[27.5] Just a Small Task

At a loss for words, I caught sight of golden hair and breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, Goldilock's sudden appearance is useful.

I ran over to him and rammed my shoulder into his arm playfully, "Oi! Goldilocks! Have you been waiting for me?"

His face stiffened, "I just finished teaching a class. I wasn't waiting for you."

I looked at him dumbfounded, "What class did you teach?!"

He rolled his eyes, "I teach a magical weapons course. You remember the one you broke your leg during just to get out of?"

Sure enough, he was wearing workout attire.

However…

His workout attire was impeccable without even showing any skin!

I pouted, "It was my ankle, not my leg."

He let out a sigh, "Just let me change and then we can leave for our duty."

I nodded and followed him to the dorms. As he went to walk inside, I went to follow him. He quickly stopped me, "What do you think you're doing?"

I smiled at him innocently, "I'm following you."

He frowned, "This is the men's dorm."

"Uhuh. And?"

He slammed the door in my face.

I pouted my lips, "You don't have to be so dramatic."

Caldwell was sleeping on a branch as an owl when he heard us waiting outside. He flew over and formed back into a human. He grinned, "You're all finished for the day?"

I nodded, "That's right."

He let out a sad sigh, "Oh, thank the Gods. I was getting so lonely without my Young Master."

I rolled my eyes, "He's not really your Young Master anymore."

His eyes started to water, "He will always be my Young Master."

Zephyr made a disgusted face, "We really should have turned you into law enforcement."

Caldwell snapped out of his somber nostalgia to glare at Zephyr, "I thought I smelled dog sh*t, but it turns out it was a filthy fox instead."

"Oi!" Zephyr screamed out in a shrill voice, "I'm not filthy! SHE makes me bathe every night!"

Caldwell and I both stared at him with the same look of disapproval.

I let out a groan and rubbed my face, "Goldilocks! Hurry up or else I'm going to break into your room again!"

The door opened and an unknown teenage boy stood in front of me. He blinked, "You… You break into his room?"

I deadpanned.

Zephyr jumped in, "She doesn't just break in! She also tries to undress him."

The kid forced on a smile and hurried past me.

I shouted after him, "Wait! It never works though!"

Caldwell snickered, "Did you think that would help?"

Well… I hope that didn't just cause any unnecessary trouble.

I turned to glare at Zephyr, "Why would you tell that random guy about that?!"

He looked at me innocently, "All I said was the truth."

Before I could vent my frustrations, Cyrus walked back out. He was dressed in princely attire that was so eye-catching and perfect that my mouth hung open in shock.

I stared at him silently as my mind went blank.

He adjusted his clothes with a frown, "Why do you keep staring at me?"

"So… So handsome."

Ah. It really should be a crime!

His cheeks turned pink briefly before he hurried past me, "Let's go."

I followed after him still looking him over.

Oh wow! Even the back is as good as the front.

Sigh... This beauty is really only something you could find in a magical world.

Caldwell chuckled, "You're drooling, Young Miss."

I wiped at my mouth and tried to change the subject, "Where are we going?"

Cyrus spoke without looking over, "To the M.I.B office to speak to Chief Gonza."

I raised an eyebrow, "Eh? Why do you need to talk to my Uncle?"

Caldwell grinned, "So that I can flirt with him~"

Cyrus ignored him, "He's the one who gives the candidates their assignments."

I nodded, "Ah, yeah. Sometimes I forget he actually has a job."

Cyrus finally looked over at me with intent, "You call him Uncle now too?"

I averted my eyes in embarrassment and mumbled, "Well… He is… So…"

Cyrus smiled softly, "I'm sure he would be happy to hear that."

I looked back at him with a blank expression, "Yeah, but I would never call him Uncle to his face."

His smile disappeared, "Ah."

Caldwell chuckled, "Are you still trying to torture him because he was the one who sent you to an orphanage?"

I narrowed my eyes ominously, "I hold grudges."

The three gulped.

Caldwell nudged Cyrus, "Be careful, Young Master."

He frowned at Caldwell, "Why would I care if she has a grudge against me?"

I turned to him with an evil stare.

He cleared his throat, "...I will be careful."

Once we arrived at the M.I.B building, I shoved open the doors and confidently skipped up the stairs to Chief Gonza's office.

Cyrus shouted after me, "Wait! We can't just walk in!"

The clerk waved him off, "Nah, go ahead. Less work for me."

Cyrus paused as if confused about what to do, before letting out a groan and following after me.

I threw open the door to Chief Gonza's office, "Aiyo! I heard you had a job for us!"

As soon as the door hit the wall, stacks of papers fell over, scattering all across the floor and revealing a surprised Chief Gonza.

My face stiffened, "Did you somehow get messier since I've been gone?"

Chief Gonza gathered up the papers with a blushing face, "I-I have been preoccupied with more important matters lately! But- Ah! My lovely little niece! Look how much you've aged!"

He quickly tossed aside the documents and hugged me tightly.

I frowned, but eventually returned the hug, "You saw me last year when you visited us for my birthday."

He rubbed my head, "That was a year ago. You've gotten so much taller since then!"

I clicked my tongue, "Not tall enough. Hazel is taller than me. Can you believe that?!"

Caldwell, Zephyr, and Cyrus walked in after me to see the affectionate scene with differing emotions. Cyrus held a gaze of slight jealousy, Zephyr stuck out his tongue in disgust, while Caldwell had to avert his eyes to avoid seeing the mess of papers he desperately wanted to clean.

Cyrus cleared his throat, "Good evening, Chief Gonza. We are here to receive our assignment for the Throne Competition."

Chief Gonza finally let me go, "Ah yes! I have that document here… Somewhere…"

We looked at the floor that was covered to our ankles in documents.

Chief Gonza laughed awkwardly, "Should we do your Royal Guard assignment first?"

I raised an eyebrow, "We get one of those too?"

Cyrus nodded, "The Royal Guards bridge the gap between the commoners and the Palace. While the M.I.B conducts investigations, the Royal Guards are the ones doing the legwork."

I snickered, "So basically they are dogs."

Zephyr snickered, "Heh. No wonder they bark so loud."

Cyrus shot us both a glare and we both averted our eyes guiltily.

Chief Gonza pulled out a box from under his desk, "Alright! Now to assign you a Royal Guard to work with you at random."

I raised an eyebrow, "You randomly choose it?"

"That's right. It's the only way to ensure things don't turn political at the Bureau." He pulled out a paper and opened it up, "Okay here we go. It looks like you got-"

Chief Gonza suddenly froze midsentence.

I had a bad feeling, "...Who is it?"

Chief Gonza forced on a smile, "It seems you got Captain Lou."

What…

WHAT KIND OF LUCK IS THAT?!

Cyrus looked at me in confusion, "Why do you look so upset? He's very respected in the Kingdom. I think we got lucky."

"LUCKY?!" I suddenly shouted so loud he flinched, "We aren't lucky! That man has a vendetta against me for no reason! He's always calling me a-"

"SINNER!"

A loud voice echoed out from behind me. I turned to see Captain Lou walking in with a scowl.

Ugh! He's the same as always!

As I took in his appearance, I grew even angrier.

How come he still looks as young and handsome as he did all those years ago?!

Shouldn't he have wrinkles from always being angry!?

Captain Lou looked down at me with a furious expression, "There's no way I will work with this sinner!"

Chief Gonza let out an exhausted sigh, "Captain Lou. You don't have a choice if you'd like to keep your job."

Captain Lou clenched his teeth in irritation, "Whatever. At least with this position I can keep a better eye on this sinner and bring her to justice if I need to."

I narrowed my eyes, "My King, please give me the order to kill this terrible man."

"No killing anyone." Cyrus pinched the bridge of his nose, "Also, I told you to stop calling me that. I'm not a King."

I grinned at him, "Yet."

Cryus paused momentarily before looking away with a shy look. He cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Captain Lou with a stern expression, "It will be an honor to work with you."

Captain Lou looked him up and down with a frown, "I've heard of you. Despite the filth in your blood, you uphold justice and have good morals. I can accept you, but I don't understand why you would willingly work with this sinner."

Cyrus straightened his back, "Reika isn't as bad as you think. She has a few personality issues-"

My face twitched, "Oi."

"-But she's not a bad person."

Captain Lou narrowed his eyes at me, "That remains to be seen."

I forced on a smile and slowly put up my middle finger.

Captain Lou's face turned red, "Y-You- I will throw you in prison!!!"

I screamed back, "Bring it on!"

As Captain Lou and I argued, Caldwell stole some sneaky glances at Chief Gonza before moving to his side. He looked Chief Gonza up and down with a salacious look, "Chief Gonza… Has anyone ever told you that you are like a fine wine?"

Chief Gonza stiffened up, "...What?"

Caldwell grinned, "You age well… So well that I wouldn't mind a taste~"

Chief Gonza's mouth twitched and he quickly turned his attention to find the documents with more haste than he had before. After enduring the flirtatious looks from Caldwell, he finally found the documents and forced them into Cyrus's hands, "Here. Take this and go… Quickly please."

After we were pushed outside forcibly, I looked over at Cyrus, "So? What's our assignment?"

Cyrus read it out, "Identify and locate the Leader of the Demon Sympathizers and bring him or her into custody."

How is that a task for two inexperienced teenagers?!