Murder

“Elian~”

Elian gave Jimin a small smile as he walked into the canteen. He settled down in the seat beside her, with a plate of food already on the table for him to eat.

The menu selection today was a classic Chinese breakfast, and there was a wide variety of congee, fried vermicelli, steamed vegetables, braised sesame chicken, and even dim sum.

He looked at the plate. Jimin had lovingly took a fistful of congee and maybe ten fistfuls of protein.

“So so, what did Gaeul talk to you about?” Jimin asked, leaning her head on his shoulders as she sipped on a straw that stuck out of her glass of orange juice.

“A job.”

“Job?”

“Yes,” Elain said, scooping a mouthful of congee topped with some braised peanuts. “She requested some help as she’s currently being overwhelmed by work. And since you will be studying at the union the whole day, I accepted it.”

“Ohhh…” Jimin muttered. “So what kind of job is it?”

“A simple one. A homicide case where a murderer killed a woman and ran. I’ll be investigating and tracking the assailant down.”

“Ehhh~ Can't Gaeul just task this to others? Doesn't she manage almost all of the detective agencies in Kandar?”

Elian put down his fork and waved at Rei, Robert and Chaewon who were walking into the canteen.

“I asked the same thing too,” he said, poking a siew mai. “They all have their hands full. There's been a surge of big and small incidents lately, and coupled with the civil unrest, every one of her detectives have been working overtime.”

“That really sucks. I sure hope that the citizens will be appeased from results of the upcoming assembly.”

Elian hummed softly, agreeing with Jimin as he continued to eat quietly.

“Wait. If you're going out for investigation, what will you be paid with? Will you be alone? Won't you be in danger if no one is protecting you?”

“Can you stop thinking about Voidborn for just one second?” Rei asked, standing to Jimin’s side as she carried her tray of food. “Can we join? Or are you allergic to us now that you have your boyfriend?”

Jimin rolled her eyes and giggled.

“Aren’t you still gonna sit even if I say no, so bother asking?”

Rei smirked and slid into the seat opposite them.

“To think you haven't forgotten about me,” Rei lamented. “Anyway, I'm sure Gaeul would have made arrangements, right?”

Robert and Chaewon joined the trio, placing their trays onto the table as they slid in.

“Yes,” Voidborn said. “I’ll be working with Asa for this request.”

“Asa…” Jimin hummed, her voice dropping into one of serious consideration.

Voidborn raised his wrist and shook the bracelet in front of Jimin’s eyes.

“Don't worry. I only have eyes for you.”

Robert choked on his water at Voidborn’s words, grunting in awe as he took mental notes on what he should try on Chaewon.

“What about payment?” Chaewon asked.

“Special lessons with Xerxes. She also agreed to help connect me with a Rebirth 5 Mechanist to make attachments for my weapon.”

“That seems a bit much for such a simple case of homicide, no?”

“It is,” Voidborn said. “But she seemed really sincere, so I accepted the requested.”

“As you should,” Robert said. “She has a lot of connections and you should take every opportunity she gives you.”

“What are you guys doing?” Jimin asked.

“Patrols,” Robert sighed. “High alert ones. We've received news that the Grand Assembly and Royal Gala has been pushed forward, and all factions have a consensus on increasing public security to reduce the number of incidents leading up to the event.”

Robert poked at his dim sum and played with it, rolling the steam bun around his plate with his fork.

“We’ll basically be out all day,” Robert continued. “And they're even making us cover are wider area in our patrols.”

“Stop complaining,” Chaewon said, rolling her eyes. “We can't afford to screw this up. We're being paid handsomely anyway.”

“Hey, that's new,” Jimin said, pointing to Chaewon’s neck as she sat up straight. “Haven't seen that before.”

“This?” Chaewon asked. “It's a gift from this idiot. It’s so tacky.”

Chaewon raised her hands and showed them to the rest.

“It’s a choker, but it came as a set. There's five, and he bought all for me.”

Voidborn looked at the black things wrapped around Chaewon’s knuckles, neck, and ankles.

“I wanted to give you something since your knuckles were destroyed…” Robert muttered. “And those weren't exactly cheap.”

“But it looks so—”

“What does it do?” Rei asked.

“Anything that comes close to it will punctured by spikes piercing out,” Voidborn said. “I saw them at the black market yesterday. Two thousand shells each.”

“Two thousand?!” Chaewon shouted. “Then what? These cost holy ten fucking thousand freaking shells?”

“Yea!” Robert chuckled excitedly, promoting the item. “And if you wear all five, you get the ability to control when you want the spikes to activate! No more hole punching from accidental touches. Furthermore, the strength and length of the spikes will double!”

“What the hell?” Rei cursed. “I didn't know you were so rich?!”

“I don't go around flaunting my wealth like those idiots in the core zone out there,” he explained. “Plus, I think they are a good investment because once Chaewon reaches Rebirth 3, she can further strengthen the spikes with the external aura skill that Savages gain. Kicks, slams — they would all be punched full of holes.”