In the center of the living room, a table separated the four friends from Kohaku and her assistant. Tension hung heavily in the air, and for the last few minutes, no one had dared to break the silence. Finally, Albert spoke up, breaking the ice.
"Let's start by introducing ourselves, after all not everyone is a celebrity." He said in a sarcastic way. "I'm Albert Bianchi, on my right there is my brother Finn Bianchi, the closest to my left is Samuel Borge, the further down is Mase Sassari."
Surprisingly, Kohaku did not succumb to the provocation and instead politely introduced herself and her assistant, saying "I'm Hino Kohaku, also known as Kohaku of the Flame, and this is my assistant, Jennifer Ferrari."
Jennifer was a mature woman in her early thirties, she had a nice figure, blonde hair styled in a ponytail and blue eyes. She always dressed in a blue business suit, complete with a red necktie, and today was no exception.
"And why is a celebrity and her assistant here so early in the morning?"
Kohaku answered, "I'm interested in him." and then looked over at Lele.
"Whoa, whoa, let's slow down a bit. How did you find out he was here? Did you see us in the town square? I understand you might have found him through social media, but his address is different from this house. Besides all that, are you some kind of stalker?"
Kohaku barely held her rage in. 'Why does everyone assume that it's a love interest?' She thought to herself. "To answer your first question, we simply showed up at his house. His mom, after seeing my beauty, told me where he was without a second thought. I'm no stalker. To make things clear, I'm interested in his power. Specifically, I want to know if he's the one who wiped out the rift outbreak."
Albert feigned ignorance "What rift outbreak are you talking about? The news reported that there were no outbreaks in Italian territory. Besides, we're just ordinary people. What would we have to do with such a dangerous event?"
"HAHAHA" She laughed. "I don't know if you or the other two guys are awakened or not, but there is absolutely no way that he isn't."
"What proof do you have?"
"Proof?" She said in disbelief, almost as if there was an undeniable piece of evidence in front of her eyes.
Despite Albert's advice to avoid speaking, Lele spoke up anyway. "She's right. Can't you guys see?"
"See what?" Finn asked in confusion.
"I suppose it's an ability that only people of a certain level possess. In my perception, your friend over there is exuding a calm but potent yellow aura. Its intensity is almost suffocating. Judging from his reaction, I suppose he sees something similar when he looks at me." She explained.
Lele nodded, "Yes, you are emanating a fierce red aura, however I don't feel pressured."
Albert thought, "This could be a big problem in the future. We must dig deeper into this matter and find a way to conceal the aura. Otherwise, Lele is essentially a walking glowstick, shouting to the world, "I'm a powerful awakened! Hello!" Moreover, if only the strongest can perceive it, if someone does spot us, it automatically means they have the strength to be a threat."
He then spoke in a cold tone, "I suppose it can't be helped. But what if he was the one who cleared the rift? What if he wasn't? Do you plan to report or expose him? Think carefully before answering, because your response could potentially make this the last conversation you and your assistant ever have."
The atmosphere shifted from neutral to hostile in an instant, catching Kohaku completely off guard. Prior to that moment, she couldn't understand why Samuel wasn't the leader since he was undeniably the strongest of the group, but now she knew. Despite feeling no pressure from Albert, he had the audacity to threaten her, the renowned strongest awakened in Italy, all to protect his friends. 'I like this guy a lot. I never met someone with such courage.' she thought.
The already-tense atmosphere further increased with the sound of the doorbell. All eyes were fixed on the intercom as Albert rose from his seat and made his way over to it. He switched it to external speaker mode.
"I'm in the middle of something important right now, could you please come back later if possible?" Albert requested through the intercom in a calm but firm tone.
"I'm afraid not," A female voice familiar to Kohaku could be heard."I'm Christine from the Awakeners Bureau."
After that sentence everyone in the room froze. Albert looked at Kohaku with murderous intent. Not even his friend had ever seen him in such a state. With a furious voice he asked "Did you call them? You bitch!"
Kohaku, in contrast to her usual character, answered defensively, "I swear I know her, but their sudden appearance here is unrelated to us." She then asked herself why she submissively complied, 'What? Why did I answer like I was in danger? He is a nobody, goddammit.'
Knowing they had no other option, Albert granted permission for the Awakeners Bureau agents to enter the small villa. A black-haired woman entered first, followed by a man in his thirties. Kohaku tried to avoid their gaze by looking down on the table.
Upon seeing Kohaku, Roland said, "Oh, Miss Kohaku, what a surprise to see you here." The boys in the room turned their gaze to her, looking at her with dagger eyes. Kohaku tried to brush it off with a forced laugh and said, "Yes, what a coincidence."
Roland keenly sensed the tension in the air and carefully observed the expressions of everyone in the room. After a few seconds of silence, he introduced himself, "My name is Roland Trevisan, and I am the head of the recently established Awakeners department. I believe I have a good grasp of the situation, and I want to assure you that Miss Kohaku didn't leak any information to us."
Albert was both positively and negatively surprised. He had followed some of the politics surrounding Roland and had respected him for his strictness. However, this meant that they would not be let off the hook if he was indeed the one in charge.
Knowing that the cat was out of the back he asked "I understand that Kohaku found us because she physically saw us in the plaza, but how did you discover us?"
Cristina took the initiative to explain, "A registered awakened reported a discrepancy in the government's digital map. Due to our heavy workload, the information was not verified. However, after the rift outbreak, we searched for clues and checked reports of strange events in the area.Therefore we found footage from a CCTV camera that recorded your entry and exit from the rift."
'Shit!' Albert slapped himself on the cheek 'How could I have made such a stupid mistake? It's all over now.'
Roland spoke, "Based on your reactions and the presence of Miss Kohaku, it's safe to assume that you are the ones who dealt with the dungeon outbreak. However, I'll ask directly: Did you do it?"
Albert's fists were tightly clenched, his nails digging into his palms. With a defeated tone, he finally answered, "Yes, it was us."
Then something completely unexpected happened. Roland and his secretary bowed their heads. "Thank you so much!" he said. "I really don't know how to express my gratitude towards such a young group of individuals, but I want you to know one thing. After the event, our analyst team tried to estimate what would have happened if you hadn't cleared the rift. More than four hundred people would have died. You saved all of those lives."
Albert amidst stupor asked, "We are not going to face any punishment?"
"Legally, you should be punished, but morally, I can't justify it. Getting punished for serving the country is nonsense. However, if you want to continue this kind of activity, you need to be more careful because next time I may not have a choice but to arrest you," said Roland, relieving a gigantic burden from Albert's shoulders. With a wink, the government employees left the house.