Chapter 147 - Easy To Kidnap
"I was searching everywhere for you, Swetha," Re\'Kha said with a smile as she approached the eight-year-old girl. And, before the crying girl could respond, Re\'Kha shot a glance at the middle-aged lady, "…Yes?"
"Uh, nothing. I was just passing by." The middle-aged lady waved her hands and used the crowd to vanish from the scene.
Swetha, that was the name of the girl before her and her second exploration\'s Quest objective. Re\'Kha had struggled a lot that time in trying to move through the crowd in hopes of locating her, failing the Quest right at the end.
And, before she could try anything to salvage the situation, her time of exploration ran out. After all, the time at which the Harmonisers arrived on Earth was different for different explorations and was dependent on the time at which a character encountered some incident of sorts or was on the cusp of an incident.
"Who are you, aunty?" Swetha said as she wiped her tears, feeling afraid when she noticed the back of the escaping middle-aged lady.
"I\'m a friend of your mother," Re\'Kha smiled, taking out her visiting card from her purse as she handed it to Swetha, "Don\'t worry, aunty here would help find your mother."
Saying so, Re\'Kha picked up her phone, thinking for a moment as she recalled her previous experiences. It wasn\'t as if the memories themselves were erased from her head. But, they were wrapped around by something that prevented her from accessing such memories.
Because she lost her understanding of such memories, they seemed like jumbled information that she was unable to make heads or tails of. That\'s why most Harmonisers failed to remember anything from their explorations on Earth.
Though, the moment she landed on Earth and was accumulating comprehension of the things as she looked around, the memories in her mind began to make sense once more. Using it, she was able to remember the number of Swetha\'s mother.
After all, when she played as Swetha\'s mother in her second exploration, she had used her number on a lot of occasions. Thanks to that, she could type it by heart. Soon, the ring went through as she heard the gruff voice of a man, "…yes?"
Re\'Kha hurriedly cut the call, mentally cursing as she recalled the contents of her second exploration. There was one instance where she had to escape from a potential accident. It wasn\'t even something risky. But, Re\'Kha remembered the trail of events that led to such a cause.
Even though she made mistakes, Re\'Kha had played it safe from the start, so she had been weakening the difficulty of the end situation. That was why, in the event where a bike sped towards her when she was searching for Swetha, Re\'Kha was able to easily avoid it and treat it like it wasn\'t much.
\'But, without my interference, what would have happened to her back then?\' Re\'Kha thought, immediately getting a bad feeling. Just as she had expected, the familiar sound resounded in her ears.
<Ding>
[Quest: The Other Side of a Quest.]
[Quest Description: Swetha\'s mother led a different sequence of events before and had arrived at a different outcome thanks to your interference. Now, her original timeline is playing out. Find her, and see the end of her journey.]
[Quest Duration: Until the end of exploration.]
[Reward: 1 Prana Stone]
[Punishment: 1 Damage]
\'I should have just stayed put.\' Re\'Kha reprimanded herself. She didn\'t wish to see Swetha be kidnapped once again before her eyes. So, she interfered.
She had only planned to interfere a little and leave the moment her mother had arrived to her rescue. But, she had clearly glossed over one fact. Swetha\'s mother arrived at the scene on that particular time only because of her actions. It was thanks to Re\'Kha taking active control of the character.
Now, without that change in sequence, things played out differently. This was a lapse in her foresight. Now, she had to bear the result.
Re\'Kha fiddled with her mobile phone, saving the number of Swetha\'s mother with her name. She then smiled at Swetha, "I just talked with your mother. She\'s currently on the other side. Why don\'t I drop you at your home? That would be faster."
Swetha looked at her for a couple of seconds before hesitantly nodding her head, making Re\'Kha curse in her mind, \'No wonder she was kidnapped so easily last time. She isn\'t wary of strangers.\'
Re\'Kha then led her to her car and took off immediately. She already knew the route to her address, so she began to drive, ensuring she took the same route her mother had taken to arrive at the place.
The Mysore Palace was a tourist destination. So, a lot of people frequented it daily. Even the locals visited it from time to time, just to see the vast palace that was maintained very well.
Re\'Kha then looked at Swetha, "I forgot some turns in the route. Why don\'t you say when I make a mistake?"
"Okay, aunty." Swetha nodded as she looked out through the window, watching the familiar shops pan past.
Just to make it seem normal, Re\'Kha tried to head in a wrong turn. Swetha immediately caught onto it and pointed in the right direction. Smiling, Re\'Kha went through the correct path, looking around as she said, "Ah, I remember from here."
She then smiled, "I visited your house three years ago. Do you remember me?"
Swetha shook her head, "Sorry, aunty."
"Haha, it\'s fine. You were only five years old then." Re\'Kha patted her head as her car made numerous turns, moving through a residential area before arriving at the doorstep of a house.
Once the car alighted, Re\'Kha horned twice, watching the door to the house open as an old man walked out.
Swetha chirped in joy as she got out of the car, "Grandpa!"
"Oh, Swetha. What happened to you? Why were you crying?" Her grandpa immediately caught hold of her in worry as he saw the flashy car parked at their entrance drive off immediately.
He frowned, \'We don\'t know anyone with such an expensive car. Who was that?\'
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