Under The Veil of Night

"Don’t you ever dare interrupt my fight," he said menacingly.

The man who shot the arrows lowered his head, trembling, while the other men nodded their heads timidly. They knew that this man was just worried that their master would lose, but doing this would only make their boss angry. After all, Master Rudy was someone who valued strong people greatly.

"I’m fine, Master Rudy," Kanae stood calmly.

Master Rudy nodded his head. He also knew that she was fine because of her excellent reflexes, but this didn’t mean that he could accept what his man did so easily.

He snorted and walked to his house again. "I’m not in the mood to continue fighting. You came here to gain more information, right?"

Kanae nodded her head. She didn’t know much about Master Rudy, but the information he gave her was incredibly precious. If not because of him, the name of Fiore Group wouldn’t have resounded so much in this city.

"I only give information to the strong and I think you already pass this criteria," Master Rudy stroked his beard. "There is going to be an internal battle in the Souhon Clan. Their old master is not going to live for long."

Kanae’s eyes widened when she heard this news. She had seen that old man from afar and his condition seemed to be rather well. Even if he had been sick for several days, it shouldn’t be that bad, right?

"You already made a name for yourself," Master Rudy smirked. He had heard about Rei’s capability in the big battle last year. It would be a lie if he said that he was not satisfied. Hearing the news about her capability made him want to know just how much this girl could advance in this peculiar city.

"Don’t you want them to acknowledge your ability with this battle?" Master Rudy smirked.

Kanae was obviously tempted by this, but she had told the Souhon Clan that they shouldn’t call their group again. This made her wonder how she could participate .

"Is this going to be the only big incident?"

Master Rudy’s eyebrows raised up lightly. He shook his head calmly. "Nope, there are going to be a lot of events in the future as those greedy whales are not going to stay quiet. But none of them are certain yet. You can come here again later in the future, and I’ll provide you with more information after you accompany me in another fight."

"I understand. Thank you, Master Rudy," Kanae bowed her head lightly before going back using the way she came here. Aside from information, she learned something much more important. With this, she knew that her ability was nearly on par with those elites in the deepest part of the Black Street.

However, it would be hard to become better. At her current level, even the slightest advance might take a long time. She had to train at high intensity once again, which wouldn’t be possible in the time being. Her body needed rest after this time’s long and harsh training.

Master Rudy picked up another sword and started his sharpening again. The young man approached the master warily.

"Boss, is it going to make any difference if she knows about that?"

"Of course," Master Rudy laughed. "Her small group won’t just be an ordinary group anymore. She’s really interesting, you know."

The young man didn’t comment further as he watched the old master continue his work.

...

Nolen School C

Shiro looked towards Kanae with bewilderment. "Why did you come to me first thing in the morning?"

Kanae stretched out her hand. "I already applied some first aid, but I need you to check if I did it correctly."

Seeing the innocent look on this girl’s face, he sighed and moved his hand to check her wounds. The first aid she gave was already enough and when he reached her palm, he noticed a piece of paper. In his heart, he sighed lightly. She should have used their usual method of communication rather than this.

"You’re already good at it, now scram."

"Yes."

Shiro moved his body to block the camera and took up his book while slipping the paper inside. He pretended to read the book while reading the information that Kanae gave him. It was a small map and there was one specific place that she marked.

He sighed. No wonder she didn’t use their usual way of communication. He silently tucked away the paper and continued his normal reading activities.

On the other hand, Kanae made her way towards her class and noticed that Misae and Alice have already arrived. Their faces lit up the moment they saw that their best friend had finally returned.

"Kanae! We missed you so much!" Misae flew over and hugged Kanae happily.

Towards this sudden move, Kanae was rather stunned. "Is there anything wrong with you?"

Alice giggled. "She just wants you to bring her along on the President’s business trip."

"Wait, what business trip?"

"President returned back a few days ago and searched for you. He told us that he wants to bring you along if you return by this week. Misae has been going to the Student Council Room very often to ask for their permission to come along, but President says that they need to wait for you to come because they can’t possibly only bring an unrelated girl with them."

Misae’s face darkened when she heard the words ’unrelated girl’. She was disappointed greatly when Kevin said those words to her. Of course, she knew that it was rather true because she was not part of their group.

"I see," Kanae nodded her head lightly. "I can ask them about that, but I need to see your grades first."

"Thanks to the detention class, my scores increased immensely," Misae sighed. The class did help her, but her freedom was restricted. It was hell and she wanted to escape from it. The only way she could think of was asking help from the others.

Kanae looked towards Alice. "Do you want to come along?"

"No, I can’t go for a long trip, or my father is going to be angry at me," Alice smiled wryly.

"I understand."

"Before that, let me teach you briefly about our new lessons," Misae grinned. She took out her homework sheet. She had finished them with help from Alice, so she wanted to show off a bit.

"You’re good," Kanae nodded her head lightly.

"Can you do them?"

"Sure. Number one is 4, number two is x=90, number three..."

As Kanae answered them instantaneously, Misae checked her answers and found them to match perfectly. What did she expect from testing her smart friend?

"Let’s just go to the Student Council Room."

"Okay."