To Cassian's dismay, he woke up the next morning to two pieces of bad news that completely derailed his plans for the week—plans that had revolved entirely around indulging in pleasure. First, he was ordered to report for duty early in the morning, cutting his free time short. Second, Katherine, Lucy, and Laureen were all busy, leaving him with no chance of sneaking in a moment alone with Cassandra. His hopes of one last intimate encounter before his schedule filled up were utterly crushed. With a disheartened sigh, he made his way to the department.
As soon as he arrived, a light shake on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts. Robert greeted him with a playful smile and asked, "Why the long face, love?"
"Nothing..." Cassian muttered, still looking dismayed. He shot Robert a wary glance and added, "And don't call me 'love.' Are you gay or something?"
Robert smirked, amusement dancing in his eyes. Then, with an exaggerated, lecherous grin, he glanced at Cassian's backside and said, "I'm not—but with an ass like yours, I wouldn't mind tapping it..."
Cassian shot Robert a disgusted look and shoved him back, but Robert only laughed. "What happened to you, man? Did Lumine bully you so much that you actually turned gay?"
"Hey, I'm not," Robert retorted with a mischievous smirk. "And even if I ever start liking handsome men like you, it definitely wouldn't be because of her bullying." To emphasize his joke, he gave Cassian's shoulder a deliberately unsettling squeeze.
Cassian visibly cringed, eyeing Robert's hand gripping his shoulder in a way that was anything but friendly. With a scowl, he flicked it away and cursed before striding off. "Fuck you. Don't come near me, you fucking creep."
Robert burst out laughing and immediately gave chase. "Hey, stop! I won't do any more gay stuff, I swear!"
Finally catching up, he grinned and added, "Anyway, I heard they called you in early because something happened at Surrock Village."
"I didn't know that. What happened there?" Cassian asked, a bit surprised.
"No idea, but it's something related to the missing people, I think," Robert replied as they stepped into their special unit's office. Inside, they found only Julius, who immediately straightened up and saluted upon seeing them. "Detectives."
"Good, you two arrived at the right time," Julius said, gesturing for them to follow him out of the building. However, he suddenly paused, glancing at Robert for a brief moment. Robert frowned in confusion, but before he could say anything, Julius shook his head and resumed walking.
His tone turned serious as he continued, "The missing people from Surrock Village—and others—have returned. But they've brought some troubling news with them."
"What kind of news?" Robert asked just as a carriage rolled to a stop at the building's entrance.
Julius spoke quickly as they gathered near the carriage, urgency clear in his voice. "When I was fighting that mage, the cultists took advantage of the chaos to kidnap a lot of people. We only realized it much later because their relatives assumed they had either left or died—they didn't report anyone missing for weeks. By the time we started searching, many of the missing had simply gotten lost in the jungle while trying to escape the cultists. But those who were actually kidnapped… well, they've been causing trouble."
He took a deep breath before continuing. "Last night, a large number of them managed to escape and return to their villages. According to them, the cultists had forced them to perform various tasks—killing newborn animals, taking part in rituals, and other disturbing things. But during the final ritual, all the cultists committed mass suicide, giving the captives a chance to flee."
Julius's expression darkened. "The bad news is that whatever ritual they were performing was successful. Now, magical beasts are pouring out of the jungle, heading toward villages and cities. Your job is to join the frontlines and contain the beasts, while the higher-ups investigate the ritual sites."
Julius opened the carriage door and gestured for them to get in. "Cassian, you'll be the team leader. Your team includes Robert, Lumine, and a few new hires. Among them, you're the only Circle Warrior. There's also a low-level mage assigned as your co-leader."
As they climbed in, Julius continued, "The others left a few minutes ago. You'll meet up with them and receive further orders from Dallas. Now go."
Cassian and Robert barely had time to ask any questions before Julius shut the door behind them. Robert signaled the carriage driver to move, and as they settled in, the two exchanged puzzled looks.
Cassian sighed. "Was the city always this chaotic, or do I just have terrible luck?"
Robert shook his head. "Things were hectic, sure, but for normal reasons—not because of these cultist bastards." Then, after a brief chuckle, he added, "But now that I think about it, all this chaos started happening around when you came and also around you. Almost like you're some kind of main character in a novel, don't you think?"
Cassian fell into thought, unable to deny that Robert's prediction wasn't entirely wrong. But what could be the reason behind it? The only thing that came to mind was the system. Still, he shook his head, pushing away unnecessary thoughts. A Circle Warrior should focus solely on breaking through their bottlenecks, advancing to the next stage, and then the one beyond that. Overthinking irrelevant matters only created distractions, and sometimes, those distractions could even conflict with the very ideals and principles that had led one to become a Circle Warrior in the first place.
"It might be. Who knows?" Cassian finally said with a small smile before adding, "That aside, you're now officially under my command, Robert. How does it feel to be surpassed by someone younger than you?"
Robert scoffed. "First of all, you're not that young. And second…" He trailed off, a smirk spreading across his face before he continued, "As for my thoughts on being under you… I think I like the idea."
Cassian visibly recoiled, his face twisting in pure disgust. "There is seriously something wrong with you, man. Are you sure you're actually Robert?"