Keep your allies close and your enemies far

I'm alone...

Since dad left, I'm alone.

The people in the village are still so cruel to me, I haven't done anything to them, I don't understand why they treat me like that.

And behind my back they call me a witch, I don't understand what a witch is and why I am one.

The only thing I know is that I'm alone.

I don't want this life anymore, why does this happen to me? if only I had someone with me...

That's why I'll leave, without my father, I can no longer call this ramshackle shack home, I can no longer call leftover vegetables and crusts of bread a dinner, I can no longer call this torture a life.

I will leave this town and travel aimlessly, maybe somewhere in this world there is a place for me, I hope that place exists and I hope I can find it.

And Dad, wherever you are.

I miss you so much...

----------------------

I woke up and was in my room, having to relive the memories of that woman is always upsetting.

I'm not like her.

She is weak.

I'm not.

Not anymore.

I can't be weak.

Since I'm Leon, I dress alone, as I cannot allow anyone else to know my true identity, even though I had told Eris that I was not afraid of my enemies. The truth is that the longer it takes for them to arrive the better for me.

That's why I got dressed in silence, left my room, and before calling her, as if she foresaw that I was going to do it, Irma came to me.

(Irma) Good morning young master, what do you wish to do today?

Hmm good question Irma. Leonora always had work, between managing the duchy, making escape plans, laying the foundation for other lives and so on. But Leon has more free time, as long as I create a new invention from time to time, everything will be fine.

But on this occasion, Eris has discovered me too soon, I knew this would happen by getting involved with Johan, so maybe I should hurry to gather my allies. So I think it's time to visit my fiancée.

In the game Viscount Lenua is the first person to be killed, I never really understood the motives of the Leonora of the game to choose her victims, since no one shares relationship besides being a nobleman, since her victims don't share rank, nor political ideology and most of them never had contact with Leonora. Sometimes I get the impression that the Leonora of the game didn't have much idea of what she was doing.

But be that as it may, during the investigation you meet a character with a very peculiar magic that for a while is one of the main suspects, her daughter Aisha Lenua.

Hmm do I have to explain?

Magic is a waste of time, and as a rule I never give it too much importance, but in this world although it is only used by less than 10% of the world's population, the vast majority of the people with I get involved use it. So if there were someone listening to my thoughts, which I doubt since it would be a violation of my privacy, they would be quite lost if I don't bother to explain it.

Magic works as follows, at birth you have a limit of mana, the average among people with magic is 800, with this mana you can hire a type of magic, being the most common, water, fire, air, earth, metal, nature, life, light, dark, ice, lightning, image and kinetic, these can be bought by anyone, and then there are other rarer ones but you have to be born with them, and there is no other way to get them.

Among them are, bleed, void, musical, essence, dreams, space, war and illusion, I have also heard that there is the magic of time, but I have never found anyone who uses it so maybe it's just a rumor, however it was, nor the protagonist has access to rare magics, which is a good thing because some limit should have that girl.

When you hire a type of magic your limit goes down, an example would be that having 800 average mana, you want to hire the fire magic that is worth 200 limit, then your limit goes down to 600 and it is impossible to raise it again, but now you can use fire magic without any other restriction than the mana you have left, and that one does reload.

But even if you are born with a lot of mana, it's impossible to hire all the magics because they are linked to your fingers, when you hire a magic you choose a finger of your dominant hand to perform the contract, and taking into account that the thumb is used to supply mana, as a general rule people can only hire a maximum of 4, unless you have the ability to use both hands to use magic, or you are the protagonist.

Once the finger is chosen and the contract is made, to perform the magic it is necessary to join the thumb and the designated finger, this is similar to closing an electrical circuit, it is only enough that both fingers touch to perform the magic, and it is not necessary to chant an incantation, although there are people without sense of the ridiculous that do it anyway.

Just to clarify, my mana limit is 10 and the protagonist's is 1,000,000.

I live in a very fair world...tsk

Be that as it may, Aisha is a bleed magic user and has a pretty respectable mana-limit of 2000, as well as being one of the most "peculiar" people to say the least.

That's why I set up a meeting between the two of us to get her on my side.

Again I head to the viscount's mansion with Irma accompanying me, carrying gifts for Aisha and her family.

The viscount welcomes me in person with a big smile, and asks me to go to the garden of the mansion where Aisha is waiting for me, while I go there, I ask Irma to keep the rest of the maids busy so that no one overhears our conversation.

When I get to the garden I find Aisha sitting admiring the small collection of exotic birds that the viscount has.

I sit down in front of her and she greets me cordially.

(Aisha) Good afternoon Leon, it's a pleasure to have you visit me.

(Leonora) Likewise Aisha, I have a couple of things to discuss with you.

(Aisha) Uh? What do you want to discuss with me?

I give Irma a look, and she nods slightly, letting me know that everything is clear, so I can talk without problems.

(Leonora) Aisha, I'm actually a woman, and my name is Leonora, besides I'm the witch, my father doesn't really exist, and I only use him as a cover so all his inventions are mine, besides I have a plan that will turn the world upside down, are you in?

(Aisha) sounds like fun, I'm in.

Aisha is extremely easy to recruit, well just in case I tell her the truth, she has the ability to know that people are lying, and has developed a great repulsion to people who want to deceive her, on the other hand she tends to trust people who are completely honest with her, she is also a person who will go along with whatever she finds fun, although I can never be sure if she is completely loyal to me, so far she hasn't betrayed me so she is always a good friend and ally.

(Aisha) hmm Leon, Leonora, so as not to confuse me, is it ok if I call you Leo?

(Leonora) It's okay.

(Aisha) So Leo, what's your plan?

I spent the rest of the afternoon telling Aisha about my plans, being very careful and omitting some details, telling her only half truths to avoid her ability to activate.

Before nightfall I say goodbye to a very excited Aisha after making her promise to keep my secrets, and to never talk about them unless we are alone.

With her recruited I feel calmer, I gave her a couple of indications to start working on her blood magic, and a couple more magics to hire, but due to the presence of Eris I might have to take a couple of additional measures.

My mind wandered thinking about what other measures I could take, there are other people I usually use in other identities that I can go after and try to convince to join me, but with Leon's characteristics it becomes more difficult, my different identities are made to make it easier to attract certain people, Irma being my only constant ally no matter what identity I adopt.

Hmm maybe I should get into training? Leon hates hard work and I never make him a great fighter, that's a job for Leona, but given the circumstances and with Eris at my back maybe I should make a slightly different Leon than usual.

But unusually, it seems that luck was on my side this time, as another of my best allies was in Quarel's town square.

In the town square, surrounded by a small number of people, stood a man gesticulating exaggeratedly as he told a story.

(Man) and then I looked at the hydra head on, and it roared at me with its 5 heads so I....

(passerby) hey, didn't you say that the hydra only had 4 heads?

(Man) it's true, what a thing to say, the hydra had 6, no, 9 heads of which it breathed fire from 4 of them, from the others it breathed ice and lightning besides the central head its eyes threw lazers besides....

(passerby) He's an idiot, let's go.

The people slowly began to disperse, and very few stayed to hear the end of the story.

(Man) It was then after cutting off the eleventh head that I realized that the hydra would not die with that alone, so I let myself swallow and from its stomach I made my way to its central heart, which is normally protected by the other 4, and raising my powerful sword Kalimbalin, I slashed through it finally giving death to that beast.

The people around him did not look very convinced with the story, and only a couple threw some coins to the helmet that the man had at his feet, I don't blame them, is hard to believe anything that man says.

His armor was old and rusty, in the center of his breastplate it looked like a child had drawn a sun with paint, and he had an exaggerated toupee, the whole did not inspire much confidence.

(Luztukru) thank you very much for your kind donations so that I can continue in my noble crusade, know that if you ever find yourselves in danger, do not hesitate to call the great Luztukru.

(Luztukru) thank you so much for your kind donations so I can continue in my noble crusade, know that if you ever find in danger, do not hesitate to call the great Luztukru.

The people finally withdrew so I could approach him.

(Leonora) Luztukru eh, tell me something, how did you avoid the poison in the hydra's stomach?

(Luztukru) oh I see you are a connoisseur, very simple, if you cut off the tail of the hydra it can no longer produce poison.

(Leonora) but the tail will grow back in moments, if you don't have a partner to cut it every time it regenerates it, your weapon is impossible.

(Luztukru) oh, very simple my young connoisseur, when I went to get the hydra I made sure it had eaten beef, and that it was a full moon.

The people who overheard our conversation just rushed away, idiots.... as absurd as it sounds hydras are like that.

Every time you cut its head it generates more, so the heads with which it started the fight are not the same ones with which it ended, besides having 5 hearts that will regenerate unless you can cut 4 at the same time or its central heart that is protected by the others, depending on the age of the hydra it can have elemental magic linked to its heads, the poison glands of the hydras are in the tail, and for some reason they do not regenerate it again if they have eaten red meat on a full moon night.

In short his story is true, I can confirm it, in past lives I have gone with him and helped him kill that thing.

Although he may look like a clown, Luztukru is perhaps the best swordsman in the world and one of the people to whom I am most indebted.

(Leonora) So Luztukru, I have something to tell you.

(Luztukru) oh and what do you wish to communicate to me my young beast connoisseur.

(Leonora) actually I'm a woman, and my name is Leonora, every time I die I come back to life from my birth, and it was in a past life where you swore eternal loyalty to me.

(Luztukru) oh my young sir, I think the heat has affected you, let me help you return to your noble abode.

(Leonora) Luztukru, you once told me, to tell you that the last night of that summer, the lilies had never been so beautiful.

Hearing my words, he knelt down in front of me.

(Luztukru) My young lady, what do you want your knight to do?