Under The Veil of Night

"Rei, you’re pretty quick," Tommy smiled upon seeing Kanae coming.

Kanae nodded her head. "I’m a little curious about your direction in the conversation, Oro."

"I’m afraid that the real news will break out," Jason smiled wryly. "You don’t think that the experiments they’re doing are completely harmless, right?"

"Not in the slightest," Kanae replied firmly. She would be the world biggest idiot if she still thought like that after her father worked so hard to make sure she no longer has any relation with the school before his death.

Tommy tilted his head. "I only heard that the school would close down. Why is there any need to worry about it so much?"

"There are things that you still don’t understand, Tom," Shiro shook his head. "With a brain like yours, it’ll be better if you just become my guinea pig in the experiment."

Tommy shuddered at the thought. "Dream on!"

Shiro’s eyebrows shot up. "Are you sure you’re saying that to me?"

"You demonic doctor! Let me go!"

Kanae and Jason watched as the two of them continued their banter with each other. The two of them didn’t understand how a simple conversation could possibly lead the two of them into a dispute once again.

"Do you want to participate in the incident?"

Jason crossed his arm. "It’s impossible. The name Fiore Group is just a relatively new group formed only slightly more than a year ago. Besides the high number of missions we accept every single day, their levels are barely at the very bottom."

The missions they have done so far only consisted of them doing things under cover. They were mostly sneaking in, taking these and that, or at the highest, battling a certain person. Never did they pick the high level mission that would require them to plan for a long time.

It was not they didn’t want, but they couldn’t possibly do that. The risk for their life was too high and there were two people who couldn’t afford to lose their lives on the street.

"Fiore Group."

The familiar voice from behind them caused the three of them to be startled. Their body tensed up immediately as they put their defensive posture towards the person not far from them.

Master Rudy watched their reaction with a satisfied smile on his slightly aged face. Just his voice alone was enough to make them cautious of him. As he thought, this small group that didn’t enter the eyes of the world has much more than that in them.

"Who’s that?" Shiro’s eyes narrowed. His keen sense was telling him that this man was anything but ordinary.

"He’s the one who trashed us so badly before," Jason replied solemnly.

By Master Rudy’s side, Matt shook his head. This master of his has just finished his training today for the young clan head of Ryukalin Clan. Now, he was already read to go on another battle spree.

Stepping forward, he raised his hand. "Master, should we go now?"

"No, I still have some business with these little kids."

Matt: "..." please don’t tell me that you want to beat them up again.

Looking towards the four youngsters in front of him, Master Rudy assessed them once again. If he said that he was not impressed, he would be lying. It was only around two months ago that he met them, but the aura they had around them has become firmer.

’They’re truly in their peak of growth.’

His eyes landed on Kanae once again. The one whom he got interest from the very first was showing much more growth compared with the other two. From one look, he could guess that this little lass should have only started to participate in real battle a few months ago. If not for that, with her rate of growth, she should have become a peak expert from a long time ago.

Just like that annoying brat that he encountered not long ago.

"You four are very knowledgeable about the insider news. That rotten school has become a terribly dangerous place by now," Master Rudy chuckled.

Kanae looked towards the old man in confusion. "It doesn’t have any relation with us."

"For now yes, but it can become your ticket to grow stronger," Master Rudy smiled. "Don’t you want to grow stronger?"

It was truly unnecessary question. The answer would be unanimously yes. Kanae wished for nothing but growing stronger in order to be able to do much more mission. Staying to only do low level mission wouldn’t grant her much money because of their inefficiency.

Jason’s eyes flickered slightly when he heard that offer. Although he didn’t really necessarily need to be stronger, he did long to grow stronger. In addition, he wanted to know what the government has in their store for them. From what he could guess, the experiment was not ordinary in the slightest.

Tommy and Shiro also gave some reaction to the question. However, Tommy’s goal has always been Kanae because he couldn’t believe how she had been surpassing him so far. As for Shiro, he wanted to grow stronger too.

"How do we know that you’re saying the truth?" Kanae asked.

Master Rudy smirked. "Do I have any reason to lie to you four?"

"More than plenty reasons are there. We’re just stranger to each other and with your strength, it’s easy for you to crush us."

Matt smiled wryly. For the first time, his master’s plan backfire so badly that this old man was unable to say anything he else. He couldn’t refute the fact, though. However, in the deeper part of the Black Street, everyone knew that this old master was an upright man.

Master Rudy’s smile stiffened. "You sure have a sharp mouth, little lass."

Kanae frowned. "I believe that I never tell you my gender."

Her appearance right now was extremely similar to that of a young boy. Her long hair was hidden beneath her clothes, a black boy school uniform. If one didn’t know better, there was no way they would be able to guess that she is a girl. The light here was scarce, giving the necessary protection she needed to cover her gender.

"There’s no need for you to tell me. I can tell that you’re a girl right away," Master Rudy chuckled. "Now, do you want to listen to what I’m going to tell you regarding the school or not?"

"How do we know that we can trust you?" this time, Jason spoke up.

"Whether you want to trust me or not, it’s all up to you," Master Rudy smiled widely. "Make your decision youngsters."

Kanae looked towards her teammate as they returned her gaze back. Seeing the hesitation in their eyes, she knew that they have doubts about this master. However, considering Master Rudy’s strength, there was truly no need for him to lie to them.

They barely knew each other but have such discrepancy in strength!

Master Rudy watched as they silently looked towards the little lass. As he had thought, the real leader of this small group was no other that the girl. He had suspicion when he saw how they reacted after she got hurt, now his suspicion was further confirmed.

A smile made its way to his lips. ’These brats are truly interesting.’

Finally, Kanae looked back to Master Rudy. "Please tell us what the incident in Lima School is about."