Under the Veil of Night

After the call had ended, Neo raised his hand. "Boss, you should have just added that you want some payment."

"Why?" Mike looked at Neo with uncertainty.

"Because rebuilding the city is going to be difficult, so we're going to need a lot of money. Rather than taking them out from our pocket, isn't it better if we can ask him for some funds?" Neo rubbed his hand together with an evil grin on his face.

The others shook their heads lightly. This man only thought about money right now. The Ryukalin Clan didn't lack any money, so there was no need to act like a beggar.

"Don't worry," Patrick laughed. "I'll talk to him about the payment later. Being the bodyguard for the country's government's representatives is not easy, so they should have higher pay!"

"I completely agree with you, Elder Pat!" Neo nodded his head vigorously.

Kanae smiled wryly. Internally, she prayed for Matt because it seemed that their senior was up to no good again. Even though she was not sure what Patrick wanted to do, it was not hard to guess with the way her foster father smirked.

"Uncle, prepare the car. We're going to visit Jon," Kevin instructed.

Patrick shrugged. "Fine, fine."

"Boss?" Mike looked at Kevin with confusion. The one who usually drove the car would be him or Neo. Why this did Kevin change it to Patrick? In addition, Patrick couldn't drive, so it has to be Kevin who drove.

"Mike, you and Lou stay in Ryukalin Clan Headquarters," Kevin instructed. Both of their wounds were mostly healed, so they didn't have to stay in the hospital much longer. "Neo, you take care of the bill and discharge procedure as fast as you can. After that, I want you to find out the entire schedule of those representatives during their time here."

"Yes, Boss."

"Ok, Boss."

Kanae pulled Kevin's clothes. "Can I come along with you?"

"That's my intention," Kevin replied. "Have you met with Jon before? What's your impression about him?"

Kanae frowned. She had only met with Jon because she sneaked to steal the information a long time ago. At that time, Jon was not any different than the pampered young master who only knew drinking and all. They had never met personally with one another because of the difference in status.

But she recalled that the way Vena mentioned her brother changed drastically in Lima School. It was as if the young man was not her brother, but a stranger she had never known.

"I didn't meet with him personally, but I think he's very interesting," Kanae replied.

"More interesting than me?"

Kanae: "…" why are you comparing yourself with him?

Shaking her head lightly, Kanae circled her arm to Kevin. The man's body stiffened for a bit at the sudden closeness. His eyes were watching Kanae with warmth and curiosity.

"You can never be compared with another man, Kevin."

Kevin raised his hand and caressed the girl's head. Every strand of her hair was extremely soft, which made it very pleasing to touch. He pulled the girl closer to him as he intended to hug her.

Knock!

"Brat, the car is ready. If you want to go, it's better to be now," Patrick's voice sounded from behind the door.

Kevin's eyes flashed with annoyance. He still wanted to stay with Kanae, but he knew that his work awaited him. With Patrick's martial art, it would be a piece of cake for him to sense what they were doing here.

Kanae giggled. "Let's go, Kevin. You have some questions for that man, right?"

"Yes," Kevin replied shortly. He walked out of the room and passed an icy glance to his uncle. Unfortunately, Patrick acted nonchalant as if there was nothing wrong with his action at all.

The three of them departed using the car towards the designated place. The location of the place was the northeast. From the map that Neo printed for them, Kanae could guess that it must be near the sea. As she had expected, the car went through the highways where she could see the beautiful glittering blue color spanning the entire area.

It was still noon time, so the sun was still up in the sky. The layer of water mirrored the blue sky, providing a beautiful view for their eyes.

Kanae's eyes glimmered. "It's so beautiful!"

"Haven't you seen them a couple of times?" Patrick arched his eyebrows. He leaned on the chair lazily.

"I have, but most of the time I'm preoccupied by the thought of battle and many other things. I don't have much time to enjoy the scenery without thinking about what I'm going to do," Kanae replied as her eyes were following the waves that moved to the beach.

Patrick recalled that for the last several times she came to the island, it was all for the battle. Even though she has the time to enjoy the scenery, her mind would subconsciously remind her about the battle that was about to unfold. It was rare for the girl to enjoy the peace and all.

"Just enjoy the scenery. This brat will surely bring you to many other places if you want."

"We'll wait after we can track Ferdinand down," Kanae replied.

Kevin stopped the car near a cottage. He opened the seatbelt and alighted down the car. "Jon should be in that cottage. Do you want to come along, Uncle?"

"Sure, why not?" Patrick was standing near the car door leisurely. His hand played with the spear that he brought along. "It'll be good if I can have the chance to beat up that annoying young man."

"Have you met with him before, Father?"

"You can say so," Patrick refused to divulge the detail to Kanae. He averted his eyes to look at the cottage as the three of them walked. Using their senses, they knew that there was only one person there.

Sitting outside the small cottage was a young man. He wore a t-shirt and short pants, as if he was on holiday. Sitting below a large umbrella, the young man smiled at the incoming people.

"Welcome to my humble residence, Ryukalin Clan Head Kevin, Ryukalin Senior Elder Patrick, and Fiore Group Leader Rei."

Kanae was observing the young man before her. Although the demeanor of Jon hadn't changed in the slightest, he gave off a completely different impression from before. If the Jon that she met before looked extremely annoying, this young man was still as annoying as before, but there was trace of mysteriousness around him.

Jon looked at Kanae with a smile. "If you continue to look at me, your boyfriend will be angry."

Even though Kanae could feel an intense gaze coming at her direction, she still looked at Jon and ignored the young man beside her. "Have you expected us to come here?"

"Yes. Is it that obvious?" Jon tilted his head.

"More or less. You didn't seem to have much worry even though you're facing people who have much stronger martial arts than you."

"What if I have special talent?"

"Over the course of history, Aida Family has never produced anyone with ability that can possibly help you much in a fight," Kanae replied.

Jon's lips twitched. "You sure come prepared."

"Know your enemy, know yourself, and you'll win every battle*," Kanae grinned. "This is my favorite quote from a famous book."

Patrick shook his head at these two conversations. If this continued, they would not be able to get any important information that they wanted from them.

"Let me take over, Rei."

"Ok."