231 place holher v5

The others looked at each other in surprise. The Linri they remembered was not someone who solved problems with his fists. He was somewhat introverted or at least he wouldn't trust others and that was the reason why he at least decided to keep to himself and the transmigrators at least tried to not bother him too much.

"Umm boss?" Lance said in an unsure tone.d

"Not you guys!" Linri corrected himself.

Lance gave a sigh of relief. He was not interested in becoming a puppet of some dictator.

"Does that mean I can't follow you?" Luke said.

Lance's interest was suddenly piqued. Just like Linri the Luke he knew was someone silent and just went along with the flow. He wouldn't usually show initiative to do things for himself. It was like either his heart was frozen or a part of him was dead. Otherwise, no one would be able to become that nonchalant without some sort of important trigger.

And now that Luke was trying to be Linri's follower. Why? Should he also do the same? Maybe Luke was aware of something he was not?

Just like Lance Linri was not sure of Luke's true aim in asking such a question. This was certainly unexpected. He was not even sure that he would be able to get all the transmigrators under control just yet but someone outside of their group suddenly showed interest in following his leadership.

It was also someone Linri wanted to have a close relationship with or rather 'used to have'. Luke was someone OG Linri had an [Amalgam Arts] with and if possible he wanted to do the same. As evident from the club, they were suited to be friends but because he had too many things going on he had never really paid any attention to his 'friendly' relationships.

I mean for Max friends were just shields that you would use to paint the picture that you are normal but now that he was in the world of Autumnfall he didn't need to keep up that facade and making 'friends' became a secondary task for him.

If he were to give an example it would like the extra quests you take in RPGs but never get around to completing it either due to grinding or keep doing main quests. So yeah if he could have a good relationship with Luke that was all for the best.

"Sure but for now I need to talk with them alone can you and the other problem children go somewhere you can't eavesdrop?" Linri asked Luke.

Luke was ecstatic. Finally, there was some worth him following. Actually, that sounded a little arrogant. What he meant was finally there was someone who suited to his ideals of a leader; cruel, selfish, scheming, cold-hearted but most importantly someone who would willingly do sacrifices if it meant he would win. These kinds of people either turned out to be dictators or heroes. He was keen on seeing which one Linri would turn out to be but there was one common point in both of those scenarios. 

"Yes," said Luke without any emotion in his voice despite the thoughts he just had. 

Then he looked towards the others. Leslie was about to pass out due to fatigue, Hayato and Six were not interested and if he really wanted to listen Hayato had his own means to eavesdrop. As for Lance, he seemed unwilling to leave like he was debating something but after seeing the cold look in Luke's eyes he changed his mind. He was not sure if he really missed a great opportunity but he had already lost his chance. But maybe he would have more chances in the future who knows?

After watching them leave Linri repeated his question "Is there anyone who has any opinions about me becoming the de facto leader of the club?"

Jin was waiting for this opportunity. Linri was finally alone. If he attacked now there was a high chance of him winning and teaching that prick the true power of the darkness incarnate and why he shouldn't be underestimated. As he was about to summon his guns and start a fight Rondo grabbed his arm. Jin looked towards him but he just shook his head signalling him not to go through with it.

"Do you promise to save those in need?" Kris asked.

"As long as it fits into my plans why not?" Linri shrugged after saying that.

"That's good enough for me," said Kris. It felt like Linri did not even beat him just now. Just why did that guy trust him so much Jin could not wrap his head around it.

"Can you say for sure that you can get us back home?" Kou asked Linri.

"I am not an omnipotent god but since the OG Linri was able to do it I sure as hell can do that as well" Linri answered without a shred of doubt.

"I will hold you to that promise" Kou answered with a smile.

Honestly, this was going way better than Linri imagined. He was thinking they would be throwing tantrums and doing some idiotic things like actually trying to fight him. Especially Soul, he was not sure how he was still able to keep his calm. Anyway, as long as he got them under control that was what mattered to him. If they were willing that would make things even better for him.

That actually reminded Linri a certain joke; 

- You know what stops rape every time? 

- What? 

- Consent!

Yeah, it was that kind of a situation for him. Though replace rape with dictatorship.

"Praise the sun! In the name of the Holy God of Sun can you swear on your honour that you will put the good of everyone above that of yours?" Rondo asked.

"Fuck no! The only reason I am taking control of the group is that you guys can't even take care of yourselves and that messes up with my plans. The only thing I can promise is that if you follow me you won't end up in a ditch somewhere. Even if you did die it wouldn't be because of my mistake, it would be because you were too weak to walk the path I took" said Linri.

Rondo thought for a moment before answering " This handsome one agrees to your statement" 

So he had already gotten the approval from half of the transmigrators present. This was way more than he had expected. In his mind, they should be attacking him and Linri then would be beating the shit out of them teaching them their place in the food chain. But they agreed so easily. They all each just asked a question then agreed to follow him. Linri felt like there was something fishy going on.

"Will you lend us help when we need it, instead of just finding us whenever you need something?" asked Fosse.

That felt like a weird question but considering what Fosse was currently planning it seemed to fit into his character. But for some reason, Linri still could not shake the feeling that someone was scheming against him. Considering he actually had [2x Exceptional Instinct] attribute his feeling couldn't be wrong. But being their leader was something he had decided on his own after their idiotic behaviours. Then who was scheming against him? Meh, that was a question for Future Linri to solve.

"If I am aware of the situation and it doesn't strictly clash with my interests sure. If it's just a fight you can call on me anytime. I don't know about you guys but the only reason I decided to attend here in the first place was because I wanted to get stronger and the only way I know how is through fighting... at least the only one I can use currently" Linri said.

"Don't forget. A promise with a vampire is a contract. One that you can not break away from" said Fosse and showed Linri his molar teeth with a crimson glint in his eyes.

Linri did not back down and showed his canine teeth and his tails stood up. His eyes shone blue with flames inside of them. "Don't push your chance otherwise you might lose your life. After all, considering my ancestry I am quite curious who would win between our species" Linri said calmly.

His speech contrasted his current wild looks with tattered dirty clothes and his usual animalistic characteristics. It was like seeing a wild animal talk in perfect British English! (Yeah anything other than British English is just an imitation and the author does not accept them as real languages, of course, that's concerning other types of English)

"Kay, it's my turn I suppose" Jaime walked up towards Linri from the woods.

Linri looked towards her with a complicated expression. His relationship with Jaime had never been normal. Due to the bodies they inhabit, they were destined to fall in love and despite that Linri refused to have a relationship with her which created a rocky relationship between them.

She also looked towards him but she had clear eyes. Why? Did she not love him anymore? Was he a thing of the past? That should be a good thing right? Then why did he feel so bad right now? Of course, it was because he loved her but knew that it was impossible. Still, that didn't make it hurt any less.

Jaime then fixed up Linri clothes a little while maintaining eye contact.

"My question is simple. Do you promise to protect your own life?"

"What kind of a question is that? Of course my own lif-"

"That was not an answer. So do you promise?"

"...Yes"

This was the easiest question but also the hardest one. He knew why Jaime would ask such a question. It was because of all the dangerous plans he made and acted on. For christ's sake in order to sell a lie on the first day they met, Linri had willingly let himself be beaten half to death. That was also why it was such a hard question to answer. He can only trust himself and that meant he would have to put himself on harm's way in order to make sure everything went according to the plan.

"Fine! I don't get why these idiots want to make you our leader so badly. Do you pr-" As Jin was speaking his words were cut short.

Blood started to trickle from the corner of his lips. Everyone was looking towards him with wide eyes like they could not believe what was happening. Jin suddenly felt cold around his chest. Why?

He looked down to see a hand covered in blood holding something. It seemed like some sort of flesh tissue. Wait that actually seemed like a heart! Was it his own heart? Seeing that the hand was poking out of his chest it should be.

"NO!!!!"