"Alright." Isabella Sterling probably also thought Leon Clark looked incredibly honest. "You, take the freshman to get registered."
Leon nodded and calmly took the pure-looking beauty's luggage.
The girl gave a timid response and followed meekly behind him, scurrying away under a barrage of indignant glares from the crowd.
"Leon, my boy, take good care of your future sister-in-law!" Michael Ford called out, fake-crying as he waved goodbye.
"Excuse me, upperclassman!" a thick, gruff voice boomed directly behind him.
"What? Can't you see I'm busy?" Michael snapped, turning around. He found himself staring at a seven-foot-tall wall of pure muscle.
"Oh, that pretty senior girl over there said you'd be the one taking me through registration," the burly giant said, patting Michael's shoulder with a hearty, booming laugh.
Giving a brief nod, Isabella and her assistant turned around to handle the rest of the incoming freshmen.
"Mommy..."
A tragic wail echoed near the campus gates.
...
Leon sneaked a glance at the "little deer" following behind him. The girl had her head buried deep, scurrying to keep up with his pace. Her cheeks were as red as autumn apples; she was incredibly cute.
She was gorgeous, and so pure. Seeing how shy she was, Leon slowed his pace to walk side-by-side with her, but the girl subconsciously shrank back a few steps to stay behind him.
"I'm Leon Clark. What's your name?"
Like a startled fawn, the girl answered frantically, "I-I'm Lily Hart."
Hart? Like a deer? It really suited her. Looking at Lily's bashful demeanor, Leon was reminded of his own freshman orientation, trailing behind an upperclassman girl feeling just as overwhelmed.
After a moment of thought, Leon started slowly introducing her to the quirks of Coastal University, tossing in a few funny stories to lighten the mood. Leon wasn't normally a talkative guy, but Lily's extreme introversion somehow compelled him to fill the silence.
Lily gradually relaxed, listening quietly. She would giggle every now and then, but the moment she accidentally met Leon's eyes, she would immediately look away.
From getting their department stamps, to picking up forms at the Student Affairs office, to paying tuition at the Bursar's Office... Coastal's freshman registration was not only complicated but also required trekking all over campus. Eventually, Leon ran out of things to say.
And so, the lighthearted atmosphere slipped back into silence.
"Lily, you don't mind how awkward this silence is?" Leon asked.
"Ah? Oh, n-no! Not at all!" Lily stammered, looking like she'd just woken from a dream.
How considerate. Leon scratched his head. His eyes landed on his wristwatch, and they lit up. He might as well test out a superpower. He pressed the Roman numeral 'I', eagerly awaiting his newly descended supernatural ability.
Error: No data record found for Ability 1... A mechanical voice echoed in his mind.
Leon stared blankly. Refusing to give up, he pressed 'II' and then 'III', but got absolutely nothing.
Lily blinked her clear eyes, curiously watching Leon play with his watch. When Leon glanced over, she instantly averted her gaze. Leon felt depressed. Great, now he looked like a total man-child in front of a pretty girl. What depressed him even more was the fact that he'd actually believed the Aegis-13 Wristwatch had 108 superpowers.
As a last resort, Leon pressed the final number, '108' . Deep down, he really didn't want to believe that someone with a voice as angelic as Lina's could be a scammer.
This time, the damn "no data record" error didn't play.
But after waiting a moment, he didn't feel any changes in his body. Leon was thoroughly disappointed. Forget it. I'll just go back to my promising career as a bad guy.
[This upperclassman is so cute. He's this old and still playing with his watch. I just want to pull him into my arms.]
A dreamlike inner voice drifted into his mind. Leon froze and stared at Lily in shock. "Did you just say something?"
Lily looked bewildered. She met Leon's eyes for a second before instantly dropping her head. She thought to herself: [How did he know what I was thinking? Oh my god, this is so embarrassing. Why did I want to hug him? Men are supposed to be disgusting.]
"Huh?" Leon was absolutely certain the little beauty next to him hadn't opened her mouth, yet he clearly heard Lily's voice echoing in his ear.
What is going on?
Leon deliberately looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"Do you think all men are disgusting?" Leon tested the waters.
Lily nodded, then immediately shook her head, finally settling on a look of sheer, pitiful panic.
[Don't pressure me... He really guessed it. What do I do? He's going to hate me. What if he assaults me? No, I definitely wouldn't be able to resist.]
Leon nearly tripped over his own feet. He kept quiet, continuously observing Lily as they walked.
The girl kept her head down, paralyzed with shyness, her face burning red. She maintained a safe distance, but Leon could clearly hear her voice broadcasting straight into his brain.
[Why is he looking at me like that? Did he fall in love with me?]
[What if he asks me to be his girlfriend? I'm supposed to hate men, but I don't think I hate him...]
[Ah... No way. Even though he looks so honest, girlfriends have to do... that kind of stuff... I've never done that before...]
"..."
What the hell is going on inside this girl's head? Leon stopped in his tracks.
Lily jumped in fright.
[Ah, there's no one around here. Is he going to push me down? Should I reject him?]
Leon let out a fake cough. "This is the Armed Forces Department. We're here to pick up your military training uniform."
Lily let out a soft "oh." [What on earth was I just thinking?]
Leon helped Lily get her uniform, taking the opportunity to test if he could hear the thoughts of the quartermaster handing out the gear.
Sure enough, beneath the quartermaster's strict, professional exterior, Leon heard his inner lamentations: [What a pure freshman. You don't see them this shy very often. A cute girl like her must be adorable in bed. Too bad my old hag at home insists on playing the dominatrix. The whip marks from last night still sting.]
Leon almost did a spit-take. Before leaving, he patted the quartermaster on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Sir, Nietzsche said it best: 'You go to women? Do not forget the whip!' A man can't always be a masochist, you know."
The quartermaster stared at him, bug-eyed with shock!
...
On the way back, Leon couldn't help but chuckle. Is this the legendary power of Telepathy?!
"Next stop is picking up your bedding, and then I'll help you carry everything up to your dorm," Leon said, looking back.
Lily nodded, her face turning even redder.
The rest of the trip was a lot more interesting. On the surface, the two of them walked in silence, but only Leon knew just how deceiving this innocent-looking little beauty truly was.
The lewd moans echoing in her mind nearly gave Leon a massive nosebleed.
Things like, [Don't tear my clothes!] [You can't do that... not here...] [Gentler...] Basically, every single line from a Japanese adult film was being faithfully re-enacted in her head—if not exaggerated—making "Little Leon" stir uncomfortably in his pants.
Looking at Lily, who had her head bowed, her face flushed red, and her exterior radiating pure, reserved innocence, Leon was rendered utterly speechless.
Is this the legendary trope? The pure-on-the-outside, wildly-degenerate-on-the-inside girl?
Soundtracked by Lily's delusional moaning, the tedious registration process flew by. Though it was a massive test of Leon's endurance, he successfully carried her luggage all the way to her dorm.
It was just that... when he looked at Lily now, his gaze was a little weird.
This freshman is something else.