11 The Information Broker

"That sounds great!", Diana chimed in before turning to Ryan. "You have to accept it, Ryan."

"It's like I am meeting Diana for the first time here.", Adrian commented, flabbergasted by her bipolar behavior.

"I have no problems with this idea. My objectives are easier to accomplish if I have a clear line of communication with the student council." Ryan nodded. "Just don't let others know about it."

"Okay, now that we've dealt with this issue, let us disband for our classes now. If anyone notices any rumblings around, inform us. Ryan, please check the student council group chat." Adrian bid farewell as he left.

Everyone slowly left with the except of Diana, Ryan, and Lily. Ryan looked at Diana.

"Are you planning to stay here?"

"...Yes.", she replied.

"I need to discuss something regarding my mission with Lily, I can't have you listening in." Ryan shook his head as he spoke out clearly. Messing around was fine, but when it came to the job he did not compromise.

"M-mission? I-I underst-tand.", Diana suddenly started stuttering before she nodded and left.

'He must be making a plan to protect me. I won't disturb him then.' Such a misunderstanding was born in her mind.

Lily saw this and smiled.

"She really behaves like a different person in front of you. Or should I say her mask is unveiled in front of you?", Lily asked with a poignant smile.

"She will grow out of it. " Ryan said as he shook his head.

"I wonder about that~"

"Let us leave that aside. I'd like detailed information about a particular student in this school, with an emphasis on his past behavior contrasted with his more recent behavior." Ryan got to the point.

"Oh, that's quite simple. I thought you would have wanted something more difficult to get." Lily teased.

"I am unsure how wide your web is spread, or rather, how wide you are willing to spread the web..." Ryan commented with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, take a look at my file on you and decide for yourself.", Lily smirked as she threw a file across the table to Ryan, who briefly glanced at it.

"Alright then, since you already know this much, I won't beat around the bush. I need the entire history of the student named Zeke. I also need the locations of all small explosion activities happened around Meel District's low tier suburbs in the month preceding the incident and any news about an individual with the capabilities of shooting red lasers - typically some kind of local thug in the low tier suburbs."

When Lily heard his demands she was startled.

"Your appetite is quite large, Ryan." Lily sighed.

"Better if you can do it, it is for your own safety after all."

"You mean to say... they might all be connected?" Lily analyzed.

"For now... it is just a hunch. So what do I exchange for this information?"

"Just knowing what your hunch is can be considered half payment. As for the rest, just answer me one question." She said as she toyed with her key chain. "Are you lying about your ability?"

"That my ability is a low tier-low potential levitation ability? Sure, I am lying about it." Ryan answered nonchalantly. "It should be the most obvious thing, even the government does not believe me when I say that."

"Then why would you continue to say that?" Lily could not hold back her curiosity.

"Since I continue to insist the same despite it being so implausible, and that others know that it would be a bad lie, they can't help but wonder inside if it probably is true.", Ryan said as he smiled. "May I lied to you just now. Maybe that really is the extent of my ability and perhaps I have discovered a new path through combat mastery?"

"You really are glib and experienced.", Lily laughed out. "Indeed, I suspected the same before this. But now I do think that you are hiding your true ability. The real question is why though?"

Ryan smiled and didn't answer. "Sooner you can get the information on that student, the better. He was the one inciting the mob."

Lily nodded.

---

University Hospital.

In the permanent patient's ward, a new occupant had arrived. A young boy with severe bruises all over his body and the small embers of flames still occasionally lighting up in them which made his body shiver in pain. The boy was awake, however, he could not move any part of his body below his neck.

"This poor child, he lost his entire family in the Meel Incident. He lost everything. He can't move his body. He hasn't spoken a word since he has arrived here." A nurse said sympathetically.

"He would not have survived if it were not for the hero who pulled him out of danger, but it was already too late for anything else."

While the boy was watching the television without any response or reaction, a discussion about the hero propped up on the news.

"Do you think the hero is good for our society? Some feel he is a threat to our stable order.", The news anchor spoke about the current talking points.

The boy's eyes flickered as he saw the viral video of the hero saving people being broadcasted.

"If I had such abilities, I could have saved mom and dad. I could have saved other people too and protected them from harm. I could have... saved myself. Why... did I have to become like this." He murmured as tears started falling from the sides of his eyes like a river.

The nurses had already left his room and he was alone. As he cried with regret and wished that history had been different until he fell asleep. A few hours into the night, a sudden bright light enveloped the room. The essence of Divine Power flooded the area sourced from the boy's chest outshining everything in the universe temporarily before slowly fading away, a small glow in the shape of a square embedded within the boy's chest.