Seeing Cin again

Within the Wright estate, Kia told her husband about what she had experienced. Jacob listened to her with a pensive expression and sighed when she was finished. He put down the book he was reading and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He didn't tell his wife to make any moves against the siblings, but he knew that she did. One would think that as the current head of the Wright family, he would have the authority to decide his successor and who could join the main family, but that wasn't the case.

What most didn't know was that though the main branch of the Wright family was in Cyrus, the elders of the family were in Silver City and they were the ones with true authority. While his father hadn't moved into the elder association, as the previous family head he had gained enough achievements to stand on the same ground as them. Jacob however, wasn't at that level yet. Maybe he could reach it if he had a couple years, but it would be too late by then.

'Damn that stupid cousin! If only he took care of his own problems.'

While the father of the twins and Sia must have realized the situation they were in, he was probably hoping to jump on whichever ship would keep him in power. Jacob saw such a man as worthless to the family, but his father was an elder that even Anders couldn't look down on.

"Honey, what should we do?" Kia asked in an anxious tone.

Of course, Jacob wanted to get rid of the siblings, but the one who was protecting them was too dangerous and mysterious to mess with. While they decided not to send Shane to school anymore, that didn't guarantee that he wouldn't able to do something to him.

Once more, Jacob released a heavy sigh.

"There's no choice, we can't attack them anymore."

"Then... do we give up?"

"...No, leave this to me."

After leaving the Red Ravens' headquarters, Shui walked down the street with a scowl on his face. Rather than steal hearts as he usually did, this face stopped them. Even hardened criminals stopped whatever they were doing as he passed by in the dead of the night.

'That bastard, I'll need to take care of him.'

Usually, Shui would hesitate to kill someone with as much power and authority as Ulus, but he had crossed a line he shouldn't have. Shui spent his time slowly planning how he would kill him and leave behind no survivors until his home in Cyrus was in sight. Although the night had dyed the roads in darkness, he could spot Lilia and Lily waiting for him. In order to prevent them from worrying, Shui flashed a smile and approached.

"Why aren't you two inside?"

Lilia wanted to ask what he went to do and if he was alright, but that smile told her all she needed to know.

'That's right, he's not just a boy anymore.'

Instead of asking questions, Lilia raised her hand and patted him on the shoulder with a gentle expression before going into the house. Shui watched her departing figure while rubbing the place where she patted him.

'Looks like she still saw through me.'

As Shui made a wry smile, he felt a warm hand wrap around his.

"Let's go in, Master."

"Okay."

After returning to the house, Shui told Lily that he would have something to take care of tomorrow and went to his room. Lily was disappointed that she couldn't help him with whatever he had on his mind, but she also felt that it was her fault for being weak.

After a bit of nightly training, Shui watched the brightening sky. Since he left on a bad note, Shui followed Lilia to Fairies' Wardrobe so he could show Jeanne that he was safe. After being assured that he was fine, they continued their last conversation.

"Is that all you want?"

"Yes."

Shui was prepared to give the shop to Jeanne without any strings attached, but she asked him to only give her administrative privileges instead. This meant that besides selling the business, she would be able to do whatever she wanted with it. Shui had no problem with this arrangement even though it could make him liable for any wrongdoings of the business, but he wondered why Jeanne didn't want him to give her the business in its entirety.

"Even if she's no longer with us, this place is still hers. I still don't think I can take over for her."

"Hmm, well that's fine I guess."

Shui liked the fact that even after so many years had passed, Jeanne still held his mother dear, but he also felt that there was more to it.

After signing the preliminary documents, and managing to leave despite being begged to stay by many of the women, Shui left the shop and aimlessly wandered around the city. Though it seemed like he was doing nothing, he was actually using the 'Omniscient Eyes' method the entire time. Without the Library, he couldn't waste his time nearly as much as before. After exploring some parts of the town, Shui went out to visit his big brother. There may have been people watching him, but losing them was easy if he wanted to.

Once he made it out of the gate and got closer to Malirin Forest, Shui transformed into a rabid monkey, or at least he intended to. However, though he was still able to use mutation control with divine energy, there was a slight difference between what he wanted to transform into and what he did. Instead of dark red fur, his fur was golden, and he had two tails instead of one.

'Hmm, I guess I'll have to work with it.'

Shui could tell that this form had something to do with the tinge of divine aura he had, but since it was outside his control he had to accept it. Due to previous experience and the similarity in body type between monkeys and humans, Shui quickly adapted and could properly move in this form as he followed the link that connected him and Cin.

Suddenly, he noticed Cin rushing towards him so he stopped and waited. He thought that they would have a nice reunion but once he saw Cin charging at full speed, he knew something was wrong.

"Wait wait wait, it's me, it's-"

Before he even got a chance to explain himself the dark blue wolf that had grown to a height of four feet charged into him.

"Ouch!"

However, it was still Cin who cried out in pain. Even though it was a beast spirit on the verge of becoming a high beast, Cin's body couldn't be compared to Shui's. But despite the fact that Cin was holding down its broken nose with its two front paws, Shui didn't feel the slightest bit of sympathy.

"Why the hell did you charge into me?! You knew it was me didn't you?"

"Yeah but, it was just a joke."

Unlike the fierce aura it had a moment ago, Cin seemed to be quite pitiful. To be clear, if any other beast spirit charged into Shui like that, they wouldn't have gotten off with just a broken nose so Cin was very strong in his own right.

After the few seconds it took for its nose to heal, Cin glared at Shui and his golden fur.

"What the hell happened to make you get so tough? You seem to be almost at the divine body boundary."

While no one else had been able to see through Shui's strength, as his 'big bro' and a descendent of a divine beast bloodline, Cin could find out. With the knowledge it inherited from its late parent and blood heritage, it knew that humans normally couldn't get so strong within a short period of time, but here was a perfect exception.

"Well, it's a long story."

"Peh! What long story? Let's go to my den so you can tell me."