Chapter 4

"Grock is sorry," the Stone Giant apologizes.

Gusion is currently standing on the entrance of his room, his face turning into a frown as he scans his invaded personal space. Grock is sitting timidly across him as he hugs the fortress like a baby.

"Grock tried to sleep but Grock has insomnia," he adds.

"You have insomnia?" Gusion asks as he enters in his messed up room. Who would have thought that giants would have something like that?

His bookshelves are broken, the books are scattered around almost covering the floor, his bed is in a total wreck and impossible to be repaired. His glass windows are broken that the cold breeze could enter it easily.

He stares at the huge broken mirror and he gets startled as it suddenly collapses right in front of him.

He wants to shout at Grock but his timid behavior makes him as innocent as a child which is preventing him from venting out his anger on the stone giant.

"Grock did not do this on purpose," says the giant as he stands up. He does not want to anger Gusion but his carelessness is out of his control. It has been a problem for him ever since he existed.

"How did you know that you have insomnia?"

"Lesley told Grock about it," replies the giant as he brightens up upon mentioning the sniper's name. "Lesley said that if one cannot sleep soundly, then one is having insomnia."

Gusion hears a loud crack so he looks behind and narrows his sight towards the stone giant. He tries his best to calm down and bury the fury that is building inside him.

"Grock is sorry for that, too," he states as he lifts his foot from the cracked floor. "Grock should go outside."

Gusion watches him leave and when the giant tries to open the doors, its stony hands made them creak and break like a fragile glass. The doors got off from its hinges and fell on the floor with a bang. He face-palms at the wreckage and it would take days for his room to be fixed. Plus, he does not have the time to fix all that himself especially that he needs further research about light elements so he could apply them in practicing his combat skills.

"I need my room to be fixed as soon as possible. I need to take Grock for a walk," he demands from their family butler before storming out from the room. He lets out a sigh for he had never taken into consideration that it would be this hard to keep a stone giant inside your home.

Upon taking his exit from their mansion, he sees Grock mumbling something as he sits by the stairs. He also senses the gloomy aura he emits, probably feeling down after what he had done with his room.

"Want to go see Lesley for a bit?" he says which the giant agreed to reluctantly.

"Lesley seems to know a lot about your kind," Gusion comments.

"Yes, Lesley said she read a book about us," Grock states.

Gusion nods in response, "And you seem to be very fond of her."

Upon reaching the Vance household, Gusion sees Lesley sitting by a tree branch near the gates while wiping her rifle.

"Grock is here!" the stone giant announces as he waves the fortress above his head.

Lesley smiles at him and jumps off to greet them.

"A visit?" she asks but Grock does not know how to respond so he stared at Gusion, waiting for him to reply on his stead.

"No," he replies. "You know more about their kind so it's only logical for you to take care of him."

"Are you telling me to babysit him?" Lesley clarifies. With her tone of voice and with an eyebrow raised, annoyance starts to show on her face.

"Grock is not a baby," the stone giant says.

"Grock, can you let us talk alone?" Gusion asks, thus he goes sitting on a corner.

"You've got to be kidding me, baby-faced Paxley. Do you think I have a lot of free time on my hands to take good care of that giant?" Lesley complains as she stares daggers at him.

"If you want to learn how to handle him, get Harley to teach you," she adds as she crosses her arms.

"No way," Gusion disagrees. He has never been in good terms with Harley since their personalities clash whenever they are put in the same room.

"We'll take care of Grock since that incompetent mage cannot handle such an easy task. You okay with that, sis?" Harley comes up as he stands with a haughty attitude.

Lesley giggles at his statement but immediately turns back into her old self.

"Okay, we'll take in Grock for now," she agrees.

Gusion stares at them both with a stoic face, not wanting to show his irritated face to them for he knows too well that it would just push them further to tease him.

Just then, Harley takes the initiative to show Grock around the city, leaving the two alone.

"You are really siblings, no doubt about that," Gusion scoffs before he turns his back to leave. "I'm leaving now, baby."

"Gusion!" Lesley calls out to him.

He stopped on his tracks but did not look behind. He is quite taken aback for it is his first time hearing her call him by his name with no annoying nicknames attached. It was as if it is a surprise attack from her that he never expected.

Gusion turns around and looks at her. He could see a bit of hesitation on her face but he is curious on what she's going to say so he said nothing.

"I just want to inform you that whatever happens, I'll stop you," Lesley states which confused him. He noticed her clenched fists, and with her firm and serious tone of voice, he could hint her determination.

"What?"

Lesley rolls her eyes and turns her back on him.

"You'll get it sooner or later. See you around, babyface," she replies before entering the Vance mansion.

He was a bit confused but he simply shrugged it off for he will come to know what she meant sooner, or may be later. Before Gusion could take another step away from his location, another one came to speak to him.

"Why do I always see you hanging around the Vance vicinity?" Guinevere comes up with fury. She does not want to doubt Gusion since he is very much aware of their situation but every time Lesley is involved, she could not help herself but waver. She would ask herself if Gusion is willing to continue their marriage.

"I just came to bring Grock over," Gusion simply replies. "And what's the occasion? Why are you all dressed up?"

Guinevere smiles at him and takes a graceful turn, making sure that Gusion has taken a good look at her. She is wearing her lacy, casual blue dress that is trimmed with white lace. She paired it with her one inch high heels. Her curly hair is tied at the back with a blue ribbon with few locks of her brown hair hanging on the side of her cheeks.

"I was tasked to work in the city's Magical Laboratory. Ain't it great?" Guinevere replies.

Gusion nods in response.

"That's good especially that it matches your hobby. Anyway, I've got to go back to Lion Academy, see you around," he says.

When he's a few steps away from her, Guinevere gathers her courage despite the fast beating of her heart. With the hope that she'd hear the words she wanted to hear from him directly, she decides to ask something.

"Gusion!" she exclaims. "Aren't you going to say something to me?"

Gusion stares at her with confusion. He tries to remember if he has forgotten a promise she told her but he remembers nothing.

"Something?" he asks.

Guinevere smiles awkwardly.

"Nothing, you should go to the academy now. You're late."

Gusion nods and leaves without turning back.

Guinevere slumps in sadness.

"Why won't you tell me that you're training to be an assassin?" she mumbles to herself. "I do not care about our engagement at all, what I want is for you to trust and rely on me. I want to support you, Gusion. So please, do not draw a line between us."

Along his way, Gusion notices a commotion. The crowd is cheering so there must be a fight going on. He tries to pry and see who is having some sparring in broad daylight and right on the central plaza.

But before he could even see a thing, he is suddenly pushed back and the crowd starts to disperse.

He clicks his tongue in annoyance, "It's over already?"

He is about to take his leave but something has caught his attention. A man wearing a laboratory coat is running towards his colleague. It is unusual for him to take notice of such trivial things but his instinct tells him to pay attention.

"I have found a capable spearhead for the squad," he heard the man in white says.

"Who might that be?" asks by his co-worker.

"A ninja from Iga," the other replies.

"A squad?" he thinks. He watches the two speak as they leave the vicinity.

Without thinking rationally, he makes his way into the crowd and searches for the two people who had just fought.

"Contented?" he hears a black-haired girl asks. Half of her face is covered and she is currently speaking with Claude. Judging from her appearance, she is not from Magical City. She is a ninja which means she's an outsider.

"A ninja from Iga," he remembers what the man said.

"A spearhead of a squad, huh," Gusion mumbles to himself which sparks an idea.

Pondering over what he has heard, he walks back into Lion Academy.

"Ain't this interesting?" he states with a smirk curved on his lips.