Zeke ended up receiving quite the scolding, especially from the disheartened Vanessa.
She and her squad were tasked to patrol Kethra’s Arms and catch Jonathan Stellar Link. However, their recent attempts ended with failure and that reflected poorly on them, more so because they were personally handpicked by the Principal.
“To begin with, what are you even doing here?”
The ashen-haired girl faced Zeke and, with crossed arms and a deep frown, waited for his response.
“E-ehm… I was taking one last tour before Erys closes its gates and I’m forced to stay in the dormitory.”
“...”
Vanessa clearly did not believe him, which made him elaborate on his excuse more.
“I happened to see a missing friend of mine. It’s that girl, Amelia, she was distressed and injured.”
“This isn’t a place for First Years to wander around. Didn’t you read the notice?”
Zeke tilted his head, slightly confused, “I thought the notice takes effect starting tomorrow.”
“...”
“Now that I look at him, he’s no different than Max hahahaha…”
Seeing the youth’s mix of stubborn and comical look, V burst out in laughter but his mouth was covered by his close friend, James.
The bespectacled and black-suited young man motioned for him to stay silent as they saw Vanessa glare at them.
“Let’s go. I will take you home.”
Even with her freezing aura gone, Zeke still felt an invisible coldness emanate from the girl. However, rather than being scared of her angered face, he found it somewhat attractive but he didn’t voice out his thoughts, of course.
He meekly nodded his head and followed her out of the secluded area.
The trip back home was unbelievably awkward as the girl was solemn and seemed to be in a bad mood.
“Even though the girl is your friend, you shouldn’t involve yourself in this. It’s for your own safety.”
“Safety, hah…” Absent-minded, Zeke unconsciously scoffed at her words.
“Do you have something to say to me, Zeke?”
After a brief hesitation, in which they stared at each other, one more defiant than the other, he responded,
“Where were you when Amelia was bullied? Or when her family was attacked? You expect me to sit still while you, the top students, do absolutely nothing.”
“We can’t deal with every problem. Our task is solely catching the killer.”
“Yet here you are. Another failure and the surface of an accomplice who was pushed into a corner by Erys’ dysfunctional System. You cannot understand the suffering of the weak, Miss Vanessa.”
“...”
She saw him look down at his hands, lightning crackled around as if it was reflecting his turbulent emotions.
She was still surprised by his unexpected display of power. Whether it was that rain of lightning, his instantaneous movements, or the abnormally high potency of his Magical Output. Admittedly, when he had intercepted her attack to protect Amelia, Vanessa didn’t use all of her power to avoid hurting him, but the fact he was able to hold his own was nothing short of impressive.
What was his unexpected presence in her recent encounters with the killer.
‘It’s hard to believe he was actually a Defect. Is it really a Late Awakening? I heard that Grandfather called Maxine for a private discussion, which was highly unusual and uncharacteristic from his part.’
Their conversation ended prematurely as Vanessa had nothing of import to add. She escorted him to the door of his apartment and after warning him to steer clear of Kethra’s Arms, she left.
Alone inside the apartment, Zeke sat on the ground near the door, a heavy sigh escaping his lips.
'What happened to you, Amelia?'
If it weren’t for her familiar face, he would have mistaken her for a completely different person. She used to be a lively and positive girl, always brimming with energy, however, the girl from earlier was gloomy and cold.
Yes, her father was killed and her mother was in a comatose state, but both her appearance and behavior were strange, to say the least.
‘She had that crystal-like thing stuck on her chest too. What do I do?’
He literally had no choice, after all, he would be forced to stay in Erys, which would limit his freedom and render it impossible to return to Kethra’s Arms for a while.
‘Although Vanessa and Max’ friends are on the case, they would prioritize the killer. Amelia is more of a secondary target…’
…
“What do you mean stop? No! I need money! How else am I going to feed my family?”
“Get out of here!”
Sulong, the baldy thug snapped at the woman and unceremoniously waved his hand at her. Unfortunately for him, she was insufferably obnoxious and refused to leave the crude and old office.
“People die every day! Stop with your stupidity and let’s go-”
She was interrupted when the other thug grabbed her collar, about to slap her. He was stopped at the last second by Sulong, who pulled him back while glaring dangerously at the woman.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“If you don’t leave right now, you’ll be receiving a beating this time!”
The woman cowered fearfully and covered her head as her body trembled. In the end, after shouting out curses and venting her frustration, she angrily stormed out of the office.
Jack and Sulong sat down and stared at each other, their eyes blank and filled with grief. Although they always dabbled in dangerous affairs, it was their first time experiencing something like that.
Their friend, Jim, was impaled by the killer, and were it not for Zeke and Sam’s help, they would have suffered the same brutal fate too.
The short silence was broken by rapid footsteps that got close and closer to the room. Sulong stood up, thinking it was the woman, but, to his surprise, he saw a youth with a disheveled appearance and ruffled raven-black hair.
“I didn’t know that, in addition to being con artists, you were also loan sharks too.”
Zeke stepped inside and look around, curiously inspecting the shabby-looking office; The furniture was old and in a miserable state, the walls were yellow-ish and riddled with holes and shredded posters, and the smell of cigarettes was strong, almost vomit-inducing.
Stupefied by Zeke’s unexpected visit, Sulong frowned and eyed the youth for a couple of breaths.
“Actually finding you was harder than I anticipated.”
As he was stared at by the two thugs, Zeke shrugged his shoulders and explained,
“Don’t worry, I’m not here to cause trouble. Also, my condolences for your loss.”
At last, the bald and muscular man snapped out of it and sat back on his creaking chair.
“What do you want, kid? I thought you made it clear you didn’t want to cross paths with us again.”
“Indeed. Yet, by unintentionally confronting a common foe, I thought we might be able to shed our differences and work together?”
“Hah? What the hell are you on about?!”
Jack, who was unsettled and still traumatized by what he had gone through and witnessed, snarled at Zeke.
Unlike his slow-witted friend, Sulong caught up to Zeke’s meaning almost immediately.
“You know that lunatic?”
“My knowledge is superficial, but that won’t stop me from tracking him down.”
“Then why have you come here? Because, clearly, you’re stronger than us. What do you stand to benefit by working with us?”
“I can’t operate alone… not with Erys keeping a close eye. Plus, I’ll have to remain holed there for a bit, which is why, if you agree, it will fall to you to do the ‘research’.”
“Hah! It’s pretty ballsy of you to ignore the authority and come here instead. Judging by your miserable appearance, something must’ve happened today.”
“...”
Zeke stared back at Sulong, his face stoic and his eyes narrowed as they showcased determination and pertinaciousness.
“I hope you didn’t forget that you beat me half-dead… however, I must confess that I deserved it. At least for me, exacting revenge on the bastard who killed Jimmy is more important.”
“Do we have an agreement, then?”
“Depends, will you pay us? justice won’t put food on our table and sustain us.”
Zeke took out a stack of money from his pocket and threw it on the table. It was a relatively small amount, but it was all he had saved up, especially since he had been regularly giving Rodrick and Azmer money.
Jack scurried to the side and snatched the money, counting it in a half-excited manner.
“1200 Alc… damn, you brats from Erys are really rich.”
While ignoring the man’s comment, Zeke added,
“Maybe that’s not enough for you to put your life on the line, but it should be enough for now, right? You may consider it a token of appreciation.”
“Hah! For a kid, you sure know how to talk!”
Sulong snorted, momentarily glancing at the money.
“What if we took your money and run away?”
“To where? I know where you work and live. Furthermore, I believe the loss of your friend costs more than just 1200 Alc, yes?”
“You really are an annoying kid…” After pausing for half a breath, Sulong sighed then nodded his head,” Fine. Sit down and let’s talk.”
…
“Zeke did what?!”
V had to hold back Maxine, who, upon hearing about the incident, was about to leave the room and check on her brother.
“Calm down first! Vanessa personally escorted him home! Jeez! Can’t you listen to the whole thing before springing into action?”
Using all of their strength, V and James stopped Maxine and somehow persuaded her to sit back on the chair and calm down.
“No students will be allowed in or out of Erys beginning from tomorrow. You don’t have to worry about his safety any longer.”
“You say that but he almost got killed! Again!”
“Err… I wouldn’t say that…” V nonchalantly whistled and turned his eyes away.
The more composed James cleared his throat and elaborately recounted the events.
Once he was done, Maxine, looking in a particularly bad mood, swept her eyes across the two of them while harrumphing.
“So… during all of that, none of you thought about picking up the phone and informing me?”
“Just as we had to patrol Kethra’s Arms, you were tasked with the Southern Sector of Erys. We have to be vigilant, Max. After all, the Principal entrusted us with this case.”
“...”
The girl, with arms crossed and deeply-creased eyebrows, maintained a long silence as she was lost in her thoughts.
“Our initial investigation subsequent to this evening’s incident confirmed Zeke’s claims. The accomplice we saw was indeed a First-year student from class B.”
“That’s not the most interesting part!” Chirped V as he lit up a cigar and paced around.
“She’s actually a Defect!”
“And?”
“That’s different from what we saw! The girl definitely used Aether. Granted, it was unstable and uncontrollable, but that was enough to not make her a Defect.”
In contrast to his friend, James stood straight like a robot and fixed his suit as he remarked,
“In such a short period of time, not one but two Defects went through a late awakening. Isn’t that suspicious, Max?”
The girl jumped to her feet and grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against the wall, much to V’s surprise.
“What are you insinuating James? That my brother is with them?!”
“I was just stating facts. We need to be objective and not let our emotions get in the way.”
“Don’t try that bullshit with me! I know what you’re thinking!”
James shoved her hand away and fixed his collar as he expressionlessly stared back at her.
“I’m suggesting that your brother’s continuous involvement isn’t just a coincidence. Take that as you will, but that’s the truth. To begin with, his ability struck me as strange and awfully similar to the girl’s.”
“You…”
Instead of resorting to violence, Maxine cursed at him and stormed out of the room with V chasing after her and subtly signaling James to apologize, which he did not.
----------------------------------------
Late at night, the only resident of Erys’ Infirmary, Doctor Xavier, was having a cigarette on the roof only to be interrupted by a new arrival.
The man thought it was Erva, who always berated his addiction to smoking, but, to his surprise, it was James, his younger brother.
“Rare for you to come to me.”
James stopped a distance away, glanced at the cigarette for a moment, then politely bowed.
“I wanted to ask you about someone… sir.”
“Drop the pretense, we’re alone.”
“Yes.”
James walked next to his brother and looked at the peaceful and empty campus.
“Do you know Zeke Orland? Maxine’s younger brother.”
“I have met him, yes. What about him?”
“Can you get me his test results? I want to check something.”
“Oh?”
Xavier eyed his brother, seemingly surprised and confused.
“It’s rarer for you to show interest in someone other than Maxine. Do you want to curry favor with him or…”
“It’s about Jonathan, brother. So, is it possible?”
Xavier’s expression drastically changed once the killer was mentioned. He threw his cigarette and puffed the last bit of smoke in his lungs.
“I’ll see what I can do, but don’t get your hopes up.”