The Incubus System Chapter 138. Cat And Mouse Game
8:17 AM
'Ian, has Miguel contacted you?' I asked in my head. I already parted ways with Ruby 15 minutes ago. Currently, I sat with my eyes closed in the queue seat at the Nightbough. corp office in Peace Blossom Square alone. As I waited, I decided to use my time to check a few things, such as my status, skills, Foxy and Celia's state, as well as some of my partners' emotions, especially Camila and Olivia.
I needed to admit, Camila's emotion status was worse than Olivia's. Luckily, I didn't find any suicidal desire or give up. I knew she was fighting Miguel and Myra alone since she also didn't want to hurt Olivia and I really wanted to go to her place, but I knew I had to hold myself if I wanted to release Camila and Olivia from Miguel forever. After all, currently, Damian was 'captured' and tortured by Miguel's subordinates, I didn't want to do anything that would ruin my own plans. And since she didn't know my real identity yet, I couldn't appear in front of her just like that.
'Not yet, Mr Damian,' answered Ian.
'Report to me, if he calls you,' I said.
'Yes, Mr Damian.' After I heard his answer, I opened my eyes.
[You have disconnected with Ian.]
* Ding Dong *
"Guest number 37, please go to desk number 1"
I got up from my seat and walked towards desk number 1.
"What can I do for you, sir?" said the customer service with a smile as I took a seat in front of him.
My hand took out my cellphone from my bag and showed him my account history.
"I want to check where all this money is coming from."
"Okay, wait a minute." His hands moved over the keyboard to check it before he gestured to type my pin on a device on the side of the desk. He frowned as his other hand was busy clicking the mouse on his hand before returning his gaze to me.
"Sorry, sir. There are no details on the sender here. But I can confirm that this money comes from a reliable source because our system has verified it. It's just that the sender doesn't want to inform the source," he explained.
"Is this safe if I use it?" I confirmed once again.
"It's safe, sir. It's from a government organization." What he said strengthened my guess where the money came from. This was the Demon Hunter Association's compensation money for my father, that's why he couldn't tell where the money came from. Because the association had to protect my father's identity to the end.
'At least I've verified the money legality.' This was important because I didn't want any accusations if I received the money from criminal acts or something like that.
"Okay." My finger swiped my cellphone screen and opened Damian's account number.
"Can I check the other virtual account?" I asked.
"Sorry, sir. Only the virtual account owner is allowed to check his own account," he said in an apologetic tone.
"I just want to check whether the account is active or not." Since Miguel already found out about Damian I guessed he would do something to Damian's account. That's why, last night, I warned Pearl about this since she was the one who made the most transfers to Damian's account. Luckily, Pearl used another company's Virtual Account, not Nightbough. corp. Meanwhile, Mia also used a virtual account from the same company as Pearl's. I guessed that virtual account company was widely used in the Kingdom of Serpent Rock and Treasure Reef Island.
"Can you give me the number?" The customer service's hands were ready on the keyboard.
I told him the number and he typed it.
"This Virtual Account number has been blocked, sir," he said.
'As I thought, Miguel is really sneaky,' I thought.
"May I know when and why?" I asked.
"Since yesterday afternoon and the reason is---" he clicked a few things before speaking again. "---unknown, sir. But based on the blocking's type, this only happens to criminals or problematic people," he explained.
Luckily, my money was barely left there since I had transferred all my money to Ethan's virtual account to pay for Celia's college registration fee.
'Looks like I have to open a virtual account at another company just in case.' Who knew Miguel was crazy enough to block all virtual accounts related to Damian.
"Alright," I said.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" he asked.
"No, thank you." I got up from my seat and left the office to another virtual account office to open a new account. As I took a few steps, I could feel someone following me. A tired breath escaped from my mouth.
'Hah ... Doesn't she have any other work besides following me?'
I entered another office, took the queue number and sat down. My eyes glanced at Ruby who was peering at me near the entrance.
'Well, we'll see how long you can follow me.'
------
8:41 AM
"Thank you for your trust to our company," said the customer service in front of me with a slight nod.
I replied with a smile and nodded slightly as I stood up from my chair. Previously, I also transferred my money to my new virtual account for safety reasons. At least I had solved one of my problems and worries. My feet walked down the Peace Blossom Square's street as I occasionally glanced backwards, I knew Ruby was still following me.
'She is more annoying than Larry ...' I thought. But I knew how to get rid of her. Rather than going to Nighthallow Station, my feet head towards the Tutty Fruity Maid Cafe. And according to my guess, as soon as she realized I was going to her workplace, she 'disappeared' and I could guess she must be very panicked since she was afraid I didn't find her there.
- Tring!
A small bell rang when I opened the door and I was greeted by several women dressed in maids with cute headbands.
"Welcome to the Tutty Fruity Maid Cafe, master!" they greeted with a smile.
I swept my gaze briefly.
"Is Ruby not here yet?"
"Miss Ruby isn't here yet, master. How about taking a seat while waiting for her?" said one of the maids.
"It's fine, I just wanted to say hello. Sorry for disturbing you. I'll excuse myself." Then I turned and left. Just as I thought, Ruby didn't follow me anymore since I knew she panicked and ran to the cafe's back door which meant she had to take a detour. I didn't waste my chance and moved my feet quickly towards Nighthallow Station. My eyes swept around me, making sure no one else was around before I entered a lonely toilet stall there. Then I reached out and imagined the west corner of my college yard.
'Portal.'
[Set your destination.]
'West corner of Diamond College's courtyard.'
[The destination has been set.]
A portal that resembled a small black hole opened in front of me.
[The portal has opened! ]
My feet stepped into the portal and darkness engulfed me.
-----
Ruby's PoV
Ruby sprinted through the crowd after she realized Ethan was headed to her workplace.
'He will be confused if he doesn't find me at the Cafe,' she thought. This was the first time she had felt this way. She knew she shouldn't be doing this, but she couldn't fight her desires or her passionate feelings.
She wanted to know everything about Ethan, no, she was already obsessed with Ethan especially after she heard about Ethan's family from Mrs Clea. Not to mention that great demon's appearance last night made her worry. It could be that demon was trying to harm him after learning Ethan's father had a close relationship with Mrs Clea. In contrast to Mrs Clea, who decided to limit her interactions with everyone because she was afraid that her status as a demon hunter would cause problems for those around her. Ruby thought to use her abilities to protect the people she loves.
Ruby had a similar background to Mrs Clea's. What distinguished it, Ruby's family did not die but they left her alone in the orphanage after her parents had a big fight. Her father was a drunkard and her mother was a gambler. From childhood she rarely received their affections and only got beatings, which caused a wound in her heart. She decided to fight back and grow as a strong girl which led her to take up the demon hunter profession. But that bad past had other effects. Her thirst for attention eventually led her to take up the maid cafe profession because she wanted other people to shower her with compliments as reminders that her life was precious. And another really bad side effect was that when she was obsessed with something, she would fight tooth and nails to get it. She never got her parents' love, so she wanted to have Ethan's love, all of it.
Ruby entered the back door quickly, her hands took off her coat and threw it on the table near the changing room. She'd purposely used her maid costume from the start to prevent something like this so that Ethan wouldn't suspect her. She walked with elegant yet quick steps as her eyes swept across the cafe, but she couldn't find Ethan. Finally, her feet moved toward the other maids at the front door.
"Miss Ruby, someone was looking for you," said one of her friends.
"Where is he?" she asked as she tried to catch her breath.
"He left after hearing you weren't here yet."
"Did he say where he was going?"
"No," replied her friend simply.
She stepped out of the cafe through the front door. Her eyes swept around, trying to find Ethan, but in vain. All that was left were people staring at her unusual outfit and some boys who were trying to get her attention. She exhaled tiredly.
'Calm down, Ruby. Calm down ... I still have more time tomorrow, 'she told herself. Then she turned around and returned to the cafe.