"Hah...," Arman sighed leisurely. He was sitting at a café on the roadside, accompanied by a cup of warm coffee. The view of the Florence beach in the distance made his day feel very beautiful.
Arman sipped his cup of coffee slowly and solemnly. The sweet and bitter liquid blended harmoniously on his tongue, making him calm and happy.
"If leader know how beautiful it is here, she would definitely come," he muttered to himself.
"Nice outfit," shouted a passerby on a penny-farthing bike after seeing Arman's knight-like appearance from the medieval times.
"For the knight festival," Arman quickly replied. He had prepared those words for a long time in case anyone was curious about the armor he was wearing.
"Oh, for a festival?" said the café owner who was now standing next to him. He then placed several bread and biscuits on Arman's round table. "I didn't know there was a festival around here."
"It's a newly established festival. Wait, I didn't order this," said Arman.
"It's on me," said the café owner with a smile. "Florence rarely gets visitors from outside."
"Thank you."
But as soon as the owner was about to enter the cafe, they both saw several people gathering and running towards a certain place.
"What's going on?" Arman murmured curiously.
The café owner then shouted to a passerby, "Mr. Rook. What's wrong?"
"There's been an accident at the four-way intersection. The village head's son was speeding in his car and hit someone there," said the man who seemed to be the café owner's acquaintance.
"What!" exclaimed the café owner. "I knew that kid would cause trouble. He was recklessly driving that car. I should have reported him to his father."
The café owner seemed to join the crowd, leaving his café. Apparently, the small town of Florence made everyone know each other.
Arman then stood up. He was assigned to go to the villages to find destined people. But specifically, his feelings were directed towards the small town at the end of Scotland. He had felt a different aura when he entered Florence for a long time. It was as if there was a great power hidden there. Arman could sense it because his power could detect someone's fate.
Arman then stood up and walked towards the direction where the people were running. He thought maybe this accident had something to do with it.
Upon arriving at the scene, people were crowded around the damaged car. Everyone was stunned by the strange sight. A car had overturned in the wrong direction. Its bumper was damaged and had entered the engine, causing it to bend as if the front of the car had hit a very hard metal pole. On the iron cover of the car hood, there was a trace of someone's palm. It looked like a teenage child's palm.
Arman was surprised. If the accident was this big, surely the government agents had already come. He then looked around and did not find anyone who caused all of this to happen. Did they already kidnap him?
Suddenly, Thick black smoke coming out of the cap of the car, causing people to hastily retreat in fear of an impending explosion. But Arman knew better. It wasn't smoke from the vehicle at all. It was the kind of smoke that only arose at the site of a great darkness, when someone with immense power wielded it with devastating force.
"This is bad."
**************************************
When Nico wanted to leave the scene, the policemen suddenly intercepted him. Initially, they seemed friendly and offered to help him get out of the crowd that had gathered around the scene. However, when they brought Nico into a waiting van, he felt uneasy and started to become suspicious.
After thinking about it, Nico realized that the police officers escorting him were not wearing uniforms. They were wearing jackets and black sunglasses, and looked very fishy.
"Excuse me, but I don't know who you are and what you want by taking me out of the crowd," Nico said uncomfortably.
"Don't worry, we are actually government agents and we just want important information about the recent incident," one of them replied calmly.
Now Nico was told to sit alone in the back of the van. The space was cramped and there was only a small window connecting him to the front seat.
The car started moving and Nico heard words from the front seat, "package is being delivered, heading to the extraction site."
Nico felt unsure about what they were talking about and felt increasingly uncomfortable as the van started speeding towards an unknown location.
"I don't know what's going on, but I want to get off and leave now," Nico said firmly to the small window connecting the back of the van to the front seat.
"I'm sorry, but you can't leave now. You are an important package for us," one of them replied in a cold tone.
Nico became increasingly uncomfortable as Van took him to the outskirts of town, far away from people. He tried to ask them to stop and let him get off, but they ignored him. This made Nico start to panic and try to find a way out of the van, but all the doors and windows were tightly locked.
Nico felt more and more scared and felt that his life was in danger. He began to think of ways to damage the van, even if it meant harming himself. Without making any noise, he tried to push the back door and window hard, but it didn't work. Of course, because his body was small and he was just a skinny kid.
He then noticed a metal water bottle lying on the floor of the van. Nico took the bottle and decided to smash the back window of the van.
Nico moved silently towards the back of the van, trying not to attract the attention of the government agents in the front seats. After reaching the back, Nico waited for the van to move slowly, then quickly swung the water bottle and threw it at the back window of the van with all his might.
The water bottle successfully shattered the window, and Nico quickly jumped out of the broken window.
Nico fell onto the asphalt, rolling in pain and injured. Fortunately, the speed of the van wasn't too fast, or he could have broken his bones. He struggled to stand despite the pain, then ran as fast as he could to escape from the agents who started aware and were chasing him with the van.
Nico ran through small alleys in residential areas, jumping over fences and rooftops of houses, and crossing a small river. He kept running in fear as fast as possible, even though he felt very tired, but he had to keep running with all his might.
He saw the government agent's car still chasing him in the distance and felt he needed to find a safe place immediately. He then saw an old, dilapidated building on the side of the road. Nico ran towards the building's door and went inside.
He closed the door of the building, which looked like an old church, and hid behind the wooden chairs inside. He continued to ponder and pray, hoping the government agents wouldn't find him there.
A few moments later, he heard a car stop outside the building, and several people got out of the car. Nico felt more scared and tried to hold his breath so as not to be heard by those who were looking for him.
After a while, the sound of the car slowly disappeared, and Nico felt relieved. He stayed inside the building and waited until he felt safe enough to go out and continue his escape.
An hour later, Nico dared to leave the building, looking around to see if the agents had gone.
However, when he stepped out of the building's door, two agents were already waiting to ambush him.
"What do you want from me? Please don't do this," said Nico in a scared tone.
"Forgive us, but this is not a personal matter. We only receive orders and cannot let anyone know about what happened earlier," replied one of them while showing his gun on his waist.
Nico felt very scared and started running away quickly. He ran as fast as he could, trying to avoid the agents, but they kept chasing him and began to attack him with their guns. Gunshots echoed in the dark alleys, making Nico startled. Crazy! It's really crazy. They dare to shoot guns in residential areas. This is Florence! Who has a gun here? Nico felt very scared and confused about why they were doing this to him as if he were a dangerous criminal. Fortunately, the bullets didn't hit him. The sound of bullet whizzing past him echoed in his ears.