Chapter 128: I’ll see you around
Leon considered that for a moment, thinking back over everything he’d learned since sitting down.
Between Arthur, Medusa, and Hermes, along with everything else scattered throughout the various books Iris had pulled down, he felt considerably more informed now than he had walking into this house only a few hours earlier.
Still, informed didn’t necessarily mean he had actual answers, not the kind that mattered most.
He knew more about the general shape of these legendary figures now, their personalities, their histories, the broad strokes of what made each of them who they were.
But the specific, personal questions, why exactly Arthur judged him unworthy, what requirement Medusa actually wanted from him, none of that had been answered by anything sitting on these shelves.
Books like this offered history. They didn’t offer him a way forward.
"Can I ask you something?" Iris said, breaking the comfortable quiet that had settled between them.
"Sure," Leon said.
"Why does this actually matter to you?" she asked. "You’ve read more in the last few hours than most scholars manage in weeks. That’s not normal curiosity."
Leon hesitated, weighing how much of the truth he could safely share without giving away more than he intended.
He’d managed to dodge similar questions earlier by deflecting, but something about the quiet, genuine curiosity in her voice made him reluctant to brush this one aside so easily.
"Let’s just say some of this feels a lot more personal to me than it probably should," he said finally, keeping the answer deliberately vague, though closer to honest than anything he’d offered her so far.
Iris studied him for a long moment, clearly sensing there was more beneath the surface of that answer, though she didn’t push any further this time.
Instead, she simply nodded, apparently satisfied enough with the small piece of honesty he’d finally offered.
"Fair enough," she said.
They sat together in comfortable silence for a moment longer, the golden evening light stretching long shadows across the cluttered table between them.
Leon found himself, somewhat unexpectedly, reluctant to leave, the quiet warmth of the house settling into him in a way he hadn’t fully anticipated when he’d first agreed to follow her home.
It had been, he realized, the first time all day he hadn’t felt the constant tension sitting beneath his skin, the problem of the Association, and what brought him to this continent.
Sitting here, surrounded by old books and quiet conversation, none of that had mattered for a while.
"You should probably get going soon," Iris said eventually, glancing toward the window again. "Not that I mind you staying, but it’ll be properly dark before long."
Leon nodded, gently closing the book still resting in his own lap. "Yeah," he said. "Probably should."
Neither of them moved right away, though, both apparently reluctant to actually end the conversation despite the practical reality of the hour.
"Thank you," Leon said finally, meaning it more sincerely than he expected. "For all of this. I don’t think I’ve learned this much in one sitting since I left the academy."
Iris’s cheeks colored slightly at the comment, though she waved it off with a small, dismissive gesture.
"It’s nothing," she said. "Honestly, it’s been nice. Having someone actually listen, I mean."
"I meant it," Leon said. "This helped. More than you probably realize."
She studied him for a moment, something warm and slightly curious flickering behind her expression again, though she didn’t press him to explain further this time.
"You’re welcome to come back," she said instead, the offer slipping out a little more quickly than she probably intended, judging by the faint surprise that crossed her own face immediately afterward.
"If you want to keep reading, I mean. There’s still plenty more you haven’t gotten through yet."
Leon considered the offer for a moment, genuinely tempted despite everything else currently sitting on his plate.
Whatever else waited for him in Aldreth, he suspected he’d need more information like this eventually, and he doubted he’d find a better source anywhere else in the city.
"I might take you up on that," he said.
Iris smiled properly this time, small but genuine, the expression settling naturally onto her face in a way that suggested she hadn’t smiled quite like that in a while.
Leon rose from the couch finally, stretching slightly, feeling the stiffness of having sat still for hours settle into his shoulders.
Iris rose as well, walking him toward the front door, the two of them falling into an easy, comfortable quiet as they moved through the house.
At the door, she hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
"I never really got your last name," she said. "Adam what?"
Leon paused, caught slightly off guard by the question, though he recovered quickly enough.
"Just Adam’s fine," he said, keeping his tone light. "Keeps things simple."
Iris studied him for a beat, clearly recognizing the deflection for exactly what it was, though she let it go without further comment, apparently willing to accept whatever boundaries he was quietly drawing around his own privacy.
"Alright, Just Adam," she said, a teasing note slipping into her voice. "I’ll see you around, then."
"You will," Leon said, offering a small, genuine smile of his own before stepping out through the door and into the cooling evening air outside.
He glanced back once as the door closed gently behind him, the warm light from inside the house spilling briefly across the small garden before fading as she moved away from the entrance.
Leon stood there for a moment, taking a slow breath of the evening air, turning over everything he’d learned over the course of the afternoon.
Whatever answers he still needed, he felt, for the first time since this entire ordeal had begun, like he was finally making real progress toward understanding it properly.
Leon had barely made it past the front gate when he heard the door open again behind him.
"Wait up," Iris called out, jogging slightly to catch up. "I’ll walk you back toward the main road."