Under the Veil of Night

Nolen School C, Class 2-A

Misae was sitting by her seat while reading the newspaper. It was written that the Ryukalin Clan clashed in the nearby mall yesterday and got a few wounded people. Although it was unclear who got wounded, the number of dead bodies reached hundreds just from this single incident.

She didn't dare to see the picture because it would only cause her to feel fear. Seeing how they lived their life full of danger, she recalled Mike and his life in the clan. This made her wondered if he also lived a life full of risks every day.

If she wanted to stay by his side, it would mean that she had to live a life like that. Although she wanted to stay by his side and accepted him, her mind strongly against it.

'Can I live a life full of danger?'

The answer would be a solid 'no'. There was no way she could possibly live a life like that as she knew very well that she was not capable to do that. She could barely fight, and facing threat everyday might pull her to her wit's end. She certainly didn't want that.

At the same time, she wanted to stay by his side very badly.

"Misae, what are you reading so early in the morning?" Alice and Laura walked into the class. They peered to the newspaper and astonishment appeared on their face.

"Wow, I haven't heard anything from the big clans lately, but it seems they start to make a move," Alice exclaimed in surprise.

"Isn't it good if they stay quiet?"

"It's impossible," Alice shook her head lightly, a faint smile appeared on her face. "The Ryukalin Clan is going to undergo a formal gathering to fully point their unofficial clan head to be an official clan head. If the gathering succeeds, the Ryukalin Clan is going to move in full force again like in the past."

"Like in the past?" Misae frowned.

"You don't know?" This time, it was Laura who surprised.

"I don't live in this area for that long. Before I move here, I lived in another clan's territory. I don't really remember their name, though."

"I see… Well, it's actually a very simple thing. The clan will fully occupy the streets during the time they're in their peak and guard the place. They will fully protect us from the gangs and the others," Laura started to explain as she recalled the past.

"They usually live while blending with the people, so you won't know who the clan member is and who's not. As the biggest clan, Ryukalin Clan uses their member to protect the streets because they have abundant manpower. This part of the city is the safest one.

However, everything changes from the moment the great incident take place three years ago. Internal dispute happens and their manpower is lacking even more. This makes the streets to become unsafe again. I'm not sure what happens because the clans control the mass media, not allowing any dispute inside the clan to be leaked out."

Laura sighed internally as she recalled the four big families. "In terms of influence to mass media, clans have similar power with other big families or rich families. They could influence the news report to spread different news if they didn't want something get out."

When her thought reached this, Laura was filled with regret. Because of their control of information regarding clans that could spread out in mass media, she couldn't find the information she needed. She wanted to find out the battle that happened three years ago, but there was barely any information.

There were too many sides which hid the information from that incident.

Misae listened with astonishment. This was the first time she heard about it as she never paid much attention to the clans. After all, in the previous place where she lived, she was always being protected by her parents because the streets were dangerous. Besides, her bad experience with the clan caused her to see them in dark light.

"Is the Ryukalin Clan a great clan?"

Alice nodded her head. "They're a great clan in the past, but whether they can thrive again will depend in the gathering."

"The gathering is that important?"

"Yes. It's the thing that allows the clans to stay united because they'll gather together. Once the legal clan leader is chosen, they will face a reform," Alice replied, explaining things carefully. She had to make sure that she didn't divulge too much information, but enough to make her friends' curiosity satisfied.

Laura opened her mouth in astonishment. "I never know that they're this organized. I thought that they're just a group of people who fight on the street every day while taking protection money."

Alice smiled wryly. She knew that their image of clans was not really good. It was not really surprising considering their latest activity. Some of them were gotten involved in a fight or something else. Not all clans were bad, but many of them were actually doing illegal things.

"My view is worse than that," Misae coughed embarrassedly. It was not her intention to have that bad of view, but her experience pushed her to not trust them anymore.

They made her despaired and killed people without mercy. It was terrifying.

Alice smiled softly. "I can't really say that the clans are not bad, but not everyone gets involved in those matters. Ryukalin Clan is one of the clans that never participate in human's trade and drugs. They're trying to earn clean money with just o-their fist."

"O-their?" Laura laughed. "Why do you stutter so suddenly?"

Alice forced an embarrassed smile to appear. In truth, she nearly said 'our' but it would directly tell Misae that she was part of the clan. After what Misae had experienced, the least thing she needed was someone close to her turned out to be part of the clan.

It was not the time for her to tell Misae yet.

She would wait until Misae had calmed down and ready to accept others who came from the clan before telling it to the girl. It would be better to just treat each other like before without the need to worry about one's background.

"I see, that's good to hear," Misae gazed to the newspaper once again.

Laura nodded her head. "I have been staying in this area for a long time, but it seems that you know much more than me, Alice."

"I pay more attention to the clan's matters compared to you," Alice replied smugly, trying to sound as if she was joking around.

Laura stuck out her tongue. "If you're that knowledgeable, can you tell me the content of the gathering? I'm a bit curious."

Misae rolled her eyes. "Can't you search on the internet? You're pretty good at using them, right?"

"Well, yeah," Laura scratched her head. "But I only know a bit of the clan's gathering because there's not much information there. Besides, I'm quite busy lately."

She had finished taking care of the paper for the mansion with the help of Clara, but there were still matters of her new company. The numerous papers that she had to read recently made her extremely busy.

"For starter, you can try to tell me what you know," Alice replied. "I'll add other information that you don't know."

"Well, all I know is just there'll be voting and something like that. The one who will become the legal clan head has to prepare himself by pulling other members into his side, but it's not clear how they will do that," Laura replied with hesitation.

"It's not wrong."

"But it's not complete, right?" Laura asked with a depressed tone. She should have guessed that the information she gathered was not complete.

Alice nodded her head. There were a lot of missing details that she didn't wish to talk about. Still, the gathering was actually extremely simple that she herself could easily list them out.

"Well, the missing information is not that important for you too."