PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

The only irony is that humanity was trying to adapt, but they could not keep up with the changes. Every day the mutated beasts evolved more; they showed more coordination and intelligence; more importantly, the beasts were becoming increasingly aggressive towards humanity.

Humanity had its own ways of protecting itself, but these were either becoming obsolete or creating their own problems. Firearms became less and less effective against the most powerful mutated beasts or against those with strange abilities. While the espers were stepping up to become humanity’s new trump card, the problems spawned by the espers couldn’t be ignored either.

At the end of the day, the problem was that everything was changing so fast, and Desmond had his own taste for that problem.

“That son of a bitch.”

As soon as Silvia left her boss’s office, Desmond’s angry yell echoed through the walls. Newly promoted to the second lieutenant, Miss Trevstone might not have the best relationship with her boss, especially recently. Still, even she understood Desmond’s anger at the moment. After all, she did read that document before handing it over.

Silvia knew that it was not a good time to enter the office, so she dragged with her the idiot Morales who, without knowing how to read the environment, was about to enter.

Being pulled by the neck like a puppy, Morales groaned, though not too loudly, for fear of angering the ice queen holding him. “Wait, Silvia, I have something for the boss.”

Silvia pushed Morales out of the hallway leading to Desmond’s office. Not bothering to take care of her foolish partner anymore, she just left him a warning before leaving. “Morales, unless it’s really important, you’d better not go in there; I’d rather you didn’t leave Melissa a widow.”

.....

Edgar Morales was a clueless man, but even he was not foolish enough to miss the warning. “I guess he can wait. It’s just that I heard from a friend in intelligence that the company that won the arms bid with us is going to open a private branch in the city. I thought he would be interested; you know he loves weapons.”

Silvia wasn’t exactly friends with Morales, but she couldn’t say they didn’t get along either. She knew that her partner and Desmond had become relatively close recently, going out drinking from time to time. Silvia also knew that the not-so-innocent Morales would generally seek out Desmond to get some advice from his boss.

“Whatever mess you got yourself into with Melissa, fix it yourself; Trust me, you don’t want to be in that office right now.”

As a familiar cold feeling began to fill the air, Morales realized it was time to be smart and run from the place. Silvia had warned him about Desmond’s bad mood, and Edgar was grateful; the problem now was who was going to save him from her.

Silvia also left; things between her and Desmond hadn’t been very good lately, mainly because Silvia didn’t see her boss’s lifestyle in a good way. However, deep down, she still respected him, especially remembering how Desmond fought in the bitter winter battle a few months ago.

“I don’t get it; why does the commander have to make things difficult for him?”

Back in Desmond’s office, she could see a pile of papers scattered on the floor. Little by little, little tendrils of shadows picked up and arranged the pieces back on the desk, where Desmond was trying to calm his anger.

Normally, Desmond wouldn’t have lost his temper like that. Still, it only took one glance at the title of the documents on his desk to begin to understand what was going on. , if that wasn’t enough, there was a second set of documents,

Desmond already knew that such a law was only a matter of time with the current state of things, which is why he enlisted in the military. He tried to get the best possible deal before the military climate became less user-friendly.

The problem here was the second document. Strictly speaking, this was not a law, but its effect was not very different. Given the degree of militarization of country F, being the commander in charge of a city gave an individual a great deal of power within the city.

Even when there was such a thing as a mayor and Major Rundert was not responsible for governing and managing the city, his word was the equivalent of law in military matters. That’s why Desmond was upset, as this move by Rundert had put him and his family on the ropes.

Now both Sasha and Cecilia were forced to enlist as reserve forces or risk breaking military law. The Garden girls might be fine as they had only displayed a minimal amount of their abilities in public so far, and the army wouldn’t bother with a group of girls who were barely a bit stronger than a normal human being.

Desmond also couldn’t do the same thing he did with Claire, taking Sasha and Cecilia under his wing after enlisting them in the active forces. Rundert’s bastard would never allow it, not after seeing the power displayed by Sasha in the bitter winter battle.

Annoyed, Desmond began to complain again. “Damn, I knew I should have forced Cecilia to keep a low profile.”

It was there that a pair of silky smooth hands used its delicate fingers to caress both sides of Desmond’s temple. Massaging in circles, Revna brought some comfort to Desmond’s mind.

Letting out a contented sigh, Desmond relaxed his body a bit and leaned back in his chair, trying to clear his mind and plan his next move. A couple of months had passed since he had returned with Cecilia in tow, but before he had time to get used to the changes, new problems came knocking on his door; it was hard not to be stressed.

Desmond closed his eyes, enjoying the massage and trying to relax. Even with his eyes closed, Desmond’s senses were still sharp enough to know what was going on in the room.

The sound of glass, ice, and the smell of alcohol told Desmond that Revna had poured him some whiskey, a newly acquired whim of him. The little tickle and the occasional soft touch also told Desmond that Revna was wearing another of her raunchy outfits, a new habit she picked up from somewhere.

Revna had become Desmond’s indispensable right hand, helping out with all manner of things, all possible given her ability to hide in the shadows. Revna had also taken care of something else, making Desmond completely dependent on her constant care.

The revealing and provocative clothes, the whiskey, the flirtation. Revna also helped with all sorts of little things, like picking up his coat or helping him organize his office. Desmond knew what she was up to, but he had no intention of stopping her either.

He would be too hypocritical of him to begin with; this all started when Desmond gave Revna the pair of earrings she is now wearing. Plus, given how much Desmond enjoyed the care shown by Revna, he really had no reason to turn down Revna’s small but constant advances.

Desmond just wishes Revna was more open to doing things. One must not be fooled by the nordic recklessness that Revna displayed most of the time; she really didn’t dare be too direct with Desmond.

This was Revna during the day; the problem was that Desmond had already lost count of how many times he caught Revna doing something on the sly. Take the current situation as an example: As soon as Desmond closed his eyes and lowered his guard, Revna started getting more daring and clinging to him more.

That was without taking into account the times Revna stared at Desmond’s face while he slept or all the times she spied on him while he had sex with Claire or Sasha. Desmond knew that Revna had an unhealthy obsession with him, but he was a bit helpless on how to deal with her. After all, Revna had no ill intentions toward Desmond or his family; she just wanted to be needed and loved by him.

Pushing away all those unnecessary thoughts, Desmond focused on enjoying the whiskey. Seeing that her little tricks were working, Revna leaned in closer, pressing her breasts against Desmond’s shoulder and whispering seductively into her ear.

“You can’t blame Miss Cecilia; she is a kind soul just looking to help. Sooner or later, Cecilia’s abilities would be revealed; hiding them for too long would make you more suspicious. Besides, this is nonetheless Runert’s pig’s fault, you just give the order, and I’ll see to it that he doesn’t see the next sunrise.”