“Are they dead?” Kyle asked as he and Scarlet approached the colpsed hitmen.

  “No, it’s just a little trick to send them to sleep,” Scarlet replied, looking down at the men lying at her feet. “If you want, I could weave a nightmare into their dreams ahem trapped until I release them or the spell wears off.”

  “Nah, they’re just following orders. The bme lies with the one who wields the bde, not the bde itself,” Kyle said, though his gaze lingered on them with a hint of disdain. “Even so, they're far from det.”

  Scarlet shrugged. She didn’t know much about dealing with mafias and the underworld – her expertise y in fighting monsters and support in vanquishing them. “So, what’s the pn?”

  “Leave it to Uncle . He knows how to hahis sort of thing,” Kyle said, patting Scarlet’s head gently. His voice softened as he tinued, “I’m sorry, Scarlet. I promised you a better life, but it looks like I’m breaking that promise now.”

  Scarlet looked up at her adoptive father.

  He had done his utmost to be a responsible and dependable adult – or, more accurately, the kind of father a child could be proud of, someone she could rely oe his young age, and the fact that she wasn’t an i child but oh an old soul, he had mao build a stable life for them both. His piano students often envied her, thinking she had the best dad in the world.

  He longed for a peaceful life, at least until Scarlet reached adulthood. They’d talked about her future as a priestess, her pn to travel through Celtids to se the restless spirits. This time was crucial for her to master the necessary magid bat skills. Yet...

  “Well, I’ve sort of expected this ever since I met you iique shop,” Scarlet said casually. “People like us usually have a sixth senses for these things. The moment I saw you, I sensed a tradi within you - much like myself, but in a different form.”

  “That’s why you gave me the pendant?”

  “Yeah. Good people deserve better lives. I didn’t expect the pendant would be needed so soon though. I figure it might e in to py years ter, maybe in a car crash or something.”

  Kyle chuckled, “And instead, it’s a gunshot and mafias – pletely out of your predis.”

  “Exactly.” Scarlet smiled, leaning against his slender leg, “Don’t worry, I’m a caster. No one harm me - I won’t be your ot.”

  “I know.” Kyle replied, making up his mind.

  The young master of the Hong-Tachibana gaurned, bringing storms and thunder with him, shaking the entire underworld of Hong Kong and Japan, and even making ripples in neighb tries. His name soon echoed through the underworld of Southeast Asia and parts of a and Korea.

  The onified gang officially split into two fas. One gained legal status, f a bodyguard pany to maintain a “minimal” level of forecessary to fend off threats that might drag them bato the mud. The other fa was expelled, taking with them all underground resources to form a new gang, pletely severing ties with the inal group. The police were pleased with this development, with rumours suggesting they were actively hunting down the expelled members for their involvement in drug and gun traffig – activities the Hong Kong police find intolerable.

  Now, the young master leads a newly reformed, legitimate multinational corporation called Rede, being a CEO before even reag his thirties.

  It took Kyle about a year to achieve this, with Scarlet spending most of that time in Japan. The more spacious enviro in Japan pared to Hong Kong allowed her to practice her spear skills without drawing sideways gnces, as her training was seen as “h family tradition” - a fairly on practice among Japan’s old-money families.

  Of course, she remained an outsider among those old families, a fner with her spear. But with some fog on inse, others on kendo, Japanese archery, ninja skills, wood carving, fan making, paper crafting, cloth weaving, and traditional dance performances, practig the spear didn't seem so out of pce. In fact, the members of the Tachibana were impressed by her dedication to training, reising it as the true spirit of a successor of Tachibana. This was a rare pliment from a Japao an outsider as they are typically quite insur when it es to culture and identity.

  She felt somewhat awkward and speechless when overheard someone referring to her as “the princess of the Tachibana family” - Tachibana was not only a yakuza/mafia gang but also a family with a name and symbol lio the royals from turies past.

  Regardless, it was a relief that no one questioned her spear practi Japan as time goes by. It remained a low-key activity, known only to a few, and not publicised.

  Mr. Hong and Lady Sato became the chairpersons of the board of the Rede Corporation and provided her with a substantial amount of pocket money, which she initially didn’t know what to do with until Kyle assigned her a mao hahese matters.

  “This is William Graywood,” Kyle introduced, gesturing to a middle-aged man who looked like a quintessential British gentleman. “He’ll assist you with anything requiring an adult’s intervention, as I’ll be quite busy with work. If you two get along, he’ll serve you until his retirement, though I ’t say when that might be...You let him handle anything.”

  “Anything?” Scarlet asked, raising an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, he owes my dad - yrandpa - his life...multiple times, to be exact. He wants to repay that debt, but we don’t need such services. I thought you might,” Kyle said with a strained smile. He leaned closer and whispered, “Help, yrandpa was very troubled by his stubbornness. After he found out my dad decided to retire, he ged his pn and stuck close to me, g he o protect me in case I’m targeted for assassination...”

  “...Why is that?”

  “I don’t know. Perhaps it’s an old geion thing?” Kyle shrugged. “You’d be our saviour if you manage him. He’s a good guy, that much is certain. Treat him well.”

  “...Alright, if you say so.” Scarlet shrugged. She approached William and asked, “Do you know Batman has a butler?”

  “Yes, I’m aware of it, Ms. Hong.” Since learning he would be serving the young dy of the former Hong-Tachibana gang - now the princess of the burgeoning Rede Corporation – William had studied everything necessary to take care for a young girl, including popur ics. Although he assumed she might be more ied in Disney films, he’d brushed up on superhero ics as well. “His name is Alfred, a former SOE operative.” This reminded him of his days with MI6.

  “Well, I need an Alfred.” The red-haired girl looked at him seriously and sincerely, which he found quite endearing. “Could you be my Alfred?”

  “Of course.” William bowed elegantly.

  And so, Scarlet became a businesswoman – well, a businessgirl, given her age. With the siderable pocket money she had and with her dad’s bag, she decided to i it all in charity. Her goal was to support impoverished vilges by rebranding their products and finding suitable markets for them, smoothing out the marketing process to help them gaih – it was the “teach them to fish” approach rather than just providing handouts.

  It worked well, and her small pany even turned a profit, which was ued, as she initially thought her charity business would earn her nothing but reputation.

  Travelling bad forth between Engnd and Asia became her routine. With the Queen residing in Sd, Scarlet preferred to stay close to her. She even bought a house in Sd for summer vacations, allowio have a surface reason to visit the Shadowy Land and pay her respects.

  Scáthach weled her warmly, often receiving books from the current era. Iurn, the Queen provided more training, giving her a thh workout for her own good. Scarlet learned a great deal from the Queen...and William, after disc her magical abilities, took a few mio process this information but remained calm and professional. He tio study ics, particurly the Batman series secretly for inspiration on how to take care of an unusual young master...

  Anyway, she thought she would tinue her days as usual, pnning when to publish a new book, how to study for exams to skip grades again, her pany’s future strategies, and mapping out her jourhrough all the aspects of Celtic beliefs. Then one day, a kno the door revealed a dy dressed in a peculiar attire.

  The dy wore a near dark green robe and a pointy hat, remi of a witch from a children’s book. She handed Scarlet a letter, which surprised her further when she saw the name of the school on it.

  It read: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

  Kyle, who was on a week’s break staying at their house near London - where he had oaught piano - looked puzzled. Even William, a local Brit, seemed taken aback.

  Scarlet was momentarily stunned, memories from her previous life regarded this school flooding back. After a long pause, she asked, “I thought...I was supposed to receive the letter by owl?”

  The dy, though a bit surprised, responded calmly, “That’s for students with at least one magical parent uardian. For students from non-magical families - like yours, with no magic at all - we send staff to meet them in person to expin and guide them through the process, including purchasing the supplies needed for attending the school.”

  This revetion surprised Kyle and William, who had known about Scarlet’s magical abilities but had never heard her mentioers bei by owls, let alone a school that teaches magic. Although they were uain about the situation, they remained silent. Both of them looked at Scarlet, waiting for her response.

  Oher hand, Professonagall, who e to deliver the letter, found the situation intriguing. She had sent out maers and had observed various rea from parents upon learning that their child would bee a wizard. Some de ht, refusing to discuss it further; some were delighted, seeing it as the best gift they could receive; others were sceptical, suspeg it rank pnned by TV shows...But this was the first time she had entered a parent and a butler calmly receiving the letter, and the prospective student herself was calmer than any child she had met.

  “Well, Madame Magall...”

  “Professonagall, since you will be attending the school.”

  Scarlet frowned slightly but quickly maintained her polite smile. “Professonagall, is it possible for me to dee the offer?”

  “Why?” Professonagall asked, surprised, “Hogwarts is the best wizarding school in the world. I’m certain you won’t find a better one.”

  “Well, this wasn’t part of my pns for the future,” Scarlet replied. “I have a clear vision for my path, and attending school wasn’t an option, even if it’s a magie.”

  “But without proper education, yical powers could lose trol at any moment,” Professonagall said persuasively. “I’m sure you’ve experienced some of these nuances over the past few years. These weren’t acts, but rather a sign of yic growing strn them could lead to more severe and ued sequences, eveh. Regardless of Hogwarts, you o attend a magical school to learn how to trol your power.”

  The three of them exged gnces.

  Scarlet had no real issue trolling her powers; in fact, she had been praised by the Queen st month for her creativity in using magic when she delivered additional books at the Queen’s request.

  After a moment of silence, she looked at Kyle, whed, indig that she should do what she felt was right and that he would support her regardless. William, however, nodded in agreement, perhaps having weighed the pros and s and cluded that attending Hogwarts would be a beneficial choice.

  “Very well, Professonagall,” she said sincerely, bowing. “I agree to attend Hogwarts. Please guide me oh to acquiring magical knowledge.”

  AnnouFinally, no more chapters about Scarlet's past! Thanks for the patience [OwO]