Chapter 150 - A Favor (1)

"Did you cover everything? Have you checked even the tiny details of that audacious girl?" Stephen's father asked while looking at the head of his bodyguards. He could not help but sensed a shadow of doubt in his mind. It felt as if his instinct was telling him not to underestimate the young lady. 

"Yes, boss! The agency made sure that even the birth of the young lady was investigated," the head bodyguard answered with his clear voice. 

The old man nodded his head and started to read the contents of the report.

"A mountain girl huh? And an orphan! No wonder she was desperate to attach herself to my son! Tsk, surely this wicked girl is plotting for the wealth of my family!" the old man stated his assumptions loudly. 

All information about the original Sofia was printed neatly on the paper that he was checking. From Sofia's humble background to the death of her parents due to the landslide incident. 

The man kept skimming the details on each page until he got to the portion of the tournament that had just happened a few days before.

"Just a small girl trying to target my son. I cannot allow that to happen. Where is this girl now?" the old man asked and stopped reading the papers.

"Boss, according to my subordinate who was secretly following her, the young lady traveled by bus and stopped at the municipal hall. The last report said that they are at the office of the district councilors." the leader of the guards responded.

"Do you mean, she went to the municipal hall of our district? Is she also seducing politicians?" the old man asked in disbelief. 

Not only this old man had wronged Sofia for accusing her of being desperate to attach to his son, but he also created another issue of the lady seducing politicians!

"This... ahhm... b-boss... " the leader of the bodyguards looked conflicted. He wanted to speak something, however, he did not know if his boss would be happy if he told him about it.

"What's the matter? Are there other reports that are not in this folder?" Stephen's father asked the bodyguard.

"Ehh, boss ... the matter about seducing politicians and the young master, we cannot find any clue about it. This young lady does not seem to have any malicious intention to ... ahhm... to the young master," the other bodyguard answered when his leader was unwilling to tell their boss about the entire findings they had. He scratched his head and pretended to look clueless. 'We followed them last night and it seemed that your son was the one who wants to be with her,' he mentally added. The bodyguard does not speak his last thoughts loudly, lest, he would receive a heavy scolding from the old man.

"Are you blind? There is no need for you to find a clue! Just by my memory of how that unruly girl talked back at me that night, I could tell her wicked character! She had no respect at all!" the man stated.

The air around them suddenly felt awkward that the bodyguards could only look on the floor silently. 

"Get the young master after his classes and tell him to have dinner with the mayor's daughter. Do whatever is necessary if he refused!" the old man demanded before he left the bodyguards. 

As soon as he went out of Stephen's place, a black car that was heavily tinted was already waiting for him on the side of the road. A driver came out of the car and opened the door for him. Then, they swiftly headed towards the north.

"What should we do?" one of the bodyguards asked their leader.

A long sigh escaped from the man in question. "I don't know. Does the boss wants us to drag the young master to the dinner venue so he could dine with the daughter of the mayor?" the leader finally expressed his frustration.

"I think that is what the boss wanted to imply. Leader, let's just do our job. The young master will understand," the two other bodyguards stated and tapped the shoulder of their leader.

~

Municipal Hall of District 7

Sofia arrived too early from her appointment with District Councilor Lucas Martinez. She was in the cafeteria and busied herself by observing the entire layout of the place.

The hall was fairly decent to her taste from the perspective of a traveling soul who had lived in luxury. 

Sofia was amazed by the architectural design of the hall as well as the interior decorations of the place. She could also tell that the government of their district had really focused on the comfort of the people. She could tell that some of the pieces of furniture in the place were priceless.

After observing the place, she opened her phone and decided to kill time by playing. However, the minute she clicked the button for the game, a different message had prompted on her screen.

The game finally released the update which probably all gamers had been anticipating. The ban mode.

"Nice," Sofia said after reading the message prompt on her screen. 

The notification stated that the game will not be available for the next half hour due to the implementation of the ban mode for all servers of the game.

While Sofia's attention was still on her phone, a lady approached her... 

"Hi! Is this seat available!?"

Sofia looked up and saw a familiar face in front of her offering a friendly smile. She easily remembered the lady for there was an air of nobility that surrounded her and the lady also possessed a rare beauty. She had seen this lady in the gym during the tournament.

"No one is occupying that seat," Sofia replied. 

"I'm Grace. Do you mind if I sit here?" the lady asked.

"Ohh... I'm Sofia. It's okay if you take that seat. I am just waiting here for my appointment later," Sofia explained.

"Thanks! Sofia... you are that gamer who won in the district tournament, right?" the lady inquired. 

"Yes, I am part of the Chronos squad," Sofia responded.

"Don't you have a class? They said that the champions of the tournaments were high schoolers. Why are you here?" the lady inquired. Her tone was too gently that even with her simultaneous questioning, Sofia did not find any fault in it.

"We are students. But my class is still at night. Do you need something from me, Grace?" Sofia finally returned a question to the lady. She kept her phone back in her pocket and looked at the lady in the eye.

Sofia thought that there was no way that the lady would approach her randomly. She must have some matters that she needed to discuss with her.

"Can I ask you a favor? I made a little research about you and I found out that the young master of the Lee clan is your friend?" Grace started. 

"You mean you investigated about me?" Sofia chuckled. The lady did smother her word and used the term 'research'. But Sofia was confident that the original owner of her body had nothing illegal to hide. So, she did not really mind if her background would be investigated.

"Uhm... kinda," Grace forced a laugh when she realized that Sofia was too straightforward.

"It's okay. Did you mean Brent? The founder of Lee Gaming Squad?" Sofia asked her.

"Yes, can you help me?" Grace confirmed directly asked for her help.

Sofia rubbed her palms and became silent for a long time. She waited for the lady to elaborate as to what help she wanted from her. However, as she glanced at the lady, Sofia noticed that the beauty looked embarrassed.

"There is no need to be embarrassed. I will help you as long as it is within my capacity," Sofia stated.

"Can we talk to a more private room?" Grace asked.

Sofia took her phone and checked the time. She then nodded at her in agreement. "Do you work here?" Sofia asked while the two of them started to walk towards a particular office.

"It's my father who worked here," Grace answered and that's when another realization hits Sofia. This lady is the daughter of their district mayor.

'No wonder, there is an air of nobility around her,' Sofia mentally noted.

The two of them stopped at the room next to the mayor's office. There was only one long table and several chairs around. Sofia easily recognized that it was a conference room for their government officials.

"Sofia, can I trust you? Whatever we discuss in this room, please don't tell anyone. This is rather embarrassing," Grace said after the two of them settled their seats.

"Mmn, sure! About Brent, I am not sure what kind of investigation report you have but he is a fellow friend in gaming. We used to play online games a lot in the past. But, we also parted ways after he stopped playing," Sofia explained.

"Okay. Well, it's not just about the young master of the Lee clan. This is also about Mr. Ching," Grace stated.

"Mr. Ching? Which one? Do you mean the son or the old man....?" Sofia curiously asked.

"Both. I know you are also involved with the father and son based on my research," Grace replied and the small smile on her face turned into a straight line. Her expression became serious.

"Stephen is a member of the Chronos squad. But for his father, we have met on the wrong side of the table. He has an ugly impression of me. So, if you have a favor to ask involving the old man, don't think I can," Sofia warned her.