Shadow's Hand

"This tablet data isn't bad," Damien commented after swindling the tablet that Jasmine was using. 

The tablet was quite modern in terms of features— a surprise to him. 

Based on the aesthetic and theme of the buildings around, Damien deduced it to be some 1800s, but that was incorrect. They only got the view of the 1800s, but with the presence of magical elements, it could no longer be considered the same. 

Similar but not identical.

According to Jasmine's words from his questioning, the tablet was a device engineered by the Ace Path of an Engineer. 

'Ace Path. It seems like there's more to it than the term Transcendent.' Damien was exhausted. There was too much new information to condense and absorb. 

"The tablet is a handy tool for all TI, so I'm sure Investigator Damien already knows about it." Jasmine smiled bitterly. "I hope that Investigator Damien can stop testing us. We didn't graduate from the academy and received our licenses through the backdoor." 

"You're right. I suppose you must have some skills if you're assigned to me." Damien nodded and reluctantly returned the tablet to her. 

The tablet contained the information that he required, but there were so many restrictions. When he attempted to search for some details, it required authentication and authorization. 

From there, he thought that maybe he could pass the verification attributed to these three TIs having mistaken him for some bigshot. Alas, reality was cruel and it showed that he failed. 

'If all TIs have their own version of the tablet, then where did mine go?' Damien had recalled the things in his briefcase, and there was no such tablet. 

This was the most infuriating part. The one time he discovered he could obtain information, but couldn't because it was not in his possession. 

"Anyway, can we now make a move to the crime scene, Investigator Damien?" Jasmine pleaded. 

"If we don't investigate soon, then we're all going to be reprimanded." Lucas chimed in.

Kyle, on the other hand, simply corrected. "Investigator Damien won't get reprimanded, but we are most likely going to be demoted or sent to do other trivial tasks in the future." 

It appeared as if they were attempting to guilt-trip Damien into hastening the progress. Unfortunately for them, they made one simple mistake.

Damien, who was the most confused and lost person here, had zero time to be worried about others. Nevertheless, he still played along because he needed them to resolve his current plight.

"My tablet isn't with me, so do get me a new one, Kyle." He instructed and turned to Jasmine. "As for you, lead the way to the crime scene. I guess it's time to put in some work after finishing my analysis here." 

"Eh, this…" Kyle was dumbfounded by the instruction. 

"Is there any problem?" Damien instantly put on a stern and cold expression. He stared down at Kyle, seemingly warning him to beware of his next words.

"No, I'll get it done immediately." Shortly after saying so, Kyle enhanced his leg power and sped away. The speed generated by his legs was so fast that it caused a mini turbulence around the area he had left. 

Damien appeared nonchalant and fine on the surface, but inwardly, he was baffled by the speed. 

'How in the world was that possible?' The speed that Kyle exerted was definitely abnormal, but what baffled him was the fact that he could perceive his speed. 

Although there was an after-image left behind by Kyle, his eyes managed to vividly capture how and where he went. 

"Investigator Damien?" Jasmine interrupted when she realized he seemed distracted once again. 

She was truly worried that he might run off to another place again, so she quickly gestured with her hand. "The crime scene is located at the opposite end of where we are. If we rush over there now, we should be there in about 20 minutes." 

When Damien heard the time required to walk over there, he nearly wanted to retract his earlier suggestion. 

He had spent more than an hour wandering and walking to get to his current location. He didn't even have the time to rest or eat anything along the way.

'Am I a criminal or an investigator in this setting?' Even a criminal gets to have their mealtime, so why couldn't he? 

"Lucas, find some common cuisine in Velgrave and bring them to me," Damien demanded and glanced around the surroundings. 

After a while, he finally spotted a few vacant carriages that were parked at a corner. 

Without a doubt, those carriages were probably waiting to be hired and moved along— a common scene in the old days. 

"Jasmine, go hire a carriage over there in the meantime." He continued.

"A carriage?" Startled, Jasmine's eyes were colored in disbelief. They had already delayed the investigation for the whole night. Now he even wanted a carriage to travel rather than speeding up to catch back on the lateness? 

'Is this really a Seventh Order TI or an imposter?' She wondered. 

"What are you idling for?" Damien questioned in disdain. "If you wish to stall further from the crime scene, then be my guest. It's not like I'm in a rush or anything when compared to you low Orders." 

Jasmine frowned in response. She wanted to bring up something to argue, but at the same time, she got nothing. What Damien said was completely right, and she could only obey the command. 

A freshly new Ninth Order TI wanted to command a talented Seventh Order TI around? That would be the biggest joke ever if it was said to someone else. 

"I'll go rent a carriage. How many people?" Jasmine resigned to her fate and inquired about the seats. 

"Just one seat is enough. The three of you could use some exercise since you're new." Damien replied. He planned on recollecting his thought process, so having any of these authentic TIs in the background would merely hinder him. 

Of course, Jasmine didn't know about it and simply believed it was another one of those stuck-up yet talented individuals. She even understood that the money used to rent the carriage would be paid by her. 

'Whatever helps in progressing to the crime scene.' Jasmine thought. Having been an official TI for a few months and working on her very first big case. She had never anticipated that step zero of physically going to a crime scene would be that difficult. 

"Hey, how much is it for a one-person seat carriage?" Jasmine asked the numerous people who were standing near the vacant carriages. 

Almost immediately, the people trembled slightly in fear. Without much explanation, they obviously recognized Jasmine's status, so none dared to accept such a job. 

When Jasmine noticed their body movement, she was rather annoyed. She had to deal with an eccentric Seventh Order TI and was filled with headaches already. Yet these commoners dared to stall her further? 

"I give you a count to 5 and a person better step up. Otherwise, you can kiss your career goodbye and enjoy a meeting with us in a cozy dark room." She softly said. 

"It's him, Karl. Karl is the person responsible for singular carriage." Within the blink of an eye, Karl's colleague sold him out. 

Compared to selling a colleague out versus enjoying a cozy dark room with a TI, the choice was clear. 

They all chose the former and gave their silent prayer to Karl, whose expression had turned quite sour from the unexpected betrayal. His eyes darted at them, but could only force a restrained smile to attend to Jasmine.

"So how much is the fee, Karl?" Jasmine questioned. 

"5 bronze coins, and if the distance is too far, it can go up," Karl answered.

"The destination is VS 23rd Street, Fourth Avenue." She responded coolly. 

"That's like about 45-55 minutes away?!" Karl was startled on the spot. Usually, their carriages only traveled a maximum of 30 minutes distance to ensure their profit of the day remained steady. 

To go any further than 30 minutes was equivalent to losing out on time and money. Others probably believed the earnings might appear higher on the surface when doing long distances. 

However, when accumulated, the result showed that doing multiple smaller distances earned more than doing occasionally long distances. 

"Yeah, what about it?" Contrary to Karl's plight, Jasmine was not one to be bothered about it. Her cold behavior alone made it clear that she refused to hear any complaints.

And very naturally, her action did not escape Damien's notice. Although their distance was too far to be able to hear anything, Damien was able to see and listen to them when concentrating. 

'So not only my eyesight but even my hearing ability is enhanced if I concentrate heavily.' Damien was bewildered by this newfound ability. 

His perception had always been high, but ever since awakening in this unfamiliar place, it seemed to have increased further.