Trash In The Apocalypse

Last night, Jun found out about Henry"s "hobby" and took advantage of it. He placed the cursed damage ogre"s club on the set of tools near the bed. He had the sneaky military boots that Evo modified, which removed the sound of his footsteps, allowing him to finish the deed before continuing his search for the General. 

Also, he made the General"s death appear natural as much as possible. The floor became slippery after the soap melted from being exposed in water. The only conclusion they could get was a concussion when the General slipped and hit the back of his head on the wall.

This prevented the security team from getting any leads, which forced them to interrogate everyone. 

While walking to the designated interrogation room, Jun saw Marianne being led by a woman towards the same room. Carl was following behind her like a dog guarding its owner.

The female staff ignored Jun and walked past him. The two didn"t speak but only stared at each other. Their eyes revealing the feelings inside them.

Reluctance. Sorrow.

Seeing the two stop at the door, the hotel staff urged the two to enter. The VIPs were already investigated and most of them were proven innocent. The people who had someone with them last night were being interrogated twice(individual and together) to see if their stories match. 

A soldier who had the Detect Lie skill was sent as reinforcement to catch the culprit.

"So, you were brought here by Carl, on his own, and even led you to Miss Marianne"s room. Is that right?" the soldier stated for confirmation.

Jun stared ahead but he wasn"t looking at the soldier in front of him. It was as if his gaze were pa.s.sing through thin air.

When the soldier tapped the table, Jun woke up from his stupor and answered, "Yes."

"Then, Miss Marianne, you opened the door and got surprised to see him there. However, according to Carl, he was your errand boy and you were expecting him? Please be honest with me. I know when you lie and when you don"t. Let"s not waste our time, is that hard to do?"

When Carl noticed Marianne becoming uncomfortable with the questioning, he coughed and signalled for the soldier to do it gently.

"I"m already being patient Carl. If she wasn"t the daughter of a Major General, do you think I would still be this calm?"

If it was the old days, he could have easily bossed around this man, but with the appearance of skills, with him getting a marksmans.h.i.+p build, he could only back off—for now.

After chiding Carl, the soldier continued his interrogation.

"Let"s do this again. I won"t even be looking at your previous statements. I"ll start with you young man. Why were you here?"

"I wanted to meet her."

"Who are you to her."

"I"m her boyfriend."

The investigator frowned but knew that Jun wasn"t lying. He turned to Marianne, who was looking down, then to Carl, who was furiously staring at Jun.

"Isn"t the Young Miss engaged with one of the Mestreet"s family? Better not get involved in this. Haa..."

He turned to Marianne and continued his questioning. "Were you expecting him to come here?"

"No."

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"No."

"Huh?"

This time, everyone was confused. The other person says he"s your boyfriend and you"re saying he"s not. The worst thing about this was that both of them were telling the truth!

The investigator turned to Carl. "This is the furthest I could help you. I need to do my job now."

"Where were you last night around nine to nine twenty in the evening?"

"In my room."

"In her room."

The investigator knew that both answered honestly but still picked the report sheet to check their answers from the individual interrogations and they matched,

"Do you mind telling us what the two of you were doing inside the room?"

Carl became anxious after hearing the question, while the hotel staff and soldiers perked their ears. It felt like they were watching a TV Drama unfolding in front of them.

Jun answered first without hesitation. "I was trying to persuade her to come with me, but she wouldn"t agree."

Marianne added, "I kept telling him that I can"t, but he just won"t accept it."

Jun said. "I told her that I could protect her, yet she wouldn"t come!"

Marianne continued, "I told him that my father would kill him, but he"s not listening!"

"I"m not scared to die!"

"I am afraid that you will!"

Jun was about to say his last exact words last night but when he noticed Marianne"s watery eyes, he couldn"t open his mouth. He felt his throat instantly dry up.

Jun extended his hand wanting to comfort her, but Marianne shoved his hand away and lashed out.

"Don"t touch me. Don"t you dare touch me!"

Jun retrieved his hand. "I"m sorry. Calm down for now. We can talk—"

"Get out of here," Marianne mumbled. "Leave. I don"t want to see you anymore."

Jun didn"t know what to do. Even the people who were enjoying the quarrel from earlier noticed that the atmosphere has changed.

Marianne abruptly stood up and hurriedly made her way towards the door. Jun stood up wanting to follow her but Carl blocked his way.

"I already helped you once, but isn"t it clear already? Don"t show yourself around her." Carl said then followed Marianne.

Jun couldn"t do anything but stare at Marianne"s receding back.

—

Outer District...

"Hey, where were you? We"ve been looking for you the whole night. The boss is waiting for you. We found the place you"re looking for." 

Jun turned to the feminine voice and saw the woman who tried to scam him last night.

Mhiya continued. "To be honest, I expected you to be a conman since you offered so much money for a piece of simple information instead of asking around. I"m not gonna apologize for what happened last night since you stole my room, so let"s just consider it even, okay?"

"About the service being slow, it"s your fault since you disappeared abruptly! We won"t reimburse or cut payments because we finished the request before the day even turned over. We will take the payment whole, no questions asked!"

Jun ignored Mhiya and continued walking. He was feeling especially tired today even though he didn"t do much work. From the gloomy air surrounding him, it appears like he was shouldering the problem of the whole world.

Mhiya became upset for getting ignored but still chose to act nicely. Big shot clients who spend money like they were nothing were very rare! She waved her hands and shouted, "If you have other requests, please feel free to come back again!"

Unexpectedly, Jun stopped walking and turned around. 

That"s right! Maybe...

—

"Thank you for patronizing us. I"ll make sure that you"re investments wouldn"t go to waste. From now on, you sir is our top VIP. If you have any other request, please don"t hesitate at all. The Newsroom will prioritize your requests and allocate our resources to you whenever you have a request." Blake animatedly said while staring at the multi-colored stacks of bills. There were different amount per stack which made Blake and the other goons drool crazily.

Blake was a businessman and he knew in one glance how much money was in front of him. Around half a million! But there"s more! Precious stones were rolling on the table because someone"s leg was shaking. 

Blake had more than ten million in his bank account, but there was no way that he could withdraw his money anymore and his cards were probably useless now. Most of the banks and ATM machines were already looted on the first and second week of the apocalypse.

Blake wasn"t someone special. His businesses were just small businesses that earned him stable money. Most of his savings came from years of hard work. He could have entered the business district, but he felt the place inappropriate for him. He wasn"t a saint but the corruption and the various things happening inside were something that his stomach couldn"t handle.

Jun said. "I don"t have a phone right now, so give me your number. I"ll just contact you after I got one,"

"Look at me even forgetting communication. Of course, I have one. Let me write it down."

Blake wrote his number on a piece of paper and handed it to Jun, "Here."

"Thanks. Don"t do anything stupid and just watch her from a distance. I don"t want her knowing anything about this, is that clear?"

"Yes, we will be as natural as possible. By the way, you lost your watch? It was a cool watch, did you sell it?"

Jun touched his empty wrist where the smart.w.a.tch he owned usually stays. Then, he muttered, "I gave it to someone special."