Leonar finally set foot on solid ground after descending from the skyscraper. His breathing was a little uneven, but his mind still couldn’t fully process what he had just done.

He had come down from the top of a building as if he were simply walking down a staircase and, most surprisingly, without anyone around him noticing a thing.

His gaze swept over the area. The streets were lit by neon signs and the dim glow of streetlights. People walked by chatting, staring at their phones, some going in and out of shops and restaurants.

Not a single person had reacted to his unusual descent.

‘So Celestia wasn’t lying…’ he thought, crossing his arms. ‘No one can see me while I’m using these boots.’

For a moment, he felt the urge to congratulate Celestia for coming up with something so useful, but he quickly discarded the idea.

After all, that bright-winged angel was starting to get on his nerves. Her manners, her attitude, the way she seemed to enjoy his misfortunes…

No, there was no way he was going to give her the satisfaction of admitting she had done a good job.

Scoffing in frustration, Leonar slipped a hand into the pocket of his shorts.

“I’m gonna need my…”

Leonar froze.

He reached in again, this time searching more thoroughly. Then, with a look of disbelief, he checked his other pocket.

“No…”

He patted his clothes, searched insistently, but…

Nothing!

“What the hell?!” he exclaimed out loud.

At that exact moment, as if the situation couldn’t get any worse, a cold drop landed on his cheek.

Then another, and another.

Within seconds, the unmistakable sound of rain began filling the air.

Leonar gritted his teeth, looking up at the sky.

‘Oh, come on, this has to be a joke!’

Frustrated, he ran both hands down his face in exasperation.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Eleonora…” he called, his growing irritation clear in his tone. “What did you do with the stuff I had in my pockets?”

Inside his mind, Eleonora seemed to blink a couple of times before answering with total innocence:

“Huh? What stuff are you talking about?”

Leonar huffed, feeling a vein in his temple pulse.

“My phone, Eleonora! The one I put in my pocket before stepping into the portal!”

There was a brief silence, but not because Eleonora was thinking about her answer.

No.

The silence was because, all around him, several people started looking around in confusion.

Leonar pressed his lips together.

Of course.

The boots made him invisible, sure… but his voice was still perfectly audible!

“Did you hear that?”

“Who just shouted?”

A chill ran down Leonar’s spine.

In his mind, Celestia’s voice rang out:

“Remember, the Boots of Perseus don’t make your complaints invisible. I’d suggest being more careful.”

Leonar let out a long sigh, running a hand down his face.

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the heads-up—real helpful, now that it’s too late.”

“Try thinking at us instead. Unless you want to get exorcised for being a noisy ghost,” the angel added with a small chuckle.

‘Shut up…’ Leonar grumbled before turning his attention back to Eleonora. ‘Listen, it’s a rectangular object, with a screen, buttons… Where is it?’

Celestia was the one who answered this time, in the tone of someone who had just remembered something completely unimportant.

“Ohhh… That thing? I took it out when I was using the spear. It was annoying to have in my pocket, so I tossed it into the portal.”

Time seemed to freeze for a second.

Leonar’s face went blank, his eyelids drooping in utter disbelief.

‘You what?’

“Oh, come on… How important could that little device really be?”

Leonar let his arms drop to his sides, feeling his patience evaporate.

‘It was my only way to contact Mary, damn it.’

Celestia let out a light giggle.

“Well… if it was that important, why would you just keep it in your pocket? Doesn’t seem very smart.”

And where exactly was he supposed to keep it?

Up his ass?

Leonar took a deep breath.

A very deep breath.

He forced himself to calm down.

‘There’s no point arguing with you two… I’ll just focus on finding the hotel and remembering where I left Mary.’

Ignoring Eleonora and Celestia’s responses, Leonar prepared to move. However, the moment he took his first step to start running…

“AHHH?!”

His body shot forward like a lightning bolt.

The ground disappeared beneath his feet.

In less than a blink, he was launched forward like a projectile.

And then…

SPLASH.

He landed straight into a public fountain.

Water exploded around him in a burst of droplets and rippling waves.

For a few seconds, everything fell into complete silence.

Then, confusion.

“Did you see that?!”

“Why did the water jump like that?”

“Wait… Is there a ghost here?”

Leonar surfaced from the water, his hair plastered to his forehead, dripping, and his expression shifting between disbelief and sheer fury.

In his mind, Eleonora was laughing.

At first, small giggles… then full-blown cackling.

“T-that was hilarious.”

Leonar felt a twitch in his eye.

‘Celestia…’ he thought with dangerously forced calm.

“Yes, Leonar~” the angel responded, as if trying to suppress a laugh.

‘…Why the hell didn’t you warn me that these damn boots could accelerate like that?’

A suspicious silence. Then…

“Oh, right. I forgot to mention that.”

Leonar closed his eyes.

Breathed.

And then, without caring about anything else in the world, he screamed with all his might:

“CELESTIAAAAA!!”

And in his mind, he finally heard the angel burst into full-blown laughter.