Chapter 57

The day after meeting Elu in the garden, Harold woke up in the gloom of dawn before sunrise.

He got ready quickly and went outside, silently leaving the premises of the still sleeping research center. In his hands were the two swords he used in his fight against the hydras.

Having taken an adequate distance from the research center, Harold was swinging his two swords left and right, as if he was facing invisible enemies.

On top of that, he also made use of his hand-to-hand combat techniques, throwing some punches and kicks between the sword slashes.

This was the self-discipline he had applied to himself almost every day for the last eight years. His strength, speed, and accuracy had reached a whole new level from where he had started. The wild yet elegant sword dance he displayed would overwhelm any witnesses.

The short version was that Harold was practicing the games combos. For him, it was like a hobby that happened to bring some profit.

However, as the proverb saysPerseverance is the key to successAnd even considering the high specs of Harolds body, there was no denying that this was the result of his own efforts. Otherwise, he wouldnt have been able to kill the two hydras so effortlessly.

Harold continued his training for two hours straight without a break, as if there was no limit to his endurance. Although he was drenched in sweat when he finished, his body was still terrifying as it had plenty of energy to spare.

After a cold bath to wash away the accumulated sweat, Harold walked through the research center as if he owned the place while staff members started showing up here and there. Of course, he had turned on his Switch.

So the hostile gazes piercing him were no trouble and he arrived at his destination without a hitch.

That destination was the dining hall, and it had rather open feel to it. A portion of its walls were made of glass, and the morning sunlight streamed in, making the room brilliant with reflections.

This dining hall could be used day and night, and even from early in the morning for the sake of the staff members who stayed up all night.

Harold had become a regular customer here, ever since he gave his body to the research center. Though the staff of the dining hall hated Harold as much as the other personnel did, they had already given up on interacting with him so it didnt matter.

Harold properly made his order, and with the breakfast he received, he settled down at his usual position, a table for two, by a window. By the way, Harold didnt stand out much at the current time since there werent many people, but even at lunchtime, the seats around him were always empty. In addition, his back was riddled by malicious gossips and the intermittent impudent gazes that were fired at him.

Like this, Harolds lonely ways kept on steadily growing worse.

As Harold took his meal while coming up with such a sad self-analysis, a noisy group of people entered the hall. Lifa and Elu were among them. There were about ten people in the group, and, excluding Lifa and perhaps Elu, they were all men.

By the standards of the research center, the men surrounding the two were on the young side. However, even the youngest among them was in his mid-twenties, which was still a decade older than Lifa.

Come to think of it, just how old is Elu?

While Harold was considering that, Lifa and Elu sat down near the center of the dining hall, and 20 other people sat wherever they could on the same long table.

Perhaps it was a lets get to know each other kind of gathering. He could feel the ulterior motives that came from the men, but the man to woman ratio was about 9 to 1 so there was no helping it. Lifa looked very young, but by this worlds standards, people wouldnt point their fingers at someone having a relationship or marrying her.

From Harolds point of view, she looked like a middle school student, and she sometimes behaved like she was in grade school, so all these adult males surrounding her reeked of depravity.

Incidentally, Harold was curious how the surrounding men would react if Elus still-uncertain-gender happened to be male.

As Harold thought of that, his eyes suddenly met Elus. Elu smiled for just an instant and merely gave Harold a nod.

Though their relationship wasnt close enough for them to understand each other through eye contact, Harold figured this probably meant something along the lines ofDont worry, Im watching over her.The day before, Harold had told Elu to avoid leaving Lifa by herself as much as possible, for he didnt like her getting in contact with Justus.

Perhaps Elus action was intended to soothe Harolds worries.

Elu was a very reliable person so Harold trusted him. Therefore, Harold moved his chin as if telling EluI know already, just get back to it.Perhaps Harolds meaning had gotten through, as Elu joined the chat between the people sitting with him.

That must have been the occasion for Elu to gather some information.

Thus, Harold returned his focus to his meal, and silently ate the same food from the same standard menu he usually ordered.

It didnt take him long to empty his plate. When he stood up to leave the dining hall, his surroundings became noisy for some reason. Moreover, the focus of that noise was Harold himself.

While he certainly was as hated as he could possibly be, he had no clue what would cause a reaction like this. The moment Harolds feet stopped to find out what was happening, a voice came from behind him.

Harold, youre leaving? Where are you going?

The one standing there was Elu. Next to Elu stood Lifa, who had been dragged along by her hand. Her face showed a little awkwardness.

Looking at the seats where the two were supposed to be, the men from the earlier gathering turned their line of sight towards Harold in hatred. Even Harold couldnt help but wince a little from that resentment.

They probably were thinking that two beauties had just been snatched away from them by a detestable man. Their hostility was different than usual so Harold decided not to look at them.

Where Im going is none of your business.

It is. Didnt you say youd give me some of your time yesterday?

I said wed meet midday.

It was still around 7:30 in the morning now.

Few people would describe this time as midday. But perhaps Elu was among those few.

I heard that you were basically constantly free. So I thought we could do this a bit earlier.

Even then, you should have confirmed that first.

Oh, sorry. Then, do you have anything to do right now?

......

He had nothing to do. In fact, he had so much spare time he could leave and go on a trip right away if Elu had asked him.

Had it been up to him, Harold would have suggested they go as far as the hot springs of the Sumeragi house. His Japanese mindset was always seeking a bath.

If its fine, then please. I think it would be good if we could have more time for the first date between the three of us.

D-date?!

Lifa yelled hysterically. Because of that, those shocking words even reached the staff members who were looking closely at Harold and the others.

Instantly, a wave of killing intent came from the numerous staff bachelors. Harold got the impression they might rush him, shoutingChiri to tomoni messeyo!Though he probably wouldnt lose one-on-one in a close quarters battle, if he were outnumbered by enemies following the Way of the Shura, he would most likely be annihilated. Its not like he could deal with having his heartbeat stopped.

( Evil Ryu, who follows the way of the Shura, shouts Ill stop your heartbeat! at the end of his fights.)

(...Wait, no! This isnt Street fighter!)

Harold somehow managed to straighten his confused and jumbled thoughts. This confusion only served to show how daunting Elus words had been.

Though this uproar depended on Lifa getting surprised, Elu wasnt the kind of person who would accidentally attract attention in a place like this, so he probably had some kind of motive to purposely drop a bomb like a fake three person date.

However, the only one in this place aware of that was Harold.

For all the others, what they saw was a man, unanimously hated by everyone, the lowest of the low, trash lesser than a human being, who wanted to take two beautiful girls out on the town and keep them close. There was even a chance that some guy would show up, driven by righteous indignation, to rescue Elu and Lifa from Harolds vicious ways!

To avoid being involved in these kinds of troublesome matters, Harold made a strategic withdrawal.

So, Harold. Wait for us at the main entrance! As for the specific time of our meeting, its

Elu ostentatiously announced these words to Harolds retreating back. Due to that merciless final blow, Harold was convinced that Elu was making trouble on purpose. If Elu was going to act like this, then Harold would have preferred to be notified about that in their earlier conversation, rather than them talking about moving the time of their outing up.

This situation had become even more troublesome for Harold.

Although the mornings various events had robbed Harold of his energy, he arrived promptly at the time specified by Elu. His arms folded and leaning back against the gatepost of the research centers main entrance, Harold waited with a sullen expression.

Hey there, sorry to keep you waiting.

One of the people he had been waiting for, Elu, appeared without a hint of shame. Facing Elus fresh smile, Harold didnt feel like complaining, but instead would prefer Elu explain the motive behind his earlier behavior.

The dining halls matter seemed to have already spread across the whole research center, and now he was getting looks of resentment from every direction. He didnt feel any real danger to himself, but it was extremely annoying.

However, what Harold was the most worried about was Lifas suspicious behavior.

G-Good morning...

She looked depressed, didnt meet his eyes, and her voice was shaking, showing her nervousness.

From all these elements, Harold reached one answer.

(Dont tell me shes still feeling down from being tricked by Justus)

Certainly, he had told her not to give Justus any opportunities to exploit. She was sorry for not being able to abide by that, while simultaneously being afraid of a scolding from Harold.

Though he was told about this beforehand by Elu, Harold didnt think Lifa was that dispirited. She had made herself small, like a kid who was being scolded.

As Harold stepped forward, Lifa jumped back in surprise.

Without minding that, Harold put his left hand on Lifas head. And then, after securing his grip, he applied some strength, once again inflicting an iron claw on her.

It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!

After watching Lifa struggle for about three seconds, Harold loosened his hand.

Now free, Lifa glared at Harold, as expected.

Just what are you doing?!

Waking you up.

Without elaborating, Harold passed out of the research centers gates.

Lifa followed behind him while raising her voice in protest. Unaffected by that, Harolds ears picked up the words that Elu was telling to himself as he smiled wryly.

Did he do this so they could get even? ...Perhaps.

Harold was a little surprised that Elu understood his actions that accurately, though he didnt necessarily need him to do so.

The reason for his action was his belief that, judging from Lifas character, words alone wouldnt be enough to get through to her, and even if words were an option, he didnt know what kind of insults would pop out of his mouth if he thoughtlessly tried to comfort her and cheer her up.

From an outside perspective, it would be very hard to notice Harolds concern. Usually, it was almost impossible for him to communicate properly.

Lifa seemed to be dissatisfied on the way to the towns center, but when the group arrived at Main Street, the royal capitals pride, Lifas mood immediately improved. Wow! She shouted in joy as she merrily walked to and fro down the street. She fit the image of a country bumpkin perfectly. It was as if whatever had made her feel down had been completely forgotten.

While Elu warmly watched Lifas retreating figure, Harold addressed him in a low voice,