CHAPTER 40: CHAPTER 39: FAMILY EMERGENCY

"Captain, why!?" Zoey burst into questioning mode as soon as they were alone.

Johann let out an exasperated sigh before tossing Zoey a lollipop and gesturing for her to sit down. Despite hating sweet things, she did as she was asked to and sat on the opposite side.

"The HQ is looking for him, do you know what that means?" he asked.

"He’ll be found sooner than later," Zoey replied, but to her surprise, Johann shook his head.

"Not at all. They will find where he lives and hand over the investigative authority to those in charge of that section. You perhaps didn’t know it since it’s rare for the HQ to engage in search operations."

Zoey’s eyes widened when she realized Johann was right. The HQ rarely had time to deal with these lackluster affairs. Even though they had issued a warrant, that was the extent of their involvement.

In reality, whether Zaen killed the C-rank anomaly or not didn’t matter. In the end, he was just one of the hundreds of thousands who could do that.

"The HQ wouldn’t be interested in him because of that," he continued. "As for why I was worried, it was because I thought someone had leaked the information about his strange abilities to the HQ."

While cultists were a menace, the person in Malaysia was just an alleged cultist. Hence, capturing Zaen wasn’t a priority for them at all. He would be even less of a priority once they realized he didn’t have an ability.

"Besides, the report only hints he had spatial abilities," Johann said. "Spatial abilities are rare, but that depends on the degree of use. If someone who could only teleport a needle from one place to another, the HQ wouldn’t treat them like they’d treat someone who could jump continents in the blink of an eye."

"So you’re saying the ambiguity around Zaen’s ability makes him undesirable to the HQ?" Zoey asked.

"Well, you’re half correct," Johann smiled before shaking his head. "Ambiguity feeds curiosity, but what if someone squashes the curiosity before it takes root?"

He pointed at the report Ann gave him before continuing, "This report would squash any curiosity the HQ might have about Zaen. Well, that is, if they force us to make a report in the first place."

Johann continued, "Besides, wouldn’t the HQ’s attention on Zaen be beneficial for us?"

It was like a bulb went on in Zoey’s head, but then she scowled at the captain.

"Has anyone called you a bastard, cap?" she asked. "Because you’re one."

"Language."

Zoey rolled her eyes because she didn’t want to be lectured by a child. A child who was planning to blackmail someone.

"It’s not how I wanted things to be either," Johann shrugged. "But since he didn’t want to give us the sample, probably knowing he wouldn’t find anything otherwise, that makes him suspicious."

He continued, "Since the opportunity has presented itself for us to force his hand, it would be a shame not to take advantage of it."

"So you’ll make him give the sample, run the tests, and then hide his true abilities from the HQ, if he has any, and have him join our team?"

"Aren’t you a smart cookie?"

***

Back in the ’classroom’, Zaen was learning more about the anomaly classification, though the aching pain in his body was making things difficult for him.

Why do I have to learn all this? Wouldn’t it be better to feed me a capsule to remember all this stuff?

Zaen couldn’t understand why he had to learn about things the old way. Sure, fighting is something that required a hands-on approach, but he didn’t know why they couldn’t just use the capsule, which Zoey had offered him yesterday.

"I know what you’re thinkin’," Jenna said. "Just gimme a capsule an’ be done with it."

"...can you read minds too?"

"Nah, but I can read ya face, ain’tcha makin’ that constipated look again?"

"You know you’re the one who did that, right?"

"Ahem, we shouldn’t dwell on such petty details."

The random accent switch almost killed Zaen right then and there. Fortunately, before they could continue the lesson, Karloff arrived there with Ann at his heels.

"That’ll be all for today, Jenna," Karloff announced. "I’ll be taking Zaen with me for a while."

"But the captain said his training—"

"New orders," Karloff cut her off. "Zaen, your uncle called. It seems there’s an emergency back home that requires your presence."

"What happened?"

Hina’s face instantly appeared in his mind.

She better not have done anything to them!

He clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white.

The Hina he knew before the game would have treated his family like her own. But the one that came out of the game wasn’t anything like he knew.

His disappearance without a word could have triggered her yandere tendencies. It was a far stretch, but she could have targeted his family for answers.

"Your brother is refusing to leave for boarding school without meeting you."

Zaen: ...

Jenna: ...

Ann: ...

Zaen cleared his throat, wondering if it was some ploy from Johann to learn more about him or his abilities. He couldn’t think of anything else, especially after the lecture he gave him about leaving the organization and the wolves hunting him.

"Does it count as an emergency?" he asked. "I thought this place had strict protocols—"

"Nothing is more important than familial bonds."

Jenna couldn’t hold back anymore and burst out laughing. Ann followed suit, not because of what Karloff said, but because he said such a ridiculous thing with a straight face.

Even Karloff seemed to be embarrassed and hurried outside.

"A vehicle has been arranged for you so... you can leave as soon as you’re done packing," he said. "Oh, and Ann would be going with you. She’ll be in charge of your training while you’re gone."

"What? Absolutely not!" Zaen objected without wasting a second. "I can take Jenna or Zoey with me, but—"

"It’s an order," Karloff cut him off. "Besides, your uncle is sharp and has met Zoey already. He would unquestionably ask medical jargon to anyone who goes with you as your caretaker. Ann is the best choice for it."