Blank walked behind Chris who hurriedly navigated through the street of Folk Town, the capital of Abrose Republic (One of the four states of Madi Planet.He had covered his face with the hood of the black hoodie while Chris tugged at hers, obviously nervous.
' Of course. It's Demonic Black we're talking about. '
He thought. Blank wasn't the least bit intimidated. The dangerous cult was the least of his problems.
' The 500 zeta bounty on even a bit of information. Now that's a payday '
His greed was not exposed by his mysterious and apathetic expression.
' I wonder how much I'll get if I get their lcation and motive? 1K or maybe 2?'
Holding back his urge to count his fingers, he looked at Chris' small and delicate back as she walked and opened his mouth open to ask.
"Are you sure we're heading the right away?" he asked her. They had been walking through the open part of 48th Folk street for quite a while now. Now that she was facing ahead and away from him, causing [ReThink] to lose its effect, she answered without hesitation although anxious.
"Yes, we're almost there".
Like all the other streets in Folk Town, 48th was in shape of a cross with 47th above, 33rd to the left, 63rd to the right and 49th below. The 'open' street is the buildings that can be seen from the road, the 'back' was the alleys behind the those and out of sight.
After ducking through the maze of the 'back' streets behind 48th, they came to a corner where Chris suddenly stopped.
"I saw him die behind that corner." Chris said bluntly and firmly with the kind of tone said ' it's there but go without me ' Blank sighed.
' Guess I'm going solo ' He thought as walked to Chris' side and put a hand on her shoulder. With a voice devoid of emotions he stated the obvious.
"I'm going alone".
Chris nodded silently. Blank shrugged his shoulders indifferently. ' Even the infamously prideful elves are still afraid of something ' Sadly, he already knew what elves hate more than having their ego crushed.
Gore.
' Guess there weren't any scary movies in Alfheim (the home planet of elves) or else the producer would've become broker than I am '
He joked inwardedly.
' Gore is certainly bad. ' He thought seriously. 'but money is money' Turning to the task at hand, he turned the corner which lead to a dead end. Propped against the wall was a mutilated corpse of a man wearing office clothes which were dyed red.
The scene was grim as it is but to add to that, his limbs, lips, eyes and ears were cut off. Not to mention his skull was smashed in and his neck barely hanging onto his body. There were no signs of blood trails nor even resistance.
' Time to take a closer look '
Blank sighed as he squatted near the corpse, making sure he didn't leave any prints. He rolled up his sleeves revealing to black wristbands indistinguishable from a watch. He felt a subtle vibration as grey-blue liquid flowed from a secret compartment somewhere in the bands. It was nano fluid.
He willed the fluid to take the form of gloves to block his fingerprints. A nano fluid tendril manifested itself and started to probe the corpse.
" No fingerprints and apart from the head gash there are no other injuries " Blank mumbled under his breath " and more importantly, no money! "
' Which worker doesn't carry enough money to be robbed? '
Sighing heavily, he stood up. Bringing out his phone, he took a picture of the scene. He didn't plan to report the case immediately, well not until he racked up enough information to get a fortune.
A gas pipe was attached to the wall next to the corpse. It looked on the verge of collapse. Unlike 'open' street, 'back' street is for the poor so they use gas instead of electricity. Noticing a pack of cigarettes next to him, he formed a lighter while he grabbed a bunch. After lighting them until they were butts, he threw them near the corpse and the pipe.
Five steps back, Blank formed a thermo grenade that increases temperatures to sauna level. He threw it near the scene as walked away to where Chris was waiting.
" I got everything I could- "
' except money '
" Now we need to get out here and you need to go home " Blank explained as he quickened his space and with Chris on his tail, blended into the crowd and crossed the road.
An earthquake like tremor was felt as a cloud of smoke was seen. Chris looked back to see it coming from where they left. Eyes growing wide, she turned to Blank. He half turned his face enough to let Chris to notice his index finger on his lips. Chris quietly nodded.
' Though asron is punishable by debt, it's not arson if money is not burned '
Blank thought as he justified his actions with his twisted greedy logic.
Ø
{ 9am. 4th Folk Street. Lore Estate. The Duke's office }
In a magestic and intricate office, a concerned and worried plum and porky duke sat behind his desk, on which a holographic newspaper reported a fire outbreak the previous day. But the duke wasn't worried about that. What worried him the most was the teenage boy in front of him.
The boy was tall for his age, had a decent and strong build and had azure blue eyes that went with his shot purple hair. Th e boy looked at the duke with determination and aggressiveness of a passionate man.
" I want to investigate this matter! " The boy declared in front of the duke, making his lips tremble. The boy was referring to the news of the paper. The duke looked at the boy who had the same eyes he had when he was at the boys age.
" Why would you want to do that? " The duke questioned " the HDA already reported it as a smoking incident next to a leaky gas pipe. What more is there to investigate? "
" I think there is more to it than meets the eye! "
The boy claimed. Shaking his head, the duke caved in to the boy's advances.
" Alright, but employ a detective to help you " the worried duke said to the mystery driven boy. The duke couldn't help but sigh as the
the boy happily sped out of the room.
The boy was known as Ander Mariblood, the third son of the Duke in Folk Town.