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Chapter 16 - A Brief Projection

"Mister Harley can help you." Miya, Digu and Cyclops turned at the same time towards the source of the sound. A small man with a high hat walked casually into the room. Behind him, a waiter appeared from his restaurant pushing trolleys of the dishes Mr. Harley wanted to serve to his beloved guests.

"Digu! Nice to see you again friend!" He said, hugging Digu tightly. "Harley! You're getting more handsome." Said Digu, grabbing a Harley's hat and trying it on the creature's head.

"Cyclops brother!" Mr. Harley spread his arms to receive the Cyclops in his arms. "Brother Harley." Said Cyclops who instead grabbed Harley's right hand and shook his hand. Harley looked confused by Cyclops' behavior and turned to Digu for an explanation. "Cyclops doesn't like hugging."

Harley turned to Miya and smiled. The girl smiled back and bowed her head in deep, "It's an honor when a Frauser comes to my place." He said while kissing Miya's hand knuckles. "I've stripped the title." Miya said.

The whole room stared at her in shock. "What? When? And why don't I know yet?" Asked Harley.

"I just did before coming here. I threw it into the lake."

Digu remembers Miya who threw something into the lake. He thought that the girl was throwing pebbles, but it turned out to be her precious recognition badge.

"I hope you are satisfied with your choice." Mr. Harley said, inviting his guests to sit down. "You must be hungry. I've asked my chef to serve you the most delicious dishes you will find only in The Vault."

Miya grabbed a plate of pancakes poured over the still warm caramel syrup. Cyclops grabs a plate of spaghetti with cream sauce and shrimp. Digu smiled at the two starving creatures.

Harley takes Digu to his study, which is next to his room for his guests. "What do you guys really need here?" Harley asked Digu who was still busy watching the two creatures sitting on the sofa sharing their food.

"You've known Miya before, right?" Asked Digu. "Yes, she is a gifted Frauser. Madam Evangeline's foster child." Digu seem to not listen Harley well while pulling out a parchment, giving it to Harley even before the man could continue to say more words. Harley frowned and quickly unrolled the scroll.

"Now throw away all your knowledge about what you call Frauser Miya. Because that girl is nothing like you sure know."

Harley blinked several times. Shocked by what he just read. "She's the Prodigy." The man muttered.

"I can't deny it." Said Digu. Harley immediately closed the door to his study and led Digu to the desk at the other end of the room. "Please tell me. H... how do you guys know all this?"

"Cyclops knew first. I'm not sure since when that creature has seen Miya's life. But he recently acted weird and then showed me the projection of Miya."

"Then? Does Miya know that she's the one she's been looking for?"

"She was as ignorant as all of us at the start."

"I think we can start from there." Harley said as she stood up and walked towards his bookshelf which was honestly too dusty because it had never been touched.

"You mean?"

"Miya needs to know who she is. That girl just needs to meet her real parents."

Digu leaned back against the soft sofa. "Why?" Asked Harley who was still struggling to find the title of the book he wanted. If only he hadn't skipped reading lessons in the private classes his parents had provided him.

"That girl wouldn't end up in front of the academy gates if she was what her family wanted her to be."

"Ah, here it is." Harley said, pulling out a thick book with a leather cover, looking ancient. "What book is it?" Asked Digu.

"I bought it from a wealthy merchant in the Sadyr area. The man said he sold this book because he couldn't read it himself." Said Harley. "I bought it because I liked the cover." Digu rolled his eyes and reached for the book. "Your typical will only buy things with one glance." He casts a translator spell and the letters in the book change to the ones he and Harley are familiar with. "But this book will come in handy." Said Digu.

"The Prodigy." Read Harley slowly, as if he were spelling out the letters one by one. "Shit, Harley. Take a crash class. You should be able to read."

"Hey, I'm not a royal family. I don't need that much knowledge."

"I think even bums should know how to read." Said Digu, turning page after page and stopping at one page that caught his eye.

"The Prodigy is a pure descendant of a heavenly guardian angel who will be born as a blessing to a family at a time when the land needs it. The Prodigy's strength will be a hundred times greater than the hellish seal guard dog and capable of destroying an ecosystem with the blink of an eye."

"Sounds creepy." Harley said, feeling the hair on his neck rising.

"The Prodigy will be born with significant talent and magical power that can control the forces of darkness and light. Although his birth will destroy the ecosystem and bring misery, as he grows up, his strength will naturally subdue the one-sided power and return to balance and even blessed the existing ecosystem a hundred times more from the previous one."

Harley pointed to a small inscription while squinting, "The Prodigy will only be able to truly balance and bring peace when this power is fully awakened within him. Until then, his passive power will only weaken the one-sided power without overpowering it," he reads.

"Vexana and Alice are the ones who brought excessive dark power with them to the ground."

"It means Miya just has to subdue them." Said Digu as he flipped another page. "Wait." Said Digu, pausing on another page.

"The Prodigy will only gain what he needs from the land where he was born." Read Digu.

"What does it mean?" Asked Harley. Digu shrugged and closed the book and placed it on Harley's desk.

"What do you think we should do?" Asked Digu. Harley massaged his head, which hurt from being forced to think for too long. The man turned back to the page of the book Digu had last read and smiled. "He will only get what he needs from the land where he was born." Harley recalls.

"I've read that too, then what?"

"Digu. We just have to find the place where she was born!" Said Harley. "We don't need to find out about her family."

"Wretched." Said Digu. "That too will be difficult." He said again.

"Oh no, no." Harley said with a whistle, he is calling someone.

From behind another door next to the entrance to Harley's study, a little girl appeared dressed as a maid's shirt. "Introduce, my proudest creation. Guinevere." Said Harley.

"Gosh, Harley. You create things with your power and money. But this one is very special." Digu said as he approached Guinevere who was still standing upright "This girl used to be a Baroque family who almost died. Then I gave her a second life here." Harley said with a smile.

"Then what can he do?"

"Guinevere is still young. But she can help you with your mission from here on."

Digu knew the history of Baroque family very well. Baroque family is known to be very handy to erase traces for particular things. They, for most of the time live inside the shadows and know about mind manipulation so well that for most of the time they are falsely known to be the same as the wizards kind who learn their skills from the academy ground.

Guinevere smiled and bowed respectfully to Digu. "I've never seen a Baroque before." Said Digu. "Yes, they are always hiding. It takes someone who is good at removing traces to find other traces. That's why Guinevere is the right person to find your missing tracks."

"Miya has been entrusted to the academy ground since she was a baby. Are you sure she could find it? The traces might have already be faint."

"Guinevere can trace it easily."

Digu came out of Harley's study with Guinevere and walked over to Miya and Cyclops, who were sitting staring at the view from the large window next to them, done with the food served to them.

"Who are you with?" Asked Cyclops.

"The name is Guinevere."

"You're from the Baroque family?" Miya asked with her wide eyes. Guinevere smiled and nodded, pleased that someone knew her with a second of a glance, not because she was Mr. Harley's asset.

"I will come in handy from now on." Guinevere's eyes glowed green as she approached and grabbed Miya's hair. "What is she doing?" Cyclops whispered to Digu.

"The Baroque family is a family that carries out a lot of illegal trafficking of dangerous people. So they need to be very good at eliminating their tracks. Guinevere is the only child of seven Baroque children who did not die on the night of the Blood Moon Festival, although she also sustained injuries. Unfortunately, her parents didn't want her as their daughter. So she was left dying and abandoned. That's why Harley brought her into the Myran family. This girl is lucky Harley found her first. "

Miya's hair glowed brightly as Guinevere read the fragrant traces that hair had left in the air she was passing through. The girl was stunned when she saw an unfamiliar projection. "A palace." She said while looking at Miya. "You were born in a palace."

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