"Niken, if you don't mind, can I pick you up to academy from tomorrow? And also... I want to take you home every day from now on."
Niken was stunned to hear that question. What should she do? What answer should she give?
Of course, she already knew the answer, yet, if she agreed that invitation right away, would Kazuto look down on her?
"You know you can say no to me. I don't want to force you."
Niken shook her head quickly. It was slightly too soon as her head felt like spinning around. "No. I don't mind at all. Sorry to trouble you. Ah, no. I mean, thank you and good night." Niken rushed into the house with her face as red as steamy crab.
A whistling sound came from his side, which ignored by the Kazuto.
"Wow, I never knew you had a romantic side. Or was it an aggressive advance? Is it the effect because you found your inamorata?" teased Shin Ha.
"No comment." After that, Kazuto closed his eyes to concentrate on his energy. A few moments later, black smoke appeared and materialized several shadows in the form of a wolf. The shadows moved at each end of Niken's house and formed a standby formation.
"Isn't it too much?"
"I still smell it."
"Impossible." Shin Ha looked around them and found nothing. There was no one.
He also tried using his energy to track down any suspicious presence around them, but find no one. "Maybe you're paranoid."
"I hope so."
After making sure the house's situation was safe, they both decided to return to their homes.
As Kazuto feared, the white knight had been watching over them and following them wherever they went. He was still waiting for a chance and now standing in front of the house where Niken lived. Even though the shadow form guarded the house, they couldn't sense his presence.
How did the black knight can sense his presence? Did he know his exact location? No. His whereabouts could not be known. After all, if he had been found out, those two Elementalist knights would have act and force him to come out.
"Skylar." A voice called his name inside his head. "What are you doing?"
"..."
He hated the most whenever 'that person' entered his mind cells without his permission.
He didn't like someone interfered with his privacy, yet he couldn't cast the man out his mind. He didn't want to make the man angry as the man was his only hope.
"I understand your feeling to gather the energy as much as you can, but look; she would die in less than two months. She was useless ever since she received the knight's fusion. We don't need her.
"..."
Skylar knew precisely the girl was a weakling. He knew for sure the girl would die soon, yet why did he sense a strong barrier inside her body? No. Not inside her body, it was inside her astral dimension.
Something was inside the barrier, and he didn't know what that is.
Besides, he heard other knights called the girl Niken. That name was not the characteristic of time-controllers. This made him more confused.
Who is the girl? Isn't she a time-controller? Why is her name not start with Xiao?
Why did his instinct tell him not to mess around the girl?
"Skylar, stop wasting time and go find out Xiao Yue's whereabouts."
"Yes."
Skylar, the name of the white knight, looked at the house. He was watching and murmured, "Well, at least you're lucky. You won't die in my hands."
In an instant, he disappeared in mid-air then looked for the next target. This time he hoped he would find Xiao Yue. Only then could he stop his killing.
The next day, Kazuto tried to look for the unfamiliar odor he had smelled yesterday. He was relieved when he found nothing when he arrived in front of Niken's house.
"Kazuto." Greeted Niken, who just came out of the house with Richard.
"Why did you get here?" asked Richard in a disapproving tone.
"..."
"Uhm, Richard, he came here to pick me up. I hope you don't mind."
Richard looked at the puppy-like eyes in his sister's eyes. Who could resist her request if she stared him like this?
Fine. Whatever!
"Looks like someone is trying to snatch my sister from me." quipped Richard, that only be heard by Kazuto.
"Thanks for your blessing."
Richard was at a loss for words. He said nothing about giving the blessing!
Richard snorted, annoyed the appearance of the man early in the morning. Then he off walking first, leaving the two of them.
"What are you talking about?" Niken asked Kazuto.
"Nothing. Let's go."
Niken smiled, and together they walked to the academy.