“Portals?” Homer muttered, his eyes widening a tiny bit. “That can be arranged, quite a lot sooner than the rest of the things you requested, in fact.”
Leo fought off the desire to smile.
Out of all the things that he came here to do, this matter that he off-handedly mentioned, was actually the most important one.
It was only a matter of days if not even hours before the news of the crystals would spread. Only through the city’s high echelons at first, for sure, but with time, every last person in the city would crave one.
From those who didn’t have the guts to level up the normal way but still wanted to grow stronger for whatever reason, through those who simply couldn’t find a way to enter a portal and level up the normal way, all the way to those who farmed the portals as if there was no tomorrow, and either wanted to grow faster or overcome a roadblock that hindered their growth.
All sorts of customers would soon knock on Leo’s doors… Giving him the means to obtain everything that he asked the mayor for, save for the portal.
A mansion for his family to live in peace? Early on, before anyone else figures out how to craft those or obtain them through other means, a single crystal or two would suffice for a payment.
Supplies?
Even with how scarce they could soon turn with the portals affecting global supply chains at their every stage, it was unlikely the world’s economy would collapse to the point it would no longer produce basic necessities.
And then again, with the mana crystals in his pocket, Leo didn’t need to worry about the price of the soon-to-be-expensive commodities.
Lastly, the support for his projects… Was something Leo devised for the sake of strengthening the city rather than himself.
After all, behind all of the politics and negotiations, this was still a world Leo had no other choice but to defend.
His true hometown, home country, and home world.
And just like Leo’s third timeline proved, sometimes being a hero wasn’t all about the ability to bring pain upon one’s enemies.
‘Plus, in this already advanced world, if I get to the stage of magic manufacturing…’
“I hope you will have my authorization arranged by the time I go back home,” Leo replied after taking a moment to plan out his next moves and decide on the goals for the next few days.
The emergence of a higher tier, orange portal, was something he didn’t expect, not from a process that was foretold to be rather gradual. But still…
If a mana crystal crafted in a green portal was already so potent, what would be the worth of a crystal crafted with a much richer mana of an orange portal?
“It’s a matter of one, or two calls,” Homer waved his head as if hoping Leo would drop the topic. “Oh right, would you like me to arrange a car for you?”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Leo squinted his eyes.
“So that you will know where I live?” the young man asked before leaning his head over to the side and putting on a small, judging smirk. “Come on, man, I’m not going to make it THAT easy for you.”
“We will take the car,” Tina interjected, speaking out for the first time since the conversation moved from her as a proxy to persisting between Leo and Homer directly. “I know where the city flotilla has their trackers installed, so I can remove them in a jiffy,” she added while turning over to Leo.
“That concludes our meeting, then,” Leo smiled before standing up and reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket. “Here,” he said while tossing another crystal, slightly more vibrant than the one before, over the tabletop and towards the mayor. “Since the other one went to someone who’s clearly not loyal, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth if you ended up worse off at the end of this meeting than you were before.”
Leo turned, ready to leave… Only for his eyes to land on a huge piece of furniture, the size of a family’s wardrobe, with its massive wings made up entirely out of crystal glass.
It wasn’t the craftsmanship of the piece that drew the young man’s attention, though, but an impressive collection of fancy bottles hidden behind the panels of crystal.
“Would you mind if I…?” Leo turned his head over his shoulder as he took a step towards the fanciful liquor cabinet.
“Huh?” Homer’s head jumped as if he didn’t want anyone to see him slumping down, reeling from the exhaustion that was eating away at his mind. “Sure,” the mayor then waved his hand away while going as far as to roll his eyes, “be my guest.”
“Don’t mind if I do, then,” Leo chirped before following his senses and scavenging a total of four unassuming bootless from rows upon rows of their fancier counterparts.
Even without looking back, he could tell that Homer’s expression turned sour at this…
‘I will consider this a payment for the second crystal,’ Leo held back his grin before tossing two of the bottles to Tina and then moving towards the door.
“And I assume it’s okay for us to take one of the cars, as agreed?” Leo turned for the second time only once he stood directly at the doors.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” Homer muttered, doing his best not to let his sourness appear in his voice.
‘Those must’ve been some pricey ones,’ Leo thought, holding back a grin. ‘It seems that no matter how much younger I am, the officers’ instincts still work…’
As a grunt, Leo learned how to conjure food seemingly out of nothing. Every herb, every animal, and every random fruit that was less than lethally poisonous would turn into food in his eyes and later, under the effort of his hands.
The time Leo spent at the bottom of the army’s hierarchy was extremely short when compared to his experience as an officer. And accordingly, his smell for booze grew to the point he could find every single unguarded bottle, regardless of how well-hidden it would be.
“I will contact you in three days, then,” Leo announced before pushing the doors open and walking out, not waiting for any further reply.
For a short moment, Leo and Tina moved in silence, as if worried that every word they would utter would be recorded and ultimately used against them. It was only when Tina and later the same old man from before brought them all the way down to the underground garage that Leo’s step-sis opened her mouth again.
“I hope you are not planning to go to that orange portal all on your own,” she muttered under her breath while getting close enough for her hushed voice to reach Leo’s ears.
“Hmm?” Leo raised his eyes only to look down on the young woman before shaking his head and looking away only for his eyes to lock at one of the many, uniform cars parked in the garage. “Ultimately, it will be up to you guys to prove you are strong enough to come with me,” Leo replied only to pull out his phone, open up the family’s chat, and type out a few words.
“And how do we get to decide whether we are strong enough?” Tina inquired while squinting her eyes, justifiably taking Leo’s words with a fair dose of suspicion.
“I will bring all of you to a green portal again,” Leo revealed with a small smile right as he reached the car and turned to the side, only to give the old man a long and intense stare.
“Fine, fine, I get it…” the old man muttered as he reached out to his pocket and reluctantly brought out the keys, clicking on the small pad to unlock the vehicle before tossing the keys over to Leo… Only to have him toss it over to Tina right away.
“Just this time,” Leo turned back to Tina, holding her from moving on to uninstall the tracking device hidden within the car. “This time, I’m not going to help.”