Chapter 89: Lana Missed Viva!
Rita came up to Percy from behind, and she leaned down to kiss his cheek with a smile. Percy just grinned and told her that he would be there soon.
"I just need to finish this quickly. Save some food for me."
Rita laughed lightly, and she gave Percy another kiss on the lips before telling him that she would wait for him to finish. Percy had always been in love with his research, so Rita knew better than to try and drag him away when he was busy.
"H-Hello."
A young voice spoke up from in front of the pair, and they both looked up to see a boy standing there with a blush on his face. The boy had a book in his hand that he wanted to check out, but he had seen Rita kissing Percy, and he couldn’t hide his intense embarrassment!
Rita smiled at the young boy before she told Percy that she would see him later and left. Percy closed his journal, and he took the book the boy wanted to borrow and began to help him check out.
Ka-Cha!
The sound of the door opening reached Percy, and Percy looked up knowingly to see Viva entering the library with a tired look on her face. Viva had been so preoccupied with the investigation for the past few days that she hadn’t even had time to close her eyes for more than two hours! There were a lot of responsibilities that came with being a lieutenant, and Viva now had to oversee the actions of all the officers under her and make sure that they were carrying out their own duties properly as well!
Viva had actually been on her way to the Morgue where they were carrying out the Magical Analysis on the corpses of the eighteen children when she heard that Percy wanted to see her. Percy wanting to see her was probably for something far more important, so Viva decided she would go to the morgue later.
Viva greeted Percy with a smile when she entered the library, and she waved to the student who greeted her respectfully. Being a lieutenant in the City Guard came with a lot of recognition, so it wasn’t strange for Viva to be greeted by officials or students anytime she moved around the city!
"Hello, officer. I’m glad you could finally make time for me."
Percy grinned in amusement as he said this, and Officer Viva let out an apologetic sigh while leaning against the table.
"Sorry I took so long. I’ve just been so swamped with work recently. I don’t even have any time to myself."
Percy looked at Viva’s dark circles and the tired lines on her forehead, and he knew that she was telling th truth. Viva was definitely overworking herself. Even Viva’s ears that used to be perked up were now lying flat on her head to show that she had no energy left!
Percy finished helping the little boy check out, and he handed him the book with a smile before he finally turned to focus on Viva.
"You should try not to overwork yourself. I wouldn’t want my former employee burning out and ending up in a hospital."
Viva chuckled in slight embarrassment as she was reminded of the short period when she worked in the library, and she nodded to Percy and promised to take care of herself more!
Woosh!
"Lana is done feeding Henry, Master Percy!"
The bubbly dragon girl, Lana, appeared in a burst of wind, and she saluted Percy with a wide smile, but Lana’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw Viva standing there, and she immediately jumped toward her!
"Viva!"
"Oof!"
Viva let out a pained huff as Lana barreled into her stomach, but Viva just laughed as Lana lifted her off the ground easily and twirled her around! Lana was so excited to see Viva again!
"It’s been so long! Lana missed you! Are you coming back to work here?"
Lana looked up at Viva with large, bright eyes, and Viva begged Lana to please put her down first! Viva could never get used to how strong this little girl was! Once Lana finally put Viva down, Viva dusted her clothes off, and she told Lana that she wasn’t coming back to work.
"Sorry Lana, but I’m really busy with a case right now. I just came to talk to Mr. Percy."
Lana deflated slightly.
"Awwn~! But I already dry cleaned your uniform~!"
Viva’s cheeks burned in embarrassment as she was reminded of that uniform again, and she immediately waved her hand to Lana!
"W-Why are you still holding onto that old thing? You should just throw it away, okay. I promise to come see you again when I’m done with the case."
Viva patted Lana on the head, and Lana leaned into the touch with a happy smile! Percy watched the interaction fondly before he spoke:
"Lana, I need to go talk to Viva. Take care of the front desk while I’m gone."
"Yes, Master Percy! Lana will protect the front desk with her life!"
Lana saluted Percy excitedly, and Percy pinched Lana’s chubby cheek with a grin before Percy walked out from behind the librarian’s desk and waved for Viva to come with him down to his research lab. They moved past the students and used the elevator to go down, and once they reached the research lab, Percy pointed to a seat and told Viva to relax. Viva hesitated for a moment since she knew she had to be somewhere soon, but Percy told her that he wouldn’t take too much of her time, and Viva finally agreed! Viva fell back on the chair with a grunt, and then she sighed tiredly as she finally relaxed for the first time today! Percy smiled as he floated off the ground and headed towards his potions cabinet while speaking.
"So tell me how the investigation is really going? Are you any closer to closing it?"
Viva put a hand over her eyes as she let out another tired sigh.
"We aren’t any closer than we were two days ago. At first we were trying to find any traces of Hildegard’s magic in the room, but then we learned that Hellfire doesn’t leave any magic traces behind since it’s not made from mana. Now we’re focusing on Hildegard’s magic core to try and find out the last time she used her magic. If this doesn’t work, we’re considering using a Truth Serum to make her confess to any crime, but I’m on the fence about that last one. Truth Serums aren’t always effective."
Percy hummed from his place in the air. It was true that Truth Serums weren’t always effective. The Truth Serum worked by affecting the part of your brain that allows you to lie, and it relaxes it in the same way that alcohol does for some people. This way, the person under the serum would always say the truth!
But it was discovered recently that although the Truth Serum would always make you say the truth a hundred percent of the time, Truth Serums weren’t appropriate for every situation, because if someone believes that a lie is actually the truth, then they will tell that lie under the serum, making it look like it was the truth! And besides, Truth Serums were very invasive, and many cities in the kingdom already outlawed them since they believed it was too severe to use on suspects!
Percy continued to look through the shelves, and he finally found what he had been looking for and gently floated back towards Viva while talking.
"Have you spoken to Hildegard personally?"
Viva nodded.
"Yes, I did. But it was just a short conversation."
"And what do you think of her? Did she seem like someone capable of doing something like this?"