Chapter 22
Chapter 22
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: He's Not That Kind of Person - Interlude (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The great zombie commotion led by the noble vampire Drakel, hereafter known as the Night of Blood incident.
The commotion finally came to an end with the capture of its instigator, Drakel.
Recognized for the danger he posed, Drakel was imprisoned in Nastrond, a special correctional facility for criminals.
As this facility is strictly managed by one of the Transcendents, the Dragon Mayor.
Drakel was likely fated never to see the sun again.
“Are you, are you really going to request second-class credit?! Capturing a noble vampire hiding in the city—this is absolutely worthy of a first-class commendation! If it were me, I’d never give up the reward money!”
And so, several hours after his capture.
In front of the main entrance of the Nighthaven Central Police Department, where the lights stayed on even late at night, a female police officer was raising her voice at Alice, utterly incredulous.
Based on the evidence left at the scene and witness statements.
The Night of Blood incident was a Class 2 disaster, corresponding to Code Orange.
The city itself hadn't been in peril.
But it was a harrowing incident that could have resulted in an absurd number of casualties had things gone slightly wrong.
And yet, in this situation, after swiftly subduing the instigator and handing him over to the police, she was stepping back, claiming she didn't deserve the top credit?
Even though it wasn't her business, the officer couldn't help but feel the loss of the commendation and reward money.
“Ahaha… The truth is, I didn't do it all. I just finished what Ghost had mostly taken care of. I don't really want to steal the credit. And being on the news is a bit much for me.”
But for Alice, this was the obvious choice.
She was the kind of upstanding woman who couldn't rest until she'd returned even money found on the street to its owner.
And her ability to capture Drakel was entirely due to her finishing off what Ghost had already beaten half to death.
Thus, she had stubbornly insisted, practically making a scene, that the police must include Ghost's name for the first-class credit.
In the end, unable to overcome Alice’s persistence, the police had no choice but to push her to second-class credit and write down the name of the unsuspecting Ghost in her place.
“Hmm…. Well, if that’s what you think…. I can’t force you. In that case, I’ll be on my way! See you again sometime!”
“Yes, take care.”
*I wonder if this is enough of a repayment.*
Alice bid farewell to the officer, who looked thoroughly disappointed, and turned away without a second thought.
And just as she was about to step into the street with a light gait.
A familiar man’s voice came from right beside her.
“Yo, Alice. All done? You hurt anywhere?”
“Ah, Mr. Jin! You were waiting for me.”
“Who said I was waiting? I was just passing by and happened to see you, so I said hi.”
The man's name was Jin Crowley.
He was the owner of the Crowley Fixer Agency, making him Alice's boss.
He was also a Fixer, holding a license that was perilously close to its expiration date.
With his preference for black clothes from head to toe, and even black hair.
He was sometimes called Raven by those who knew him.
“Hee hee~ My sister says male tsunderes aren't in high demand. Something about them being like unsellable dead stock?”
“You need to tell your sister to stop reading so many comics. Who even says ‘tsundere’ these days? It's an old word, got to be over seventy years old.”
*Heh heh.*
Alice let out a light laugh at the sight of Jin, who, despite his embarrassment, matched her pace and walked beside her.
Though he seemed to live life as it came, his habit of always looking out for those around him was naturally woven into his actions.
The two walked down the street in silence for a while. It was Alice who spoke first.
“Oh, right. Mr. Jin. I actually met the Ghost that Mr. Victor was talking about earlier.”
“…Is that true? What were they like?”
“Hmm, I didn't see them use any psychic powers… but just as Mr. Victor said, I don't think they're a bad person.”
As she spoke, Alice recalled the day a few weeks ago when Jin’s close friend, Victor, had visited the agency.
Victor, a man with striking blond hair that shot up from his head.
He had shown up out of the blue and said this to her and Jin.
“Raven. I know this is sudden, but I need you to investigate Ghost. It's possible they're... connected to your missing sister.”
“…Explain in detail.”
“The Nexus Project, a large-scale paranormal research experiment that produced tens of thousands of victims. The only experiment to yield significant results regarding psychic powers… I believe Ghost is connected to it.”
A power that belonged to neither science nor magic, wielded by invaders from another world: Psychic Power.
For decades since the metahumans had crossed over, there had been hundreds of attempts to implant that power into humans.
Among them, the only one that came closest to success was the Nexus Project.
It was a massive human experimentation project led by an unidentified group, the same one Jin's missing sister was believed to have been caught up in.
“How can you be so sure? The Nexus Project was a plan carried out by an unknown group that not even the Dragon Mayor could catch. I can't just take your word for it. Besides, how would you even distinguish between chantless magic and psychic powers…”
“Ah, I see your point. But what if… Ghost were a small child?”
“A child?”
As Jin’s eyes widened in surprise, Victor continued, his expression earnest, as if there wasn't a hint of falsehood in his words.
“Yes. I know what you're going to say. A master magician can wield magic that leaves no trace, much like psychic powers. But would such a magician really be robbing villains in the underworld? And in the form of a small child?”
“That’s…”
“My gut is telling me. There's a high probability that Ghost is a psychic created by the Nexus Project. And they probably went through something terrible in the process. As you well know.”
The journals from the Nexus Project, discovered by chance, were nothing short of shocking.
To awaken psychic powers in people, they forcibly transplanted parts of an invader's body or opened up the brain to tamper with it at will.
They injected drugs that caused a burning agony and even forced subjects to kill their own precious friends with their own hands.
If that was the case, what horrors must the project's successful subject have endured?
“So I'm asking you, Raven. Please, investigate Ghost in my place. I'll be leaving the city for a while, so you're the only one I can ask. This will be for your sister's sake, too.”
“…”
Jin fell silent for a moment, not answering right away, as if lost in deep thought.
Then, having made his decision, he looked at Victor seriously and replied.
“Let me ask one thing. This Ghost, what kind of person are they?”
“Well. From what I've seen, a very good person.”
“Hmph. Your view is too rose-tinted to be of much help, but…”
Jin shifted in his seat and grinned, revealing his teeth.
“Alright. I'll take the job. Before you get back to Nighthaven, I'll uncover every last detail about who this Ghost really is.”
“Heh, right. *Before* I get back, you say?”
It was clear they were truly old friends.
Jin and Victor faced each other squarely, as if in a competition.
The condition for victory was to investigate Ghost before Victor's return.
As if his passion had been ignited for the first time in a while, flames flickered in Jin's eyes.
*‘They felt more like brothers than friends.’*
Recalling that moment, Alice let out a quiet chuckle.
Jin and Victor. With their black and blond hair, they were complete opposites in appearance, and their personalities seemed to be as well.
But it was clear their long-standing bond was real; there were parts of them that mirrored each other.
Perhaps it was a quality that could stir a fire in people's hearts.
Just as she had been inspired by the free-spirited Jin to quit her stable life as a police officer and walk the path of a Fixer.
Jin, too, had received that passion from Victor and was now burning with a genuine desire to find Ghost.
*Like minds attract, and that's how people become friends,* she thought.
“Ah, I can't stand this! I have to go to the Black Beast Society and protest this ridiculous bounty! Ghost practically saved the Western Labyrinth. This is just too unfair!”
“Yeah, I agree with you on that. Though… the Black Beast Society is probably too busy dealing with pissed-off bounty hunters to listen.”
Jin shrugged at her words.
When Alice tilted her head, asking what he meant, Jin explained simply.
The Black Beast Society, in order to protect their territory, had put up a reward for each zombie head, despite the financial bleeding.
But once the incident was over, the zombie corpses all vanished like a mirage.
Some of the bounty hunters claimed it was a conspiracy, alleging that the Black Beast Society knew this would happen and offered the reward money on purpose.
Naturally, the bounty hunters who had worked their tails off for nothing jumped on this theory and began confronting the Black Beast Society.
Jin figured that, due to the fallout, the Black Beast Society wouldn't be able to exert much influence in the Western Labyrinth for a while.
He thought the bounty on Ghost would probably fizzle out soon enough.
“Sigh, anyway. I should have been in the Western Labyrinth with you. Why am I so unlucky?”
“Hee hee, that's just like you, Mr. Jin. But… I don’t know if they got away safely after that. The last I saw them, they were covered in wounds. I’m a little worried about that.”
“Well… If Ghost had been found, rumors would have spread over there by now. The fact that there's no such talk is a good thing, isn't it?”
No news is good news, as they say.
Jin shrugged, comforting Alice as if to tell her not to worry too much.
And so, Jin and Alice chatted as they walked, parting ways in front of the agency.
The next day, when Alice arrived at the office for work.
The two came face to face with an unexpected guest.
“Might I ask a favor?”
“…”
A towering, muscular orc and a tiny, fairy-like maid in a fox mask.
It was a combination with an utterly mystifying synergy.