Joaquin looked like he had eaten a fly. Things hadnât gone like he expected at all.
Originally, he wanted to get Grey arrestedâthat much was obvious. But he had been hoping to use Sabrinaâs staff as an inflection point. He hoped it would not only enrage the Holy Knights, but that it would also provide him a chance to expose Greyâs crimes as well.
Like that, he would be able to perfectly clear the Quest in one go.
Greyâs previous conclusion had been correct. Unlike Grey, Joaquin was aware that having a spatial item should have been impossible, so he didnât quite understand how Grey had managed it.
In this loop, Joaquin didnât know an edit would be given to first place, so he didnât know it could have been used to break a rule. During that time, he came across Globbâs shop.
At first, Joaquin didnât make the connection. It was just any other technician shop. But realizing he was running out of time, he was forced to try and target Grey anyway. If he couldnât clear it perfectly, he would just settle for the common reward.
When they finally found Grey, though, the moment Joaquin saw the iron jaw on his face, he immediately made the connection.
Globbâs shop had been in an odd state when he first saw it more than half a day ago, and Globb had been completely frozen. Joaquin immediately made the connection to Quests and realized that Grey must have gotten something quite rare.
As little credit as Grey liked to give Joaquin, the wit he had shown to get this far wasnât small. If Grey had also lost to him in the Tutorial Zone again, letting Joaquin claim first, this would already be over. With an edict, Joaquin would have already won.
But that wasnât what had happened this time.
And unfortunately, Joaquin had fallen one step short. He hadnât expected the Holy Knight to so easily pivot away from Grey and place all his ire on Globb.
It couldnât have been that Grey was just so convincing. Did Grey have a unique charisma or mind-control skill? Or was it something else?
When Joaquin met Greyâs gaze, his heart couldnât help but tremble. That gaze almost didnât seem human at all. He could practically see chains holding back the demon that was Grey.
If there werenât any consequences, Grey would have already attacked.
No... he would certainly attack the moment the chance presented itself.
Joaquinâs jaw set and then his lips parted.
"I know that many of you are watching right now and might have questions about why I would randomly target someone like this."
Grey frowned, but it was hard to simply interrupt someone like this without coming off more guilty.
"I lost not one, but two of my teammates to this man trying to expose him. Because of him, the most horrible of crimes were attached to me. You may not believe me, but I am not the one who killed that man or that girl. The proof was in that tool belt. But now, itâs in neither of our hands.
"I will continue to try and clear my name, and I wonât apologize for trying to do so."
Joaquin didnât look at the crowd, his gaze focused entirely on Grey. There was a wisp in his hair and a tan to his skin that might have even reminded one of a young Hercules from the cartoons.
Everything about him felt like a disgusting caricature in Greyâs eyes.
The ones observing things from corners and alleys spoke among themselves, but Grey didnât say a word. Instead, he squatted down in front of Globbâs head, the blood seeping between his toes feeling somehow both warm and so very cold to him.
He shouldnât particularly feel much for Globb, and quite frankly he didnât, if he was honest with himself.
But this deathâmaybe because it was his faultâreally, really pissed him off.
Greyâs jaw set.
He picked up the head in one hand and hoisted Globbâs corpse up and over his other shoulder. Then he walked away, dripping blood in his wake as he walked right out of the city.
Not once did he look back toward Joaquin.
**
Hours later, Grey stood in front of a shallow grave. His stats were far from inhuman, and he didnât have any tools to rely on anymore. All he had was a small dagger, but he had made do, using one of the scrapped stones from the ruins that littered this place to dig it out.
It had chipped and dulled his dagger, but he still managed to carve a little something onto a misfigured tomb.
Then he stood there for a little while, his mind blank as the sun rose higher and higher into the skies.
"My bad," he finally said.
Squatting down, he placed a hand on the stone.
"Flowers are for women. Iâll get you a head for your stone instead. Maybe two."
Grey stood and left.
...
An hour later, the city was within view again.
Grey hadnât realized it yet, but the crimson in his eyes was slowly becoming more permanent, and his hair... if not for the Skrill Mask, he would have already noticed that it was becoming white at its roots.
This wasnât what Grey was thinking about, though.
âI need to gather up five units of energy quickly. Thatâll allow me to open up a personal Cyber Space. Then Iâll be able to equip and unequip this iron jaw at will. I think thatâs probably whatâs interfering with the uses of the Skrill Mask right now.
âBut this current jaw has a limit of three. The only way for me to get five energy units is a new or a better jaw. And it will be basically impossible to do that without the tome.
âUnless...â
Grey crossed into the city just as a plume of smoke and flashing light bloomed in the city square in the far-off distance.
Slowly, a floating head he recognized all too well rose up.
The Great Udon.
âShit.â Grey burst into a run. But rather than running out, he rushed further into the city.