Chapter Three (Part 3): Anything, But Not the Thing I Want the Most

"Have you been hurt, Mr. Ozwald?"

The moment that strong lady expressed her concern in the flattest voice possible, my pathetic ass even hesitated to look at her in the face, so I had to take a look at her apparel instead. My eyes moved from her matte black knee-length box pleats skirt to her black two-piece suit and tie, which ultimately gave her the look of a student council president out of a Japanese high school anime. 'What a weird sense of fashion.' I thought to myself, but then when I had finally worked up the courage to look at her face, it was also then that I no longer had any questions regarding her taste...

Since that youthful face of her ultimately resembled Leo's face to the point that if they both covered their hair and close their eyes, then stood together side by side, it would take me a minute or two to try guessing who is who. The only few differences between the two were their eyes and their hairstyle, in which this lady had deep blue eyes as dark as the depth of the ocean and she wore her bangs in a traditional blunt style, with little to no stylization, and the back of her hair also reached chin length, slightly longer than that of Leo. Last but not least, there were two shoulder-length wisps framing her face, which seemed to act as the unique characteristic of her appearance.

Overall, I must say that... She was handsome as heck and gave an impression of an aloof young prince. If there wasn't that small bulge on her chest, I would assume that she's a boy who hasn't got hit by puberty yet. And no, I was in no way exaggerating. She was more handsome than 50% of the men of the Human realm, that's for sure. Just like Leo and his vigorous body that seemed to surpass at least half the population of all men on Earth.

What was it with these two boy and girl? Were they like... Apollo and Artemis? The divine twins?

Were all Hunters this good-looking?

"Mr. Ozwald, are you in shock?" O--

"Yes? A-- No! I'm not! Thank you!"

While I was moving my hands frantically as a way to tell her that I was still good and well. Those piercing blue eyes then narrowed themselves down, not hesitating to show signs of doubt, and... that was indeed the first kind of emotion that got expressed on her face.

"There's a possibility that you might be in shock. Let's get you to safety. Please follow me." As she said those words, her body then lowered itself down to pick Leo's body up by his buckle collar using one hand, and then... she simply dragged him across the floor, like he was a small sack of rice or something. There wasn't a look of difficulty in her movement, not even the slightest bit. She was dragging him like he was a tiny cat.

Such was the strength of a Huntress...

"Is he going to be punished?" As she was walking past me, I couldn't help but ask of Leo's coming fate. Looking at how she treated him and her immense strength, I wasn't so sure if she would let him walk out without a broken bone...

"Do you want him punished?" And the second she asked me back, she just halted her steps but didn't bother to turn and face me.

"No, I don't."

I had no reason to say 'Yes' to that question. Even though I wanted him to learn his lesson and not 'harass' me again but... I wouldn't want him hurt if things like kicking the sh*t out of him were her justice.

Well, I just didn't get mad at him enough to wish for him to get beaten, to be fair.

"As expected of Mr. Ozwald. Although despite your personal wish, he will be punished."

"..."

Oh, I see. Never mind then.

*****

While the mysterious lady was serving me a cup of hot water at 9 in the evening, I could hear Leo's painful scream 'AAAAAAAAAA' resonating through the air, coming out of a room that had a sign 'The Confession Room' pasted above its locked tight metal door with another 3 pieces of metal bars shutting it like it was some kind of a solitary cell for the worst of an inmate.

"Please, don't let yourself be concerned. He's a veteran when it comes to that room." said the lady while she was putting down the electric kettle. Somehow I started to feel even more concerned after hearing such a statement...

I wondered how many times a Hunter has to go in there to be called a veteran, and why was it called 'The Confession Room', it sounded too similar to those particular rooms in churches, just thinking about all of this made me sweat.

"Is the water too hot, Mr. Ozwald?"

"@$%?-- No, law enforcer!" And I literally choked when the lady asked me such a question.

W-Was I sweating that much or she could just smell my sweat??? Just like Leo and his cat sniffing???

"You don't need to call me by that title, yet."

"My name is Nagisa. Please call me by my name."

"...?" 'Nagisa'? While I was squirming in my chair, one of my eyebrows did raise itself at that name. Why did it sound... Japanese?

"I-I see. Nice codename you got there, Nagisa. Haha."

"No, it's not my codename. I just have no surname."

"..."

Alright... How should I react to that information... Should I smile, or should I laugh, or--

"Please, don't be nervous. It's normal for some of us to have no surname."

"Would you like some bedtime tea? We have a variety of tea, low caffeine green tea included."

I wasn't really sure if that was her way of changing the subject for me or not... but one thing I was sure of was that my body got dead stiff having been asked that dreaded question. 'No. Normally, I don't drink anything after noon but my friend's coffee and water. It doesn't agree with my system. Also, if you have mercy, please let me go to sleep, after that we can get down to whatever business you have with me TOMORROW.' I wanted to reply with that kind of straightforward answer, but...

...

Ugh... As expected of Adel Ozwald, the quiet kid in high school...!

"Thank you... T-Then... May I have some Earl Gray?" I almost gritted my teeth as I said that. The smile on my face at that moment felt so fake, I want to die. I just... never had the heart to say no!

"As you wish. But I must inform you firsthand that our black tea would not be of the finest quality, as our supply line for the finest tea from the UK has been shut down due to the latest siege of London, and most importantly, Earl Gray would not be as good as Chamomile or green tea when it comes to helping you sleep."

"It's fine. I'm pretty much okay with anything as long as it fills my stomach... Hahaha..."

"I understand, but we would like to serve you the best food and beverage possible, as you are our latest Avatar of an angel, and you've just awakened, we need to ensure your positive growth."

"O-Okay... But I don't really like eating and drinking that muc--"

I didn't even get to finish that sentence properly. All of a sudden, Nagisa decided to lift her palm at me, and then some weird blue light came out of her fingerless glove (which I had decided to call it a hologlove for now) scanning me from head to toe, making me pause in bewilderment, and my mouth remained open for a good couple of seconds.

"According to the scan's result, you are slightly dehydrated. If you don't fancy having tea, I recommend that you drink another glass of water before going to bed."

"Oh... OK. I can do that. But where am I going to--"

"You can occupy Leo's room tonight if you would like, as the guest room would not be as well-equipped and decorated as his room. I'll make sure that he cannot return to his room for the night--"

"OK, OK! It's fine! The guest room is fine! Please don't do that! I'd love to stay in your guest room, thank you so so much!"

"..."

After my frantic answer, it was then that Nagisa finally halted her speech. Instead, her piercing blue eyes then looked straight into my eyes, it made me feel like my subconscious was being interrogated, and if I blink first, everything hidden behind the window of my soul would be taken into account.

Thus, this silence between us got me extremely nervous, my hands got drenched in my own sweat. This Nagisa, if she was really Leo's twin, she wouldn't be another version of his... More like the abyssal ocean to the Sun.

Cold and tranquil, but at the same time, forceful.

"Are you afraid that Leo's scent would be a danger to you?"

"...?" I didn't know what to say receiving such a question. What was it about Leo's scent? It was him who has some problem with my scent, not me going crazy because of his scent. So I only gave her a blank stare as an answer.

"Nevertheless, if it's what you desire, we simply have no choice but to heed your words."

"...What do you mean by that?"

"It means whatever you want, we can provide, except for the return trip to your home tonight."

"Oh."

Wow... Anything, but not the thing I want the most.

"Okay... Then I desire nothing. Thank you." If my words sounded too bold at that second, then I guess I must apologize to my own self for putting my feet into that big ass trap.

Nagisa seemed to get all quiet there, youthful face still showed no sign of emotion. I could only hope that that was her default expression, not that she was busy thinking of ways to punish me when she got the chance... This silence, it began stressing me out so fast.

"We'll have the androids prepare your room. It'd take no longer than 20 minutes. By the time you've arrived there, it would already be ready for occupying."

I had to hold myself back from breathing a huge sigh of relief at that moment she finally opened her mouth and revealed what she was going to say. It was just...

"If you'd love to pay HIM a visit before leaving, you could do so. However, talking to him is not allowed."

"..."

Him?

Oh. Him... Since his scream faded away many minutes ago, I almost forgot that he was still here with us, but in THAT room. So I turned my head to the left and gazed upon that metal door, pondering to myself if I should 'pay him a visit' as his 'twin' said or not.

Judging from him shouting at me not to look or listen to him getting his head kicked the sh*t out of earlier, I thought leaving him to his own demise and not paying him a visit would be the best way to respect his pride. Not to mention that I didn't really want to see him writhing in pain or that sort of scenario...

"Thanks for the offer, Nagisa, but I'd rather not. Please show me the way to the guest room or... escort me, or whatever. I'm really sleepy. Sorry." While I was telling her my honest thoughts for once, suddenly I felt like yawning so bad, it seemed that my mind had withstood the urge to sleep for so long - too long.

"Understood. No need to apologize. I will escort you there myself. This way."

Let us meet again when the day starts anew, my Fiery Lion.