Chapter 158 - You Didn't Kill Him

"And why would Alphius be the one who killed my father?" 

It was now Hecathe's turn to be shocked and confused. 

"But didn't you say that your father was killed by one of the mecha-suits?" Hecathe gulped as he questioned. 

"So?" LeiLei's eyebrows creased together and she looked at the man as if Hecathe had gone mad, "Just because I said it was a mecha-suit, did you automatically think that Alphius was the one behind it? And how can you lie like that? You're clearly not Alphius cause if you were then you would know that you didn't kill my father." 

Hecathe didn't know if he was supposed to laugh or cry as he heard this but in the end, he did neither as he simply shut his mouth and waited for the girl to continue. 

"Alphius didn't kill my father nor did you," LeiLei stated firmly and it was enough to make both Hecathe and Marvin question whether they had been wrong till now or not.

"LeiLei, there is only one more person in this world with your ability and that is the dead willow of spring who was killed by Alphius," Marvin spoke with a frown as he pointed out but LeiLei didn't look to be impressed as she heard this. 

"And what makes you say that?" LeiLei asked back without missing a beat. 

"..." 

"It's basically impossible for Alphius to kill my father because when my father died, there weren't these many mecha-suits. Alphius had just started to make mecha-suits and at that time, he was still considered as an inspirational hero." 

"Wait... What...?!" Hecathe was left a little shocked as he heard all this and he asked, "Didn't Alphius start creating the mecha-suits after his father died? His reputation by then was already bad, wasn't it?" 

LeiLei sighed as she heard this and shook her head, "That's not how things went. He created mecha-suits when his father was still alive but he only commercialized them after his father's unfortunate death. This means that the mass rise of mecha-suits came after the great Edler's death but before that, there were still a few mecha-suits who had been close to the great Edler and were gifted a mecha-suit just to try it out." 

Hecathe's frown deepened as he heard this and he still found things a bit too confusing and hard to believe. 

"How can that be?" Hecathe asked in disbelief, "Didn't the mecha-suits start killing the ability users after their population started to rise and there were more of them?" 

"Sir, how fucked up is your knowledge on recent history?" LeiLei asked with a frown and she was certainly mocking the man who had no response to this question. 

Marvin opened his mouth to say something but was suddenly stopped by LeiLei who clicked her tongue. 

"There might be people listening in so it's better not to talk here." 

Marvin and Hecathe gulped as they heard this and nodded as they looked around. 

The auction house looked pretty much empty but just like the three of them who were here, there would surely be more people hiding around and if someone overheard this conversation, it was certainly going to be troublesome. 

In the very next movement, they found themselves back in their apartment where LeiLei had teleported them to, and thankfully enough, it wasn't Hecathe's room but was the new room that LeiLei had rented out only recently. 

"The first mecha-suits weren't created by Alphius," LeiLei spoke with a sigh as she informed and Hecathe was a bit surprised to hear this. 

The man immediately turned to look at Marvin as he waited for a confirmation and Marvin nodded his head as if he already knew about this. 

"The first mecha-suit project was started by the great Edler but since the project was a bit risky to start under his name, he decided to let his son have all the credits," Marvin spoke as he revealed the truth about the matter, "Alphius was not supposed to tell anyone about this and the whole project was kept as secretive as possible. Nobody knew who the first mecha-suits were and it was only natural that their deeds also went unnoticed." 

LeiLei nodded her head as she agreed with the boy, "That's right. The first few mecha-suits roamed free without being caught by anyone and there was no record of them. Whether they did good deeds or bad ones didn't matter because, in the end, it was all covered up and hidden just like their identities that always remained a secret more deeply hidden than Edler's cause of death." 

Hecathe gulped and his eyebrows creased together as he took all this information in. 

He had read Alphius's diary but there was no mention of any of this, however, Hecathe would still believe the words of Marvin and LeiLei because he knew that Alphius was a careful person. If all of this was meant to be a secret, the boy would surely not note it down anywhere. 

"After his father's death, he took over the project and started making more advanced mecha-suits. Most of the mecha-suits you see nowadays are products of his hard work and innovation. While his father created mecha-suits for a limited set of people, he created mecha-suits for the mass that demanded it," LeiLei continued as she explained, "So, I am sure that it was not him because there is no way that it could be him. Alphius is around the same age as me and I lost my parents when I was eleven years old. At that time, Alphius was also just as young and he was too innocent to kill someone at such a young age." 

Hecathe was left a little dumbfounded as he heard this. 

He didn't know if he was supposed to laugh or cry. 

All this time, he had worried about telling LeiLei that he was behind her father's death, but at the same time, he had stupidly forgotten to even confirm it.

The real Hecathe was twenty-nine years old and hence, he didn't even take into account that Alphius was just too young when LeiLei's parents passed away. 

Hecathe immediately turned to glare at Marvin who was the one to start this whole mess. He was the one who reminded Hecathe about that willow of spring that was killed by Alphius! 

Marvin shrugged his shoulders as he tried to look innocent, "It was you who jumped the gun without thinking about everything thoroughly." 

"..." Hecathe wanted to bash the boy's head with a bat as he heard this but he would naturally not do it since he didn't own a bat.

"So... Who the hell was your father?!" Hecathe questioned as he looked at LeiLei. 

LeiLei pursed her lips into a thin line and refused to say anything. 

"You say that your father was killed by a mecha-suit and he knew Asgarian who hated him for some reason. He also had the same rare ability as you which was known to be the ability that belonged to one of the three willows of spring. With all this considered, there is no way that your father was an ordinary man! Just who are you?!" Hecathe asked and looked to be a little frustrated as he sat down on a chair. 

LeiLei frowned as she heard this question and shouted back, "How am I supposed to know that?!" 

"..." 

This girl knew the entire secret history of a boy who was not even related to her and yet she didn't even know her own history... It would certainly be an understatement to say that Hecathe was speechless. 

Marvin sighed as he rubbed his forehead and spoke, "LeiLei, I think there are some things that you are hiding from us." 

"Eh?" 

"How can you know so much about Alphius when this was all supposed to be kept as a secret?" 

LeiLei gulped as she heard this question but didn't dare give a casual answer to the boy. 

"I would know because he was my friend, but I'm sure you can't say the same thing," Marvin continued as he didn't bother waiting for a response from the girl, "So don't even bother lying and tell us the truth." 

LeiLei frowned as she didn't give a straight response and instead, she questioned back, "Didn't you say that you were not friends with him? You are also lying to me about certain things, are you not?" 

"And I just told you the truth. I do know him and he was my friend. Now it's your turn to be honest, LeiLei," Marvin replied without missing a beat. 

LeiLei looked between Hecathe and Marvin who were waiting for a response. 

"I don't know Alphius," LeiLei spoke with a sigh as she shook her head and this time, she was certainly not lying, "The only reason why I know about this secret is because my father was friends with the great Edler. He knew about the mecha-suits." 

"Is that the truth?" Hecathe asked with a frown as his eyes narrowed down on the girl. 

He was cautious to believe her this time and this was only natural.