The journey back to Jasmine’s home was one where neither Jasmine nor Tim had anything to say. They had walked out of the den of a monster, and they weren’t yet sure if they had done so with a bigger monster.

Nearing her home, Jasmine started getting scared. “What if they come back for me?” she asked. “What if they try to hurt me or the kids?”

“No worries,” Ning answered. “I got the two others to help the kids, didn’t I?”

They arrived back home. Fabian and Malenna welcomed the three.

“Sister, who are these people? They said they were going to take care of us now,” one of the kids who had returned from school asked.

“Yes,” Jasmine said quickly. “I’m going to go away for a while, so I had this brother bring some of his friends to look after you all while I’m gone.”

She looked up at Fabian and Malenna, who stood by Ning, letting him sit on the couch.

“Those two brothers and sister are going to help take care of you all while I’m gone. Make sure to be good and follow what they say, okay?” Jasmine asked.

The young boy nodded slowly and looked a the two.

Fabian and Malenna looked like statues standing next to Ning. Their respect for Ning was such that they wouldn’t sit at the same level where Ning was sitting.

If they had to, they would sit on the floor instead.

“I was going to make you some tea, Sir, but this house has nothing worth consuming. I fear this world has nothing worth consuming, so I decided not to make anything,” Malenna said. “Would you like it if I went back to get something good for you?”

“Don’t bother,” Ning answered. “You will find this world isn’t as good as Earth, but you will need to learn to live with that.”

“I understand,” the woman said.

“I have placed some books in your rings about this world, read them at your leisure, and take care of the kids here. You can take in more kids if they are orphans as well.”

Fabian checked his ring for a second and nodded. “I will do as you ask of me,” he said. “Also, I… I ended up making a few people angry,” Ning said. “I threatened them enough that they probably won’t do anything, but on the off chance that they do, make sure to take care of the kids in that as well.”

“Who did you threaten, Sir?” Fabian asked.

“Some guy called Captain Darkwater,” Ning said offhandedly. “He’s from the town over, a gang leader of sorts. Probably nothing to worry about.”

Fabian stepped forward. “Should I go kill him now?” he asked, pulling a sword out of nowhere, one that gleamed like starlight. Ning frowned. “Put that away,” he said quickly. “You don’t have to go looking out to kill that man. He’s just a mortal. Remember, everyone here is a mortal, so treat them like little children.”

“I understand,” Fabian said.

“Still,” Ning added. “If he does come after the children. You are free to do whatever you want to them.”

It took a while for all the kids to get back and Jasmine told everyone what was happening. After a while of talking to the kids, Jasmine said her goodbyes and was finally ready to leave.

Jasmine tied her hair behind her, half of it in a braid and the other half flowing down her back. She no longer had it cupping her face, showing only part of her face. She let it fully show her face.

Tim was wide-eyed for a few seconds as he had not imagined that Jasmine could possibly look this beautiful with just a simple change of hair.

“Why did you keep your hair like that?” Ning asked her. “You look prettier this way.”

“I know,” Jasmine said. “That is exactly why I had to do so. Given my line of job, I can’t make it easy for others to recognize me, can I?”

“Ah!” Ning said.

The two older kids came to the train station to watch the group depart.

Ning got onto the train along with the other two. They waved at everyone on the platform, and within a few minutes, they were leaving.

“Take care of the kids. I’ll be back in no time,” Ning said to Fabian and Malenna.

“Listen to your seniors, okay? And do well in your studies,” Jasmine told the kids.

“Don’t worry, sister,” the girl said.

“We’ll take care of ourselves,” the boy answered.

The train left the platform, and soon enough, they were on their way to the western shores of Warfort.

Jasmine sniffed for a few minutes before looking at Ning and Tim. “So, what exactly is it that we are doing to the West? You mentioned, Airan?” “We’re going to meet the pope,” Ning said.

Jasmine froze for a couple of seconds before reacting. “Wait, pope?” she asked loudly, before looking around at the compartment they were in.

There was no one here, so she didn’t have to worry about anything. “What do you mean by pope?” she asked.

Ning looked at her with a questioning gaze. “What else could I mean?” he asked.

“You mean THE Pope?” she asked. “You know the pope?”

“Nope, never met the guy,” Ning said.

“Huh? Then how do you expect to meet him?” she asked him.

“I don’t know. We will find out when we get there, I suppose,” Ning said. “For now, we just have to make it in time to our destination within the next 12 hours. I don’t want to waste an entire day doing nothing if we miss our ride.”

“If we’re going to Airan, then we’ll have to go to Cogonia,” Jasmine said. “Can either of you speak Cogonese?” “Don’t worry about language,” Ning said. “I can speak everything. You two should be able to as well.”

“Oh, okay,” Jasmine said. “If that is so, then we might not have any problem going there.”