#wangnan ja

"It seems that Flamethrower accidentally hurt her ankle, so that’s why she's late," Wangnan explained to everyone gathered. "Teddy Bear, can you lend us a hand?"

"How dare you ask for anything from Mr. Devil?!" Prince pointed at him accusingly.

Wangnan folded his arms and held his ground. "Who even are you to have a say for him? Don’t you see that he’s uncomfortable?"

Teddy Bear was actually only observing them the whole time. Neither his expression nor his wing gave away any indication for such a claim. But Prince seemed to take Wangnan’s bluff earnestly. "T-that’s…!"

Wangnan decided to ignore him. "Since she can’t walk, I’m thinking of a way to bring her with us. With Teddy Bear’s size, he can carry her no problem. That’s what I was thinking. But I suppose…Glasses, you can help carry her with your lighthouse too, right? Considering her personality, I don’t think she’d want to be touched by us men, so…."

"You’re very considerate to her." Glasses tilted her head in curiosity. "Why? Didn’t she burn you twice already? You also don't seem to be fond of her."

Truthfully, if Wangnan were to include his personal feelings, he’d rather just leave her be. Her flame hurt a lot and her personality irritated him. But Grace wanted her to be on this team. There must be a reason Grace chose him specifically to recruit her along with the others so he had to live up to his expectations. He had to prove that he was of use, especially because he was one of the weakest.

"If she wants to come with us, it’ll benefit our team. That’s all."

"Picking her up means you already know her address, right?" Foil Head asked. "I'm surprised she gave it to you."

"Considering that we’re moving into Mr. Agni’s place, it means we won’t be living in our own place anymore." Glasses replied in his stead. "I think it doesn’t matter much if she revealed that information now."

"Oh, that’s true." 

Dan raised his hand to call for their attention. "Shall I tag along or wait here?" He had been tasked as an escort again. "It’ll be more efficient if I come along, but I don’t want to overstay my welcome."

Foil Head rose to his feet. "It’s almost noon, so I think we better stick together so we won’t waste more time looking for one another later."

Wangnan lightly slapped Dan’s back. "Aren’t we gonna live under the same roof from now on? We should take every chance we get to get along with each other!"

Dan smiled, "Heh. Right."

They headed to the address that Flamethrower sent. Thankfully it was still within walking distance, so it wasn’t going to take too much time.

"Did you know there was a commotion at the food market? Apparently it was because someone got murdered." Glasses offhandedly commented, still half occupied with her lighthouse.

"Didn't Wangnan say Nia’s Grandma was killed yesterday?" Foil head added. "Could it be that this is related to it?"

Wangnan shivered from everyone’s curious gaze.

"News said it was the loan shark's doing. The culprit’s name isn't written in this article, but you said his name was Lurker Kim, right? The guy that took the test with us?"

Wangnan noted how Prince tensed up at that name, fists clenched in restrained anger. Wangnan felt the same way.

"However, the murderer is said to have fled the scene." Glasses read aloud. "Is that true, Wangnan?"

There was a pause as they anticipated Wangnan’s answer. Lurker was still alive when he was told to go, leaving Grace to deal with the scene. "I don't know. Why am I being interviewed?"

"Ahaha, I'm just curious. Isn't it just in the nature of being a lightbearer?"

"Speaking of, isn't there also news about the protest at the loan shark company?" Foil Head continued.

"Really?" Wangnan didn’t have the time to catch up with the recent news, so it was the first time he heard of it.

"Oh yeah, I heard many people died, including the CEO. It happened just last night." Dan mused.

"What?" That bad? Who could have done such a— oh. Wangnan suddenly remembered and understood what Agni meant by taking care of loose ends.

"That's scary…" Miseng mumbled to herself, and Wangnan silently agreed—although probably for a different reason than what she had in mind.

"So how is the massacre tied to the murder?" Teddy Bear chimed in. "There has to be a correlation since the loan shark was involved in both cases."

"When the news of the loan shark murderer went viral, regulars that felt threatened joined together and led a protest to take down the CEO. It was highly suspected that there was an internal conflict in the mix which made it possible to come to this conclusion." Glasses provided Teddy Bear with an article from her lighthouse. Wangnan didn't miss the way Teddy Bear's wing fluttered when she got too close. "There are still many holes in this information, but considering that the balance of this floor has shifted due to the CEO's death, it's likely that this incident will be kept in the dark as a new order takes over."

Wangnan sealed his lips and glanced at Dan who was just listening curiously. It seemed like he had no idea of the truth either, but surely he had come to the same assumption as Wangnan, right?

If it was indeed Grace and Agni's doing, didn't it prove how efficient they were at handling things and manipulating information? A FUG slayer candidate backed up by the best lightbearer of the lower floors.  

Grace’s ties with Cheu and Nia had only recently been established so there was no strong basis that would suggest FUG’s involvement in this matter. Although he wouldn't be surprised if anyone actually connected the dots by being a conspiracy theorist. Seeing that none of their names were brought up in this conversation though, it seemed like it hadn't gotten to that point just yet. With the loan shark’s reputation and fallout, no one would likely be willing to defend them either, thus it would be very easy to bury the truth. Still, the speed with which they handled it was both impressive and scary. Yet Wangnan could tell that it wasn't over.

"Hey." Horyang was addressing Prince, but it also dragged Wangnan out of his thoughts. "Isn’t that company run by your relatives?"

Right. Wangnan wondered if Agni knew that Prince was the son of said CEO. Perhaps he should warn him in advance? The situation wouldn't look good if Prince found out the truth.

Prince looked perplexed that his so-called Mr. Devil was asking him such a question. He maintained his silence, but his sour reaction said enough.

Teddy Bear asked once more. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I don’t know! Stop asking me." Prince snapped and stomped away, walking just a little further ahead. Wangnan could relate, considering his own situation earlier, but he refused to act that childish.

Wangnan decided that it was best to steer the topic away from the news and politics by simply pointing out some interesting things nearby and speaking whatever came to his mind. Leading small talk was as easy as breathing to him, and it was nice that everyone didn't seem to mind as it helped ease some of the awkward atmosphere.

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