Novel Full Chapter 83: Urgent Quest
Chapter 83: Urgent Quest
"Vlad, are you there?" Sophia’s voice came through the phone as Vlad read the quest window, the translucent blue text hovering before his eyes.
"I will call you back in a moment, Senior Sophia," Vlad said, his voice serious and low as he lowered the phone from his ear.
He grabbed Seraphina’s purse from the table, and moved straight towards the washroom where the women’s sign was hung.
Just as he took a step forward, his foot suddenly staggered, his hand reaching out to brace against the wall beside him. His vision turned blurry, the edges of his sight swimming, and the noises around him became distorted, muffled as if heard through water.
[Warning! Sedatives detected in the Host’s body!]
"Wh-when..." Vlad muttered as he began losing strength in his knees, his body swaying before collapsing to the floor. The marble was cold against his cheek. "N-no... I must n-not f-fall asle..."
From his blurry vision, he saw another system screen flickering into existence, its letters swimming before his eyes.
[Activating the self-d...]
He fell unconscious before he could read the screen completely, the world fading to black.
---
Beep! Beep! Beep!
A frantic alarm rang out throughout the entire building, a shrill, piercing wail that cut through the elegant atmosphere, followed by the emergence of thick, grey smoke curling from the kitchen vents.
The customers rose from their seats, panic and confusion erupting across the hall. Chairs scraped against the floor, glasses clattered, and voices rose in a chaotic chorus of fear.
"Please calm down, everyone," the waitress who had served Vlad and Seraphina said, still covered in her mask and gloves. Her voice was calm, cutting through the noise. "A gas pipe has leaked in the kitchen. The situation will soon be taken care of, but to avoid any accidents, I request that you all leave the building immediately."
Heeding her words, the people began moving out, their faces carrying a mix of anger, fear, and disappointment. Some hurried, others strode with offended dignity.
A few of them did not miss the chance to hurl curses at the staff of the restaurant for such poor management or for daring to endanger the lives of nobles such as themselves.
Once the customers had left, the staff also began emptying the building, their footsteps fading down the stairwells.
---
Inside the staff room on the top floor...
"You should also leave, Jenny," the manager of the restaurant said, releasing a long, weary sigh as he tapped the shoulder of the masked waitress. His face was lined with stress.
"You need not worry about me, Sir," Jenny, the waitress, replied, her voice calm and steady. "I have already called the firefighters. I also used to work as one before. They will be here any moment. I will guide them to the source of the problem."
The manager, a middle-aged man with a short beard, clad in a formal attire, released another long sigh,"It is your first day working here, yet you are already proving to be such a help, Jenny. I will make sure to increase your pay once this incident settles down."
He lightly tapped her shoulder and continued, "Still, you need to ensure your own safety first."
"I will," Jenny replied with a slight nod, her face hidden behind the mask.
Once the manager entered the lift and the doors slid shut, Jenny removed the mask from her face and the cap covering her head. She was a middle-aged woman with faint wrinkles around her eyes. A few grey strands were visible in her otherwise dark-brown hair, catching the dim light.
After a few seconds, several rhythmic footsteps echoed on the marble floor of the restaurant. Men dressed in black clothes, wearing breathing masks, arrived on the top floor through the stairwell.
The empty hall was now filled with grey smoke rising from the kitchen, curling along the ceiling like a living shadow.
"She is in the bathroom," Jenny informed the men dressed as firefighters as she walked out from the staff room, reaching the hall. Her voice was now completely changed from how it had sounded when she spoke to the manager. It was now commanding and assertive, carrying the weight of authority.
Two of them broke off and went to the women’s bathroom, carrying a large suitcase between them, its metal handles glinting in the smoke-filled light.
"Who is this kid?" One of the firefighters asked, his eyes turning to Vlad, who was lying unconscious on the floor with Jenny sitting on a chair beside him, the same place where Seraphina had been sitting some time ago, looking out at the scenery.
She lit a cigar, the flame briefly illuminating her weathered face, placed it between her lips, and said, her voice cold, "An unlucky brat accompanying that girl."
"What will you do with him?" The man asked, his voice turning serious, his eyes fixed on Vlad’s prone figure.
"He died in the fire that erupted in the restaurant," Jenny revealed, breathing in a slow, deliberate puff of smoke that mixed into the dark smoke in the air.
"H-he is just a kid," the firefighter protested, his voice wavering with uncertainty. His eyes darted between Vlad’s unconscious form and Jenny’s hardened face. "We cannot kill one of our own."
"He is the friend of that creature!" Jenny snapped, her voice echoing through the smoke-filled hall, her auburn eyes narrowing in suppressed fury. The cigar trembled slightly between her fingers. "We cannot take any risks."
The firefighter could not argue further. He was acutely aware of the stakes of this mission. One small mistake and all of it would be for naught.
After a few seconds, the two men who had gone inside the washroom came out, both of them holding the suitcase by each strap, their movements careful and coordinated. Along with them was the doorman who had attacked Seraphina in the bathroom, his face grim and set.
They gave a slight nod to Jenny before moving towards the staircase, their footsteps echoing briefly before fading as they descended.
Jenny rose from her seat, her eyes moving to the glowing city below her, the lights twinkling like scattered jewels in the velvet darkness. The smoke from her cigar curled upward, dissolving into the haze above.
"Burn this place down," she declared in a low, commanding tone.
The firefighters nodded silently and went inside the kitchen.
She took a long puff from the cigarette, its tip glowing crimson against the darkness. The smoke hit the glass window before slowly fading away, dissipating into the night.
She heard a little disturbance behind her. Assuming one of the firefighters had returned, she asked,
"What do you ne—"
Her words stopped mid-sentence as she saw the reflection on the glass before her. A reflection of a pair of glowing crimson eyes staring at her from behind.