Camellya didn't immediately answer Leon's question, and Leon, slicing a cake with his fork, continued speaking.
"I very much intend to interfere in what's to come. 17 years as Leon Raviaz, and the woman named Lucia has been irreplaceable to me from day 1.
I cannot sit back and do nothing when I have information about what would happen to her in less than a year, why that would happen and who is responsible."
Pointing at her with his fork, he asked again, "So, Camellya. What are you going to do? Are you going to sit back and do nothing as well, or are you going to rewrite your fate?"
Camellya silently clenched her fist under the table, her head lowered as she thought to herself.
'Rewrite my fate? What's the point of everything if I don't at least do that much?'
Looking up at Leon, Camellya then replied, "Rewrite my fate? I already made that decision 7 years ago."
The futures that awaited Camellya Seradain and Leon Raviaz.
The future that awaited the entire world of Citera.
If those fates were written into the stars, then Camellya had already resolved to rewrite the stars to change them.
Leon smiled at her response, taking a bite of his cake as he said, "Glad we're on the same page. In that case, I propose we work together."
Camellya didn't immediately take Leon's offer, unknown thoughts swirling in her mind as she stared at him with narrowed eyes.
"Two heads are better than one," Leon continued. "And besides, the power and influence of the Raviaz family would be of great assistance to you and reduce the hassle you'd have to deal with when you eventually become a Hero."
The last word Leon mentioned had Camellya silently closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
'Hero… a Defence Mechanism of the Planet...'
In the face of threats, the World deployed defence mechanisms to protect itself, and the Seradain siblings were the planet's number 1 candidates for the position of 'Hero'.
However, this information wasn't widely known.
As such, there were millions of nobles and people in power, unaware of the deeper mechanics, who would have a lot to say about a commoner like Camellya being chosen as a Hero.
But if the Raviaz family was backing Camellya, there was nothing they could say, at least, publicly.
Camellya understood that much. What she didn't understand was why.
"What's in it for you?" Camellya asked, wanting to know what Leon wanted in return for offering his family's influence.
To her, even if they had the same goal of rewriting the fates that awaited them, a partnership had to bring benefits to both sides.
Faced with her question, Leon proceeded to reveal his current goal in life.
"Well, I wanna enjoy life, and explore Citera as much as I can. But that can't happen if it gets invaded, but at the same time, saving the world is so much of a pain in the behind.
Which is why I'd rather just support the person whom the world is eventually gonna shove the responsibility on top of."
"So you want to push off all the hard work onto me?" Camellya asked, eyes still narrowed, and at this Leon shrugged.
"Regardless of what I do, you'd end up with all the hard work shoved onto you anyway. You're gonna be a Hero, after all."
Camellya heaved a tired sigh at his words, clicking her tongue as she said, "You say that so casually, but being a Hero is easier said than done.
It's a position that attracts a lot of unnecessary attention.
No matter what kind of incident happens, people would turn to you, placing unreasonable expectations on you, and if you do not show up at the time they want, or meet their absurd expectations, you'd be on the receiving end of their wrath, regardless of how many good things you've done, or how many millions you've saved."
Camellya's voice turned darker, her expression turning colder as she continued, "Heroes aren't perfect. It's impossible for them to be able to save everyone and everything. Yet, people seem to ignore this fact, subconsciously or not, and expect them to be able to achieve this impossible feat."
"…"
Leon blinked in surprise at her rather dark take on Heroism, and after a moment, he asked, "Do you have any experience being a Hero? Besides playing Deity Rising, that is."
Faced with this question, Camellya turned an incredulous look towards him.
"I was a college student. Where the hell was I supposed to get that experience from?"
"I dunno. You tell me," Leon replied with a shrug.
Just as he said that, he stabbed his fork into his cake and then asked, "Speaking of which, what about Cameron?"
The instant the name 'Cameron' left his lips, Leon was hit with a full blast of Camellya's hostility, a hint of magic power seeping out of her body as she glared at him and declared.
"He knows nothing."
Leon blinked in surprise at the sudden change in attitude, then burst into laughter as he shook his head.
"Tone down your hostility, or Elidyr might get pissed. I wasn't trying to ask if he knows anything, I just wanna know if you guys are twins or not."
"Oh…"
Camellya's magic power was immediately retracted, and Leon couldn't help but think about how dense it was, instantly noting that her Level might be a lot higher than it was at the prologue of Deity Rising.
"Yes, we're twins. What about it?"
Clearly, Camellya was very protective of her brother, given how much her attitude went a whole 180 the instant he was mentioned.
Leon didn't really mind this and just went on with his question.
"Well, in Deity Rising, there was one protagonist, and the player could choose between genders. But this is reality, and leaving aside if the game's based on the world or the world is based on the game, I have a few questions regarding stuff like your skills."
"Our skills?"
All Citerans were born with Core Skills, which were often related to their true soul's nature, elemental affinity, race and the like, and possessing one skill was the norm.
Having more than one or the possibility to acquire more was reserved for a rare few, Deity Rising's protagonist included.
Or at least, that's how it was in the game.
In reality, however…
"I only have one of the Core Skills. Cameron has the other."
"Oh. Which one do you have?"
"Arcane Polymathy," Camellya replied.
In Deity Rising, the protagonist was an all-rounder who both excelled in magic and weapon combat, and this was in no small part thanks to their Core Skills.
Now, however, it seemed that Camellya was the one who got the magic combat skill, which granted her all-around mage capability, rather than a narrow elemental or attribute specialisation like most people.
"You got that one, huh? We're really looking even more like a match made in heaven," Leon said with a chuckle, lowering his gaze to his cake as he cut another slice of it.
Since he'd lowered his gaze, he completely missed how Camellya's expression turned strange at his words, and after a moment of silence, she slowly asked.
"Exactly what do you mean by that?"
"Hmm? Well, I'm a warrior type, and you're a mage-type. I'm primarily melee, and you're primarily rear guard. It's a suitable two-man party balance, and perfect for sharing special treasures and resources we find."
To empower themselves as much as necessary, Leon and Camellya would have to acquire some of the limited, rare treasures and items they knew of from the game, and if they walked the same combat path, they'd inevitably interfere with each other's growth.
"But since that's not the case, we can share the goods of Citera with each other," Leon said, moving his hand to pick up the menu on the desk as he continued, "I plan to go explore the Pohedurn Forest and Gorge to explore my combat class. Wanna come along? You can bring your brother. There's a good early-game combat class there, after all."
Barely a second after Leon made that suggestion, he remembered that Camellya had recovered her memories of Deity Rising seven years ago, and with that came the possibility that she'd long since acquired said class already.
But before he could even ask if that was the case, Camellya spoke up.
"I already had Cameron get something even better than that Spear-only class. It's been years since I decided to change Citera's fate, so it's only natural I've already begun laying groundwork."
Leon nodded at her words, and then he thought back to the magic power he'd felt from her earlier and then asked, "What level are you right now?"
He expected to hear at least 100, but Camellya's response was a number about two dozen levels higher than his expectation.
"140. Can't spend too much time out trying to kill monsters since I have to take care of my mother," Camellya replied.
"The fact that you've already reached 140 despite that constraint is enough of a cause for praise," Leon immediately shot back.
That was the Level where rookie Knights started off from, and she'd reached it despite having to devote most of her time to taking care of her ailing mother.
Leon glanced out the window, seeing that the rain that had been falling all this while had come down a bit, and then back towards Camellya as he spoke.
"If we're gonna be working together, I'd like for us to build some level of…cooperation in combat situations. Why don't we start that with a low-level dungeon like the Pohedurn Gorge Dungeon?"
Camellya pondered his words in silence for a moment before nodding in affirmation.
"Fine. I'll come along."
This response brought a smile to Leon's face, and he held out his phone right after, with a QR code on the screen.
"Let's exchange contacts for easier communication. I'd be here by 9 am tomorrow."
Camellya silently used her phone to scan the QR code on his phone, and after that, she finished her coffee, then got up from her seat.
"I'm leaving," she said, earning a light wave from Leon.
"See you tomorrow."
Camellya didn't respond, silently walking out and leaving behind Leon, who picked up his menu and called a waiter to order a second cake.