June

The beautiful sun was high in the sky, the surrounding heat was beginning to intensify marking summer's arrival.

At one corner of the street, near a small café that stated "Linda's Café", a person wearing a facemask and sunglasses sat on a table outside the store.

His hands were swirling a small cup of iced milk coffee while he was looking out on the street, searching for something.

After a while, he took a sip of coffee and let out a content sigh.

'This place's drinks are way too good, to be honest.' Achilles praised the café in his mind.

Coffees were a big staple in this city that almost everyone drank on a regular basis. This resulted in many cafés being opened up within the city to serve the people's needs.

And the most well-known and well-received place by the citizens was Linda's Café. It was known for its coffee's mind-calming aroma and pure taste.

'To have a meeting at a place like this...her background is definitely anything but normal.' Achilles thought with his brows furrowed.

He took another sip of his coffee as he recalled the events that had happened over the past month.

After going through the torturous and soul-crushing processes of devouring multiple creatures with multiple uniquely different Mindscapes, he had somehow finished absorbing all the remnants.

As a result, his power had risen considerably, but he had yet able to rise to another rank. Something was still lacking until the advancement process could officially start.

His only gain was the mastery over essences controlling which became much better along with his abilities which had increased in their effects.

All in all, he just had to trade a little bit of his sanity for all that power.

...Quite a deal, wasn't it?

But of course, this wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for the pills that Sia had given him.

Achilles could only marvel at their wonderous effects and wondered who had manufactured them.

There was also another problem that needed to be aware of, which was the memories he saw when he devoured the boar.

It seemed that the dream only happened once since Achilles saw no other vision when absorbing the other Corrupted.

This made him once again question what the images he saw were and what secrets did the runes that appeared in those memories held.

After completely devouring all the creatures in his pockets, he had called Sia to inform her that he would sell the corpses for her.

The elven beauty agreed without any hesitation and this was the reason why he was at a café where she had made it their meeting location.

'It's nearly 1:00 pm now, she should be here soon.' Achilles looked at the digital watch Sia gave to him and calculated the time in his head.

He had arrived 30 minutes earlier than the time they had agreed upon since it was a rule that his father had taught him — never let your date waits for you.

Technically, he wasn't actually having a date with the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. They were just about to have a business meeting that was all.

...He still felt the need to oblige to this rule, though.

Around 5 minutes later, he noticed a figure coming closer within the crowd of people in the distance.

It was a white-haired woman near her mid-twenties, she wore a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, combined with her cap and sunglasses giving her a tomboyish appearance.

Even though she was supposed to be hidden in a large crowd, he could easily detect her presence like she was the one whom he saw every morning he woke up, whom he held close in his embrace every night he laid down.

...It was as if she had been an important and irreplaceable part of his life forever now.

But...How could such things be possible?

'Wake your bitch ass up, Achilles! What are you lovestruck now or something? Get a hold of yourself!' He shook his head frantically to get rid of the weird feeling hidden deep inside his subconscious.

"You seem distracted, do I look that beautiful?" Sia asked with mischievousness in her voice while giggling.

"...Just sit down." Achilles silently enjoyed the aesthetic view in front of him before asking her to sit down.

Sia ordered a parfait before sitting down opposite to him, she silently looked at him for a moment before asking:

"Shouldn't you compliment how I look?"

"...The tomboy style suits you." Achilles thought for a moment before giving his honest reply with a blank expression.

"...You're speaking the truth, but I can feel you don't prefer this style so much. Maybe I should have worn my dress just for you instead?" Sia spoke with a coquettish smile.

The passers-by all seemed to be enchanted by her beautiful expression as they all halted their steps and looked at their table.

Achilles was weirded out by the sudden event but before he could say anything, the white-haired beauty glared at them with an indifferent expression that made them all turn away hurriedly.

"So...what's your thought?" Sia asked him again while smiling warmly at him, her cold look from earlier was nowhere to be found.

Achilles was curious about what happened just then, but the succubus' question caught him off guard and he went silent for a moment before saying:

"How do you know I don't prefer what?"

"Hehe...It's just a hunch. Somehow whenever I look at you...I can tell what you're feeling at the moment." Sia chuckled lightly then replied with a sincere smile.