The next morning, Cecilia woke up alone in her small house in the middle of the forest.
"Ugh.. hey?? Nic?? AGHH HE LEFT ME AGAIN!!" Cecilia said, annoyed.
But she immediately saw a letter from Nic on the table.
The content of the letter: "I'm going for a walk to see a new atmosphere.. if you chase me, I will pinch you until your cheeks turn blue"
Seeing that, Cecilia just gave a cunning smile. "Challenging me? Wahaha, I don't care even if my cheeks turn rainbow! I'll find you!"
---
Meanwhile, in the city of Valle, several citizens who were previously against the change were still firm and disagreed with it. They were disappointed because Mayor Sano backed down on his intention.
A woman named Atha decided to find the person who caused the uproar that easily changed the country's regulations.
"Hah, I will prove that this is just the President's trick. How could there be such a great person who defeated hundreds of people alone!" Atha said while preparing herself.
Atha is a former female military officer who is quite strong, and she once fought Quiny (Leona's military maid bodyguard).
Before leaving, she called Jenna the bartender because they were close.
They planned to meet at a cafe in Valle City, but what Atha didn't know was that Jenna was already 100% loyal and fond of Nic.
At the cafe.
"So... why are we meeting here? Don't you want to come to the bar where I work?" Jenna said.
Atha ordered a drink then looked at Jenna seriously. "This is an important matter... you know the country's regulations changed to become more humane, right? What do you think about the figure rumored to have defeated the President and hundreds of people to the point of making them lose?"
Jenna laughed upon hearing that, which confused Atha.
"The King Raven figure, you mean? He is a great figure who made all of us realize that human life is very precious... and I think the new regulation is good. If criminals repent, the country's murder rate will decrease... if they are stubborn, we will still execute them," Jenna explained casually.
Atha was silent hearing Jenna talk like that. Jenna was cold and didn't care about anyone except her boss Ghost, and Jenna was always against changes, but now she seemed open-minded and like a different person.
Atha was curious and wanted to test Jenna. "In your opinion, who is stronger, Ghost or the figure you call King Raven?"
Atha asked that because whenever Jenna was asked that, she would always answer 100% Ghost, regardless of who was being compared.
"Ah, this is a difficult choice... I am still a loyal member of boss Ghost, but to choose who is the strongest, it is clearly King Raven," Jenna answered.
"NONSENSE!!!!" Atha stood up and slammed the table, drawing the attention of everyone in the cafe.
She immediately felt embarrassed and sat back down. "ugh... Jenna, you're annoying me. Why did you change like that?"
Jenna calmly replied, "I'm just answering the facts according to your question... why are you annoyed?"
"Ahh, whatever, it was pointless for us to meet... let's end this, I'm going home," Atha put down money to pay for the drink and just left Jenna.
"Hmm, what did I do wrong, I wonder? Never mind," Jenna let Atha go while drinking her juice.
---
Along the way, Atha kept grumbling about everyone changing because of the King Raven figure, which only made her more curious.
When Atha wanted to go to the DP territory, she instead saw one person being surrounded by five people who looked like they were extorting him.
"Huh? This is who should be executed... they won't change if they already have that nature from the start." Atha stretched her hands and neck, preparing to beat them up.
But when she got there, the five people, who initially had smug faces, suddenly changed their expressions to polite ones and acted familiar with the person they surrounded, who turned out to be Nic.
Atha was confused and overconfident. "Hey! The five of you intended to harm this person, right? But because I'm here, you suddenly became polite?"
The five of them looked at each other. "Ah, that's right... but we have repented. If we keep intending to do harm here, it's a foolish mistake... hehe, see you later," one of them said.
Then they just left, waving goodbye to the person they had surrounded, who turned out to be Nic.
Atha looked at Nic. "Are you okay? Did they really not do anything bad earlier?"
Nic said with a smile, "Don't worry, everyone can change as King Raven said."
Atha was annoyed again. "ugh, King Raven again?? Do you know where he is? I want to meet him and protest."
Nic shook his head. "I don't know, that figure is mysterious. What's certain is that his words are true."
Atha was increasingly determined to find King Raven, so she rushed to the DP territory, but she realized that Nic was following her.
"HEY, WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME?" Atha asked fiercely.
"Uh, I just want to come along, I want to meet King Raven too," Nic said awkwardly.
"You're his fan, huh? Good, come here," Atha strongly grabbed Nic's hand.
Atha said that Nic would be her hostage and make King Raven surrender to her.
In his heart, Nic could only hold back his laughter.
On the way, Atha saw a crime again.
"I knew it... with the changed regulations, crime will only increase again!!" Atha immediately approached the person who was being beaten by a crowd.
"Stop it, you jerks! How dare you beat someone up in a crowd!?" Atha said.
The citizens immediately turned and said that they were beating up a thief who had robbed a store.
"Eh? Ah, sorry! Good job, everyone. Those who commit crimes should be destroyed!" Atha said, and all the citizens agreed.
But Nic stepped forward, releasing Atha's grip, which startled Atha.
"You shouldn't take the law into your own hands," Nic said, looking at the thief's condition.
One citizen said, "Huh? This is fitting treatment for them, the pests of the nation... but this country is only getting weaker with that new regulation."
Nic used God of Analyst to see the thief's condition; his condition was very deplorable.
"Imagine if you were in his position," Nic said.
Atha approached and stared sharply. "In his position? Being beaten for being a thief? You think he should be pitied? That's the nonsense of the century."
"No, if you were in a position of poverty, starvation, having no money and no job, especially if you have a family, the human instinct to survive is wild, especially when pushed to the brink. They will do anything to survive, especially for their family... and you don't know that this thief only stole expiredbread that had already been thrown away by the store," Nic said.
The thief, who was initially weak, immediately cried when he heard that. He apologized for making all the citizens angry, and he admitted his mistake. He pleaded not to be taken to the police or the major gangs because if he was imprisoned, who would take care of his family?
"Hey, calm down... the regulation has changed so that those who commit evil can be forgiven if they want to change and not do the same thing. I will help you," Nic said.
The thief thanked him, and Nic took him away. Before leaving, Nic said... "If you think that all humans are the same, a hero is a hero and a villain is a villain, you are terribly wrong. You don't know one thing: circumstances; everything can change if their circumstances are different. A hero can become a villain, and a villain can become a hero."
And Nic left.
All the citizens were confused and just said that Nic talked too much and acted like a hero.
"What was that..." Atha said with a confused face.
All along the way to the DP territory, Atha kept contemplating Nic's words until she finally arrived at the DP territory and saw the King Raven Statue with the inscription "Everyone can change as long as they want to."
But Atha again said it was just nonsense; she continued to refuse to believe the words she considered wind.
In this DP territory, Atha was ready to fight any DP members who appeared because all DP members knew her and always fought when they met because Atha was an AOD member.
Then Atha saw Lamia and Alexa.
"Damn... why do I have to meet this Crocodile and Assassin..." Atha was ready to pull out her weapon.
But Lamia and Alexa just greeted her and passed by.
Atha was dumbfounded.
She looked back to make sure Lamia and Alexa were not attacking her from behind, but nothing happened.
When Atha turned back around, she saw Cecilia, which startled her, and she immediately pulled out her military knife.
Cecilia was confused. "Huh, ex-military Atha? What are you doing here?"
"I'm in your territory, you know... are you serious about letting me be?" Atha said.
"Huft, come on, Atha, we are all at peace... if you want to cause trouble, do it in your own territory, not here. I'm busy looking for someone," Cecilia said.
"Looking for who?" Atha asked.
"Looking for King Raven... ah, he said he was going for a walk, but he's already back," Cecilia said, waving her hand.
Seeing that, Atha turned around and saw Nic behind her. She was immediately shocked that the person she was going to take as a hostage was King Raven himself.
"So... he is the King Raven??" Atha said, stunned.
"Yooo," Nic said, greeting them.
To be continued...