away.

Without the need to stall any further, Leo now had to change his performance and imitate Aurora's trusty overpoweredness!

Splatttt!

As light suddenly started overflowing out of it, Leo brought down his sword at the monster, vertically bisecting it into two equal parts.

'I can't do it.'

Leo contemplated screaming 'S-sworddd of Lighttttt!' to encapsulate the role he was playing, but it was just too cringy for him to do. A silent execution shouldn't be that bad either.

'Right?'

"You- You-"

Having expected nothing from Leo, Clara was speechless. She truly thought he was another useless person like the rest of the team.

"Didn't I tell you not to worry? As long as my sword remains in my hand, we can conquer any difficulty."

Even just laying down the groundwork for the main point was hard to say without cringing. On the bright side, Leo was starting to get used to it. He might develop some cringe resistance soon enough!

"Haha, right! I knew you could do it from the start!"

With another ray of hope shining on her from above, Clara had to keep up appearances in order not to lose it. Besides, her first words did indeed imply that she believed in him. Whether she meant it or not didn't really matter.

"So… What are you going to do now? Do you plan on staying inside?"

Considering all the time that he had already wasted, Leo quickly got the point behind half of what he did. He had to take the crab out of its shell!

"I-"

"This was a very strong barrier so it's probably not so easy to put it out again after retracting it, but you couldn't possibly wait here forever."

The short introduction did include a brief summary of everyone's ability to ensure smooth cooperation, but no one mentioned their ability's conditions or its limitations.

As such, Leo had to act as if he was guessing while he was leading Clara on.

"I won't leave you alone so you shouldn't worry about protection. At the very least, this would be a good chance to take the time and prepare your next barrier."

Strong persuasion came with the risk of looking suspicious. However, Leo had a proper reason to be impatient and stressed in a Gate like this.

He also wanted to emphasize his impatience so that the selfish Clara could forget the possibility of him waiting by her side forever.

"...That makes sense."

In the end, Clara couldn't deny the strong point that Leo made. Without any attacks, she could keep the bubble up for a few more days, but what would happen during the time she took to recover her Enigma?

Clara had to make use of Leo's protection so she could renew her trump card once more!

'Perfect.'

Just like that, Leo finally reached the 11th challenge's final assignment.