Birds were flying in the nightly sky that was lit only with the most sparkling of moonlight.

Half the city was asleep while the other half was still working in the city that was said never to sleep. 

It was the new capital of the country which had the headquarters of all giant organizations. It was also where the government was located. Most of the organizations worked 24 hours on a shift basis as well, making this city to be just as busy at night as it was in the day.

If Ryder wished, he could go to the FBI base right now, but he wanted to go there in the morning when the main target was going to be there. He wanted to go in the morning for the same purpose.

Ryder gazed at the bead of the man who was lying near him.

He sighed as he shook his head. "You just had to betray this country by joining up with them, didn't you? People like you are so messed up."

He kicked the head, which rolled over to the side.

He also sent the body of the men to his inventory.

After resting for a few minutes, he stood up and walked over to another room that was somewhat cleaner and didn't have the smell of blood. He didn't forget to close the door behind him. 

There was a bed in that place. Ryder laid on the bed and closed his eyes. He didn't go to the world of Divinity today since he was not in a safe place. He didn't want to be killed while he was in Divinity.

He decided to rest while still staying alert to make sure no one else entered the building.

He had already cleaned the dead body and locked the room, but he was still in his real body. His face was also the real one. He had taken the mask off as he closed his eyes. The silence in that place was scary, but it was also somewhat soothing. 

It was so silent that Ryder had a feeling that he would be able to hear the footsteps outside if entered the house.

He closed his eyes and started resting, trying not to fall asleep even though he was sleeping.

He stayed like that for an hour, but he realized that he couldn't stay like that. He needed to sleep.

He was feeling a lot sleepy. He sat up as he looked to his left.

"Stanner," he called out.

"I am here." a Spirit appeared near him after his call. 

It was the Spirit of Stanner that had taken him as master after he helped fulfill its last wish. It had been following Ryder always since that moment. 

"You, keep an eye outside. Come here and scream loudly if you see someone entering the building. Only I can hear you, so it should be fine," Ryder told the Spirit, putting it on the work of guarding him throughout the night.

After placing some safety mechanisms in place, he went to sleep.

Ryder slept comfortably even though it wasn't a place he wanted to stay in.

The night stealthily passed as Ryder fell asleep.

*****

Ryder was sleeping, and Alice was also sleeping. There was one place, however, where no one was sleeping.

It was the Maxwell Estate, which was the home of Shu Maxwell and also the place where Ryder stayed with Alice.

The guards of Maxwell Estate were just as alert as always in guarding the place even though Shu wasn't here. 

They weren't aware that a man was walking towards them right at that time who was capable of shaking their entire defense alone. 

It was a man. He had beautiful dark hair that wasn't very long. His eyes seemed slightly red. 

The man was wearing a professional black coat as if he was a businessman. Both his hands had dark gloves that seemed to have diamonds studded in the knuckles. He was Luke, who was the right-hand man of Adrian that was sent here to bring Alice with him. 

He had a piece of paper in his hand.

He stood before a guard of one of the mansions in the area and showed him the peace of paper.

"Can you tell me where I can find this place?" 

The guard gazed at the address on the piece of paper.

"Oh, you're looking for Maxwell Estate. That's the one." The guard pointed towards one of the nearby buildings.

"Oh, so this is the place," Luke muttered as he took the piece of paper back.

He walked towards the Maxwell Estate and stopped before the metallic gates.

The guards of the mansion approached him.

"Yes?" They asked.

"I am here to meet Miss Alice," Luke replied.

"Miss Alice? Who are you to her? What business do you have with her?"

Hearing the name of Alice, the guards grew alert. Alice was already kidnapped some time back. So they were told to stay more alert. Don't a man with such a strange accent here and that too, this late wasn't something that found normal.

Even though Alice wasn't here, they didn't tell the man about that.

"Who are you?" They asked.

"I am from the University she applied to study. This is my card," Luke showed the card to the guards.

"I'm here to ask her some questions. You can think of it as more like an on-site inspection about the behavior of the student. It's also an interview. Can you please call her out?" He continued.

The guards saw the card, which seemed real. The excuse also seemed real.

"Do you have anything else to prove that she actually applied, and you're here regarding that? The card you showed says that the University is in Russia. We don't know how the real cards look there. So we wouldn't know even if this card is fake," the guard pointed out, not giving the man a benefit of the doubt.

It wasn't as if he could go back inside and verify with Alice since she wasn't here. So he could only deal with it this way.

" You can go in and ask her yourself if she applied or not. It would even be better if you can call her out so I can talk directly," Luke replied, still behaving respectfully.

Adrian had told him to be respectful when dealing with this stuff. He also needed to bring Alice with him. If he became violent here, that would create a bad impression on Alice, who might refuse to come with him. So he tried his best. 

Luke brought a piece of folded paper out of his pocket.

"More proof? I do have a photocopy of her application form and the handwritten essay that she sent." He said as he gave the card to them.

The guards observed the handwritten note and the name of Alice and her details. They were almost certain that the man was telling the truth, but they still couldn't put their doubts to rest.

They decided to tell the truth.

"Miss Alice and Mister Ryder left the Estate for their vacation. They will be back after a week. You can only meet them at that time. Please come back then," the guard informed Luke.

"Hmm? They aren't here?" Luke muttered.

'It doesn't seem like they are lying. It looks like she really did go out. Can I really wait for a week? If she didn't go car, I can go there and approach her,' he thought as he observed the guards.

"I am in a hurry, and she is the last candidate I need to interact with before I go back to Russia. Can you at least tell me where they went? If they didn't go too far, I could meet them there. If it is faster than spending a week here, then please tell me." He said.

"We have no idea where they went on a vacation. They didn't tell us. All we know is that they aren't in the city. If you want to talk to Miss Alice, you need to come after a week. You can only find her then," the guards informed Luke. 

The smile on Luke's face disappeared as he turned back.

'One week, huh,' he thought as he left.

He called Adrian and informed him about the things that were happening here.

'One week? Hah, it's fine. At Least you found out that she indeed lives there. I've already waited to meet her for so long. What's one more week," Adrian said to him before he disconnected the call.

"Hah!"

A scream was heard as a girl woke up from her slumber.

Alice's face was covered in sweat as he breathed heavily. It was as if she had seen some horrible dream that terrified her.

She immediately turned on the lights as she started trying to calm her breathing.

She gazed towards the door, which seemed to be farther than it had ever been previously. Her head was also spinning.

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