40 She will come to us anyway

Jasper smiles slowly at Nam Ji Won. So, this is the girl with R graded gift. She looks ordinary. Her fighting skills are not bad though.

"Are you a thief?" Tae Il stands in front of Nam Ji Won. Jasper snickers when he hears his words. A thief, huh? Considering what he is going to do, he may be called one.

"What are you?" Nam Ji Won clasps Tae Il's wrist. She doesn't want him to get too close to the stranger. Something about him is dangerous. If he is a normal thief, she can handle him. However, her instincts are telling her that he is someone dangerous.

"Someone with unique gifts like you."

Nam Ji Won pulls Tae Il behind her. If he is a good guy, he would be coming from the front door.

"Do you know him?" Tae Il asks grimly. First, Choi Min Ho. Now, this guy. Something is going on with her that he doesn't know about.

"Tae Il, leave." She pushes him away. "I need to talk to him alone."

Tae Il doesn't budge. He pulls her to his side. "I am not leaving you alone with a shady guy."

"A shady guy?" Jasper snorts. "I guess, I am. I would love to play this game, but he has already noticed that I am here. So..."

Before Nam Ji Won and Seo Tae Il can react, Jasper sends a psychic attack to Nam Ji Won. He dashes behind Seo Tae Il and knocks his head. He grabs Nam Ji Won before she falls to the ground.

"As expected." He looks around for an astral projection. He doesn't see any. He used only half of his mental strength. Her defence is too weak. She is like a cub in front of a full grown tiger. A small psychic attack like this can completely incapacitate her. It's like all the doors and windows of her house are wide open, letting anyone come and go without any problem. He isn't a mind reader like Choi Min Ho, but he can sense some stuff.

***

"Aish!" Choi Min Ho runs his fingers through his hair in frustration when he sees Seo Tae Il lying on the roof. Nam Ji Won is nowhere to be seen. He can guess what must have happened. He checks his pulse. Thankfully, Jasper didn't kill Tae Il. He must have been in hurry to take Nam Ji Won with him.

"What should I do with you?" Choi Min Ho sits down next to Tae Il. He presses his fingertip between Tae Il's brows. Earlier, he let Tae Il come along with him and Nam Ji Won because he needed to manipulate his memories for his and Nam Ji Won's safety. He would have taken his time with this, but he has to hurry.

When he is done with Tae Il, he climbs down the stairs and finds Nam Go Eun and Mother Nam preparing dinner. He sighs to himself. It would have been better if Nam Ji Won could explain everything truthfully. Now, he has to do this way. If he explains stuff, they are not likely to understand especially when Nam Ji Won just got kidnapped.

"Why is my life so hard?" Choi Min Ho sighs before he uses his gift on Nam Go Eun and Mother Nam.

***

"Package delivered." Jasper throws the unconscious Nam Ji Won on the floor. A white robbed woman scowls at him and rushes to Nam Ji Won to check her condition. Jasper shrugs his shoulder when he sees the woman's glare.

"Did you kidnap her?" The lady doctor finds red fingerprints on Nam Ji Won's arm. She must have struggled against him.

"She will come to us anyway." Jasper takes a seat. "I wasted some time when I watched her play with a boy. Teacher Choi was already on his way to stop me. I had to bring her like this."

"Things won't go easy if she complains to the council."

"Is it safe for an R graded gifted girl to hang out with an average human? Monarch doesn't lack lawyers who prove that it's not a kidnapping."

The lady doctor laughs when she hears his words. "You are cunning, Jasper."

Jasper smirks. He glances at the girl. The girl's gifts are in the awakening period. Her reaction has been slow. He wonders what's the intensity. She is interesting though. Her fighting skills aren't bad for a girl, but that boy is her weakness.

Her family is also her weakness.

"Pick her up and put her on the bed." The lady doctor wears gloves and prepares a vial. Jasper picks up Nam Ji Won in his arm and carefully lays her down on the bed. The lady doctor takes Nam Ji Won's blood and a strand of her hair.

"I wonder what's so special about her," Jasper says in a low voice.

"Your mentor, this girl, and you are only R-graded gifted ones in this world." She opens Nam Ji Won's eyes with her fingers.

"Teacher Choi is interested in her."

"He was also interested in you." The lady doctor raises her brow.

"I have heard his conversation with Cain." Jasper traces Nam Ji Won's jaw with his finger. "His interest in this girl is personal. He even gave her a priceless treasure."

"I heard about it." The lady doctor straps Nam Ji Won's wrists and ankles to the bed. "Monarch tried to buy the contract, but he denied it. Now, I also wonder what's special about this girl."

***

When Seo Tae Il wakes up, he has a dull headache. He rubs his forehead and looks around in confusion. Why is he lying on the rooftop in this cold weather? Then, he recalls that he was invited by Nam Go Eun for dinner. He wanted to get some air before dinner. So, he came to the roof.

He goes downstairs. Dinner is ready. Mother Nam and Nam Go Eun are sitting on the table. They are chatting about something. He sees five plates on the table. There are only three people.

"Tae Il, you are here." Mother Nam beams at him. "We just received Ji Won's call. She has arrived at the academy to learn traditional medicine."

"Did she?" Tae Il finds it odd. There is something that he is forgetting. "Did she remember anything?"

"No, her memories aren't back," Nam Go Eun answers passively. "If she wasn't stubborn about it, I would have never let her go to study in the mountains."

Tae Il stares at the unused plates on the table. He remembers that Nam Ji Won has been suddenly showing interest in traditional medicine. She wanted to use traditional medicinal methods to bring her memories back. It happened all of the sudden. She left a few hours ago with Teacher Choi.

The best academies, schools, hospitals, institutions, facilities, and universities are in this city. If she wants to study traditional medicine, she should stay here. She didn't even say when he could see her again. She just left like that.

But why didn't he stop her? It doesn't make sense. Even if she doesn't remember, she should stay where he can see her.

"What's the name of the academy again?"