A mystery was afoot... but far too little of the puzzle board had been revealed for Tyvan to act with intelligibility.

How frustrating.

However... Tyvan still found great enjoyment in his outing. He was granted an appropriate opportunity to utilise his telescopic baton. It really was a fantastic exemplification of human engineering. For its integrity to withstand so many strikes against bone--

Marvelous.

“This is such a wonderful tool. Rider, would you like one?”

The ghoul tried to stand. Tyvan couldn’t have that, so he bashed the side of its head. It collapsed onto its knees, inviting a kick to the chest before it finally laid on the tiles.

He flourished his baton and tossed it upward.

Jiang smoothly snatched it out of the air, before holding it at arm’s length. He grimaced at the mouldering blood on its surface.

“I don’t want your hammy-downs, Boss. I can get my own.”

Tyvan stomped down on the ghoul’s chest, keeping it still.

“Finish it off.”

Jiang made a peculiar face-- uncertain or uncomfortable. “I’ll... be borrowing this for a bit, then.”

And thus, he began the process of breaking the ghoul, utilising the baton in a hammer-like fashion.

The pinned creature continued to snarl and flail its broken arms. It didn’t bleed as much as a regular human, but a few dark splatters marred the walls.

Ugh. A spot threatened to stain his left sleeve. That was... incredibly frustrating. But thankfully, the lavatory was stocked with brown paper towels. They were of poor quality but remained functional.

--and while doing so, he made a mental note to have Jiang issued a pair of gloves.

Eventually, the creature ceased its movements. Tyvan knelt down to examine its mana... and confirmed it would not move again of its own volition.

Jiang stood up after a job well done. He... stumbled to the sink. And then... he expelled the insides of his stomach.

“Rider,” Tyvan gently chided, “the toilet isn’t even a metre away.”

“Fuck. Fff...uck...... I... fuck you, man.”

Jiang spat in the sink before turning on the water... washing out his mouth and the rest of his ejecta into the drain.

Tyvan walked over, depositing a box of mints on the sink counter. It was his favourite brand.

Jiang mumbled a barely audible ‘Thanks.’ He drew more water from the sink, gargling and spitting. Then, he tossed a handful of mints into his mouth.

(Hopefully, he wouldn’t have any digestive issues. Regular humans weren’t supposed to consume so much peppermint in a day.)

Tyvan gestured to the mess. “Get this cleaned up. The sooner it’s done, the sooner we can leave.”

Jiang looked down and to the side. “My powers don’t work on living people, Boss.”

“That thing has been dead for several days. And I surmise that since the magic keeping it moving has been forcibly disrupted, its rate of decomposition--”

An offensive sound cut through the air-- a buildup of gas, naturally escaping. The smell was... revolting.

Jiang visibly gagged.

Tyvan resisted the urge-- but it was difficult.

“So what is this thing?” Jiang coughed, “A zombie? It’s fuckin’ disGusTing.”

“Too fast to be a zombie,” Tyvan shook his head. “Perhaps... a jiangshi?”

“The fuck? No,” Jiang frowned. “It didn’t hop-- unless real-life jiangshi don’t do that.”

“I’d imagine this is... your area of expertise?”

“What the~? Boss... I honestly have no clue. This is my first time dealing with an undead-- thing.”

Tyvan grimaced, disappointed but not... surprised. For a moment, he wished he brought Yan Xue instead of Jiang. She was a studious young lady-- so likely, she’d be more familiar with Chinese folklore.

Of course, it was a worrisome notion , bringing that one to the field. Her first time delving into Kingdom matters, she’d made a veritable mess of the situation.

“The worst case scenario,” Tyvan said... “is it’s a ghoul made by a vampire.”

Stolen story; please report.

“Vampires are real?” Jiang asked warily. “And they made this?”

“Yes to the first question. As for the second, I am keenly hoping for an alternative explanation.”

Tyvan moved to stand guard at the lavatory entrance, allowing Jiang to work.

The only vampire he had a direct connection to was Scarlet. He’d left a message with one of her people warning about the possible ghoul activity. However, he was reluctant to contact her directly.

He’d essentially threatened her only weeks prior. Asking for a favour so soon after would unacceptably shift the status quo of their relationship.

In the interim... making the rogue ghouls disappear would send a message. If the operating ⟦Necromancer⟧ continued their activities-- or otherwise increased or augmented them, he would be afforded greater cause to act openly.

--not that he desired that.

Provoking the cesspit of fanged egoisticals that was the ❴Eminence❵ faction was a far more precarious prospect than dealing with the sects of ❴Hidden Village❵ as he had been. The sects avoided conflict with those outside of their sphere. The clans reveled in it.

As it was all too often, Tyvan’s best course of action was to remain vigilant and reactive.

Thankfully, the incidents thus far hadn’t involved his people directly. And with any luck, he wouldn’t have to murder anyone arguably living to emphasise an essential point.

He returned his attention to Jiang, reviewing the young man’s work. The ghoul had dissolved into a pile of goo. Over half of it had been successfully ⌈Erased⌋.

The process would have been expedited if Jiang wasn’t holding his breath, but... overall, his abilities as an ⟦Eraser⟧ were developing favourably.

Tyvan picked up his baton and took off his gloves, washing them with the cheap, pink soap in the nearby sink. He would discard them both at a later time and date.

After a few more minutes, Jiang finished, sitting back on the filthy tile and exhaling a sigh of relief.

“I’m ‘bout outta juice-- err... mana,” he said. “Can I rest a bit before we do whatever’s next?”

“That shouldn’t be necessary. We’re done here-- but I do plan on having dinner nearby if you’d care to join me.”

“Dinner? We had lunch before we left.”

“Indeed. An early dinner, then.”

“And you can eat after that!?” Jiang asked. His brows were furrowed and his expression was baffled.

...But was that really so surprising? Tracking a mark, keeping it captive, removing it without witnesses-- that was all very tiresome work.

Humans regained energy by eating food! Dinner was natural. Dinner was necessary.

Jiang shook his head. “I’ll... pass. I think... I really feel like going for a drive..”

Ah. That was fair.

Montgomery Jiang had performed an act with striking similarity to murdering a member of his species. His psyche needed to recover.

And, as his alias might suggest to an outsider, Jiang’s most natural setting... was behind his steering wheel. There, he was the most relaxed-- the most receptive to recovery and external sources of mana.

Viewed in a different manner, Jiang’s desire to drive could be deemed as the price for his superhuman reflexes and his ⟦Eraser⟧ magics.

“Very well,” Tyvan nodded. “Dismissed, Mister Jiang. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Wh-what about evening training?” Jiang asked in a sudden panic. “Is this some kinda trick?”

“You... may train on your own,” Tyvan said-- “or rest, if you wish. You’ve earned it. Congratulations on your first completed field assignment.”

“F... fuuUck,” Jiang whispered in awe.

His eyes lit ablaze, his spirit renewed. He clenched his teeth and pumped his right fist. “F’ck Y’sss!!! Field work is f’ck’ng aW’sMmm!!”

He was excited. Good for him.

A few weeks prior, he had his misgivings. But the current Jiang was a higher quality product thanks to his effort and hard work. Though the near future remained ominous, every small victory was worth recognition.

Tyvan waved him away before turning to examine his attire in the mirror. “Have a good evening, Mister Jiang.”

“Uh... you too, Boss.”

----------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Shay had just walked out of Perseus. They were in there for an entire hour! --but it didn’t feel like that, at all!

She bought one-and-a-half outfits she picked out with Nuri’s help. She wasn’t sure she had enough money in her personal account, so she used Grandpa Wei’s black card for the first time.

She felt a little guilty... but that was mostly drowned out by an inexplicable ‘happy feeling’ from spending so much money at once. She was definitely going to call Grandpa after to say ‘Thank you.‘

Would he even care? Hm. Even if he didn’t, calling him was the right thing to do.

Ah. And all that shopping made Shay hungry. She hadn’t eaten since lunch-- and that was a tiny salad from the school cafeteria.

So, naturally, she and Nuri started making their way to the food court. And as they got there, Shay ducked down, hiding behind the big leaves of a potted plant.

“Uh... what?” Nuri said.

“Guh. Ahh. Rrrrrr...” Shay opened her mouth, but only a bunch of cave-person noises came out.

Nuri crouched down beside her. “Yeah, so are you human or what?”

“I’m human!” Shay snapped, “Believe me. That’s been drilled into my head multiple times. I get it.”

“O... okay? So... start using human speech, then. Go on, girl. Speak.”

“My CEO!” Shay cried-- “He’s here! There, I mean! He’s there!”

Nuri looked up--

“Don’t look, he’ll kNoW yoU’re LoOkiNg~!!”

“Y...eah. Chill for a second,” Nuri sighed. “Is it the guy wearing the suit? He might not be alone. The table he’s sitting at-- it has food trays from three different food places.”

Shay bit her upper lip. That was definitely Tyvan. And if he got only three times the amount a normal person could eat, that confirmed he was alone.