Mordo’s apology was sincere, and he didn’t show the slightest displeasure at Leon’s sarcasm.
He was a rigid yet reasonable man.
Once he decided what was right and wrong, he wouldn’t allow external factors such as pride or personal relationships to influence his judgment.
Seeing this, Leon put away his Sun-Blade and knowingly asked,
“So, why did you come looking for me?”
“This isn’t a suitable place.
Let’s go somewhere else.”
The Ancient One snapped her fingers.
Brilliant sparks traced a circle through the air, revealing another space beyond it…
A spacious villa hall filled with an eighteenth-century British atmosphere.
“…All right.”
Leon hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Seeing this, the Ancient One stepped through the portal first, followed by Mordo.
Leon entered last.
The Ancient One waved her hand over an empty area.
A coffee table and several chairs appeared out of thin air.
With another wave, a teapot filled with freshly brewed tea and several cups appeared on the table.
“Please.”
The Ancient One invited Leon to sit before taking a seat herself.
Mordo stood behind her like an attendant.
Leon wasn’t polite either and calmly sat down.
“We came to ask you about several things.”
The Ancient One poured tea for Leon as she spoke.
“A year ago, you appeared out of nowhere in Manhattan, New York.”
“Two months ago, fifteen man-eating demons appeared in New York…”
After filling the cup, the Ancient One put down the teapot and stared directly at Leon.
“Do you know anything about them?”
“Hmm.
I do.”
Leon openly admitted it.
His straightforward answer surprised both the Ancient One and Mordo.
He picked up the teacup, gently blew on the hot tea, and took a small sip before continuing.
“They’re called Ghosts.
Creatures from another world.”
Leon had no choice but to admit it so openly.
Because he had physically transmigrated into this world.
He hadn’t possessed someone else’s body.
Deceiving S.H.I.E.L.D., which wasn’t even certain whether the multiverse truly existed, wasn’t particularly difficult.
But deceiving the Sorcerer Supreme, who could project her consciousness across multiple dimensions, was clearly impossible.
And it wasn’t merely a matter of deceiving her about technical details.
Even ordinary conversation wouldn’t be enough to fool her.
The Sorcerer Supreme had lived for more than five hundred years.
She hadn’t spent all that time secluded in cultivation like some immortal from a cultivation novel.
She had experienced the countless changes of the mortal world, observed the multiverse, and seen through human nature and the myriad aspects of existence.
There might be people in this world capable of deceiving her.
But it certainly wasn’t going to be a young man like himself who was barely twenty.
If he tried to act clever and play little tricks in front of her, he’d only end up being outsmarted by his own cleverness.
It was better to be completely honest from the beginning.
Of course, telling the truth didn’t mean revealing the truth.
The Ancient One wasn’t omniscient or omnipotent.
She couldn’t consider every possible possibility.
And there was an information gap between them.
As long as Leon didn’t let anything slip, there was no way she could figure out the real truth.
…
“Ghosts from another world…”
The Ancient One lifted her teacup toward her lips but didn’t drink.
Instead, she stared blankly into the distance, seemingly deep in thought.
Or perhaps her consciousness had already traveled into another dimension, searching for clues or answers along different timelines.
But neither the Ancient One nor Mordo seemed surprised by the answer that the Ghosts came from another world.
Clearly, they had already figured that much out.
“…Can you tell me more about them?”
After thinking for a moment, the Ancient One looked back at Leon and asked.
“Of course.”
Leon smiled slightly, adopting the same expression he had used when receiving Coulson.
“But I’m a businessman.”
“If you want to learn something from me, you’ll have to pay the price.”
“You should know who you’re talking to…”
Mordo began speaking, but the Ancient One raised her hand and stopped him.
She stared directly at Leon.
“Payment and reward should be equal.
Your request is perfectly reasonable.”
“So what would you like as payment?”
“Money or anything valuable will do.”
Although Leon really wanted something like the Book of the Vishanti, he knew that was impossible.
Besides, asking for payment was merely part of maintaining his image as a morally ambiguous hero who walked in the darkness.
He actually wished everyone in the world knew about the existence of the “Ghosts from another world.”
“Money…”
The Ancient One pondered briefly.
Then she removed the plum-blossom-shaped ring from her left index finger.
“This wasn’t made by any famous craftsman.
It’s merely a little trinket I made when I was first learning magic.”
“It can calm a person’s anger and impulses, allowing their mind to become more peaceful.”
“Would this be enough as payment?”
“Let me see.”
Leon accepted the ring and examined it from every angle.
Secretly, he asked the system to appraise it.
After confirming that there was nothing wrong with it, he finally smiled with satisfaction.
“Although it’s only a little trinket that helps calm the mind, it really is five hundred years old.”
“If I promote it properly, it might fetch an astronomical price.”
“Then, about the Ghosts from another world…”
“They were originally human.”
Leon put away the ring and sat upright.
He began explaining carefully.
“About a thousand years ago in that world, a child was born with an inherently weak heart.”
“He had barely survived birth and was almost mistaken for a stillborn child and cremated.”
“Although his will to live allowed him to survive, his body was extremely frail, and he could only remain bedridden.”
“A kind doctor learned about his condition and developed a medicine for him.”
“It not only cured his frail body but also gave him an ageless, immortal body and strength far beyond that of ordinary humans.”
“But there was a price.”
“He could never be exposed to sunlight and had to consume human flesh to survive.”
“That man was the origin of all Ghosts…”
“His name was Muzan Kibutsuji.”
The Ancient One remained silent after hearing the story.
Mordo, however, had a question.
“You just said that the doctor was kind.”
“If he was truly kind, why would he create a medicine that produced Ghosts?”
“And was the medical technology of that world really so advanced?
They could create such a monster a thousand years ago?”
“The doctor really was kind.”
Leon lifted his teacup and took a small sip to moisten his throat before continuing.
“His original intention was never to create a Ghost.”
“The prescription wasn’t the complete treatment process.”
“The ironic part was that during the early stages of the treatment, Muzan’s condition didn’t improve.”
“Instead, it became even worse.”
“Muzan believed he had been deceived and killed the doctor.”
“As for the medical technology of that world…”
“It wasn’t actually that advanced.”
“That doctor was simply an exception.”
Leon paused before continuing.
“Just like Tony Stark in this world.”
“That prescription was his unique secret.”
“That is also why Muzan was left with weaknesses such as his fear of sunlight and his need to consume humans, yet could never find a way to eliminate them.”
“That’s the cycle of cause and effect.”
The Ancient One let out a long sigh.
“If Muzan hadn’t been so narrow-minded and hadn’t assumed the worst of the doctor…”
“He might have become the ultimate perfect life-form instead of merely becoming a Demon King forced to hide in the darkness.”
Leon didn’t agree.
If this really is a cycle of cause and effect…
Then how should we account for the doctor treating Muzan, only to end up being brutally murdered?
Was he simply wrong for meddling in someone else’s affairs?