Percy pulled Vanessa to her feet, and they floated off the balcony together to meet with the other children. Viva followed behind them with a complicated expression on her face. Viva was happy that Percy was treating Vanessa so kindly, but at the same time, Viva wanted to know what Percy was planning to do now. Viva was certain that Percy had found something, and she needed to know what it was!

Percy guided Vanessa down to where the other kids were hanging out together, and once the kids saw Percy, they rushed forward with excited smiles!

"Hello, Mr. Percy!"

Many kids floated around Percy happily, and one of the teenage girls came up to Vanessa and called out.

"Oh, you finally came down! Yay!"

Vanessa quickly moved to hide behind Percy shyly, and Percy smiled as he pat Vanessa’s head and spoke to the children.

"Everyone, this is Vanessa. She wants to be friends with you. Can you show her around?"

The children all nodded happily, and the teenage girl put her hand out towards Vanessa with a wide smile!

"Come on, Vanessa! I’ll show you all my favourite spots! Have you met Henry? He’s really nice!"

Vanessa looked at the girl’s hand shyly before she looked up at Percy. Percy was still smiling at her, and he nodded to tell her that it was okay. Vanessa finally gathered up her courage, and she reached out and took the girl’s hand, and she was immediately pulled forward by the laughing kids!

"Come on, Vanessa! Let’s go!"

All the kids quickly began taking Vanessa up to the higher floors, and Percy watched them for a few seconds with a smile on his face.

"I’m glad you helped the kid, but can you tell me what you found now? I need to know if we have the wrong person in custody!"

Viva suddenly spoke up once the children left, and Percy hummed as he told her to come with him. Viva did as she was told, and they arrived back at Percy’s research lab.

"Touch your body for a few seconds so it’ll reabsorb you. You’ll wake up once you’re back inside."

Viva gently put her hand forward and touched her body. Her hand sank into her body since she was a ghost, but she kept it there, and a few seconds later, she was pulled forward by a strange force and dragged into her body!

"GASP!"

Viva gasped in shock as her body suddenly returned to life, and she touched her chest desperately as she felt her heart beating like a drum! Viva looked at her hand, and once she saw that she was no longer translucent, she let out a massive breath and fell back tiredly! That was the most terrifying experience of her life! She really thought she would never come back to life!

"Need some help?"

Viva looked up, and she saw Percy standing over her with his hand stretched out. There was an intense surge of annoyance that rose from Viva’s heart when she saw the man who was responsible for all her suffering, but she decided to let go of the annoyance since it didn’t matter. Percy had done what he did for a good reason, so she was willing to forgive him for it. Viva took Percy’s outstretched hand, and she allowed him to pull her to her feet! Percy then waved his hand, and all the documents Viva had been holding flew off the ground and gathered in her hand again.

Viva muttered a quick ’thank you’ for the help, and Percy hummed before he spoke up.

"Do you still believe Dalia was responsible for killing Vanessa?"

Percy wasted no time as he immediately brought up the most important question, and Viva frowned slightly. Viva couldn’t say that she was as certain as before about Dalia’s guilt. The evidence and the eyewitnesses painted Dalia as the killer, but after speaking to Vanessa and seeing Vanessa defend her friend so desperately, it became harder and harder for Viva to trust the evidence they had gathered. Viva spoke up.

"No, I’m not a hundred percent sure she was responsible. But I’m not sure she wasn’t responsible either. I need to know what you found out back there. You were staring at something above Vanessa’s head. What was that?"

"I was scanning the magic around her."

Viva blinked, and then she frowned. Viva had never heard that term before, and she tried to understand what Percy meant by ’scanning’ magic. The technique that Percy used to look at the magic was so advanced that most low-level mages didn’t know anything about it. And since it was never taught in school, only mages who had mastered magic up to a certain level would be able to know what it meant.

Percy let out a small sigh, and he began walking towards his table while talking.

"I saw a ripped thread above Vanessa’s head. Its original purpose was to drag her soul away to some unknown location."

Viva frowned as she followed after Percy and asked.

"Someone was trying to take her soul?"

"They weren’t just trying to take it; they wanted to harvest it. Like a food source, or something else. I know a number of creatures that are capable of doing something like this, but I can’t pinpoint any single one of them as the culprit until I get more information. I need you to go somewhere."

Viva was taken aback by the sudden command, and she watched curiously as Percy began writing something on a piece of paper. Viva leaned forward, and she tried to spy what Percy was writing, but Percy wrote too quickly, and he stood up before holding the piece of paper out to her.

"I need you to take this to the Full Moon Mercenary group. Ask to see ’Big Mama’ and tell her Percy sent you. She’ll tell you what we need to do next."

Viva’s eyes immediately went wide, and she stared at Percy like he had gone mad! He wanted her to go to the Full Moon Mercenaries!? The same mercenary group that was seen as the greatest group of outlaws in the entire city!?

"Have you lost your damn mind! I can’t go to that group! In case you’ve forgotten, I’m a feline demihuman, and the Full Moon Mercenaries are all canines! They’ll never let me in!"

The Full Moon Mercenaries were a group of some of the most dangerous canine demihumans in the city. Every single member of that group was strong enough to defeat any Lieutenant in the Kingdom Guard, and Viva was not even strong enough to be called a lieutenant yet! Going in there was like sending a rat into the lion’s den!

But Percy just raised a brow at her when she said all this. Percy had no idea what she was talking about. Strongest mercenary group? Dangerous criminals? What the hell?

"They’re just a bunch of stray dogs. You don’t need to worry about them hurting you. Show them the letter and tell them you want to see ’Big Mama’. She’ll give you more information, and you’ll bring that back to me."

Percy stretched the letter out to Viva again, and this time, Viva hesitated for only a moment before she finally took it. Viva had no idea why she was even considering something like this. Throughout today, Percy had put her through literal hell, and she hadn’t gotten even a second to catch her breath. If she had any sanity left, then she should be running out of here right now and never looking back! But even though she had been through a lot, Viva couldn’t deny that Percy had never lied to her before. Percival’s sheer confidence and his ability to handle any situation that they found themselves in made Viva believe in him, and she couldn’t help but feel that he knew what he was talking about even now.