On his way back to the Inn, William bought a stylish shoulder bag since this is the only type of bag available, also some underwears, handkerchief, soap and hand towel from the market street, which is about 5 meter width, horse carriage are going back and forth on it. the price is quite cheap after bargaining for 10 minutes, at least the seller said so.

The stalls are abundant here with many people with commoner clothes walking around the street, unlike on the north street. That time, William realized that something was wrong.

“A hottie, he’s so gorgeous!”

“He’s so hot!”

Hearing that, William turned to look, only to see a crowd of girls looking at him passionately.

“Kyaa, he’s looking at me!”

William shifted his gaze from them, now that he already finished his shopping, he begin to increase his walking pace. leaving the crowd of girls behind before he made more mistakes.

‘What a cute girls! ...No, no, no. I abosulutely can’t succumb to temptation! I already pledge myself to Raisha, and since that day, I stop seeing other woman on my free time.’ William shakes his head furiously, restrain his desire take those girls back to his room and teach them what is the absolute pleasures.

“Do not worry about avoiding temptation, yield to it. It may not pass your way again.”

“Absolutely not, I won’t!... eh? Who’s that?” William observe his surrounding but those fans girls couldn’t be seen anymore.

“Whose voice was that? it feels so close that it’s like coming from the inside of my head, it was like my inner thought, but it can’t be, since it’s somewhat soft like a woman..”

“It’s me, Leona Silverblood. The strongest Last Ranker in this continent.”

A proud yet soft and tender voice resounded once again in William head.

“What the ... who are you?!”

“Are you deaf?”

“Of course not! Let me change my question, what are you doing in my head?!”

“What nonsense are you spouting about, who want to be in your empty and stinky head.”

“Kuh, so where are you? Show yourself!”

“It’s no longer possible now. I'm only a soul fragment, and no longer have a body.”

“A soul fragment?”

“Indeed, I sealed my soul inside the necklace that you wear right now.”

Hearing that, William move his gaze towards his necklace that now emit a black particle, the necklace is floating in the air. William immeadiately put back his necklace into his shirt and turn towards the alleway. After make sure no one can be seen in the vicinity, he take out the necklace.

“You are inside the necklace?!”

“I used my family forbidden magic and sealed myself inside this necklace.”

“You said that you are the Last Ranker, I thought it’s a powerful existence that could even subjugate and kill a dragon. So how could you seal yourself in this necklace? You won’t do that without reason right?”

“Exactly, just as you said. The great me will never die even from a dragon most vicious and strongest attack, if not for their betrayal, I wouldn’t end up in this pathetic state.” Her last words contain an anger and sadness mixed in it.”

‘Did she get betrayed by her friends?’

“What do you mean by betrayal?”

“We are on our way to subjugate a magical beast that speculated to be residing in the cave south from Nastia City since many Ranker venture inside and never come out.. It’s not that dangerous as there is only small fry and weak magical beast that I could even obliterate with just my pinky.”

‘Small fry?! I nearly died countless times in that cave, and she only use a pinky to kill them....’

“Our party consist of five people including me and the other four Six Star Ranker. After two days inside the cave, we encounter a magical beast with a lion head with black wings inside.”

“Ah! I know that beast, it has a gigantic sword attached on it’s back. Is that your doing?”

“Yeah, that was my sword, Balmung.”

“Is that magical beast really that strong? Stronger than a dragon?”

“Hmph, it’s only so so. I almost kill him under three minutes, and the moment I tried to deliver the final blow, countless arrows and two longswords penetrated my back. They start plotting against me since the beginning. I suspect they are the one who sent those unfortunate Ranker to their death inside the cave to lure and make me into investigating the cave.”

“.....”

“They mixed my waters with Sky Snake poison and attack me at the critical moment.. otherwise how could I die in the hands of mere Six Star Rankers, that’s why I want you to avenge me and kill those bastard!”

“Wait.. wait a minute, I think you should find other people that strong enough to kill those Six Star Ranker. I can barely protect myself inside that cave.”

“I know. I saw your pathetic state crawling past the ass of the magical beast and shamelessly picked my necklace as if it’s belong to your father.”

“Kuh, my father doesn't use a necklace. I don’t want to admit it but everything you said is true, except

for my father part. That’s why I’m sure you know how weak I am compared to you ranker right?!”

“Fufu. Don’t worry, I will lend you my power.”

“Power... no, I don’t want to get involved in something troublesome and dangerous again!”

“Are you sure? Then I won’t help you again.”

“Huh? when did you ever help me?”

“Hmph. such ungrateful kid. Can you read the the words in that wall?”

“That wall? .... I-I can’t.”

“Isn’t that weird?”

“Weird.. What is?”

“Are you stupid?”

“Kuh, I’m not stupid and not a kid!”

“I never say you’re a kid. Just think about it, you didn’t know and can’t understand the letters right?

Then how could you speak our language that consist of those letters that you don’t understand.”

“It can’t be...”

“Did you ever speak with people here without wearing the necklace?”

“.....”

“I was the one who help you to understand them by using [Mind Wave] which make them to perceive your words as theirs, and theirs as yours.”

“.....”

“Hmph. Without my help you won’t be able to communicate with them, let alone protect yourself.”

“Fine, I will help you to exact revenge. So what kind of power that you will give me?

“Fufu, that’s right, you just have to listen to the great me, obey all of my order and I will make you to become a powerful existence comparable to that of the Last Ranker.”

“Really?! Now give me the Last Ranker power.” Willaim eyes beamed with joy.

“.....”

“What’s wrong? Hurry up.”

“...Do you think it’s that easy? You have to gain that power yourself, I will only show you the way, and push you from behind.”

“......”

Hungry after his trip around the city, William welcomed his black chilled pork into his empty stomach, it looks weird but he went for it. Although the shape and taste are different from the pork he envisioned, but it's a proper meat and delicious.

William open his room in the second floor after receiving the key from the beautiful Innkeeper. The light from the lamp is dim even so the room is strangely bright with a double sized bed, chair and desk decorated the bland room, too bad they don’t have a dresser.

The window is big enough for people to sneak out from this room in case of emergency and if the situation call for it. William immerse himself in a big bathtub made of steel, cleaning every parts of his body from dirt and sweat.

“To think that there is bathtub in this place, I thought I have to take a bath in the river like a homeless people, ah so cold.. I miss hot tub, but it’s usually heated using an electric or natural gas heater, though there are also submersible wood fire hot tub heaters, as well as solar hot water systems, but thats not available here.”

‘I still can’t think about this situation as reality. This world is very dangerous, I had lost count on how many times I nearly lost my life. Not to mention I don’t have gun and ammo with me, shit my future looks bleak.” William sigh inwardly. ‘But this girl called Leona... with her help I can survive in this world and perhaps find a way to go back to my world.’

“Leona, can you teach me a magic now? It would be great if I can learn fire magic, I can have a natural hot springs in this room everyday, and of course the most important thing is to increase my survival rate in this shitty world and help you to exact revenge.”

“Leona?”

“Hah.. why didn’t she respond to me...?”

“Are you sleeping?” William shaking the necklace upside down, but no response from it.

“Can she even sleep? She’s just a soul fragment, and have no body right...”

“I hope I can find a way to go back.” William dry up his drenched body with towel before he slept.

It was night, the stars glittering in the sky and the Inn lay in silence, and quiet. Only a handful of men inside the inn, they filled the silence with conversation and laughter, the clatter and clamor one expects from a drinking house during the dark hours of night.

“Can’t sleep?” The Innkeeper soft voice could be heard in the youth ears that huddled at the corner of the bar.

“Thanks.” Said the youth as he placed a mug of wine in front of him. He drank with quiet determination, And in front of him is a beautiful woman, the Innkeeper who stood there, polishing the wooden bar that already gleamed in the lamplight.

“Can I have something to eat?”

The innkeeper went to the kitchen and appeared with one bowl of stew and two warm, round loaves of bread in front of the youth. She refill the youth empty mug with more wine as he tucked away his bowl of stew with the predatory efficiency without blowing the steam off his bowl.

“William, can you repair the broken roof for me?”

“Why do I have to do such a thing?” The youth replied with annoyance in his tone.

“Well, the person who supposed to do the repairing is suddenly gone missing, so you are the only one who can I ask.”

“No way, find other people.”

“Then are you fine sleeping with a hole on your roof for a whole week?”

“Hah? What did it have anything to do with me?”

“Because it’s the roof on your room that have a hole on it.”

“...Seriously? why didn’t I noticed it?”

“Well, you don’t have to. You are a costumer afterall, just wait for one week to get it repaired.”

“Do you expect me to sleep with the sky as my roof?! Fine, I’ll take care of it.”

“Sorry to trouble you.”

“You should! Now I know why my room is so bright despite the lamp is very dim, turn out there’s a hole on it..”

At the certain place which was located at the north district, there was a shadow that was leaping between roof.

“Pervert!”

William was drunk. he stopped his hands, and put down the broken part of the roof when a woman scream echoed through the buildings and reached his ears. He looked at the direction of the moon baring it’s whole figure from the roof, lighting the darkest part of the city with it’s radiance. William saw a shadow approaching him from the distant in a very fast speed.

“Is that the pervert?” William narrow his eyes at the shadow and decided to stop it but alas his movement is too slow and the shadow run past him, sprinting atop the roof leaving william behind.

“So fast? Should I *hic follow him?... *hic...”

William chase the figure that known as a pervert to the edge of the city by jumping between the roof building that stretches wide and long.

“He’s using [Acceleration] on his legs.”

“Leona?! Where have you been? Are you sleeping?”

“Of course not, I can’t retain my conciousness for 24 hours due to my imperfect use of forbidden magic.”

“I see. Are you not good at it?”

“What do you know? Forbidden magic is different from your ordinary high-tier magic on the market, only the Last Ranker able to use them.”

“Haha sorry. You said something about Acceleration?”

“Hmph, it’s just a magic to boost one speed, but what he used is just a low-tier magic.”

“So what should I do?”

“I will teach you how to use [Acceleration]”

“Is it the high-tier version?”

“No, the weak one.”

“Why?!”

“You are still amateur, to suddenly cast a high-tier magic would be difficult for you even with my help.”

“I see, well it’s better than nothing.”

“I will brand the knowledge cointaining [Acceleration] using [Mind Wave] directly to your mind. it doesn’t hurt that much.”

“Fine, bring it on.”

“ARRGGGGHHH... F*ck, it’s hurt so much, you liar!!”

“Haa, haa, haa... the pain is still lingering in my head.” William clutch his head tightly.

After adjusting his ragged breath, he said “...Okay, calm down, let’s do it... [Acceleration]”

A countless green flash of particle starting to emerge from William body and increase his speed by twofold, then the green particle fading from the sight. William started to panic thinking that the magic is failed, but Leona assure him that it’s normal for the after effect to fade after it’s casted succesfully.

William continued to run chasing the shadow, he kick the wall and jump onto the other roof in a skilled manner, very fast for ordinary folks to see and a faint afterimage could be seen behind him. William lessen the distance between them and upon closer inspection the shadow turned out to be a man in a black cloak covering his body. william saw beard on his face indicating that it’s indeed a man, well there’s no way a woman would be a pervert right?

William was already at his limit and about to vomit all his wine and stew from all the running and jumping.

“Should I give up the idea of chasing him.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? It’s a perfect opportunity to train your body to get used to magic.”

“I don’t wan to spill my dinner... fine just a little bit longer.”

Below William, there was a flower garden, a rectangular snippet of land with narrow and weirdly shaped with rich, fertile soil. various kind of flowers blooming along the serenity gardens, you can see that they never neglected this garden, since not even a single wild grass could be seen.

The garden was narrow, but it went surprisingly far back. There were two flowers that caught his attentioin since they are different from the others. The farther in he followed the shadow that sprinting amidst the flower garden, the more overgrown it got.

William caught a glimpse of the shadow, jump up high against a trellis, and to the fence. Before William could caught up with him, the shadow could not be seen anymore. William pushed past the obstacle in the roof and turned his head to the other side of the fence but he was gone.

William never would have thought he’d gone all the way through to Noble District by now. He shoved his way through the roof that stretch wide and long, befitting that of the noble mansion. William caught a whiff of something sweet in the air and stopped. It was quiet, no more sounds of people talking in the street, no carriage, no horses hooves, no dog bark.

William cover his mouth with his both hands as he was overwhelmed by something inside him, sweating profusely ready to throw up as he step into the fragile part of the roof that already half cracked.

*Crack!*

“Eh.. what is that sound?” The source of the sound came from the roof, the crack is getting bigger and then shattered creating a hole on the roof.

“Shit!! *Gulp” William fell and the effect of gravity made him swallowed back his stew that already spilling from the corner of his mouth.

“Kyaa!!”

William fell into the building and there was a soft sensation under him. The sweet aroma is more thick. This situation is the same as the time in the cave when he fell into the deep hole. It’s good that he’s safe, william faintly relieved.

‘But something is different...I hear a woman voice just now..’

William feel the warm water that wet his black pant, seeped into his underwear and his body touching something soft and tender. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a naked girl that were lying on the bathtub with shocked expression on her face.

William held his breath for a few seconds, he can feel clearly the warmth of her naked body and the elasticity of her two hills that keep changing their shape according to his hands movement.

“… Hey, pervert. How long are you planning to play with my breast? Get off me this instant so I can cut you in half.”

Sinister words came out from her beautiful face that would make William shuddered with horror if not for her beautiful crimson eyes that on the verge of tears looking straight into his eyes.

*Rub*

“.....”

*Squick*

“.....”

*Rub*

“....”

“Stop playing with them you pervert!!” she extend her left hand, a faint white glow enveloped her fist and punch him in the face.

“Nice, so beautifu-” william vision turned black and his counsciousness starting to fade along with soft sensation from his hands.