These Familiars Are Strange

"Why us?" I finally couldn't help asking after the silence persisted for a while.

"It's very simple, it's because you're qualified unlike the others." Leaf said with the same friendly smile on her face.

I couldn't help raising a brow as I looked at her.

I really couldn't read through what she was planning at all and I certainly didn't understand what she meant by this.

Leaf could see the way that I was looking at her, so she said, "I've been observing you just like you've been observing me. I didn't think much of you at first, but then I could see the way that you were hanging back while everyone charged forward. It was clear that you were able to see through all of the plans that I set for the others, so you're clearly much smarter than them."

She leaned in closer to look more closely at me before saying, "You're smart enough to hide your appearance like this and you clearly have more power than you're showing. You're the perfect kind of dark horse for this kind of competition."

But she still muttered to herself, "It's strange that I've never seen or even heard of you before. Either someone went out of their way to hide you or you've just appeared on the scene."

All of the things that she said completely shattered the innocent look that she had previously.

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It was clear that Leaf was a highly intelligent person, even if she acted like a girl next door. She was hiding all of that intelligence and cunning under that innocent smile, which made her even more terrifying.

But I also couldn't help being impressed by all of the things that she had inferred.

There were things that she shouldn't have been able to infer based on what I've shown, but the tone that she said it was as if she was certain of her guesses.

There wasn't a trace of doubt that was on her mind.

And the fact that she was willing to say this much already showed the sincerity that she had.

"What do you want us to do then?" I slowly asked after processing everything that she said.

She stopped muttering to herself to look up at me with the same smile before saying, "It's very simple, I want an alliance between our teams. Even if it is a shaky alliance where we can't actually trust each other, I still want us to have this alliance. I have a feeling that with you on our side, we'll be able to accomplish something that will be far greater than if we work alone."

That smile on Leaf's face became wider as she said, "And I trust my instinct, it's never led me wrong before."

I looked right into her eyes, but it didn't seem like she was backing down at all.

She looked right back at me with sincerity as she waited for my answer.

But I still couldn't make that decision since I couldn't figure out just what she was planning to do.

As if she could see something from my eyes, Leaf suddenly said, "I advise you not to underestimate the other teams, especially those two."

I narrowed my eyes the moment that I heard this.

There was no need for her to say who she was referring to since there were two teams that already appeared in my mind. Even if they were considered top contenders like this World Tree Team in front of me, I knew that those two were different.

It felt like they were on a completely different level.

Seeing the look that appeared in my eyes when she said this, Leaf continued by saying, "You should have felt it already, but those two teams are completely different. They are even on a higher level than us, so we have to think of a way to take the two of them down."

Her eyes widened as a sparkle appeared as she said, "And I think that special something is your team."

I really didn't know what to say, but I could feel the sincerity that was in her voice and eyes. Though I couldn't help remembering all of the things that she said while also maintaining that innocent appearance from before.

It was hard to come to a decision, but eventually I said with a nod, "Alright, but there's a price."

The members of the World Tree Team deeply knitted their brows when they heard this.

They had already been unhappy with the situation because of how I acted towards Leaf and now I was even asking for a price.

If looks could kill, there was no doubt that they would have wanted to kill me here and then.

But it wasn't as if looks could kill.

At the same time, it really seemed like this would be a rocky alliance with the way that they were acting.

Still, Leaf didn't care at all as she looked right at me.

After a moment of silence as if she was thinking about it, she suddenly took out another thing and tossed it at me.

I was caught off guard by how sudden her actions were, but I was still able to catch the thing that she threw at me in the end.

I looked down to find that it was a red bead, but it wasn't just any red bead. This was a bead that was releasing powerful mana fluctuations.

I didn't even have to use the appraisal on it to know that this was another orb of elemental energy and it was one that was quite concentrated.

It was most likely another A Grade orb of elemental energy.

This would certainly help the Astral White Tiger since it had just eaten the flames of the peacock and would help it stabilize its fire elemental energy.

Since she was willing to go this far…

I reached one hand out to which Leaf tossed the red orb before reaching my other hand out to say, "Alright, let's work together then."

Though her team didn't seem happy about this, Leaf still took my hand and shook it with that same smile on her face.@@novelbin@@