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Chapter 13 - Unknown Ghoul: Unregistered Conversion

Ethan had a strange dream. He was running down an endless alley—no, not walking, but running, because something was chasing him—a ghoul with blood-red eyes. That thing, with its decaying skin barely hanging on, caught up to him and bit him. Then, he turned into a ghoul himself.

Then he started hunting. He caught someone, but as he bit down, the person transformed into a cow. Cows are scary....

And then he woke up... with Hex's hand in his mouth.

Was he nibbling on the girl's hand in his sleep? Ethan spat her hand out quickly, and she mumbled a sleepy protest, incomprehensible sounds escaping her lips.

He noticed one of her legs was draped over him. Somehow, she had kicked off her pajama during the night, leaving them who knows where. Her head was buried in the pillow, with her bottom sticking up... Ethan turned his head away, silently thankful for the invention of underwear. This was definitely a mistake...

He gently moved her leg aside. Her skin felt unusually warm to the touch. Standing up in bed, he stepped over the girl and climbed down. In the tiny apartment, space was limited, especially with the bed pulled out. He walked to the window, looking out to find the sky still dark. Picking up the digital watch from his desk, he saw the time: 4:57 AM.

Yawning, he decided he might as well get up, thinking it wouldn't be so bad to avoid being late on his first day of work. He went to the bathroom, took a hot shower, freshened up, and changed into a clean white shirt, tying his tie. Drying his wet brown hair with a towel, he thought about how today was important—his first day at the job.

When he returned, Hex had completely invaded his side of the bed. Shaking his head, he sat back down at his desk.

There was a book from Harvey lying on it: "Under the Veil: Fundamentals of the Shadow Society" by Jacques Simon Synopsis. It was a thick, 300-page volume, and Ethan had managed to get through a third of it in the past two or three days. Luckily, he only needed to read something once to remember it, otherwise it might have taken him over a month to grasp all of this.

Engrossed in the book, time flew by, and it was close to 7 AM when Hex finally stirred. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, and sniffed her hand.

"Eww! Why does my hand smell like you? What did you do, you pervert?!"

"You crossed the line first, alright? You're lucky I didn't kick you to the floor."

"I can't here you, lalala~"

She stuck her tongue out, making a face, before crawling out of bed to pull on the pajama pants she had kicked off.

"Hurry up and freshen up, alright? Harvey wants me to bring you along."

"Nooo!"

With a dramatic sigh, she dragged herself to the bathroom. It was understandable; no one liked being dragged out to work. She quickly emerged, and Ethan, already packed up, had heated a waffle in the microwave. Fortunately, ghouls didn't need to eat.

But when a girl looks at you with big, puppy-dog eyes as you eat, it's hard to ignore. So, he offered her half of the waffle.

"Want some?"

"Hehe, no thanks. I just wanted to make you feel guilty."

"..."

Ethan rolled his eyes, finishing his breakfast quickly. Once Hex was dressed and had her backpack, they headed out together.

...

The Speck Detective Agency was located at 10 Simcock Street, Spotswood, right under the Simcock Bridge—the old bridge that had collapsed back in the 70s. Ethan figured he'd need to get a car or at least an electric bike soon.

Hex followed him, looking up at the two-story red-brick building, with white sandstone trim along the edges. Beside it was a weed-choked, desolate park, and across the way, an unnecessarily large parking lot for a warehouse.

"Hold still."

She reached out toward his neck.

"Did you tie your tie like this in school?"

She asked, tugging at his rather messy Windsor knot, retying it with a practiced motion. It felt oddly domestic. Ethan fidgeted with the tie... it was too tight.

"Did you tie it like this in school?"

"Yeah."

"So, you enjoy the sensation of being strangled?"

"Shut up."

He climbed the stairs and pushed open the door, greeted by a wave of air freshener. At the front desk sat a red-haired woman, glasses on, focused on her computer screen. Ethan's eyes scanned her—about 175 cm tall, weighing roughly 60-65 kg, regular gym-goer, likely 25-30 years old, unmarried, single, possibly interested in someone. He registered all this without thinking, like a habit.

"Ah, Mr. Mugridge, Harvey is waiting for you in his office. Miss Salvatore, could you go up to Phoebe Callisto's office on the second floor?"

The two split up, and since Ethan had been here once before, he knew his way around. The hallway's marble floor and dark oak paneling, along with the vintage lamps, reminded him of buildings on Flinders Street.

Heading to the office labeled with Speck's name, he almost bumped into... a man—no, a person in their early 30s, wearing a white fur coat over a dress, with red stockings and heels, makeup heavily applied to conceal masculine features. They raised their red-framed sunglasses when they spotted Ethan.

"Ah! You must be Ethan. I'm Jenny Rayon."

He... she? offered a hand with pink-painted nails, a jade ring on the pinky, and several beaded bracelets on the wrist. Ethan shook it, noting the sharpness of her voice. He couldn't tell if it was natural or forced.

"Hello, Miss... Rayon?"

"Haha, just call me Rayon."

She pulled out a notebook from her knitted bag, scribbling her number, and tore off a page for Ethan, who pocketed it.

"Harvey's expecting you, so I won't hold you up. Don't forget to call me!"

She made a playful phone gesture and sashayed away. Ethan, bemused, knocked on the door, waited for the response, then entered Harvey's office.

"Well, you're here," Harvey said, looking up from the mountain of case files piled on his desk. Ethan stepped closer.

"Didn't think I'd show up?"

"You never know. Looks like I owe the father twenty... or was it twenty-five? Whatever, doesn't matter."

From the chaos of papers, Harvey pulled out a familiar beige folder and tossed it to Ethan. He opened it—no photos, just a single sheet: Unknown Ghoul: Unregistered Conversion.

"An association case file, Breach of veil. I assume you've read all the books I gave you?"

"Finished them this morning."

"Wow, you really read them all."

"..."

"This is your first case. This ghoul is the same one that turned your... girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Sure...sure."