Without being able to refuse, Mir dejectedly changed into various dresses that made her feel a little bit uncomfortable. She never wore a short skirt before, and all the dresses, all the costumes Kayern forced her to wear had short skirts. Not to mention all the bright colors that could blind her…

“Uh, so cute!!!” Kayern grasped her heart whenever Mir tried the costumes she prepared. Not only that, but she also took a lot of pictures of her while asking her to do some poses. Mir thought that if she had to eat the poison, might as well eat the plate, so she didn’t care and tried to act as cute as she could. Well, she was still expressionless though.

But that was enough to make Kayern happy as every time Mir did something, Kayern would scream and hug Mir happily.

She only finished trying out all the outfits when the sky turned dark. Mir changed back to her own outfits and after that, they ate dinner together again.

“Let’s talk about your other potential, Mir.” Kayern said in a serious tone again.

“…”

“You really have the potential to be a ghost hunter, you know? Well, if I use a term used by younglings nowadays, let’s see… it’s like if you are playing a game, normal people are the NPCs, people with the potential start from level 1. However, you start from level 10. Your potential only helps you in the beginning. If you don’t train, other people will pass you easily. You understand my point?”

Mir nodded although she didn’t understand the way Kayern explained it to her. After all, she never played a video game before. But she somehow understood what Kayern’s meant. Mir only had a good starting point, but if she didn’t work hard, it would be useless.

“Great! Now you understand, I’ll give you a training method that even a monkey can do at home! And by a monkey, I mean that stupid apprentice of mine!” Kayern chortled. Mir was wondering why Kayern always called Raleigh with weird nicknames, but she didn't ask it.

“So, from the video, I know that you have a bit of experience controlling your spiritual power with the help of Ring of Transcendent, right? Well, to tell you the truth, the Ring of Transcendent only help you in controlling your spiritual power. Let’s see… if I have to make an analogy, Ring of Transcendent is something like power steering in a car. Mm, it makes it easier to control your spiritual power, but even without it, you should manage to do it. Only, it would be… well, heavier.”

“…” Mir nodded even though she didn’t know what she meant by power steering in a car. She never drove a car before. She also never learned about a car. She didn’t know how a car could move, the basic principles of it moving, and not to mention power steering. So, it was a bit difficult to imagine with that analogy alone. Fortunately, she managed to grasp the keyword. And that keyword was heavier.

“Alright, your homework is easy! Now, close your eyes!” Kayern put down her spoons and forks as she told Mir to close her eyes. Mir also put down her utensils before she closed her eyes.

“Relax. You don’t have to think of anything at all. Just focus on my voice. Now. Raise your hand at your chest level. Your palms face each other. Good. Now, do you remember the sensation of controlling your spiritual power using the Ring of Transcendent? Now, try imagining the same thing. Your spiritual power is now flowing from your right palm to your left palm. Relax and feel it. Right, you do it right. Just focus on that sensation.”

Mir followed the order perfectly. She also knew how to control her spiritual power after wearing the Ring of Transcendent. So, she tried her best to do that. However, even though Kayern said that she did it right, she didn’t feel anything at all.

“Alright, open your eyes. Now then, do you feel something?” Kayern asked.

“…” Mir shook her head honestly.

“Ah, I see. Mm, that makes sense. Well, Mir, don’t worry. You are just like a baby that learns how to walk. Naturally, you can’t walk instantly, right? It’s basically the same as that. But I assure you that your spiritual power flows perfectly earlier. You just don’t sense it yet. Now, all you have to do is repeat this kind of training over and over, as long as you have free time, just do it. It has no risk whatsoever, so you don’t have to worry.” Kayern explained lightly.

Mir nodded silently. She thought that as long as trained it, she would be able to sense her spiritual energy soon.

“Alright, that’s enough for now. Now, why don’t we watch a movie? Oh, right, you are a schoolgirl, right? You don’t have to do your homework?” Kayern asked.

“…done.”

“Oh, great! Now, we can watch movies together. Now then, what kind of movies do you like? Romance? Action? Animation?” Kayern immediately went to her collection as she rummaged through them.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“…never watch.” Mir interrupted as she felt that Kayern would keep asking until she answered her. Kayern’s hands stopped moving as she looked at Mir in disbelief.

Mir slowly explained. “…negative emotion… um, attract them?”

“Ah, I see. What a poor kid… You don’t have to worry though! From now on, as long as you are here, you can watch anything you want! In the future, when you grow stronger, even if you watch in theatre or in your home, no evil spirits will dare to attack you! I promise you this! You will be able to laugh, cry, acting shy, or even smile from your heart when you are strong enough! This, I promise you!” Kayern hugged Mir intimately.

For some reason, Mir wanted to cry again. Though this time, she managed to hold back her tears.

“Alright! For now, let’s watch this masterpiece together! This is a great movie for a beginner!” Kayern laughed as she played a movie and watched it together with Mir beside her.

…

“What!? You are attacked by an evil spirit and now your car is totaled?” Kayern shouted at the phone. Mir knew she was talking to Fred and Raleigh as she wanted to ask them to pick Mir up and to bring her home. However, from that line alone, Mir knew that she couldn’t wait for them to come.

And more importantly… Fred had such a luxury car and it was totaled. Yet, they acted as if it were normal. Mir couldn’t understand their sense of money at all…

“Mm, alright, I’ll take her home then. Ugh, stop shouting at my ear, you stupid disciple! What? You want to talk to her? Fine. Mir, they said they want to talk to you.” Kayern gave her phone to Mir.

“…hello?” Mir spoke after a few seconds of silence.

“Mir, is it you? Master is not listening in our conversation, is she?” Raleigh whispered on the other side of the phone.

“…nn.” Mir replied shortly.

“Alright, listen. No matter what, do not ever let Master drive a car or a motorbike, understand? She is not a bad driver. In fact, she is a great driver. But she is a dangerous driver! She brings danger not only to her but to other people as well! Unless it’s an emergency, do not ever let her drive, understand?”

“…nn.”

“Good. So, what are you going to do? If you can wait for us for three hours… no, it will be too late, huh? Why don’t you stay at Master’s house? Just let your mother know.” Raleigh asked.

“…can’t.” Mir said. Before he could ask, Mir added. “…forget phone.”

“You forget to bring your phone? Alright, I understand.” Raleigh sighed. This morning, when they picked her up, she was really in a hurry to go, so it was not a wonder that Mir might forget her phone. “But what are you going to do? You don’t plan on walking to your home, do you?”

“…plan.”

“…oi, Mir, don’t do that. Normally, it is dangerous for a girl to walk this late at night, you know? And now, it is not normal. It is far more dangerous! Don’t tell me that you forget. The evil spirits are causing people prone to have negative emotions! Do you know what will happen to those people with dark emotions? They might kill you!” Raleigh tried to warn Mir and even though he was exaggerating a bit, he wanted Mir to understand just how dangerous it was right now.

“…nn.” Mir understood. However…

“…still plan to.” She insisted on going home even though she knew how dangerous it would be. Besides, the distance should be only less than an hour if she walked quickly. She knew some shortcuts, but she wouldn't use them.

“…there’s no way to stop you, huh?” Raleigh asked in exasperated tones.

“…nn.” Mir nodded.

“I understand. Alright, I’ll run there. I’ll walk you home. Wait for me, alright?”

Mir looked at the clock before she hesitantly answered him. “…can’t.”

“You can’t wait? Alright, let’s meet somewhere then. How about the Aurica’s Pizzeria in the corner of the street?”

“…alright.” Mir finally agreed to meet at the shop.

“Be careful.”

“…nn.”

Mir sighed as she looked at the phone. She really forgot to bring her phone because she was in such a hurry earlier. It only took half an hour for her to be ready to go this morning.

“So, how is it?” Kayern asked with a bottle of milk in her hand.

“…going home.” Mir replied as she gave Kayern’s phone back.

“Oh, is that so? Come on, it’s been a long time since I drive.” Kayern smiled, but Mir shook her head.

“…with Raleigh.” She added.

“What? That kid is going to pick you up? How?”

Mir shrugged at that question. She just wanted to go home as soon as possible, before her mother became increasingly worried about her.

“I see. Well, whatever. Mir, take it.” Kayern casually tossed something to Mir. It was a pair of glasses. Mir looked at Kayern confusedly.

“It’s just a gift. Wear it. It may protect you.” Kayern said nonchalantly. Mir nodded and wore the glasses. She missed the mischievous smile Kayern tried to hide as she turned around and pretend to drink.

“As expected, she looks great in glasses.” That was what she murmured and Mir missed.

“Right, Mir. Tell that stupid apprentice of mine to come here after he brings you home. I’m going to sleep. See you.” Without waiting for Mir to walk out of her house, Kayern went into her room. But not long after, she opened the door to her room and tossed something at Mir again.

“Don’t forget to lock the door.” She said after tossing Mir the key to her apartment. Mir was speechless, but she obediently followed that order. She closed the door and locked it. After that, she walked to her home.

That was right. She was walking. By car, it took only ten minutes. Though it was because there was traffic. Without traffic, it might only take three minutes. So, it wasn’t that far from her house. So, Mir thought that walking wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Well, she was wrong. She only walked for two minutes before she heard a loud scream. No, it was not a loud scream. It was loud screams. There were a lot of screams coming from one direction. And then, she saw people running as fast as they could as if they were running away from something.

“…”

Mir was thinking. If she turned around, she had to take a long detour to reach her home. But if she didn’t turn around… she didn’t know what kind of danger coming from the front. Would it be more dangerous than the amusement park?

After thinking carefully, Mir decided not to turn around and took a long detour. Instead, she made sure that she was hidden as she continued walking directly to her home.

And then, she saw what made people scream in fear. It was a war. To be more accurate, it was a gang war between two different factions.

“…”

It’s time to turn around. It’s too dangerous. Nn. That was what she thought as she scanned her surroundings. As she scanned, she saw someone sitting on a bench and watching the whole thing going on. Mir only took a single glance at the young man, but suddenly, the young man smiled at Mir and before she knew it, that young man was already standing in front of her.