Just a few minutes later, the woman slowly turned her head, and her figure was finally revealed. Shaan's eyes widened instantly when he realized that the woman was Nalira.
'Na-nalira? What is she doing here?'
Nalira didn't say a word when she saw Shaan. Instead, she picked up a plastic container nearby. Slowly, she opened the packaged milk she was holding and carefully poured its contents into the container.
"Slow down and don't rush." Nalira placed the container on the ground, and soon the puppies in the surrounding area began to crowd around the container. "You all must be very hungry, right?" Nalira's hand slowly stroked the body of one of the puppies.
'So it turns out that all this time, Nalira was taking the box of milk just for these wild puppies?' Shaan nodded his head. 'I don't expect at all, Nalira turned out to be-.
"Thank you for helping this puppy." Nalira stood up and smiled at Shaan. "Nice to meet you, bye."
"Oh, yes, it's nice to meet you too."
After Nalira left without saying a word, Shaan was even more convinced of what other daemonists often said about her: mysterious and reserved. Her traits consistently reflected those traits, and it was no surprise that some daemonists began referring to her as the Ice Queen- a title that aptly described her character.
***
[The location where the midnight portal appeared was found: Riverglace Railway Station]
"Huh? The Riverglace train station?" Shaan instantly stopped for a moment, chewing on the snack in his hand. "I don't think that my first assignment will be at one of the most crowded train stations in the city of Riverglace. I'm just curious as to what the state of the train station is now."
Not long after, Shaan turned on the television in his room, which was airing a live report from the Riverglace train station. According to one of the reporters on the scene, the situation around there was now quiet, and around it, a police line was installed so no one entered the station other than police officers and Daemonists. The city government of Riverglace deliberately ordered to close access to the Riverglace railway for the time being due to the strange anomaly that occurred at the Riverglace railway station a few days ago.
This strange anomaly was reported by several train passengers who suddenly experienced a communication breakdown while in the station area and almost caused an accident. There was also a sudden power outage and the appearance of a small red vortex that grew larger on one of the train tracks, causing panic at the Riverglace train station.
'Oh my, this phenomenon is indeed synonymous with the appearance of the midnight gate portal.'
From the reporter's explanation, it is said that the government has temporarily closed the Riverglace railway station until the portal has been successfully closed. It is therefore urged that the public use other train stations or other transportation to travel.
"It seems the appearance of the midnight gate portal will always unsettle the entire city of Riverglace." Shaan directed his gaze at the wall clock in his room. "The clock is almost 11 am, it's time for me to go to Miss Briana's room and talk to her about the weapon. Hopefully, Miss Briana is still in place."
After walking for a few minutes from his room, Shaan finally arrived at the door of the equipment room. There was the sound of objects hitting each other from inside the equipment room, which meant that Miss Briana must be in this room. Without waiting long, he directly knocked on the door of Miss Briana's room, but unfortunately, there was no response from her.
"It seems that Miss Briana did not hear me. I will try to go in and look for her."
Shaan slowly pushed the door to her room, and the heat immediately greeted him. "Damn, what's wrong with this place? Why does it feel so hot?" he tugged at his collar repeatedly. "The air in this place is so stifling, it's starting to make it hard to breathe," he coughed occasionally. "I need to find Miss Briana—and get out of here as soon as possible."
The banging sound was getting louder and louder. He quickly turned his gaze and found that the source of the sound was coming from one of the doors near the entrance.
"I'm sure Miss Briana must be in that room."
He walked closer to the door and slowly opened it. It turned out that his guess was correct; Miss Briana was inside the room. She was seen forging a weapon in her hand with a hammer and using safety items such as safety goggles, a pair of gloves, thick boots, and clothing that covered her body from sparks while forging the weapon.
"Miss Briana... Miss Briana..."
Hearing the faint sound of someone calling her name, Miss Briana paused for a moment. "Huh? I seem to hear someone calling-"
"Miss Briana, it's me. Shaan."
"Shaan?" Miss Briana took off her glasses and gloves. "Oh, Shaan. What's up? What are you doing here?"
"I need your help to fix something. If that is, you don't mind helping me at all."
"Help? What kind of help?"
Shaan slowly handed the box containing the old weapon he had gotten as his birthday present to Miss Briana. At first, Miss Briana showed a look of confusion when she saw the box, but when she opened it, she began to understand Shaan's intentions.
"Hmm... I don't know Shaan, but this sword seems to be quite difficult to repair." Miss Briana stroked her chin, looking at the condition of the sword, which looked quite bad. "I'll do my best to do it, but it might take a while since I have to renew the basic structure of the sword, and it's quite expensive. Are you okay with that?"
"No. I don't mind at all." Shaan shook his head quickly. "Thank you again, Miss Briana. I appreciate your help." Shaan bowed his head vigorously. "I will raise as much money as possible to pay for it. I promise."
Hearing his words, Miss Briana smiled warmly. "You truly are a hardworking person, Shaan."
After finishing talking with Miss Briana, Shaan decided to go to the reading room. Fortunately, when he got there, the reading room was open, and he spent the rest of the day absorbing as much information as he could about the dark realm before he would face a mysterious world filled with intrigue and dark creatures ready to consume him.