Chapter 9: Pocket Book

High school and elementary school kids swarmed the university entrance to greet their parents with sloppy kisses. The kids were worn out, but their smiles betrayed their eagerness to go home.

I had been standing here, experimenting with my breathing, for some time. When I checked my ring, I saw that its sparkling shimmer had faded. I also looked in the area where I had seen the strange shadow earlier, but it wasn't there and I couldn't locate it anywhere else, either.

It wasn't until we were standing outside the school's main gate that I realized his hand was still on my wrist. Dwayne still blocked my view from where I was unable to witness the double crash.

“D-Dwayne…” I called out to him in a low voice, reluctant to confront him. I could probably just release my wrist from his without worrying about hurting him or anything if he weren't the group leader.

I attempted to wriggle my arms out of his grip, but his hand was too strong for me like a cement dried up around my wrist. I gave it another go, and this time I didn't care about him complaining later on; I pushed as hard as I could until I felt my wrist twisting on its own.

When I unknowingly put my foot on a rock, Dwayne instantly turned around and grabbed my back. “Magissa!” He yelled, but his voice sounded calm and icy despite his apparent surprise. When I heard him yell *Magissa*, one of my eyebrows sprang up.

My shocked stare met his nonchalant one. As soon as he assisted me to my feet again, curiosity got the better of me, prompting me to ask. "Who's Magissa?"

Dwayne paused for a moment. I could see Adam's apple moving up and down once as he was swallowing perhaps his saliva. He then looked away and said, “It’s nothing for you to be concerned about.”

I froze in my feet when he said that. I mean, he got the point. Why would I even bother myself about who that woman is?

Dwayne then looked at me back and his stare made me almost jump away from my spot. “I should be expecting your assignment to be finished before tomorrow ends. I’ll be expecting an email from you on or before 11:59 PM. Understood?” he specified, making my forehead wrinkled.

“W-What? Tomorrow?”

“Yes, why? Do you have a problem with it *Ms. Plasmata*?”

My spine chilled at the sound of him emphasizing my last name. Before nodding, I blinked my eyes many times while staring intently into his. “Fine.”

Dwayne mulled about what had occurred, thinking, "It's not safe to travel home alone this time," as the authorized personnel took control of the possible explosion.

"Come to me, I'll drive you home," Dwayne's abrupt offer left me perplexed and wondering what on earth was going through his head.

Rumors claim that he is so full of himself and arrogant that no one would ever take him seriously if he tried to pass as a gentleman vibe. As he walked directly back to the university, I lingered here, my head cocked in confusion. *What is up with men today?* Mackenzie was the first to reach out to me, and now it's Dwayne's turn to behave like a *kind* human being.

“Are you coming with me or not?”

As soon as I heard Dwayne's voice a few feet away from where I was standing, I snapped back into my normal state of awareness. Given that there was an accident now, surely, I still can't obtain a taxi cab even though it's been a while since it happened. Getting a vehicle back to the house is going to be a hundred percent twice the challenge.

I heaved a sigh and nodded. “Y-Yeah! Wait for me!”

Once we were free of traffic, there was a lengthy, uncomfortable silence in Dwayne's car. I was sitting next to the driver's seat, so I had to keep my eyes on the road to avoid becoming bored with the stillness. Dwayne switched on the car radio, which prompted me to check him again by accident. Then I saw a book on the floor next to the shift knob.

It wasn't the size of the book or its cover that piqued my curiosity—that made me buckle up my seat; rather, it was the title.

*The Information You Shouldn’t Know*

*Behind the History of “A Werewolf’s Epitome Existence Book”*

When Dwayne noticed that I stared at it, he quickly hid it in his bag. Immediately, I asked, “Why did you get it from my sight?”

Dwayne answered while still on the way without glancing at me. “Not everyone is ready to read that book.”

To which I replied, "And how did you know you were ready for it before you decided to buy it?"

Dwayne remained silent. So, I declined insisting on an answer and instead asked him something else. "Where did you get that book?"

This is not the exact book I was looking at, but I should be able to glean some information and get a feel for the subject matter from it, especially about the ring and its phenomena. And… to what *Glorious Mayhemum in Posterum Servabo* means.

“Can you please stop asking questions? You should be asking about our group project rather than anything else unnecessary,” he reprimanded me. I held on to my seat when he accidentally pressed the accelerator. His eyebrows creased which made his eyes almost shut close. I leaned my back on the passenger’s seat. “You’re a scholar but you’re incompetent. You are just wasting our money,” he whispered through the air coming out from his mouth, but I could still hear it.

*That was an insult.*

My eyes were welling up and my lips were watering with the desire to tell him my reasons. But even thinking about arguing with him will surely make me cry uncontrollably, so I decided to collect my thoughts before responding.

“I-I just want to know because I want to figure out something…”

“Figure it out once you’re done with the assignment—”

My phone vibrated.

It was Yvar calling. After a while, I saw that he had been contacting and messaging me since a while ago together with Nera. My phone had been on mute the whole time, and I forgot to disable it! I put my phone on mute since we aren't permitted to use them in class.

I quickly picked up the phone. “Hello, Yvar. I am so sorry—”

“Big sister! I have been calling you multiple times! There’s no time to explain everything but please come to the PE Building. Celeste fell on the adult’s swimming pool!”

*W-What?*

“WHAT?!”

Dwayne glanced at me, startled by my voice.

“Alright, I’ll go there!”

I hung up and instantly turned to face Dwayne. “We need to go back to school. My sister was in an accident!” I told him, hunting him to drive me back to the university. “I’m sorry for this but I’ll make sure to finish my part before tomorrow’s lunch time; just drive me back to school…”

Not a single syllable came out of Dwayne's mouth. He did nothing more than sit back on the driver's seat, let out a long sigh, and steer the vehicle towards the region where U-turns were not permitted, which caused me to feel out of breath.