"Are we finally going back to the academy?" Lina asked before Tina jumped in a fright.
"Are we leaving so soon? I didn't say goodbye to any of my friends here!"
"Oh, let me accompany you then to say goodbye to all of them," and when William heard her innocent words, he responded with a sly smile on his face.
His chance presented itself even when Berry wasn't around. During his absence in that battle, Tina got to befriend lots of the clan's kids.
And William found his way through this situation using these kids.
"Really? That's great! Let's go then, I know the home place of a few of them," Tina was still a kid, totally missing out what William truly meant or that evil expression on his face.
But neither of them missed Lina's eyes and senses.
"What do you want to do exactly?" As the three went outside the mansion through a backdoor Tina showed them, Lina whispered softly from the side.
As for Tina, she kept jumping in delight and pure excitement, leading them through the streets of the clan, oblivious to what her sister said.
"Nothing," William shrugged. And when Lina's eyes fixed on him for a long minute he added with a broad smile, "I just want to repay kindness with another, that's all."
"Tsk!" Lina knew that was nothing near what William intended to do. She didn't get to stay by William's side for long, but she already could sniff trouble coming from his actions.
William and Tina walked through the clan's homebase before, but that was during the stressful moments of the battle.
So, while following Tina, the two didn't find anything familiar or would relate with anything they saw before.
Unlike the two, Tina seemed very familiar with the clan as if she grew up here. She led them through many streets and houses, before finally reaching a place where few kids around her age were.
"Arno, Genny, hey, I'm here," Tina waved and shouted the moment she saw the group of five kids playing and running around. The moment they heard her shouts, they stopped and ran towards her as well.
"Kids' life is really great," William couldn't help but sigh when he felt how innocent and peaceful these kids looked.
"Can you help me in finding Kong's place?" After giving the kids a few minutes to speak and laugh with each other, William stepped in and asked.
"He is my young master, a very good person," Tina added when the five kids looked in confusion and curiosity towards William.
If they were a little older, then they'd surely have recognised William on the spot. But all of these kids were just six years old, about the age of getting their spirit tested and their spirit power measured.
"But mister, we got lots of Kongs in our clan," one of the kids with wide eyes blinked twice before saying such a shocking thing.
William didn't know that the name 'Kong' was famous in the clan thanks to the old patriarch.
"This tall, silver spirit master…" William started to describe what Kong looked like.
"Oh, you mean my big brother?" The girl named Genny said while William was midway in his words, "he was just here. Come, let me take you to him."
Genny was the same age as Tina, but her body was slightly taller and looked much healthier than her.
William saw no weirdness in that. One girl came from a family who served a falling clan, and another was the sister of a prodigy in a strong clan.
Just before Genny would lead them through one street, William spotted Kong.
And to his surprise, Kong wasn't alone. He had Lang with him.
"Brother William, it's great to see you again," Kong showed a warm smile the moment he saw William coming from the distance.
"Oh, you met my young brother while coming here?" Lang motioned his head towards one of the five kids, a shy one who didn't speak too much before.
"He was asking about you," Genny turned to William before adding with her innocent childish tone, "is my brother the one you were looking for?"
"Yes," William laughed while Genny's words added a layer of confusion over the faces of Kong and Lang.
"I wanted to see you before returning back to the academy," William lightly said, explaining his purpose from seeking the two out in such direct and simple words.
"You are leaving right now?" Kong seemed to be surprised. And that made William surer about his earlier doubts.
The clan higher ups kept the news of sending him back secret from all the kids who helped him.
"In less than two hours," William paused before adding, "how about this? We can meet up when you return to the academy, ok?"
"Sure," Lang smiled as he added, "I'm going to return in two days at most. By then, we can meet up at the class, alright?"
"Sure," William liked such a good start.
"Don't worry about anything," yet Lang misunderstood the real intentions of William coming to find him, "Guanin won't be able to do anything to you back there."
"Oh, he is a bitter loser," William chuckled as he got what Lang mistakenly got.
"He is a toxic viper," yet from the side, Kong suddenly said, surprising William that he knew about such a dude in a lower class than his, "I got few of his clan in my class. And it seems they follow his lead or something."
William got the hidden meaning behind Kong's words. The latter was trying to warn him from Guanin. But William didn't even put such a kid in his eyes anymore.
"What about we meet after the classes are over?" William got to strike a meeting with Lang, but Kong kept himself silent about such an issue.
"Well, I have lots of things to do at the Forging department," Kong paused before laughing, "and don't dream about bossing me around again. I never follow anyone weaker than me in rank and power."
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