“Exorcists, monks, priests… we’ve been seeking help from experts of various areas of expertise in this regard, and they all unanimously claimed that ‘vampires’ are the culprits responsible for this chain of peculiar occurrences. However, the best they could do was to temporarily slow the rate of occurrence - no one was able to identify nor tackle the true cause behind them. And in light of the heightening situation within the past two years, we have to look for someone who’s capable of settling this once and for all.”
If their hands are still tied with that much help… this truly is a tricky situation.
“I see. And that’s when you came across our website and decided to seek our help, right?” Kou quickly deduced.
“Are you both really qualified for the request?” Mr. Chong’s words held apparent doubts. “The reason why I recommended you to my superior is because your website says that Ms. Luminosa has years of experience dealing with unknown creatures.”
“That’s for sure. Please have faith in Ms. Luminosa’s powers, for she’s a renowned mageka in this realm. It’s only since recently that she resides in Hong Kong, and yet she has already handled a wide range of requests regarding magical creatures. So, rest assured that the request will be taken care of. But given its complexity, we would need you to provide more relevant intel for our reference.”
Kou brought up the key question of this meeting - intel.
“I’m afraid I can’t comply, as there’s a strict non-disclosure policy for police intel. Besides, it’s still uncertain whether you will accept the request.”
“Kou, take the case. The remuneration will be as previously discussed.” As Mr. Chong was turning down Kou’s request, I spoke to the monitor in front.
“Are you sure about this, Sakura?” Kou’s worried voice projected straight to my head, although from Mr. Chong’s perspective, not a word was spoken by the lady before him. This is ‘Telepathy’, a trick where I preemptively installed an enchantment in Kou’s pendant. In this case, she could communicate with me without being noticed despite the spatial differences and her inability to perform magic.
“This does seem concerning, but it also sounds like fun.”
“I’m just worried that we’ll unwittingly become pawns of the government.” She did not quite see eye to eye with my point of view, which was objectively reasonable.
“I understand your concern, but I really wanna give it a try.” The urge to accept the deal persisted.
“Okay then.” After a moment of contemplation, Kou let out a sigh and replied, “Here’s what I’m going to say: We’ll be taking full control over the case’s investigative approach, and we will be remunerated regardless of the outcome. I’ll also emphasise the condition that neither party’s identity can be exposed, and the same goes for every detail about this request. Should disclosure be necessary, extra charges will apply. To be frank, I don’t think this will work, but since you’ve already got your mind set on the case, let’s just go for it.”
“Thank you.”
I’m truly grateful, friend, for you tolerating the stubborn person that I am.
“Ms. Luminosa has made the decision to take this case. However, we have to set this straight: We’ll be taking full control over the case’s investigative approach without any intervention, and we’ll be remunerated regardless of the outcome. Also, neither of us can expose our counterpart’s identity. The same goes for every detail about this request. Should disclosure be necessary, our consent is required, and extra charges will apply. And given the confidentiality of our identity, please understand that we’re unable to put this agreement down in black and white, but our conversation so far has been documented using a magical artefact that gives the same binding power as an official contract. If you agree to this, the contract will be sealed.” In the blink of an eye, Kou had already expressed our will to Mr. Chong, as well as explaining the terms and conditions about signing a contract with our store precisely and concisely.
“It’s agreed. Having been doing this job for some time, I’ve encountered a multitude of situations where specialists we worked with were unable to sign the contract so this is understandable. Still, thanks for clarifying.”
While I assumed Mr. Chong might ask for extra time to think it through or give his superior a call for further discussion, to our surprise, he expressed his comprehension of our proposal and accepted the deal without any hesitation.
Wow, talk about efficiency!
“Thank you, Sir. Our practice is to collect the first fifty percent of the remuneration upfront as a deposit, and the balance will be charged after the request is completed. Please note that the final figure will vary based on the different circumstances that may arise while we execute the request. We hope that you understand.” After Mr. Chong's firm approval, Kou moved on to laying out the payment conditions.
“And the remuneration is?”
“Five hundred thousand dollars.”
“That’s quite a hard bargain you’re driving. Alright, I’ll pay for it.” He retrieved a paper bag from the briefcase sitting next to him. “Here’s a two hundred and fifty thousand dollar deposit in cash. Please check.”
“Huh that’s quite generous of the government.” Kou half-mockingly replied while counting the bills in hand.
“From the perspective of a long-term investment, I trust that this money will be put to good use.” Mr. Chong chuckled.
“Indeed.” Kou responded with a smile.
“And this,” Mr. Chong said, reaching for a brown envelope from the open briefcase and handing it over to Kou after she settled the counted bills, “is the intel you’re looking for.”
“Looks pretty stuffed. Perfect,” she said after taking a quick glimpse inside.
“We’re looking forward to service that lives up to the remuneration you’ve asked for. Now that my work is done here, it’s about time for me to go.” Mr. Chong rose from his seat.
“You have my word, Sir.” Kou courteously escorted him to the door and saw him off.
“Sakura, it’s a wrap.” She turned around and raised her voice to the empty space.
As I lifted my arm and waved, the space vanished. Kou then appeared in my room.
“Great work, Kou, thanks a bunch! Who would’ve thought it’s actually the police that’s looking for our help.”
The space where Kou and Mr. Chong met up was built by me using ‘Space Creation’. I created a fake entrance at a vacant flat in a tenement building in Kowloon to give Mr. Chong the idea that our office was located there, while it was actually connected to the magical space. Using the ‘Third Perspective’s Eye’ magic to sync it to my monitor, I was able to remotely sit in and listen to their conversation in real time from inside my bedroom.
By the way, the colour of Kou’s hair during the meeting was not a disguise - she was naturally born with azure hair. She had been using a special charm from her parents to temporarily change the colour to black when she went out. It wasn’t until after meeting me that she switched it up with the magical tool I provided. When she was home or meeting up with our clients, she would unleash the true colour.
She once told me that her parents had consulted different parties in this regard and were informed that they did not need to worry their heads about it, as her azure hair had nothing to do with health issues. Since it could be concealed using charms anyway, they had decided not to look for ways to effect a radical cure.
My hair was not naturally black either - it was pale pink like cherry blossoms. Therefore, Kou and I had a ‘daily ritual’ before work - we would colour our hair black with magic dust using the same tool.
“I didn’t expect that either, but he seems like an honest man.” Kou gently removed the pendant and returned it to me as she spoke - yeah, it’s actually mine.
“Same thought. And what’s his title in the police force?” I asked out of curiosity.
“Senior Inspector.”
“Oh…right, that explains the autonomy of his decision.”
“Yep, it’s the stuff we need. Let’s do this.” After pulling out the contents from the envelope in order, Kou placed them on the desk, signalling for me to go through the intel with her together.
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