"Yes, about a year ago, someone approached us with a job. We were to watch over your family and keep the media and other troublemakers away." The man explained in one breath, trying his best to not lose his composure.
'About a year ago, I survived the cosmic mana wave and soon after, awakened…' His thoughts went through the 'whys' of what the person said was feasible. But the part about someone hiring a group to protect his family for so long directed his mind to Zol Knight.
'I haven't spoken to him since our first meeting.'
Of course, he took the man's words with a grain of salt. There were still questions to be asked.
"Tell me everything." Alex urged him to continue. To make an accurate judgement of things, he needed to know everything.
The man nodded and wasted no time. He told Alex everything he knew as there was no reason to lie. From the group, he was a part of, what they did, how many there were, and the details of the job. He also told him how much the security detail had changed as well as the number of personnel still placed around their apartment complex.
Hearing everything the man said, he made a mental note to call Julia and see what she could dig up.
"Is there someone on my sister?"
At this point, the man had mostly regained his composure and answered Alex's question.
"No. There should be no one tailing her. Due to her being awakened and the decline in activity around your family, only your parents and little brother have a shadow.
Glancing at the man from the corner of his eyes, he lifted his left hand and instructed Xex to voice call Julia.
[Aww… Alex, did you miss me already? It's only been a few hours since we parted.] Julia's tone was that of joy and excitement. However, Alex did not have the luxury of playing around.
"Sorry Julia, but there is something I need you to confirm for me."
[Erm… okay?] Her tone changed to that of concern. Alex always played along whenever she joked around, but from his tone, something must have happened to him. She quickly queried.
[What is it? Did something happen?]
"I'll tell you everything later. Right now, I need you to find out something from your butler." He quickly told her his suspicion, leaving out the details for later.
From what the man explained earlier, a proxy was sent to their organization with the instructions on what they were meant to do. That meant Hunter Zol put someone in charge of the issue as he couldn't imagine Hunter Zol moving himself. This directed his thoughts to another figure, Julia's butler.
[Okay, hold on a second.] The call was put on hold. Alex then turned his attention to the man. His construct was still glued to his side. Until he got his answer, he wasn't calling off his weapon.
[James has confirmed that is indeed the case. His story checks out.] A reply came after a minute.
"Thanks, Julia. I'll call you once am done." He cut the call and then sighed. He felt grateful that Hunter Zol thought of him and his family's protection.
'So, that's the reason.'
He found it strange that even after the things he went through after the cosmic mana wave, no one really bothered him, especially the media. Now it all made sense, he was under protection the whole time.
'There's still some doubt though.'
While what the man said may be true, the man himself may be an imposter. There was nothing stopping the person or persons after his sister. For all he knew, they could have gotten the information from the actual person put in charge of watching Aaron.
Alex sighed. He just got back to catch a break from school, but this issue had already tied him down.
'What do I do?'
However, he didn't have to think for long as he received a file from Julia a moment later.
"Oh..." He was mildly surprised. The file contained information about the organization James hired for the job.
"Xex, find the profile of the man beside me in the file I just received." The prompt came a moment later, confirming the man's identity, making him sigh in relief.
He cancelled his construct and distanced himself a bit from the man and said with a kind smile.
"Sorry for the trouble. Your story checks out."
Hearing Alex's words took away the pressure the man was feeling. Having apologized, he got up to return to the arcade. However, before leaving the man, he told him to inform his boss to take their job seriously.
'Now, that leaves the anonymous person stalking sis. I still can't see any reason as to why they would do that. If there's anyone interesting in our family, it should be me.'
Something else didn't make sense to him. If the security arranged for them had been watching over them for almost a year with none of them the wiser, how come his sister was able to pick up on someone stalking her? If was as if…
'… as if they want her to know.' The thought scared him a little. Someone was doing an awful lot for whatever reason, and he didn't like it at all.
He rejoined his brother once he returned to their private room. After spending some time with him and showing him a few of the fancy moves he learned in the academy, they returned home.
Of course, he didn't say anything about the security detail to his parents. He didn't want them to be conscious of their actions. It was better if they went about their lives with little to no trouble.
'Making the security detail known to everyone will draw even more attention,' and it was the last thing he wanted.
When evening came, he called both Julia and Ross to inform them. He told them everything his sister said and his subsequence encounter with the security detail.
"Should I join you guys? I have nothing to do here anyway." Julia proposed once Alex proposed his plans to them. And since Ross was in the same city as Alex, he could easily come around to help him.
"You sure? Won't it inconvenience you?" he asked. What Alex was attempting to do could be dangerous if things go south. And while Ross would be joining him, it was only to accompany his sister in the event Alex had to separate from them once they noticed the suspect.
"Of course not. See you tomorrow!" Her voice was tinged with excitement as she ended the call on her side.