Episodes 118. Resign Message

"Mr* Rasyid help* m-me**... Ssssttttt..."

Connection lost.

The sound of the call from my student left me speechless.

How could it not? A student who I thought hated me suddenly sent a strange call that sounded hurt.

"Huh?"

I looked back at my phone screen to make sure if what I just heard really came from Stevent or not, but no matter how many minutes I stared at it, the name remained there, unchanged. Stevent's name was really displayed on my phone screen.

"What happened?"

"Who called, Rasyid?" Dahlia, who was flying next to me, asked with a worried expression.

Her hand, which was holding mine, loosened and slipped from my fingers.

"My student, he sent me a message that sounded muffled..."

My eyes sharpened to the edge of the sky ahead of me.

"Muffled? Is something wrong?"

"I don't know, but from the way he spoke, I mean his tone, the guy seemed to be asking for help because he was in a very critical situation."

Knowing that the student was a guy, for some reason, the aura around Dahlia seemed lighter than before.

"Doesn't that mean you have to help him immediately? Maybe there's a bad person putting him in a threatening position and he can't fight back?"

"That's possible, but strangely..." I held my chin and tried to think more logically. "... Why did he call me? Doesn't he already have two very reliable guards?"

The two guards I meant were Hakam and his driver, although I rarely saw the driver, I could tell that the driver was no ordinary person.

"Guards? Could it be that he's a prince?"

Ah, damn... I slipped.

"... Uh..."

What should I say? Messing with someone's privacy is not good.

"Stevent Xander... The guy known as the class troublemaker before you started teaching at that school... What does he want? Why is he asking for your help?"

As expected, someone's bad reputation will linger forever, but luckily, the girl only asked about the purpose of the call.

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking..."

"Oh, right..." Her face looked dumbfounded.

"But, the call still bothers me."

It's rare to see that kid in such a position, especially in a cornered condition. Even when he asked for my help before the exams, he was still shy about it, like a tsundere.

"If it bothers you, why don't you just fly there?"

Dahlia gave me a suggestion.

"Hmm (nodding)... That's a good idea, but should we come politely, by walking through the front door for sure?"

"No..."

Dahlia's answer contradicted what I expected. I thought she would agree with my suggestion, but she didn't.

And from the way she answered, she seemed to sense a great danger from that phone call.

"What do you mean, why did you suddenly refuse? Is there something strange?"

When it comes to analyzing social issues like this, I struggle and don't understand at all, even though I've started to read the situation a bit.

"Just intuition... Just learning from experience..." When she said that, her face turned away from me, and stared firmly at the houses below.

Experience?

When I think about it... I don't remember.

I even forgot what happened to her that made her relationship with Astra so close.

"So... What should we do?"

That's what needs to be questioned immediately, if this is wrong, that is wrong, then what?

"Why don't you just detect it?"

"Detect?"

"Aren't phones now integrated with GPS?"

"..."

I don't know what she meant. Am I outdated?

"You don't know?" Dahlia tilted her head.

Her flat and pitiful face became a sight that adorned the mid-point of the cloud-filled sky from my perspective.

I shook my head to answer her question.

"As I thought, you seem outdated..."

"Outdated?"

Don't phones now have privacy protection? GPS detection to locate someone should be turned off, so it's impossible for that to happen.

"Not in technology, but in trends..." Dahlia flashed a faint smile at me.

"Trends?"

I forgot about this, trends are the most sophisticated tools to manipulate individuals or groups.

"Hmm~... Right now it's trending for people to activate their GPS to find worthy opponents."

"Opponents?"

If it involves something like this, then there's only one possibility in this trend...

"Now on social media, more precisely on Zwitter, they compete to show off their power rankings. The more opponents they defeat, the higher their ranking, and if a lower rank defeats a higher rank, the higher rank will be taken by the challenger."

Note: Zwitter is a play on Twitter.

"Huh? How is that possible? How do they calculate it just with social media? Isn't Nusantara too vast for that?"

"Eh---"

When about to explain, Dahlia's eyes narrowed, and her lips tightened as if she were in a trance.

"Rasyid, can we or should we stay on topic?"

When she said that, I was startled and remembered the problem I had to face now.

"Ah---, right..."

Back to Stevent's problem, let the trend Dahlia mentioned be something to tell later because solving problems is better than accumulating them.

"Anyway, for now, try to detect Stevent's number using GPS, I'm sure that arrogant kid must have turned it on to find a worthy opponent."

I followed my girlfriend's words.

Tap tap tap...

I tapped away in the blue sky and white clouds.

Click

When I tried to detect the kid's location with his phone number, my phone screen immediately led to a Booble Maps app, showing a place that shouldn't be.

"Found it?" Dahlia asked with a flat face.

"Yes, but..."

"But?"

How to say this? This is beyond expectations.

"He's in the depths of Mount Abadi!"

Mount Abadi is the highest mountain that separates Ningru City from Podokerjo City. The mountain towers high, almost like a natural wall dividing the two territories, adorned with enormous trees.

Even though my face showed no concern and looked calm, in my mind, I was confused, even scared...

Mount Abadi is not an ordinary place. It's likely that the mountain was a forbidden ritual site in ancient times. There's a high chance that Anitya's magical power will be disturbed if someone sets foot there.

"Then, let's hurry!"

Dahlia seemed interested and wanted to help, so I could only nod and put on what might now look like a genuine smile.

"Yes, let's go..."

Actually, I didn't want her to come, but since she clearly wouldn't let me go this time, I let her.

With Dahlia flying beside me, I pierced through the mighty clouds in the sky, flying fast like a jet on a mission, a mission to save someone.

We both flew to the mountain.

What's really happening?

Even so, I am still worried about this.