Emotions Are Not To Be Suppressed, They are To Be Experienced

"What are your orders, sir?"

The commander entered deep in his thoughts as he heard his subordinate's question for a while before he replied, "There is a chance that the person inside is an intruder who sneaked into the restaurant to get rid of some kind of evidence."

"But sir, aren't the police patrolling the area around this place?" The masked man asked, confused.

"Hmph! Those idiots are just here for the show; they are just sitting around without doing any actual work." The commander sneered with disgust.

The firefighter instinctively looked at the policemen sitting like ducks on the ground far away. Some were leaning against the tree while some were even lying on the ground as if they were on a vacation.

This made the man clench his hand into a fist.

Seeing this, the commander wasted no time before giving a new set of orders. "You go back and deal with the fire, send team 4, and I will take that team to surround the backside as well."

Hearing the orders, the man rushed back inside before a group of ten men rushed out to the commander; together they jumped on one of the water tanks and rushed to the back side of the restaurant.

Their actions alarmed the police force that had been watching the scene from the side.

"Chief, are those hose draggers leaving?" One of the policemen sitting beside the chief pointed at the leaping tank in alarm.

"No need to panic; those smokies are just going to deal with the backside." The fat police chief laughed in disdain, "That restaurant is already done for; there is nothing they can do to save it.

…

Woosh!

Back inside the staff room, a light flashed before three figures appeared in the room out of nowhere.

"The humans still have yet to extinguish the fire in here?" Elara was the first one to step out of the circle, followed by Vanessa, who appeared sapped from the previous ritual she had just performed and then used the teleportation spell. "They are as inefficient as ever."

As soon as her words hung in the air, the magic ring flashed once more before Alvin stepped with his head lowered and his long hair draped to the side of his face, hiding the emotions on his face.

Elara wanted to say something, but words did not make it past her vocal cords. She watched as Alvin silently took a step forward. The gravity of his mere presence shook the debris around him.

He slowly raised his head, showing two dull pairs of golden eyes on his pale face. They no longer had the red fierceness from before.

'I can no longer help him.' Elara sighed, blood trickling down from the corner of her lips. Even then, she no longer wanted to hold him back.

It was about time for him to grieve, to get over the death of his loved ones.

Miss—" Vanessa showed a rare look of concern, but Elara shook her head with a soft smile.

Alvin made his way out of the familiar room, or what was left of it, as it had already been claimed by the fire as well. He continued to walk listlessly, but his feet brought him where he needed to be the most.

Alvin slowly raised his eyes and looked at the half-burned door before him.

Manager off—

Looking at the half-burnt door, Alvin raised his hand and pushed it open, ignoring the pain brought by the burns, which was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.

Alvin took a step into the office, but his movements faltered.

Before him was not the office he expected it to be; a huge cavity spanned through half of the office and appeared before his sight. The cavity had been formed by the blast from the pipes peeking out from the ground.

Which had claimed not only the office but also destroyed the wall between it and the kitchen.

Alvin's eyes shook, and his lips parted; they quivered seeing the burnt pipes peeking out of the concrete inside the huge hole in the ground.

Knowing something and seeing it with their eyes are two different things.

The impact both things leave on their heart is like a scar and a hole.

But right now Alvin felt as if someone had twisted his heart.

The whole office was a mess of burnt and exploded remains.

No one could make out what was even a part of the furniture or the person who once filled the room with their warmth and presence.

Elara and Vanessa stayed a few steps away from Alvin, giving him the space and time he needed to take everything in.

Vanessa seemed to sense something and muttered under her breath, "The humans have taken notice of our presence. They are going to rush in soon."

"No need to worry about them," Elara replied, her eyes never moving from Alvin's back. She could not look away from them; she was barely holding herself from falling to the urge to rush to his side.

Even though Alvin failed to show the emotions he was feeling, she felt them like her own. She could describe it as nothing but torture to herself.

Yet, despite the pain, she held on.

This was her loyalty to Alvin; this was her end of the rope to hold.

Alvin's steps finally moved forward. He made his way toward the spot his eyes had been fixed on.

Lying on the ground were two pieces of metal.

To be precise, they were the nameplate; only the "Ri— —awa" characters were still barely visible.

Seeing the faded colors of the name, Alvin felt as if everything had lost its color. He just blankly started those words. His hands moved, and his fingers brushed on them.

His mouth opened once more, and no sound was produced again. Alvin looked around the room, trying to find something else, something that held the presence he was looking for.

But his efforts were for naught; he found nothing but pain and agony. Alvin's gaze moved to the other side of the sinkhole, and without even knowing it, his feet moved, and he found himself standing inside the kitchen.