NOVEL WEB 17: Tea Time Catchup Chats
“What... the... WHAT.” Eugene screamed to himself under his breath as his lower extremities threatened to do their business in his underpants.
Eugene, having heard nothing from his superiors, decided—as a good investigator—to follow up with a calmer mind. Maybe he had been dreaming! Maybe... it would be different!
Building up his courage, Eugene had steeled himself, his usual cold demeanor masking the warmth in his heart. He’d put in some extra work on his day off. It would make the job of the other investigators a little easier. As a top investigator, he had a responsibility to care for his juniors!
Yet, as he got closer, Eugene couldn’t help but notice the store was dripping with divine energy. It was a complete beacon shining in the night.
Then, out of all the people in the world, Casimir, chairman and supreme leader of the Federation of Obsidian, glared at him!
Eugene was leaving.
No amount of money, prestige, or praise was making him go into that store. Responsibility? No way. He’d leave it to the deities. Solomon could go manage his own stupid organization.
Casimir! Aelius! Luna! Morgana! These were the top hitters!
Not to mention the trio of figures in the corner who he hadn’t gotten a look at... If those were deities too...
Feeling his bowels move, Eugene turned on his heel and pulled out his phone as he walked away. Texting the new person he had matched with the night before, Eugene held out hope as he stared off into the sky.
Maybe a date would calm his mind.
----
As Eugene left though, unbeknownst to him, Valencia also returned from upstairs, adding to the ‘top hitters’ present in the room he had gazed into.
Valencia’s return also marked the end of the gossiping. With all the tables returning to their conversations—or silence—from before she left, Valencia served them all without a second thought.
Before long, each table finished their tea, returned the pots, and paid their bills.
Out of the three big organizations, Casimir and his board of directors—as Valencia called them—left first. Filing out of the door one by one, Casimir’s group was then followed by Morgana’s.
With two of their members bumping into each other right outside the store, Valencia watched with a languid gaze as the two began to scuffle. Given how peaceful they were in the store, Valencia had almost forgotten how much the two groups didn’t like each other.
... To Valencia it really seemed like a pointless waste of time though.
Watching Morgana and Casimir preparing to get into it though, Valencia’s eyebrows furrowed.
If those two began fighting, it wouldn’t be a small incident. They’d disturb Astrid! What if she woke up...
“Gotta discipline the young...” Rolling up her sleeves, Valencia sent a signature death glare out the window as she hopped over the bar.
Freezing, Valencia watched as both parties dispersed like a murder of crows. “Oh... okay then.”
Getting another hasty payment shoved into her hands by Aelius and Luna, Valencia blinked in surprise as their party left the store as if their lives depended on it.
“Soooo~ it’s just us again~” Estelle’s voice sang from the corner. “How are you doing~? You seem preoccupied! What are you thinking of?”
Not bothering to look at Estelle, Valencia kept her eyes focused outside just in case as she rap-replied. “The love of my life, Astrid. I’m really concerned right now since I’m worried some brick-for-brains losers are going to wake her up during her rest. I also am thinking about cuddling with her and how cute she and how amazing she always looks and how radiant her personality is and-”
“You can stop now,” Estelle begged as she couldn’t help but laugh and sigh at the same time. “Lovestruck fool.”
“Shut up. You have Sylvia, you have nothing to talk about.” Valencia retorted without a second’s delay. “I literally have pictures of you sprawled across her lap.”
Watching Estelle flinch and take a hit of invisible damage, Valencia turned to look at Estelle after the expected retort never came. With Estelle wilting like a flower, Valencia grinned. “Ahh... are you two in a spat right now? No wonder you two aren’t glued together! I was wondering why Sylvia wasn’t in the city...”
“It’s not my fault!” Estelle cried out, getting cut off by Joanna before she could continue.
“Now, now, let’s have a civilized conversation. There’s plenty you’ve missed Valencia.” Joanna mediated as she dragged a chair over for Valencia.
“Oh, I forgot you two were even here,” Valencia scratched the back of her head with a sheepish grin. “Estelle annoyed me too much and I forgot you existed.”
“How mean, I didn’t even do anything...” Estelle looked out the window, avoiding the conversation as a long sigh slipped out of her lips.
“No need to mind her too much,” Joanna said as she patted Valencia on the shoulder. “She’s probably just sad about Sylvia now that we’ve brought her up a few times in the past ten to fifteen minutes.”
Getting an understanding “mhm,” from Valencia, Solomon poured out some more tea for Valencia. “You’ve missed quite a bit. I filled you in on some stuff last time yesterday. But there’s always more. You’ve actually come back at quite a nice time.”
“Nice in what way...” Valencia trailed off, raising an eyebrow as she sipped the still-hot tea.
“Nice in a ‘we now have more insurance’ way.” Joanna clarified as Valencia let out a long sigh.
“What’s wrong now? And who else is around?” Valencia leaned back in her chair, sipping her tea with a now disgruntled look in her eyes.
“Currently... it’s only us four.” Solomon admitted. “We know the general location of two others. The rest are... like you. They decided to leave on a trip.”
“Sylvia is still in the general area. She’ll come back if there’s truly an emergency.” Estelle piped in with a bit of a melancholic air around her. “Otherwise, though, she’s avoiding the city because of me... She’s anywhere from a couple days to a couple weeks away from the city. But it’s pretty easy to get in contact with her. Well... easy for you all. She blocked me on everything...”
“Oh, okay... hmm... maybe I'll pay her a visit sometime then.” Valencia tapped her chin as three worried gazes glanced at her. “What? I’m not planning on beating her up and forcing her to return. I’d never stoop that low.”
“I seem to remember a similar situation happening with Clay all those decades... centuries ago though? I don’t remember when it happened, but he went off on one of his routine trips to maintain the afterlife and... took too long so you went, beat him up, and dragged him back.” Joanna recounted as Valencia looked away with a cough.
“Sylvia’s different. I wouldn’t do it to Sylvia.” Valencia clarified, “We’ve always been like sisters! I’d never do something like that to her. Anyway, who’s the other person?”
“God of Storms, Rainier.” Joanna shrugged. “He’ll be back soon. He let us know a couple months back that he was on his way back. Recently he also sent another message that he’d be back in a couple weeks.”
“Oh! Why are you two worried then?” Valencia tilted her head. “He’s the second strongest out of all of us. He also excels at managing the fog wall and its weirdo monster children. Why worry?”
“Well...” Joanna poured herself some more tea. “The current problems with the city lie inside of it, instead of outside of it. Should our suspicions hold true, the plots currently transpiring are... truly nefarious.”
