My spirit animal is a F–Rank gecko-Chapter 60: Bar investigation (5)

Yup, you heard that right. Stella is the female lead in Soulbound, and also one of the love interests for Troy.

Adam remembered when he took the path where Troy fell in love with Stella and they got together in the end. For Adam, Stella is the epitome of kindness in Soulbound.

She willingly helps someone without expecting anything in return—whether it’s a cat stuck in a tree, or a grandma trying to cross the street, or helping her classmates with their personal problems.

Though Stella is kind in general, she’s also smart enough to sense bad people in her life. And when she spots those people, she’ll try to avoid them as much as possible.

That’s also one of the reasons why Jaster acted ignorant in front of her to Zara, who’s her classmate.

Stella is an important figure for Troy in the game. So if Stella thinks Jaster is a bad person and someone who should be avoided at all costs, it would drastically decrease his encounters with her.

While Jaster was deep in thought, Stella had been observing him the whole time. She squinted her eyes.

"So," Stella spoke, breaking Jaster from his thoughts.

"Before continuing what I wanted to say, I first want to apologize to you."

Stella looks at Jaster and extended her hand, inviting him to a handshake, making him confused.

"I’m terribly sorry for stalking you back at the police station without your consent."

Jaster’s eyes widened after hearing that.

"You were stalking me way back from the police station?"

Stella smiled awkwardly.

"Haha....Yeah...."

"Wait, why were you stalking me?" Jaster demanded an explanation, and Stella nodded.

"I saw you talking to our homeroom teacher late at night. After you left, I asked her what you were talking about, and hearing that it was about..... Zara..." She side-eyed the bob-cut girl, then continued talking to Jaster.

"As Zara’s friend, I felt like I had to help her in any way I can." Then she looked at Zara again, but this time with a guilty look.

"But I realize I must have crossed your boundaries, Zara. I’m terribly sorry...."

Stella slowly reached out to hold Zara’s hands. She wrapped them in her palms while smiling at her.

Zara smiled, and eventually forgave Stella for what she did.

Jaster just watched the two have their heart-to-heart moment. He wasn’t surprised seeing Stella being this passionate toward her friend, but since he knew she only put this much effort into people she could truly call friends, that meant Zara was a nice person.

The thought that the fedora gentleman was trying to frame an innocent high schooler disgusted Jaster even more.

I’ll hunt you down. Just you wait.

"Okay, are you guys done talking?" Jaster grabbed the attention of the two girls. They stopped their conversation and looked at him.

"What do you want to talk about...." Stella froze mid-sentence. Now that he thought about it, he’d never formally introduced himself to her.

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Jaster Barret, from class J."

Both of the girls’ eyes immediately shot up after hearing his class.

"Class J.... Interesting." While Stella rubbed her chin, Zara had a different reaction than her friend. Jaster could sense that she started to slide a little bit away from him.

This was a very normal response at Bondspire. Generally, students in the lowest class were more prone to criticism and loathing from other students.

Stella was an exception though. In the game, she never once looked down on people from lower classes.

"Speaking of my class, what class are you guys in?"

Zara ignored Jaster’s question, so Stella had to speak for her.

"We’re in Class C." Stella answered with a straightforward expression and tone.

Jaster nodded. Even though he didn’t really need to know their class since he already knew from the game which class Stella was in, he just had to make sure, since a lot of things weren’t going according to the game’s path lately.

The waitress came toward their table with their order. Jaster’s and Stella’s drinks were on one tray, while everything Stella ordered for Zara filled an entire steel plate.

"Here are your drinks and.... everything you ordered..." The whole table was filled with Zara’s pastries and her huge milkshake. There were five types of ice cream in the fountain glass, with many sweets as toppings.

"STELLA, this is so much!" Stella just smiled through Zara’s complaints.

"Just eat it.... Because you’re going to want to be prepared for what I’m about to say."

All of a sudden, the table turned quiet. The only thing that could be heard was Purpleberry slurping down his blueberry drink.

"So, I did some research and found out something weird about the bar killer." Everyone’s ears perked up. They waited impatiently for Stella.

"All the people who were at the bar last night weren’t even questioned by the police. They didn’t even bother to ask if there were any witnesses!"

This sent a shiver down Zara’s spine. She opened her mouth, her voice shaking.

"So... You’re saying they falsely accused me?"

Stella nodded without sugar-coating the situation. Jaster wasn’t surprised at all by this information. After all, one of the Nightroot members had a big tie with the Silver City cops.

"Well, it’s no surprise that whoever the killer is, they’re trying to frame Zara. But I’m pretty sure we can counter their attack if Zara has an alibi."

Jaster glanced at the bob-cut girl. She flinched.

"So, Zara, do you have anyone or anything that can prove you weren’t at the bar that night?"

Zara’s eyes immediately widened, and she shook her head violently.

"I don’t. I was.... with my sisters." She looked away while saying that. Jaster could sense something was wrong with her. Now he was even more curious about her whereabouts that night.

Stella saw how distressed Zara looked. She slowly grabbed her hand.

"Don’t worry, Zara. I, as Class C’s class president, will help you be freed from this case. After all, that’s what friends are for, right?"

What?

Jaster’s eyes widened at what Stella said. He was about to open his mouth until—

BANGG!

A sudden rupture from the ground shook the whole café. Plates of pastries and glasses of drinks shattered on the floor as they fell from the tables.

Jaster was squished against the café window, while Stella and Zara fell to the ground.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" a random man shouted.

Everyone in the café had fallen over. They were getting back on their feet, the floor covered in broken shards.

Stella rubbed her head and groaned until she noticed blood starting to spread on the ground where Zara’s head had smashed into.

"ZARA!" She crawled toward her friend and lifted her head with both hands.

Zara’s eyes were closed. Blood dripped from her head, forming a line of red liquid all over her face.

"Zara.... Jaster, what happened?!" Stella looked at him. The white-haired boy was still recovering from the impact; even he didn’t know what happened.

He quickly panicked when he saw Purpleberry squished under his body, pressed against the glass.

"Purple, I’m so sorry!"

"Chaaa~~~~" Its head spun a bit before Jaster scooped it up and put it in his pocket.

He looked at the window, and his whole body quickly froze at what he saw.