Chapter 39 I Am Asura
“H-Hey, stay away from me!” Josephine was panicking as the man marched toward her. She ended up shivering in fear in one corner with the pen she got herself for self-defense purposes.
Jonathan took a step back while holding his hands out, showing her he meant no harm. “I’ll stay here and stop approaching you as long as you calm down. I’m merely afraid you’ve accidentally hurt yourself.”
“C-Close your eyes!” Josephine pointed the pen at Jonathan and inched toward the bed. Jonathan found her cautious movements hilarious and closed his eyes with a smirk.
A short while later, Josephine announced, “All right, I’m done! Go ahead and open your eyes!”
She had wrapped herself up in the blanket and shrank away to one corner of the bed. Not even a hint of her collarbone could be seen.
Once again, she looked like she was guarding herself against an immoral man with bad intentions.
Jonathan was exasperated at her behavior. He said, “I’ll go ahead and switch off the light then.”
A few seconds later, the room was pitch-black once again. Jonathan remained silent in fear of startling Josephine.
She finally put the pen aside a short while later. Once she tucked herself in, she asked in a hushed voice, “Jonathan, have you fallen asleep?”
“Nah. What’s wrong?”
Ever since he started practicing the Ancient Sacred Dragon Technique three years ago, it wasn’t even necessary for him to sleep as much as others. A little over three hours of sleep was all he needed to feel rested.
“Where have you been throughout the past three years?” Josephine turned around and asked when she couldn’t see him in the pitch-black room.
“Am I supposed to tell you the truth?” He finished the rhetorical question with a chuckle before he added, “I spent the first two years waging war against the foes of the nation. The last year I spent in Northern Crimson Prison, not because I was put in jail but because I was searching for something. I was only discharged on your birthday.”
Is he trying to tell me he’s Asura? Wait! He must be trying to pull my leg again! Ugh! I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes high! He’s still the same as he was three years ago!
Josephine rolled her eyes in the dark when she thought the man had returned to his usual flippant self once more.
“Are you telling me that’s the truth? Aren’t you aware only one man is strong enough to pull off the things you’ve just brought up?”
“Who exactly is that?” Jonathan queried nonchalantly.
“Who else apart from Asura? He was the hero waging war against the foes of the nations and who restored peace and order in two years!” Josephine remarked as if the man was the figure she looked up to the most.
She had heard countless tales of wonders of the almighty Asura, but she had never had the chance to meet him in person. The only time she had ever seen him was his back on the news.
“Would you believe me if I tell you I’m the almighty Asura you look up to the most?” Jonathan queried with a smile.
“Nah!” she answered without hesitation because the man next to her wasn’t even close to the description of Asura she had heard from others.
Rumors had it that Asura could easily intimidate his foes with his menacing presence. A strike from him was all it would take to kill the one leading their foes. Hence, she thought it was impossible for the goofy man in the room to be Asura.
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me.” Jonathan wasn’t surprised at all. Instead of the man who had been washing her mother’s feet three years ago, Josephine might be more likely to consider a random soldier from the streets as Asura.
“What if I tell you I was the King of War’s strategist? I’m one of his most trusted aides due to my contribution over the years. Technically, I’m superior to Andrew in terms of hierarchical structure. My affiliation with the King of War was also the reason Anderson had to kneel before me because he knew he couldn’t afford to offend Zachary.”
Jonathan came up with something reasonable to persuade Josephine. At the very least, it wasn’t something as absurd as him being the mysterious Asura.
Josephine took it in as if it was the truth. She asked, “Have you seen Asura when you were with Zachary?”
“Yes. He’s a few feet taller than me, but others told me he’s married. You need to give up on him since he’s also known as quite an uxorious man.”
“W-What do you mean I need to give up on him? I’m merely curious, okay? Speaking of which, have you seen his wife? Is she an equally gorgeous woman?”
Jonathan took a peek at the woman on the bed. “Well, she’s not as gorgeous as you!”
“Hey, you need to stop making fun of me. Have you always been such a smooth talker? Is this something you picked up when you were away?”
Three years ago, Jonathan was a man with an easy-going personality. He wouldn’t even defend himself when others made fun of him.
“Shall we let bygones be bygones? I’ll show you a different side of me from now on! With that being said, the affection I have for you remains the same up until today ever since three years ago.”
“You need to give me a break! It’s time to sleep because I still have to get up for work in the morning!”
As her heart started racing, she turned around and brought up something else to change the topic of their conversation. She didn’t want Jonathan to notice anything strange.
“Do you need me to send you there?”
“Nah!” Josephine shook her head when she thought of her colleagues making fun of her if she were to allow him to take her to work with the electric scooter.
Although Josephine had turned him down, Jonathan paid no heed to it and suggested, “Okay, I’ll wake up early to get myself ready as well.”
He fell into a deep slumber minutes after he wrapped up his conversation with her.
In the morning, Emmeline’s eyes widened in disbelief when Jonathan and Josephine marched out of the same room together.
Emmeline asked, “Jonathan, what’s a wimp like you doing here? Also, why the hell did you spend the night in my sister’s room? Have you taken advantage of her?”
