For the past 15 minutes, the carriage ride had been rather smooth. Damien managed to recollect most of the information he gathered and condensed them.

Despite this, he was dissatisfied with the information. He was enlightened by the discovery of the tablet used by all TIs. The tablet supposedly contained a ton of profiles and information about the world.

Without getting his hand on it, there was just that slight itch in Damien's mind. 'Who made me a Seventh Order but left me completely clueless?'

Just at this moment, the door on his carriage was knocked.

"Investigator Damien, he has returned." Jasmine's voice resounded from outside.

Immediately, Damien opened the door with a slight smile on his face until he realized who had returned.

His slight smile quickly faded and was replaced with a darkened expression.

When the two TIs noticed his change of expression, their bodies shuddered briefly.

"So it's Lucas— the great TI, who took his sweet time to deliver food," Damien exclaimed, his eyes piercingly cold.

He had thought the person to return was Kyle— the one responsible for the tablet. Yet it appeared that the higher the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

His eyes quickly shifted to the bags of food that Lucas seemed to have brought.

"Alright, hand it over and remain guard. Jasmine would cover the words I've said earlier." He said.

"Yes," Lucas answered and gave the bag of food to Damien.

Upon receiving the food, Damien shut the door in a somewhat displeased manner. He wanted to let them understand his displeasure and ensure they wouldn't bother or interrupt him.

As Damien wasn't a picky eater so long as the food was edible, he didn't care about its appearance. He simply took a few bites to fill up his satiety. While Damien was pondering over how his data seemed to correspond to this place, the journey continued.

Outside of the carriage though, Lucas was informed and made aware of how close he was to being kicked out of the case.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"You were lucky to return before the arrival of the crime scene," Jasmine stated.

Nodding in agreement, Lucas couldn't imagine that outcome. He didn't doubt Jasmine's words one bit. 'This Seventh Order is really unlike the rest that we've seen.'

"Wait, does that mean Kyle is going to be eliminated?" Lucas asked.

At their current pace, they would soon arrive at the crime scene located at VS 23rd Street in approximately 7-10 minutes. The distance from there to one of the TI's branches wasn't close either.

"I don't know, but he better use his speed to the maximum if he wants to remain in the team." Jasmine shrugged. She had no energy or leverage to be worried about others when her position was in peril as well.

Lucas was also on the same page.

'I should have asked what type of food Damien wanted in the beginning.' He thought to himself. He recalled how it took him a long time because he was scrambling everywhere to choose the food that might be suitable for Damien's taste.

Time quickly went by, and soon, Coachman Karl halted the carriage.

"We have arrived, Sir." Karl turned around and reported.

By now, Lucas and Jasmine's expression was rather peculiar. After all, Kyle had still not returned. They were patiently waiting for whether or not Damien would proceed with his statement from earlier.

Nevertheless, Jasmine swiftly opened the door for Damien, who nonchalantly stepped out. His gaze wandered around and when he noticed Kyle was still not in his presence. His mood turned sour.

However, he didn't have time to worry about this aspect yet.

"This isn't the crime scene," Damien uttered. His surroundings weren't blocked by obstacles and there were many people still walking around. A crime scene shouldn't have any non-personnel to be on the premises.

Sure enough, Jasmine nodded and reported. "The crime scene is off-limit to regular people, so the carriage could only go as far as here."

At the same time, she wanted to call Damien out for coming to the crime scene via a carriage. But she suppressed her urge.

Speak less to avoid any further trouble. That was the motto of survival.

"Sir, may I excuse myself then?" Karl suddenly requested. To be approaching the crime scene where TI was involved. He wanted nothing more than to flee from the scene already.

Not to mention, he was just a lowly Coachman. His job should have been completed the moment he delivered the customer to their destination.

Normally, he would have left already, but when the customer was a TI, he needed to provide proper respect.

Meanwhile, Damien simply gazed at him for a brief second. "No, you may not. You will stay here and await my return when I require you."

As soon as he made his speech, it was as if a huge boulder had come crashing down on Karl.

"B-But Sir—"

Before Karl was able to speak further, he was swiftly cut off by the fierce gaze of Jasmine and Lucas. Their eyes were quite murderous. It was crystal clear about what their intention was.

With a bittersweet smile, Karl could only accept the situation and park his carriage nearby.

"Lead the way, Jasmine." Damien didn't bother himself with that trivial matter. He was more focused on the crime scene and how to swindle his way to survive.

While Jasmine gladly led the way, Lucas was about to follow behind until he was halted.

"You stay here, Lucas," Damien instructed. "As soon as Kyle returns with the tablet. Take the tablet and inform him that he's off the case. I do not allow incompetent people to be working alongside me."

Almost immediately, both Jasmine and Lucas were horrified.

'He really meant his words?' Their thought process was nearly identical.

They seriously didn't think a TI would be kicked off a case just like that.

"Investigator Damien, not to interrupt. But we can have a fellow police officer wait for Kyle instead of waiting here blindly for him." Lucas suggested.

As much as he wanted to accomplish the task, he preferred to be in the actual crime scene. Not some TI who had to block the perimeter off from non-personnel.

"I do not wish to repeat myself," Damien uttered.

He then turned to Jasmine and questioned, "How long did Lucas take to return from a trivial task?"

"A little bit over 20 minutes." Answered Jasmine.

"Then as punishment, he shall wait a little bit over 20 minutes. If Kyle doesn't return by then, you may come to the crime scene. That is if you're still needed."

After saying his piece, Damien signaled for Jasmine to proceed forward.

As the two strode off, Lucas only had one thing in mind.

'That Kyle is really dragging me down.' His eyes glinted in a fierce light.