With the staff’s assistance, the surveillance footage was successfully retrieved.
“Last night, correct?” the staff member asked, fumbling with the high-tech computer from the Star Alliance.
“Yes,” came the firm reply.
The screen flickered to life, displaying the recorded scenes from the previous evening.
Guided by the intel Arden had provided, Lyte zeroed in on a timeframe shortly after dusk.
At high speed, the trio—Lyte, Noi, and the staff—scoured the footage for any sign of Andy.
“There!” Noi’s sharp eyes caught it first.
She slammed the spacebar, freezing the frame.
Andy’s face was a mask of gloom, his clothes unchanged from when they’d parted at the villa—crumpled and creased, as if he’d bolted out in a hurry, no time to tidy himself.
He trailed behind a small, hooded figure, a bird-like creature with the stature of a child.
For a transformed demon, age was impossible to gauge by appearance alone.
“Do you know this guy?” Lyte asked, unfamiliar with Wagner Town’s local networks.
He knew only what Arden’s team had uncovered: Andy, the spoiled rich kid, had hired someone from the slums, the contract tucked away in a corner of the study Lyte had already searched.
They’d been right about Andy—careless to a fault.
If the Town Demon Division’s Bureau hadn’t dug it up, Andy himself probably wouldn’t have found the contract.
“That winged kid? He’s the town’s go-to fixer,” the staff explained.
“A real bloodhound for tracking people. Handy for errands or deliveries, too. Costs more than a courier, sure, but he can fly.”
“A bloodhound, huh? How’s he so good?” Lyte pressed, his curiosity piqued.
“He lives in the slums—rare for a transformed demon. The local thugs have his back, and with their network, finding someone in this town is child’s play.”
“I see. Thanks,” Lyte said, piecing it together.
This bird-kid was likely Andy’s hire, tasked with tracking down the young noble who’d stood him up.
After visiting the noble’s home, Andy had been ensnared by some supernatural trouble.
Anyone else might’ve dug into where the noble had vanished to.
The footage rolled on, revealing the bird-kid leading Andy toward the yacht area—one of only two zones without surveillance, alongside the obstacle course.
They’d have to investigate in person.
Bidding farewell to the control room, Noi and Lyte slipped out the back, avoiding the crowds funneled toward the main exits.
“What’s next? Wait for Mr. Arden or head to the yacht area?” Noi asked.
Lyte considered, “We don’t have phones, and they’re tied up. Let’s go scout it out ourselves.”
A nagging suspicion gnawed at him, sparked by Ahei’s erratic behavior—someone was watching them.
Besides, Andy and the others who’d vanished without a trace couldn’t be abandoned.
They had to press forward.
With a plan set, they grabbed a tourist map of the beach, pinpointing the yacht area’s location.
Noi, swept up in the beach’s charm, was in full vacation mode.
Her breezy swimsuit left her carefree, humming a tune as she soaked in the sights, unable to get enough.
The beach, nestled near the villa district, drew plenty of wealthy visitors living the good life, including transformed demons here for leisure.
A wolf-eared man in sunglasses lounged on a folding chair, his fluffy tail swaying as he basked in the seaside sun.
A phone call jolted him upright; he shook out his suit, slipped it on, and sped off with boots embedded with wind-element magic stones.
Likely in Wagner Town on business.
A fiery bird-woman, hands on hips, haggled with a balloon-selling bear mascot, her wings flapping furiously.
In a heated moment, she spat a burst of flame, only for the nearby ice cream vendor to douse her with an ice-element magic stone, cooling her temper—and pitching his “delicious” ice cream in the process.
At a barbecue stall, the owner waved over a vendor peddling industrial magic stones to restock his dwindling supply.
Noi overheard whispers of strict controls on magic stones lately—rumors of criminals smuggling crystal cores to the poor for illicit use.
Her gaze wandered, landing on Lyte’s loose swim trunks.
The intense mock gunfight earlier, combined with overly tight straps, had left them sagging now that he was at rest.
Noi, no petite loli, had the height to notice the tantalizing dip of his V-line slipping beneath the waistband.
Her eyes traced downward, catching a glimpse that was decidedly not for kids.
‘Even soft, it’s that impressive?’ she thought, stunned.
Back at the church, she’d only glimpsed a vague outline through his clothes.
Now, seeing it up close, she froze, dumbfounded.
Just the base was enough to set her overactive imagination racing toward scenes that would’ve been pixelated in a mosaic blur.
‘Damn it… why am I getting so girly? What’s with this heart-pounding reaction?’
Flushing with embarrassment, Noi turned away, her voice barely a whisper.
“Um… your pants…”
Lyte, engrossed in the map, glanced down, not immediately registering her words.
He tugged his trunks up absently, then froze as it clicked why she’d spoken.
Silence fell, awkward and heavy.
‘Come on, I’m almost thirty. Why am I acting so shy? She saw, so what? I’m not gonna let a kid outdo me.’
Despite his bravado, Lyte—ever the pure-hearted bachelor—couldn’t shake the flush creeping up his neck.
Their eyes met briefly, only to dart away as if they’d seen a monster.
The air crackled with an odd tension as they walked on, passing the ice cream stall.
Noi, stealing a glance at Lyte, decided to break the ice.
“Lyte, want some ice cream?”
“Sure, my treat,” he offered.
“No, no, I’ll get it…” Noi insisted, guilt gnawing at her for glimpsing what she shouldn’t have.
She splurged her meager savings to buy the ice cream as penance.
The vendor scooped two balls—melon and chocolate—into a single plastic bowl with a paper-like texture, and Noi’s antenna-like hair quivered in confusion.
“Um… I asked for two servings, not one bowl…”
“I get it, I get it,” the vendor chuckled.
“You young ladies get shy, huh? Don’t wanna make demands when your boyfriend’s not around. Don’t worry, uncle’s got you!”
With a hearty wave, he handed her the bowl, clearly mistaking Noi and Lyte, waiting under a coconut tree, for a picture-perfect couple.
“Huh?” Noi’s eyes darted around, words failing her.
How was she supposed to respond?
Half-reluctantly, she took the bowl, complete with two wooden spoons, and rejoined Lyte.
“Why just one bowl?” Lyte asked, in a rare moment of cluelessness.
Despite his age, the “thirty-year-old” virgin had never navigated the intricacies of a new girl’s heart.
Noi’s face burned.
“Ugh… don’t ask…” She couldn’t bring herself to relay the vendor’s assumption.
In her past life, she’d spent most of her days bedridden, her only escape a phone for anime and games.
She knew how netizens dated, but her?
Never.
‘Wait, no, I’m not thinking about dating him! This is just a normal outing. I’m just treating him to ice cream to make up for… that. Yup, that’s all.’
Self-convinced, Noi forced a stiff smile.
They dug into the ice cream, their heads and shoulders brushing in the tiny bowl’s proximity, the plastic spoons clinking.
‘Damn it, this feels even more intimate!’
At least the vendor hadn’t given them a single spoon—that would’ve sent Noi’s embarrassment into overdrive, likely fainting on the spot.
Lyte wasn’t much thicker-skinned.
They shoveled the ice cream down at breakneck speed, the chocolate and melon balls vanishing.
While he appreciated Noi sneaking him an extra chocolate scoop, the shared bowl was too much for his nerves.
With some distance left to the yacht area, Lyte, eager to diffuse the charged mood, recalled a book’s advice: sharing personal stories builds bonds.
Action-oriented, he dove in, starting with light topics before easing into childhood memories.
“My past, huh?” Noi’s face flickered with pain, quickly masked.
Sensing her hesitation, Lyte took the lead, sharing his own story.
For both personal and professional reasons, he couldn’t pass up this chance to learn about the witch, about Noi’s past.
As he recounted his lavish childhood in the capital, chosen young as a hero candidate, trained by the Black Tortoise of the Four Guardians, and growing up alongside the empire’s grand princess, Noi’s expression grew heavier, her thoughts unreadable.