"We are here."

Irene announced calmly.

Leon and the others gulped at the same time as the Voltstreak finally came to a stop. They had all half expected it to stop the same way it had accelerated.

Glad it did not.

Anyway, as they all stepped out, none of them could quite process the fact that just ten seconds ago they had been standing somewhere completely different. And now they are here.

This thing had literally flown them across the city in under ten seconds.

Genuinely impressive. And genuinely terrifying at the same time.

"Ugh... my head is spinning... ah.. .I am gonna throw up..."

A low voice came from Cyan’s side. From the looks of it, he didn’t seem to be fond of highspeed vehicles. Even on the ocean he had thrown three times.

As Ethan helped Cyan, Leon adjusted his hair using his fingers and looked towards the building.

It was a small unit squashed between two buildings on either of its sides. The exterior looks old compared to the others.

’Feels like it’s been ages since it was last painted.’

Leon looked carefully at the building. He tried to recall if it had ever appeared in the game, but that was asking too much even from himself. Remembering every single building in an entire city was not something any reasonable person with sanity could do.

"Ooof... it has been two whole weeks since I was last here." Lillian stretched her neck before asking Irene. "Is Vivy still inside?"

Irene replied as she closed the door of her Voltstreak. "I sent her out to run some errands. She should not be back for a while, if that is what you wanted to know."

"Ooohh, poor girl." Lillian sighed. "Cannot believe she still sticks around after everything you put her through. Are you controlling her mind or something?"

"I did no such thing." Irene ignored the comment and walked toward the entrance of her agency. She paused, glanced at Lillian, then at Leon before saying. "Maybe she stays because she cares."

"Whatever." Lillian hopped in front of Irene and pushed through the glass door first.

Irene watched her go and then sighed, turning to Leon and the others.

"Apologies. Our princess gets very curious around outsiders. Even more so when they are tourists from outside the city."

"That much I can tell." Leon nodded lightly.

Ethan spoke up after finishing whatever he had been sorting out with Cyan.

"I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that she is a princess."

"Hahaha, it is fine, it is fine. Most people around here are used to her by now. They say it is rare to spot a cat in this city, but never our princess."

"Say what now?" Cyan wiped his mouth and turned to her.

Irene did not answer. She checked the time on her device.

"Oh, we are running a little late. Come, I will introduce you to my assistants."

She pushed the door open and held it for them.

The inside was well lit. No security guard at the entrance, but Leon spotted surveillance cameras and several sensors the moment he stepped in. The reception desk was empty as well.

"You mentioned assistants," Leon said to Irene. "How many do you actually have?"

Irene walked past him toward the elevator and answered without stopping.

"Enough to keep everything here running."

Leon did not push further. He simply nodded back.

He was curious to be here. In a game you could never enter every building that existed. But this was not a game. He could walk into anywhere he wanted.

♪ ♪

The elevator arrived, making a melody. Irene stepped in first, followed by the others.

"Where did the princess go?" Ethan looked around. There was no sign of her.

Irene replied without any concern.

"She is probably already upstairs. Believe it or not, she is the most excited one here right now. It has been weeks since she visited. She must have missed the place so much."

Leon thought back to how Lillian had been dragging her feet the entire way here.

That did not exactly look anything close to excitement.

As the elevator went up, a familiar old melody played softly in the background.

To Leon it felt nostalgic.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

The door opened and they stepped out.

"Wow."

It looked nothing like the floor below.

The walls were wooden, processed and smooth, warm in a way the clinical entrance had not been. Leon stepped out into a corridor that split into two directions. Four doors lined this floor, each fitted with a biometric sensor beside it.

There was no sign of Lillian in the corridor. She had already gone into one of the rooms.

Irene led them toward the first door on the left.

From the other end of the corridor Leon could hear murmuring.

It sounded like Lillian.

Irene placed her hand on the biometric panel. The door slid open.

A fresh smell of coffee beans hit Leon immediately, followed by the faint warmth of burning charcoal. The inside was a wide open space divided into three equal cubicles.

Although none of the seats were occupied.

"Did you grow taller in two weeks?"

Leon spotted Lillian just ahead, standing beside a human boy roughly her height.

He had short peach coloured hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a blue shirt tucked into formal black trousers. A pair of revolvers sat at his hips.

The boy was standing next to what looked like a coffee machine, holding a steaming cup. His face was slightly flushed.

Lillian nudged her shoulder against his, measuring the height.

"Hmm. Your height really did not change at all." She made a smug face. "You are still my cute little Xuo."

She patted his head several times with visible satisfaction.

"Unmm..."

Xuo did not seem to mind.

"Cough!" Irene cleared her throat. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Xuo turned around. His expression shifted completely after he spotted her at the door.

"D-Detective. You are back already. I was just making coffee... to help me focus."

"Xuo." Irene said sharply.

Xuo went still. Mouth shut.

"Where is Will?"

He saw the look on her face and answered without hesitation.

"H-He went after Vivy."

"Haaah... seriously." Irene pinched the bridge of her nose. "I told him this morning not to disturb her. Why did you not stop him?"

"I tried." Xuo said. "But he said Vivy needed his help so I..."

"And you believed him." Irene said flatly. "Do you genuinely think, out of everyone here, Vivy would need his help?"

Xuo lowered his head.

"I am sorry, Detective."

"Are you two done?" Lillian cut in. "Hello? I am still here. And I will not be staying much longer if no one explains this case to me."

"Right." Irene snapped out of it and turned to Leon and the others, who had been watching the whole thing.

"Does anyone want something to drink?"

Ethan and Cyan were about to decline. Leon spoke first.

"Coffee. No sugar."

Irene nodded, as if she had been expecting exactly that answer. She asked Xuo to make it.

She then led all of them, including Lillian, to a corner cubicle near the glass window, separated slightly from the other three.

On the desk sat a translucent glass screen with several files open on it, looking like a holographic desktop monitor. Beside it were scattered physical files and a small picture frame.

An old man standing beside a little girl.

It was not hard for any of them to figure out who it was.

Irene took her seat.

"Xuo, call Will back. I have something for him."

"Understood." Xuo’s voice came from one of the other cubicles.

The two unoccupied cubicles, Leon noted, likely belonged to Vivy and Will.

"Now then. Before we start..." Irene said, tapping one of the files on the monitor with finger. "Let me first tell you that this was a case assigned to me by Dr. Anise herself."