Country F was a fairly developed nation in the southeastern part of the globe. For some reason, due to being close to the equator it was prone to storms and earthquakes, but this also endowed it with abundant natural resources and some of the world's greatest biodiversity. Its scenic locations were very popular, especially the beaches and forests located south of it. Also, its extensive rice terraces that were carved into the mountain ranges past the Cotton Province was called the Eighth Wonder of the World. One way or another, the whole place was a beautiful nation.
Despite the majority of its islands being scattered on the sea bordering the mainland of the continent, the country was actually part of the mainland. At least, its capital and biggest metropolitan area, the center of culture, economy, education, and the government were located there, sharing borders with three other sovereignty.
Alina City was the capital, but from the north, it was only two
In his peripheral vision, he caught sight of a lithe figure chasing after the woman who just got out of Friendlies. So he absentmindedly muttered to himself.'I'm bad and selfish for wishing this. But I hope that mercenary will have even the littlest of connection with that middle-aged host she is looking for.'A second later, he bemusedly thought,'Well, it seems at least we've become wonderful friends now, always thinking of using each other for the best of our interests.'Then ten minutes later..."Speaking of petty... He made these two ran off to the borders? Just to make my life a bit harder?Agatha's face which was still that of the short-haired athletic-looking young woman contorted for a second, reminiscing back to that dude wearing the guise of a middle-aged man.Her eyes then went to the two miserable looking people sprawled messily on the dirty moist ground, cushioning themselves onto the dry leaves, grasses, stones, and twigs. One had his two feet and hands and even tongue
A brief trip to a not-so-distant past...Hours ago, the same time as when the individual Agatha termed as a human swine executed Eithan Meyer's first commands, someone from a hidden fortress in the part of the barren dessert nearest to C Empire reacted, feeling the subtle connection between him and the most trusted person who betrayed him being shaken a bit.It was not the feeling of his mental energy lingering to that person's body and mind being broken through. Different from it, to put into words, it was a very-hard-to-explain connection between a host and his main non-host supporter, the ordinary human a system's blessed person had subconsciously designated as his pillar of support in his initial days of being a host.The place was in a dark, dungeon-like prison cell. Only a kid was inside of it.Dirty. Chained. Full of all sorts of bruises, wounds, scars. Some of the injuries looked fresh and recently inflicted. The scent of burn and blood even lingered in the air, heavily.In re
"Second Miss!"It was Aura who rushed into her side from her vacation at the mesmerizing resorts and sceneries at Yaca Province, one of the most beautiful island province of the country. Sarmiento was of course with her. The two of them looked as though they did not even have a good sleep due to worrying. The five hours ride must have been agonizing for them as they had to think whether their employer was okay or not."I'm sorry that I had to summon the two of you back despite promising a week-long vacation." Irene apologetically smiled as she received them at the door of her unit.The three went to the living room to hold a proper conversation there. The two ladies took their seats while Sarmiento had first scouted the place to make sure no bug or anything suspicious was left by the intruders by chance. Irene did not stop him, knowing this was only what could put his mind at ease."Second Miss, I'm glad to know that you're okay."Irene exhaled and
At the end of their conversation, the woman told her not to worry about that man since he would surely be fine. But Irene couldn't stop thinking about his condition and the woman must have picked that up therefore she gave her a clue to where he could possibly be right now.The call ended with her staring blankly at her phone. Her mind went back to when Agatha tried to tell her jokes about him being with her around midnight.Irene couldn't tell if the woman was merely bluffing or not. However, she suspected that it was the latter given this woman's very competent brokers.'Makes sense, she's most likely aware of what truly transpired. No. She's definitely aware.''...and I'm so feeling angry that she's aware. Because it means she's that competent. Or Eithan told her which means she's that trusted by him.'Either of the two possibilities she arrived at was not welcomed by the actress.However, she had to shake them off her head since it was not the time for confusion or jealousy.After
Irene was grateful that the other did not ask further more questions. As for her, she reminisced everything she witnessed on this short trip.She had seen quite few new faces of the man she was in love with. But what really stuck to her mind was not the warm smile which he gave that homeless grandma, but the harmless and innocent one he was sporting as he slept wrapped up in a thick blanket, his head leaning sideways against the headrest. She saw it all through the small opening a mischievous AI had purposely left without informing him when it noticed the woman's presence nearby.The actress could already guess that he must be intending to not do any work today as well. The reason for suddenly driving to this fairly populated place instead of his own home was a puzzle for her. However, it was easy to see that he just wanted some sleep today. Even the seemingly all-rounder and powerful him could be exhausted, falling unconscious under a peaceful and pictur
'Beautiful...'Ivy's heavenly singing voice made way into her ears. The lines in her song were so melancholically sung. But for some reason, it could mysteriously help her clear her mind. It made her open her eyes to also see if the twilight had already descended upon the world outside.Somehow what greeted her was the sight of a happy family of three walking out of a restaurant from her left side. Her mind fleetingly wandered to the distant past where she and her parents had done the same on her 10th birthday. It was a beautiful memory, burned in the back of her mind. Regrettably, it was also a memory that would never happen again in the future. Thinking of this, she moved her gaze away from that happy and beautiful sight.A couple of seconds later, probably still due to the word 'family', her subconscious suddenly went back to the fiasco earlier where she asked that swine human whether he had some messages he wanted to relay to his family members.One r
The man, on the other hand continued with a wide and heartwarming smile, "You did well in safeguarding his business empire. I sincerely thank you for all your efforts.""I'm only doing what I should do for him." She said with only a polite smile on her delicate face.Conrad laughed, the gesture magically made a few of the wrinkles on his forehead and the edge of his eyes disappear. "You don't have to be so courteous in front of me. I know how close you are to that child."She argued in her head. 'Who won't be in front of a smiling cat who is actually a king tiger?'Conrad was Paul's only remaining uncle and he once mentioned to her that he was almost his father. Yet Agatha didn't dare treat this meeting as a mere meeting between a father and a prospective daughter-in-law, but that of enemies. It was just hard for her to not do so considering the fact that aside from being a very competent and influential non-host, this man possibly had ties with som
Agatha left the chateau wearing nothing but a blank expression on her face. After the real talk between about Paul, she confirmed a few things which almost made her suppose that this Conrad McArthney was an enemy.'He firmly believed that his nephew is alive. But never made moves to locate him like I do.'She felt betrayed. Very much. When this realization dawned to her this was what consumed her heart and made her scream her lungs out from the moment she was done locking herself up inside her room. Her chest felt so constrained. She knew it was the extreme desire to at least slap Conrad McArthney for what he did. She had yet to learn about Conrad and Fred. But through the conversation they had earlier, she realized that there was only one reason why the man who seemed to treasure his successor so much had not shown worry despite that same successor going missing.Why did he never show movements to locate Paul?Why else apart from already being aware of where he was? It was like as a