...…

Angela was about to say something to Leonard when she suddenly felt killing intent directed to her. She was about to turn her head towards the source, but that was also the time when she heard a voice that seemed to be calling her from the other direction.

"Hey!"

She instinctively turned her head in the direction where that voice was coming from and immediately saw a small figure flying towards her with a great speed.

But even if the silhouette of this flying figure was magnifying on her eyes very fast, her right was already moving up to catch it. Though, another hand was much faster than hers and was already in a catching position in front of her face.

Pa!

Since Leonard was just beside her, it was naturally for him to feel that there was something coming their way. And with his now sharpened reflexes, his left hand moved on its own and immediately caught the flying can before it could hit Angela's face.

After catching it, he slightly turned his head to the side to look over his shoulder and see whoever tried to throw that squashed can at them. But he quickly became shocked the moment she saw who was it.

He turned around to face the woman who threw the soda can just now. "Lorraine? What are you doing here?"

Lorraine didn't reply to him as she was too stunned at the scene in front of her eyes. This was her first time seeing Leonard act like that – if it happened to her, he was just going to ignore the flying can while telling her that she could dodge it anyway.

On the other hand, Angela suddenly had an unusual change from Leonard's mood the moment he saw Lorraine. Then she suddenly curved her lips into a grin the moment she realized that there must be something going between these two. 'Interesting!'

She immediately forgot about the soda can that was thrown at her and quickly grabbed Leonard's arm in front of her and linked her arms with before asking. "Who is she, Leo? Someone you know?"

Seeing that, Lorraine was suddenly frozen in place the moment she saw that; especially when she heard this girl called Leonard by his nickname that was only being used by the people who were close to him. 'Leo~? Who the hell is this b*tch acting close to my man?'

Lorraine was looking at Angela very fiercely while frowning her eyebrows. From the aura that was coming from her body, anyone could tell that she was ready to kill anytime. And that aura became even more intense the moment she heard Leonard replied at Angela casually.

"Ah~… She is a friend and a classmate from school."

And as if putting some oil in fire, Angela answered with "Ah~… I see," while looking at Lorraine provokingly. Though, Leonard immediately unlinked his arm from Angela's when he picked up some signals from the air.

When Lorraine saw that, she immediately suppressed her anger by taking a deep breath. Then she crossed her arms in front of her, showcasing her assets to Angela with a provoking look.

Seeing that, Angela suddenly looked downwards, unconsciously comparing hers. And after realizing the big difference, she couldn't help but become a little self-conscious of it.

When Lorraine saw that, she suddenly smiled in her heart as she felt winning a point from Angela. Then she turned her head at Leonard while saying. "Are you going to deny our relationship? I even went all the trouble to rush towards here since I heard from Arthur that you are going to head back to Capital City."

Then she paused for a moment while turning her head back to Angela before continuing. "But what greeted me is you flirting with another girl? I wonder what will be Shin and Arthur's reaction once they hear about this."

Cough! Cough!

Leonard was suddenly choked with some air the moment he heard that. Then he immediately defended himself after recovering. "Don't get the wrong idea. She is my master's guest and I am just going to escort her to the Capital City since I am also heading back there."

"But that is not what I have seen earlier," refuted Lorraine while pouting her lips.

Leonard clicked his tongue a little while saying. "Tsk! So, that is the reason why you threw this earlier?" while showing the soda can that he was still holding.

"That was-… a slip of a hand, alright? A slip of my hand," said Lorraine, trying to defend herself.

After that, she immediately change the topic, unwilling to have an argument with Leonard. "Anyway, you are going back now, right? Let's go, I 'll give you a ride there. That is the reason why I came all the way here after all."

Leonard wanted to reject her offer but he couldn't do anything the moment Lorraine grabbed his arm before he could even reply. He could only sigh helplessly while letting himself be dragged by her.

Meanwhile, Angela, who seemed to be forgotten by the two, watched everything unfold with her pair of interested eyes. After a moment of staring at the pair, she immediately chased after them while grinning mischievously. "Looks like I am not going to get bored in here."

********

Arthur just finished his hellish training with Nathan and was currently sitting at the edge of the fountain in front of their house.

He was sitting with crossed legs while staring at the huge statue of a dragon standing in the middle of the said fountain. And from the looks of it, he was trying to decipher something while looking at the statue.

"Uncle Nathan said that I can learn a Martial-Art Skill from observing this Statue of the Solar Dragon. But no matter how hard I try, there seems to be nothing I can get from here. Don't tell me that stupid uncle of mine trick me?"

"Tsk! This is much harder compared to that huge block of stone," Arthur was in the middle of talking to himself when he suddenly saw a familiar car enter their gate.

"Oh~! They are here already? I thought Sister Lorraine is going to kidnap Leo for a date, so why are they here this early?" Seeing that, he immediately hopped down from the edge of the fountain and waited for the car to arrive.

When the car stopped in front of him, he planned to immediately open the door of the backseat while mimicking how a butler acted while receiving a guest. But before he could even stretch his right hand forward, he suddenly saw the door open very strongly.

Seeing that, Arthur was forced to immediately hop backwards so that he could avoid getting hit by that opening door.

Whistle~♪

"That was close~♪." muttered Arthur while watching Lorraine get out of the car in a very annoyed manner.

Seeing that, Arthur could immediately tell that things didn't go as planned; especially when he saw her wearing a 'Don't talk to me or else your dead' look on her face.

Then he saw Leonard get off from the front seat of the car, which made the corner of Arthur's mouth twitched uncontrollably. 'This idi*t! Can he at least try sitting beside her on the backseat? Don't tell me he got infected by Shin's dullness?'

Arthur thought that he already knew the reason for Lorraine's annoyance when he saw that, but he was suddenly frozen in his place the moment he saw a pretty lady get off from the backseat, following Lorraine.

He was not stunned due to this new girl's appearance, but it was because he seemed to suddenly come into a realization. His sensitive nose for trouble could already smell that there was a silent war going on.

He slowly turned his head back to Leonard and asked carefully. "And she is?" while pointing at the new girl.

But before Lorraine and Leonard could even reply, the new girl immediately grabbed his hand and shook it up and down while cheerfully introducing herself. "Hi! I am Angela Silva – your teammate for this upcoming mission. So, please take care of me while I'm here."

Seeing that, Arthur immediately got his first impression from this girl. He seemed to feel that this girl was cut from the same cloth as him. And like the creatures of the forest, the two of them seemed to have a tacit understanding of each other as if they were from the same kin.

'This girl spells trouble,' thought Arthur while looking at her. And to make sure that he was right, he tried to test the waters. "And who said you can stay in my house?"

As if understanding his intentions, Angela immediately smiled at him and said. "Come on~, we are future teammates. Don't be too cold. And you also don't have to worry, I can easily get along with everyone."

Then she turned her head at Leonard and said. "Right, Leo?" while clinging at his right arm.

'I knew it,' thought Arthur the moment he saw that. He then looked Leonard full of pity before shaking his head. 'Poor guy. You got targeted by a mischievous fox.'

Then he turned his head to his other side and saw Lorraine who was glaring at Angela very fiercely. After another shake of his head, he immediately decided to bail out of this situation.

He loved to jump in front of trouble to get the spotlight, but this 'trouble' in front of him was out of question – jumping in the middle of two girls who were currently at war with each other was a very idiotic move to do; he didn't have a plan of dying yet.

Given that, he patted Leonard's shoulder out of pity before deciding to leave the three of them behind. He just took a couple of steps away from them when he suddenly heard Lorraine's cold voice, saying…

"For how long do you plan to cling on his arms with those filthy hands of yours?"

Arthur helplessly shook his head for another time the moment he heard that before muttering to himself. "Sorry, brother. I can't help you this time – this is outside of my area of expertise. But I promise to pray for your poor soul."

...…