Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground novel Chapter 1603

Chapter 1603: Weird Meeting

’Did she recognize me?’

After the ascension games, his face had become well known across the Span. He could barely walk the streets without being stopped, sometimes even asked for autographs.

The attention was dangerous, especially when he couldn’t afford to distinguish friend from foe, which was why he had split off from the others in the first place.

’She’s coming.’

The girl began marching toward him without hesitation. Atticus frowned faintly as she stopped just in front of him, studying his face with wide, unblinking eyes.

"What—"

"I want you."

"...?"

Atticus blinked once, then again, convinced he must have misheard.

"What?"

"My brother says I waste money, but he doesn’t know how much I’ve saved. Name your price. I’ll pay it."

A purse suddenly appeared in her grip, and she opened it, holding it out toward him as she waited for his response.

Her brows were drawn together in expectation.

"..."

"Huh?"

At Atticus’s continued silence, she frowned and tilted her head, studying his face more closely.

"Are you deaf? No... that’s not it. I’m using my will to talk to you, so you should understand me."

She narrowed her eyes for a moment, then let out a small sigh.

"...Well. Worth trying."

Without warning, she began making a flurry of exaggerated signs with her hands, carefully mouthing each word as though speaking to a child.

"I want. To. Buy. You. Do. You. Understand?"

"What are you doing?"

"Ah—!"

She jolted backward with widened eyes as she stared at him warily.

"You... you can talk?"

"What do you think?"

"...Oh."

She released a breath and shook her head. Then the tension left her expression as if her earlier shock had never existed.

"So you can speak. Then why didn’t you answer me?"

She waved it off.

"Never mind. You heard me, right? So, name your price and I’ll—"

"Lyra!"

The brother appeared between them in an instant, pulling his sister back with one arm as he fixed Atticus with a cautious stare. His body was visibly tense.

"Brother, I was just—"

"Enough."

He cut her off with a sharp look, then turned fully toward Atticus and bowed deeply.

"I apologize for my sister’s behavior."

"But I didn’t—"

Before she could finish, he pressed her head down into a bow as well.

"You too."

She stiffened, clearly ready to protest, but shrank back under his cold glare.

"...I-I’m sorry." she muttered at last, her shoulders slumping as though all the energy had drained from her body.

"...Alright."

"Thank you."

The brother straightened, and without another word, took hold of his sister and led her away from the alley.

’What was that?’

Atticus watched them leave. He had initially judged the girl as weak, and while that was true, there was something about her that felt... off, aside from her obvious screw loose.

He turned the sensation over in his mind for a moment, but no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t identify what had unsettled him. Eventually, he let the thought go.

’They better get here fast.’

His thoughts drifted to Ozeroth, Whisker, and Ozerra, who had gone off to find a suitable place for them to stay until the competition began. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

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