Chapter 86: Chapter 86

Jin’s POV
   “How may I help you, Minase-san?” Audrey asks.

   “I have something very important to tell you and Aldenia. I don’t care where she is right now, but get her to listen to what I have to say.” Jin says to her.

   “Al is here in the student council’s office with me, so there is nothing to worry about. As for the matter you wish to tell us, can it not wait? Currently, we are-”

   “Your father came back from the dead.” Jin interrupts.

   He hears the sound of her phone dropping.

   “What happened, president?” he hears the voice of an unfamiliar asks.

   “And you’re trembling too, nee-san!” the voice of Aldenia is heard too.

   “I, um, I am fine. Really.” Audrey assures them. “Rather than that, I need to take this call. You are coming too, Al.”

   “But nee-san, we still have all these-”

   “Please do as I say.”

   Even though she was pleading, there was a trace of authority in her voice that doesn’t tolerate disobedience.

   “Um, okay. I guess we’ll have to leave for a while.”

   “You have my deepest apologies for leaving the seat temporarily, everyone.”

   “Please don’t be troubled about it, president. We can take care of some of these while the two of you are absent.” a forth voice says.

   “Thank you.”

   Jin had to wait for some time until Audrey starts speaking at the phone again.

   “Now then, what was it that you just said, Minase-san?” she asks. “About our father came back from the dead?”

   Jin hears Aldenia gasps loudly.

   “What? Didn’t our father…mmhmm!”

   “Keep it down, Al. We cannot risk people overhearing this.” Audrey whispers.

   “Sorry, nee-san.” Aldenia apologizes after a few seconds.

   “Now then, please tell us the full story, Minase-san.” Audrey requests.

   “There isn’t much to tell about, though. He just appeared right in front of me and said that he wanted to greet me. After he did that, “poof!” and he disappeared.”

   “I am not doubting the validity of your words. Even so, are you absolutely certain that it was him?”

   “I scanned him with Eye of Truth. The mana he has is exactly the same as the one I fought all those months ago.”

   A few seconds of silence followed.

   “So, does that mean that you’ll fight and kill him again?” Aldenia asks softly.

   “I hate to be blunt, but you two of all people should know what he did. I can’t let him do those things again. Not in my world.”

   “Please do whatever you have to do, Minase-san.” Audrey says.

   “I intend to. And the two of you better keep a close eye on him. He might try to win you over to his side.”

   “I will confidently say that such a thing will never happen.” Audrey assures. “I am, however, worried that he might come after me for the ring.”

   Ah, yes. The ring that enables their specialty, Spell Enhance.

   “Whatever his plan is, call me if you ever spot him. Remember this, don’t ever engage him alone.”

   “Yes, we will keep that in mind. And, um, Minase-san?”

   “Yeah?”

   “Well, have you, um, made up with Esty-san yet?”

   Now it’s Jin’s turn to go silent for a few seconds.

   “No.” he replies eventually.

   “I see. Well, I pray from the bottom of my heart that it will happen one day.”

   “Same here.” Aldenia adds.

   He didn’t even bother to say that it might never happen. Ah, well.

   It was then when he received a text message from Sergeant Wakaba. It’s probably more work again.

   “Well, I’m hanging up. I hate to nag over and over again, but be careful out there.”

   “We will. Please be careful as well.”

   After Jin has disconnected the call, he proceeds to read the message.

   “Please call me ASAP. I have a rather urgent mission for you.” the message wrote.

   And that’s exactly what Jin did. He has to report on what (supposedly) happened to Bouchard, anyway.

   “May I report on something first, Sergeant Wakaba?” Jin asks once he got through.

   “Sure. What do you need to tell me?”

   “Well…”

   Jin tells her the conversation he had with Austin.

   “...so you might need to pay the lab a visit.” he ends.

   “Understood, I will ask someone to go there once we’re done talking.” Sergeant Wakaba replies. “Anything else?”

   “No, that’s it from me. Now, what is the mission that you want me to do?”

   “A few hours ago, our PM has received a request for help from the President of USA, Canada, Russia and three other countries. Or more specifically, yours.”

   Jin whistles.

   “Presidents of six countries, asking for my help? It’s got to be a big one.”

   “It is, and it’s quite tricky too. You can’t just bulldoze this one with brute force alone.”

   “A shame, that. So, what is it?”

   “For close to three months, the police and all sorts of special forces of all the countries have been raiding laboratories which were being suspected of having ties with the UCI. Around a week ago, they’ve started to encounter problems.”

   “Well, anyone would have wised up if their comrades-in-arms were getting arrested.”

   “Actually, it’s more than the workers erasing evidence or anything like that. Those evidence straight up disappeared in front of their eyes.”

   “Did anything bad happened to those who raided the places? The lab workers?”

   “No and no. Computers and hard wares which contained important files, even an entire room, has vanished into thin air like they’ve never existed. This is somewhat similar to the Vault spell you use, doesn’t it?”

   “It really does. Then again, I doubt anyone is powerful enough to teleport stuffs from various locations across six countries just like that-”

   Jin pauses. No. One person, nay, one demon comes to mind that fits the criteria. But that’s impossible-

   Jin shakes his head. If Austin got fully revived, so can her. Pretty much anything is possible now.

   “Is something wrong, Minase-kun?” Sergeant Wakaba asks after he got silent midway through his sentence.

   “It’s nothing. By the way, can you or someone contact the six countries and have them sent you the dates and time of their raids? After that, please compare them and tell me the most recent trip.”

   “I don’t mind, but why do you need them?”

   “The explanation will take too much time, so let’s just say that it’s to help me find out who’s the culprit, or at least his or her location.”

   This is a really bothersome method, but Jin can’t help it. If it was really his prime suspect that did it, she would most likely shield herself from Clairvoyance. If it wasn’t then the Spell won’t work at all since as mentioned before, the Spell can only work on those who the caster at least know the face.

   “Understood, I’ll request them at once. And Minase-kun?”

   “Yes?”

   “How are things with Esty?”

   Jin sighs.

   “We’re through.” was all he said.

   “...I see.”

   “And the worst part is, I need to talk to her after this for the mission.”

   “How is she related to it?”

   “That really depends on my reasoning. Hopefully, I’m wrong in it. If I’m not, well, things between us might get a lot worse than how it is now.”

   “Even worse than now? Are you sure that you want to risk it?”

   “I can’t help it. I shudder to think how she would react if she ever finds out the hard way. Anyway, I’m heading over to your house right now.”

   “Understood. I’ll call my mother and give her a heads-up.”

   And so, to the Wakaba household he goes. Kana-san was there to open the gate for him after he rang the doorbell.

   “Welcome, Minase-kun.” she tells him solemnly.

   Contrary to the last time Jin was here, the cheerful Kana-san is putting on a rather sad expression. Well, it’s not like the ruined relationship between Jin and Estyshana is a secret.

   “Thank you, Kana-san. May I know where’s Von Mantus?” Jin asks her as he follows her into the house.

   “She’s inside her room. I’ve already told her that you want to speak with her.”

   “Thank you.”

   She keeps on sneaking glances at Jin, as if she wants to ask him something. In the end, she didn’t. Jin kind of appreciates it since he could roughly guess what she was going to ask.

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   “Please remain here. I can get to her room myself well enough.” he tells her once they’re inside.

   “All right. Just call me if you ever need anything.”

   Jin inclines his head and heads further into the house. Along the way to his destination, he passed by the living room. Wakaba and her father Shun-san are sitting at the sofa. He nods politely at them. They returns the greeting by nodding too. It didn’t take Jin long to head upstairs and stand in front of the room Wakaba and Estyshana are sharing. He knocks on the door.

   “Come in.”

   Once he gets the permission, he enters the room.

   Estyshana is sitting on her side of the bed while hugging her knees. She has already changed out of her uniforms and is currently wearing her lounge wear.

   Ever since Jin came in, she had been averting her gaze from him. Well, it’s not like they need to make eye contact.

   “Sergeant Wakaba called me for a mission just now.” Jin begins. “Someone has been teleporting out important evidence across six countries. I need to track down who that is.”

   He takes a deep breath before continuing.

   “I’m telling you this since no matter how hard I try, I can only think of one demon that could pull this off. A demon that has a certain Bloodline Magic.”

   She finally looks at him, her eyes opened completely wide. She’s also leaning forward.

   “You’re saying that it was done by Sulgran?” she asks softly.

   “The one and only. Mind, this is just a theory. I could be wrong, and it actually was done by a single or group of ability users who were popping up left and right these days. Still, I think I have to tell you about this just in case it really is her.”

   Estyshana shakes her head and averts her eyes again.

   “No, it’s definitely impossible. I saw you kill her with my very own eyes. There’s no way she could have survived.”

   “I’m not saying that she survived. I’m saying that she got revived.”

   She looks at him with a surprised expression.

   “You saying that she’s an undead now or something?” she demands.

   “No, she’s definitely living. If it’s really her, that is. And before you call me a liar, this isn’t completely baseless. I mean, I just met the father of the Graylock sisters whom I have killed.”

   “And he was alive too?”

   “There was mana flowing inside his body, so you tell me.”

   She hugs her knees again.

   “Why are you telling me all these?” she asks softly.

   “I felt that you have the right to know, just in case I was right and have to fight her again.”

   Her eyebrow twitches.

   “Don’t act like you care!” she tells him angrily.

   “Think whatever you want of me. Here’s the thing. If she’s revived, she’s most probably being controlled by whoever that revived her and won’t or can’t hesitate to kill anyone who gets in her way. If you ever bump into her, don’t fight her alone. You of all demon know how strong she was.”

   A silence.

   “Promise me, and tell me verbally.” he insists.

   She stays quiet for a few seconds before finally opening her mouth.

   “I promise.” she says.

   He nods, satisfied. She’s a bad liar, so it’s easy to tell when she said something she doesn’t mean.

   “Well, that’s it from me. I’ll be taking my leave.”

   She nods without saying anything. Jin turns around and leaves the room. Wakaba and Shun-san get up from their seat when they saw him coming down.

   “How did it went?” Wakaba asks.

   Jin shrugs.

   “She didn’t try to kill me.”

   “You didn’t try to talk things through with her?”

   “...How much did she told you about our past?”

   Kana-san came out of the kitchen after hearing Jin’s voice.

   “She told us about how the two of you are on different sides, and you killed her father and a lot of demons that she cared about.” Wakaba replies.

   “So pretty much everything, then. And do you think the two of us can actually be together after I did all those awful things?”

   She lowers her head while trembling. She’s definitely holding back her tears.

   “But, it’s so sad. The two of you love each other. And yet, and yet…” she sobs.

   “Well, it is what it is.”

   “Still, there must be something that I can do. If not me, then one of our friends-”

   “Look, I know you and the others care about us. I appreciate it, I really do. Still, this is between us. Please don’t barge in anymore.” Jin pleads as gently as possible.

   Wakaba looked like she has something to say, but chose to nod her head in the end.

   “I promise.”

   “Thanks. And thank you for having me.” he says the last part to Shun-san and Kana-san.

   “You’re very much welcome. Would you like to stay for dinner?” Shun-san offers.

   “No, thank you. It would be awkward with Von Mantus around. Besides, I still have some work to do.” Jin declines politely.

   “I see. Well, see you around. Hopefully, you and Esty-kun have reconciled the next time we meet.”

   Once again, Jin has no heart to tell him that it might never happen.

   Around half an hour later, Sergeant Wakaba sent him the required data. The latest raid was one done in Russia. A group of police has raided an underground laboratory merely three hours ago. That will do.

   He has to go to Russia, a country where it has literal freezing temperature. Before he departs, he made sure to cast Keep Warm, a Level 1 Spell that prevents its caster from feeling cold. Once that was done, he head to a quiet alley and equip his armor before flying to the lab in Russia.

   With his speed, he managed to reach Russia in less than five minutes, even though the distance between the two countries is more than three thousand kilometers. Now to head to the underground lab.

   This lab is hidden underneath some kind of bank. At least, Jin thinks that it’s a bank. He can’t read their language, so nothing on the sign hanged on top the entrance makes any sense to him. For all he knows, this is supposed to be a cram school.

   There are police tapes marking off this place as a strict no-entry zone. Naturally, Jin ignores them and enters the building. The interior is dark, so he uses the torchlight function if his phone to illuminate his way.

   There are lots office chairs and tables, not to mention a few ATM. Yup, this is a bank alright.

   After wandering around aimlessly for a while, Jin starts to wonder how is he going enter the lab located underneath this place. He thought of drilling a hole on the floor when he saw an entrance which leads to somewhere with a blown-up door right next to it. Bingo.

   Jin was half-expecting an elevator. Instead, there’s a staircase. Good. That means that he doesn’t have to drill a hole. When he reached the end of the staircase, he was rewarded with the view of a lab. Or what’s left of it, anyway. He sees lots of empty spaces which looks out of place. Those must be the lab equipments that were teleported away.

   He closes his eyes and activates Trace, a Spell that allows its user to, well, trace magic residue back to the caster. The residues from three hours ago are still considered fresh track. That said, he had to concentrate quite intensely, not to mention it took quite a while. Just an hour or so.

   …There, he finally got hold of the caster. Whoever it is, he or she is very far away from here, with the extra emphasis on “very”. Well, time to track him or her down.

   Jin left the building and flew towards the caster. And flew. And flew. By the time he realized it, he’s back at Japan. Talk about coming full circle.

   Trace leads Jin to some kind of port. A quick check on his location with his phone informs him that he’s currently in Nagoya.

   …Why here, of all places? Ah, well. He guess that it doesn’t really matter. More importantly, the caster is very close now. Jin could almost sense him or her-

   “Why, hello there.” a familiar voice came from behind.

   Jin turns around and sees a young woman in her early twenties. Her black hair is long and wavy and reaches all the way until her waist, her eyes are like a pair of sparkling amethyst, and her body is well-endowed. As if to show it off, she chose to wear a tight black woolen one-piece. She’s also wearing a pair of black thigh-high boots.

   “Sulgran. It’s been a while.” Jin says to the demon that was known as one of the Four Demon Marquis.

   “Indeed it has.” she agrees. “How have you been?”

   Jin shrugs. “I’ve seen better days. You, on the other hand, shouldn’t be alive.”

   Just like Austin, there are mana flowing inside her body. Yup, she’s alive, all right.

   “It wasn’t my idea. Based on your calm composure, I take it that you know whose was it.”

   “Sure do. I was told that the person is dead, but I’m not going to believe that until I see the corpse.”

   Sulgran chuckles. “Ever the skeptical one, aren’t you?”

   “I’m just being cautious.”

   “By the way, what brings you here?”

   “I was here to stop whoever that was teleporting away those lab equipments.”

   “I see. Well, for old times’ sake, I guess I can pretend that I didn’t see you if you turn around and leave right now.”

   “Not happening.”

   “Then it’s a fight we’re having, then.”

   “Before we do, can I do something first?”

   “Sure. Go ahead.”

   Jin takes out his phone and messages Esty. He also sent her his location.

   “It really was Sulgran. Come over here right now.” he wrote.

   “Are you done?” Sulgran asks once he puts away his phone.

   “Yup.”

   “Well then, let’s get started.”

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