As Lucas plays the waiting game for his failure of a colleague to arrive at the scene, his eyes subtly gaze at his other colleague.

'You're so lucky, Jasmine.' He clicked his tongue in a disgruntled manner. Had it not been for Damien's calm composure, then Lucas would have suspected the former of having nefarious intent toward Jasmine.

Naturally, it would have still been far-fetched, considering Damien's status as a Seventh Order.

What kind of women can't he get as a Seventh Order?

"Ugh, whatever. At least I'm still on the run and not eliminated." Lucas shook his head and walked toward the carriage where Coachman Karl was idling.

"You, make a signboard with the writing TI Kyle. I'll be waiting inside the carriage." He ordered. There was no way he would be willing to stand outside and be stared at like some sort of mascot. Damien only ordered him to wait, but never stated where and how.

Therefore, sitting inside the carriage was still considered waiting as long as he intercepted Kyle. With his ability, Kyle would be dreaming if he could escape his perception.

Meanwhile, Karl, who had been assigned another duty, raised numerous curses in his mind.

'You got ordered by your superior but dared not argue so you ordered me to vent. Serves you right.' Karl dared not be rude at all to Damien, but the same could not be said for the Ninth Order.

Indeed, they were feared, but definitely not that terrifying as opposed to a Seventh Order. At best, a Ninth Order could be considered a recent graduate versus a Seventh Order who was a veteran.

…

"The foul stench is quite strong," Damien commented. His nose had been sniffing an unpleasant smell ever since approaching the crime scene.

The carriage stopped just two streets prior to the crime scene, and the more they advanced, the more police officers in fancy uniforms were patrolling around.

Their eyes were vigilant, and their body postures indicated that they were ready to attack and detain any non-personnel in the vicinity.

Despite their seemingly cool and detached demeanor, they still bowed their heads slightly whenever they noticed Damien.

As for Jasmine, they didn't do much and almost brushed over her in the process.

From that small gesture of theirs, Damien concluded that the insignia number was significant— even in the police force.

'A Ninth Order is feared by regular pedestrians, but not at all in the police force. Interesting.' There was so much new information Damien needed to keep up with it. He couldn't afford any possible slip-up.

Sometime later, Jasmine brought Damien to the house of the crime scene. To be more precise, the house appeared to be a mansion-kind.

"Quite a big mansion." Damien glanced at the exterior and continued, "Yet only 3 victims found?"

"Yes, the report said that only 3 victims were found and are registered members of the residency," Jasmine reported.

"And based on the follow-up reports, it was said that the culprit was not spotted by any surveillance—"

Just before Jasmine could continue her report, Damien halted her.

"Enough. The first rule of investigation. Never blindly trust in the report." Damien calmly said.

"Throw out the reports that we received and start from scratch. Remember, you do not want any bias or judgment made prior." He added, warning her that it was a big taboo in a crime investigation.

However, the truth was that he didn't have a single clue of what the case was about. To ensure nothing was suspicious, he decided to throw her off by adding random nonsense.

Naturally, Jasmine furrowed her brows. It was clear that she didn't understand what he meant by throwing out the report. Each of the reports was meticulous and done by professionals.

'I supposed the Seventh is trying to train me from ground zero.' She concluded.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

She refused to believe Damien would behave in such a manner if it wasn't to guide her on the first case. This wasn't Damien's first case after all— at least that was what she thought.

"Understood, I shall open a new note," Jasmine responded. She retrieved her tablet and opened up a new page to record data from scratch.

"The first clue is the foul stench," Damien said. "Since we have been delayed by a day already, and the crime was said to have happened two days ago. Then it makes sense that the putrefaction stage has already begun."

The putrefaction stage only starts after the first couple of days when the body begins to smell really bad. The stage itself could last from four to ten days.

However, the foul stench seemed excessive, which made Damien suspicious of the possible factors involved.

Meanwhile, Jasmine recorded the statement on her tablet. As she jotted her notes, she suddenly recalled a detail.

"Um, Investigator Damien, there is something else that is suspicious." She opened her mouth and wished to speak of the details, but was unsure whether she was allowed to.

After all, Damien did instruct her to throw away any details of the report received from the past days.

"What is suspicious?" Damien gestured for her to speak.

"Corpses smell bad during decomposition, but the victims inside had yet to decompose according to the report. Till now, it is reported that the victims still appeared fine before their death." When Jasmine said her finding, she was worried about a scolding.

What she did was no different than stating Damien's words were wrong.

Yet contrary to her expectation, Damien made no comment and simply nodded.

He then took the lead to enter the mansion and was quickly greeted by a luxurious sight. The interior of the mansion was more intricate and decorative than what the exterior showed.

The nearby police officers who were assigned to the scene quickly spotted Damien and the insignia on his clothes.

"Greetings, Seventh Order TI. We are from the division branch code name Skyler, assigned to assist the TI in charge of this case." One of the higher-ranking police officers stepped forward and greeted Damien.

Despite the greeting though, they were ignored by Damien. It wasn't that Damien wanted to act cool and nonchalant either, but he was truly distracted by something else.

'Why is there a Diamond 3 poker card hovering in the lighting?' Secretly alarmed, Damien thought he was hallucinating.

While Damien's gaze was hovering at the lighting decoration, the police officer who made the greetings became rather awkward.

It was proper etiquette to greet or even acknowledge somewhat regardless of their position. This was especially true when they were all assigned to solve the complicated case.

Even a TI would require help from local police officers, so a good connection and relationship was necessary. Otherwise, how is one supposed to work when you're all alone?

As the atmosphere gradually grew more tense, Jasmine had no choice but to intervene.

"Greetings, officer. Please excuse my superior's behavior." Jasmine calmly said and explained, "My superior is the type to be distracted as soon as he discovers some clues. If interrupted, then the clues might be disorientated."

With Jasmine personally intervening and explaining the situation, the atmosphere finally returned to normal. She might be a Ninth Order, but a TI nonetheless.

"Ah, I see…" Nodding, the officer didn't suspect much. It was long known that higher TI was eccentric. It was just that they didn't expect to encounter one of these traits so early on.

"I'm Sergeant Eugene, responsible for guiding the TI." The officer introduced himself, as well as their rank. The Sergeant was a rank above the uniformed officer and detective.

Uniformed officers were those who were assigned to the outside perimeter of the crime scene to prevent any non-personnel from entering the restricted area.

As for detectives, they were the ones responsible for recording data and noting down the significant details found during the investigation. To summarize, the reports that Jasmine had been constantly repeating came from them.

Meanwhile, the Sergeant was the person responsible for overseeing these two. It was the first supervisory rank, to say the least.

"Nice to meet you, Sergeant Eugene. I'm Jasmine, a Ninth Order TI." Jasmine responded. She then glanced around the surroundings and began noting down what she saw.

When Eugene noticed that she was jotting down notes, he was dumbfounded.

"Did you find anything suspicious, TI Jasmine?" He asked curiously.

Eugene was positive that he instructed his team to be extremely thorough with their investigations. Yet based on Jasmine's action, it seemed like she had spotted something that wasn't written in the report.

With that mindset, Eugene was ready to rain hell on his team once they returned to the station. 'How dare they make me look like an incompetent supervisor in front of the TIs!'

If words were to spread the TIs had to cover up a lot of mistakes from his Skyler Division. Then not only would he be reprimanded by his superior, but his chances of promotion would also slip away.

How could he forgive anyone who robbed him of such an opportunity?

The nearby detectives who sensed the displeasure of Eugene quickly felt pressured by the atmosphere.

A few seconds went by, and Jasmine finished jotting down on her tablet. She turned to Eugene and replied, "Oh, I'm just noting down the things I see from scratch."

"I-Is that so?" Eugene was surprised. "Were the reports we sent inadequate?"

"The reports were great. It's just that I wish to note things down based on my observation without any bias formed from the reports."

"Tsk, so it's just a newbie Ninth Order. No wonder she disregarded the detailed reports made by us." Almost immediately, a disgruntled detective snorted coldly. It was clear that they were annoyed by Jasmine's behavior and how she made it seem like their work was done horribly.

After all, the reports were all done and revised multiple times to ensure perfection.

Meanwhile, Jasmine was astonished slightly by the comment made by the detective.

Even Eugene was rather speechless when one of his detectives decided to make an unsightly remark on a TI. Almost immediately, Eugene had an awkward expression on his face, clearly unsure of what to do or say.

Was the detective's word wrong?

Absolutely not, but that didn't mean Eugene could agree with it on the surface either. The other party was a TI— even if it was a Ninth Order. Respect should still be given.

The tension was palpable, and Jasmine understood that Eugene had silently agreed with the detective's word.

'Sigh, to make a clean report is indeed a blatant disrespect to the detective's work.' She smiled bitterly.

The situation simply didn't allow her to defend herself. A small incident like this could easily fester in an instant and cause a huge political fight between officers and TIs.

Amidst the dreadful atmosphere, a voice suddenly echoed and attracted everyone's attention.

"I was wondering where the foul stench was emitting from, but it seemed to be coming from this source."

Damien, who had initially been distracted by the Diamond 3 poker card, was interrupted by the detective's remark. He wanted to inspect further, but the detective's remark caused the Diamond 3 poker card to blink and subsequently disappear.

The cause of it was self-explanatory, so Damien was naturally very annoyed and infuriated. That poker card was a clue and a hint of his current predicament. Yet before he could even get to the bottom of it, a mere detective sabotaged and ruined his chance.

"I didn't think a detective was this powerful to judge and demean the work habits of a TI. Or am I supposed to take this as a challenge and declaration of war?" Damien continued. His eyes stared down at the detective who made the unsightly remark.

Although he was distracted, his perception had never changed. He was able to perceive things that occurred even when his eyes weren't on it.

This kind of ability was indeed surprising, but there was no point in questioning it.

"Please do not misunderstand, Seventh Order." Eugene hurriedly rushed forward. "Detective Burke had no malicious intent."

"No malicious intent?" Damien raised an eyebrow. He then smirked and revealed, "I was the one who told Jasmine to note down in a fresh view, but in your Detective Burke's eyes. It's the work of a newbie."

THUD!

As soon as Damien revealed he was the one responsible for the action, Eugene felt as if he had been struck with lightning. His steps became uneven.

'This is a mistake.' Eugene realized the severity of the situation and regretted his previous inaction.