CHAPTER 5

Two days after Daram visited Hirayon, Hanan arrived at the Earth Clan territory after traveling to the South and using Express Portals. He sent a message to Daram when they crossed the border, informing him of their arrival. He then went straight to the health facility, where he was welcomed by the receptionist and guided to a room.

When the door opened, and they stepped inside, Hanan saw his friend sitting on a couch with his secretary while the knights stood behind them.

"I knew you were not coming to meet me first. It's a surprise that you even messaged me when you arrived," Daram said as he stared at his friend. He looked gloomy and tired compared to the last time he saw him. The travel should've been comfortable since he could sleep in the car, yet he looked like this. He must've been thinking a lot of things.

Hanan took a seat on the couch in front of Daram. "Zeno insisted."

"You have a sensible secretary," Daram said, looking at the slim man beside Hanan. He seems more tired than his friend seeing dark circles under his eyes. Yet, he still managed to look professional and composed as he bowed slightly toward the chief of the Earth Clan.

Hanan nodded and stared at Daram's face. When Daram noticed his stare, he raised a brow and asked, "What?"

"You look full and healthy," Hanan said as he looked at his friend's plump cheeks.

Favian and the knights behind Daram stilled and held their breaths. Their chief gained some weight in the past months and was also sensitive about it. Even when the chief's wife told him it was expected, especially with their age, Daram was still conscious because he had been physically fit all his life.

Daram glared at Hanan. He could already feel his head throbbing because of irritation. "Im busy. I had no time to train and be in shape. I noticed you look terrible," he said and pointed out the unruly appearance of his friend. As petty as it sounds, he also wanted Hanan to get irritated.

"I do? Well, I thought I looked the same as always."

Daram got more vexed with his answer. "So, what's your point? You still look young even though we're about the same age?"

Hanan looked at his friend using his usual expressionless face. He didn't notice the annoyance in Daram's voice.

"I didn't say that."

"It's what you're hinting about."

"I wasn't."

"No, you definitely did."

Hanan looked at his friend and observed him, "You... you became more stubborn. Is it because of aging?"

The chief of Earth Clan felt his patience snap. He was a little worried earlier, but now he only felt pure irritation toward his ignorant friend.

Before Daram could even retaliate, Hanan brought up his objective, "Where is he?" he asked.

Daram calmed himself and scowled. He just realized how unbefitting he acted. "He's in a room. He is still unconscious."

"Unconscious?"

"Well, it seemed he was lying to me, so I used Truth Ability to make him speak."

"Are you in your right mind?" Hanan asked. He couldn't believe that Daram used the Truth Ability on a child. Not only it causes painful side effects on the brain, but it could affect a still-developing mind. That's why most people do not use it for children.

"I had no choice. I had to extract information as fast as possible before reporting to the Oddity Administration."

Although the Oddity World Leaders are the second in authority in the entire Diwana, they are all chiefs of their own clans, and thus they are always busy. Aside from that, they are powerful and prideful oddities. With that, the Oddity Administration was established to assist World Leaders in performing their duties and oversee if the rules and regulations are followed.

The Oddity Administration was composed of chosen representatives from each clan. They reside in Gahala, located at the center of Diwana, where most worldly facilities are.

"When will he wake up?"

"I'm not sure because the child is different from other children. He heals faster, so I think he will wake up more quickly. Maybe two to three days from now," Daram explained and forwarded Hirayon's file that lists his basic information and medical history.

"Hirayon," Hanan read. According to the information, he was six years old and seriously malnourished. He is ignorant of most things but has knowledge about monsters.

Just reading the file, Hanan could figure out what kind of life the child lived. He wanted to see and talk to him, so he went straight here, but since the child was still unconscious, he decided to leave his visit for later.

"What about... her?"

"That's actually one of the reasons why I am here right now," Daram said and created a soundproof barrier enclosing them.

"I received a report a few minutes ago that my knights found the cave where Marin's body was," Daram said and projected a hologram showing a picture of the cave. When he waved his hand, the picture changed into the hut where Hirayon and Marin used to live.

"Is she dead?" Hanan asked.

Daram looked at his friend, checking his reaction before he waved his hand once again. This time, the hologram showed a woman sprawled on the floor. Her hair was black, and she was wearing worn clothes.

Hanan clenched his fist, trying to contain his emotions looming to release. When he heard about Marin's death, he felt sorrow and remorse. Marin was his girlfriend, childhood friend, and partner. They have been together since they were young and vowed to the deities to be together until death.

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But one day, Marin suddenly changed. She ignored Hanan and acted like a different woman. Hanan thought it was just a phase and that one day she would explain her actions but the next thing he knew, Marin was regarded as a criminal. She stole a National Treasure that existed for thousands of years.

They tried to search for her but to no avail. She vanished like she didn't exist at all. Hanan's life returned to normal after he accepted reality. He dismissed all his remaining feelings toward Marin and drowned himself in work and training. He thought he would never hear her name again, yet here he was, hearing about her death and grasping the possibility that he had a son with Marin.

And that possibility changes everything. His sorrow turned to resentment, and his remorse turned into fury. He would never be able to forgive her for robbing him of his son and for depriving the child of the life that he deserved.

"Where is she now?" Hanan asked. His silver-blue eyes were heated in evident rage.

"She's still in the cave. I instructed my men to not touch anything and wait for my orders, so what do you want to do?"

"Bring me to the cave."

Hanan, Daram, Favian, and Zeno rode a hover car and traveled to the outskirts of the forest. After parking, the two chiefs and their secretaries trekked for hours in the woods. Within those hours, they encountered many Type 1 monsters because the two refused to use barriers to be undetected. They reasoned that they should kill as many monsters as possible to decrease their numbers.

Hanan fights fluidly like flowing water. His moves are sure and quick, like an experienced knight on the battlefield. Opposite to his gracefulness, Daram fought like a savage warrior. Although their opponents were the weakest type, he fought them so passionately that his attacks left craters in the forest. Although Hanan didn't notice anything unusual, the two sensible secretaries knew better. They knew Daram was releasing all his frustration from dealing with Hanan to the poor monsters. They almost pitied those who were crashed and flattened by his ability.

"You had it rough," Zeno told Favian, watching Daram crush another poor monster.

"I think we're just on the same page," Favian replied.

Zeno thought momentarily and sighed, "Yeah, you were right."

"How many Aura Cores have you collected?" Favian asked as he watched another monster die being pierced by water odachi.

"Including the one that just died, fifty-four. You?"

Favian let out an exasperated sigh, "Forty-eight. They're not competing, right?" he asked. He knew his chief would get mad if he heard his kills were lesser than Chief Hanans.

Zeno watched Chief Daram walk towards them. His clothes are full of monsters' blood. "Not yet. But brace yourself. It looks like we're staying here longer than we thought."

Just like an oracle, Zeno's words became true. When Chief Daram heard that Hanan killed more monsters, he insisted on staying in the area to wait for more monsters to detect them. Thus, the supposedly three hours trek doubled.

When they arrived at the cave entrance guarded by the knights, they noticed a few bodies of monsters scattered around. The knights are huddled in front of the opening, and when they saw the group, they immediately lined up, and the commander stepped forward to give his report.

"As ordered, we didn't touch anything inside. There are no other people, but there are monsters in the vicinity. Those who noticed us, we disposed of them quickly. There are no casualties as well, chief."

Daram nodded, "Great Job. Remain alert while we check inside. Report anything suspicious immediately."

"Yes, chief!" The knights said in unison and saluted by tapping their right fists twice on their left chest.

After that, Hannon and Daram left their secretaries and went inside the cave. Immediately, they smelt a nauseating rotting odor from the deteriorating hut twenty steps away from the entrance. The makeshift house looked more ghastly now that they saw it in real life. Gooey substances cover the wood scraps and bugs coming out of holes. The view can easily be a nightmare for a child.

Like the experienced oddity that they are, they ignored the awful smell and approached the hut. When Hanan pushed the plank of wood that served as a door, he was instantly welcomed by the lifeless eyes of the woman he used to spend his daily life with.

Hanan stood still and stared into Marin's eyes. The last time he saw her violet orbs was when they argued because she kept ignoring his calls. Hanan was frustrated at that time because Marin acted like a stranger. He thought that she just needed space, so he left her alone. If he knew that was the last time he would see her, he would've pushed Marin to say her concerns and try harder to fix their relationship. Alas, everything is too late now. Not only did the time make his feelings waver, but the child's existence made his resentment dominate his emotions.

Hanan looked at Marin's cold corpse. He noticed that she was extremely skinny and looked twice her actual age. He never thought that the highly conscious Marin he knew looked like this now.

"What do you want to do?" Daram asked.

Hanan scanned Marin's body using his eyes and noticed the lingering aura in her chest. "Autopsy, can you do it secretly?"

Daram looked at Hanan with surprise. He didn't think Hanan would allow them to investigate Marin's body. "Is that really all right?" he asked.

"Yes. Marin has a strong body. I want to know what happened to her, what made her die. Looking at her body, there's a huge chance she died of sickness or disease."

Daram nodded, "I can do it. But what about the report?"

"Can we delay it?"

"We could delay it for about a week, but they might get suspicious since many people already know that Hirayon was at the health facility. The Oddity Administration will soon realize how things are connected. They might even know now that I was searching the forest."

Hanan pondered about it. There is indeed a huge possibility that they're into us. "Let's do that for now. Let's just give them a reason if we get discovered. As for the Autopsy, finding someone who won't damage Marin's body is better."

"I'll look into it," Daram said and gave his order telepathically to his secretary.

"What about the National Treasure?" Hanan asked and scanned the hut. Nothing is appealing inside. Most things were scraps, and the only usable object was an old book carefully placed on what seemed like a shelf.

Daram kneeled and touched the floor. He then used his ability to perceive everything within the hut. From the bugs, woods, and rags up to the pile of wood shavings in the corner, Daram could see everything. "It's not here. I can't feel it. Do you think it is concealed by a barrier?"

Hanan shook his head, "That's not possible. Marin's barriers always have a time limit, especially now that she's dead. Any barrier she made was probably broken already. She might have hidden it somewhere else."

"Do you have any idea where she might've hidden it? Why would she even take it?" Daram asked as they walked outside of the cave.

"If I knew where she hid it, I would've told the Oddity World Leaders already. As for why she took it, only she knows."

Daram looked at Hanan with bafflement. He understands that it was already twenty-seven years since Marin became a criminal, so he might no longer have any feelings for the woman. Still, Hanan was head over heels toward Marin back then. He also didn't have any partners anymore after her. So what made Hanan treat Marin coldly?

Daram stopped in his tracks when he realized something. "something doesn't add up..."

Marin was announced as a criminal twenty-seven years ago.

Twenty-seven years ago...

But Hirayon was only six...

R E H I L I Y A