Chapter 69: Laid Bare (1/2)

[Bonus chapters for 600 powerstones, next at 800... Definitely going to make this every 300 ps next week...]

Though Leonel was inwardly seething, his expression didn't change much. He looked like that innocent boy who tricked Joan and her knights for all those months.

There were two reasons the Capital would try to stall for time like this.

One is that they wanted to slow his growth. Powerful beings were good for the benefit of Earth, but their existences would be difficult to control after enough time passed. Earth's current technology could probably put Leonel in a grave right now without much issue, but whether or not that would still be true in a year or more was still unknown.

The second reason was less sinister. It was possible that it really would take this long for the two of them to be accommodated for. It was definitely not easy to build those devices.

Leonel had no ability to deal with the wrist watch on his hand currently. Even now, he couldn't even damage it, let alone take it off. If this was considered low level, who knew how much more was put into those high level ones? Leonel couldn't imagine.

There was still one other reason Leonel didn't flip out though, aside from the fact it would be stupid to do so. Even if he couldn't enter the Zones… it didn't mean he didn't have other methods to grow.

”Does that mean we'll have to sit idly for those months?” Leonel asked with a slight frown.

Even if Leonel knew it was foolish to have an outburst, it would be even more foolish to pretend nothing was wrong. If he didn't show any discontent, it would be even more suspicious.

”Of course not.” Maia replied with a light smile. ”Even if you cannot enter Zones, we still need your help to clear out Invalids. The sooner our Province can start running like normal again, the better. Those like you and Miss Aina will be the backbone of such efforts.”

Leonel's internal sneer deepened. As long as he was on Earth and not sent back in time through a Sub-Dimensional Zone, how could any of his actions be hidden from them? Leonel wouldn't be surprised even if they assigned a satellite to monitor his every move.

'My own personal satellite. I can't lie, that sounds kind of cool.' Leonel lightly joked with himself in an attempt to better his mood.

After a few more rounds of empty words, Maia dismissed the other Tier 5 officials and personally monitored the remainder of the registration process.

As the night waned, more and more of Leonel's secrets were laid bare, a process that only made him more and more uncomfortable.

In the end, Maia's lingering fragrance became like the venomous gas of a poisonous serpent to him. She was practically attached to his hip, reading his expression diligently as though trying to find if he was hiding anything else.

Leonel wanted to hide some things, but he ultimately decided against it.

In truth, he knew that he might have had some leeway. For example, the Empire's scanners seemed to have a problem with judging the merit of things at and above the S-grade. If not for this, why would the broad stroke 'Variant' grade exist?

If Leonel really wanted to, he could have passed off some high level treasures as being graded higher than they really were and use the excuse that he traded in his lower level rewards for them.

However, there were two reasons Leonel decided against this.

Firstly, he simply wasn't confident in continuing to hide these things. Not to mention technology of this era, even technology of a few hundred years ago was already potent enough that no one could escape under its detection. Leonel wasn't foolish enough to believe that he was the exception.

How could it be possible for him to continuously dodge the scrutiny of countless eyes and cameras? In the end, he would be forced to never use those rewards again for fear of the retaliation his lying would cause. The trade off wasn't worth it. These rewards were too useful to him.