Kairo let out a disappointed sigh. The woman was gone and there was nothing he could do about anything. "What a powerful card. If he had not warned me..." Kairo felt a chill run down his spine. He had been reckless. Slapping his face, he cried out loud.
Tactical Brilliance reappeared into his hands, but this time it was a little duller, as if it had lost the drive that animated it. "Needs to recharge, I guess," Kairo said. Cards were a little special in that keeping them in contact with the body would continuously suck one's aura. Thus, users had to make split-second decisions on what cards to use and what cards to have on them at any given time. After using their card, they would go into a dormant state and could not be used until the aura of the user rose to a certain level—usually through rest or some substances.
Kairo then turned to the man who had followed them, currently on the phone. He couldn't get what exactly was going on but learned the man was called Locked Target. "Some sort of special agent? What have I set foot in?" Kairo knew he was in deep waters this time around.
He couldn't flee and waited patiently for Locked Target to finish. With a heavy sigh, he moved towards Kairo, his every step deepening the frown on his face.
"You have just spoiled my operation. Six months of hard work to track her gone to waste in a single second because of you, kid," the man said in a trembling voice.
Kairo fell silent. He had not known it was a special operation. He had been too impulsive. Perhaps he had been too eager to prove he was better after his training that he didn't think before acting. Now he understood the gap between him and the others. "I am sorry... I—"
"This doesn't change the fact that you just allowed the most wanted criminal of our time to escape. That was Selis Variant. Happy now?" Locked Target added.
Kairo staggered backward. Had he heard it correctly? "You mean the Selis Variant, leader of the Underground Card Masters? This is impossible. Why would she be here?" Kairo didn't believe a boss would go around doing stuff like distributing things in public instead of sending her people.
"A character like her is not for you to understand at your level. Now get out of this place before the others come. Otherwise, you will be in deep trouble," Locked Target waved nonchalantly.
"Wait, you're letting me leave just like this?" Kairo asked suspiciously. But Locked Target said no more and left.
Although Kairo was curious about what she was doing here, he had no intention of lingering around. If his father learned what happened here, he would be dead in no time. "What were you thinking, Kairo? It's normal you couldn't win against her." All of a sudden, Kairo felt his defeat wasn't that bad anymore. Even a little normal.
…
Kairo arrived at the building of the Card Police Mage. At the entrance, it looked nothing out of the ordinary, a simple gate with the words Welcome at the center. But Kairo wasn't a fool—he knew this was just a disguise.
Stepping into the gate, it was like he was being transported into a whole new world. The police department itself could be considered a miniature city of its own. "All of this space is held in the special card Safe Vault. It's the first time I come here. Fascinating," Kairo murmured.
Above, there was nothing but a card where the sun should have been. It was like etched into the very fabric of the space with the familiar circuitry of the void around it. According to what card scholars said, that circuitry was the base of everything. Without them, card magic would probably not be as stable as it was. But this was just a hypothesis, and there existed a very small number of them. Others believed that the circuitry was not holding the system but limiting it from unleashing its full power.
Whatever the answer was, Kairo had no idea. Picking up his bag, he went down the way towards one of the main buildings. As Kairo moved around, he noticed a good number of officers moving around. All of them had a very familiar uniform.
Long-sleeved coats and black trousers. With their caps, they all looked alike apart from a few details. Some wore emblems on their shoulders—emblems that had stars. Kairo remembered that in the police card mage force, officers were ranked according to the number of stars they had. The lowest rank was 1 and the highest rank was 5. His father was one of the few with five stars.
"Kairo Veyne. This way, please," a vibrant voice cut him out of his slumber. In front of him was a striking young woman with long jet-black hair that fell like gentle waves. Her eyes were so clean he felt he could be drawn into them.
However, Kairo was more interested in the four stars on her shoulder. "Already this far at this young age?" Kairo believed she couldn't be older than him, yet she was already at the highest point among the elites.
"We need to talk about what happened at the train station, but not here. Follow me." Although she spoke to him, her eyes never landed on him. Focused on the tablet in her hands, she appeared to be caught in a whole new dimension. She had an aura of nonchalance that made Kairo feel like he wasn't even worth standing around her.
A little frustrated, Kairo followed without a word. After Locked Target left, he knew this was far from over. Even if the latter didn't mind letting him off, it didn't mean the others would.
...
Seated in the interrogation room, Kairo took in his surroundings. At the training grounds, they had been trained in this kind of simulated environment. But this time around, it wasn't some training—serious problems were coming his way.
A few minutes later, the woman returned with a series of files in hand that she slammed onto the table.
"You can't scare me off with such tricks. Dining with my father was even tenser than this," Kairo chuckled. When his father started questioning him about his progress in the past, it was nothing short of horrific.
"I wouldn't beat around the bush. You have committed a grave crime, Kairo. You have used your card magic without having your license, you have interrupted a four-star agent's mission and several months of hard work. What do you have to say for your defense?" she asked.
Kairo fell silent. He had no valid answer to this question. At that time, he thought he was doing something honorable, but little did he know it would land him in such trouble. "I have nothing to say," Kairo said frankly. No matter what he told them, it would only make things worse for him, thus he felt staying quiet was best.
The woman's face twitched, her eyes turning sharper than blades. "You really think your father will get you out of this so easily? Just because you're Daddy's son? And your father is head of the Card Mage Police, you think you'll get off after breaking the rules?"
Kairo's expression shifted, his words as spiteful as his emotions towards her at that moment. "I never did anything counting on my father's position. I don't need to. I managed to arrive here all by my own hard work."
"The same speech all the time. I'm tired of being served the same excuse. You kids always say the same thing. Out of your father's shadow, you're nothing. Do you get me? Absolutely nothing..." she continued, her words sinking deep into Kairo's mind.
They appeared to echo in the room, striking the walls before returning to his ears. Kairo shifted his head down. He hated this feeling. All this while he had worked like a madman to get better. But no matter what he did, it never seemed to be enough.
"I accept my punishment for breaking the rules. I will face whatever consequences come with it," he stated, head held high. There was no point in running away from this. She was right—if he could escape punishment just by using his father's name, then what was the point of all his hard work?
A flicker of astonishment flashed in her eyes. Clearly, she didn't expect Kairo to readily accept the outcome like this. He didn't beg nor brag about his name like the others she had dealt with used to.
With a resigned sigh, her expression seemed to soften all of a sudden. A change so sudden, Kairo stared wearily. It was like she had morphed into a completely new person.
''Welcome to the Card Mage Police,'' she said with a dazzling smile.
Although she was smiling, Kairo was now staring blankly at her. What the hell was going on here, his eyes seemed to ask.
At this point, another officer barged into the room. His hair spiky like he was out of an electric bath. His uniform was far from polished like the other ones, full of wrinkles like he had kept it under his bed for days before carelessly putting it on again.
"Enough Nyx, take off that fake four-star insignia and get the hell out of here, leave the little kid alone," he said.
"Don't mind her, she likes playing her little game to all new recruits. I am Danzan, your officer in charge. Now up and let's get the hell out of her devil's claws."
Kairo's face turned pale when he heard Danzan's words.
At this point, Nyx was laughing out loud. Her expression that of a kid who had succeeded at tricking his older brother. Taking off the fake insignia off her shoulder, a single star could be seen. She was exactly like him, a new rookie. Yet she dared to do something like this.
Kairo couldn't believe his eyes. Kairo almost turned red from anger.
"You!" He couldn't believe he got tricked so easily. She was so young, how could she be a four-star officer just yet?
"You should have seen your face, Kairo. It was so funny. Haha... nice to meet you, I am your new partner Nyx."
She winked at him, raising two fingers. Clearly, she was having fun laughing at him.
Kairo almost fell off his chair. "No way, Officer Danzan, please tell me it's another bad joke of hers."
Danzan scratched his head and walked away, "Get out of here before you get caught. And Kairo, try not to attract too much attention. I don't want the other officers to think my element brags about having his ass beaten by Selis variant."
"How does everyone know already?" Kairo felt a little ashamed. First, it didn't even happen that way. But no one seemed to be interested in his version of the incident.
As he walked away, Nyx followed after him, tailing him like his shadow. Kairo moved awkwardly fast, trying to keep her away, but she was really stubborn.
"Don't be so vengeful. It was just a joke. Furthermore, everyone knows already. Whenever we use cards, the circuitry of the void is activated. The geeks of the surveillance department have the circuitry on watch every single second. Any fluctuation is bound to be detected. Especially in town."