“There are quite a few people,” Jules commented as he scanned the area. “I wonder if it’ll notice us among the crowd.”
“I’m sure it will,” Cains snickered. “Especially you.”
Jules glanced askance at the witch but didn’t comment. Instead, he walked to a bench, sat, and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, scrolling through a website he had opened at random. Previously, he and Cains had agreed on acting like carefree teenagers, friends who were out to have some fun and kill time. With this in mind, Jules played a teenager addicted to his cell phone, while Cains was the social but not rowdy kind. It was a well-balanced duo that was easily approachable and wouldn’t cause a ruckus when taken away.
“I’ll go buy something to drink,” Cains said, “Don’t move from here, ok?”
“And where would I go on my own?”
“How can you be so uncute…?”
“….”
With a laugh, Cains waved at Jules and went to a nearby stall. Because there was a free open-air concert today, many makeshift stalls had been installed along the paved path passing through the park, allowing people to buy drinks and snacks. Teenagers and young adults roamed the place, and lively conversations filled the air amid the loud music.
Jules and Cains had chosen an area that wasn’t too crowded but not empty either. It was the perfect place for the demon to strike a conversation without seeming like a creep. It’d also allow it to abduct them quietly. Greg had confirmed the park was located in its hunting ground, and thanks to today’s open-air concert, it was currently the best place to pick up its next meal. Plenty of prey walked around, drunk from the joyous atmosphere and clueless about the predator lurking among them. Not only that, but it could swiftly blend in with the crowd in case of a mishap. At least, that was Greg’s reasoning.
‘I hope he’s right,’ Jules frowned. ‘If it’s hunting elsewhere, we’ll miss our chance, and innocent kids will lose their lives again. Gosh, it’s frustrating how we have to depend on luck to maybe catch its attention. I didn’t think supernatural beings that can mingle with humans were this much of a hassle to hunt down. No wonder Reyes stomped on his pride and asked Greg for help.’
From what Jules had heard, Reyes was an old friend of Greg’s, and he usually hunted alone. He wasn’t fond of teaming up with others, but he couldn’t lure the demon out himself as he was too old. However, the Association had entrusted him with dispatching it, and he couldn’t shrink from the task—unless he wanted the higher-ups to chew him out. Therefore, he had been searching for teen hunters to bait the thing out and talked to Greg about it. The witch then introduced Jules and Cains. They weren’t hunters yet but had good prospects; they were skilled enough to be decoys. Thankfully for Jules, Reyes had been running out of time and could only make do.
Jules knew he couldn’t waste this opportunity. Playing bait wasn’t the most glorious thing, but it’d make his name known, and he needed to prove himself if he wanted to enter the hunters’ world. He had to start somewhere, anywhere.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Lfgf, j yeyyif afj!”
Ktf pbsoei nblmf rcjqqfv Aeifr bea bo tlr atbeutar, jcv tf uijcmfv ja ktja Jjlcr tjcvfv tlw. Pa kjr rbwf qijralm meq oliifv klat j yief ildelv, alcs yjiir gbiilcu jybea ja atf ybaabw. Ktf ylu ragjk kjr qgfrfcafv ab tlr ilqr, wjxlcu tlw lcralcmalnfis ifjc yjmxkjgv ab jnblv la. Ktlr ues tjv cb mbcmfqa bo qfgrbcji rqjmf.
“A bubble tea…?”
“It can’t be!” Cains made a horrified face. “You never drank a bubble tea before?!”
“No?”
“Holy shit, you don’t know what you’re missing!”
While spouting nonsense, Cains forcefully stuffed the beverage in Jules’s hands before casually sitting beside him and happily sipping his bubble tea. He let out a satisfied sigh, then leaned his head against his shoulder. As he chewed on the straw, he lowered his eyes and pretended to peek at the cell phone screen.
“I’m not a pillow, you know?” Jules tsked before shifting his attention to the bubble tea. He hesitated for a second, then took a sip; it was surprisingly good. “And your head is kinda heavy.”
“Are you saying that I’m fat?!”
“No,” Jules smiled, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m saying that your empty head is filled with water, and that makes it heavy—just like a water balloon. I wonder what would happen if I were to pop it, hm?”
“….”
Cains made a pout and snuggled closer in retaliation. But despite his complaints, Jules still let the teenager do as he pleased; the closer they appeared to others, the better. They were supposed to be close friends, after all.
“What the heck?” a hoarse voice traveled to Jules’s ears, and he lifted his eyes from his cell phone to look at a middle-aged man standing a few feet before them. He was reeking of alcohol, and a blush dyed his unevenly shaved cheeks bright red. “You’re so gross! Men shouldn’t cuddle together. Or what, are you two fags?”
At first, Jules couldn’t understand the drunkard’s gibberish words. But when he did, a dumbstruck look flashed across his face. Unsure what to do, he peeked at Cains, who responded with a shrug of his shoulders. The demon was known to approach its prey quietly, so this guy probably wasn’t it. However, it could have changed its modus operandi for all they knew.
“Excuse me, sir, but I’m just looking at his cell phone?” Cains politely said. “And what’s wrong with leaning on my friend’s shoulder?”
“As if such lies could fool me!” the drunkard spit out before trying to hit them with his empty bottle of beer. “People like you should go rot in hell! You’re disgusting shits!”
Cains and Jules instinctively scooped to the side to avoid the man, whose unsteady legs tripped on the bench. He toppled over and tumbled headfirst, his nose making a loud cracking sound when his face crashed onto a tree trunk. An angry roar soon followed as he rolled over to glare at them, “You dare hit me?!”
“You’re the one who fell on your own,” Jules cocked an eyebrow. “We don’t want to get into trouble, so how about you drag your sorry ass elsewhere and leave us alone?”
Needless to say, Jules’s words did nothing but provoke the drunkard. A crazy haze seemed to cloud his eyes as he clumsily leaped toward the teenagers. This time, Jules didn’t avoid his hand and let him grip his collar. The demon loved to prey on weak teenagers, so it wouldn’t do if he beat the drunkard to a pulp. He also wanted to scrutinize the man with his spiritual energy, but he needed to touch him to do that—his control over his spiritual energy was too low to do it from afar. Anyway, it wasn’t like a human’s fists could hurt him much; it was like being punched by a toddler. And if it did hurt, it’d mean the guy wasn’t a normal human being.
However, a hand grabbed the drunkard’s wrist before the first punch could land, and he was soon pressed against the paved ground, his arm locked behind his back.
“Sir,” a cold voice said, “I’m arresting you for assault. I’ll have you follow me to the police station, so please calm down.”
Jules blinked and lowered his to the male police officer who had intervened just in time. Only, the drunkard didn’t seem to understand what was happening and violently struggled. Vulgar curses escaped his mouth, falling upon the police officer like a waterfall. Even Jules found it unpleasant to hear, and so did the police officer.
“Are you two ok?” another voice asked, and Jules shifted his attention to a second police officer. He was probably the man’s colleague. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“No, not really.”
Although Jules smiled, his smile was cold. However faint it was, he smelled a whiff of demonic energy when the drunkard jumped on him and closed off the distance between them. But whether he was the demon they were searching for was another story. The scent didn’t seem to come from inside him; no, it seemed to be lingering on him. Had his mind been tampered with? Or was he being haunted? Whichever was the case, it wasn’t good news.
“I’m sorry, but could you two come with us to the police station?” the police officer said as he glanced at his colleague, who seemed to have some difficulty restraining the drunkard. Although the man was lanky, he was surprisingly strong—enough to make the well-built police officer jolt. “We will need your testimony. Ah, but don’t worry, it won’t take long. We have witnessed most of the scene from afar, so it really is just for the sake of formality.”
“No problem.”
It was better not to let the drunkard out of his sight yet. He might not be the demon they were hunting, but he was still related to one. At any rate, Reyes and Greg were supervising the area, and Jules believed they wouldn’t let innocent teens be dragged away while they were gone.
Earlier, Greg had cast a vast array that covered the whole park so he could monitor everyone’s actions and immediately notice if an inconspicuous stranger approached one or two teenagers. Thus, he had eyes and ears everywhere. However, monitoring the area and the crowd put a heavy burden on the witch’s body. According to him, it felt like splitting his consciousness into thousands of pieces, and a flood of information constantly assaulted his brain and senses. He had to focus all his attention on sorting out the information and couldn’t move; breathing was tricky in this state, and even his heartbeat slowed. With this in mind, Greg hid in a nearby hotel, and Reyes stayed by his side to guard him. If something seemed off, Greg would alert Reyes, and the hunter would either sneak into the park to cut off the demon from abducting its prey and scare it off or move to the ambush site if it approached Cains and Jules, who were tasked to lure it to Reyes in a less crowded area.
Of course, having more people help with the hunt would have increased their success rate. But unfortunately, Reyes didn’t know any trustworthy colleagues he could depend on, thanks to his lone-wolf temperament. He could have asked the Association, but if he had brought ill-intentioned hunters by mistake, Greg’s life could have been endangered. Witches’ organs were worth a fortune on the black market, and Reyes couldn’t guarantee his colleagues wouldn’t take the opportunity to either attack Greg while he was in a trance or abduct Cains when they should be protecting him from the demon. At the end of the day, the Association was a den of vipers, and Reyes couldn’t trust anyone.
‘Don’t think about useless things,’ Jules told himself, ‘As long as the park truly is its hunting ground, it won’t escape Greg and Reyes. Cains and I are just reassurances.’
“But honestly, that drunkard doesn’t seem well in the head,” Jules finally scoffed, “He attacked us out of nowhere almost as if he was possessed!”
“Alcohol tends to cloud the mind,” the police officer awkwardly laughed. “I’m sure this man isn’t as unreasonable when sober.”
“If you say so.”
After saying his piece, Jules stood up and threw his empty bubble tea in the trash bin beside the bench. While he did, he eyed the witch, who imperceptibly nodded. He got the cue. Jules hinted that the drunkard was possessed, meaning it was better to follow the police officers. If they left the men alone with the drunkard, only God knew what would happen to them. Jules and Cains had to ascertain whether the drunkard posed a threat or not before going back to hunt their current prey. They might not have done so if Reyes and Greg weren’t there to cover the area in their absence, but the hunter and the witch were.
_______________________________________________
Edited by Clozed! ♥
The police officer feels kinda sus but maybe I’m thinking too much
Thank you for the chapter!! <3
Let’s make everyone look suspicious!!! èé
Thank you for reading!!!! ♥
Definitely demon is one of police officers. Easy cover to lure teens away.
Thank you for chapter
!!!!
Thank you for reading!! ♥♥
I wonder how the drunkard got possessed??
Ty for the chapter ❤️
Good question. I still don’t know /authorisout/
Thank you for reading!!! ♥
A what? Black market for witch’s organ? I love the way you wrote the world building, just that sentence alone makes my imagination running wild.
Oh, I’m glad you like it! I’m always afraid to write something that seems out of the blue and doesn’t make sense! There are many interesting in that black market, so let you’re imagination run wild!!! x’DD
Thank you for reading!!! ♥