Arisa reads carefully the urgent message regarding the Tantoris’ police chief, who is currently at the hospital.
“So, this particular software is used exclusively for members of the police division. However, because I personally know Johann, Mr. Davide asked for my help to track him down as well. That means, am I now a member of the police as well?”
She installed the application a few minutes ago while reading Sato’s message. It’ll notify Arisa if she gets closer to her childhood friend. The application will scan around the ring-wearer for a certain radius. That way, Arisa could help track down Johann while going through every part of the city.
“Reporting Johann’s whereabouts to the police will also contribute to our mission, right? Since he wants to sabotage our purpose for being here.” Arisa muttered while checking the interface of the app she had just installed.
Shortly after reviewing the app, Arisa turns off her projection screen and checks the clock on her bedroom table—ten o’clock at night. She nods firmly and rushes out of the house. The rest of her family are already in their respective rooms so that Arisa can stroll around without worry.
“I guess I will try to find him. Since, I don’t really agree with what Johann wants right now.”
Deep inside her heart, Arisa doesn’t want Johann to ruin everything she has worked on until now. Especially if he messes up her record of the past more and more, erasing the girl’s relationship with her family in the past timeline.
In another place, the city hall’s office.
Rio and Rita are now busy supporting the implementation of their project, which, according to Rio, will be potentially dangerous if even the slightest flaw is detected. Valerie also helped with the work program when he finished his usual work.
Since there’s nothing those three can do regarding Johann, they’ll do what they can now.
“I can say that I am on the same team as you, Rio. I asked Mr. Rudi to help you fully,” said Valerie with his usual nosy smile when Rio asked why his friend sometimes skipped his work to help with this project.
“I doubt that you really want to help me. I bet, you just want some excuse so you won’t do your daily task.”
“Hey! You don’t have to call me out like that, okay! With me on your team, everything will be finished in no time!”
They rushed to the city dam after some final computer checks to conduct a survey and discuss it with the people in charge.
Dusk is coming when they get the completed report in hand. At the same time, Rio knew that this project would take some time, so he guessed they would visit here often.
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“Thanks for the help today, sir. We appreciate your hard work today to support our project,” said Rio as he shook hands with one of the dam office’s staff.
“You’re welcome. I also look forward to to support you.”
At the same time, Arisa will start her action soon. She prepared everything she’d need to stroll around the town in pursuit of someone.
The girl begins to circle from the east part of the city—one of the areas where the main road to the town was to the north part, where she can find the cable car station. She ensures she is taking a route through the residential area since she thinks Johann would be hiding there. Arisa makes sure to look around even though sometimes she must stop buying ice cream.
The majority of the houses which Arisa passed through had their lights on, while some others were dark. Her eyes accidentally caught the beauty of this serene night atmosphere.
“That’s right. I haven’t stroll around Tantoris yet, especially during the night. Who would’ve expected that eventually I’m here, looking throught the corner of the town because of something else,” she muttered while enjoying her ice cream stick.
Arisa is quietly listening to the rustling of leaves, feeling the gentle night breeze, and enjoying the sound of the night insects, making a harmonious tone in her ears. She knows she can’t have this kind of feeling when she returns to her future timeline.
Walking under the sprinkled stars alone gives Arisa a new unforgettable experience. To begin with, that is why she came from the future. To make the future earth liveable, Arisa must immediately find Johann.
“Johann… we have to meet soon.”
Arisa hopes she is the first to find him before anyone else does.
At some point, Her legs slowly lose their strength to walk more. She is aware that she can’t rush her search.
“Okay. I’ll just continue at midnight. I’ll be looking for you, Johann.”
She continued to walk through the night to find somewhere to sit. Sometimes, Arisa rubs her arms to keep the heat on. Still, the blaze of her strong will to find Johann is the one that tells her to ignore anything and keep looking for her childhood friend.
That’s Arisa’s new routine each night: leaving the house when it’s late and coming back in the middle of the night. For about two weeks, Arisa has gathered enough data by circling half of Tantoris.
The result is nil. Right now, she is relaxing her legs in the supermarket, which is open for 24 hours, while enjoying ice cream. The cold night doesn’t prevent Arisa from enjoying her favorite cold snack until she finishes her second stick.
“Still can’t find him. I wonder where Johann would be hiding….”
The police division investigation didn’t get any significant results yet. Then, it’s given if Arisa can’t find Johann alone, right?
However, she couldn’t accept such hopeless thoughts. She needed a good few minutes to regain her resolve, and Arisa stood up to continue her search.
“There’s only half an hour before midnight. Just a bit more.”
Arisa hastened to explore the western part of Tantoris.
On the other hand, Johann is busy with dozens of projection screens. Now and then, he would look at one of the screens and enter multiple inputs. Then, a notification will appear that the police attempt fails to retrace his whereabouts.
“Their effort is commendable. Still, that’s how far they will be,” he muttered sarcastically, turning his attention to a few other screens.
Then, Johann typed a lot of stuff on his communication ring and did the same on the laptops. Today, he hasn’t left his room for once and only focuses on distracting the police on the local intranet.
Just like Arisa, Johann also has a solid determination to sabotage this journey to the past at any cost.
Those in Tantoris tried their best to achieve their respective goals until a month had passed swiftly.