"Ie from a small, out-of-the-way town," Mirabe said, her hands casually tucked in her coat pockets, giving off aid-back vibe.


    This was a stark contrast to Yara''s upbringing, filled with etiquette lessons from an


    early age.


    Yara didn''t mind, though. In fact, she felt a twinge of envy. "A small town sounds nice. Less hustle and bustle."


    Mirabe responded with a nonchnt smile.


    Their conversation meandered as they made their way to meet up with ze and the others. They were currently touring the perimeter of the research building at Riverside University due to ess restrictions. Soon enough, the professor led the group away.


    As they were leaving, Summer, approaching theb building from the opposite direction, noticed some figures departing but couldn''t pinpoint Mirabe among them.


    But her mind was elsewhere.


    Once inside theb building, Summer swiped her card and headed straight to the seventh floor.


    Joen had been holed up in theb since morning, still deep in his work when Summer walked in.


    "What brings you here today?" Joen asked, surprised to see her.


    Summer caught the curious look on Joen''s face. Ever since spotting Mirabe''s name on the exchange program list, she''d been mulling over how to ry the information.


    That''s why she went straight to theb.


    "Professor, I need to talk to you about something." Summer pulled out the list from her pocket, marked Mirabe''s name with a pen from a nearby table, and handed it over to Joen.


    Joen looked at the list, puzzled. "This is... Mirabe? Who''s that?"


    Summer clenched her fingers slightly and replied, "She''s the special person I mentioned before."


    Joen looked at her, still not quite getting the importance of the list.


    "Professor, this is the list of students in the exchange program," Summer exined calmly.


    Joen finally caught on. "The exchange program starts tomorrow, right? So she''ll show up here then?"


    "Yes," Summer nodded.


    Holding the paper, Joen put one


    hand on his hip, pacing a bit in


    After a moment, he turned


    Summer. "Are you sure she''s


    get something unusual about her?"


    Thinking about Mirabe from both her past and now, Summer nodded firmly. "Absolutely."


    Joen trusted Summer; she wasn''t one to make wild ims. He nced at the list again and said, "Alright, try to bring her to theb tomorrow."


    Summer hesitated. "I don''t think I can."


    They were at school, after all, with plenty of eyes watching. She couldn''t just whisk someone away.


    Joen walked into an office and came back with a syringe. "This will make her briefly unconscious. When she wakes up, she won''t remember thest hour."


    Summer took the syringe reluctantly, still uneasy. "But professor, this is at school."


    "Don''t worry. It''s just for some tests.


    We''ll let her go as soon as we get the data. Nothing will go wrong," assured her, sounding like he had done this many times before.


    "Alright, I''ll give it a shot," Summer said, slipping the syringe into her pocket. Not keen to linger, she added, "Professor, I''ll head back now."


    Joen, now taking a call, turned his back to her and waved a hand, signaling her to leave.