“Madam! Please take this with you!”

“Sir… sir! Hold on to this and visit our office if you see anything!”

“Please take it! It’s for free!”

Randy Ronvorld was at a busy intersection within the Commercial District, stopping any passerby and handing them posters of the Bloated Murderer and the little information known about him.

Of course, it wasn’t actually the private Investigator but the parasite. Arthur was doing this out of the kindness of his heart, it was but a scheme to draw the attention of almost everyone passing by.

That way, if the killer was amongst them, he would know that Randy was actually living and breathing. Obviously, the chances of this succeeding was pitifully small, nevertheless, Arthur deemed it worthy to try at least once.

Last night, after making a visit to the Duke’s, he flew around Blackcrest for two hours and understood the layout of the city much better than the maps found in every other street.

Like Wilsden Town, Blackcrest city had Commercial and Residential Districts. However, it also had Military Quarters situated North-west, adjacent to the Duke’s towering castle.

The area was heavily guarded by armed city guards and militant soldiers, making it close to impossible to infiltrate it using a human host.

But a Little Bunting was inconsequential and simply not worthy of a second glance. Thus did Arthur thoroughly explore the area and get a basic understanding of the ‘military’.

The Residential District belonged to the wealthy and aristocracy, filled with luxurious villas and big manors; It was at the center of the city and could be accessed via the Commercial District from the South, the Military Quarters from the South-West, and the slums from the East. However, the Eastern Entrance was tightly guarded by at least twenty city guards patrolling the street around the clock.

The only reason the nobles agreed to be so close to the notorious slums was solely because of the Slave Market, which was the first point of acess if you headed through the Eastern gate.

Nobles were fond of their slaves and since the Militant Syndicate encouraged slavery and forced manual labor on the slaves, the nobles happily obliged. Furthermore, the Slave Market wasn’t the same as the one in Wilsden. This one was clean and had as many guards as the Residential District.

When Arthur flew over the area, he did not see cages, which meant that the slaves were inside the buildings, outside of public view.

Arthur continued handing out posters until he was interrupted by a panicking and astonished Addy. Before he had time to react, Addy pulled him to a quiet alley and speechlessly looked at him.

“Randy, is this really you? Y-you’re alive?” The man was close to tears as he inspected his partner and spoke with a shaky voice.

“You don’t show up for two days then appear here? If I wasn’t passing by then I wouldn’t have known you were back!”

As he was being reproached by the frustrated Addy, Arthur softly smiled and reassuringly responded,

“All is fine, Addy. I thought the killer saw me so I had to lay low for a bit.”

Unfortunately, the only disadvantage of being a parasite was Arthur’s inability to imitate the host, especially if he had never met said host before their untimely death.

Randy was the perfect example and although he tried playing it calm, the possibility that Addy might suspect something was not that improbable.

Nevertheless, when someone close to you appears in the flesh, even if their behavior is odd, many-if not all- would suspend their disbelief and ignore the minor inconsistencies.

But, one had to take into account that Addy, his haggard appearance notwithstanding, was an investigator and ought to be perceptive.

“What do you mean ‘all if fine’? I’m drowning in work with the constant nagging of Pretta and the Bloated Murderer!”

When Arthur had met up with Addy, he seemed like the calm type. However, his current self was pretty emotional and angry, not bothering to restrain himself or keep his thoughts to himself.

“Let’s go back to the office and talk there.”

“You… fine!”

While grumbling, Addy and Randy, in silence, returned to their work office. En route, Arthur kept looking around, hoping that someone was following them. Alas, it wasn’t the case and, before long, they were in the messy and dust-filled room.

Addy slumped on his creaking chair and glared at his partner.

“Tell me everything!”

Since Arthur had no way of knowing what actually happened to Randy, he had to formulate a believable lie while omitting many of the details. He told Addy that he stumbled upon the Bloated Murderer about to kill another vicitim, but he was noticed and had to run for his life.

“That’s it?”

Addy clenched his fist and barely held himself from banging it on the table.

“Don’t bullshit me, Randy!” He glared at his partner and, after taking a long breath, he added, “Were you drinking again?”

“I wasn’t.”

“...”

Eventually, Addy swallowed his anger and lowered his head while pinching his aching temples.

‘It seems their partnership wasn’t that ‘stable’, which leaves me wondering…’

“Putting that matter aside, what about Pretta? How goes that investigation?”

Arthur shrugged his shoulders, “I need to review the records again and personally pay her a visit.”

“Didn’t you go talk to her already? She’s going to ruin us if we don’t find whoever killed her lover.”

‘Lover? I thought it was her friend.’

“Look, Addy, I’m in charge of the fieldwork. Why don’t you let me handle things my way?”

“Again with that, Randy…”

Having had enough, Addy sighed and dismissively waved his hand, unwilling to continue this conversation.

Since Addy had nothing new or important to him, Arthur happily obliged and left the office thereafter. The two private investigators clearly had a straight partnership and seeing how frustrated Addy was with Randy, it could be surmised that the latter wasn’t doing his job properly.

Arthur learnt that Randy liked to drink, which possibly deterred him from doing his job.

With the use of Randy’s official investigator ID, Arthur was able to access the Residential District with ease and quickly made his way to the Ricca Oro Household.

There, the two knights guarding the entrance immediately let him in. However, Arthur soon came face to face with the domineering knight that obstructed him when he was in Leonis’ body.

Unlike their last meeting, the knight, in gloomy silence, escorted ‘Randy’ to the living room, where his master was.

“Ronvorld?!”

Pretta Oro Ricca Oro didn’t look pleased to see Randy, nevertheless, she motioned for him to sit down as she shifted her attention back to the other two guests.

She did not speak with the usual snappish tone, instead, she was polite and all smiles.

Arthur frowned as he saw Armen and Amare sit across Pretta Oro, but that frown disappeared as fast as it appeared, replaced by a shit-eating grin. Apart from a cursory glance, the two weren’t particularly interested in Randy’s arrival, nor did they question his presence.

Although the living room was spacious and had one too many available seats, Arthur shamelessly approached the two vampires and sat on the same sofa.

“Don’t mind me.” Said Arthur while chuckling, “Do continue.”

Pretta glared at him and after pondering for a couple of seconds, she introduced him,

“This is private investigator Randy Ronvorld. Since he’s already here, why not work with him?”

‘Twas plain clear that Pretta Oro wasn’t fond of either Randy nor Addy. Still, she did not completely disregard their competence and the fact that she was willing to introduce him indicated that she had a bit of faith.

“Ronvorld, these two are Armen and Amare Na Xivia, from the Na Xivia Family. They will be helping me find the bastar- excuse me, the person who killed Thomas.”

“My, it’s my pleasure to meet such distinguished individuals! I doubt not that their assistance will prove invaluable!”

Arthur beamed at the two vampires and stretched his hand to Armen, who was sitting next to him. However, the only reaction he got was an uncomfortable and awkward silence.

The talk with Pretta was boring and led to nowhere, so much so that Arthur focused more on the attentive Vampires.

As she wanted to elevate her image, Pretta Oro’s narcissism was over the roof. Arthur sat there and listened with a disinterested look until it was finally time to leave.

“I hope I see some results soon, Ronvorld. If I don’t then…”

Pretta glanced at the Vampires then continued with a quieter tone, “I’ll make sure to ruin your career and your whole life.”

“Gladly, Miss Pretta. I assure you the killer will be apprehended before you know it.”

The noble lady snorted disdainfully and left as Arthur and the Vampires were escorted outside by the same knight from earlier.

“Give us all the information you have gathered so far.”

Thus coldly said Amare once they were outside. However, since she was shorter than Randy, the parasite looked down at her with a provocative grin.

“But, miss Amare, aren’t we supposed to cooperate? I’m not boasting but I’m quite good at my job.”

“We don’t need your help.” Even Armen wasn’t too keen on working with others, and like his colleague, found it unnecessary to hide his intentions.

“Hmm… my job is at stake here. Wouldn’t it be better for me to keep everything to myself and try to satisfy Miss Pretta?”

“..."

Amare, with a threatening glare, was looking up at Randy, but her cold demeanor or the fact that she was Marjory’s daughter were not enough to intimidate the private investigator.

“Let’s work together, okay?”

Instead of offering any response, the two Vampires turned around and left. They weren’t going to use violence, but, at the same time, they weren’t going to work with Randy, especially since his care-free attitude did not sit well with either of them.

“Haah! What a bummer!”

As he saw them leave, Arthur laughed and went on his own way. It would have been great to have them by his side as they would offer excellent protection in case the Bloated Murderer strikes again.

Nevertheless, as they were all aiming to catch Thomas’ killer, they would surely cross paths soon enough.

With no destination in mind, Arthur was planning to return to the office. He took the shortest and always checked whether he was followed or not.

When he had finally arrived at the relatively empty street in front of the office, he suddenly stopped and set his eyes on a clearly suspicious hooded-figure appearing from within an inconspicuous alley.

The parasite did not do anything sudden, he merely raised his hand; Not a second too late, an agile figure came from the side, blades in hand as they were unhesitantly slashed at the hooded person.

As he had expected, as Evelyn’s blades struck them, a burst of green-colored mist was unleashed, rendering the man intangible.

The mist lasted momentarily before dispersing and taking with it the man.

‘Randy’ looked at the maid and, with a hand on his chest, thanked her

“You saved my life!'' he exclaimed with fright.

At that same moment, the door to the office opened and Addy came running out. He first looked at Evelyn then at his partner, seemingly confused and surprised.

“What’s going on?”

“Another attempted murder. The Bloated Murderer really wants my life, huh..”

As for Evelyn, she subtly nodded at Arthur then returned to hiding. Her sole job today was to linger around the office and see if any suspicious individuals came, which they did… eventually.

Arthur suspected that the Bloated Murderer might see him when he was handing posters and would potentially try to ambush him near the office. Or, Addy could be targeted as he was almost always in the office and, since he lacked any fighting capabilities, was an easy target.

However, the Bloated Murderer was specifically targeting Randy and Randy alone, and unlike last time, Evelyn wasn’t able to inflict any damage on him, meaning that he had come prepared and expected someone to be hiding or protecting Randy.

Plus, by witnessing how Evelyn saved his partner’s life, any pre-conceptions or suspicions Addy had regarding Arthur and Evelyn would slowly dissolve and he would trust them a bit more.