6. Future Plans

' why she so attached to me ' thought Leo as he looked at the girl who laid on his chest sobbing with a complicated expression

He didn't delude himself into thinking he was some drop dead handsome harem protagonist with infinite charm who collected women as easily as breathing with as little as a smile

He was only in this world for what he estimated to be less than 7 hours. Less than half of which he spent with her. Sure, judging by her words, she's an orphan who's spurned by the world because of some so called curse but that doesn't explain her sudden dependence

So while her dependence on him was touching and warmed his lonely heart, it also brought him great pressure to the point where he didn't know how to face her

Unable to think of a valid reason why, he simply stopped thinking about it. As women, whether this life or the last are confusing. God knows what's going through the mind of a ten year old girl

' it is what it is ' thought Leo ' maybe I'll ask her one day in the future '

Feeling somewhat calmer, he turned his attention to his panel, curious of his changes

* ------ *

Name : William Lake ( Leo Forde )

Realm : Apprentice Knight Level 1 ( 0/100 )

Age : 15

Height : 64 inches

Weight : 130lbs

Strength : 2 ( 1 )

Agility : 2 ( 1 )

Physique : 2 ( 1 )

Intelligence : 2 ( 0.5 )

* numbers in brackets represent average for adult male *

Skills : none

Universal Points : 6 ( 1.1 generated every hour )

Status : Recovering

Subordinate : 1/10

* ------ *

" damn " said Leo, startling Rebecca who raised her head and looked at him confusion before her faced turned bright red seeing his bare chest as she climbed off of him in embarrassment running under the tarp hiding her figured inciting a chuckle from Leo

' so you can feel embarrassment ' thought Leo as he watched her actions with a smile

" but no wonder she couldn't recognize me " exclaimed Leo as he took in this changes " I'm a foot taller, and 60lbs heavier, I doubt that old man and that bastard Jason could recognize me "

Speaking of this, he didn't forget how he was treated....how he had nearly died. He grabbed his left arm feeling a slight ache even though his injuries had healed

' don't let me get the chance to deal with you ' thought Leo with a vicious expression. Taking several deep breaths, he felt his emotions calming before continuing

" it seems I'm taking the all rounder route " said Leo seeing the balanced growth in all his stats including intelligence, something he didn't expect

" she's better than me in some stats but worse in others but I'm assuming that's because she has a job, so her specific stat growth is based around that "

" so that begs the question, do jobs raise the upper limit or do they limit the growth of stats within a certain range " muttered Leo as he remembered the different jobs in games before and wondered if those rules were applicable to this world

' more questions I currently don't have the answer to ' thought Leo with a wry smile before a serious expression appeared on his face

" what do I do now " Leo asked himself, not sure how to proceed from here

This isn't one of those isekai anime where the main character can just lay claim to a plot of land and make it his home and then create his own Kingdom

If this was that kind of world he'd jump with joy as he definitely had the potential to do something like that, considering all he lacked was time

But based on the words of Rebecca. In this world, nobles owned everything, every piece of land, evey animal, which included people as ridiculous as it may sound

You couldn't farm, couldn't hunt, couldn't raise animals, couldn't fish not without the permission of the noble who's territory he's in. If he's found and reported, it'd cost him his head. The charge? Stealing from a noble

So he'd be glad not to be forced to work as a slave for the rest of his life furthermore own land. He could still remember the expression on Rebecca's face as she said it. As if she couldn't imagine it being any other way

It's not like he didn't consider biding time as his strength grew before staking his claim but doing that may offend a noble.

And he couldn't kill that noble as killing one will offend all of them.

Then he'd definitely be forced to hide in the middle of nowhere unless he had the strength to say fuck you to all the nobles in this world and force them to bend to his will

So his current options are being a serf which has little chance of advancement which means being a serf forever unless something special happens

Or

Show his strength and try to be a guard, which means he'll have a closer relationship with the nobles. With his speed of advancement, it'd either be a fast track to becoming a Knight which means a small possibility of becoming a noble

That or, the noble he swears himself to as a Knight, gets afraid of his advancement and trips him up or simply finds a way to kill him, which puts him back at square one

So being a serf is the simplest route. The least eventful but also the most stable. Keep his head down, complete his task and slowly grow stronger. When he has a certain amount of strength he'll decide where to go from there

' which leaves one last challenge ' thought Leo as he turned his gaze to Rebecca who was inside the tarp. Not knowing if she'd come with him or choose to stay here

Regardless, he'd try his best to convince her to come with him. Deciding to keep it simple, he decided to just ask her

" Rebecca " called Leo

" ....yes? " replied Rebecca, poking her head out of the tarp, her face still slightly pink, not meeting his gaze

" I'm going to the village, will you come with me? " asked Leo, waiting for her response not feeling confident in her answer only to surprised as she answered instantly

" yes " said Rebecca firmly as she met his gaze while walking out from under the tarp

" but I thought you.... " though he was happy at her answer. He couldn't help but be curious as he knew a bit of how she was treated

" if you're going, I'm going to go with you to protect you. That's what partners do, no? " asked Rebecca as she sat beside him, her gaze still on his face

" yes.... yes it is " replied Leo with a chuckle, " but I'll be the one protecting you "