In a fairly large house located in a densely populated area, precisely in the western part of Grimoir, where it is quite bustling and serves as the city center. There are many towering skyscrapers of various heights. Several large houses are sandwiched between apartments and office buildings. One of those houses is this house.
"Heh... I look handsome," said Kriss confidently.
He walked out of the room while glancing at the clock. It was already past 9:10 AM. Upon arriving at the large dining room, he saw a middle-aged woman enjoying her breakfast. Without intending to disturb her, he only took a few slices of bread and quickly left the place.
"I'm leaving..."
"Don't you want to eat first?" the woman interjected.
It can be guessed that this woman is his mother. She still looks fairly young and charismatic.
"There's something I need to take care of on campus this morning," he added.
"Is it for your organization's business again? Kriss is quite diligent, huh..."
"Well, I'm not necessarily accepted into the organization. Moreover, the selection process is quite strict... Anyway, I have to go now."
" I know you can do it. Be careful on the way!," his mother replied.
Without much thought, Kriss ran towards the garage, leaving his mother who could only sigh at his departure.
While still eating the bread he took, Kriss quickly got on his vehicle and rode his sport bike. The engine roared, making the surrounding atmosphere a bit noisy. And like a racer, he played with the motor's throttle a bit.
"Okay... let's do this" he said to himself as he started the engine and left.
Suddenly, a box truck appeared from the right side of the intersection and quickly entered the narrow alley. Startled by the sight of the motorcycle, the driver honked his horn immediately.
"Huh? WHAT?" Kriss shouted hysterically.
He quickly swerved to the left to stop on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, his motorcycle was already going too fast and hard to stop. To make matters worse, there was an old lady walking on the sidewalk. The surroundings were filled with the sound of screeching brakes accompanied by the sound of anxiety.
"Uwaaa... watch out, Grandma!!!" Kriss yelled out in panic.
WZZTT~~
Suddenly, Kriss opened his eyes, feeling his motorcycle had stopped. But before he could realize anything, it was him who was thrown forward. His vehicle had come to a complete stop while his body was still moving at high speed. As a result, he was thrown off his motorcycle!
Kriss flew past the old lady and hit a tree near the sidewalk. He felt a sharp pain in his back. The ladies around him were in shock, unable to believe what they had just witnessed with their own eyes.
"Are you ok?" asked someone walking slowly towards them while carrying a basketball.
"Uh... thank goodness, I thought I was going to get hurt," said the old lady.
"Please be careful when walking even on the sidewalk"
He then allowed the grandma to continue her journey. It turned out that the person who just appeared was still a child.
He was a boy who looked like he had just entered adolescence. He was around 15 years old, had short brown hair, wore a black and yellow jacket, and training pants. While still looking at the large motorcycle that had just stopped and its rider who was still writhing in pain from hitting a tree, he boldly approached Kriss and kicked him mercilessly.
DAGH~
"Ugh... hey! Stop it! It hurts!" cried Kriss in pain.
"If you want to die, don't drag other people with you."
The boy stopped and let Kriss catch his breath. The blonde guy was gasping and repeatedly expressing his gratitude for surviving. He just sighed in relief because he almost caused a fatal accident for an elderly woman. Luckily, his motorcycle stopped on its own. To cheer himself up, he smiled to himself without any clear reason.
"Be careful when riding your motorcycle next time. You know it's still early in the morning, and you were driving like a crazy person"
"I know, hehehe. I think I was too excited," Kriss replied.
"What do you mean excited?! Excited to die?!" the boy scolded him.
Several people who were passing by immediately crowded around them. As usual, they were curious because there had almost been an accident. Kriss appeared to be in good health without any injuries. In fact, he looked happy without any sense of guilt at all.
"Are you both okay?" one of the onlookers asked.
"Is anyone injured?" another one chimed in.
Slowly, more and more people started to gather around. They approached to offer help and also stood by in case of an emergency.
"I'm sorry, everything is okay now," Kriss replied sheepishly.
On the other hand, Kriss was surprised that the boy in the yellow and black jacket was no longer there. Since many people had surrounded him, he didn't realize that the boy had left.
"Huh? Where did that boy go?"
It turns out that the boy is still around there. Specifically, he is hiding beside the building. He just glanced bored at the crowd of people. But he should still ignore them, as it would be dangerous if others knew who he really was. He also doesn't need any words of thanks for helping the blonde young man. Because it was he who had stopped the motorcycle from hitting the old lady earlier.
Through the ability that he was accustomed to using, stopping a slow vehicle like that was not difficult for him.
"Sigh... It was a troublesome morning," murmured the child as he flew in another direction with his ball.
* * *
Meanwhile, near the North Grimoir port, a large bridge was experiencing a small commotion. There was a group of menacing-looking men surrounding a high school student.The teenage boy was powerless and frightened, and it seemed like it was his first time passing through this area. People passing by just walked on, ignoring the mugging that was happening. Apparently, they were also too afraid to get involved.
"Hoi! Give us some money!"
"Uh... but..."
"Anyone who passes through here must pay!"
"Let's check his bag, he must be carrying something valuable."
Despite the people who passed by and were too afraid to defend the teenager, there seemed to be one guy who dared to approach the commotion. Whether he was truly brave or not, it seemed like he was just passing through. He was dressed neatly in black and white, like a college student, carrying a black plastic bag and a backpack, calmly walking towards the scene.
Zeyn just walked towards them, looking at the thugs expressionlessly. Then the four men became scared and immediately stopped their actions.
"Hey, Zeyn... are you heading to college?"
"Oh, it's Zeyn! Good morning."
The behavior of the thugs changed 180 degrees after the young man arrived. They shuddered and felt intimidated by his expressionless gaze. Fear was evident in their expressions, as if they were just visited by a ghost
"We were just about to leave, hehehe. Excuse us."
One of the men quickly pulled his companions to flee from the scene, as if they did not want to get involved in any further trouble. Ironically, they were the ones who had caused the problem in the first place.
"Are you okay?" asked Zeyn.
The teenager was surprised, his mouth gaping open, after witnessing what just happened. He didn't know who this young man was, but with his arrival, the thugs suddenly fled.
"Yes... Thank you so much. I'll take my leave too," replied the teenager as he expressed his gratitude and left the scene.
Zeyn only intended to stop by the photocopy shop before heading to campus. He didn't expect the incident to happen, but it was what it was. At least he managed to protect the teenager from the unruly thugs at the port.
It was common for minor or major crimes to happen in the surrounding area. A portrait of Grimoir City that was rarely known by the wider public. The area near the port was close to the underworld. It was understandable, given that it was a port where many smugglers and their accomplices operated. However, what was unique was that no one dared to challenge Zeyn in the surrounding area. Perhaps it was because they had known him for a long time and knew who he was.
He arrived at his workplace, a cafeteria with a sign that read " Julius Photocopy" on the front.
"Good morning"
He was greeted by a smile from several people inside. There were Julius, Aldi, and Pedro already there. However, upon arrival, he did not see one person who should have been busy with his writing since morning.
"Where is Mr. Hendri?"
"Oh, him... I don't know either," replied Julius. "He hasn't stopped by here for two days. He said he had some business that he couldn't explain."
Upon hearing the answer, Zeyn immediately held his own chest. Until now, he still felt pain from that incident. He became worried that Mr. Hendri might be dragged into his personal problems with his sisters.
"Anyway, there's work to do!" added Julius as he pointed to a laptop sitting on the table.
He approached the electronic device and immediately opened it, occasionally checking its physical condition in case there was any damage.
"What's the problem?" Zeyn asked.
"The owner said there's a problem with the OS update. After he updated the system, the laptop restarted several times and then experienced a Blue Screen," answered Aldi.
Without hesitation, Zeyn stretched his arms and prepared to do the repair.
"BSOD, huh? Alright then. It's time to fix this one before heading to class."
* * * *