Jai sat in his chair, his mind raced like a blind horse on steroids in a race track. Every path he was thinking of ending with him in a collision. John, his secretary was watching Jai getting anxious by the second.

"Guildmaster, if I may?" He asked.

"What, John?"

"Since we can’t do anything ourselves against Miss Arpita, how about we send in someone who has institutional backing to go against her?" John presented his idea.

Jai become quite as he thought over the proposal. He looked at him and asked, "Are you thinking about asking for help from a higher guild or bribed officers in Hunter’s Council?"

"Whichever you can use best, Guildmaster. We only have to stall enough to get rid of Abbas and Zaheer, them there will be no evidence of their link with us?" he replied.

Suddenly, Jai face lit up like he was waiting for that spark.

"You are learning the rope better, John, good idea." Jai praised, "Call Taran of Hunter’s Council, he recently got promoted as an investigator, I should congratulate him on his promotion." He ordered.

John nodded and proceeded to call Taran. After a few rings, he picked up the call.

"Hello, this is secretary of Guildmaster Jai, he would like to have a word with you." He spoke and handed the phone to Jai.

"Hello, Taran, how are you? I heard you got a promotion, confrontation, man." Jai spoke in most friendly way possible.

"Hello, Guildmaster, thanks for your words. I was just on my way to investigate a new case, could we talk later?" Taran replied in a flat tone.

Jai’s eyes squinted and his jaws tightened, though he didn’t let it affect his voice.

"Of course, new job is important, I wouldn’t want to keep you from your work. I just had an additional request which could be mutually exclusive." Jai answered back.

Hearing of mutually exclusive, Taran sensed an opportunity to make money, his tone softened.

"Well, you have always been a big help, I am sure I can hear you out." He stated.

Jai rolled his eyes at the way he immediately went back on his words.

"There has been a little mishap with someone that I know. Two boys in late teen, they just awaken as hunters and were going for a practice dungeon with their friend." Jai started his web of intricate lies.

"However, I don’t know what happened but the girl attacked them over some disagreement and their van ended up flipping."

"Being a girl she played on the sympathy of people around and accuse them of kidnapping. I just wish that you help those new hunters gain their footing in this cruel world." He finished explaining.

"Okay...wait, my new case is that of kidnapping in residential area. Then this is all the better, I will help your people and see to it that they are free by nightfall." Taran happily agreed.

"But this only benefits you, I thought you said, mutually exclusive," he added.

"Of course, my secretary will be sending you a bonus for expediting our case. Thank you for your service, Taran." Jai answered.

"Always happy to help you guildmaster," Taran replied as he ended the call.

"Transfer him 5,000 Cosmic coins," Jai ordered. John completed the transaction. Immediately, he got a message.

John became slightly stupefy to share that with Jai but understanding the gravity of the situation, he shared.

"Guildmaster, Taran has send a message, ’I thought there were two boys?’ What should I reply?" He asked.

"This fucker..." Jai clenched his fist, imagining putting his fist through his skull.

"Transfer 5,000 more...we would have to control our expenditures for 2-3 weeks," Jai replied.

"But Guildmaster, wouldn’t it would have been better if he knew the truth of situation?" John questioned.

"You are still learning, Taran is like a bone-obsessed dog. If given a genuine bone, he would even bite the owner if pointed. It wouldn’t have mattered much anyway but now he will think, he is doing the right thing and earning the money on side." Jai explained.

"He doesn’t need to succeed for long, just enough to release both clowns. When they are dead, I will see what Arpita can do and how strong is her backing," he added, feeling calm for the first time after call by Arpita.

At the Hospital,

Taran wasn’t that foolish to buy the story told by Jai but he was right about one thing, Taran was a money obsessed guy.

Even after awakening as a hunter and reaching B-rank steadily, his main focus wasn’t combat but earning money.

And here in this case, he was getting money and a ready made story, he would just have to somehow make it stick and nobody would be wiser.

So when he reached the hospital, after going over the details, he was ready to make the story by Jai replace what actually happened.

Though he had no idea that the bone he took this time was going to be very lethal to him.

He asked about Vanya and made his way to her room. After knocking once, he entered the room, ready to sell his story.

"Hello, myself Taran, I am from Hunter’s council. I am here to arrest that girl." He spoke like it was a fact.

"What did you say?" Reyansh stood up from while Arpita eyed the idiot. Luna stayed hidden but she too was curious to watch the fate of the new person.

"Are you a relative of her? She is being charged with assault against two boys..." he hadn’t even completed when suddenly Reyansh moved, too fast for his eyes to catch.

Reyansh hold him by the throat in the air, his grip tightening.

Within a second, Taran life turned upside down, he felt like he was about to die when Reyansh voice reached his ears.

"Now repeat what you were saying," Reyansh demanded, his eyes focused on Taran, waiting for even slight reaction.

"Pu-Put me do-down. Do you even you are assaulting an investigative officer?" Taran spoke furiously as he flailed his arms and legs in air, trying to get a grip.

"So, Jai is doubling down, he is getting desperate," Arpita finally spoke as she walked upto Reyansh and Taran.

When Taran heard the name Jai, his furious look changed to that of panic.

’How does she knew about my talks with Guildmaster?’ he thoughts trying to remember her face.

"Is he really a stooge of Jai?" Reyansh asked, looking at Arpita while he choked tighter.

Taran face and hands turned white, his mind stopped working as only one thought remained in his head, ’What the fuck kind of people did Jai piss off?’

"Yes, don’t kill him, yet." Arpita addressed, "he is also proof that he was behind that attack."

A second later, Reyansh released Taran from the grip, he fell on the ground like a sack of spoiled potatoes, gasping at breath.

’I will have you guys killed,’ Taran promised internally.

"So, as your gift is still pending, how about you stay here and keep an eye on my sister while I plan to meet with the desperate Guildmaster?" Reyansh spoke up, looking at Arpita.

"Hmm...okay fair but don’t put yourself in danger," she agreed after a seconds thought.

Just as Reyansh reached the gate, she spoke again, "Are you going to meet him as Reyansh or StarWalker?"

Reyansh stopped half-way as his hand stayed on the door handle.

"So, you knew, when?" Reyansh asked, still facing the gate.

"I strongly believed that, you confirmed when you walked in. Your mana core jumped a rank in two days," Arpita answered.

Reyansh head moved, his eyes locking onto Taran looking at both of them with resentment.

"Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me but hurry up," Arpita reassured.

’So, she’s gonna kill him,’ he thought, looking at Taran.

"I will be back shortly after meeting two guys in the hospital," he spoke as he opened the door.