Indeed, the person standing before Leon was Mira, the first person he saw upon his return to the past.
"Leon... You're alive."
She exclaimed softly, her voice mixed with surprise and concern.
This somewhat surprised Leon. Why was she looking concerned? It wasn't like they were friends.
Unknown to him, she had a crush on him. However, because he was being targeted when she paid attention to him, she decided to ignore him, hoping that the bullies would stop.
Still confused, Leon tilted his head, expression unchanged.
"Oh. You're alive too." He said in a detached tone as if confirming that his poultry was still alive.
"Uh.."
Mira's expression turned weird but she didn't mind. After all, he'd been bullied because of her in the past. It was normal if he hated her.
Her companions sensed the odd atmosphere but chose to keep quiet. It was better to let her face it herself.
"Do you... hate me?" She asked hesitantly.
"Hate you?" Leon's eyes revealed confusion. "Why should I hate you? You didn't try to kill me, did you?"
Mira was caught off guard by his simple reasoning, then sighed in relief.
Her expression brightened and she asked. "Are you alone or...?"
"I'm part of a camp in Night Veil."
"Oh, I see. But why Night Veil City? You didn't live there right?"
"Uh.. I own a property there."
"Ah, I see . Still, you can come with us if you need to stay for a while."
Sensing no hostility from the girl, he agreed.
They drove in the truck, occasionally chatting. Surprisingly, Mira was a very talkative girl—at least in Leon's standards. She kept asking him questions and giving him information he found weird and unnecessary about herself.
Soon, they arrived at their hideout which was nearby. It was a small fortified apartment building, only accessible through a narrow alley.
"We're here."
Mira said as they alighted the vehicle, then went inside.
The living room was quite comfy, with cushions and a table full of wine.
"How did you end up here?"
Leon asked, a slight frown on his face as he perceived the scent of cigarettes.
"Oh, I haven't introduced you to the others. This is a family member of mine. John—my cousin."
She pointed at the other evolved. A young man in his early twenties. He looked handsome and approachable.
"The others are his friends at work. I was going to spend the weekend with him when it all started."
Leon nodded nonchalantly, his gaze fixed on John. The guy was all smiles—weird.
"Anyway... What would you like to eat? We've got some variety."
She said as they sat on a cushion.
The others in the house walked about, exchanging light talks and casting furtive glances at Leon.
"A variety? Do you have milkshake?"
Leon asked, slightly surprised. It seemed they had a lot of foodstuffs stocked here. He briefly considered inviting them over to his Glass Tower but decided against it. Until he investigateed their character, he wouldn't make hasty decisions. Not everyone could be as simple as Old Pipe.
As soon as Mira disappeared into the kitchen to check, John approached him with a friendly smile.
"You must be Mira's friend from college. I didn't know she could meet someone she knew."
"Mn."
"She must have been bored being in the company of my colleagues from work. They don't really know each other that well, so it must have been awkward for her."
"Mn."
"Ah~ But now, I don't have to worry. You're keeping her company fine. Thank you."
"Mn."
"You're an evolved right? How has the apocalypse been for you?"
"Mn."
At this point, John had no choice but to notice Leon's lack of interest in his words. His smile faltered, then regained its friendliness.
"Anyways, enjoy yourself." Saying this, he excused himself and went upstairs.
Half a minute later, Mira arrived with a glass of milkshake. Although it wasn't cold, Leon didn't mind. He didn't expect much anyway.
He nodded at her in approval, then took out his phone. It was off, battery exhausted.
Mira glanced at it, then sighed. "Power sources have gone down for good. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can use to replace that now."
Leon nodded in agreement. Indeed, communication was still available in the early days of the apocalypse, however it had gone from bad to worse when network worsened, and power sources became a scarce commodity.
The world was still overrun by zombies and no one could concern themselves with managing the power supply for the country.
"Um, Leon..." Mira leaned close, her voice low and hesitant. "Are you an evolved?"
Leon paused, then nodded.
She heaved a sigh, strangely relieved. Leon couldn't understand her thought process at all. It left him quite bewildered.
"How did you get your evolution potion?" He decided to ask.
Mira didn't hesitate and told him.
When the apocalypse had started, they were in a shopping mall and while chaos ensued, two golden boxes had landed in the hall. She took one and led John to take the other. With the contents inside, they were able to become evolved and get rough information about the apocalypse.
'So they don't know about the Reward Crucible yet...' He thought. 'One is still at that Rural Camp. Although I've secured it, there's nothing human greed cannot cause. Those guys over there might have been trying to use it.'
Closing his eyes, he surrendered to the comfort of the cushion while his mind strategized.
'Tonight, I'll see if John's group is useful. If they're not, I'll only take Mira. Then I'll have to go back and get Kevin's stash of crystals and reclaim the crucible.'
After consuming the third level mutated beast, he had gone back to consume Kevin and his crew before going to freshen up.
'It is important to always be neat after all.'
Mira looked at his peaceful expression and couldn't help but smile. She missed school, worried for her family, and was plagued with several depressive thoughts despite being a popular girl before the apocalypse started.
But seeing Leon relaxed made her feel at ease, even if only by a little bit. In the progressing apocalypse, human psychology was just that unpredictable.