Chapter 85: The Little Beast

Jet recognized the voice before he finished turning around.

The easy smile he had worn throughout dinner faded slightly, and Nadia noticed the change immediately. She had been walking beside Inez only a moment earlier, but her attention shifted toward Jet when his steps stopped and his shoulders became subtly rigid.

Standing several meters behind them was Miriam.

Jet hadn’t seen his ex-girlfriend since the day he regressed and was dumped.

She looked much the same as he remembered, with long dark hair falling over her shoulders, green eyes and the same carefully maintained appearance that had once been so familiar to him.

What was different was the young man standing beside her. He appeared to be around their age, dressed well enough to fit naturally inside an expensive restaurant, and Miriam’s arm was linked comfortably through his.

Jet didn’t need an introduction to understand the relationship.

Apparently, Miriam had moved on quickly.

The realization should have hurt more than it did.

In his previous life, Miriam had been part of a past he remembered with complicated emotions, especially because he knew how her life had eventually ended. After regression, however, their breakup had happened before everything else consumed him.

The Second Red Moon, his ten Divine Runes, Inez, the Beyond, Dungeons and the constant pressure of preparing for the future had left very little space for him to think about an eighteen-year-old relationship that had already ended.

Miriam seemed equally surprised to see him, although her attention didn’t remain on Jet for long.

Her green eyes moved toward Nadia.

Something strange flickered across Miriam’s expression before disappearing beneath a small smile. She looked Nadia over from head to toe, then glanced at the expensive restaurant surrounding them before returning her attention to Jet.

"So this is what you’ve been doing since we broke up?" Miriam asked, her smile becoming just a little sharper as she tightened her arm around the young man beside her. "You moved on pretty quickly, Jet. Is she your new girlfriend?"

Nadia’s eyebrows rose.

Jet hadn’t even opened his mouth when Inez stepped forward.

The seven-year-old looked at Miriam with an expression so openly hostile that Jet immediately knew the situation was about to become much more troublesome than necessary. Inez remembered Miriam perfectly well, and whatever affection she might once have possessed for her had apparently died the moment her brother came home after being dumped.

Inez grabbed Jet’s hand possessively before glaring at Miriam. "I’m glad Big Brother left you."

Jet’s mouth twitched.

That wasn’t exactly how events had occurred.

"I was the one who got dumped."

He wisely kept the correction inside his head.

Miriam’s smile stiffened slightly as she looked down at Inez. "Hello to you too, Inez. I see you’re still very protective of your brother."

"I have to be," Inez replied with complete seriousness, moving closer to Jet. "Otherwise, he might make another bad decision."

Nadia abruptly turned her face away.

Her shoulders moved once.

Jet knew perfectly well she was laughing.

The young man beside Miriam looked increasingly uncomfortable, probably because he had expected a simple encounter with his girlfriend’s ex and had somehow ended up watching a seven-year-old declare war.

Miriam’s cheeks tightened before she looked back at Jet. "You don’t have to stand there silently. I only said hello. I was surprised to see you somewhere like this after everything that happened."

The final part caught Jet’s attention.

He could hear the implication without needing it explained. Miriam knew enough about his financial situation before their breakup to understand that an expensive dinner wasn’t something the Jet she remembered would casually arrange.

Before he could decide whether the comment deserved an answer, Inez apparently detected the same insult.

"My brother can come here whenever he wants," Inez announced proudly. "Big Brother is an Awakener now."

Miriam blinked.

Her boyfriend finally showed a reaction as well, his eyes moving toward Jet with considerably more interest.

Jet closed his eyes briefly.

He had told Inez not to casually discuss Awakener matters with strangers, but apparently Miriam had been placed into a special category where every rule could be suspended for the sake of winning an argument.

Miriam gave a short, disbelieving laugh. "Jet awakened?"

"He did!" Inez insisted.

Jet felt a small hand enter the pocket of his trousers.

His eyes opened immediately.

"Inez, don’t...."

Too late.

She had already found his wallet.

The little girl retreated one step before Jet could catch her and opened it with the efficiency of someone who had apparently spent far too much time observing where he kept everything. Her fingers rummaged through the contents until she found the cards she wanted.

Inez pulled out Jet’s official Awakener identification and Raider license.

Then she held both of them up like trophies.

"He’s not just an Awakener!" Inez declared, waving the cards enthusiastically. "He’s a Raider too!"

Jet stared at his sister.

Nadia stared at Inez.

Miriam stared at the cards.

The only person who appeared completely satisfied with the situation was Inez herself.

Miriam’s eyes widened when she recognized the O.R.D.O. markings. Whatever response she had prepared disappeared before leaving her mouth. Becoming an Awakener was one thing; being officially registered and licensed as a Raider meant Jet had already entered the professional supernatural world that had dominated society for decades.

Her boyfriend leaned slightly closer, clearly trying to see the identification without making it obvious.

Jet finally reached down and rescued both cards before Inez could accidentally launch one across the restaurant. "Thank you for displaying my identification to everyone within ten meters. I’m sure O.R.D.O. would be delighted with your approach to privacy."

Inez looked completely unapologetic as Jet returned the cards to his wallet. "She didn’t believe me."

"Inez, she didn’t actually say she didn’t believe you."

"She looked like she didn’t."

Jet couldn’t argue with that logic without encouraging her.

Miriam’s gaze remained on him. "When did you awaken?"

"Second Red Moon," Jet answered calmly.

Miriam’s expression changed again.

There was no dramatic collapse, no sudden declaration that she had made the greatest mistake of her life, but the smugness from moments earlier had disappeared.

Her eyes moved over Jet again, and this time she seemed to notice things she had ignored initially. His posture had changed. His physique had developed. Even the way he carried himself was different from the young man she had broken up with.

Then her gaze returned to Nadia.

Jet saw it happen and nearly sighed.

Miriam forced another smile before gesturing subtly toward her companion. "Well, congratulations. This is Adrian. My boyfriend."

The young man gave Jet a polite nod. "Nice to meet you."

Jet returned the gesture without hostility. Adrian hadn’t done anything to him, and Jet had no intention of behaving like Miriam dating someone else constituted a personal attack.

Miriam, however, apparently couldn’t resist returning to her earlier question. She looked toward Nadia and asked, "You still haven’t answered me, Jet. Is she your girlfriend?"

Nadia finally turned toward him.

Her expression clearly warned him to choose his next words carefully.

Jet looked at Miriam.

Then he looked at Nadia.

An idea entered his head.

It was childish.

Completely unnecessary.

And after watching Inez spend the last several minutes fighting a battle nobody had asked her to fight, Jet decided he might as well support his sister.

He stepped closer to Nadia and casually placed an arm around her shoulders. "Yes. This is my girlfriend."

Nadia went rigid.

Her head slowly turned toward him.

Jet could practically feel the question forming behind her eyes.

Excuse me?

Inez looked equally confused for half a second.

Her white eyes moved from Jet’s arm around Nadia to his face, then toward Miriam.

Understanding dawned.

The little girl’s confusion vanished so quickly that Jet almost laughed.

Inez immediately moved to Nadia’s other side and grabbed her hand, completing the formation with frightening enthusiasm. "That’s right! Nadia is Big Brother’s girlfriend now, and she’s prettier too."

Nadia coughed.

Jet nearly choked.

Even Adrian suddenly became extremely interested in examining a painting on the nearby wall.

Miriam’s face heated visibly. "I didn’t ask who was prettier."

Inez tilted her head with exaggerated innocence. "Then why do you look angry?"

Jet bit the inside of his cheek.

This child was dangerous.

Miriam’s composure finally cracked. "I’m not angry. Why would I be angry? I was only surprised because Jet and I haven’t seen each other since we broke up."

Inez nodded slowly as though Miriam had provided valuable evidence. "So you’re not regretting it now?"

Miriam’s face became even redder. "Regretting what?"

Inez looked genuinely puzzled by the question. "Dumping my brother."

Jet couldn’t hold it anymore.

A laugh escaped him.

Nadia immediately covered her mouth, but her eyes had already curved with amusement. Even Adrian’s lips twitched before he managed to control himself, which earned him a sharp glance from Miriam.

Jet finally decided his sister had caused enough destruction for one evening. He removed his arm from Nadia’s shoulders before she could eventually make him pay for the improvisation and placed both hands on Inez’s shoulders.

"All right, little beast. You’ve defended my honor enough for tonight," Jet told her, still smiling as he gently turned her toward the exit. "Let’s leave before you challenge someone to a duel."

Inez allowed herself to be redirected but looked over her shoulder one last time.

Jet gave Miriam a simple nod. "It was good seeing you again. Take care."

There was no bitterness behind the words.

That seemed to bother Miriam more than anything else.

Nadia walked beside Jet as they headed toward the restaurant doors, although the look she gave him promised that the fake-girlfriend announcement would become a separate conversation very soon.

Inez, meanwhile, wasn’t finished.

Just before they passed through the exit, she twisted around in Jet’s grip, looked directly at Miriam, stuck out her tongue and pulled the most ridiculous face she could manage.

Jet hurried her through the doors before she could do anything worse.