"Hehe."
Lyxander walked down the corridor.
"Hehe." He couldn't hide the grin on his face—or perhaps, he had no intention of hiding it at all.
"Hehe."
"Please stop that. I'm already sick of hearing it," Zirkon complained as he walked beside him.
"Zirkon."
Lyxander turned and looked at his senior with a serious expression.
Then his face quickly changed, returning to that grin.
"Hehe."
Zirkon frowned. "Bastard."
They finally arrived in front of the Division 5 room. Together, the two crows entered.
Unlike before, the room was now filled with many people. Some faces looked familiar, while others were new.
"Ugh."
Suddenly, Lyxander felt a pain in his stomach.
The sight stirred old memories he didn't want to recall. Back when his name was still Satria, the thing he hated most was moving up to the next stage of education.
In elementary school, he was bullied and had no friends.
In middle school, he was too busy training and had no friends.
In high school, he got injured and could no longer compete. In his despair, he had no interest in socializing at all.
"Hah…"
Lyxander let out a quiet sigh.
"For me, talking to one person isn't a problem, but facing pressure from a new environment…" His hand clenched into a fist.
"That's what really pisses me off."
He stared straight ahead.
His eyes turned serious.
"I'll face it."
He bowed. "My name is Lyxander. From today onward, I hope we can work well together."
Of course, that only happened in his head.
In reality, he skipped the introductions entirely and went straight to his seat. Surprisingly, no one seemed to care.
Lyxander pulled a wheeled chair out from under the desk and sat down, staring at the ceiling.
"Hah, I want to go home," he muttered.
Tap, tap.
A cold finger poked his cheek. It was Quartz. When Lyxander turned around, Quartz was already giving him a thumbs-up.
"Hang in there," he said.
"Haha." Lyxander chuckled softly.
"Thanks." A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Lyxander."
A gentle voice called his name.
Thud!
Vivi placed a stack of papers on his desk.
"What's this?" he asked.
"Reports."
Lyxander tilted his head. "Reports?"
"Every time you finish a patrol, you have to write a report. This is a copy of a report I've written before. Use it as a reference," Vivi said as she neatly arranged the papers on his desk.
"If there's anything you don't understand, just ask," she added.
"Haha." Lyxander could only let out a small laugh.
"When I'm done, who should I submit it to, Senior?"
Vivi finished arranging the papers.
"To me," she replied. "If there's still something wrong, I'll let you know."
"Alright, thank you, Senior," Lyxander said.
Vivi returned to her desk, leaving Lyxander with Quartz.
"If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask me," Quartz said proudly, thumping his chest.
Smack!
A stack of papers hit Quartz on the head. "Ouch!"
"Before helping someone else with their report, you should finish your own first," Tadeus scolded him.
Quartz rubbed his head with a sulky expression. "Come on, this time I'll definitely finish it on time."
"You always say that. Hurry up and take this. I've already marked all the parts that need revision," Tadeus said, handing him a pile of papers.
"So this is going to be my fate too," Lyxander thought, smiling as he watched the scene.
He turned on the office PC and began typing.
One hour later, he finished writing his report.
"Alright, time to submit it," he said as he walked over to Vivi's desk.
"You're done already?" she asked.
"Yes."
Lyxander handed over his report.
"Gulp."
Even though he had followed Vivi's example, he still felt uncertain about his work.
As if agreeing with his doubts, Vivi took a red pen and began marking the parts that needed revision. She handed the report back to Lyxander.
The first revision began.
This time, it only took him thirty minutes to revise his report.
Once again, he went to submit it.
"Hmm." Vivi read it carefully.
"This is much better."
A smile appeared on Lyxander's face.
"Finally," he muttered in relief.
But that smile vanished in an instant when Vivi took out the red pen and handed the report back to him again.
The second revision began.
Forty minutes. Ten minutes longer than before, but Lyxander worked more carefully this time.
"This is very good, but…"
The third revision began.
"Alright, earlier I didn't include the time details. This time I just need to add them," Lyxander muttered.
Ten minutes later—
"Adding the time details was correct, but you also need to write the location name properly," Vivi said, returning the report once more.
—
"Why, why does the location name have to be so specific?" Lyxander complained as he sat back down at his desk.
"Hehe, don't you know?" Thomas whispered.
Earlier, the seat to Lyxander's right had looked empty. Who would've thought Thomas was sitting there now?
"Know what?" Lyxander asked.
Thomas spun his wheeled chair around.
"There's a story about a crow who was kidnapped."
Lyxander turned his chair as well and listened.
Thomas continued.
"At that time, one of the crows was kidnapped by several mafia members who held a grudge against her. What made it even sadder was that she was a beautiful woman. When her body was found, it was in a terrible condition. You know what I mean, right?"
Lyxander nodded. "Then what does that have to do with reports?"
Thomas adjusted his glasses. "Aren't you known for being smart?"
"Huh?" Lyxander was startled.
"Since when?"
Ignoring the fact that his intelligence seemed to have declined, Lyxander was more curious about the rumor itself.
Thomas pointed behind Lyxander. There, Quartz was whistling, pretending not to know anything.
"Damn blabbermouth," Lyxander thought.
Thomas answered Lyxander's question. "Why do you think her body was found?"
"Her phone was tracked, maybe?" Lyxander replied.
Thomas spun his chair again.
"The answer is… ta-da! Because of reports."
He stopped spinning.
"Through the reports she wrote, the crows were able to find out the lunch spots she frequently visited."
Lyxander felt enlightened.
"So that's how it is."
He looked at his report again. Now he understood another purpose of these reports.
"Thanks for the story. I'll get back to working on my report."
One hour passed. A long time, but this time Lyxander worked with extreme care.
"Hmm…" Vivi flipped through his report.
"Good. This one is perfect."
"Hah… finally," Lyxander said, unable to hide his relieved smile.
"Next, write your reports during your break as well."
A short sentence from Vivi that shattered Lyxander's heart.
In the end, Lyxander finished his reports late at night.
Together with Vivi, he left the Division 5 room. Surprisingly, they weren't the last ones to leave—the very last was Quartz, who had to work overtime to finish his reports.
At the bus stop, Lyxander and Vivi waited for the night bus.
"I'm sorry, Senior. Because of me, you have to go home so late," Lyxander said sincerely, pressing his palms together in apology.
"It's fine. I live alone anyway. There's no one who would worry about me," Vivi replied with a flat expression.
Lyxander stared at her with a frozen face, shocked that Vivi, who was only fifteen years old, lived alone and seemingly didn't even attend school.
In his previous life, Lyxander had lived a harsh life, but whenever he grew tired, he could always return home. How heavy must it be to have no place—or no one—to return to? It was sad.
"Senior, don't go home too late," Lyxander said.
"Why?" Vivi looked at him with one eye.
"Because I'd worry about you," Lyxander replied, meeting her gaze.
Vivi's flat expression wavered, as if it might crumble at any moment. She quickly turned her face away.
"Thank you."
Just a single, ordinary word, yet filled with meaning.
The night bus arrived, and the two of them headed home.
When Lyxander arrived at his house, he caught a pleasant aroma. He walked toward the kitchen.
"Oh, Lyxander, you're home already. Come here, I cooked crab for dinner tonight," his sister called out.
Lyxander smiled.
Crab and other seafood were quite rare in this world, considering the nine continents had united into a single continent, making sea expeditions uncommon.
But that wasn't why Lyxander was smiling.
He smiled because he still had a home to return to.