Chapter 167: The blessing of Midas

3rd person POV

The heart ripper was enjoying his night but he was then warped against his will and forcefully held down by a group of people who led him to a shadowy figure, the heart ripper's eyes are used to the dark since that's when he love to hunt, he can tell the shadowy figure resembled that of a man.

And the eyes...he was charmed by it...

"The heart ripper...a stupid nickname that is used to glorify your murderous actions." the person chuckled

"You...you know who I am?" the heart ripper muttered

The heart ripper is a ghoul about 169cm tall, looks to be in his late 50s, has black hair and one red eye as the other got an eyepatch over it with a visible scar.

"You don't look that bad for a retired ranked." the shadowy figure laughed "Oh how far have you fallen? Why are you living in an apartment with a fake identity to keep yourselves hidden? I'm curious."

"You...what are you? Why can't I sense what you are?" the heart ripper tried to escape but people from earlier pinned him down and broke his legs.

"Let him of a bit now, I don't want him dead." the shadowy figure laughed once again "I know why you did it, but I just wanted to hear it from your own mouth, to think you wouldn't answer, that's disappointing, to the outside, you are known as a humble man, but to me...I have a proposition for you, Vardan."

"What do you want?" Vardan aka the heart ripper asked as he winced in pain

"I want you to kill the man who have inherited the curse of Midas, well curse isn't what it is since the inheritors have mastered it over the years." the man with the jade eyes pondered allowed "More like a blessing...anyway, I'm sure he's famous enough, he's the founder of 'the Raining Gold', and I'll give you some accessories to help you, you can feast his heart if you want."

*****

Perseus POV

"Why am I being forced to socialize again?" I whispered in my homeroom teacher's ear

"You're a role model now, so fucking deal with it." Craig whispered back

"Why are you so mean to me? Is it cuz I dated your sister and not paying attention in class?"

"Yep."

We're brought to this restaurant alongside another group of students from the academy to go to this booked out restaurant that is rented out for this private occasion. There's more than 200 high school students from the most famous of raider prep school.

Unlike most of my classmates, I never really attended one of em, I attended just a regular high school and used my clan's connection to get this special paper from a governor that allows me to be absent from class more than the school's limit and not get expelled in order to join my clan doing some quest as long as I completed my work.

Anyway, my 2 instructors are to act as my bodyguard, not that I need one, but they are to stop the students from crowding over me and make them come ask me questions one by one, it's mentally exhausting with people asking me either what monsters and bosses are like, how nice my famous clanmates are in reality, how interaction with other rankers go...etc.

Though I would have to lie a bit since the instructors said my task is to encourage students to go to the academy and apply once chosen, so I can't let in the reality of being a raider isn't the best job if you value your physical and mental health.

There's also people asking for autographs which I didn't know people still do, and selfies, mostly girls who does that and posting it on their social media profiles or whatever.

Unfortunately, my clan is somewhere else right now cuz my sister would have definitely protected me from all this. They're meeting with the best police force to garner some info on the heart ripper because we're located at the country where the most bodies are found and mostly accepted that the suspect is here, it will take a while to narrow down who it is, so we're getting more info in order to prepare to guard their people.

I think it took hours till they all lose interest in me and I went to get some drinks and rest at a nearby table who joined me and get some desserts to enjoy as they are now hounding my classmates and the other guys who can tell a bit of their experience.

"Were you popular in school before the academy?" Craig asked

"Not really, most of my classmates assumed I was a son of a rich politician who hire tutors and people to do my work so I can pass my class and get good grades, they just thought I was a douche, I didn't haven't many friends." I shrugged "My looks are indeed popular so it did attract some girls who apparently thought I would pay them if I slept with them or some who just wanted to enjoy a 1 night stand."

"Heh, I bet you get a lot of text after your identity was revealed." Craig joked

"I did, some of my classmates even got interviewed for what I was like and created fake stories and some of them did reach some sort of fame or at least got exposure and are became one of those influencers, I would debunk em, but it would just give em more exposure and attention."

"I heard that the clan are now involved with the heart ripper case, you got any leads even though you're only tasked with the job of protection?" Emma asked "You're smart enough."

"The hearts are never found which I find quite weird, maybe they use them to keep as some treasure or something after the bloods out, but I'm not smart enough or experienced enough to work as a detective, but it's quite a unique case that they are strong, they can be one of the named or the potential 100 if anything, but they are the hardest to investigate so even with our protection and they still can't get close, we might need to investigates the elites who might fight back if found out."