[13th April 2024]

"Oh, so someone came to meet me. Let me see if she's my friend or not," Rossy said as she hurried out of the room.

She walked down to see if someone was there, but finding no one nearby, she thought perhaps the person had left before she returned.

Just as she was about to head back upstairs, she heard a phone call from inside and walked in to answer it.

"Hello, Valor Residency, who is this?" Rossy asked from her end.

"Oh yes, it's me, Aunt. Did you meet the lady? I thought you hadn't come back, so maybe you were talking with her. I just called to tell you that you can talk with her freely. I am cleaning the room myself, so you don't have to come back and strain your feet, which I know have been quite weak for some days after your fever. So, rest while watching some TV and ask me if you need anything. Bye," Evan said as he quickly ended the call before she could respond.

"Hello, honey, you don't... Hah, geez, this kid makes me worry so much about him, and even with his weak physique, he works tirelessly. Oh boy, who told this kid that his aunt is even more energetic than him?" Rossy mused as she looked at her arm, which might appear simple but the outlines of training and muscle build were too prominent to miss. If she wanted, she could lift an entire shelf by herself without any worries.

"Well, those days were quite good, huh?" she said, reminiscing about the past.

Meanwhile, in Evan's room, he felt a sense of relief, confident that his aunt would no longer come up there. He decided not to get ready for her and set aside his cleaning tasks for later.

First, he took an item from his bag, noticing it was wrapped in a brown cover.

He removed the cover and discovered the item inside a box.

He quickly extracted the box, broke its seal, and grasped the concealed knife blade weapon. Evan intended to use it just once, as the path he planned to take was not heavily guarded.

He knew how to navigate stealthily, and the weapon would be used solely for defense and sabotage. He wanted to avoid bloodshed, aiming for a covert entry to retrieve the item. Even if he were to be caught later, he could escape with it.

"Well, let me put it on before I use it," he told himself, grinning with eagerness to test it, imagining himself as a detective from a movie.

He took the device in his hand, strapped it onto his left arm like a band, and positioned it for use.

Following the instructions, he read that a single button press could either throw the dagger at an enemy or return it to his hand. To activate this feature, he needed to adjust the dial.

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After some thought, he had an idea: if he set it to throwing mode, he wouldn't be able to retrieve it after use, but if he kept it on hand mode, it might have multiple uses.

Deciding on the latter, he set it to hand mode and began striking poses in front of the mirror like a spy.

His mind buzzed with the eagerness of a child to use the new gadget, yet he restrained himself.

Curious about its effectiveness, he detached the blade from the wristband to test its sharpness, pondering its ability to cut effectively.

He grabbed a piece of fruit from his small fridge and sliced it, confirming his expectations—the blade's sharpness was impressive.

The blade was slicing through various materials with ease, but its dullness became apparent when he attempted to cut through a thick rope. It took some effort, but eventually, he succeeded and felt satisfied with the result.

"The final touches are fine, but how can I leave without them searching for me? I don't want to cause them despair by my disappearance," he pondered, not wishing to leave his loved ones without a reason.

"Hmm... Oh yes, that might work," he mused, as a promising idea struck him.

"First, I need to finish cleaning in case my aunt comes to check," he reminded himself, glancing at the cleaning supplies.

He began his work, eager to leave everything tidy for tomorrow.

"Let's do this," he declared, starting to clean his room from one corner to the next.

He aimed to leave the place spotless, so if someone else were to live there, his aunt wouldn't need to clean the area.

Hours of cleaning later...

"Phew, the work is done," Evan exclaimed, sitting on the bed and admiring the room that now gleamed from corner to corner.

"The work is going quite well," Evan murmured to himself, deciding to pen some letters to be given to others.

"Alright, for the final task, I need to write a letter to seal this deal," he said as he settled into his chair to write them.

Before that, he phoned his principal to request an additional day off, and as usual, he was granted permission with the understanding it would be the last.

"It will be the last, sir," he replied with a melancholy smile after ending the call.

With a heavy heart, he began writing letters to his friends, uncle, and aunt.

He didn't want to sadden them with his departure.

As he wrote the two letters, his emotions fluctuated with the passing time. Sometimes he chuckled to himself, at other times he felt anger or sorrow, but throughout, his eyes brimmed with tears.

He was reluctant to leave them, but to acquire the strength needed to protect his loved ones from the invasion of mana and the machinations of the candidates and true gods, he knew he had to confront and defeat those adversaries.

Now he was prepared for tomorrow's challenges. His wait wasn't long, as it was already past seven in the evening, and he needed to hurry to have his meal. But first, he had to prepare for dinner. He needed to remove the object from his hand and ready it for the next day's mission.

He concealed it in case someone stumbled upon it lying on his desk.

He crafted the perfect lie to keep them from being sad and to leave without any issues.

Thus, he resolved to reveal the situation at dinner instead of departing in the morning and leaving a letter behind.

He stepped out of his room to attend to the final tasks before potentially bidding farewell to this world.

And if he was late in retrieving it, perhaps he could return and confess that it was all a lie, and he would wait and prepare for the event before setting off.

-- To be continued -- 👉