Only I Am A Reader-Chapter 546: Helpful Girl

After getting out of direct sight, Leo's shadow sped through the districts one after the other. He wasn't heading to the City Center where the 'elites' lived, but the obscure bordering district was still quite a bit away from his destination.

That being said, even if he had to carry an extra passenger, Leo's speed didn't decrease by much. He was still able to arrive where he wanted less than half an hour later.

"Ah!"

Compared to the short cruise that they took earlier, Gene was shocked to see the light again after staying inside the dead silent shadow bubble for that long. Regardless, it seemed that she was still in a bad mood.

"So? You still didn't say where exactly are you taking me. I did agree to follow you for the time being, but I didn't say anything about following your orders."

In reality, Gene was so curious and eager that she wanted to be there already, but her irritation stopped her from being honest.

"Be patient, we are almost there."

Naturally, Leo had no intention of falling for Gene's provocations. She was very to vent as long as she didn't do something troublesome.

"I can't wait to see what 'better' the Great Lord of Shadows has for me."

After being obedient for the entirety of her life, Gene didn't know when to stop after getting a taste of rebellion. Seeing the supposedly fearsome Villain being so lenient, she turned to sarcasm in order to draw his ire.

What could he possibly do if he got angry? Kill her? She had been through worse!

Things were going to get better? What a joke! As if someone like him could possibly know what would be better for her!

Despite her heartstrings tugging at her to stop redirecting all of her anger to her benefactor, Gene was like a broken pipe, unloading all the baggage she had without restraint.

"What-"

However, before she could go too far, something else caught Gene's eyes as she started looking around the district they landed at.

This place was a far contrast from the one she was locked up at, but it still wasn't too extravagant.

That being said, the district's economic state wasn't what attracted Gene's attention, rather, there was something more to it. The vibe was just… Different.

'Where is this?'

It was hard to call it lively, but for some reason, everyone who walked around looked full of vibrant energy. It didn't matter if they were old or young, everyone had the same heightened level of vigor.

Of course, the effect wasn't apparent enough for anyone to notice, but for Gene whose sole Special Ability was to 'focus', she could see beyond what normal people saw.

"Hmm? Something caught your eye?"

Seeing the blatant curiosity in Gene's eyes, Leo smiled as he looked around as well. Just like the little girl, he could also see the difference, but he didn't need a special ability to do so.

Even the detective's observant eye wasn't required. After all, Leo was expecting to find this kind of atmosphere surrounding the place, this was all per the novel's description!

"Ahm… Where is this? Is there a special event going on?"

Gene could normally disregard something like this as a coincidence, but she had to look at things differently when she was brought here by someone like Cassian. This was obviously abnormal.

"Not really, this place is just a bit fortunate to have a very good neighbor."

Rather than being something Leo orchestrated, this was just a side-effect of their objective's ability.

"A good neighbor…?"

"Yup, and it just so happens that this neighbor is the person you are going to visit. That is, if you want to, of course."

Just by looking at her increasingly curious expression, Leo was already sure that Gene wouldn't refuse, but he gave her the option to just in case she decided to be a rebellious contrarian.

"I…"

Gene decided to keep her decision to herself, choosing to just keep walking instead, but once Leo finally stopped, she knew there was no going back.

The area in front of them was just a straight row of moderate private houses, the one that Leo's eyes pointed at looked to be the most ordinary of them all.

At this point, Gene moved past the idea of Cassian trying to set her up, the directions she was following were so simple that he could literally find anyone who would do it for a small amount of money.

As disgruntled as she was before, the vibe that surrounded this area seemed to get to Gene as her irritation quickly dissipated. So much so that she didn't mind being part of this prank-like situation.

"Am I supposed to go into someone's house just like that?"

Of course, what truly moved Gene was the chance that Cassian's words might be actually true. If knocking on this door really meant changing her life for the better, who was she to say no?

"Basically, yeah, but this isn't just anyone. This 'someone' really likes to help people, so if you just tell her you need help, she will at least let you in, and then…"

Pausing in the middle, Leo put his palms together like a trickster before opening them to reveal a thin file full of paper.

"You just need to hand her this, that should be enough to get the gist of your situation. If she has any extra questions, you only have to fill in the gaps."

"I understand."

The one thing that Gene learned from Leo's instructions was that she was visiting a helpful girl, as for how helpful she was, Gene had no idea.

Feeling impatient all of a sudden, Gene didn't even take a look at the contents of the file, she just moved forward and pressed the doorbell.

Creak.

It didn't take long before Gene got an answer, the door spread open as a beautiful girl with heavy dark circles popped her head out.

"Yes?"

"I… I need help."

Gene was shocked by what she saw, but she still continued playing by the script.

"Hm?"

Nothing the unease in Gene's words, the girl's sleepy eyes shook awake, before she pushed the door even further.

"Please come in."

Observing the exchange from the shadows, Leo couldn't help putting on another smile. Now that both the timing and her mental state were different, would the helpful girl's decision remain the same, or was there going to be yet another deviation?