The Mentor and The Ten Heroes

Chapter 4

Olivia walked alone, crossing the winding deserted streets, with bloodshot eyes, after being kicked out of the residence of her classmate, namely Paul. Olivia's heart hurt, because of her good intentions to help Paul, but was rejected harshly. This surprised Olivia, she understood, that in fact, in this world, not everyone would be happy if someone else helped them, there are some people who would get angry when someone else wanted to help them, like Paul for example.

The sky had started to turn yellow, which meant that the afternoon had turned into evening. Soon the sun would set, and stupidly, Olivia still hadn't come home. On the way, Olivia is worried about herself if her parents realize that her only daughter is coming home late. She would definitely be scolded all out, if found out.

This is all Paul's fault, Olivia thought irritably. Yes, according to her, all this because of Paul. If the man had brought his bag before leaving, Olivia would not have bothered to visit Paul's house, just to give him the bag he left behind in class. Really annoying. Also, if Paul had taken his bag before going home, Olivia wouldn't have experienced this kind of painful thing, either, being kicked out disrespectfully by the person she helped. An insult that was very painful, this was the first time Olivia had felt it. It really hurts.

The girl kept walking dreamily with a sobbing nose, holding back her tears that would drip again. Olivia was also actually angry at herself because; wasting her time and tears just to remember and cry over that evil man. Obviously someone like Paul is not worth crying for, in fact, her tears are too expensive just to cry for a delinquent man.

"Come on Olivia, don't cry anymore! That's enough! That's enough! Calm yourself, okay!"

Olivia tried to calm herself down so as not to cry, because it would be so embarrassing if one saw her wet face, people would think that she was a poor girl. And Olivia hated being looked upon as pitiful like that.

However, her steps stopped abruptly, because there were a bunch of fireflies blocking her path, they flew towards Olivia's face, the light from the fireflies that came at her was getting brighter and more colorful, making the girl amazed. This was the first time Olivia had seen fireflies, there were many of them, and their lights were colorful. Olivia was so amazed.

"So beautiful. I don't know why you guys suddenly appeared in front of me, but my goodness, This is my first time seeing fireflies, and I didn't expect that you guys turned out to be this beautiful!"

Occasionally the fireflies landed on Olivia's hair, nose, ears, shoulders and hands, making the girl a little amused, until finally they flew again circling her body. The fireflies continued to hover, circling around Olivia's legs, body all the way to the top of Olivia's head. Olivia feels like a Cinderella being bewitched by tiny fairies to get a dress and glass slipper. How fun.

In fact, because she was so absorbed in the fun, Olivia forgot that at this moment, the sky was almost black. And the girl was even playing with the tiny animals flying around her body.

"OLIVIAAAAAAA!"

Olivia immediately looked back, when she heard someone calling her name. And if you listen carefully, the voice of the person calling her feels very familiar, not too foreign. And when he saw a man running from a distance, came to her, with clothes dirty with mud and the back of his hand bleeding as if he had hit something. It finally dawned on her, that the person who was currently running was,

"It's Paul! But why did he suddenly come to me like that!?"

"Finally got around to it." Arriving in front of Olivia, Paul caught his breath, smiling happily. The sweat made Paul's whole body wet, including his clothes.

“H-Hey!? Why are you--”

"Apparently you guys are here. That's good! My guess was right." Paul smiled a wide smile looking at the fireflies that were flying around Olivia's body, then, his gaze shifted to the girl's face. "Ummm... you must be surprised to hear me scream calling you that, so... sorry, Olivia."

Olivia's cheeks immediately reddened instantly, after hearing the word 'sorry' that came out of Paul's mouth. The feeling of hatred, resentment, and great annoyance towards Paul, vanished completely with just one word 'sorry'. Making Olivia herself confused about her own feelings. In fact, her negative feelings toward Paul quickly turn into feelings of shame, awkwardness, and confusion.

But, Olivia quickly regained her senses, so as not to get carried away by trivial things. This was what she hated herself for, being so easily swayed by something trivial. Because of that, Olivia desperately tried to recall the pain of being treated harshly by Paul, so that her negative feelings towards the man grew again. And little by little, finally Olivia began to regain her 'hatred' for Paul.

In a cold tone, Olivia answered Paul's words, "You said 'sorry'?" She snorted. "That's ridiculous. Even though you kicked me out harshly, now suddenly come and apologize? You think I'm a girl who's easily won over by sweet words like that, huh? And besides, what do you mean? Are you going to claim that these fireflies are yours?"

Surprised, Paul couldn't believe that the chatty and annoying Olivia he knew could say such sadistic things. It turns out that girl really can not be underestimated. Making Paul finally understand Olivia's current situation.

"It seems you hate me, huh," replied Paul with a crooked smile. "But that's none of my business, anyway. One thing is, I'm taking my fireflies home. They're worth a lot, you see, you know."

Suddenly, after hearing Paul's words, Olivia got an interesting idea in her head. He could take this opportunity to make Paul submit to her. But again Olivia didn't realize that the sky was very black now.

"I see, huh. So they are very precious to you. Actually I don't mind, feel free to take them with you, after all they are yours, right? But I guess they are more interested in playing with me than with you" Olivia giggled. "Too bad, huh, Paul."

"Don't make me repeat my word. I'm really in a bad mood right now, don't make me angry, Olivia." Paul said with a growl of annoyance. He was really being belittled now by Olivia, his pride was being trampled on. The girl was playing him.

So annoying.

Shrugging her shoulders calmly, Olivia exhaled. "Hey Paul, I told you before, right? Feel free if you want to take them with you, I don't mind. But the problem is, your fireflies seem more comfortable playing with me than with you. The proof is, right now they are still flying around me, even though you as the employer are here. Doesn't that mean, they no longer want to live with you, right? Paul?"

Paul's anger slowly peaked, he felt like he wanted to beat up two or three people at once. His right hand was really itching to punch someone's face. The veins on his forehead and neck were starting to pop out, indicating that Paul was really mad right now.

Seeing Paul being so scary, made Olivia a little scared. She slowly stepped back, not wanting to get hit by Paul. Olivia's calves were trembling, barely able to stand.

"What's wrong, Olivia? You look scared." Paul asked with a growl, making Olivia even more horrified.

“Me? Scared? No way!” Olivia replied, putting on a brave face, even though she was terrified of Paul. "Don't underestimate women! I can beat you too!"

"Then show me what you're capable of, Olivia."

However, as soon as Paul said that, the fireflies immediately flew towards the man's face, piercing his facial skin, causing quite painful scars.

"Argh! Damn it! What's wrong with you guys! Hey! Stop attacking me!"

As much as possible Paul was waving his hands, so that the fireflies would no longer attack him blindly. But they disobeyed Paul's orders, which made their attacks even more ferocious. Making Paul scream in pain because his smooth face kept getting stabbed by the firefly.

Meanwhile, Olivia surprised, she didn't expect that fireflies could be so ferocious when attacking humans. Unable to bear it, Olivia screamed at the firefly, "That's enough! Stop it! Don't hurt Paul any more!" While running toward Paul, trying to drive the tiny animals away from the man's face.

Luckily, the firefly complied, and started flying away from Paul. Then, Olivia looked at Paul's face which was filled with blood dripping from the punctured skin. Really, Olivia's hatred towards Paul faded after seeing this incident.

"You should be taken to--"

"No need! I can treat my wounds myself! You better go home, Olivia." Paul said by interrupting Olivia's words. Even though his face is now hurting, Paul is more worried about Olivia than himself, because the girl still hasn't returned to her home, even though the moon and stars have appeared in the sky.

Understanding what Paul meant, Olivia replied, "Then take care of yourself, Paul!" then the girl looked at the fireflies that were flying in the air. "You guys go back to Paul's house too, okay? I'm fine! So you don't have to follow me anymore! See you soon! Fireflies!"

Eventually, the girl's back disappeared from Paul's view, indicating that Olivia had walked far enough that he couldn't see her anymore. With his face still bleeding, Paul ordered his fireflies to return to his house.

Miraculously, they obeyed Paul's orders and flew towards the man's house. While Paul, who was walking behind them, only smiled faintly looking at the tiny animals in front of him.

"Now I understand," Paul muttered under his breath. "You do have your own will, don't you?"

Arriving home, Paul was scolded by his mother for coming home with dirty clothes and a face full of wounds. But that only lasted a moment, until finally he was ordered to take a shower and have dinner.

After finishing it all, Paul went up the stairs and entered his room, then he spoke to the fireflies that were now flying by the window.

"I want you guys to get inside this jar, please." Paul asked the firefly by placing a glass jar on the wooden table.

Surprisingly, one by one the fireflies flew into the jar provided, making Paul amazed to see it.

Finally, all the fireflies, of which there were ten, had all entered the jar. Paul immediately closed the jar tightly so that they would not come out carelessly again.

"I'll take good care of you guys from now on."

Instantly, the cellphone that Paul kept on the surface of the bed vibrated, a sign that someone was calling him. Paul immediately picked up the cellphone and without looking at the name of the person who was calling him at this time of night, he just picked it up.

"Hello?" Paul tried to speak first.

“Ah, I apologize in advance for interrupting your break, sir. It's me, Roswel. The reason why I called you, is because I wanted to inform you, that the task assigned to you, from this moment on, will be time-limited. And , the maximum limit, is one month. So, as best you can, you should have found ten people for the ten spirits within one month. If you don't complete the task, you will be in the trouble with something painful, Mister."

"ARE YOU CRAZY!?" Paul was surprised to hear that.