Dragon's Wrath: The Cursed Returnee

Ethan decided to focus on his own things, but Ian kept bothering him while he was training. Before joining Ethan on the simulator, he decided to investigate, and apparently, Emily didn't come to school that day as well. For a girl like her to skip school for three days straight when she didn't do it a single time in six months, that was indeed strange.

"Why aren't you using your sword today?" Ian asked while he was messing with his wristwatch. "While I think fighting with your fists and legs suits your madman style, I don't think you will get much better than you already are with a sword."

"Why do you hide your skills?" Ethan asked.

"Because I want to," Ian replied.

"There you have it," Ethan said.

That kind of answer wasn't like Ian wanted to hear, but given Ethan's nature, it was the only one he would have. Besides, he was the last person someone should ask about other people's fighting styles since he was the most secretive person Ethan knew. In any case, Ethan was improving quite a bit. He could already defeat the boss of the tenth stage and complete the eleventh stage with his fists alone. However, he couldn't tell if it was thanks to his fighting experience that was building up or if it was thanks to his skills that were leveling up.

"Mmm… it looks like Emily didn't leave her home since yesterday morning," Ian said while looking at his wristwatch.

"This thing can register our steps too?" Ethan frowned. "More important, isn't that kind of information secret?"

"Yeah, but I know a few tricks," Ian said. "It is hard to believe, but maybe she is really sick. Do you want to visit her? I think her home is on the way to mine. Let's invade the archives of the school and check that."

It was hard to know if sometimes if Ian was fearless or just a resourceful idiot. The school was an institution controlled by the government, so what he was trying to do was to invade and steal information related to the security of the state…

"Maybe this isn't a good idea…" Ian rubbed his chin. "I think using bots to find records of surveillance cameras will cause fewer issues."

That was probably the cause, but that didn't make Ian less insane. Still… Ethan wouldn't understand why Ian was so interested in Emily's situation. Although they were acquittances, they weren't friends per se… Regardless, Ian finally stopped messing with his wristwatch after a while and just frowned while looking at something on the screen.

"Ethan, cancel the simulation. You need to see this," Ian said with a serious expression.

Ethan sighed… but in the end, he did that while preparing his fists to smack Ian's head if he showed him something useless. However, Ian showed him a photograph of Emily wearing black glasses and a dark cloakd and walking in an unknown city. She certainly was standing out looking like that in a tropical country... her stealth skills sucked. The place seemed pretty well-developed, but there were some signs and letters that Ethan didn't recognize in several shops.

"This place is…" Ethan frowned.

"Accra, capital of Ghana," Ian said. "One of the places where a dungeon appeared."

Now that raised many questions… why would Emily go there at such a time? Still, it didn't look like she was doing anything shady since she was walking in daylight. Besides, considering that a dungeon had just appeared in that country, the place seemed pretty calm.

"When was that photo was taken, and where exactly the dungeon appeared?" Ethan asked.

"A few hours ago… Ah, she probably used some magic to create a replica of her, and then she left the wristwatch with the replica," Ian said. "Anyway, it looked in the center of a small city one hundred kilometers away from the capital."

"She probably didn't leave the country using normal means, so you won't find her traces near airports or ports," Ethan said. "Still, try to find the oldest sights of her in that country."

"You are overthinking, Ethan," Ian said. "There is no way Emily is involved with the dungeon's arrival. In the end, to confirm that, I will have to invade the school's archives."

In the end, Ethan stopped everything to see the results of Ethan's research with his own eyes. It was better to know early on if he had been associating himself with someone troublesome and dangerous, even though he never felt that Emily was any of it. Ian looked far shadier than her, after all.

"I get it…" Ian nodded to himself. "Apparently, someone Emily knows went to Ghana yesterday morning, and she followed him."

"Him?" Ethan asked.

"Her father, a man called Hector," Ian replied. "Apparently, he is a doctor who has plenty of experience in working in warzones. Someone probably called him the moment the dungeon appeared, and he left the country before the government could cancel all flights to that country."

"And Emily went with him because she is worried about her father in such a place," Ethan said. "What about her mother?"

"I didn't find any registers of her leaving the country, and… it looks like her parents are divorced," Ian said. "It happened before Emily could return."

"I see… maybe that is why she lives alone. She didn't want to choose between one of them to live," Ethan nodded to himself.

It looked like the misunderstandings had been solved. However, there was a problem… what would happen to Emily, considering that she left the country without the permission of the government? If they find out that she left her wristwatch behind…

"What do you think is going to happen if she is found out?" Ethan asked.

"Well, unless someone influential intervenes, she will probably be punished according to her actions," Ian replied. "Maybe she will be forced to stay at home for a few weeks. She is a powerful summoned hero, after all. However, if her actions in Ghana cause more problems… maybe she will be put in a special jail."

"For real?" Ethan asked, surprised.

"Yep, that isn't highly probable, but you just messed with two of the most influential heroes of the schools; if they learn about this and try to get you by punishing Emily…" Ian said. "Well, even we won't be able to do anything. Dante is the son of the president, after all."

Ethan wasn't so sure something like that would happen. His first impression of Dante is that he is a difficult kid, but he also feels the aura of a true warrior. Would he actually do something underhanded like that? The possibility alone made Ethan's headache.