“Stay here? This isn’t our work office.”
Seeing the young man sitting quietly, his uniform shredded and his face pale, Sulong was about to curse but held himself back and contented with an exasperated sigh.
Zeke had appeared without prior notice and demanded to stay there for a while. At first, Sulong thought it was a thief who broke in, so this situation made him doubly surprised.
“Shit! Look at this…”
The other man, Jack, was staring at the TV while whistling in surprise. The news about the fight that broke out in Kethra’s Arms.
“I don’t have to ask if you played a part in that. Hm? A whole building? You people are monsters.”
Zeke was having trouble clenching his left hand as the Rune of Death was still acting, processing the absorbed black mist from earlier.
It was only active for a moment or two, however, the quantity absorbed was unexpectedly big, so much so that the reservoir within Rune of Life was reaching its limit.
“How goes the search?” Asked Zeke while trying to move his stiff limbs.
“We’ve located a couple of suspicious places. As it happens, the place you seem to have come from is one of them.”
Sulong snatched the remote from Jack and turned off the loud TV before continuing,
“A few months back, someone used a broker to rent a couple of run-down basements in Kethra’s Arms. He even bought three right outside, but they all had one thing in common; They all had old but still-effective soundproof walls. I found that weird because, generally, the rental basements tend to not let any sound out, so soundproofing is a bit excessive.”
“Did you find out about that ‘someone’?”
“No. Mind you, I had to bribe that broker to get even that little bit of information.”
Zeke looked at the muscular bald man and snorted, “I thought thugs liked to threaten people.”
“Hah! Thugs also don’t work with children.”
“...”
After a brief and tense silence, in which Jack snuck out of the room to not get involved in their heated confrontation, Zeke walked to the only couch in the room and let his body slump down.
“I thought you couldn’t leave Erys.”
“That doesn’t matter anymore.”
“So you’ve gone rogue?” The baldy burst out in laughter, “That’s a first!”
As Zeke didn’t talk, Sulong stood up and instructed him not to cause any mess before returning to his small apartment, which was right next to his workplace.
[Special Mission ‘Retrieval of the Crown’: Eliminate Subject ‘Amelia’ and absorb the Crown.]
‘There must be another way. I… I can’t kill her.’
Zeke covered his face, unwilling to stare at the System Window any longer. The plan was to acquire the Crown and return to Erys before dawn, but that was too short-sighted on his part. He should have prepared himself for the worst, he also should have expected the killer to the System, after all, he had become more active specifically after that fateful day.
‘But I don’t have time to look for a solution. At this rate, I’m going to die.’
----------------------------------------
“Why are you keeping the suspense, Celestia? We’ve all gathered as you ordered.”
In the meeting room of the Special Investigation Squad of Erys, Celestia, after having her wounds treated by Doctor Xavier, called all her team members.
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She purposely didn’t recount what happened and, instead, asked them to keep calm and wait.
“Witnesses state that they saw another student. Who was it, Celestia?”-V
In total, there were six people in the room; V, James, Maxine, Celestia, Vanessa, Celestia, and a youth with a black hood over his head.
Celestia tentatively touched her bandaged abdomen but felt a wave of pain, making her grit her teeth and curse under her breath. After what felt like an eternity, she raised her head and looked at Maxine.
“Who else could it be but your little brother Zeke?”
“Bullshit!”
“If you don’t believe me, then go ask the Dean. He saw him leaving Erys and warned him to return before dawn.”
Maxine was red-faced, anger and shock plastered all over her face. V patted her back and reassured her while Celestia continued,
“Apparently, he was looking for something. I saw Jonathan try to kill him, so, I must confess that I was wrong about him. However…”
As everyone drew their breaths and impatiently waited, Celestial continued,
“Zeke Orland seems to be Jonathan’s target. When I burst into the basement, he was trying to pluck Zeke’s eyes out. Furthermore, he appeared less crazed than ever before, this time acting reasonably and talking coherently. One more thing I noticed was a crimson line betwixt that Amelia girl and Zeke, but I don’t know its significance yet.”
“Why would he go after Zeke? It doesn’t make sense!”
“No, Max… if you think about it, it kind of does.”
As much as he wanted to support Maxine, James couldn’t act based on his emotions.
“Jonathan became much more active exactly when Zeke supposedly went through a late awakening.”
“Whatever it is, it’s definitely not a late awakening.” Corrected Celestia as she remembered a couple more details.
“I followed him from Erys to that basement and saw him stop at random spots, seemingly bound by something. He even vomited blood. Even if exclude those odd occurrences, his ability itself is an enigma.”
“...”
Maxine hands were tightly clenched as she kept silent and listened. Trying to defend her brother could potentially make them leave her out of the case, therefore, she contented with controlling her emotions and keeping her lips shut.
“I couldn’t copy his ability. You know what that means, right?”
“It’s not an ability? Woah…”-V
“You all know that I can even copy Black Magic. So whatever he’s using must be something else.”
Once Celestia finished, the quiet Vanessa spoke up, “Zeke Orland isn’t our quarry. The circumstances of his abilities are irrelevant to the case.”
“But they are, Vanessa.”
“No, they are not.” Resolutely affirmed the ashen-haired girl as she stubbornly stared back at their leader, Celestia.
“We don’t know why Jonathan is after Zeke’s eyes, and just because you saw him act ‘calm’ doesn’t necessarily mean he’s not crazy anymore. He could have been delusional and out of it. For now, I say we divide our team into two groups, one in charge of finding Zeke and bringing him back here, and one in charge of searching for Jonathan. We should also be careful as he might use the girl as bait.”
Celestia did not object, but neither did she agree on the spot. Instead, she swept her gaze across the rest and waited for a reaction.
With the exception of the hooded youth, they all nodded in silence.
“John?”
With all gazes on him, the youth named ‘John’, turned his head to the windows and said,
“By defeating Celestia, the strongest one of us, Jonathan Stellar Link already proved that he’s beyond our individual capabilities. If we are to continue working on this case, and considering the unintentional involvement of Maxine’s younger brother, I say we either seek the help of one of our families or we refer to the principal. I see no other course.”
“The only reason the Department of Defense has not acted yet is because the principal is holding them off and waiting for us to catch Jonathan. I don’t think any of our families will risk getting involved.” Responded V in a self-mocking tone.
John walked right next to the sitting Maxine and stared at her from under his oversized hood.
“Before it really gets out of control and you regret this, I suggest you pick up your phone and call Edward.”
Maxine was hesitant as he looked down and fidgeted, conflicted with herself. However, when she finally fished out her phone, it suddenly flew out of her phone and into the hands of a new arrival.
Principal Solas was at the entrance of the room with Maxine’s phone in his hand.
“The boy… Zeke… will be given a week to return to Erys. If he does not, he will be expelled. As for you, your objective is Jonathan and no one else. Instead of arguing, you should get to work.”
“But grandfath-”
Vanessa tried to protest but he glared at her with an unusually serious face
“But me no buts, girl! He could have gone to the Student Council for help but the boy left of his own free will. I will not be made a fool just because an unruly student decided to go rampant. Additionally, from this moment onwards, Amelia from Class B is expelled from Erys and is to be treated as an accomplice. If she offers resistance, you are free to strike her down. That is all!”