While Alex, Luna, and Lucia were on their journey, at that very moment, Lucia’s father was sitting behind a desk inside a room, which seemed like his office with a pile of papers laid on his desk. His name was Matthew Hartford, one of the council members that has great authority and leadership over his people and say in the meetings.

At that moment, he was busy going through several papers at the same time while seeming to check with other papers for validity. This was in regards to the recent civil unrest that was occurring between the Energy Users and Magic Users. His task was to get to the bottom of this and verify which is real and fake.

“Man, why did the council task me with this? I’m not suited for this kind of stuff,” he complained weakly while letting out a sigh as he sorted through the papers.

Just then, the door to his room opened and a man walked in carrying a tray with a cup on it.

“Sir, your drink,” he said, and the older man looked up at him with a smile.

“Great. I was hoping you’d come in soon with that,” said Matthew, putting the papers down and picking up the cup off the tray.

He took a sip from it and instantly smiled widely in happiness by the comfort it washed over him. His attendant took a glance at the papers scattered on his desk and asked out of curiosity.

“Sir, is this related to the rumors of an uprising of the Energy Users?”

“Yes,” he replied while continuing to enjoy his cup of drink. “Seems like many Energy Users are feeling undermined by the way the council and the higher society just looks down on them. Basically, they seem to have a grudge against all Magic Users simply because of the discrimination they are facing as lower and weaker beings.”

“That is nonsense,” his attendant replied with a stunned look.

“That’s what radicals do to push their thoughts onto unsuspecting people given the history of our society,” replied Matthew with a sigh. “Still, I hope to get to the bottom of this before it blows up in our faces.”

“I agree, sir.”

There was a moment of silence before a small object flew through the open window and landed gently on the desk facing Matthew. Both he and his attendant were surprised by this small bird, which they noticed was made of paper, suddenly land and unravel itself to lay flat on the desk.

“What is this?” Matthew asked suspiciously, cautiously taking the letter and reading it.

He seemed to start reading when, all of a sudden, he wore a huge grin on his face. Even his eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

His attendant was shocked at this unexpected reaction from his boss and exclaimed worriedly, “Sir! What happened?!”

He was about to make his move to check on him when his superior held his hand up and said, “It’s alright. I was just… surprised. That’s all.”

His employee was confused and asked, “What is that letter, sir? Whom is it from?”

“This… is a letter from my daughter!” He exclaimed, and showed it to him.

The attendant leaned forward and saw that the first line that read, “Dear father…” and said, “Oh. So, it seems.”

“This is the first letter she sent me after four long years,” he told his attendant while wiping away the tears in his eyes.

“What? Four long years? Is she not living with you?”

“Oh no. Due to some complications, she decided to live away from me.”

“I’m… sorry to hear that,” the attendant said, looking said. “So, what is it about, sir?”

“Let me see,” began Matthew, and he continued to read the letter from where he stopped previously.

His attendant watched as his superior’s smile slowly reduce to a frown and eventually become that of great irritation. Then he watched as Matthew slammed the paper once he finished reading its entirety looking very angry.

“Those bastards! How dare they interrupt my daughter and her companions’ journey and make such a mess!” He snarled with a great fiery voice.

“What happened, sir?”

“Seems like some, goons in a local village was causing trouble, and my daughter and her companions got involved with them being apprehended. But the main problem here is that those people were Energy Users who were extorting from the owners of the inn they visited.”

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“Isn’t that related to why the Energy Users are angry towards the Magic Users since it’s publicly known that some of the higher individuals are using these Energy Users goons to do their bidding,” his attendant supplied while nodding in understanding.

“Yes!” Matthew exclaimed, looking most annoyed. “Bastards! I was going to take a softer approach, but with my daughter involved, I’m not going to hold back against them anymore! How dare they?!”

“But sir… don’t you and the other council members have a… not so good relationship?” His attendant asked with worry.

“I know that,” Matthew replied with a serious look on his face, “but because I was worried about it and the danger my daughter might be put in, I inadvertently caused a rift between my daughter and myself, but no more. I’m going to face these scumbags and make my daughter feel proud of me! Maybe then, she could let go of her old grudge against me and be more welcoming to me.”

His attendant could see the radiating passion from his boss and smiled before saying, “That’s a good passion to have, sir. But, how will you confront them?”

Matthew thought for a moment before a smile formed on his face, and he said, “I got an idea,” and he began explaining it to his attendant. He trusted his attendant as he was one of the lower families from the high society that are friendly and are openly supportive of Matthew and his cause.

“That’s risky, sir,” his attendant said with worry.

“It may be risky, but the payoff is too good to let it slide,” replied his superior with a smile.

The attendant nodded in agreement, but he suddenly felt a doubt and asked, “But sir… wouldn’t this make those people target your daughter for real this time?”

He was worried about his boss’s daughter, but to his surprise, Matthew just chuckled and said, “I’d like to see them try since she’s not anywhere in the vicinity.”

“Pardon? What do you mean?” His attendant asked, looking confused.

“I told you just now. She’s going on a journey with his companions to the Huizhou Country to visit the Forest of Fog,” he explained to his attendant with a smile.

His employee blinked twice before looking alarmed and exclaiming, “What?! You’re sending your daughter to the forest of fog?! Why, sir?! You know how dangerous that place it!”

“I’ve arranged proper guide for her and her companions to taken care of,” his superior replied confidently. “Besides, I believe this a true calling for them. Something about those three just told me… something big is awaiting them in that forsaken place.”

“Really?” His attendant asked uncertainly, but his boss nodded firmly.

“Yes, and that’s why I’ve got to take care of this as soon as possible before they return home. I want to see how far they’ve come as well as show my daughter what I’m capable of,” Matthew said energetically.

There was a moment of silence in which his attendant did not know what to say before he turned to him and said, “Anyway, you know what to do now, right?”

“Of course, sir,” his attendant replied promptly. “Leave those things to me, sir. I’ll arrange them as you’ve ordered,” and he turned around before leaving the room.

Once the door was shut and he was the only on left in the room again, Matthew turned to face the open sky to look at the clear blue sky and spoke softly filled with hope and worry.

“Bet of luck on your journey, you three.”

At the same time, somewhere in a carriage that was trundling along an unpaved road, all three of the companions sneezed simultaneously. The carriage driver was surprised, and he looked over his shoulder to ask if they were alright.

“Yes. We’re good,” replied Lucia while rubbing her nose.

“Wow. We sneezed at the same time,” commented Alex with wonder.

“Maybe the owners of the inn were thinking about us?” Luna suggested innocently.

“Maybe, yeah,” replied her childhood love with a smile. Then he turned to his teacher, who seemed to have been scolding him until they all sneezed.

“Anyway, Al! Next time, don’t pull such a stunt by revealing my identity and forcing me to rely on my father. It’s really disgraceful to do that to your teacher,” she berated him crossly.

“Yes, miss. I’ll be careful,” he replied wryly before saying, “but miss, you should also be careful and not use magic so openly. That’ll put you in a tight spot as well.”

“I… well…” she began and hesitated at the sudden fire back of her student. She did her best to defend herself by saying, “I was trying to help Luna escape from that falling guy.”

“Yes, but you also gave away the fact that you’re a magic user,” replied her student with a knowing look. “I had to step in before you did something silly and put us in a more unfavorable spotlight.”

“R-Really! You’re saying that I should’ve just let that guy fall on top of my dear Luna?” Lucia fired back.

“You worry too much, miss. Nothing would’ve happened to Luna even if he fell on her. Right, Luna?”

He asked the question to his childhood love, who nodded and replied coolly, “Yes, Al. If he fell, I would’ve just used my hand to catch him and toss him aside. I was actually going to do that, but miss called me away.”

“See?” Alex said to his teacher with an expression of “I told you so” that had his teacher look hurt.

“B-But… But…!” His teacher began weakly in an attempt to defend herself.

Her student did not give her any chance and said firmly, “You stupidly intervened when you didn’t have to and got into this mess.”

“I… I was… just…” she said weakly.

“No matter what you say, miss, you were the one at fault here, which is why I had to bring up your heritage. You get it now?”

Lucia looked at him with a very hurt expression on her face before moving and hugging Luna while saying, “Luna, help me! Your lover is bullying me!”

“Eh?!” The younger girl reacted with surprise at suddenly being hugged and calling Alex her ‘lover.’ But she calmed down a bit and asked him, “Al, are you bully our miss?”

Alex sighed and said, “No, Luna. I’m not, and miss! Stop hiding behind Luna. It’s disgraceful.”

“B-But… you’re bullying me!” Lucia replied back while continuing to hug Luna and stay with her.

Luna did not seem to understand what was going on, but she got that the older girl was hurt and decided to console her by patting her head with her hand while saying, “There, there.”

“Oh~! Luna~! You’re a goddess! You’re truly a goddess!” Lucia exclaimed happily with tears forming in her eyes. Then she shot a look at her student and said, “Unlike Alex, who is a big bully!”

“Who’s the bully here?” He asked her with a shake of his head. “You’re hiding behind Luna just because you., an adult, couldn’t give me, a kid, a proper reply because you know you’re in the wrong.”

There was a moment of silence in which they stared at each other before his teacher said with a hurt expression, “Alex. You are a big bully.”

Luna looked at Lucia and then at Alex before asking him, “Are you a bully, Al?”

“No, I’m not!”

Alex’s voice implored loudly as the carriage continued on its journey to the Huizhou Country.