Episodes 71. Cousin

At noon, the school was still in the middle of a knowledge exam.

In the tower, Ryan observed the entire school from the vantage point.

Point of View: AGUS RYAN HANDOKO

I'm worried about that person.

Since 8 in the morning, he's been gone, and he still hasn't returned.

Although I had an unpleasant experience with him as a child, I managed to become good friends with him.

Well, what can I do? He's my cousin. His father is my mother's brother, so it's natural for us to meet and be friends.

But, after he graduated from high school, or more precisely, after that terrible incident, he never came back.

I sense something strange...

Strange from where?

Of course, his demeanor. Since that incident, none of the three siblings have been normal.

Rasyid, who was naive, became silent.

Rizki, who had high optimism, suddenly became so paranoid.

And Nazrul, for some reason, he seemed... crazy.

======

Back to the school tower.

I still haven't received any news from him.

He may forget about me, but at least I'm sure he won't forget my words before he left earlier.

"Hey, Ryan..." Linda, who was bored sitting in the tower, finally tried to break the silence.

"What? Do you need something?"

"No, I'm just thinking, that person hasn't returned yet."

"Are you talking about Rasyid?"

"Hmm (nodding)... He's gone and still hasn't returned. I have a feeling that something bad is happening to him." She said while showing her worry.

"It's just your feeling, you're always like that!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot, I'm like that, thanks for reminding me, Mr. Insider..."

Linda mocked me with that title.

Thinking back, I once put him through something like that. I am the reason why Rasyid can be placed as a teacher here. I remember vividly how his brother paid fairly just for something like that.

"But back then I refused..." I looked out of the tower.

The wind blew on our warming skins.

"What?! You refused?! Surely? Liarrrrr!" Linda was surprised by my statement.

"No, Rasyid entered because of something called achievement. There's no such thing as an insider..."

"Ha?! Achievement? Do we have a way to enter like that?"

"No... But because it was sudden, a presentation was also required." I put on a bitter smile tinged with saltiness.

If I recall, the school needed a replacement teacher quickly because of the chaos caused by that Physics 1 Class teacher.

"Something sudden? Ah, I shouldn't talk about it further... He'll make me chew bolts again." Linda knows that she must not talk about Bahar anymore. Rasyid intimidation really worked.

"Heh... Funny..." I laughed like a fool in response to that joke.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Someone knocks on the door.

"Come in, it's not locked!" (Linda)

CRACK!

The door opened, and a fierce figure appeared behind the open door.

"Is Rasyid here?" Bahar said as he scanned the room with his eyes.

"It seems not..." The old woman next to him quickly concluded after his eyes didn't see him.

The old woman was Zarbeth Paniati, she was the strongest magic fighter in this school. No teacher could match her, especially when it came to elemental powers.

This old grandmother could even use all kinds of magic from fire to earth, unfortunately, for light and darkness, she couldn't do it.

"Hey, we haven't said you can talk, Zarbeth!" The person next to her scolded the old woman.

Wearing a white cowboy hat and white clothes, but he was black-skinned. Plus, with black sunglasses, he looked very flashy, almost everyone recognized his figure.

He was Widodo Surya, unfortunately, no one knew for sure who he was.

What we knew was that he was a legendary fighter who could crush steel with just his middle finger.

"U-um... What actually happened?" I asked.

"It seems there's no use hiding it from you guys... Well, Rasyid went to look for his student, but until now he hasn't returned. And when we detected using Widodo's magic, he found the man was in the middle of the forest." (Bahar)

"In the middle of the forest?!" Linda and I were shocked in unison.

"How could that be?!" I added to my question to him.

Something's not right, how could he get there?

Even with someone as strong as Rasyid, it would still take a long time just to get there.

"And moreover, Widodo felt... his Anitya shrinking and almost disappearing," Bahar added.

"Huh?!"

I widened my eyes, and my pupils shrank and trembled.

He...

"There are two possibilities, he was hit by electric magic when his heart was pierced, or..."

Bahar wanted to say something, but I stopped her.

"There's no data that's incorrect, you should know that, right? Ryan..." (Bahar)

I was stunned and felt guilty, I bit my lip hard because of this guilty feeling.

========

Silence fell over the watchtower. Putri Tyas, who was originally the target, now turned into the new teacher.

No one understood the purpose of this incident, but if their initial goal was indeed to steal the multicolored agate, then this chaotic time, where everyone is in disarray, would be the perfect time.

But none of them showed their noses to attack the princess.

"If indeed he dies, then that shows I'm really not guilty, right?" Zarbeth groaned as she was handcuffed by Widodo.

"Tch!" Reluctantly, Widodo released the old woman's bonds.

But instead of leaving immediately, the old woman stayed and joined in the silence.

"So... What are we going to do?! What's missing is not just him, but also his 3 students who didn't come today!" Zarbeth broke the silence.

"I-I don't know... What I know is, I have to tell something to his big brother if his little brother has gone-"

Bahar's voice was interrupted by a scream from a student.

"Wait!" A girl with two buns of hair suddenly interrupted the conversation of the adults.

"W-what... Why are you interrupting us? Isn't this the time to go home, your exams are over, right?" Bahar gave a sad look to the girl.

I feel like I've seen that girl before, but who is she? I rarely remember the names of female students, especially second-year students.

Even though I'm not even there.

"Uh wait, I remember you!" Linda, who was beside me, put her hands on her hips and looked squinting at the girl.

"You're his girlfriend, right?!" (Linda)

"Huh?" I suddenly froze.

"Huh?" The three people in front of me also had the same expression.

"HUH?!" Now the four of us exclaimed the same thing.

"Wait, is Rasyid the one people call a bolicon?" Bahar stared wide-eyed at the girl.

"It's lolicon, sir!" (Linda)

"Yes, more or less like that!" (Bahar)

I finally remembered, she was the student who was rumored at that time.

Many said she was walking with a teacher from this school on weekends.

But I didn't expect the teacher in question to be my own cousin.

No wonder I slightly remember this girl.

"Let's forget about that conversation!" Zarbeth scolded the two people who talked about that lolicon. "Let's hear what this girl wants to say!"

She gave good advice, surely what this girl said had some logic.

"Rasyid... hasn't died yet, because... the curse of magic, hasn't disappeared yet!" (Dahlia)

What the hell does she mean by the curse of magic?

But not long after the girl said that...

"If anything happens, I'll help!" A student with glasses appeared from behind the door.

He's not alone.

"He owes me a debt, so I won't let that person die!" A long-haired student entered the cramped room.

"I'm just following my master!" A plain-looking student also entered, this time he said he was the 'master', meaning he was a servant.

"I'm not trying to help that person, but I want to help Sophia!" Now the green-haired student came in and joined.

"Me too!" (Erika)

"Me too" (Tasya)

"My eyes will clearly be needed in that forest!" (Samuel)

They all gathered to help the teacher.

It seems you have made a good impression on them. Or maybe, they are your friends? Then it is good for you. You gonna reach your goal.

Yes, although, they are still doing this half-heartedly. But I'm sure, someday they will truly do this with strong determination.