What's Next?

Ursa laughed once again when he saw the embarrassment flashed on the girl's face. After she was calm enough and started to forget about the kidnapping accident, he could see that the girl was cheerful by nature. He didn't know if it was because of the kidnapping or not, but she also had an appetite twice as big as when he was her age, which was pretty crazy to think about since he was a boy.

"So, young lady, can I finally get a name?" Ursa asked, his eyes dancing playfully.

The girl widened her eyes in shock while holding back a cough so that she wouldn't choke as she realized her rudeness. After swallowing all the food inside her mouth quickly – and forcefully – before bowing politely at him. "I am sorry! My name is Aliyya Sunni. Thank you very much for saving me!"

"Sunni, huh? Like Hasan Sunni?" The girl – Aliyya – squirmed nervously under Ursa's knowing gaze, which made him stop teasing her. "Hey, hey, no need to look so nervous like that. I know you are somehow related to Lawyer Hasan. Your kidnappers have a pretty loose mouth, after all."

The girl giggled a little before coughing hard, her voice was still pretty hoarse. It seemed the kidnappers weren't kind enough to give her a drink regularly, which made him suffer dehydration here. Ursa didn't even speak as he went to the kitchen, just to appear once again with a glass of warm water.

"Here, this will at least soothe the sore throat."

"Thank you." The girl whispered gratefully, accepting the offer.

For a moment, there was a silence between those two, only occasionally interrupted by the incoherent mumbles from the drinkers who passed by outside. He could guess that they were the customers of the Armadillo bar, an accomplished bar close to the intersection. That place would always get noisier the later the night was.

He shook his head quickly, trying to focus back on the little girl. He could see the fascination in her eyes as she scanned the entire building curiously. "First time going to the bar?"

The girl bobbed her head a little before saying, "I have heard a lot of stories about a shady bar like this from my papa, and my brother also warned me to avoid it at all costs. He said that if I am old enough to go alone, I should come to a better place."

Ouch. Although he knew it was not intentional, Ursa could still feel the jab from the little girl. Not that he had room to defend himself, though, since this place was indeed a shady bar. Hell, this was the perfect place for any criminals to do a shady transaction just as the two kidnappers had proven earlier.

"So, young lady, mind if I ask one or two questions?" He tried his best to make his tone nonchalant, yet he could see from the corner of his eyes that the girl tensed immediately, looking at him warily.

"What question?"

Nothing excessive, I swear." He crossed his arms to make a huge 'X' in front of his chest. "I am just curious about something. They should be Golak Mayar's people, right? The guy from the council that is in the middle of a conflict with your father?"

"How do you know about that?!" The girl widened her eyes in surprise.

"Well, it is pretty easy. When I realized you are Lawyer Hasan's daughter, I only need to see who is the person currently in conflict with your father, and there is a huge chance that he is the culprit." Ursa was satisfied when he saw Aliyya's impressed gaze. "How did you get kidnapped, by the way? Don't you and your family live in that rich people's complex with pretty tight security?" He fired a question again, this time with a hint of curiosity.

"I… Don't know." She said it weakly. "The last thing I remember is waiting for Papa to pick me up from the school, and then, I passed out, and the next thing I remember was in that box, with my mouth and hands and feet gagged and tied. I was so scared, especially when they threatened me with so many bad words. Then… Then…"

"Sssh… It is okay. You don't need to tell me if you are not ready." Ursa hugged the girl tightly, rubbing her back soothingly. After she was calm enough, he offered her another glass of warm water which the girl accepted instantly before apologizing. "Sorry to make you relieve that incident, Aliyya. That is my bad."

The girl just smiled wanly as tears fell from the corner of her face again. "It is okay. I know sooner or later, papa would ask me the same question again, so it is a good practice for me."

"Well, what do you think about going to sleep first? It is pretty late already, not I bet you are exhausted. Tomorrow, when your condition is good enough, I will bring you back to your home, is that okay?"

It was clear that she liked the idea, especially considering the big yawn she had before the girl covered her mouth in embarrassment. Ursa himself didn't care. After cleaning all the cooking utensils that he used before and heating the rest of the curry he made for Aliyya, he led the girl onto his room before he walked away from there, deciding to sleep on the couch. He wasn't crazy enough to stay there and got accused of pedophilia, after all.

Still, even though he led the girl to take a rest, that didn't mean he would do the same. For now, there was something more urgent that he needed to pay attention to first, like the progress of the mission.

'So, system, how do you rate my performance?'

[Please, Host, complete the mission first, and the system will give the full evaluation of Host's performance.]

Ursa nodded silently, having been expecting something like this. Even though he had already saved the little girl and prevented the kidnapping crime, that wasn't the end of the mission. He still remembered the objective, which was to expose the evil-doing he saw to the public.

Still, that left a problem. After all, he was the only one who witnessed the crime, so if he suddenly came out to the public and accused Golak Mayar of this crime, the result would be obvious. It was a no-brainer who would the public trust, a veteran member of the city council or a no-name teenager who was just seeking attention.

'No, this kidnapping crime is not enough. I need to investigate Golak Mayar more to expose him. Lawyer Hasan has already opened the door to expose his dirtiness, and if there is anything I know about politicians, they wouldn't be able to live peacefully when someone accused him of doing anything crime-related. Let's see if he would accidentally reveal more dirt, and that would be my chance to strike.'

With that thought in mind, and also with the new confidence from the successful escapade that night, Ursa clenched his fist tightly, thinking of so many different scenarios that could happen in the future. As his mind was running fast, his body finally couldn't keep up, forcing his consciousness to shut down instantly, leaving only snores coming from the couch, the sound that told the universe that this long day was finally over.