The sound of a grandfather clock ticking in its cycle could be heard in the guest room. 'Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock' It was a neverending cycle and never fading. Who knows how old the clock was, and who knows how much time it has left.
Kim was comfortably sipping on the sofa while enjoying the freshly brewed tea. The two men who lead him here were waiting obediently outside of the room.
Moments later, a knock and the butler who served him the tea welcome another man which he introduced as the Mayor of Kuala Terengganu. His name is Byzark. The person who handles the affair of the city which include the job requests that was offered by the mana user guild. His whole demeanour was strong. Even though he was a non-mana user, Kim knew he is not just an ordinary person. Byzark approached Kim with charismatics strides.
With a slight bow, he apologized to Kim "Sorry for making Mika and Suika troubles you. They were only following my order."
That gesture was truly unexpected. For someone at the high position to bow down at person whom he never met before, it should be impossible in these days and era.
'Is he really this kind of an honest person? Are the rumours true?'
Kim did not just blindly follow the two duos who tried to trail him. He already expected that the news of him beating the no.1 mana users in the city would trigger a spark somewhere. Especially, with the rumours of Kiria was killed after his sudden transform into a monster werewolf. Added with what Mr Werewolf told him, it could only lead him to one thing. The wolf hunt request which was proposed by the man who is now sitting in from of him.
With that in mind, he inquiry a lot about Byzark even before he came here. Despite being an otherworlder he was assigned by Prince Ray to lead the restoration process of Kuala Terengganu. Despite not being a mana user, he has the experience handling city affairs when he was in the Varhem Kingdom.
Even though there was clear discrimination going on against the earthens from the otherwolders, he was the first person to advocate equal treatments between one another. He focused on building shelters and provide food first for the weak like elderly and small children who lost their family. Working together with the mana user guild, he sought to provide the awakened earthens to understand their new power. After a while, he encouraged and supported the crafters to make the economy flow. Eventually, this became the foundation of the marketplace which lead to the establishment of the city very own business guild.
Seeing how wise and benevolent Byzark was for the past years, he gained the support of the community which made him appointed as the Mayor of Kuala Terengganu. Even though he was not a mana user, with the guild backing, no one would dare to take his seat by force, especially mana users. There was still some dirt at the corner which hard to clean as the city becoming larger as it develops, but he remained to his true honest self whose goals were to serve the people.
It was why he proposed the wolf hunt in the first place when he heard that the children of the city were kidnapped and killed or eaten by a werewolf. He hoped that the city mana users could lure it and kill the werewolf before there will be more innocent children becoming victims.
An honest and kind man with no dark history behind him, truly surreal. Byzark manners and humble tone when he talked made Kim surprised that this kind of person could exist. To top it off, he was still young, maybe in his early 30s, and he got a charming face that would make women holding themselves from blinking their eyes just to see this person. His face reminded Kim of the famous boy group from South Korea which was a global sensation before the calamity occurred.
Byzark was just a perfect human being!
'Are all otherwolders at the top position like this?'
There was another one who has the same charismatic presence as Byzark. Although he is a bit old now, he is still good-looking. An otherwolder just like Byzark, the guild master. Kim could not even imagine how great of a presence is Prince of Varhem. That thought has made him having more murderous intent.
"I heard you fought Kiria and won. That's impressive."
Kim knew he was going to ask about Kiria There was no other reason to follow an unknown man who has just join a mana user guild. By rights, Kim did not do anything that could catch the attention of a person like Byzark. That means, Kim also expected his next question.
"I've heard rumours about his death."
Rumours of Kiria death. The guild officially told the public that Kiria died while doing his job. But, there is a rumour that has been spreading within the city. It started when a mana user went to a pub on the same day Kiria was announced dead.
He was there when Kim and Kiria were fighting. He was there to witness Kiria losing. He was there when Kiria turned into a monster werewolf and eat everyone near him. It did not take long for the guild master to declare that Kiria must be killed. But the rumour that made everyone talking was the fact that the newbie actually has beaten Kiria and managed to kill him in his monster form.
However, rumours are just rumours. Who would believe some drunk man words? It was unlikely. Until another mana user told the same story. Then another, then another. But the guild declared the official death of Kiria on the same day and ordered mana users who attended the practice spar to shut their mouth. Rumours that spread like wildfire dies off in no time.
So why does a person like Mayor Byzark is still asking about the rumours? A simple curiosity?
No. It is because Mayor Byzark knew the rumour was true.
'It must have been those followers. I thought I told them not to bother us anymore.'
Since Kiria has been at the top in the guild, he has been endorsed by Byzark for his loyalty to the city. It was no wonder why Kiria could act how he was when he was still alive. Often he would invite Kiria to his mansion to have a meal together. People cherish A-rank a lot since they are the strongest one after an S-rank. But, the possibility to have a chance of producing an S-rank mana user in a city is almost zero. An A-rank would most likely be the top person in a guild located in a city like Kuala Terengganu.
But it was not only Kiria. Even those who followed him was getting supported. It would not be weird if they were the one who directly told Byzark what happened to Kiria. Getting the confirmation from eye-witnesses whom he could personally trust, the rumours that he heard was most likely to be news to him, even if the guild said otherwise.
'I better treat them properly next time'
--
"Miss Momo. We don't think this suit you."
After having too much food, the group decided to go to the crafters' section. In this area, mana users could find different types of equipment and supplies needed for travel. Kim and Momo were never interested in equipment since carrying them around seem bothersome. But the three uncles thought it would be better for Momo to look around first. Above their expectations, Momo actually caught interests with certain equipment. However, they did not think that it was because she found useful equipment which suited her.
She was holding a red shield with a yellow cross sign that was almost as big as herself. On her other hand, a black rifle that could shoot beam-like projectiles when mana is injected into it. She was wearing full body armour made of steel. The base colour was white. On her upper body, it was blue, with red at the ribs and waist. Her neck was covered with yellow colour. The armour even covering her legs with red coloured steel boots to protect her feet. At her back, steel red wings which could fly around to shoot mana projectiles. On her head, a white helmet with two pointy antennae which could enhance mana sense. Near her a waste, a laser sword that would appear only when she uses it.
"Hey, don't you guys think this setup looks oddly familiar?" Asked Ling while tilting his head trying to remember something and a sudden realization hit him.
"Isn't this from that robot anime?"
When Wong and Teng heard Ling, they look closer at Momo and tried to compare. After a while, they too thought it was very similar!
"Miss Momo?"
"Yes."
"Can you move?"
"..."
"Anyway, why did you get interested in wearing these?"
"Oh, I got the idea from Uncle Larc!"
"Larc? You mean the guild master?"
"Yeah. At the wall of his office, there were a lot of small men wearing this kind of things."
"Men wearing that kind of things?"
"Yeah. I thought it looked cool so I wanted to try myself."
--
"Hachoo!"
"Are you okay, guild master?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Maybe I had some allergy."
"Or maybe someone is talking about you"
"Haha, why would someone talk about me. Anyway, I need to do some, um, work, yeah work which I need to do after visiting Japan last time. Please don't let anyone bother so I can get focus properly."
"Okay, guild master."
Larc entered his office and walked to his desk at a fast pace. He opened his drawer and inside there was a safety box which needs a password to input in. He punched the number in and with a sound of click it was unlocked. With a creepy smile on his face, he slowly opened the box with full of excitement.
"Welcome to my collections, my baby."
--
Heartbeat racing, his pupil became larger than it was before. In that instance, Kim saw it. The moment when Kim told Byzark how Kiria transmuted into a monster has made him broke his character. Even though it was only just a second, Kim caught the glimpse of his lips curling upwards. Byzark quickly covered his face and start to sob.
"So he actually turned into a monster werewolf. That poor soul."
Kim was deep in his thought while observing the sobbing man in front of him.
"I know he had problems with his attitude. I received a lot of complaints about him."
'His words, his action...'
"He always told me that if he was too kind with the earthens, they would end up relying too much on him."
'Every single word that came out of that mouth...'
"I'm sure you had some bad encounter with him. I hope you can see through how honest a man he was."
'Is all a LIE!'
"If there anything I could do to compensate what he did in the past, please let me know. I will help as much as I can."
"I'm fine Mr Mayor. Please take some rest. You look exhausted."
"Oh, I'm sorry if that how I seem to look like to you. There are so many things happening around the city recently. I'm sure you heard of the kidnapping? Kiria was also involved with the wolf hunt. It seems that he was inflicted with the curse of a werewolf."
"Curse of the werewolf?"
"I'm sure you heard of the story when a werewolf bit your neck without killing you, you will be inflicted with a curse that will transform you into a werewolf. We suspected that maybe the reason why there was several kidnapping happening recently. The werewolf might be trying to increase its force."
Kim has heard the same story from Larc before while in the guild. It seems that the only way to cure a cursed victim is to bath them in wolves blood. That was why one of the job requests is to bring back the wolves hearts. But Larc could not confirm whether this is true or not.
First of all, it was hard to see a human turned into a werewolf or whether there is a human who could turn into a werewolf. He only knows that there is a monster werewolf which was named from its human-like feature even though it is technically still a wolf monster. Secondly, letting a werewolf would mean an increased death of others, so killing them as fast as possible was the only way. And third, from where Mayor Byzark got this info was unsure of. They only reason people would hear him without question was that he is Mayor Byzark.
Larc was a bit suspicious but since this is a job requested by the mayor himself many mana users who were joined in. The more active the mana users are the safer it would be for the people of Kuala Terengganu. It has also reduced the anxiousness that has been lingering due to the report of witnessing a werewolf trying to kidnap children in their sleep.
"The reason I asked Mika and Suika to bring you here was for me to ask you to take Kiria place in this wolf hunt. I know it is inappropriate for me to ask this after bothering your time off. But let us work together to make this city safe."
They both gave each other and handshake, and Kim left the place.
Without notice, he already joined the group again which made all of them freaked out except for Momo who was busy shoving her mouth with some cendol.
"Ah, hello master. Would you like some?"
"Don't speak with your mouth full Momo."
"One more cendol, please!" Teng scanned an oddly familiar card to pay and the owner gave Kim a cold serving of cendol with a scoop of rice pulut. There were also some red beans floating around in the bowl as well.
"You should try some too, young master"
They spend more time at the cendol stall and then went back to the hotel where Kim and Momo were staying.
When they arrived they were greeted by the owner who was sitting in the lobby. Wong looked at the man face and quickly recognized who he was.
"Is that you Dr. Hamid? I haven't seen you for years! How are you?"
"I'm doing good."
"Dr. Hamid? You mean that veterinarian who used to have a shelter for dogs before?"
"Yeah, it's him. There was a lot of ruckuses going on when opened the shelter. People were judging him for taking care of dogs even though he was a Malay."
"Oh, now I remember! How have you been doing?"
Kim and Momo went to their room first to take some rest, letting the men having their conversations.
"What happened to your shelter? The dogs must have gone wild during the calamity."
"Well many things happened. I was surprised that I actually survived. How about some snacks while we have a chat?"
--
"Yaaahhh!!!"
Momo ran toward the bed and jumped onto it the get herself drown in the fluffiness. She lay on her back while patting her bulging belly.
"I ate a lot today."
"You seem to enjoy yourself"
"Yeah, the uncles were very kind. Although, we did spend a lot."
"And who's points were you using?"
"Hehe. How about you master? Did you find out about anything?"
"Yeah, I did. I found the kidnapped children"