My spirit animal is a F–Rank gecko-Chapter 56: Bar investigation (1)
After studying how to make Eidolon Blossoms bloom, Jaster got an A+ on the subject and waved goodbye to Melissa.
Exiting the garden, he noticed it was already dark.
He grabbed Purple out of his pocket—the cute gecko had been sleeping the whole time.
"What do you say, Purple? We reward ourselves with a little snack?"
"Chaa~~~" Purple shooed at Jaster and went back to sleep.
"Okay... Guess it’s just for me then!"
Bondspire allows students to go outside their dormitories at night. Vending machines are scattered around for late-night snacks.
Jaster walked toward one and fished out his coins. He scanned the options.
"Hmm... I’ll take Slayss." Which he always does.
He sat on a bench, admiring the beautiful moon over Boundara. Even though Bondspire sat in the heart of Silver City, the school’s vast grounds blocked out the city noise, making the park feel peaceful and isolated.
Jaster took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Yeah... Everything’s gonna be okay....."
"IT’S NOT ME!"
And just like that, he jinxed himself, yet again.
A girl’s scream cut through the night. Jaster shot up, head whipping around.
He spotted her exiting the dormitories—cops on her heels, arms cuffed behind her back.
"We have reason to believe you’re connected to a Nightroot member."
"THAT’S NOT TRUE!"
Jaster caught a glimpse of her: the girl have a black bob haircut, and a mask covering part of her face.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court." The officer ignored her protests and pushed her into the police car.
He turned to a worried teacher standing nearby.
"Don’t worry, ma’am. Your student’s in good hands."
"Wait—" The teacher didn’t get to finish. The doors slammed shut, and the car drove off.
Jaster’s curiosity burned. He watched the teacher start crying and hurried over.
"Excuse me, miss."
The teacher looked up, eyes red. "Why are you still here, boy? Go back to your dorm..." Her voice came out weak and raspy.
She tried to leave, but Jaster stopped her.
"Ma’am, if you don’t mind me asking—what just happened? Why did they arrest her?"
The teacher rubbed her eyes.
"It’s one of my students....They were arresting her cause they think that she has something to do with one of the nighroot member that killed a guy in the bar"
Jaster’s eyes shot up.
The bar murder... That’s what the class administrator told me and Annie about. At least it wasn’t one of the Brokers, but still—
All of sudden, Jaster heard a clicking noise like a machine running.
[ System Analyzing———Character Quest Starting in.....3....2....1]
——————•●•———————
『The Jefferson Family Character Quest』
♤ Shadow Over Justice
◇ Objective:
Dismantle the Nightroot Clan’s influence in Silver City.
『Reward』
☆ Gained trust from the Jefferson family
☆ Tide Runes
☆ 1 Named Ladybug
Warning:
This quest involves major political factions.
Failure may result in reputation loss and hostile status.
——————•●•———————
The massive white window materialized in front of Jaster, cutting through his thoughts.
His eyes widened.
What? No—I didn’t want to get involved yet!
The teacher sniffled one last time.
"You should get some sleep, kid. You don’t want to be tired for your next class..."
She walked away, leaving Jaster standing there, bewildered.
He stared at the quest window.
"The Jefferson family... I really don’t want to deal with this. It’s too early!"
He hadn’t even finished Act 1 yet. And now he’d accidentally triggered a quest that wasn’t supposed to appear until after Act 2.
A timer appeared beneath the window.
『 Time Limit: 1 Week 』
『 Penalty: Your bond with all Jefferson family members will be broken 』
Jaster wondered if that Penalty also include Annie.
He sighed and rubbed his head. Glancing at his watch, he saw it was already 11 PM.
"Guess... I don’t have a choice...."
---
It took Jaster twenty minutes to get an Uber. He stared out the window at the bustling streets of Silver City.
Students in Bondspire uniforms spilled out of clubs and karaoke bars, laughing and shouting.
The driver glanced in the rearview mirror. "Meeting a friend?" He tries to start a conversation.
"Yeah... something like that." Jaster opened his phone and reread the text the teacher had sent him.
While waiting for the Uber, he’d asked for more info about the arrested girl.
Turns out, the crying teacher was her homeroom teacher. She’d sent a photo.
Jaster zoomed in, studying the image and details.
"Hmm...Zara Tara, age 17, spirit animal...Raccon. What a cute animal"
The driver caught him mumbling. "What do you got there?"
"Just some info about the ’friend’ I’m about to meet." Jaster kept reading, voice flat.
"Zara’s parents passed away when she was ten. Her father left her and her eight sisters with a huge debt to a Nightroot member...."
He paused, squinting.
"Is that....Blurred out?" They blurred out the name of the nighroot member that her father have debt with.
"Well using all logical sense, it’s quite obvious that the blurred out name is the one that caused the man on fire."
The uber driver looked concerned hearing everything that Jaster is saying.
"That’s a pretty heavy thing to be talking about, kid."
Suddenly, a police officer appeared ahead, waving for them to stop.
The driver’s eyes went wide. He slammed the brakes—just hard enough for the front bumper to tap the officer.
The officer approached the window and knocked.
The driver rolled it down, forcing a smile. "Yes, officer?"
The man squinted, shining a flashlight at the driver, then at Jaster in the back. Satisfied there were only two of them, he lowered the light.
"An investigation is currently taking place near this vicinity. We need you to turned around and leave this area" 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
The driver glanced back at Jaster, silently asking what to do.
Jaster scoffed quietly, then smiled innocently. "Of course, officer. We’ll turn around."
The officer nodded. "Great, you get going now"
The driver pulled up the window again and the car began to turn.
"So," the driver said, "Where do you wanna go instead kid, seeing as how confident you sound. You must have a backup hangout spot."
Jaster’s innocent smile faded into something sharper.
"Sir, do you know a shortcut through that alley?" He pointed at a narrow, cramped passage between buildings.
"Ah, I don’t know, kid. My license could get revoked if I—"
"I’ll pay you an extra thirty bosan."
The driver slammed the gear into drive.
"BUCKLE UP!"
Before Jaster could react, the car shot forward into the alley.
Tires screamed against pavement as the driver swerved between overflowing trash cans and stacked crates.
The alley was barely wide enough, side mirrors scraped inches from brick walls.
"WAIT—!"
Jaster’s body jerked sideways on a sharp turn. His face smacked against the window with a dull thud.
"Sorry, kid," the driver said casually, gripping the wheel like a man possessed. "You might wanna use that seatbelt."
The engine roared. The car rattled violently over cracks in the pavement. Jaster clutched the seat.
"Are you trying to break the sound barrier?!"
The car hit a bump. Jaster bounced, and Purple tumbled out of his pocket, eyes snapping open mid-air.
"...?"
Then it sneezed.
"ACHOO!"
Jaster looked down in shock.
"Oh no. Purple, you picked the worst time to wake up!"
The car drifted around another corner.
Purpleberry immediately grabbed onto Jaster’s shirt for dear life.
