I am New Here (9)

Two people stared eye to eye, and time seemed to stop.

Skyler Jing never thought the future would flash like a dream. He saw Ashii holding a child who looked so similar to him. They were running happily as if asking him to chase them. The sun was shining so brightly that he was almost blinded. He could feel nothing but satisfaction and pure happiness when he saw them. Then it ended.

"Why save me?"

"Do I need a reason to save someone?"

"I don't know."

"Do you need a reason to save someone?"

"No."

"Then we have the same answer."

Ashii stared at him. His face was calm, but it was as if he had gained a sudden enlightenment when he looked at her. It was something she couldn't ask without him being suspicious.

"Have you seen the person following me earlier? I am sure someone was walking right behind me."

"I didn't see anyone."

"How did you find me?"

"I am on my way home and I saw you looking shitless, as if you witnessed a crime scene. You stood there frozen, so I ran out of the car to save you from trouble."

"Do you know me?"

"I knew you were a transferee and you lacked knowledge of the place. I assumed your family did not pick you up, so you decisively chose to walk the way home."

"Why are there no buses or taxis in this place?"

"The citizens hated outsiders. You're lucky, I saved you just in time."

"Those people... They are not human," Ashii whispered. "Are you..."

"No. I'm not one of them. You and I belong to another faction. We're here."

Ashii looked outside and found they had arrived in front of her residence. The butler and the head maid were already waiting for her at the gate. The worried look on their faces was evident.

"It's time for you to go," Sky whispered, pulling Ashii out of her thoughts. 

"Thanks for tonight."

"You're welcome. See you tomorrow."

Ashii suddenly thought of something.

How did he know my address?

She watched the car drive past and stopped at the house beside hers. She was shocked. How could she not notice that they were living so close to each other? 

The butler and the head maid rushed to her side, and the three hurried inside the house. Ashii sat in the living room. Devina gave her a cup of warm water.

"What happened to the driver and the car?"

"My Lady..."

Two people were hesitant to speak.

"Tell me."

"My Lady, James and the car went missing this afternoon as they headed to the academy for you."

"What do you mean by missing? He sent a message to me saying it is impossible to pick me up because the car has issues. But I remembered well, the car was brand new."

"My Lady, there are some things we couldn't control."

"Have you investigated the cause of his accident? The car has a tracker installed in its system. Can you check where it was last spotted? I don't believe it would just disappear out of thin air."

The butler and the head maid checked the car's tracker, but it was last seen on the road to the academy. 

"Have you reported this to the authorities? How about the city police?"

"My Lady, we..."

"What?"

"We can't."

"What do you mean by we can't? Are we not allowed to report such a thing?"

Ashii felt irritated.

"The academy and this neighborhood are not under the jurisdiction of the city police. We have our own court system and laws here, and such a disappearance ain't enough to file a report to the authorities. Let us wait for James to contact us back."

"If something bad happened to James, would you think he could still reach us? Tell me who controls the authorities here."

"The Heron family controls everything. They do not care about things such as the disappearance of people. At most, they would allow you to file a case, but it would be left untouched. They are not willing to waste resources looking for people who could have died unjustly, unless the person is a bigshot."

Ashii could not believe such people exist.

Cold-hearted bastards!

"Do you know who lives in the house next to ours?"

"My Lady, I heard news this morning that the third son of the Jing family bought the property."

"What's his name?"

"The third master's name is Skyler Jing."

Ashii sighed.

Devina prepared dinner for her. She could only eat in silence and reported to her father and brothers about the disappearance of the family's driver. Her elder brother immediately sent two people to be her guard and driver. Ashii had no opinion. But she couldn't rely on her brothers forever.

She continued reading the file her third brother sent earlier.

In the file, she learned that the Jing family is a superior magician family. They could be categorized as humans who live long enough to practice magic. The current head of the Jing family, Duke Richard Jing, is a powerful mage who brought peace to the long-fought war against several supernatural clans and humans.

His wife died in the war, protecting their children. He had three sons and one daughter. Among the three, Reno was appointed as the next heir. Reno had three children, and Skyler Jing was one of them.

How powerful could he be?

Meanwhile, the villa next to Ashii's home was not so peaceful.

Sky's expression was stern.

He caught all those people who wanted to harm his fiancée.

"Who sent you?"

Sky was standing in the middle of the dungeon hidden underneath the villa. He was mad that someone tried to commit crimes under his nose.

None of those Aswangs answered.

"Ki, give me the salt whip."

Sky vented his anger and whipped people.

"I was asking nicely, but you might have forgotten my name. Who sent you?"

Several whips did not change anything. No one confessed.

"Ki, go get the soul search worm."

The soul search worm is a worm that can control the mind and body of the victim. It would not only parasitize people, but also extract important memories from its victims. The process of parasitizing people is also excruciating, so after the confession, the victim would immediately die. 

"Let me see who's so bold to confront me."