Leonard Grand

Under the glow of the city lights, a man in his early thirties sat on a balcony overlooking a street that never slept.Leonard Grand, the name that had become a brand in the business world in just a few years.A man who started from nothing, then climbed to the top with unbelievable steadiness.
Between his fingers was a cigarette, sending its smoke into the sky, while his eyes stared at the horizon as if searching for something lost.
“What does all of this mean?” he wondered to himself.“Money, fame, companies, parties… Is this the end of the road? Am I supposed to feel satisfied?”
The question was not strange to him. He had always carried a small philosophical streak that blossomed whenever he sat alone.But outside… everyone saw him as the man who had “achieved everything.”
The next day, Leonard was sitting in a fancy café in the middle of the city.At the next table stood his most famous bodyguard: Jiro, a tall man with broad shoulders, yet with ever-smiling features.
“Sir Leonard, you know this croissant costs more than my monthly salary, right?” Jiro said as he placed the plate in front of him with theatrical lightness.
Leonard laughed: “You’re exaggerating, your salary is enough to buy an entire bakery.”
Jiro pointed his finger as if discovering a conspiracy:“Exactly! So why don’t I just buy the bakery and stop guarding you? Oh right… because you’d chase me with legal contracts even into my grave!”
The laugh that came out of Leonard’s chest was not just courtesy. Jiro was one of the few capable of breaking the wall of seriousness that surrounded him.Amidst his busy life, he sometimes forgot to laugh… and Jiro reminded him that life wasn’t all numbers and negotiations.
Next to him sat the other bodyguard, more silent and formal. But the two of them together formed a living shield for a man who had become a target for many.
“The higher you rise, the more eyes watch you…” Leonard thought as he raised the cup of coffee to his lips.“And the more famous you become, the more of a target you are.”
He knew that. He had heard threats, faced rivals.But he never expected the end to come this quickly.
The moment came like a flash of lightning.A muffled sound pierced the air… Bang!
Everything stopped.The cup shattered on the table.Leonard’s body trembled, and a hellish heat pierced through his right eye.
He heard people screaming around him.Jiro shouted with a trembling voice: “Sir!!”The other guard barked orders into the radio: “Protect the target! Police now!”
But the world began to melt before his eyes.The light turned into fog. The sounds became distant whispers.
In those final seconds, he didn’t remember his deals, nor the companies he had built.He only remembered his mother’s smile in his childhood…His little sister’s laugh when he carried her on his shoulders…And his late father’s voice saying: “The sky is always wider than the earth, Leonard.”
A faint smile curved on his lips, despite the pain.“Maybe… it’s time to leave.”
But departure was not the end.As he sank into darkness, he felt his body being pulled… twisting, falling, as if crossing an invisible gate.
He woke suddenly in the middle of damp ground, cold mud sticking to his face.He raised his hand to wipe his eyes… and froze.It was not a human hand. But large, gray, with deformed claws.
A deep voice echoed in the darkness:“Hahaha! Look at this… a weak ghoul born among us!”
Fangs brushed against his lips. A savage hunger crept into his gut.Terror swept through his being.
Leonard Grand… no longer existed.
His name now: Shintaro Izawar.

To be continued in the next chapter…