Dragon's Wrath: The Cursed Returnee

Chapter 165 Investigation

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"It seems that you guys are poor guides if it, in the end, you had to bring her here…" Ethan furrowed his eyebrows.

"This is how Ethan usually is, he tried to hide behind a wall of sarcasm and indifference, but deep down, he is as soft as they come," Ian explained. "He doesn't kick me out of the simulator floor, and I am probably the most annoying person out there, so you don't have to worry about being a bit stubborn." 

  Ethan tried to kick Ethan, but he vanished from the spot and dodged the attack, only to reappear on the same spot. It looked like he didn't like the idea of letting Ethan hit him and steal his mana… Ian didn't have that much in the first place.

"No fighting on school grounds. Let's show some manners in front of our visitors," Ian said and then snorted.

"The lion, the witch, and the audacity of this bitch…" Ethan furrowed his eyebrows.

"Ian looks like he is messing around, but he is trying to be serious in this job since Miss Lyla asked us to be guides for the exchange students…" Emily said and then sighed. "Anyway, you should have heard a bit from Dante, so this isn't surprising, right, Hana?"

"Yep, it is also quite refreshing to see something like this," Hana replied while smiling. "Back home, the division amongst people like us is a bit more serious… there are those who are enjoying themselves since they have a lot of power and do their jobs in another world with relative ease, there are those who hate the responsibilities that we have and the fact that we are always under the government's watch, and there are those who have been traumatized even though they did their jobs… they lost several things along their way."

  It was a bit weird for Hana to explain that much so soon, and that was why the atmosphere got a bit weird. In any case, Ethan believed her words… it made sense considering things from his perspective. Some teens would feel like their dreams were coming true when they went to other worlds and returned with superpowers. In contrast, some others were more reserved and didn't care about powers, while others only struggled almost endlessly… Ethan could understand those three paths.

"Anyway, sorry for saying something so depressing…" Hana forced a smile.

"Lyla told you two to be their guides, but what about the guy?" Ethan asked.

"It is Miss Lyla for you… That guy has too many guides already," Ian said after he rolled his eyes.

"Kei apparently looks like a famous Asian singer that I never heard about, so the girls aren't leaving him alone," Hana explained.

  Ethan wanted to sigh. Even after spending months, if not years, in another world, teens couldn't change completely. He found it hard to believe that summoned heroes could still act like fangirls, though.

"Well, I am going to return to the simulator," Ethan said upon realizing that the talks between them won't end anytime soon. "Smell ya later."

"He is escaping again…" Emily said and then sighed.

"It is fine, hahaha," Hana said after laughing a bit. "Dante and Aline told us that we could count on you, but we don't have to do that so soon… we will talk with you three once the time comes. We just arrived today, after all, and we can't just move around and do whatever we want."

"I suppose… anyway, you have our contacts already, and while you lost the chance to ask for Ethan's, we can contact him whenever," Emily explained. "So, feel free to do so."

"Right, I guess I will check some of the courses since we don't know for how long we will stay," Hana said and then turned around. "It would be nice if it lasted a few months… at least."

  That was a bit of an odd thing to say. While Hana was young, for a kid of her age to think that she would be fine even after several months away from home… it looked like she might have her own circumstances at home as well, even though she looked like a normal girl at first glance.

  In any case, Ethan wanted to avoid those two exchange students as much as possible… he had a feeling that they were at least on the B rank, so they wouldn't meet in the classes. Unfortunately for Ethan, he saw those two hanging around with Emily and Ian almost during the whole day on the next one.

"I guess they are taking their jobs seriously… and are trying to get closer to everyone here," Ethan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Still, their choice of friends is a bit bad since they don't know how infamous some people are."

  Since Ethan wasn't being bothered by Emily and Ian anymore, he suddenly felt himself with a lot of free time… while using only the simulator during the whole day was an option, Ethan didn't want to show his sudden growth that easily. He was close to leveling up, but he felt satisfied with his progress when it came to his skills.

"I guess I am starting to get sick of the low level of the simulators…" Ethan thought while he took a short break to have a snack in the mid-morning.

  It was a bit too heavy in calories to be called a simple snack. Still, Ethan ended up buying a strawberry sundae and pizza as well. He suddenly felt the urge to eat some junk food, and his willpower wasn't strong enough at the moment to fight that. 

While he was eating in the plaza and enjoying some sunlight for a change, Ethan noticed that a lot of people were coming and going from several buildings. The arenas apparently were being used quite a lot recently, even though he didn't pay much attention to them.

In any case, while he was eating, Ethan sat with Hana leaving one of the arenas with Emily. They greeted him once before they headed to the main building. Soon after, Ethan saw Ian and Kei walking together toward one of the arenas as well… those two formed an odd combination. Still, it didn't look like they didn't know how to interact. After seeing that guy from a bit closer, Ethan confirmed that he was pretty tall but very thin and didn't have many muscles. He couldn't understand why, but it looked like girls liked that kind of physique nowadays.

In any case, in just one hour, Ethan saw them walking around a few more times… while they weren't trying to stand out, their covet skills sucked hard. It was clear that they were trying to cover a lot of ground and investigate as many students as possible.

Ethan stopped to think for a while… he didn't feel anything weird until now in the school, so he didn't think that they had a spy there. Then again, a decent spy would have decent instincts, and they would warn them to stay away from Ethan and someone like Ian, who probably knew very well how to watch a target.

"I suppose I have some skills to keep a watch on some people, but using them here would cause more problems than help… besides, it isn't like I will get the chance to interrogate possible criminals if I were to capture them," Ethan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "As expected, I shouldn't get involved in this."

  Once Ethan finished his meal, he decided to return to the simulator. Still, then he wondered if he should test the simulation arena a bit. Defeating people wouldn't let him gain any experience unless he touches them, and it is hard to believe that his power would work against an avatar… going there would only serve to boost his ego. Then again… Ethan suddenly had an idea.

  Ethan headed to the arena on the right side and then eventually entered the stadium. The battles that were taking place there could be witnessed by everyone, and there were a bunch of seats around since the place basically mimicked a soccer field.

  After watching the surroundings for a while, Ethan confirmed that the place had some cameras around. Still, they were mostly used to record the matches, not the people sitting around and watching them.

  Ethan decided to walk around the seats and confirmed a few dozen students killing time there… some of them didn't like the idea that Ethan was looking at them, and they glared at him. Ethan ignored that and kept looking at them until, eventually, they admitted their defeat in the staring contest. Some of those people began to leave the arena thanks to him, while others just decided to ignore Ethan altogether.

"As expected… this kind of place can be used for people to do things under the shadows of the cameras," Ethan thought. Still, then he frowned when he was about to finish a lap around the arena and then saw a boy and a girl making out. "Or maybe I am just thinking too much about this…"