Ayu dragged Rafka behind the auditorium building as the sky slowly began glowing with a soft orange shimmer.
The area was located at the very back of the school's main building, hidden behind the massive auditorium wall and rows of storage rooms filled with event equipment.
The place itself was fairly narrow, nothing more than an open passageway leading toward a small garden with several old iron benches and a giant air conditioning unit that continuously hummed softly.
Hardly any students ever came there, especially on graduation day like this since everyone was busy gathering for photos with their friends, probably enjoying their final moments as high school students, and of course talking about Rafka and Kenny's fight from earlier.
Rafka himself was actually fairly familiar with the area because he sometimes sat there alone whenever he was bored.
Or more accurately, whenever he wanted to shut himself away from the world.
Back then, this place had only been a quiet hiding spot where he could escape from noisy classrooms, annoying gossip, and endless school drama for a while.
Yet now, somehow, that same narrow passage had become the place where they discussed Mythical Armor and military organizations that protected humanity, conversations far heavier than anything he used to think about there.
Honestly, his life had become ridiculous way too fast.
The evening breeze drifted gently through the passage behind the building.
The noisy graduation celebration could now only be heard faintly from afar.
Occasionally there were sounds of students laughing, the soft whirring of drones, camera shutters automatically snapping with every pose change, and farewell music playing from the auditorium speakers.
But in that place, the atmosphere was far calmer.
From the distant schoolyard, Rafka could occasionally hear engines starting one after another as students slowly began making their way out of the school grounds with their families.
Some cars honked lightly near the front gate while parents helped carry bouquets, gifts, and graduation decorations into the back seats.
A few groups of students were apparently still planning to hang out afterward.
"Let's go karaoke later!" one girl shouted excitedly while raising her phone into the air.
"No, restaurant first! I'm starving!" a male student protested dramatically while clutching his stomach.
"We're seriously not seeing each other every day anymore after this ...," another girl muttered emotionally while hugging her graduation book to her chest.
"What are you talking about?" a boy immediately cut in with a laugh. "Aren't we going to the same university anyway?"
"Ugh, that's not what I meant!" the girl protested while puffing her cheeks in annoyance. "I mean as high school students! Besides, we're all taking different majors anyway!"
Their voices echoed faintly from afar before gradually disappearing into the evening air.
For most students, graduation day marked the beginning of a new future.
Meanwhile, Rafka somehow ended up getting involved with ancient armors, dangerous battles, and an organization filled with superhumans.
Orange sunset light reflected softly across the giant auditorium walls while long shadows stretched across the narrow passage. Several graduation banners near the schoolyard fluttered gently in the wind, and one of the camera drones still hovered lazily above the main courtyard, capturing the final moments of the celebration from the sky.
Ayu finally stopped walking.
Rafka immediately bent over slightly while catching his breath.
The two of them had just practically sprinted away from the crowd of students who had gone wild after his fight with Kenny.
"Ayu ...," Rafka said while still breathing a little heavily. "do you know anything about Kenny having an Anima Drive ring?"
Ayu slowly turned her head.
Her long brown hair swayed softly in the evening wind. Her face still carried the same calmness as always, but this time the look in her eyes felt sharper and more serious.
Rafka still couldn't shake off his curiosity.
What bothered him most wasn't the fight earlier, but the fact that Kenny possessed an Anima Drive.
And even knew about Agni's existence.
Even though information regarding Mythical Armor wasn't supposed to be known by ordinary people.
"Kenny's from some insanely rich family, right?" Rafka muttered while leaning against the back wall of the building.
His mind drifted to all the rumors surrounding that guy.
I heard his family is one of the richest families in the world.
Their companies are everywhere, ranging from technology and transportation to real estate and entertainment. Rumor says Kenny's family also owns luxury hotels, elite apartments, shopping centers, and even their own automotive company.
Honestly, it was hard to even imagine how massive their wealth truly was. At that point, they might as well own half the planet!
What was even crazier was that their influence apparently extended deep into international politics and business as well.
Seriously ... that guy felt less like a student and more like the young master of some absurdly rich empire!
Rafka could not even begin to process it anymore.
And on top of all that, Kenny was way too popular for an ordinary high school student.
His mixed-race looks made him stand out tremendously at school. Tall, handsome, smart, athletic, and annoyingly enough, friendly to everyone too.
To the point where he even had his own fan club.
Rafka immediately turned away with a sulky expression, both fists clenched tightly. Seriously, what kind of student even has a fan club in real life? Also, what kind of school even allows something like that to become an official club?! he grumbled inwardly.
Sometimes Rafka genuinely couldn't understand how one person could possess every single "main character package" all at once.
"That's because he forced ARMOR to give him one of the strongest armors, like a Mythical Armor," Ayu finally spoke, explaining calmly. "He even offered billions of Cyris just to obtain one."
Rafka instantly stared blankly. "What?!" He reflexively looked at Ayu in disbelief. "Billions of Cyris?!"
Ayu casually nodded as if she had merely mentioned cafeteria food prices.
For several seconds, the only sound between them was the soft humming of the giant air conditioning machine nearby.
Rafka could only stand there speechless.
For someone absurdly rich like Kenny, it honestly wasn't that surprising.
But even so, that amount of money still sounded completely insane to him.
Why would someone want an armor that badly? Wouldn't it be better to save that money? Or donate it to charity? Or just buy an entire island at that point?
Question after question slammed into Rafka's head.
"Papa rejected him," Ayu continued. "But he kept insisting." Ayu's eyes narrowed slightly. "I heard he even bribed ARMOR officials just to obtain the Agni armor that had just been completed."
Rafka immediately raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
Ayu gave a small nod. "At first I thought it was just a rumor. But the Mantis-type armor he used earlier clearly belongs to the Fourth Division." She crossed her arms. "Now I'm convinced he really did bribe ARMOR members like the rumors said."
Rafka quietly clicked his tongue.
A small feeling of disappointment surfaced in his chest.
To him, ARMOR had always looked like a symbol of honor, a place where great Knights gathered to protect humanity.
The idea of someone trying to buy power with money felt deeply unsettling.
His gaze slowly lowered toward the crimson ring on the middle finger of his left hand.
Agni's metallic surface reflected the thin orange sunset light.
Rafka furrowed his brows slightly while staring at the crimson ring on his finger. "So this tiny thing really is that valuable," he muttered quietly.
And the more he thought about it, the stranger it felt that someone like him had obtained such an incredible armor completely by accident.
The evening wind blew gently once more.
Somewhere in the distance, the graduation music near the auditorium finally began to fade as more students slowly left the school grounds one by one.
For a brief moment, neither of them spoke.
Then suddenly, Ayu's phone rang.
The simple ringtone broke the quiet atmosphere behind the auditorium.
Ayu immediately grabbed her phone.
Rafka briefly glanced at the phone case decorated with a tiny cute white rabbit, which looked hilariously incompatible with Ayu's cold personality.
The moment the screen lit up, Ayu's expression became slightly more serious.
"Papa."
Rafka instantly knew who was calling even before Ayu answered.
And sure enough, a few seconds later, Captain Rangga's firm voice could be heard from the phone speaker.
Even though it wasn't entirely clear, his deep authoritative tone was unmistakable.
Rafka immediately felt awkward eavesdropping on someone else's conversation.
So he chose to walk several steps away, pretending to look out toward the garden behind the school.
The garden itself was already dim beneath the evening sky. Fallen leaves occasionally rolled across the pavement while the old iron benches sat quietly under the orange glow of the sunset.
From a distance, a few delivery drones could be seen flying toward their destinations, moving steadily across the sky as they headed to their respective customers.
But his heart had already begun beating uncomfortably fast.
His instincts told him this call definitely had something to do with what happened earlier.
Several minutes passed. Then the faint sound of the call ending echoed softly.
Rafka turned around.
Ayu was slipping her phone back into her skirt pocket. "We've been summoned to headquarters," she said briefly.
Rafka immediately let out a long breath.
His mind instantly went, Ah. Yep. This is definitely about the fight earlier.
He exhaled deeply. "Alright ...," he said resignedly. "let's walk."
Even though Ayu sounded completely normal, Rafka only became even more nervous.
His mind instantly filled with images of Captain Rangga scolding him to death for disobeying orders.
He tilted his head up toward the sunset sky. "Hopefully I'll still get to see both suns tomorrow," he muttered.
A brief pause followed.
"And not get dragged into another mess on the day of graduation itself," he muttered hopefully, his voice low and almost pleading.