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Curse the Mainframe! - Chapter 34

Published at 10th of September 2019 04:13:58 PM


Chapter 34

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The next day, Vincent came over to his sister's apartment apprehensively. Sometimes, when they talked, he still wondered whether or not he'd been having a bad trip that day.

Then, he thought about the mischievous spark in his sister's eyes and decided that whether or not it was faked, it still terrified him.

The only reason why he was willing to come over today instead of asking his sister to bring his nephew out was…

Vincent knocked on the familiar doors of apartment 104, steeling himself.

When the door creaked open by itself, slowly and hauntingly, Vincent stiffened his expression.

Dammit! If it was going to open by itself, then fine, but did it have to creak so alarmingly! Annalise better oil this door, or so help him, he would do it himself. Secretly, if he had to!

"Uncle," Alec greeted. He hid the twitch of his lips as he saw the slightly spooked expression in his uncle's eyes.

No wonder his mother found it so fun to mess with his uncle. He paused. Alec didn't think that he had this kind of sadistic tendencies previously. Did he learn it from his mother, or what?

"Alec, sister," Vincent stiffly greeted, stepping into said haunted apartment.

Vincent patted Alec on the head, his standard greeting.

Alec stared at the way his uncle moved. He was so stiff Alec was surprised his limbs were even bending.

Vincent's brow twitched as the chair slid back for him to sit in again. He discreetly looked at his nephew, who looked like it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Suddenly overcome by despair, the Clan Head closed his eyes, thus missing Alec's full-blown twitch of laughter.

Likewise, Annalise smothered her smile. It was so funny seeing her composed brother break like this.

Vincent shoved it all deep, deep down. "So, why have you called me over?"

"Oh, right," Alec said, leaving the table.

Vincent directed puzzled eyes at his sister, who shrugged. She had just as little idea as he did.

The two of them watched Alec head towards his room, which opened as he approached. Vincent twitched.

Alec took the three books he had obtained the previous day from his bedside stand. In the end, he hadn't gotten any sleep as he tried to decipher the words inside.

The door shut behind him as he walked back out.

He presented the three altered books to his uncle, who looked at it with confusion. His stress and worry about being in a haunted apartment were briefly put aside as his attention was captured by the books in front of him.

Though the books did not look brand new, there was something about them that drew his eye.

It wasn't like he hadn't seen books like this before, but the aura that lingered on them instinctively gave him the feeling that he was looking at the belongings of someone great. It was something that only people who were able to notice the subtleties were able to see.


Since Vincent had already seen many of such things as a Clan Head, due to the books that were hoarded at the top level of their clan library, he was able to feel it straight away.

Vincent's eyes sharpened as he looked at the books now in his hands.

"Where did you find this?"

"In The Great Expanse," Alec said, not leaving anything out.

While he neglected to mention the amount of danger he had been in, Vincent was able to infer what happened. Ooh, Evin was going to get an earful from him.

Having specially assigned the man to his nephew, he had expected to hear whenever his nephew got into any sort of trouble or anything out of the ordinary.

How strange. Vincent was sure that the clan had scoured every inch of the forest already, and yet, there was still something that they had not yet discovered? How very intriguing.

Vincent stood up abruptly, ignoring the chair as it bumped lightly against the back of his knees.

"Thank you," Vincent told Alec very seriously. "I will make sure that the clan will reward you. Once we have made copies, you will be the first to obtain the translated version."

Alec nodded lightly, mother and son seeing Vincent off at the door.

The man didn't even flinch this time when the door shut loudly after him, too occupied on the ongoing matters.

"Drew," Vincent said.

A man garbed in fully in dark blue appeared before the Clan Head. Everything from chin down was covered fully by his clothes.

Vincent handed his guard the three books he procured from Alec.

"Take this to my office and get Cal to start translating it."

Drew disappeared without another word.

As for Vincent, he hastened to head out to The Great Expanse, where he could feel Evin's magical signature from this far away. He made sure that no one else saw him going.

Just within the boundary, Evin was concealed in the shade of an inconspicuous tree, waiting for him.

Vincent shot his friend a piercing glare. "Evin."

"Vince."

"Just when were you planning on telling me my nephew was in such great danger?" Vincent said dryly.

Evin gave out a 'hmph'. "You should ask your nephew that. After all, he was the one who didn't want word to get out. Besides, you know as well as I do that this type of advanced training is never safe. There are always a few deaths if they underestimate the dangers they will face alone."

Vincent remained silent. He did indeed know. Though he felt that their clan's traditions were rather brutal in regard to advanced training that the children got, they would never abolish it because it produced the most stellar and outstanding students that would come back to protect the clan.

Vincent's responsibilities as a Clan Head warred with his familial affections. He couldn't help but doubt himself and wonder if he was making the right choice. He wondered if all the parents felt this way when they saw their children's scrapes and bruises as they headed home.

Evin softened seeing his friend's unspoken struggles. "Don't worry too much about it. There's a reason why there aren't many who qualify for the advanced course, after all."

"Enough," Vincent said, shaking off his lingering feelings. "I heard Alec found a place in The Great Expanse that we haven't found yet?"

Evin nodded. "I remember how to get there."

The two friends set off deeper into the forest, where Evin had rescued Alec from just the day prior.

Within half an hour, the two stood next to a monster's carcass, which had not yet started decomposing. Not only that, it had not been picked at by smaller animals, which steered clear because of the imposing aura it gave off even as it was dead, or from other monsters, which rarely ventured out this far.

Vincent frowned. "Why is there a monster that is close to the second rank here?"

Evin shook his head. He had tried finding out whether there was something that had lured it here but hadn't found anything incriminating. Unfortunately, The Great Expanse was a large piece of land that was hard to fully comb. Even if a day passed, it was already sufficient for any evidence to be long lost.

"So, where is the entrance?"

Evin paused from examining the monster, confused. "What do you mean? It's right… there," he trailed off, turning around.

The entrance that had been there yesterday was gone.

"Huh."

Evin walked forward and cautiously toed the area where he was sure he entered yesterday. His foot met solid ground.

"What," Evin said, disbelieving.

He put his full weight onto it, and nothing gave.

Evin realized that Vincent was giving him a strange stare. His face darkened seeing his friend's teasing look.

"It was definitely here."

Vincent walked over to stand at that spot as well. Nothing happened. No matter how much they looked for anything out of place, there was no such thing.

The two men exchanged a glance. "Well, things just got a lot more interesting."




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