…

Some 20 minutes had gone by since Alex had left. Rose was sitting on a bench thinking about recent stuff. She had wanted to have a normal life at school and she did get it though only for a while but ended up getting back in the magic world. She wanted to make new friends and try to live a normal person’s life; she had even achieved enough to be able to get Clare’s consent for this. It was supposed to serve as a little vacation for her.

But now even someone at school knew who she was. She was very grateful towards Nina for keeping her secret from Alex. She had wanted to thank her for that but since all that has transpired, she has been trying to avoid her a little. Rose was completely lost.  All the while contemplating what to do, she heard some commotion.

“Heellpp!! Thief!!”

Someone had stolen a woman’s bag and was making a run for it. Rose saw a yellow short man belonging to the demon race wearing hooded clothing breaking through the crowd. She immediately went on a chase for him. The man shot some mana beams here and there which Rose blocked protecting the people. It was getting hard for her to keep a track of him.

The man suddenly took a left turn at a junction and quickly made his way down a slope. Rose was trying her best to keep up with the little runner.

…

“Aaahh! Whew!! That was great as always darling, I’ll be sure to spread the word for you.”

“Thank you, please do visit again.” A woman who was an owner of a food stall said as she bade goodbye to a customer. The customer was wearing long blue and black coat, a gi inside, two swords attached to his waist which were encased in their scabbards and a Chinese hat. As the man stepped out of the stall he suddenly vanished and appeared on top of a roof on a nearby building.

‘Let’s see where to go ne- the man’s thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly saw an unusual person here.

‘People like him still exist here?’ The man thought.

…

Alex was walking down one of the streets eating some yoki sauce sticks. He didn’t know what it was but it was fantastic. There were some common food ingredients from earth like oil and garlic which was present in great quantities in the cup he was eating from.

Suddenly he heard a little commotion ahead. He went to check and saw a man running down from above a slope. He also saw Rose running after him. The man was coming his way but the speed at which he was Alex had no hope of stopping him. He then got an idea poured all the oil in the cup at the end of the road and got aside.

And just as he had predicted, the man slipped on it and crashed in a nearby building. “I don’t know who you are but if that girl’s chasing, you definitely didn’t do something good.” Alex said as he took a bite of the yoki on the stick he was holding.

But Alex’s smug expression immediately turned ugly as the man pointed his slimy hands with three fingers at him and shot mana beams at Alex.

“No!” Rose screamed from afar. She was still a little distance away from Alex and wasn’t able to make it on time. The explosion sent dust flying away but as the dust settled Alex stood there remaining fine. The man with the Chinese hat came in split second before the beam hit Alex and blocked it with his hand. He then chanted something and bound the person with blue colored mana ropes which emerged out of his hands.

The man then turned to look at Alex with the soul holder in his hand. The latter was dumbfounded at the sudden appearance of this man and also relieved. If not for him he would have been toast.

‘Alex, be wary of him!’ Miracle warned.

‘Huh? What do you mean? Is he an enemy?’

‘I don’t know… he’s the person who had acquired the soul holder I am in. When you were first coming to, Uphill Town, he was in the train with you, I had escaped from his bag at the time.’

Alex tried to remember the time when he was in the train. But nothing was coming to mind at the moment!

‘Is he dangerous?’

‘Probably, no one just hands a soul holder with me in it to just anyone. We most likely don’t have any chance of defeating him at the moment.’

The man in the Chinese hat kept staring at Alex up and down as if he was thoroughly studying him.

“I see you are having an internal chat with that beast in your soul holder… probably deciding whether I am a threat or not?”

‘What the?! Can he read our minds?’

The man smirked. “If you are thinking, I can read minds then the answer is no. But I can clearly figure a soul wielder when I see one.”

Alex blinked in confusion wondering what he was talking about.