Khhhhh—!
The static sound of the radio sounded.
"...I guess he hung up."
A trace of pity flashed across my eyes as I put the radio transmitter away.
Standing up and putting my coat on, I nudged the others to follow me.
"Alright, let's go."
Now that I had taken care of the annoying flies swarming on my back, I could now go to my destination without too many worries.
"Ren, how long do we have left?"
Ryan asked from behind.
"We're almost there."
Our current destination was Henolur, the dwarven capital.
After travelling for the past four months, we had almost arrived at the location.
"Precise time?"
"About one more week of travel, I would say."
Originally we were supposed to take a lot less time to arrive; however, to slow down Xavier and the other's pursuit, I decided to take a slight detour and travelled near the elven border.
Fortunately, during our fight right now the elves didn't get involved, but in all likelihood, they were already aware of our presence.
"Let's go before we run into trouble."
"Are you talking about the elves?"
Smallsnake arrived by my side and followed along.
"That's right."
Playing with the dimensional spaces that he had collected from the people we had just killed, Smallsnake handed them to me.
"...Do you think they'd attack us? I heard that they don't attack humans."
"Sort of, but you can never be too safe."
With humanity's advancement these past few decades, all three races started viewing humans in a more 'favourable' light.
That being said, this didn't mean that they still fully trusted us.
This was why a conference was going to be held soon.
It was made with the purpose of talking about the potential third cataclysm that was soon going to hit the earth and the possibility of allowing humanity to join the alliance.
Well, that was well into the future.
Right now, my goal was to enter the dwarven domain and increase my strength by leaps and bounds.
"Let's hurry for now. I don't want to meet any trouble along our way."
***
A few kilometres away from where Ren and the others were, Gazing at them from a distance, were two obscured figures.
With each breath the two figures took, the mana in the air would follow their breathing rhythm. Almost as though they were in complete synch with the mana in the air.
"Should we attack?"
Looking right, one of the figures asked as a melodious voice rang out.
Judging from their subservient tone, it was evident that the figure they talked to was higher ranked.
"...no"
The other figure shook its head.
"What about the demon?"
The higher-ranked figure pointed towards the distance, revealing a delicate white hand devoid of imperfection.
<script>ChapterMid();</script>
"Did you sense the mana of the people they were fighting?"
"Mhm, it was tainted with demonic energy."
"Right, for that female demon to work with humans and kill multiple contracted individuals, we can assume that she is no longer on the same side as the demons."
Although most demons worked with each other, in the end, what they cared for most was their self-interest.
Just because they were from the same race didn't mean that they had to help them.
This was a natural occurrence that occurred in all races.
"...That's true. However, I've also noticed that the demon follows that human with long hair. Strange."
The whole time they observed the fight in the distance, they noticed that everything revolved around a specific human with long black hair and blue eyes.
From how he was the one being targeted, to how the demon seemed to be following his orders.
"That is indeed strange; let's observe a little more."
As those words faded, the two figures disappeared.
***
Just like usual, Amanda sat on her desk and completed her paperwork.
This was a boring route that she had grown accustomed to over the last year or so in her new position in the demon hunter guild.
[Demon Hunter guild, Board member - Amanda Stern]
Her nameplate reflected the sunlight coming from the window behind her.
—Knock! —Knock!
A knocking sound sounded.
"Come in."
Lifting her head, Amanda opened her mouth, and the door opened.
"You called for me?"
Unceremonially entering the room, a slim girl with long light brown hair and a pair of glasses entered the room.
It was Melissa.
"So, what did you call me for, Amanda?"
Melissa asked as she looked around the neatly organized office. It was spotless.
Then, sitting on the sofa in front of Amanda, she crossed her legs and propped her elbow on the sidearm of the sofa.
"..."
Putting the stack of papers down, Amanda wordlessly stared at Melissa, sitting opposite her.
This continued for a couple of seconds until Melissa could no longer take it and mouthed in annoyance.
"So? You just called me here to admire my beauty? Sorry, but I'm not really into girls."
"How is the project going?"
Disregarding Melissa's comments, Amanda finally opened her mouth and asked.
"The project? It's going well; why? Has something come up from your end?"
"No."
Amanda shook her head, prompting Melissa's brows to furrow.
"Then why did you call me? Don't tell me you asked me to come here to find out about how the project is going, right?"
Melissa grumbled as she rested her cheek on her right arm.
"You do know phones exist, right?"
"It's not that."
Waving her hand, a small barrier appeared, enveloping the two of them.
"What are you doing?"
Melissa looked at the barrier that was slowly forming around her.
Though startled, she didn't show much of a reaction. She knew Amanda well. She wasn't one to do stupid things.
"...You know, I was joking about the previous comments about you being into girls...unless."
"Here."
Ignoring Melissa, tapping onto a small tablet resting on her desk, a holographic video soon popped up.
Pressing onto the image mid-air, the video soon began playing.
Once the video began playing, multiple different scenarios started to show.
In all those scenarios, there was a common thing: a middle-aged man playing with a young girl.
The only difference was the last video, where the middle-aged man hugged a couple before leaving.
Annoyance could be felt in Melissa's voice as she took her eyes away from the video and looked at Amanda.
"What's this? Are you perhaps looking for a partner to look at dramas with you?"
"No, look carefully."
Amanda then pointed towards the middle-aged man playing with the girl in the video.
"That's Ren."
"..."
For a brief moment, silence enveloped the room.
Opening and closing her mouth multiple times, Melissa didn't know what to say.
She was dumbstruck by Amanda's sudden statement.
This was until her face suddenly twisted weirdly.
"Have you completely lost it? Has all the work you've been doing finally fried your brain into oblivion?"
"It has not."
Amanda calmly replied.
Melissa snorted in response.
"Nu-hu, it has. So you are telling me that Ren has now become some weird middle-aged man that plays with kids."
"I have proof."
"Proof?"
Melissa stopped and raised her brow.
Nodding her head and taking out a small key, Amanda inserted the key inside her drawer.
She then twisted it and slid the drawer back. After taking out a couple of files, she handed them to Melissa.
"Here."
"What's this?"
Taking the papers with a confused look on her face, Melissa slowly read through them.
She asked after a while, alternating her gaze between the video and the files.
"...Are these the profiles of the people in the video?"
"Mhm, they're Ren's parents."
Scratching the side of her head, Melissa tapped on the names of the profiles.
"Right, I figured from their names, and the fact that his father looks similar to him...but this isn't nearly enough to prove that he is Ren."
"Look at this as well."
Amanda slid another paper in Melissa's direction.
On that paper was a detailed profile of the middle-aged man who visited them in the video.
"According to our investigation, that man in the video has long disappeared ten years ago. This was the first time in ten years that he has appeared."
"..."
Taking the paper, Melissa carefully looked through it without speaking.
Sitting opposite to her, Amanda was unable to read her expression. Instead, she seemed to be lost in her own world.
It was only after a couple of minutes had passed that Melissa finally opened her mouth.
"How sure are you about this?"
"Very sure."
Amanda replied.
With the power of her guild, this kind of investigation was a piece of cake for her.
She had information on Ren's parents due to having done a background check on them prior to when they first met and when Ren had asked to protect them.
This was to get a better idea of who the people they were protecting were.
On another note, Nola's recent behaviour had given Amanda another reason to believe that the man in the video was Ren in disguise.
"I see..."
Melissa muttered underneath her breath.
Sitting up straight and tapping her finger on the armrest of the sofa, she asked.
"Let's say what you said is true; why did you tell me? Aren't you a little too trusting of me?"
"...the contract. "
"The what?"
Taking out a piece of paper from her drawer Amanda placed it on the table and pointed towards a certain text.
"The contract you signed with Ren and me. It clearly states that we can't do anything to harm each other."
As the third business partner, Amanda had also signed a similar contract.
Although the contract wasn't a mana contract, as Melissa didn't want her father to find out about the project, the contract would directly break upon the infringement of a predetermined term through a particular spell.
From there, the other parties could directly go to the central government to present the case.
In short, if Melissa breached the contract, she would lose the rights to her project. Even if her father interfered, she could do nothing about it.
Silently staring at the contract on Amanda's table, Melissa's brows knit.
"...Okay, fine. but it still doesn't explain why you told me about the possibility of Ren still being alive."
Putting the contract and profiles away, Amanda put the papers back into her drawer and locked them with the key.
"It's because I need you to send someone to protect Ren's parents."
"Huh?"
Melissa's face turned ugly.
"Did I hear correctly? So you want me to get someone to protect Ren's parents? Wasn't that your job?"
"Mhm."
Amanda softly nodded her head.
She was also helpless in this situation. Although it was her job to keep Ren's parents safe, news about her father's disappearance started to make waves.
The other diamond graded guilds were starting to become bolder and bolder, and Amanda knew that Ren's parents might end up suffering from the repercussions.
Even though she was still trying her best to keep them safe, she could no longer guarantee their safety like before.
She asked for Melissa's help because her background was even more significant than hers.
If she helped, she didn't have to worry about their safety.
"Can you at least tell me why?"
Melissa asked.
With a wry smile on her face, Amanda apologetically shook her head.
"Sorry."
Covering her face, Melissa's mouth twitched.
"...you know what, fine. I don't care."
Melissa then stood up.
"I'll do it. Either way, I still need about half a year. In half a year, I'll have the product ready. I'll use the money his or your money to pay for the fee of the people that will protect his parents."
Amanda gratefully looked at Melissa.
"Thank you."
"Tsk."
Melissa clicked her tongue in displeasure.
Then, turning her wrist, she checked the time.
"Alright, I have to go now. I'll contact you again once I'm done with the project."
"Mhm."
Nodding at Melissa, Amanda watched as she left her office.
Once Melissa left the office, looking at the holographic video in front of her, Amanda tapped on the screen and pressed [Delete].
Soon the holographic video shut down, and the last evidence of Ren's existence disappeared.
She had already deleted all other video footage of him appearing.
This was the best she could do for him.
***
Leaving Amanda's office, Melissa's brows furrowed tightly.
Halting her steps and staring at the empty hall before her, she softly muttered.
"...So he's still alive."
Although she didn't show it outwardly back in Amanda's office, she was quite startled by the revelation.
Even now, she still couldn't believe what Amanda had told her.
It was only after she left Amanda's office that it genuinely hit Melissa.
Ren was still alive.
Her previous behaviour was merely a small facade to try to hide her current shocked feelings.
"This fucker...just when I thought I finally got rid of you."
Taking out her phone, Melissa soon looked through the contacts in her phone.
Staring at a specific contact, her brows twitched before finally dialling the number.
Before long, a joyful voice rang out from the speaker.
—Why if it isn't my little angel of a niece Mel...
"Shut up; I've got a job for you."
