Chapter 350: Would You...?

The moment the mutated elephant noticed them, it stomped its legs on the ground and rushed forward. Usually, an elephant would be slow, especially considering its size.

However, this mutated beast wasn’t slow at all. It was like a bulldozer moving at the speed of racing cars.

Leon clicked his tongue, then swung his weapon. At the same time, the mutated elephant swung its trunk at him.

BOOM!

Leon was forced back by a few steps, while the elephant remained where it was. However, its trunk had almost been cut in half, held together by thin strips of meat.

It stared at its injured appendage in surprise, watching as blood poured from the wound.

Leon didn’t care. He dashed at the beast again, swinging the blade with all his strength. It felt weightless in his hand, so it easily cut through the air.

Stomping a foot against the ground, the mutated elephant prepared to tank the attack with its tusks.

As it readied itself, something heavy slammed into its mind. The beast stiffened, and Leon abruptly changed the trajectory of his attack.

His greatsword fell on its head, tearing through flesh and bone. The mutated elephant was forced to kneel on the ground, with its head already a bloody mess.

Feeling his arms go numb from the recoil, Leon stared at the defeated beast in astonishment. It wasn’t dead yet, but it could never rise again. Unless someone like Fel healed it, of course.

Shaking his head, he raised the blade again and struck.

BANG!

The head exploded completely, splashing blood and brain matter on the surrounding trees.

[You have slain a Level 74 Mutated Elephant King]

[You cannot level up!]

[Progress has been stored!]

Leon wiped the blood off his armor and walked up to the corpse. He picked up the blue soul crystal from the ground, then stored the corpse inside his storage ring.

He smiled thinly, realizing that the pocket space was almost full.

He turned to look at the mother-daughter pair staring at him in amazement. "Come on, we still have a long way to go."

They stayed in the forest till evening. Leon made sure they killed every Tier One beast and above, only sparing a few that were actually weak.

He would let the army hunt those ones in their free time.

Indeed, just as Marie had said, there were several Tier Two beasts in the forest now, and each one was a force to be reckoned with—at least to other people.

None of them could take three strikes from Leon. By using Mental Dominion and the unreasonable weight of his weapon, many of them died in a single strike.

Of course, Marie and Nora didn’t just watch. They hunted too. Whenever Leon spotted a Tier One creature, he would direct them to it. Nora killed the weaker Tier One beasts while her mother handled the stronger ones.

By the end of the hunt, Nora had been pushed to Level 50.

Looking at the towering pile of corpses before them, Marie shook her head. "There’s always a sign of your presence whenever you’re around, Boss."

"Hehe." Nora giggled, holding their hands.

’With how many creatures Marie has killed today, I have no doubt that she’ll be pushed to the peak of Tier Two once she evolves.’

Humming, Leon glanced at Marie, then smiled.

"Let’s head back. We’ll send a group to come pack the corpses later."

The woman nodded, hanging her shield on her back.

They quickly left the forest and returned to the city. After informing the guards at the gate about the loot left behind in the forest, Leon headed to the villa.

A few minutes later, heavy trucks rolled out of the city, accompanied by strong Tier One Evolvers.

Meanwhile, Leon and Marie entered the villa, with the young man carrying a tired Nora. The young girl was so exhausted after fighting that she fell asleep while they were walking. Leon carried her to the room and left while Marie helped her change out of the armor she was wearing.

A moment later, she stepped out of the room. She paused, surprised to find Leon standing outside the door, seemingly waiting for her.

"Leon?"

He turned to her, then looked toward the balcony. "Follow me."

Feeling curious and a little anxious, she did. A few seconds later, they stood side by side on the open balcony of the third floor, staring at their surroundings.

The houses in the Inner Ring could be seen clearly, with the people living in them moving about as they returned from their daily jobs.

Leon sighed, opened his mouth, then closed it again. He didn’t really know what to say.

Despite having read several harem novels with shameless protagonists, he realized this was actually harder to do than he expected.

How was he going to explain Thyra to her? How was he going to ask her to be his second lover? How was he going to even face her?

For the first time in a while, he felt indecisive.

’That crafty demon already left too. No one to advise me...’

He couldn’t help but wished people like Einstein and Aristotle had actually written a guide about it instead of making philosophies.

’As if. Let’s go with the cringe route.’

Sighing again, he turned to Marie. "Would you be one of mine?"

"Huh?" She blinked, shaking her head to ensure she hadn’t misheard him.

One of... his?

Leon steeled his expression and continued. "Well, you’re one of the people I genuinely admire, and I do not want to lose you to someone else."

He paused, pursing his lips.

"So... even if it’s a little shameless, I’m asking you. Would you be mine as well?"

An expression of confusion appeared on Marie’s face. "Um... Leon. When you said ’one of’, you don’t mean...?"

He nodded and turned away. "You’re right. I already have someone."

A flicker of disappointment crossed Marie’s face, but it quickly disappeared. She turned away too, then spoke quietly.

"Wouldn’t you be cheating on her?"

Rubbing his nose, Leon looked around, then answered. "Well, she knows. And she supports it too."

Marie’s eyes widened. "What? Why?"

"I don’t know." He shook his head. "I seriously don’t know what’s going on in her head."