Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 580: Heard it through the grapevine Part 2

"Sorry, the boss is busy." Nika shook her head.

"But this is really important, there's this concert coming up and..."

"What do you want me to do? When he's busy, he's busy."

"Could you please just check with him? If you tell him it's me, I'm sure he'll make some time. Please..." Amy shapeshifted her eyes to make the best impression of kitten eyes, but Nika didn't seem to react in any way. Inwardly, though, Nika was shrieking at the cute display.

"Come back later." She sternly said and Amy retreated.

"Cut her some slack, she's just a girl in love. Let her shoot her shot, get her heart broken after Uriel shuts her down and move on with her life." Phlox said.

"Actually, I said he's busy but he's not in the ship. I think his date with Luna went better than anyone expected."

"No way, they can't become a couple!" Phlox exclaimed in outrage.

"You're right, I should be the his first. I even promised him that when we met."

"Exactly!" Phlox nodded.

"If this is you attempting to kiss my ass, keep going." Said Nika after finally having someone who agreed with her.

"Well," Phlox scratched the back of her neck and put on a wry smile. "I have money on it."

"What!? You're betting on the boss' private life? I didn't take you for that kind of person."

"It was Lizzy who started it and I thought placing my bet in you was easy money." Phlox shrugged without a hint of shame. Nika lingered for a few seconds, pondering on whether she should feel flattered or angry.

"Who's the most popular?"

"If it makes you feel better, you're not last." Phlox awkwardly replied, hiding the fact that the bottom of the pool was comprised of either men or people who Uriel openly disliked, though that was a poor comfort for Nika who thought she was popular among the crew.

Unbeknownst to her, her popularity in the company was precisely the reason why no one voted for her. Most people thought Uriel didn't deserve the attention he received from Nika while others imply voted against her in hopes that she would remain single.

Nika didn't have enough time to linger on these thoughts after Medusa walked in frowning her lips.

"Hey, does anyone know what happened to Uriel and Luna? He just walked past me fumbling something I couldn't understand and Luna shut herself in her room."

"Woopsie..." A pained smile appeared on her face thinking she might be the one responsible for what happened.

"Nika, what did you do?" Medusa would have loved to glare at the huntress, not because she wanted to turn her into stone again though, just to convey her emotions.

"I just gave Luna a makeover." Nika replied.

"Knowing him, I bet he didn't even notice it and it made her sad." Phlox chuckled.

"Stop with the gambling! Also, I don't think that's the case. Uriel may seem dense, but he's made it clear that he notices our advances, he just doesn't give in."

"I have to agree with Nika, I caught him staring at me even before we became friends." Medusa agreed.

"Then what happened to Luna?" Was what each of those present on the Pegasus bridge asked themselves knowing that Luna wouldn't speak about it and Uriel would probably make a lie on the spot and the question remained unanswered, but that didn't stop them from making theories about what happened.

"Do you think he tried to do something perverted?"

"Impossible, if anything, it would be Luna the one to take the initiative, but she wouldn't get angry if he refused like always."

At that moment, Medusa realized that maybe Uriel saw her spending time with Tate. After all, she did sense his presence, but at the time she didn't think much about it. Unfortunately for Medusa, when she finally found Uriel he was already busy hugging Amy.

"You really made my day!" Uriel said after breaking the hug.

"It's nothing, really. Tomorrow then?" Amy asked trying to hide the pink color of her cheeks.

'This is nothing, it's just a misunderstanding.' Medusa shook her head and prepared herself to join in the conversation, but Uriel replied before she had the chance.

"Sure, by the way, if you need new clothes...."

"No, no, no, you've given me more than enough. I can't accept any more gifts without giving you anything in return."

"Don't worry about it, I just wanted to make sure you have something appropriate to wear for tomorrow."

'This isn't a misunderstanding, this idiot just ignored Luna and then started flirting with that... that...' Medusa thought hard about an insult for Amy, but she had nothing bad to say about her. Amy joined the company in one of its lowest points and worked hard to protect others despite her own safety.

Instead, she directed her negative emotions to Uriel who didn't have the decency to spare Luna's feelings.

Little did she know, both Uriel and Luna had a great time shopping downtown and they also took the time to visit some places they were both interested in. Nothing related to their fields of studies, more like comic book stores and some bakeries. It was actually the place they went after that what brought them down.

The Cryptid hunting agency in the city had no work for hunters of any kind and the only way to hunt was to head over to the west harbor, which wasn't even connected to the megacity. For Uriel, it meant to waste time doing nothing useful in the city while for Luna, it meant that she wouldn't get any new data for her research.

But that only lasted until Amy showed Uriel the screenshots Emma took. He was so happy he couldn't help but give her a big hug, he might have even kissed her on the cheek if not for him noticing in time that Amy was uncomfortable.

The next morning, Uriel informed everyone present in the ship about the possible presence of cryptids and thanks to most of the company members being almost broke it was easy to find volunteers to investigate the possible presence of cryptids despite the nasty rumors going around Uriel. Since Nika used to be the head of security of the Mapple corp.

she excelled at commanding people and had no issues to make the teams and send them over to different locations.

The briefings varied from mission to mission, but the one thing in common was that no one was supposed to actually face any cryptids. All they had to do was confirm whether the posts were truthful and if there was any clues of cryptid presence.

"What do you think about the party distribution?" Nika asked Uriel, proudly aware of how well she performed in the strategic configuration of each party.

"Why am I not teamed up with Medusa and Luna?" Uriel asked.

"It's because heavenly ranks can feel energy signatures way better than ascended, but we have so few heavenly rank hunters that we can only afford to send one per team." Nika explained.

"That may be so, but... why am I going alone?"

"You're always complaining on how troublesome it is to fight in front of witnesses and how much you want to avoid people knowing your abilities. Now, you're complaining that you're going alone." Medusa sighed.

"You can still join any team you like, you're the boss after all. I'm just the girl who coordinates everyone, does all the paperwork, oversees finances and keeps you safe." Nika shrugged.

"You're right, I should thank you properly, how about a handshake?" Uriel glared at her and showed his bandaged stump. Thanks to the serum he received his hand was already regenerating and the only reason he wore the bandages was to keep people from seeing the process as it was a bit too gruesome.

"Alright, I got it. I already apologized for not helping you. If you want more than an apologize, I'm up for that too."

"Uhmm, everyone... folder. Look it." Luna shyly said and hid behind Uriel, cutting Nika's poor attempt at flirting short.

"What Luna said is to make sure to check the folder she prepared for each group. There you'll find information that might be useful in case you have no choice but to fight against the cryptids, whatever you do, don't ask for help from citizens." Nika voiced out, then it was Medusa's turn.

"The reason for that is simple, in this city we're nothing but tourists. The use of firearms inside the city is outlawed and even the usage of traits is regulated, so please be discrete."

"I have a question, why the flareguns?" Liam scratched his head.

"In the off case that you're put in a situation where you can't run away, you won't be able to use your phones. Shooting a flare will be your last resort."

"Right, sorry..." He shrunk back after everyone looked at him as though he was a rookie, which he was.

"What are you waiting for? A written invitation!? Get moving, now!" Nika shouted and people scattered like marbles in the floor.