42 An Encounter part 2: Chapter 41

Riding through the streets, at a comfortable seat at the back of a car. I sit in silence as every streetlight passes by me. I sat in sorrow over the memory of her cry as it wouldn't leave my mind. Her scream would echo in my thought for every every moment that came and passes.

It was a sickening time I could guarantee that today was a miserable day that I could not ever have expected to happen.

And it all started over a mention of a single name I could never have expected to be brought up.

'Crow Talon.' I thought of this name over and over in my head, thinking that it was impossible for such a name to be brought up at such an early stage in this time.

It left me with only one question that I was repeatedly asking myself.

'Who am I in this world?'

****A few hours earlier.

"Who are you?" asked Robert as he sat in his chair glaring at my direction, I in turn was standing in front of him, looking ever so nervous as if I was like a student that got caught by the principal.

His tone was tense over that question and his paling face was ever so noticeable from every drink of brandy he took.

"What do you mean?" I asked, not knowing why he asked such a question, a question that although it may seem vague was a bit concerning to me, knowing my circumstances.

The identity that I currently hold upon was something I was genuinely clueless of. I only knew the basic knowledge towards my own identity. From age to birthday, and from my name to a single relative. This was all I could ever know at the moment. I didn't have any plans yet to identify myself. I thought that this body was not as important as I thought it should, because some priorities were somewhat more important than my identity.

"You-…sigh, I've read your profile, and I was surprised to know that you were affiliated with such a person." he tried to be angry about at first seeing as how blatant my reaction was but he ultimately controlled his emotions and tried to reason himself over the tense background he was dealing himself in.

"What person?" I asked, genuinely confused over this said question.

"...Mm-Mary Clinton, your Aunt." He said, hesitatingly as if saying such a name was like conjuring a demon ritual or something like that.

'My aunt?' I thought of this person over and over again, trying to remember if such a person was involved in my life and not a minute later I remembered those stack of letters that were always sent to me from a person that was named Clinton. The very letters I came to read when I regressed into this body. I was genuinely curious as to why such a person was called out by the head of the Savez family. He's wavering tone brought up a few hints of what type of person Mary Clinton was. From his pale face to his shaking voice, I could only ever assume that Mary Clinton was a woman that was negatively involved in the Noble lives of such a person.

I tried thinking a bit more if such a person like her was ever mentioned in the novel but nothing ever came to mind. So I moved on from that thought and tried to answer Robert back for his nervous motion.

He was surprised to know that I was involved with a person named Mary Clinton, a quite common name for any commoners that would pass by in the streets but nonetheless, this person was making the man of the Savez house nervous. So she had to be quite an authority to the nobles if this was the case. So the only option I had at the moment was to affirm his suspicions towards my connection with such a woman.

"I…I do know a person named Clinton." I said honestly, knowing nothing over this person though.

"!!..I see." hes reaction was somewhat worrying as his face was more paler and more nervous than last time. As if my confirmation brought upon his worst nightmare.

"Mr Robert, can I ask why you asked me such a question?" I tried to ask him his reason for showing such a face.

"..." but all he gave me was a look of disdain and doubt.

He tried regaining his composure after I tried to ask for his reason but all he did then was that he turned his back at me. He went and reached for one of the portraits that were laying above the shelves, a portrait that hold all of his family together.

"As a man, I always worry for my family and as a man I must always guarantee their safety." he said this with a calm and cold voice, one that would remind you that he was a man who would kill for his family if needed.

"..." I stood in silence as I watched him gaze over his family while filled with a caring look and a strong posture.

"Tell me, do you know of such a clan named Crow Talon."

"...!!" as I heard of this name, it took me a moment before finally realizing those very words. And in turn of hearing that clan, I could do nothing but stare at his figure with a look of fear.

He in turn finally faced me and saw my reaction. A look that one could expect when hearing some bad news. And from my reaction, he was finally able to make up his mind.

"Hamil, I am sorry for what I am about to say to you." as he said this, his voice was now more controlled and his out of the blue apology was shared with a look of worry over my being.

"wait…wait, wait. You said Crow Talon?" I couldn't believe what he said. Or maybe I couldn't fully process it.

If I remembered correctly, Crow Talon was a hidden clan that worked especially for assassinations. They were a bloodline that worked well with the dark as it was their very existence to be an assassin. It was written in the novel as a hidden unstoppable force that even the king of the the kingdom feared their existence. They've existed way before the kingdom was made and some events even took note that this very clan was also involved with the making of some of the kingdoms. Only a handful of people knew of their existence and that mostly comes from higher species like the kings of each species and some specific people.

The Crow Talon was used in the novel as a way for the world to find a perspective of each major plot points in the novel. It was detailed to be written without the interaction of the Protagonist. They were basically historians that wrote and controlled the development for each kingdom they had authority over.

If one were to be a member of such a clan, one had to be at least a Rank-A hunter. A person that was capable of easily wiping out an entire town if needed proof of strength. And another special thing about the Crow Talon's was that no one but bloodline members are only the ones capable of joining such a clan. Nothing outside of blood was allowed to join such a strict existence.

Hearing that clan be muttered out of him was a bit shocking and knowing that such a clan was muttered by him, his very shaking mood was now all understandable.

When he heard me question this said clan, his expression was showing a face of doubt towards me. As if he finally made a decision to not trust me.

"...Please leave my household." his words were both sincere and at the same time understandable.

At the moment I questioned the certainty of the said clan, he made the conclusion that I was involved with this clan…his choice to make me want to leave was understandable.

"..." I stood in silence as I watch him resolve himself into the decision. I too knew that I had to leave as fast as possible, talking too much about this clan was equivalent to signing my petition to kill myself.

Their authority and skill was too proficient, to a point that maybe even talking about them can put you into their blacklist, but the question still lied in the matter why he ask me on their existence.

Why did he knew of them and why did he ask me if I knew of them?

…No, maybe he doesn't know of their existence…maybe I'm overthinking things.

If I dig myself deeper and involve the Savez family into this then...its better if I stop the questions here and let this problem settle.

"What about Ranzy?" I ask him. Knowing my relationship and contract with Ranzy, I doubt she'll take this news too kindly.

"...I'll take full responsibility and handle this issue." as he said he went and grabs the phone down at his desk. He then went to call a few numbers that were in his contacts.

*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*

"Hello, yeah…I'm calling because I need you assistance…I need your potion that you've been developing for quite sometime now…is it ready?…yeah…yeah…I'll be waiting…thank you." as he hang up the phone, he was left with me who stood in silence, waiting for his decision.

"..."

"..." we both stood eye to eye and looking as miserable as ever, the worry over our eyes were clearly showing so to resolve this, he went and grabbed the brandy and started pouring it on to two glasses. One for him and one was for me.

"...thanks." although it may seem like it was kind of illegal for a man to pass on liquor to a 17 year old, he didn't really cared as much knowing the problem we both faced. He was too worried for his family to care for my legibility to drink liquor and I too was in quite a miserable state knowing the situation I was in. I just went and accepted the drink like it was nothing and we both silently drank the liquor.

I went to sit down a bit in the sofa couch while he went and began writing a few things on his desk. He also went and called in Henry the butler.

As Henry opened the door, he was immediately ordered to call in Ranzy into the office.

Henry complied and went to do his job, while I sat in the couch and stared deeply into the glass the he gave me.

"You asked me if I was ever related to a Clinton…why?" I tried to ask him something about my so called relative because that conversation was the only thing I could never fully process through…it didn't seem to connect well with the question of that Clan but if it did, then the only possible assumption was that she too was related to this said clan.

I needed confirmation about her, I needed to know what it is about her that caused him to ask me if why I was related to her.

"...Its only understandable that commoners know nothing about her…and they should be glad that they knew nothing about her. And for her not to tell you, its also understandable that you her nephew was clueless about her past endeavors."

"Her past endeavors?"

"...I don't have the right to say this to you so when the time comes please ask her yourself."

When he finished saying those words, he went and handed me something from his desk.

"...Here, its not much but take it." it was a piece of paper that I for some reason, recognized its material.

"...!!" I was a handed a personal one million check straight from the man himself.

"...its not really something I can say is right but please accept it."

"Why?"

"...It's the least I can do for my daughter. She found something special in you and knowing our current situation, this is all I could do. So please…take it."

"...Thank you..but I already received a lot of things from her."

"You mean the phone? Keep it, as well as the storage ring." as he mentioned the ring, I went and and unconsciously looked to my finger. I found the silver ring shine itself over my finger and it reminded me of what she had to say after she gave it to me.

(...lets try our best to fill this ring together with our experiences.)

"..." as those words echoed in my head, the door suddenly opened and Ranzy was found standing with an excited look.

"Why did you call for me dad?" asked Ranzy to her father.

As she asked this question, I could see the face of her father contort into a worrying sad expression.

"Ranzy, please understand that what I'm going to do is for the safety of our family." he said

"What?" as Ranzy questioned her father's remark, the door again opens up and another person was introduced into the room.

It was a man who wore a white coat and a weirdly designed glasses. With him was a silver briefcase that had stickers with full of danger sign plastered all over.

"Hi Mr. Roberts, I'm here with the potion you called about." said the man as he happily brought over a briefcase unto the desk of Mr. Robert.

"...Yes, I did." Robert's reply was a bit lackluster, which was worrying because I couldn't tell what he was going to next with that aforementioned potion.

"We'll then, this is the first time I've seen you before. Can I ask who you are? Are you the subject?" asked the man while he looked to my direction as he opened the briefcase.

"Subject?" I was quite taken aback from his statement. But Robert confronted the man and tried to correct his assumption.

"N-no, he's not the subject." said Robert as he then turned to look at Ranzy in face to face.

"Dad? What are you guy's talking about? What subject?" Ranzy was completely oblivious towards the statement and so was I. We couldn't figure out what her father was implying when he said I wasn't the subject.

"Ranzy…I can't let you accept Hamil into your group and I can't let you be taken fault of this situation. He's environment is to dangerous for you to be involve with." said Robert in a concerned way.

"What!? No!" Ranzy was furious and confuse over what her father just said.

This was the first time I could see her be angry with something.

"What do you mean? Tell me why you don't approve of him!?" she tried asking for a reason but Robert was to scared to let her daughter be involved with me. So he stayed silent and never gave his say.

"...Mr. Robert, can I ask who the subject is then?"

"...My daughter." as Robert muttered those words, Ranzy felt somewhat confused and scared.

"...Dad?" Ranzy was taken aback by what her father said.

"Henry, please." as Robert said those command, Henry jumped from the lady's shadow using his skill and struck her from the back. Making her fell to her knees unconscious. Henry then went and layed her down at the sofa about just in front of me. And seeing this occur before my eyes, I couldn't do anything but feel rage and guilt come over me.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked Robert.

"...I guess it's only right for you to know."

"..."

"This is the Head Alchemist of our family, Mr. Austrin. He's the lead alchemist that deals in making products for our company. He makes various potions to various materials and he's likely regarded as a genius in the alchemist community. And right now, he's going to test the very potion he just created unto my daughter."

"...What!?"

"Don't Worry boy, What I have before me is nothing more than a concoction that evolves around on to the use of wiping out a certain aspects of a memory." said the alchemist while he was filled with confidence.

"..."

"We're using it for test and medicines that regards around PTSD to mental triggers. There are a lot of mental problems that occur in a lot of people mind you, so Mr. Roberts proposed the solution of creating such a medicine that could most likely help people when they are in such a low state of mind. Some even used it to erase their addiction in certain drugs and such."

"Is it safe? I mean you said that this was at it's testing stage.?" I was worried of what it was going to do to Ranzy.

"It is but this version of the potion is at its improved state. We've already produced the medicine but this is different."

"How?"

"Its strawberry flavored."

"...What?"

"Well, people complained a lot on how the current medicine tasted a lot like burned charcoal, so we went and improved its taste to a more child-friendly aptitude. Mind you, that this improvement will most likely improve your sales."

"..."

"So, what aspect of the potion should I create for the young miss?"

"One that erases all memory regarding him." said Robert as he looked to my direction.

"...!"

"Ahh…I guess I could formulate it in some way. As long as I have his DNA, we can manage to make one." Mr. Austrin was somewhat understandable of the situation and didn't pry of it.

"just give me thirty minutes and the potion will be ready by then." As Mr. Austrin said this, he immediately opened the case and revealed a couple of materials he used for formulating the said potion.

As minutes passed by, we all just sat in our places while we waited for the potion to be ready.

When it did finished, I was told to give a single strand of my hair. I willingly gave it and the potion was now finished.

"When she'll take this, it'll probably take a whole eight hours before it fully takes effect."

"Okay then. Thank you Professor. We'll take it from here then." said Robert.

As the Alchemist left the room, I was left a bit saddened by what was gong to happen next.

"So she'll forget everything about me then?"

"Yes."

"I see." as I said this, I stood up from the sofa and made my way out of his office. I didn't want to see this process happen. But right before I was about to open the door, I was called out.

"...ham.." I could hear her. It sounded like she was having a nightmare and I just felt guilty just listening to her.

"...thank you for everything Ranzy." I could do nothing but thank her in the end.

".…I'll let Henry take you home." said Robert in a last offer of kindness.

"No…it's okay. I'll just grab a taxi back." but I declined it.

"I see."

"...Goodbye Mr. Roberts. And I'm sorry for giving you all of this trouble."

"..." Robert just nodded in my direction.

As I left the Savez territory and was now making my way back home. The moment I arrived at my apartment, I was met with a letter that tied to the handle of my door.

"..."

I read through the letter and what I received was to my shock.

It read:

[To: Hamil

Dear Hamil,

Its been days since you wrote back. Please write back so that I can know that you are safe. Anyway, how's your life been going? Are you doing well? Do you need me to send you money? It's been a few months since you asked for anything at all. If you need anything just ask me and I'll send some right away.

PS, I love you, please take care of yourself.

From: Aunty Clinton.]

After reading that letter, I looked down at my ring and stored the letter in the ring.

I went inside my room and thought that maybe I'll just sleep through the day…everything that happened today was to much for me to handle.

So as I met my bed, I instantly fell on top of it and buried my face in the pillows.

I needed time to rest.

"...I'm sorry…Ranzy."