Chapter 72: Trouble Seekers
Percy watched Zaran’s dead body for a few seconds before he let out a calm huff and turned to walk away. Viva was still standing behind and looking at the pendant worriedly, and she continued to wonder if this was really okay. If they just left the pendant outside like this, then someone would definitely find it and use it for something bad!
’I’ll bury it!’
Viva immediately came up with a wild plan in her mind, and she grabbed the pendant and moved towards the side of the road! Viva dug a deep hole very quickly and put the pendant inside before covering the hole up! Viva then grunted as she pulled a large rock to cover up the area she dug up!
"If you aren’t three steps away from me, I’ll leave you behind."
Percy suddenly spoke up and reminded Viva of his earlier warning, and Viva jumped as she noticed that Percy was far away from her! Viva quickly made sure that the rock was in place before she left the dead body behind and ran after Percy!
....
[The Verati Academy]
[The Great Library]
[Next Day]
A steady stream of students moved in and out of the large library while talking in hushed voices about the books they had borrowed or were looking for. At one side of the library, a group of students gazed up at the massive statue of Verati with stars in their eyes. Three third-year boys were trying desperately to pay attention as Rita gave them directions to find what they were looking for, but they were far too distracted by Rita’s beautiful smile to remember anything she was saying! Opposite the library entrance, Percy stood behind the librarian’s desk and helped a student check out their borrowed books!
One student was borrowing five books on elemental magic, and Percy gave them some advice to drop two of the elemental books and take an encyclopedia of elemental magic instead since it would help better. The student did just that, and they left after checking the books out. Percy then turned to the next person in the line, and he raised a brow as he realised that it wasn’t a student at all. Percy smiled.
"Leaving so soon, officer?"
Viva smiled at Percy’s words, and she gently placed the maid outfit that she had gotten from them on Percy’s table. Viva had changed back into her uniform, and she now looked like a proper officer once more rather than just a seductive maid. After the incident where the Princess was captured and almost kidnapped two days ago, the king immediately commanded her to return to the royal palace. And since the princess was no longer in the city, the City Guards no longer needed to stay undercover to watch over her!
"I have to get back to the precinct. I think I’ll be getting that promotion after all."
Percy smiled when he heard this, and he nodded calmly.
"That’s good. You certainly deserve it."
Viva gave Percy an amused look before she shook her head! Although Percy was acting like he hadn’t done anything, Viva knew that Percy was one of the reasons why she had gotten this promotion! Even though he was only a librarian, Percy had a lot of influence in the academy due to his closeness with the headmaster, and when Viva’s superior told her that the headmaster spoke very highly of her undercover performance, Viva immediately knew that it was Percy who had given the headmaster those high reviews! Viva bowed her head to Percy gratefully!
"Thank you for everything. I’m really grateful for everything you’ve taught me. But please try to stay away from any more trouble so I don’t have to come back anytime soon."
"Oh? So you think we’re trouble seekers?"
A low, seductive voice came from behind, and Viva felt a shiver travel down her spine as she turned to Rita sharply! Rita had snuck up behind her without making a single sound, and even Viva’s feline hearing couldn’t pick up anything! Viva could never get used to not hearing people walk up to her!
But Viva was even more terrified as she was suddenly reminded of how they had found Rita after their mission travelling through time. After the Time Wraiths took Zaran’s time and left, Percy and Viva went to fetch Rita and Lana so they could return to their time, and they found Rita with a pile of corpses surrounding her and blood pooling around her like a lake! Rita’s entire body had been drenched in the blood of her victims, and Viva had never seen a more terrifying sight than that!
Viva couldn’t believe that the beautiful librarian keeper in front of her now was the same cold-blooded killer she had seen back then! Ever since then, Viva couldn’t even look Rita in the eye! Viva stared at Rita’s nose and swallowed in fear as she quickly shook her head!
"No! Y-You aren’t trouble seekers at all! I was just saying..."
Viva trailed off here because she had no idea what to say, and Viva turned sharply to glare at Percy when he chuckled in amusement. Rita hummed and then spoke with a small smile.
"Well, I suppose I can let you off the hook this time since your work was satisfactory. You are a diligent worker, and although our time together was short, it was a pleasure to have you. If things end up not working out in the City Guard, then you are welcome to submit an application to work here."
Viva smiled when she heard this, and she scratched her cheek shyly. Even though Viva was scared of Rita, this was the first time Viva would hear Rita speak so nicely to her, so Viva knew that Rita actually meant it!
Viva bowed to both of them and thanked them once again. Viva already said goodbye to Lana earlier, so she didn’t waste any time and quickly headed out. Once she left, Rita turned to Percy with a curious look.
"Do you think she’s afraid of me?"
Percy couldn’t hold back his laughter this time, and Rita pouted cutely at him! Rita shook her head as she decided to forget about Viva, and she brought up another more important topic.
"How about the investigation, baby? How’s it going?"
Percy frowned and tapped his fingers on the table as he tried to think of an answer. The investigation that Rita was talking about was the investigation that Percy was doing into what really happened with Zaran and the pendant. Even though Zaran was the mastermind who orchestrated most of the vampire incident, Percy knew that there had to have been someone else who began all this in the first place. Zaran had been a simple prince, but in the time between when his family died and now, Zaran managed to learn about the Chronos Medallion and organized a plan to steal the second half of the medallion.
It was obvious that there was someone more powerful supporting Zaran, and Percy was trying to figure out who that person was.
"I haven’t found anything yet. But I have a feeling it’s one of the Dark Cults that rose up in the past ten years. No one else could know about the Chronos Medallion."
Rita scrunched her face in annoyance when she heard ’Dark Cult’, and there was a dangerous aura that surrounded her immediately! A little girl who had been waiting behind Rita to check her books out let out a whimper when she felt Rita’s dangerous aura, and Rita quickly tuned her magic down and smiled at the girl apologetically! Rita patted the girl on the head before she spoke to Percy.
"I’ll leave you to the job, baby. Let’s talk later, okay?"
Percy hummed, and he grinned as Rita leaned over the table and gave him a quick kiss before leaving. Percy smiled at the little blushing girl and spoke.
"What can I do for you?"