...…

While Shin and Cloe were enjoying their time together, there was a group of three people who were quite busy being a lookout for the mercenaries hired to harm Cloe.

"Tsk! This is quite a trick. We can't even properly pinpoint the locations of those guys," said Arthur with a frustrated tone.

"And with this number of people, we can't even properly fight here," added Arthur while sweeping his gaze at their surroundings.

Meanwhile, Lorraine was currently glaring sharply at the two with her arms crossed in front of her. "So, this is why you asked me to go here?"

"If only I know that this is what you mean earlier then I shouldn't have come with you," she added with a cold tone.

Hearing that, Arthur couldn't help but chuckle a little since it was his idea to ask Lorraine to come with them. And naturally, he also asked Leonard to be the one to invite her.

But he immediately suppressed his laughter when he saw her glaring at him so intensely. He then flashed a smile at her while saying. "Sorry for being the third wheel."

Lorraine became even more enraged the moment she heard that. But before her anger could explode, Leonard suddenly interrupted her by saying. "Hey, time to get back to work. Shin Bro and Sis Cloe are already getting away."

Hearing that, Lorraine couldn't help but rolled her eyes at him while saying. "What is the point of following them now? We already spent almost a day following them but those mercenaries that you guys are talking about haven't shown themselves yet!"

"From the looks of it, they are most likely not going to show up today. As if they are going to create a ruckus in a public place like this? If they did that – not only they are going to attract a lot of attention, but they will also alert the Police and Military forces stationed in this City."

Then she quickly got up from her seat before walking beside Leonard while saying. "So, how about we stop here right now and enjoy the rest of the day?"

She took a brief pause to turn her head towards Shin and Cloe's direction before adding. "Are you not jealous of those two?"

"What do you think? Should we also have a date of our own?" she added while turning her head back to Leonard. But right after she did that, she suddenly discovered that she was actually talking to air right now; both Arthur and Leonard suddenly disappeared.

Seeing that, she quickly swept her gaze at her surroundings, trying to find where the two ran off.

Not long after, she saw their figures running in a certain direction. And from the looks of it, they were chasing after someone.

"Did they finally spot one of the mercenaries?" she muttered to herself before chasing after them.

********

In the meantime, Cloe finally got tired of walking around in the amusement park and decided to look for another place.

"Still not tired?" asked Shin chucklingly before adding. "So, where do you want to go now?"

Cloe thought for a moment, trying to figure out where to go next. And while she was thinking, her eyes suddenly caught sight of the sky.

"Ah! Let's go to the off-road beach! Let's watch the sunset!" she said without removing her eyes from the sky.

Hearing that, Shin also turned his head at the sky before slightly nodding his head. "I guess it is a nice idea."

...

Not long after, Shin and Cloe arrived in a perfect spot to watch the sunset.

Cloe was holding her shoes in each of her hands as she cheerfully walked along the shore while playing with the moving waves. And following closely behind her was Shin who was wearing a smile while watching her.

That sight was reminding him of the time when they first met.

He just got adopted by the Springfield Family during that time, so he was still not that close with Arthur during those years.

There was a time where he was dragged by Arthur's mother to attend a party together with the siblings. But such things were not for Shin, so he just sneaked his way out of the party and went outside.

But it was only close to dusk at that time so the party hadn't started yet. And since he knew that he was going to wait for quite some time, he decided to sit in front of the shore not far from the venue and watched the beauty of the setting sun.

That time was peaceful which gave him time to think about the recent events that happened to him.

He might be still a child at that time. But because of the harsh training that he suffered in the training camp and the series of unexpected events that happened recently, made him see the meaning of life a little differently.

Unknown to him, it was also the time when his 'seed of hatred' started to grow faster. It was because of the hate that he felt about the unfairness that he had suffered despite being too young. And due to that, the accumulated weight that he was suppressing within his chest was about to explode.

But before he was swallowed by that darkness, a small yet delicate hand suddenly grabbed his arms and pulled him out from that darkness.

"Hey, why are you sitting here alone? The party is about to start."

And when Shin turned his head towards the direction of that face, he immediately saw the face of a beautiful little girl who was looking back at him innocently.

"Hey, Shin!"

Shin was immediately snapped out from a trance the moment he heard Cloe calling out for him. And that was when he realized that Cloe was staring at him intensely with a pair of squinting eyes together with her pouting lips.

Seeing that Shin finally came back to his senses, Cloe immediately asked with a suspicious tone. "Why are you dozing off again?"

When Shin saw that look on her face, he immediately raised his hand to pat her head and was about to say that it was nothing. But before he could even touch her head, Cloe quickly dodged his hand.

Shin suddenly paused his hand when he saw that and looked at her confusedly.

"Why are you trying to change the subject again? Are you hiding something?" asked Cloe while narrowing her eyes even more.

'Here we go again,' thought Shin as he watched Cloe's quick-changing mood acting up again.

He then took a brief pause and breathed deeply before saying. "Are we going to stay here and continue watching the sunset or are we going to fight? Because if it is the latter, then I guess it is better for us to head back now."

Hearing that, Cloe further squinted her eyes before saying. "That's unfair!"

And right after saying those words, she immediately threw a strong punch at Shin's abdomen with all her might.

Shin would naturally be able to perceive her movements before she could even throw that punch. But still chose not to dodge so that she could calm herself down.

Bang!

"Ugh!"

Though, that punch was stronger than he had expected.

Fortunately, he had a well-trained body. So, he didn't feel much aside from flinching a little due to the strong force behind her punch.

Then Shin chose not to do anything after that. He just stood on his spot and waited for Cloe to calm herself down.

A moment later, Cloe glared at Shin before turning around to continue their walk on the shore. But she only took a single step forward when Shin suddenly pulled her arm and hid her behind him.

Cloe was still in a bad mood because of what he had said earlier, but she immediately hid behind Shin when she noticed a group of unfamiliar people in front of them.

"So, you finally decided to show yourselves, huh?" said Shin as he swept his gaze at those guys, trying to look for someone.

"The dangerous guy that I sensed in the airport is not with them yet," muttered Shin after assessing their strengths.

At the same time, the man who was on the forefront of the opposing side was also trying to gauge Shin's strength by feeling his presence. Their leader told them earlier to be careful of this young man, so they needed to take this matter more seriously.

"We don't have much time; Boss and the others can't hold those bodyguards that long. So, just distract the boy while we are trying to secure our target." ordered by that man without removing his eyes at Shin.

And when the others heard his words, they immediately nodded their heads and started moving to surround Shin and Cloe.

In the meantime, Shin looked over his shoulder and said to Cloe. "Stay in your place. This will not take much time."

He was about to step forward while Cloe suddenly tightened her grip on his arms, feeling concerned.

Seeing that, Shin turned his head at her for another before softly patting her hand and reassuring her with a smile. "Don't worry, these guys can't do anything to me."

Hearing the confident tone of his voice, Cloe could only bite her lower lip while saying. "Just be careful."

Shin nodded his head at her after seeing Cloe let go of his arm.

After that, he started walking away from her as a transparent barrier made of Mental Energy was formed around Cloe to protect her.

Then he raised his head to look at the guys in front of them with cold eyes. And right after that, a chilling glint suddenly flashed on his eyes as a strong pressure was released from his body.

"I don't know your business with her. But I must say that you guys really picked the worst time to act."

...