Friday, 31st of January.
Tiero checked his watch.
8:31 a.m.
Where is he? Is he going to be absent today? But why? No, no… Don't tell me Ms. Isabelle talked to him? I should report her for her behavior, but she's a Shade… I can't do much about it.
I'll check up on him and ask him what happened. Someone did tell me that they saw her with him, but I thought the guy was just spouting nonsense…
***
Donovan sat on a chair in the balcony.
He's been staring at nothing for 20 minutes now. His cup of coffee has become cold, and his sandwich is only half-eaten.
What do I do…? What have I done to deserve this…? Why is she after me? Why does she want me…? Why is a Shade after me…?! Why, why, why…?
This place isn't safe anymore… I have to report her… No, that's a bad idea…
What did she mean by "odd"? What's odd about me? Why does she find me interesting? What's so interesting about me?
Goddamn it…
Donovan took deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down. He stared at the expensive, golden necklace that had a cane symbol on it. Why'd she even give me this…? I doubt I'd ever call for her help when she intends to do harmful things to me…
Surely, she won't do a thing to me…
She said she was going to take a look at the Visitor Records, and once she finds out about Benedict, she'll back off… Surely, right…?
And she said she'll see me to give me her findings from the Visitor Records… Damn, I need to leave my apartment! Wait, no, it's more dangerous outside…
Why am I on the balcony?
Donovan stood up, entering inside his apartment. He placed the necklace inside his drawer beside the bed. He had forgotten about his cup of coffee and sandwich on the table in the balcony.
Who should I tell about this? Mr. Tiero? Benedict? I don't know… She said she'll smite me… But how can she know that I've told someone about it?
Better not try it…
In the past, in his teenage years in his previous life as Leon Valentin, he's always wanted to have a girl to obsess over him. He wanted a girl to be obsessed with him.
But now…
Damn it, this is scarier than I thought! It's like that one horror movie of a girl stalking a guy… Wait, surely, she's not stalking me right now, is she?
Donovan looked around his apartment for anything out of the ordinary. But after a while, he couldn't find anything.
No cameras… But she's a Shade… She might have powers that let her spy on anyone… No, no, I'm overthinking this…
Calm down, calm down…
He paced around the living room, his heart beating erratically. In fact, he couldn't sleep at all last night.
Damn it, calm down! She won't do a thing to me. Her last words were "I promise you that we will meet again," implying that it'll be a while before we meet again… Yeah…
These kinds of thoughts have been circling his mind for hours now.
I'll be fine… Benedict will protect me… And Mr. Tiero will surely do something about it…
Suddenly, he heard a knock on his front door, followed by Tiero's familiar voice, "Donovan? Are you there?"
Donovan froze. He exhaled, and walked over to the front door, opening it.
"You look like a mess, Donovan." Tiero was surprised upon seeing him.
Donovan gave a brief chuckle. "Mr. Tiero… Why are you here?"
"To ask you what's going on. May I come in?"
With a nod, Donovan invited him in. Tiero stepped inside.
"Make yourself comfortable."
The handler sat on the sofa. Mr. Tiero can help me… He's very experienced. He's a veteran! He knows how to deal with this…
"Coffee?" asked Donovan.
"No, no need. I'll only be here for maybe five minutes, it's a busy day," said Tiero.
Tiero looked around Donovan's apartment. It was ordinary. But what wasn't ordinary was the detective poster in the kitchen, but he didn't dare ask about it.
Tiero got straight to the point. "Donovan. Did she talk with you?"
Donovan sighed, taking a seat on the sofa across Tiero.
"…" He didn't say anything.
"Don't worry. She can't smite you here," he said with a laugh.
Hearing Tiero's words of reassurance, Donovan gave in. "Yes… She talked with me."
"She was friendly at first, and then she gave me information exclusive only to Shades and Raincoats… After that, her mood shifted, and she wanted me… uh, to be put under her wing…"
Tiero sighed. "I see."
Five seconds later, Tiero said with a laugh, "See? No smite. She was just trying to scare you. Maybe."
Donovan was confused. "How'd you know about the 'smite' thing?"
"Oh, Healers at Category 5 of Typhoon like using that word to threaten people. Well, they actually can smite you in the name of god, but even a Shade or a Raincoat cannot escape the law. If she actually decided to smite you, she'll be punished for her actions."
"She says her colleagues are crueler than her, but she's even worse. In fact, from my experience, she's probably the craziest of them all. I heard she despises Violet Zetar, but Ms. Zetar is… uh, well, more normal than her… I think."
"Don't worry too much about it, Donovan. If I can get in touch with your brother, I'll tell him about this. To keep you safe."
Donovan let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Mr. Tiero…" He said this from the bottom of his heart.
"No problem. Hey, at least now you know it isn't exactly the best experience to have a girl be very obsessed with you."
"Actually, I'm very curious… Why exactly does she want you? I doubt it's because of your looks."
Donovan wanted to know that as well. "She said something about… me being an 'odd' and 'interesting' person…"
Tiero fell in thought. "Hm. Confusing. Anyway, you just relax and don't worry about it. She won't attempt anything, I can tell you that much."
Donovan nodded, and asked, "Can we report her?"
Tiero shook his head. "Bad idea. Shades may not be able to escape the law, but they can… slightly bend it to their will. Just keep living your life, keep going to work, and if she does show up, don't panic. I promise you that she won't do a thing."
"If you reported her, it'd be like calling the cops on the president."
He checked his watch. "Your brother and I will do something about it if she does do something to you. I have to go now."
With that, the handler stood up. Donovan nodded, and accompanied him to the door.
"What you're feeling right now is probably how Mei felt towards me back then… Sigh…" Tiero opened the door and left.
For now, Donovan will trust Tiero's words.
He's right… I have to stay calm.
I'm lucky to have strong and powerful people on my side…
Ms. Isabelle, why? Why would you do this to me…? I was starting to like you too…
Suddenly, just as Donovan was about to return to the sofa, his vision became pure white for half a second, before going back to normal.
He stumbled, holding onto a chair for support. What was that?!
He quickly stood up, but then, in the corner of his vision, he saw something placed on the small table in front of the sofa.
Donovan hesitated for a few seconds, but walked over anyway.
Placed on the table was a paper.
It had Benedict's full name, as well as a photo of a younger him! Visitor Records! Wait!
Donovan's heart tightened, and he quickly looked around.
She was here! How…?!
"Hello?" he called out. But no answer.
Donovan eventually calmed down. He walked towards the paper placed on the table. Sitting down on the sofa, he noticed that there was a small note.
"Here you go. I apologize for my actions yesterday. I lose control of myself whenever I am excited. I must say, your brother is an interesting man. But you are far more interesting."
Upon reading this, Donovan crumpled the note. What a snake… Don't fall for her lies, Donovan…
He then read Benedict's Visitor Record.
Name: Benedict Volgard
Status: Retired
Donovan was momentarily surprised. Retired… I knew it. He continued reading.
Class: Mage
Rank: Hurricane
Category: 5
Chosen Paths: Earth Mage, Flame Mage, Light Mage, Lightning Mage
Again, Donovan was surprised. Hurricane…? Right, it's equivalent to Typhoon, but with only one mission, to protect a planet… Hm, is the planet he was assigned to the same planet we went to for his wedding?
I knew that he was a powerhouse… Also, he has four Paths… Don't tell me we can choose a third and fourth Path at Typhoon, or Storm? Donovan smiled. And he was a mage… He continued reading.
"Benedict Volgard graduated from the Magic and Technology Academy on March 2nd of 2100 and started Visitor work on March 8th of 2100 at the age of 24. Benedict Volgard awakened his [REDACTED] on September 4th of 2103 at the age of 27. He reached Typhoon Rank 2 months later, and switched to Hurricane Rank 9 months later, which then led to his retirement only a month later. He is a remarkable Visitor of his time, having reached Category 5 of Hurricane Rank in only 4 years. His reason for retirement was because of a disagreement between him and [REDACTED]."
"During his time, he had defeated a total of 2 Overlord-type Annihiliths, and 19 Voidborn-type Annihiliths. These feats led to him obtaining a [REDACTED] and being heavily favored by [REDACTED]. He is the first Visitor in 173 years to have obtained a [REDACTED]."
Donovan sighed. "Ugh, why is this redacted…?" He was so focused on reading that seeing the word "redacted" had broken his immersion.
I'm guessing that the first redacted word is "Soul Essence"… As for the latter four, I have no idea. He became a Visitor at the age of 24… It's currently 2118 right now, so doing the math, he's… 42… Damn. Hm, but why would he switch from Typhoon to Hurricane?
Also, Overlord-type Annihilith… I'm surprised they didn't redact that. I don't know what kind of Annihilith it is… As for Voidborn, if I remember correctly, they can warp realities, and distort space and time… Scary.
My brother is an amazing person…
Ms. Isabelle is an enemy, but it's because of her that I was able to find out about Soul Essence, which is high-level information… And she got me Benedict's Visitor Record… Heh, if I were to show this to someone, and I get reported, and then tell them that Ms. Isabelle gave this to me, will they imprison her too?
Donovan continued reading.
"Benedict Volgard's current location is on the planet 62-Litus-55. Only Visitors with special permission are authorized to enter this planet, by the request of Benedict Volgard. Visitors must not enter this planet without special permission. Umbrellas will not be held accountable for what Benedict Volgard does to unauthorized Visitors."
Seeing this, Donovan fell in thought. So I'm guessing Miss Sylvia was given special permission by the higher-ups to enter Litus, since her mission there was to tell Benedict to return to Umbrellas. Plus, I seem to recall a metal tag on her with the word "authorized"… Uh, wait, but I didn't have special permission to enter the planet…
Hm, but I'm his family… And besides, it was requested by Benedict himself. Does he despise Umbrellas so much to the point that he doesn't like it if Visitors enter the planet?
But why? What caused him to despise Umbrellas? Sigh, it's a miracle that Benedict didn't do a thing to Miss Sylvia… He continued reading.
"Edited on August 10th of 2117: With the [REDACTED] fast approaching, Benedict Volgard is now at Level 10 Priority. He is to be kept in surveillance at all times."
Huh? Level 10 priority? What does that mean? Sigh, and another redaction… This is a recent edit… And why are they keeping watch over him? Does Benedict know about this?
Ah, the document ends there… Sigh. Also, is this only a copy of the original one? I hope it is… Donovan leaned back into his sofa. On the bright side, I obtained so much information, but gained an enemy…
With a sigh, he rolled up the document paper and put it inside a drawer. He then threw the note that came with it to the trash can.
Hm… I really should've asked for my Visitor Record too… Ah, forget it. From now on, I'll have to keep looking over my shoulder because of Ms. Isabelle…