The large lion quickly lay down to act as Leonhart's chair without even needing to be ordered. Leo was quick to respond by affectionately rubbing his face against the fur of the beast.
Wow, I didn't think they would be so in sync. Can they feel each other's thoughts?
"How did you manage to manifest the whole beast?" I asked him.
It wasn't part of the abilities I placed on that artifact, so the fact he could manifest something even I was aware of was concerning me.
"Oh, this small trick?" He asked while petting the large beast. "I learned over time; I dug quite a bit into learning your power, so I think I got a fairly good understanding of your themes." He explained with a smug grin on his face.
Seriously? Wow, it's great to see your obsession has only worsened with time. Care to share your insight with me?
The beast was emitting strange sounds from his throat; I couldn't tell if that was affection or a threat.
"A shame. I heard, unlike most relics, yours doesn't display signs of growth. I wonder why that is." He commented as he relaxed and laid down on the back of the massive lion he had just summoned.
Nothing escapes your grasp, huh? Did you perhaps figure out why?
"I knew this guy was a freak, but I never imagined he could be so obsessed with you. You should be glad he's your family member, or who knows what he could've done to you."
The angel commented with his hands crossed, nodding in disapproval.
Nah, you're exaggerating; he may be a little weird, but deep down he's the sweetest angel; he couldn't hurt a fly unless it somehow stung him first.
"I don't think he's as innocent as he looks."
The angel answered.
"A bit unfortunate, but it's a price we pay for the ability to replicate any and all weapons." I bitterly commented.
"It's not all weapons, is it?" Leo teased me.
"Fuck off, let me have this moment for now." I gave him a light punch.
"Oh, before I forget, can I take this one with me?" He asked, pointing at the large beast beneath him.
"That was originally meant to be disposed of… maybe you can ask Uncle. I don't think he'll approve of this. Especially after pulling such a risky stunt," I explained.
"Heheheheh, you're in big trouble, Luca~" he whispered while changing position, lying down on his back, hanging on the side of the beast.
I sighed.
"We can make this simple; we both keep quiet about the situation, and nobody gets hurt. You won't get in trouble with Father, and I get to keep my new toy." He proposed.
"Or?" I asked him.
"Or if we tell Father about this, you'll lose funds and I'll get punished; it's a lose-lose situation. Are you sure you want to go with this option?" He asked me.
I could tell he was secretly panicking inside because he had a lot more to lose than me yet pretended like that wasn't the case.
That is so much more than a simple toy; have you seen what it's capable of? Especially after you summoned the beast, this could seriously negatively affect my whole production.
"A-are you blackmailing me?" I asked him as the realization finally struck me.
"No, no, how could I? I'm just stating a fact: if Father learns about what happened today, he'll be furious; he might take away my weapon, but he'll surely punish you worse." He warned me with a convincing tone; he seemed serious, concerned, and not at all scared of the consequences.
This is totally blackmail!
"Oh, absolutely, I bet this was absolutely premeditated; he wanted his hands on the prototype."
The angel thought the same thing I did.
"Why? This is just a prototype for now; wouldn't it be better if you waited until we came up with something even better than that?" I asked him.
"That's never going to happen." He coldly answered.
"How would you know?" I asked him.
"Because I read about it, I know how Father thinks; the approved artifacts are always weaker than the original prototype. While the originals are almost always destroyed." The beast below him quickly got agitated after it heard the truth.
"They're a risk." I tried to find a justification for it.
"I'm not blaming you; don't worry about it; I'm just here to save this one before it gets turned into scraps." He said, patting the beast to calm it down. Looking more serious than ever.
Nothing I could do or say could make Leonhart change his mind, I could tell; whenever he stopped pretending to be all childish was the moment he would let his obsession take over his mind.
Right now I wasn't speaking to Leonhart, but to the compulsive desire to hoard anything related to demons, be they demons themselves, relics, or other kinds of body parts or corpses.
"I don't know if I should be feeling glad or not; after all, he saved my child from certain doom. I think you should just accept the deal and close an eye."
The demon spoke.
Huh? Why don't you go back to crying in your little corner?
"Why? What did I do? I just offered a little suggestion."
We would have to silence everyone in the research team; not only that, but if word spreads, it'll just complicate things. It's a massive headache to deal with; I'm not going to do all of that just because he wants a shiny new toy to play with.
I sat down next to Leonhart.
"I don't think lying to the uncle is good; if I have to suffer some consequences, so be it. I was reckless when I made that weapon; it's my fault at the end of the day." I replied after taking one solemn sigh.
"Aww, can't you just… close an eye, just for today? I promise I'll pay you later, just today, pretty please." He pleaded, taking both my hands and pulling me closer.
"Don't worry about it; the uncle is not an unreasonable person. Sure, he may admonish and punish you, but I'm sure he'll let you keep the weapons." I said to reassure him.
Hopefully.
I said in the back of my mind.
"What if he takes it away? Will you make me a copy?" He begged me.
"If he takes it away, I'll make you something better without him knowing." I assured him.
"Promise?" He asked while trying to make a pinky promise.
"I promise, are you happy now?" I agreed to make the promise.
"What about the other weapons?" He then asked, pointing at the large pile of failures, all safely contained within wooden boxes.
"We're still trying to figure out what's wrong with them. Since this one was so aggressive, we had decided to dispose of it, but since you managed to somehow tame it, I guess you could take it… probably," I answered.
"Oh, you have others?" His eyes lit up.
Fuck. Not again!
"They're not like this one; they're inherently flawed and barely functioning. This one was just very aggressive," I warned him.
"While these others may not be as dangerous, you'll understand immediately why they were rejected. This is only the first batch; we'll tune them well to get the weapons right; even the one you're holding is a failure." I tried to explain, but that didn't seem to change his mind.
"But it works just fine, can't you see?" He retorted with a confused look on his face.
"Well, while it works, the main reason we're making sentient weapons is for them to act as a second pair of eyes, directly communicating with the user what is happening around him, spotting hidden enemies, and such," I explained.
"The lion, although it's a strong support, most likely cannot achieve its primary function, so strictly speaking, it is a failure." I concluded.
"Awww, have you heard him? He says you're a failure." Leo repeated my words, playfully scratching the area underneath the lion's chin.
"Do you mind if I try the others as well?" He asked me.
"Please don't; it's for your own good. They're known to cause nausea; they might make you puke, and I would hate it if you made this whole room stink of your puke." I refused in a stern tone.
"Wow, this is certainly a unique feeling." He commented after disappearing from my sight.
Wait, what?
I turned around and saw he had already fetched the next weapon.
"So many voices; I can see why normal people would feel overwhelmed by this." He commented as he held an artifact in the shape of a two-tipped spear.
His legs were trembling, and so were his arms; he was using the spear as a support to remain standing.
"What the hell did I tell you?" I asked him, furious.
If I were stronger than him, I would've given him a proper beating so that he wouldn't carelessly touch my prototypes anymore.
"Sorry I grew too curious." He quickly apologized, making a silly face, without a hint of guilt.
At least try to make your apologies sound believable.
He then pointed the spear at me.
I quickly turned into the hybrid form, and as he unleashed the spear's ability, I created a series of walls in front of me made out of light.
All it took was a light motion for the spear to unleash a powerful long-ranged beam attack that pierced and destroyed twelve out of the fifteen protective walls I made in advance.
"Weapons are not supposed to be tested here." I admonished Leo.
"Man, this little baby sure is hungry; just one attack consumed most of my demonic energy." He was too absorbed in his own world to hear me.
He then dropped the spear and appeared, lying belly up on the back of the beast.
"That weapon needs some serious tuning; if I tried to strike you with all my might, it would've drained all my energy." He complained to me.
"I told you so; these weapons are still in their experimental phase; it was hard enough as is to give them consciousness. You think I really care about balancing their power?" I yelled back at him.