My spirit animal is a F–Rank gecko-Chapter 57: Bar investigation (2)

The yellow car burst into the alley, its tires screeching across the grimy concrete.

It skidded sideways before its rear bumper slammed into a row of rusted pipes, the metallic clang echoing sharply through the narrow passage.

The driver’s head snapped forward before the seatbelt violently yanked him back against the seat. Without it, he would have slammed face-first into the windshield!

He took a breather, before finally turning to the backseat with a huge smile across his face.

"Ta da!" He said proudly.

Jaster’s back was pressed into the seat, sweat trickling down his forehead as he gripped the grab handles for dear life.

Purpleberry, who had been asleep only moments ago, was suddenly wide awake.

Its bright yellow eyes trembled with fear while its tiny purple paws clung desperately to Jaster’s uniform.

"So.... About the thirty bosan..." The elated man extended his hands, hurrying Jaster to pay up.

Is he crazy?!

After paying the lunatic, Jaster exited the yellow car. He took a glance at its rear bumper and noticed the huge dent that the rusty pipe had made.

"Was it even worth thirty bosan?"

The man started the car, and before Jaster knew it, it had skidded away before the cops or anyone could see him.

Jaster stood on the charcoal-colored concrete. In front of him, a crimson light flickered in the air, appearing and disappearing every few seconds. The dim glow painted the alley in shifting shades of red.

The source of the crimson light was a neon sign displayed in front of a towering brick wall.

The crimson neon sign had a beer design, spilling all over the neon words.

"Aunt Manny’s Bar." Jaster read the neon words.

"Krrk?" Purple, who was still confused, tilted its purple head toward Jaster. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"It’s the place where the bar killer was last seen. If I want to find any clue, it would be right here in this spot."

The white-haired boy was about to take a step until he heard the sound of heavy footsteps followed by a man’s voice.

He retreated his footing and immediately scurried to hide behind the rusty pipes.

"Man... It sucks that we have to keep surveillance twenty-four hours!" The man’s voice complained, and soon another voice replied back.

"Yeah, I just can’t wait to go back to my wife. It’s been months since I’ve last seen her!"

The two police officers passed the alleyway Jaster was currently hiding in. The white-haired boy pressed his back against the cold pipe. The two officers had already passed him, but Purple had other plans...

A wind carried crumbs of dust and brushed through Purple’s nose. Its nose started twitching. Jaster looked at Purple, his face horrified.

"Purple, please no!" His panicked voice said as quietly as possible.

Despite Purple’s resistance, it was all futile, and it—

"ACHOO—" Jaster immediately cupped the gecko’s face.

One of the men stopped, his ears perked.

"You hear that?" He asked his friend.

The friend listened for a bit. Jaster’s breathing was so loud, because if he were to be caught by the police, he’d definitely get expelled from Bondspire.

After a long silence, his friend shrugged. "Dude, it’s probably just some stray spirit. You know Silver City has a bunch of them."

Purple is not stupid!

Even though his friend had already reassured him, the officer just couldn’t shake the bad feeling in his chest.

"I don’t know.... Maybe we should check..."

His friend patted his back while smiling.

"You’re just tired, man. Let yourself go. How about we go drink some more beer? Let’s bet on how many each of us can drink!"

The officer didn’t want to, but with his friend’s persistence, he finally gave in and started walking forward again.

Jaster finally let out the air he’d been holding. His heart, which had been racing, started to calm down.

He looked down at his gecko, which sniffed a couple times, its head jumping with each sniff.

"Oh you... Here, let me rub your nose." Using the last of his wet tissue, Jaster gently rubbed the gecko’s nose and committed littering.

"Ok... Now the infiltration part."

Jaster closed his eyes. He focused all his connection and bond with Purple. After a couple seconds of silence, his skin started changing, followed by his chest glowing indigo in the dark alleyway.

A chime rang inside his head.

[ Origin Aspect — Chameleonic Sovereignty ]

[ Authority Acknowledged. Adaptive Concealment Domain Established. ]

[ Warning: Visual Recognition Laws Overridden. ]

His skin started to change to different motifs: the concrete floor, the pipe pattern, the neon sign, and lastly the brick wall.

He stopped the change and settled with the brick motif instead. Jaster opened his eyes and saw the gecko had changed its color to match the brick wall too.

"That’s my boy!"

Jaster sprinted toward the outside wall of the bar, then he camouflaged, becoming one with the structure.

He sidled along the wall, keeping his shoulders pressed to the brick. He could hear the two cops laughing.

Jaster took a peek and saw the two of them sitting on wooden chairs with four bottles of wine and honey-glazed Buffalo chicken on the side.

"Yummy...." The boy licked his lips. He also noticed that two bottles were already empty, and they had started opening their third.

"They must be drunk. I should be safe."

He edged along the wall, placing each step carefully like a spy. With each step, he kept glancing toward the cops, just to make sure they didn’t see him.

But they were laughing their butts off, unaware of the whole situation.

Finally reaching the entrance of the bar, there was police tape all over the door. Jaster grabbed Purple and put the gecko on the floor.

It started walking under the tape, and now it was Jaster’s turn.

He bent down and crawled under the police tape, being as careful as before, as to not make any noise.

Successfully doing it, he got up while the gecko remained on the floor.

"Krrk!"

"I know, Purple. We’re so good!"

Jaster rubbed his sweaty forehead while taking in the state of the bar.

It was eerily dark, and there were many scattered glasses everywhere on the wooden floor. Bar stools were still knocked down, and the stains of different alcohols painted the wooden floor into many different colors.

"Wow, this place is a mess." Even though it had been two days since the incident, the burning smell still lingered in the bar’s air. It was incredibly humid inside, making Jaster sweat even more.

"This is crazy.... This guy must have a pretty strong fire skill for the scent to still linger."

Jaster’s eyes spotted the big circular scorch mark on the wooden floor.

"That must have been the place where the man got burned." Going toward it, he noticed how wide it was.

It was easily fifty inches wide, spread across the wooden plank, the edges dark and brittle.

"Hmm." Jaster got close to it and bent down. He subconsciously touched the burn mark. He pressed his finger against the blackened wood. A sharp sting shot through his hand, and he pulled back quickly. The skin of his finger turned red and tender from the heat.

"Ouch..." He sucked on his injured finger.

"So that’s why the room is humid. The burn mark is still hot despite it being a couple days old....."

The purple gecko wobbled its way to the scorch mark. It tried to touch the black wood, but Jaster quickly pulled it away.

He stood up while grinning and put his gecko back inside his pocket.

"Yup, I now know who the culprit is."

There was only one person that possessed such a scary fire ability in Nightroot. Jaster had his suspicions about that person, but he just had to make sure before getting more involved in the quest.

But now he could confidently turn around and walk away while having a cocky smirk. He then mumbled.

"It’s you. Fedora gentleman!"