Moriarty [1]

Evelyn was even more interested in Brandon Locke.

The reason why she accepted such a ridiculous exchange was because he seemed to know more than he let out.

She wanted to ask him what exactly is Amy's involvement in the entire ordeal.

Why was she kidnapped?

Why did the Osborn's target her?

But due to his relentless 'No questions asked,' she decided to let it slide.

For now.

Everything would start to make sense if she sticks close to him.

But she was quite taken aback as well when he asked her to help him save Amy. It meant that he harbored no ill will towards Amy.

So someone that wanted to save her should have no such intentions.

'Still… Isn't he way too used to dealing with women?'

From the way he spoke to the girl with the ponytail, to the Princess carry with Amy.

Now she was on a motorcycle, embracing the said person from the back.

For some reason, Brandon was way too involved with women.

'Is he a womanizer by chance?'

The type of person she detests the most.

But she instantly snapped out of her thoughts.

She realized Brandon was quite nonchalant when he dealt with women.

As if he didn't actually care.

But Evelyn couldn't trust him yet.

As long as she sticks to him, she'll eventually find out what kind of man Brandon Locke was.

But at the moment…

Brandon Locke was suspicious.

***

VROOM–!

The two had finally arrived at the Osborn Company building.

The building stood tall. Gazing above, Brandon could tell that there were several floors. While the top floor should be the CEO's office.

Yet for some reason…

"All the lights are off."

From his side, Evelyn chimed in.

"They must've abandoned it."

To his surprise, it seemed like Osborn didn't plan a trap or some sort as the building was entirely abandoned.

It made sense.

After the kidnapping, once again, it immediately made the headlines.

After all, the person that was kidnapped in question was Amy Ashfield–a–student of Astrea Academy and the heir to the Ashfield Company.

It was immediately ruled out that Osborn Company was involved, or rather–the culprit in question.

Most of the investors pulled out their investments, and the company was soon to become bankrupt.

Despite protecting Amy inconspicuously through Alpha, she was kidnapped anyway.

This frustrated Brandon. He had never expected Osborn to do the deed during the Battle Royale.

Why...?

Were they abandoning everything?

He didn't know.

Everything…

'Is my fault.'

It all started when he killed Felix.

Regardless, it had already happened, and the next thing to do was to save Amy.

Truthfully, he didn't even know if Amy was still alive.

But she had to be.

As long as she didn't tell Osborn who the perpetrator was, she might be left alive.

She was the only witness after all. Osborn couldn't lose such a valuable hostage.

Striding towards the entrance, it seemed like the door was locked.

Brandon lifted his palm.

Foooo!

A gust of wind blew the door open.

As they entered the building, what met their sight was nothing but darkness.

It seemed like the building really was abandoned.

From behind him, Evelyn conjured a bright golden light that illuminated the entire place.

'So this is Celestial Magic.'

Brandon was left in a daze as he stared at the light.

But then immediately snapped out of it and scanned his surroundings.

Everything seemed to be right in place. There was no damage of any kind.

From a distance, they could see the elevator.

But as he thoroughly scanned it, the number of the floors didn't appear.

In other words, it wasn't working.

"So we have to take the stairs…"

Evelyn walked ahead of him towards the spiral staircase.

"Nope, let's head back outside."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

At her instructions, the two immediately beckoned outside the building.

"Stand back."

Brandon did just that and fixed his gaze on Evelyn who stood in front of him.

She clasped her hands together and...

"...!"

Instantly, a pair of radiant golden wings materialized behind Evelyn.

The wing seemed to home behind her as it wasn't directly attached to it.

But regardless, Evelyn started floating.

She then offered her hand to Brandon who was reluctant in accepting it.

"Take my hand."

But regardless, Brandon accepted the gesture and grabbed Evelyn's hand.

As they made their way up towards the final floor, with a flick of Evelyn's finger, radiant yellow orbs materialized and immediately shattered the window.

At that, they entered what seems to be the CEO's office.

Once again, it was abandoned. The whole room was dark, and the only thing that illuminated it was the moonlight.

Snap!

With a flick of her finger, Evelyn conjured a bright golden orb and immediately illuminated the entire office.

Brandon then scanned the entire room.

The entire place was well furnished. Despite the building being abandoned, most of the furniture was left exactly as how it was supposed to be.

Truth be told, Brandon didn't know what he was supposed to be looking for.

And it seemed like Evelyn noticed he was at a lost as she asked,

"So? What do we do next?"

"..."

Brandon pondered for a while. He shifted his attention to the papers on the floor.

He then realized they were documents.

But what kind?

He didn't know.

Regardless, he made a stride towards it.

Step– Step–

Behind him, Evelyn sat down on the couch. It seemed like she wanted him to do all the work.

'So that's why she asked me to be her protégé.'

A plausible theory.

'I shouldn't have agreed…'

He felt like he would have his work cut out for him.

But he dismissed his thoughts as he peered down on the papers strewn before him.

At that.

[Accelerated Cognition]

His thoughts became clear.

Calm.

Steady.

Colors drained.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion.

His entire focus.

The words on the paper.

The entire document.

In a second.

Next document..

And the next…

Again…

And again…

And again..

.

.

In a minute, he had finished reading all the documents word per word.

Through his findings, each document's contents were quite different.

But what caught his attention was where the assets were being spent on.

There were buildings that they've seemingly bought out.

But one small detail was all he needed to conclude where Amy was being held.

From all the buildings they've bought, there was one where they decided to construct themselves.

Brandon could more or less guess this because the document had the cost of materials for construction.

Yet...

'Isn't this way too obvious?'

The documents were strewn all over the floor, as if it was meant to be found in the first place.

If Osborn had already abandoned everything, then why would clumsily leave such an important lead?

He was grasping for straws.

However, his uncertainty dictated his next course of action.

Brandon abruptly stood up and turned around to glance at Evelyn who was…

Slurp~

Once again..

Slurp, Slurp~

Shoving a lollipop in her mouth…

"..."

"What?"

"...Miss Evelyn."

"Yes?"

"I think I know where they are. But I'm unsure, so I think we should split up."

"Okay, where do you need me to go?"

At that, Brandon informed her about his findings.

He then instructed her to check twenty different buildings, while Brandon would check the one that the Osborn Company constructed.

Before Evelyn left, she turned to glance at Brandon and gave him a nod.

Brandon nodded in return.

With that, Evelyn flew off.

Brandon's next course of action was to look for whatever details were inside the building.

He couldn't come in there blind.

He then motioned towards the drawers.

But before he did…

Thump! Thump! Thump!

"...!"

The sound of footsteps reached his ears.

Not just one.

But a lot.

At that moment, Brandon immediately retrieved the Mirage Mask from his inventory and donned it.

Since Evelyn had already left, it was safe to do so.

Bang–!

The door smacked open.

A familiar figure emerged.

Brandon's eyes shot wide open though the figure wouldn't be able to see it as he donned the mask.

It was none other than the main protagonist.

Raven Blackheart, adorning the Special Force uniform.

And from behind Raven were a bunch of members from the Special Force as well.

When Brandon locked eyes with him, Raven's eyes shot wide open as well.

"You."

"Don't move."

"Is that him? The masked man?"

Step–

Brandon stepped back.

"Stop, I said don't move."

One of the officers lifted their hand to conjure up whatever skill they planned on using.

But once again, nothing happened.

"What?!"

"What's wrong?"

Step–

"The mana… It disappeared."

"How is that possible?"

Another officer lifted their hand as well.

Yet, nothing happened.

Step–

"After him!"

A woman strode forward, with pale wheat hair and blue eyes.

"Catch me if you can…"

After muttering those words, Brandon jumped back.

"Stop!"

Raven's voice reached him.

With Brandon's front faced towards them, he jumped backwards and fell from the window.

"Sherlock."