âNo, you havenât made it clear to Mathison by now?â
After class, Daisy took Barbara aside and whispered.
Mathison was curious, but Daisy glared at him and wouldnât let him follow her, so he had to go ahead and leave school first. His classes were calm and relaxing. And, so, while he had plenty of time, heâd always practise red magic
âDaisy, has anyone ever told you that you would get beaten for throwing random guesses at me.â, Barbara raised her small fist, threateningly.
âBesides, I have nothing to tell him.â
âHey! Whatever you say, it wonât be me who regrets it eventually.â, Daisy bristled.
âWhat do you mean by that?â, Barbara wondered.
âGeez, are you really stupid or just acting like one? I thought my emotional intelligence was low enough, but I didnât realise you were worse than me.â, Daisy facepalmed herself.
âDonât you forget how popular that guy is, heâs the one who gets the most letters every year on Valentineâs Day, and youâre not even a little worried?â
âWorried about what?â
Barbara still didnât understand what Daisy was trying to say.
âOkay, well, let me be frank with you then, arenât you afraid that one day Mathison will have a girlfriend?â
âA girlfriend? Who!â, Barbara asked without any second thought.
âSeeing how youâre reacting now, maybe youâre a slow thinker, after all.â
Daisy gazed at Barbara and said, âI donât know which girl is going to take Mathisonâs heart, I only know that it definitely wonât be you, with the way youâre acting right now.â
âWhy⊠would I want to be his girlfriend?â
Barbara asked aloud, spontaneously red-faced.
âIf you raise your voice any louder, the whole school is going to hear you.â
Daisy hastily gestured for Barbara to keep her voice down.
âDonât you dare say you donât like Mathison?â
âWell wow, if you keep acting tough, then Iâm going to tell you the harsh truth.â
Daisyâs expression was suddenly serious.
âFang is a very good man and itâs hard for any girl to resist his charm, but do you know why no girl has dared to pursue him until now?â
Here, Daisy even referred to Mathison by his family name.
âThe answer is: you!â
Daisy pointed at Barbara, âBecause you were always with him whenever and wherever you were, and everyone thought you were a couple, thatâs why no one tried to seduce Mathison.â
âBut itâs clear to anyone who knows you that youâre not together yet and sooner or later that will be known to everyone and, when that happens, how many girls do you think will come looking for him?â
âBelieve me, no man in the world could stand the temptation unless he was gay!â
âIf it werenât for the fact that youâre my bestie, I might have gone down on him already.â
âI can tell he treats you differently than he treats others, but it doesnât seem to be the kind of affection that ⊠lovers have for each other, so youâll have to take the initiative or youâll lose him sooner or later.â
After hearing Daisyâs words, Barbaraâs mind was blown, she really hadnât thought that so many people would like Mathison, let alone that even Daisy had actually had her eyes set on him.
Did she really have to take the initiative?
No, what she needed to find out before making her move was: what kind of feelings did she have for Mathison?
More importantly, she now also suspects that Mathison might be Phantom Kid.
How could the daughter of a police chief be in a relationship with a thief âŠ
Barbara shook her head, what the hell was she thinking, she wasnât even certain if Mathison was Phantom Kid or not.
âDid you really ever like Mathison?â
Suddenly, Barbara glanced at Daisy with a confused look in her eyes.
âYeah, I have no reason to lie to you, but I am not thinking about it anymore.â
âOf course not! Why do you think that?â
Daisy looked at Barbara in wonder, «I canât see that this little girl is possessive, still⊠no one else can like Mathison when you are always around him?»
Barbara was speechless, and she understood at this point that she seemed to have misrepresented herself.
âActually, itâs because Iâm obsessed with another guy ⊠No, to be precise, heâs my idol!â
âHeâs really handsome, Iâve never seen anyone that attractive.â
At this point, Daisyâs eyes were full of sparkles, clearly, in a helpless obsession with the idol she was talking about.
Barbaraâs mouth twitched as she watched.
âIs there really such a person in Gotham as you say?â
Barbara suddenly had a bad feeling about this.
âHey, Daisy, when you say idol, you donât meanâŠâ
âThatâs right, my idol is that super thief who recently made his debut, Phantom Kid!â
At the moment, Mathison was oblivious to the fact that the two women were talking about him; he was now preoccupied with his magical meditation.
Although Red Magic is enhanced by magical meditation, the effect was not very strong.
Because the magic of the Red Witch is almost always passed on to the next generation through the bloodline, the enhancement of magic power from meditation is almost trivial.
Akako Koizumi, for instance, basically never cultivates her magic power, but instead exercises her magic control skills directly.
This is why it is said that the Witch loses all her magic power when she sheds tears.
But, after all, Mathison does not have the bloodline of a Witch. He is even born without any magical powers. As a result, only through meditation can he improve little by little his magical powers.
Fortunately, many low-level red magic spells do not require much magical power, only a tiny chunk and various ingredients, such as the two magic charms that Mathison made before.
Of course, Itâs not as if he is a master of magic; he can do anything he seeks by merely reading a magic book.
Time passed, nearly two weeks, since the incident of the Catâs Eye Emerald. Daisy was picked up by Jane Foster a few days ago, and Mathison knew that, in a few months, they would encounter the God of Thunder, yet he said nothing.
He was not afraid of Batman in his prime, but to get involved in the Asgardiansâ matters and conflicts? He doesnât have that confidence.
But what does that have to do with him, even if a butterfly effect causes Thor to be killed by Loki?
Maybe, one day, he would be so strong that he might visit Asgardâs treasure trove, but not now.
Only, as Daisy came to say goodbye, Mathison noticed her, inexplicably, waving to Barbara, and wondered what it was for.
It probably had something to do with the frequent whispering between the two women, which Mathison didnât pay much attention to.
At this point, Phantom Kid had also been out of the scene of crimes for over a month. Committing two major crimes in a row, Adamâs Star and Golden Green Catâs Eye, had taken Gotham by storm.
The GCPD has never given up its search for Phantom Kid, but, unfortunately, nothing has been found so far. All they can hope for is a third teaser letter to be sent.
Unexpectedly, one day, the police would have to rely on a criminal to volunteer the location he was heading to, in order to catch him. Because, in Phantom KIdâs case, it was really hard to figure out his plans.
As it turns out, Gordon and Bruceâs fears were not unreasonable: the last week has seen a number of copycat crimes committed by both, clueless teenagers and known criminals.
Although all were eventually arrested and jailed, it was foreseeable that more copycats would emerge in the future.
Inside the GCPD Commissionerâs office, Gordon is busy with all the work at hand, with a perturbed mind about the future.
However, a call from the mayor of Gotham City made Gordonâs work even busierâŠ