221 Chapter 221: On the Hun

Honestly, even without the message, Shun Yin had no intention of joining the Assassins Guild. They sounded extremely shady, and their values and modus operandi were completely at odds with what he aimed to be.

A hero. An ally of justice. A hero did not go around assassinating people for money or sneaking around in the dark. A hero was someone who stood up against others, protect them from evil while being a symbol in the light, for all to see.

However, he thanked Michael after receiving the letter. Just to be sure, Shun Yin crumpled up and burned the letter with a basic fire spell, erasing all traces of it ever existing. Michael expressed his agreement.

"Do you have any idea how to search for Angelica?"

"If I did, we would have found her long ago, don't you think?" Michael was trying his best not to let his frustration show in his voice.

"Yeah, sorry." Shun Yin nodded. As her brother, Michael was probably the one who most wanted to find her and bring her back. Yet, he was feeling very conflicted because it meant bringing her back to stand at trial for her crimes.

There was no way Michael wanted to see his own flesh-and-blood sister brought to "justice" before the hypocritical elders of the Porter clan.

"Let me know when you know something. The moment Angelica contacts you, inform me as soon as possible."

"I will." If there was anyone he could trust, it would be Michael. Despite his sibling bond to Angelica, Shun Yin was confident that Michael would do the right thing. He was a hero, after all. If he had to kill Angelica to save the world, he would.

However, he hoped it wouldn't come to that. Angelica also mentioned that she was planning to betray the organization hiring the Assassins Guild, so she must have some scheme of her own. He was curious as to why she didn't identify the organization hiring the Assassins Guild. If she provided a name, he could begin investigations. The Porter clan could…

No, that was precisely why Angelica refused to mention anything and deliberately kept everything vague. If they started investigating the organization, the Porter clan would want to know the source of that information, and they would trace it back to this letter. And then Shun Yin would be dragged into the mess and imprisoned by the Porter clan, tortured for more information.

Angelica had thought that far ahead. More possibly, she just didn't want Shun Yin to get involved and continue pursuing her. She had taken everything into account, minimizing the chances of Shun Yin getting dragged into any unsavory business.

Even so, Shun Yin refused to give up. He was going to find Angelica, no matter the cost. Clenching his fists, he looked up at the sky and gritted his teeth.

"Don't blame yourself too much."

Michael patted his shoulder, and then turned away to leave. However, he stopped after taking a few steps.

"And if I find anything about my sister, I'll let you know immediately."

"Thank you."

"I would put you in my team, but the higher-ups don't allow outsiders." Michael sighed. "Uncle Henry is trying to change the way things are being run, but it's going to take time. I don't know how long, but short of killing every elder and the person at the top of the clan, I don't think we'll be able to implement any changes overnight."

He smiled sadly as he turned his head back slightly to give the stationary Shun Yin a glance.

"That's one of the things Angelica wanted to change. We wanted to change. To improve the Porter clan, get rid of their arrogance and traditionalistic views, and progress along with the times. Just like the Stuart clan."

Shun Yin nodded. From what he had heard, the Stuart family was pretty progressive and open-minded, not caring about bloodlines, lineages and family background. They were more practical and only cared about results. That did make them a little…callous and ruthless, but it was sometimes better than looking down on everyone else because they were "commoners."

"Well, good luck. Maybe we might stand a better chance of finding Angelica if we use several different methods."

With that, Michael was gone. Shun Yin pondered over his last words, and picked up the hint. While Michael would be employing the more traditional methods of searching when working in the Porter clan, he was free to experiment with radical search methods and explore avenues the Porter clan might otherwise not conceive of.

"I'll do my best," he vowed before he turned and headed for the Miyamoto dojo.

*

"…there's nothing here."

"Why are you following me?"

Shun Yin glared at Glen before he returned his attention back to the seemingly deserted warehouse at the outskirts of Vermillion City. He tried to ignore his friend's complaints as he studied the edge of the walls for any sign of tracks.

"Someone has to keep an eye on you, you know? The Porter clan still has their doubts regarding you. They know of your relationship with Angie…"

"I haven't seen her in nine years prior to the attack…except that one time when she visited me in the infirmary to check on my injuries. What kind of relationship can I possibly have with her?"

"Who knows?" Glen shrugged. "The adults knew that Angie continued to harbor affection for you. When her engagement with Charles was announced, she protested and resisted bitterly to the very end, even against her father. Said that she would rather marry you. Of course, the adults were having none of it, and wrote it off as a child's tantrum."

His expression then turned somber.

"Not much of a tantrum now, is it? Nobody thought she would go as far as betraying the clan and vowing to destroy it. Can't blame her. They really pushed her over the edge. Placing that much pressure on her from such a young age, controlling every aspect of her life, to the point where they decided who she should love, who she should marry, how she should behave, what she should learn, where she should be. If anything, I'm surprised she didn't snap earlier."

Outwardly Shun Yin ignored Glen as he continued to search for more clues on the warehouse's walls. There were signs of battle here, with traces of mana left over from cast spells. He was looking for any sign of Angelica's fire spells and superheated mana and was disappointed not to find any. Not that he was surprised.

Inwardly, his chest ached. So while he was searching for ways to become stronger and training to become a hero, an ally of justice, the girl he loved was suffering from cruel injustice. He couldn't imagine what sort of ordeals Angelica suffered through – all alone – while he was busily occupying himself with his dreams to become a heroic ally of justice.

Compared to his childhood, Angelica had to endure through hell – a hell created by her own family, isolating her from everyone else while her so-called parents treated her like a puppet or tool to further the agenda of their great family. Michael was probably the only one who treated her decently, but he was often regarded by the family as an outcast, an eccentric who wasn't fit to succeed as the next head.

That was why they passed over him to give the helm to Angelica. Angelica was deemed as someone with more potential, more talent than him. She was the once-in-a-lifetime genius, the person who could bring the Porter clan to greater heights. Compared to a prodigy like her, Michael seemed very average indeed, despite his very real achievements and all the work and contributions he had done for the family.

Reality was so unfair.

Cynically, Shun Yin wondered how the Porter clan was scrambling to declare Michael as the next head the moment Angelica turned her back on the family and betrayed them all. They put so much faith and invested so much in her, while holding no regard whatsoever for her psychological and emotional welfare, that the betrayal must be devastating and inconceivable. And now, their greatest weapon and tool had turned against them, almost guaranteeing their destruction. They had no choice but to turn to her still-loyal brother and pin their hopes on him instead.

Michael, being the valorous person he was, would certainly accept the role without complaint even though he had suffered quite the unfair mistreatment from them throughout these years. Not because he had any real attachment to the Porter clan, but because that was who he was. a responsible, heroic person who only selflessly cared about others without sparing a single thought for himself.

People might call him stupid, but that was exactly what Shun Yin admired Michael for, and why he aspired to become like him. To Shun Yin, the purity of that ideal, the noble sacrifice of himself to save others…that was beautiful. He had seen the reception of the people who were saved by Michael, the adoration he basked in, and while that was a secondary concern, he had to admit that he didn't hate that feeling.

Shun Yin hoped Michael was all right. It had been two weeks since he last saw him, when he received that letter from Angelica. He wondered how Michael was coping.

"So what did you find?"

Shun Yin snapped out of his thoughts when Glen's inquiry broke into his mind. He shook his head, partially to shake himself out of a daze.

"Nothing much. There was a battle here…seems like Michael was here."

"Eh? Cousin Mike? What was he…oh, never mind. If he was here, then it means that we were on the right track. But it also means we're too late and Angie and the shady organization she's working with have already moved out."

Shun Yin nodded distractedly, and then moved to the front door to enter the warehouse. There wasn't much stuff inside the warehouse – the interior was completely blackened, as if someone had incinerated the inside completely.

No doubt it was Michael.

"…this…"

Shun Yin knelt down next to a pile of ashes, instantly recognizing from the traces of mana that it had once been a person. An Assassin, from the shadowy mana that stubbornly clung to his or her remnants.

"Michael fought Assassins in here. Killed them all."

"Seems like it," Glen remarked dryly as he stared around at the scorched walls and floor. "We're late to the party. He didn't leave anything for us."

"That might not be true."

Shun Yin proceeded toward a singed computer terminal, which was covered in soot. Wiping off the ash and dust from it, he activated it and watched as a massive hologram was projected above it, displaying a map.

"He left this for us." Shun Yin studied the holographic map and moved his fingers over the graphic overlay, thinking hard. "He even marked out several locations he thought we might want to check. Left a message saying we might want to make a copy of this before the Porter clan arrives to take everything."

"Hey, I'm from the Porter clan too!" Glen complained, but he glanced outside the door to keep watch while Shun Yin downloaded a copy of the map. "Or I'm supposed to be, but sometimes I think they regard me and my dad as outsiders. They're not going to listen to me if I try to tell them that we're helping with the investigation."

"Their pride is off the charts," Shun Yin agreed. "They will never accept help from anyone outside the Porter clan. And now that their future leader and heiress has betrayed them, I think they kind of suffered some sort of psychological blow and might become more paranoid. If your father wasn't around to help out, I think they would have rounded all the non-Porter and non-affiliated students in Vermillion High and lock them up in a concentration camp for interrogation."

"Ha ha, you're exaggerating. They wouldn't go that far. But yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if they detain a few of the students and torture them for information. You'll probably be the top one in their list." Glen grimaced, and then glanced outside. "You done? I think they're here."

"Yeah." Shun Yin pulled out the micro flash drive and stuffed it into his pocket. "Let's go before they find us here."

The two high school students leaped up into a scorched and half-melted gantry on what seemed to be the second level of the warehouse. Carefully pushing open a burned window, they vaulted out of the warehouse on the opposite side of the main entrance, and began moving quickly.

In the distance, they could hear the screeching of tires as the convoy of Porter clan cars and vehicles pulled up at the front of the warehouse, followed by the stampede of footsteps as Porter clan staff in suits and sunglasses disembarked to conduct their own investigation of the warehouse.

"So where to next?" Glen asked as the duo continued to jog into the urban district.

Shun Yin paused for a moment, recalling what he saw in the map. One of the locations stood out particularly to him.

"Azure Aquarium."

"Huh?! Why the aquarium?!" Glen gasped in shock, totally not expecting the answer.

"That's one of the locations that Michael marked out in the map I just downloaded. And…" Shun Yin narrowed his eyes. "A possible place where they are conducting experiments."

"What kind of experiments? More spirit weapons? Why would they build spirit weapons in an aquarium of all places?" Glen was gaping at him.

"No, not spirit weapons. According to the data that Michael unearthed…the Assassins' data in that computer terminal we found…" Shun Yin turned his head to stare at Glen gravely. "They aren't satisfied with spirit weapons alone. They want to summon an actual spirit into our dimension."