126 Deletion (2)

Jules instantly grabbed the attention of Alex who was content of ignoring me for the duration of the cleanup. He showed his usual smile that brought him swarms of fangirls just yesterday. Yulee, Jules' partner listened into our conversation with great interest while pretending she was busy with her nicely decorated nails filled with flashy gems and glitter.

She lightly smirked like she couldn't hold it in as other upperclassmen pretended they weren't listening in as well. I spotted some eyes momentarily glance in my direction as they waited for my response. I planned to stay ignorant to buy me some time since the others didn't seem to know the whole story.

"What do you mean?" I pretended I was falsely accused.

I acted as if I was greatly saddened by his sudden announcement. Fake tears instantly glistened my eyes as I wobbled with every step. I fiddled with his hand, pretending we were close to make it seem like the betrayal was even bigger. I pulled out Luke's family card that was never useful until today.

"How could you accuse your to-be-cousin?" I whimpered, trying to act as pitiful as possible.

"Don't be like this Rika," He calmly patted my head.

The crowd around us quickly increased as more students began to finish their tasks of cleaning up the area. Everyone seemed to want to watch the discord among the most prestigious families to gossip in social week later on. They pretended to help more of the students who struggled with the deletion in this area when no help was needed.

"You can prove your innocence by showing your inventory in front of us here," Jules pretended to care about me.

"How can I show my entire inventory to all these people?" I told the people around us that I knew they were listening to our exchange.

"Of course, we can go to a private place," Jules teleported Alex and I to the empty park.

The next time I blinked my eyes, I found myself swallowed up in a sea of trees. The familiar park bench I sat in when the deletion started instantly told me where I was. I was a few miles away from the roadway I was previously in before.

"Can you let this go?" I immediately asked Jules, knowing he already knew I had the album in my possession.

"Don't be like this Rika, you know I can't." He demanded me to pass over the last remaining item that transferred from my former life into this world.

"Stop being stubborn Rika," Alex took Jules' side with no hesitation.

If I couldn't keep the album, I needed to make some conditions to get most from this exchange. Although Lilika Yuri was important to me, my supply of junk food, manga and light novels were just as important. But most of all, getting rid of this necklace was most important. If I was free to go wherever I wanted, I could hide all my purchases in the apartment I recently purchased just like Ben's sister hid all her supplies in her secret villa.

"Fine, but I have my conditions." I smiled with my perfect plan that ran through my head.

"What is it?" Jules' façade slowly broke with impatientness as his voice that was dripping with honey was no more.

"One simple request. I want this necklace off." I pointed on the accessory that hung around my neck.

"Alex has one of the keys to take it off." I revealed to Jules.

"How about we exchange the items at the same time?" Jules didn't ask Alex for his input.

I nodded my head, pleased with the deal as I immediately pulled out the album from my inventory. While Jules threw the album into the black hole, Alex simultaneously placed the necklace off my neck. I wondered if Jules had more power over Alex as he did as he was told even though he disagreed.

It was time to say goodbye to this dreary second district as I was done with looking up into the polluted sky. But I didn't feel like going to the first district to face Luke, knowing I would get in trouble. I quickly scanned my body to check how much mana remained to figure out what I should do next.

I hid my joy when I had enough mana to teleport back to that border while both Jules and Alex had exhausted theirs to the point they couldn't follow me. I had enough money in my card to use in the third district without touching the money given by Luke's family which could be traced. I felt apologetic to my family, but my family home was the exact place where they expected me to visit.

Alex was a split second late when he discovered I was about to teleport to somewhere else. I smiled as I waved them farewell with their surprised face that greeted me before I landed near the lake. The school should have never forced me to study the detailed maps of each district.

I knew how to get around up to the third district quite easily. I stepped into the lake that acted like a secret passageway to those who possessed mana. Who knew it was this easy to get to the third district from the unguarded second district?

The bright morning light, opposite of the district I was in before, welcomed me back home.