Under the Veil of Night

"In the past, this city was known as City of Crime. There were numerous crimes that happen every single day to the point that it's uncountable. No one dared to come out if it's not necessary in fear of getting trouble. If they didn't have any means of protecting themselves, they wouldn't be able to survive."

"Teacher," a young boy raised his hand and interrupted. "We can't see any crimes lately."

The teacher smiled sweetly. "I have not finished telling the history. After some battles that involved a lot of people, the government was forced to change the city. Previously, there were numerous clans that ruled over the street, but you cannot find any now. They're already disbanded and the one that holds the highest authority is the government.

History proves to us that it's important to have law and regulation. Without the existence of government, there's no way this city can change until this point. We have to be grateful that there are a lot of kind-hearted people from the noble family that…"

"Teacher," another boy raised his hand.

"What is it?" The teacher was very patient. Facing elementary students, they had learned how to be patient with these kids' antics and curiosities.

"My father tells me that the one that actually helped to change the city was not the government or some noble people, but the clans. They're the one that started making the changes," the boy spoke up.

The teacher shook her head. "That's impossible, Kira. People from the clans are people who never learn about manner and law. Those kinds of people are the worst in this city."

The boy named Kira tilted his head. His dark iris stared back at the teacher with stubbornness. "The people inside the clan are not that bad. They also learn manners because many of them also attend school like normal people. Why does Teacher say that they're the worst?"

The other students, who were about to fall asleep, sat up straight. They knew that it was the time for Kira to start interrogating the teacher again. Whenever the topic of their history class reached the matter of clans, Kira would speak up. This boy would never let the teacher speak badly about them.

"Not every member of a clan attends school. Only those from direct lineage will surely attend school," the teacher replied back. She had to admit that Kira was extremely stubborn. This was not the first time this boy talked back when they talked about clans.

"Even if they're not from clans, it's the law that every child below the age of 15 have to attend school. Historian Charlie has just explained in the recent episode about the law and regulation in a clan," Kira rebutted.

The name 'Historian Charlie' had been extremely famous for the last few years. He was a man who got fascinated with the history of this city and appeared in the television to tell the story every week. Aside from that, he searched for every single thing that happened and recorded them in his book.

After his first book was published, the media wanted to hear more about his view. As a result, he would appear in television every week, telling bit by bit about the history of this city. Just recently, the topic reached about the clan and the man had started to delve much deeper into the rules and much more in them.

"Only big clans will be able to force the regulation," the teacher corrected his words.

"That's wrong," Kira crossed his arm in indignation. "Every clan that had signed up formally had to follow the rules or they'll be forced to disband."

The teacher stared back at Kira with an annoyed gaze. Even with her experience in dealing with troublesome students, Kira would surely rank the very first. She truly wondered how an 8-year-old kid could have learned so much about the history of this city.

"Kira Kalin, are you the teacher or I am?"

"I'm just stating the truth based on what I have watched. Does Teacher not watch the new episode?" Kira challenged the teacher.

The teacher stayed quiet. She couldn't possibly say that she didn't pay much attention to the television, could she? After all, most elementary students didn't possess enough knowledge to make her be in bewilderment. Only this one eccentric student dared to do that.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

The bell rang and the student groaned. It signaled that the lesson for today had been over, so they had to go home. Normally, they would be happy that they could go home, but the debate between this female teacher and Kira was so interesting that they didn't want to go home.

''Class end," the teacher said rigidly.

After the normal bow and greet, the teacher hurriedly walked away. She wanted to make another complaint to the principal about the attitude of her student. Facing someone like Kira took too much of the toll on her body.

"Wow, Kira, you're still as fierce as ever."

"Yeah, I don't understand how come you know everything before the teacher says it. There are so many things that I don't know."

Kira smirked. "I follow the episode of Historian Charlie every single day, so I'm very familiar with them."

"Uh, you're the only one who can stand watching them."

"They're fun," Kira shrugged. He glanced at the clock before a grin appeared on his face. "I have to go back. My mom says that I have to return home quickly to celebrate the twin's birthday."

"Ah, your little brother and sister?"

"Wow, tell them happy birthday."

"Share the cake with us tomorrow."

"Sure, sure."

Running out of the class, Kira excitedly headed to the school gate. The teacher sighed when they saw the energetic boy run down the stairs. No matter what they said, this naughty boy wouldn't listen to their warnings. Thankfully, he was really agile and could jump down the stairs safely.

Kira's eyes brightened when he saw the familiar car parked right in front of the school gate.

"Uncle Neo!" Kira waved his hand.

Standing not far from the car was a man with red hair. In this city, it was rare for someone to have red hair, so he stood up the most. Neo smiled when he saw the kid. "Hey, Kira, you don't make any trouble again, right?"

"Why are you asking that, Uncle?"

"I heard from Mike that you make the history teacher cry a lot of times that the school has to change the teacher 4 times in a year," Neo replied.

"It's actually 5 times," Kira raised his hand, stretching his five little fingers. "I just can't stand it when they keep spouting lies about the clans. It's not like every clan is bad, so why should she say bad things about them continuously?"

Seeing the stubborn kid in front of him, Neo sighed. He truly wondered from whom this boy inherited this stubbornness since both of his parents were equally stubborn. At the very least, this boy didn't have to learn how to hide his feelings too much anymore even though he still grew up too quick.

"Let's get inside, the twins are already at home."

"Are they making ruckus again?" Kira asked worriedly. He knew that his father and mother were busy most of the time, so he had to be a good big brother for the two of them.

"They've just reached 4 years old, so it's normal," Neo smiled. "But don't worry, your mother has put them to sleep because she has to go somewhere."

"Aw, I'll just clean up the house," Kira said despondently. "By the way, did Mom bake the cake herself or buy it?"

"She bought it."

"That's good."

Looking at the relieved face of the boy, Neo laughed internally. Even after years of practice, Kanae's cooking skill didn't increase much. At most, she would only be able to cook 'barely edible' food. Even her kids knew it best that the food that she made was only barely passable.

Kira leaned on the chair. "Will you escort me to the school every day from now on, Uncle Neo?"

"Well, Mike is getting married in a few days, so I have to replace him for the time being," Neo replied awkwardly. There were actually a few more candidates, but Kevin didn't want to trust his son to people he hadn't trusted fully. Those people had to pass his test first.

Honestly, he could only pray that they could stay alive after the awful test that Kevin designed.

"I miss Uncle Mike. He looks kinder."

Neo: "…" what have you done to make him call you kind, Mike?

Kira shrugged and placed his hand on the back of his head. "Well, it doesn't matter. I want to attend his wedding too. It'll be cool to see him in a suit and all."

"I'm sure your parents will take you there."

"I can't wait for that!" Kira's eyes sparkled with interest at the thought of attending Mike's wedding. "How about your wedding, Uncle Neo?"

"I'm married to my laptop."

Kira eyed the laptop by Neo's side. "You can't marry that thing, Uncle."

The boy glared at him with accusation, but Neo was not in the mood to answer.. He just sighed lightly, not wanting to think about this matter anymore as he focused his attention to the street.