Endless World: The Rise of Leonard Lawson

”A truth exchange, huh?” Not a bit surprised, Cassandra seemed to have anticipated this option already.

”I suppose you have a magic contract ready at hand, right?”

Leonard didn’t bother to reply. Instead, he used actions to prove that she was correct in her judgment.

Within a few seconds, two magic contracts were retrieved, with the clauses being relatively straightforward. Originally, this was a magic contract meant for Darius Melton, but it was never applicable.

Hence, he had a saved copy all along.

As Cassandra browsed through the clauses, she snickered coldly.

”A merchant by blood sure is filthy in its demeanor.” She taunted, but still signed the magic contract. After all, she was also curious why someone like Leonard would venture into the underground slum.

Although life and death were very fragile in the underground slum, she had no intention of offending the Crown Prince outright.

The underground slum was currently protected by multiple forces and parties.

However, that protection would cease to exist if they were to provoke an important and significant figure.

Unless the so-called important and significant figure was the one who caused an irreconcilable trouble toward them, they were advised to turn a blind eye to it.

Such was the harsh reality in this world.

Power, influence, and background literally enabled one to trespass the very laws disguised as impenetrable and ironclad to the ordinary.

”Well, doesn’t that make us two peas in one pod?” Leonard mused in response. His implication directly referred to her being filthy as well. After all, she lived in the underground slum.

Sure enough, Cassandra wasn’t pleased with that kind of sarcastic remark.

Despite this, she didn’t lash out and simply nodded her head.

”Very well, let’s not have any verbal insults and proceed with the truth exchange.” She composed herself and stuck to the main topic.

”Ladies first,” Leonard gestured with his hand and gave her the first choice to raise the question.

’This sly bastard.’ She squinted her eyes coldly.

At first glance, it sounded very gentlemanly. But Cassandra knew that going first would put them at a disadvantage.

Whomever raised the first question, the other party would instantly have some clues what they sought and could take control of the exchange segment.

”Has anyone told you the fate of being a sly person?” Cassandra clicked her tongue.

”Is that your first question?” Leonard feigned ignorance and focused on the part that she made the question.

”If so, then I’ll gladly answer yes. Now it’s my turn, right?”

”...”

Speechless, Cassandra didn’t expect him to be that shameless.

Moreover, it appeared that she might have mistaken his intention if he was willing to admit that kind of useless question as the first.

Not only did it not give him any intel, but it also gave her the chance to scrutinize Leonard’s behavior and intention.

”Anyway, here we go. My question is... does your Snake Faction have any involvement with the assassination of the Crown Prince?” Leonard asked.

In the blink of an eye, a pin drop of silence consumed the atmosphere.

Cassandra’s expression turned ugly at the blunt question.

’Is he trying to swindle me to remain quiet on the question to grant himself two more free ones?’ She didn’t understand what his intention was. But he would be sorely mistaken if he thought this was something major.

”I don’t know if my subordinates are involved in it, but I can confidently say I have no intention nor the desire to harm the Crown Prince.” She responded with a clear and concise tone.

As the Leader of the Snake Faction, she would be a damn fool to try to provoke the Crown Prince of Aldros.

Why in the world would she court death?

The Crown Prince might have disrupted her business for a while, but she knew it was never directed at her specifically.

If anything, it was because those on the surface had provoked the Crown Prince and resulted in their business being collateral damage.

Now that the surface level was practically cleaned up by the Crown Prince, their business was starting to return. This goes to show that she could only suffer some bit of a loss, but there was no deep hatred involved.

Upon confirming that the woman in front of him didn’t hold any desire to harm the Crown Prince, he relaxed a bit.

’Seems like she wasn’t involved. That’s good. No reason for me to target her.’ He thought to himself.

He noticed Ellie held goodwill toward Cassandra, so it would have been a mess if she learned that he wanted to eliminate her Big Sister.

”Now’s my turn.” Cassandra leaned on the wall with her back and asked. ”Are you trying to harm Ellie in any way?”

”??!”

Startled, Leonard’s eyes widened. This question was something out of his trajectory.

He was caught off guard and became quite confused at her main objective.

”I mean no harm to Ellie.” He replied and explained, ”I value her as a resilient survivor and recognized her skills later on. Whether it was emotional or logical, she was someone I had no intention of harming.”

Cassandra remained indifferent. She simply waited a while for the magic contract to react. As long as it reacted, it meant that he was lying.

However, the magic contract stayed dormant.

She heaved a soft sigh and subsequently subsided some of her hostility.

With this question and answer, the two could agree on one thing: Ellie was someone they wished to protect.

”Ellie’s origin is a mystery, but she resembles me a lot. I treat her as a little sister. I’ve constantly wanted to recruit her into the Snake Faction, but she didn’t like the environment.” Cassandra shifted her gaze toward the distant Ellie.

”She doesn’t belong in the slum. Maybe it’s a good thing that you took her under your wing.” Her gaze was tender and filled with warmth as she watched Ellie munching on a juicy piece of meat.

Her reaction and explanation made Leonard feel quite ashamed of himself.

His prejudice and bias toward those in the slum made him believe Cassandra was another vile person who wanted to take advantage of Ellie’s innocence.

Still, that didn’t stop him from asking about the main topic.

”Last question, do you know an Assassin going by the code Redflow arriving in the underground slum?” Leonard’s tone gradually dropped.