The second question on Fynn’s list of usually asked questions was: “Does your husband have anyone who would want to harm him?”
The madam paused to blow her nose before answering, “My husband is a very open-minded person who conducts himself with dignity. But…” Her hand holding the handkerchief clenched tighter, “…just because he conducts himself properly doesn’t mean others would do the same.”
She sighed with deep exhaustion, “My husband is the kind of man that wouldn’t start a conflict, but definitely won’t run away from one started by others.”
“And did he have conflicts?” Fynn gently prodded.
The woman nodded, “Yes. He often had conflicts of opinion with his peers in the industry. And many saw him as their rival or a thorn in their side.”
She paused to think, before continuing, “My husband had been approached by representatives of rival pharmaceutical companies many times. They went to great lengths to make him switch sides, but he had always refused. I’m sure that made many people unhappy.”
“Was there anyone he made ‘unhappy’ recently?”
The madam helplessly shook her head, “I don’t know. Like I said, my husband rarely talks about business at home.”
In the end, the name list of potential suspects they managed to extract from the lady was rather short. She only remembered the names of rival companies and several people her husband mentioned often.
Before heading off, Fynn could do nothing more than to give the lady his contact details, asking her to call when her husband woke up.
The quartet got up to leave, but the lady suddenly reached to squeeze Noah’s hand. Her eyes teared up as she wheezed out a shaky, “Thank you…”
Feeling Noah’s warmth seep into her, the onset of sobs quickly died down into snivels, “…they said …they said… if it had been anyone else at the scene… my husband… he… he wouldn’t have… he might have not… have not made it…”
***
As soon as the quartet exited the hospital room, Levi pasted himself to Noah’s side. One of his hands entangled itself in Noah’s hair, and the other stroked his back up and down in a soothing motion.
Noah’s watery eyes widened, and his lips that were tightly pressed together quivered.
This socially awkward brother-in-law of his wasn’t an Empathizer, yet he always noticed Noah’s moods first and without fail.
Astar Levi didn’t speak much, but his actions spoke louder than any words could.
And they have always been whispering a sweet ‘I care for you a lot’ in Noah’s ear.
Just like that, Noah’s mood that had been affected by the tears of the lady, stabilized. A lovely smile once again returned to his beautiful face, his shining eyes curving as he looked up at the taller man, “Brother, I’m fine now.”
Fynn stood to the side, next to Trey, staring at the two, his face unreadable.
Astar Levi might be a brain-damaged self-centered pervert with no morals or a sense of shame.
But he also might be the person who cared about Cordia Aris the most in this world.
To not be as caring and attentive as a socially maladjusted madman…
…the taste of defeat was really sour…
***
By the time they finished talking to the wife of the Fluxer, the sky had already darkened.
Their next stop should have been Pharmath, to inquire about who the Fluxer had been with today. However, going to the company now would be a useless endeavor. At this time of day, besides building security, there would be no one else present. They would need to wait for tomorrow morning to question the Fluxer’s colleagues.
Thus, they returned to the peacekeeper station, hoping to see the results of the follow-up crime scene investigation. Fynn was the inspector in charge of the case, but he wasn’t the only officer working on it. Fynn’s duty, as an Intenter, was questioning of people related to the case. While other investigators each had their own respective duties.
Upon arriving at the station, they received several reports. The first came from an inspector who could sense remnants of power usage. He had detected many vague traces of powers. However, at the end of it all, it would seem none of the detected powers were relevant to the case.
The fingerprint report came out too. Initially, Fynn had been hopeful about the possibility of picking up fingerprints of the Fluxer’s companion, which would then be used to identify the man. However, it would seem that the table where the Fluxer had been sitting had been mostly vaporized, leaving nothing that they could pick up fingerprints from.
Lastly, there was a report of the investigator who was in charge of tracking people down by scent. She said the scene of the crime was a scenting nightmare. The Fluxer had vaporized so many things that the smell was overpowering. She couldn’t even go into the restaurant, let alone detect and follow the scent of the Fluxer’s companion.
In the end, left with no useful intel, the quartet decided to call it a day and rest early so that they can resume their investigation tomorrow.
After agreeing on the time and place of their next meeting, the quartet split up. Fynn stayed in the station to do background checks of the names they’ve received, while the other three left towards the city lord’s mansion.
Noah had wanted to escort Levi to the Maglev train station, but the other vehemently insisted on seeing Noah home instead. After what happened today, how could Levi rest easy if he didn’t personally ensure his baby’s safe return?
Along their way back, Levi repeatedly emphasized that Noah was not to leave the safety of the mansion until Levi picked him up tomorrow morning. Noah, feeling very tickled by his brother-in-law’s care, very obediently agreed to everything that came out of the other’s mouth. He kept nodding his head like a chicken pecking rice, yet Levi was still unable to put his worry down.
Through the entire tirade, not once did Noah lose his patience. On the contrary, at some point, he was forced to hide his smile behind his hand because he simply couldn’t keep the corner of his mouth down. He needn’t have bothered; his eyes were curving nearly as much as his mouth.
Only when Noah had sincerely promised that he would definitely, absolutely, very obediently not go anywhere without Levi, did the other feel reassured enough to give it a rest.
Levi: ‘Yes! Victory!’ (/≧▽≦)/ ‘Baby agreed to stay by my side all the time!’
Noah: ‘Gosh! (/≧ω\) This worrywart of a brother-in-law is too cute!’
Blackie: щ(゚Д゚щ)‘…how? …How can …I don’t even…’
‘Host… um… could you… at least try to… try to NOT look so happy to be stalked by a crazy pervert 24/7???’
(ノಥ益ಥ)ノ ┻━┻ ‘You are throwing away all of my face!! Everyone from the department is laughing at me for having such a mentally challenged host!!!’
Noah: (ꐦ ◠‿◠) ‘Wasn’t it you guys who picked me for this mission in the first place? Who is more mentally challenged: a mentally challenged person or the guys who hired him for a super important job even though they knew he was mentally challenged?’
Blackie, who actually has no retort: ‘…’ ○| ̄|_
Future Noah: (︶^︶)ノ ‘What mentally challenged? Pfft, they are just jealous! Does any of their hosts have a 100% mission success rate? Hmph! Didn’t think so!’
Future Blackie, who still can’t refute: “…” ಥ‿ಥ
Author Note:
The second day is coming to a close. And the third day is looking very fun. Actually, each day from now on will escalate in spiciness. By my current estimations, the first smut scene will be at the start of the fifth day. Oh, and in case you are wondering, the days after the second aren’t as long as these first two days. A lot of words went into Noah’s and Levi’s “dates”.
After obtaining Noah’s precious promise, Levi could finally leave with a peace of mind. Though he was still very reluctant to part with his darling, he, Levi, had much work to do. And he could do none of it in the presence of his baby.And so, Levi left the city lord’s mansion, followed by Trey, who had been tasked with ensuring Levi boarded the Maglev train safely.The two men walked in silence until they had left the premises of the city lord’s mansion. Only when Noah could no longer see them or hear them, did the perfectly harmonious air between them turn chilly.
After returning to his own mansion, Levi got busy. He issued many orders left and right, driving his secretary close to tears.While delegating everything that needed to be done, he even remembered Peyton, the vulgar asshole they ran into this morning.Of course he remembered! As if he could forget a person who antagonized his baby!Whoever dared to wrong his baby should be prepared for the consequences! Not one shall be spared! Rawr! Let them see just how unreasonable and petty Astar Levi can be!
After dragging her tired body back home, Levi’s fiancée and Noah’s elder sister, opened her communicator to find her fiancé had sent her a baffling message: “We need to talk. Urgently. As soon as you are free. Critical importance.”(・―・)Urgent talk of critical importance?With her???She snorted a laugh. Knowing the temper of her fiancé, if it was indeed something important, he wo
Though Noah had asked Levi what happened, even after a long moment, he received no response.Of course he received no response! What could Levi possibly say to explain all this?!?‘I saw a photo of you straddling Trey that drove me batshit crazy, so I had a nightmare and ended up destroying half the house??’(ノಥ益ಥ)ノ ┻━┻Fucking hell! He was better off
Noticing that Levi had forgotten about his previous words of resting along the way, Noah diligently reminded him, “Rest your eyes for a bit.”How could Levi sleep when his baby could be in danger at any moment? Levi glanced towards Noah, who was sitting next to him.“…”Ah, forget it. He’d oblige and just pretend that he was sleeping. At least that way, his baby would feel more at ease.Le
Noah’s already pink face got even redder from the bellyful of grievances and indignation he felt right now.This absolutely couldn’t go on! Determined to get his message across this time, he turned towards the completely unperturbed Levi. The other responded with a raised eyebrow as if to cluelessly ask what’s wrong.Noah felt as if he was punching cotton; his pent-up frustration simply had no way to be vented out! He took a deep breath to calm himself down, in the process of which he puffed up his cheeks like an adorable little pufferfish.
Striking while the iron was hot, Levi concluded it with, “That’s why being intimate with me is ok.”But then, feeling he hadn’t been clear enough, he added, “Being intimate with others is not!”Noah’s eyelid started twitching, he felt like there was something wrong here, but he couldn’t quite put into words what exactly.Still feeling that his words had left room for error, Levi sternly clarified, “By ‘being intimate’, I mean kissing, hugging, caressing the head…&rdq
The Fluxer was a very valued employee of Pharmath; thus, the executives were very accommodating towards the investigation. Soon enough, the quartet had questioned all of the coworkers the Fluxer had been in regular contact with and checked the surveillance footage.The security cameras (that they had been given access to) captured the Fluxer briskly leaving the building around lunchtime in the company of another man. The timestamp of them leaving was several minutes after the time Noah, Levi, and Trey had left the private beach.“That’s the man!” Noah shot up from his seat inside the security footage monitoring room, “That&rsqu