Leon turned toward him, utterly confused.

"What deal?" he asked. "I didn't say I accepted anything."

Leo responded with an almost silly expression, as if the question itself amused him.

"But didn't you say it would help you for only 5 years?" he said casually.

"When did I ever say I'd only give you 1 petal?"

Leon's eyes widened.

"Are you saying you'd waste your chance to rank up your soul… just to give the remaining petals to me?"

Leo stared at him for a second, then burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! No, no, no." He waved his hand dismissively. "When did I say I only had 4 petals left?"

Leon felt like he was hanging off a cliff by his fingertips. Leo let the silence stretch just long enough before adding slyly,

"If I count the number of petals Lily has already consumed, it's probably over 5 by now."

Leon froze.

A single flower only had 5 petals.

Leo had just said that more than 5 had already been used—and then, as if to drive the point home, he casually produced an intact flower. He plucked a single petal from it and stored the remaining four away.

Leon stared at Leo's outstretched hand, his mind racing.

Just how much of that soul treasure does this bastard have?

Is that even something a person can casually carry around?

Isn't he afraid of being hunted down, killed, and looted?

And then it hit him.

I wouldn't even know he had all this if he hadn't shown me himself.

Leon looked up sharply. "Why do you trust me with information that could get you killed?"

Leo met his gaze, a faintly nostalgic smile appearing on his face.

"Nothing special," he said quietly. "You remind me of people I'll never see again. I just want to keep you around… so those memories last a little longer before they fade completely."

Leon paused.

He realized then that Leo must have lost someone important.

Without another word, Leon extended his hand and clasped Leo's.

"Deal," he said simply.

Leo's nostalgic expression vanished instantly, as if it had never existed.

"Great!" he said cheerfully.

"Then the benefits of staying in my territory include an extremely rich mana-dense environment, a continuous supply of high-grade magic fruits and treasure for stat enhancement, homemade tasty food, and finally—" He paused deliberately.

"—one Soul-Healing and Enhancing Petal per month for the first year. Exclusively for you."

Leon was completely shaken.

One petal per month?

He had assumed Leo would give him one every five years.

With this… I might actually take my revenge…

The thought flashed through Leon's mind, but he quickly shook his head. He couldn't be certain—Leo was more than capable of going back on his word. He knew how dirty this man could play.

Before Leon could voice any doubts, Leo brought out the stalk holding the four remaining petals, snapped one off, and handed it to him.

"Advance payment."

Leon stiffened, unsure how to respond to such blatant generosity. Still, he didn't waste time. He sat down immediately and began absorbing the treasure.

A few minutes later, he opened his eyes.

The fog that once dulled his golden gaze had thinned considerably. His eyes shone brighter than ever—there was still a trace of haze, but it was thousands of times better than before.

"So?" Leo asked with a smile. He had remained seated beside Leon the entire time, guarding him.

"How's the treatment?"

Leon looked down at the wounds on his hands. Though his soul was still not healed for his body recovery to return to normal, the wounds had healed to a noticeable degree, and even the recovery process felt a bit accelerated than before.

"It's good," Leon said plainly. "I'm ready to join."

Leo immediately sent a recruitment notification. Leon accepted it and found himself promoted straight to squad leader—third in the hierarchy, right after the vice leader.

"Can't have the second-ranked fresher doing manual labour, right?" Leo said with a grin.

"Unless you want to. Judging by how masochistic you are, I wouldn't be surprised."

"Fuck you," Leon shot back. "I just can't heal properly from my injuries."

"Cursing the leader already?" Leo said lazily. "You really want your life turned upside down, huh?"

As the territory leader, Leo had absolute authority. He could restrict Leon to the territory for at least 12 hours a day, and levy fines if he tried to leave. Those fines had no upper limit—millions weren't unheard of.

Worse still, once someone joined a territory, they couldn't leave or join another unless the leader personally authorised it. Most leaders demanded absurd sums for such permission, though there was an upper limit for certain ranked individuals; for example, a peak 2-star person can pay a maximum of 50000 AC.

In extreme cases, it was no different from a slave contract.

That said, academies conducted regular surveys to assign prosperity points, and the well-being of territory members was a major factor. Even a single human found in slave-like conditions could result in massive deductions. And if an anonymous complaint is filed against the territory, and after a check, the leader is found guilty, then fines, punishment, and dissolution of the territory are also possible.

But even then, there are various other ways a leader could play around the boundaries of rules and make members' lives hell. One of which included the tax system. Which is a certain amount of AC is contributed monthly to the leader's account for management of the territory.

Leon shot Leo an annoyed look and shook his head before leaning back again. Then, suddenly, he recalled Leo's earlier words.

"Wait," Leon said. "You mentioned homemade food. Who's going to feed me?"

Leo grinned.

"You really think you'll go hungry here after swaying an innocent girl's heart like that?" He was clearly referring to Miho.

"What?" Leon said quickly, feigning ignorance. "When did I do that?"

"You're not that dense, and I know it," Leo said, continuing his teasing.

"Do I look like a blind man that I will not notice Miho stealing glances at you after she personally made a bowl of soup for you and personally went ahead to give it to you as a personal thank-you, then once again personally refilling until you were full? AND you being flustered head to toe, trying to act tough?"

"What was that? 'It was only natural that I help a lady in trouble'. Fuck that, who even thinks of a stranger lady in this beast-infested world?" Leo spat.

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