Chapter 11: Searching

"Your first day out and it's already such a fiasco, Kairo. Your job was simple: to find what happened to the family and determine if it is related to the case I gave you. Yet you went around destroying everything and even brought poor Leli with you. Thanks to you, Dorothy almost killed me for getting her little jewel in danger," Danzan said, his face twisted in a frustrated expression.

Kairo listened silently. The building had been partially razed due to the impacts of the monster attacks. Since they were in the walls, it was bound to affect the building. Leli was a student of Mirelle Dorothy? Kairo asked inwardly, taking another good look at the beauty by his side.

"Not exactly. She is more like a mentor to me. We aren't really that close. Don't exaggerate things, Officer Danzan."

"Hey guys, stop arguing like kids for an instant and listen to what the doctor has to say," Nyx said, her usually lively face appearing a little somber.

"Yes, the girl is fine with no apparent sign of harm, thankfully. But her body has been altered. It would be more precise to say her aura has been tampered with, causing her body to mutate into the monster you fought in the card realm. Fortunately, you didn't cause it much damage, otherwise the girl wouldn't just be paralyzed for life," the doctor said.

Kairo fell silent, his hands moving instinctively to his heart, an inexistent but vivid pain striking at him with full force. "You mean we are the ones who did this?"

Back then they had acted with full faith and force, disregarding everything, thinking they were helping her—but... the monster kept screaming in relation to the girl's cries. It all made sense now.

"It's not entirely your fault. If you had not acted, the modification on her aura would have killed her. Anyway, that was probably why the criminal did not escape soon after they were done. They wanted to examine their 'patients'," the doctor said.

"I can't be certain, but I know for sure the criminals were too stupid to pull something like this off. It requires more than simple medical knowledge. It requires a special sort of card and dense information about the aura and the human body. You guys are dealing with very dangerous individuals, and I hope you find him soon before he causes more victims," the doctor concluded.

Kairo sat by the little girl's side, observing her face in pain. He didn't know whether to be happy for saving her life or saddened for paralyzing her—just to leave her in so much pain. "Is there nothing we can do?" he asked.

"The aura boosters could be helpful, but just to reduce her pain until we find something. But given how rare they are, I couldn't get one for her. She doesn't have any special connections here, and the police card mage is limited with resources," the doctor said.

"Here."

The trio acted almost all on instinct. Kairo pulled the three aura boosters from his pocket, while Nyx and Leli pulled out one bottle each.

"Are you all serious? … This thing costs a fortune, and you all know you won't get another one in a long time!"

"No they aren't! Get the hell out of this room before I kick you all out. Who do you think you are, selling off the card mage police equipment like this? Get out of my sight now!" Danzan's voice roared in the room.

"But—"

Kairo was startled. Was he not feeling her pain? If they could help her at least relieve her pain, wasn't it more valid to give away their aura boosters?

"You will need all of them for your future missions. You get new ones only when you accomplish deeds worthy of remembering for the card mage police, or when you get a new rank. Until then, you are limited to this amount. If you use it now, there's no way you will get through your newcomer challenge. And if you can't find the culprit, how do you expect the doctors to find a cure for her? This is a waste of resources. Get out of here," Danzan ordered.

Kairo balled his fist, but sadly, Danzan was right. The criminals this time were not really powerful, but like the doctor said, the real mastermind was a monster with deep knowledge about the aura and the body. Who knew what kind of monster he had in reserve?

Kairo knew if he really wanted to help, it would be better to get ready and prepared to face the mastermind. Only then could his help save her. With that in mind, he left with Nyx and Leli.

…

After Kairo and the others left, Danzan took out a little box he had brought, handing it to the doctor.

His eyes almost fell out of their sockets when he saw the contents. "This… how did you get your hands on all this? Did you steal them?" the doctor asked, worried he might get into trouble. Even if Danzan was a four-star officer and head of the investigation department, he shouldn't have so many aura boosters at his disposal. There were more than a hundred in the box.

"The 'boss' gave me permission to get some extra ones. It's not because the call me mad that I'm really mad—wait… might be a little… but be careful with your words, doctor," Danzan smirked.

A chill ran down the doctor's spine. In the Card Mage Police, Danzan had the surname of the Mad Lightning, known for being out of the box. "What is the condition for this? We both know Magnus Veyne is righteous but not sentimental. He wouldn't just give them like this." The doctor was no fool. If Magnus was the type, he would urge them to work faster to solve the problem rather than use short-term measures that would only weaken the Card Mage Police.

"Don't get me wrong. It has nothing to do with the kid. It has all to do with me. I won't get any for the next year no matter what kind of deed I accomplish—unless I find the mastermind in a matter of two weeks," Danzan said nonchalantly.

"You really don't think straight. This criminal's been well hidden for a year already since he appeared. Even the guys from the Espionage Department have no clue where he is, although Fabian has been actively looking himself. How do you plan on getting your hands on him in two weeks, Danzan? Furthermore, what if you were to fight and ran out of aura? Have you thought of that?"

"Yeah, kind of." Danzan shrugged his shoulders. Little did the doctor know, Danzan had absolutely no clue on how to accomplish that. His attitude had nothing to do with confidence but with pure nonchalance. "I just have to make sure I have three cards to win each time." Hands in his pockets, Danzan left the doctor speechless. "The Card Mage Police and its madman. No wonder it's not very popular with the common folks."

…

Kairo and his friend didn't wait for Danzan and left immediately. Outside, the sky had turned dark, but there was no sun in the Card Mage Police. Instead, there was still that familiar card in the sky, reminding them this was a completely different space.

"The Safe Vault Card is fascinating, don't you think, Nyx?" Kairo asked. He knew how vast her knowledge about ancient cards was, trying to get her to talk. Since they left after catching the criminals, she had been acting strangely—not teasing him even once. It wasn't that he missed that part of her; he simply felt it was too sudden.

But Nyx simply nodded and said, "Tomorrow, Kairo. Bye, Leli. The day is over for us," then left without adding anything more.

"Did she get sick from lingering in the card realm or something?" Kairo asked. But Leli simply shrugged her shoulders, as clueless as he was. "Very few officers have their home in here. Most have to leave to meet their families. Are you going home tonight, Kairo, or…?" Leli asked with an enigmatic smile.

"Nah, I'm not going back. My father is absent and wouldn't be back for a long time. Going to the villa will take too much time. I don't intend to sleep anyway. The doctor said there's a high possibility it is related to a particular card. If I can find what type of card, or anything about cards that can modify the body, we might get clues on how to stop them," Kairo said. He wasn't particularly tired, and he knew more than anyone how dreadful an empty big house could be. It sounded stupid, but he would rather sleep at the police library than go back and stay alone.

"We could take a look at a film. It's boring to stay in here alone. I have no one to go back and see outside. I have an idea—why don't I keep you company while you make your research?" she proposed.

Kairo and Leli left for the library of the Card Mage Police. Although they had cutting-edge technology to help them, Kairo preferred to visit the old records about the cards that had been recorded over the years.

"What I know about the Card Mage Police and card magic has proven to be partially false since I arrived here. Either the information outside of this place is false, or it is intentionally limited. Either way, the best way to get something concrete is through these books," Kairo said, placing the thousand-page book on the table.