Chapter 19: Getting Away With Murder
News traveled quickly about the sudden death of Earl James, found dead in his bedroom. It became the hottest gossip in town, discussed on every corner and every alleyway.
The murderer was still on the loose, leaving the Public Security Department’s officers, the alphas, scrambling. Even the rarely seen queen took interest in the case, assigning Luther, a top officer from the Royal Guard, to personally supervise the investigation.
But no matter who they were, no matter how important they were in life, once they died, people would only remember them for a short while. Time, the best healer and the biggest thief, would soon make everyone forget them.
As the party night faded away, a new day began. Far from human homes, plants were growing, making the area a bright green.
A blimp slowly rose in the sky. Its pointed front had a beautiful statue of a goddess that shined brightly under the sun. The oval-shaped body of the blimp could hold hundreds of passengers. Its huge shadow scared a group of deer hiding in the woods as it moved across the area.
The pretty group of deer ran across the green field, with the blimp’s humming sound in the background. They soon disappeared into an overgrown ruin, stirring up a whirlwind of leaves.
"Look! Those are ruins from the old days," a young boy on the blimp said. He was dressed in the white uniform of the beta academy, with a touch of fancy lace on his sleeve, and a clear air of good manners about him. He looked pretty young.
Several other betas, dressed similarly, came to the window to see. A ride on such a fancy blimp, a leftover from the old days, was an expensive treat, powered by valuable energy stones. It wasn’t something ordinary people could pay for.
Right now, the blimp was taking a dozen young betas, closely watched by many alphas, slowly towards the frontier. These days, the borderlands were getting more and more dangerous. The Polluted Zone was getting bigger and was filled with dangerous mutated creatures. No beta would willingly stay at the dangerous, resource-less border outposts for long. The weak, rare betas couldn’t handle the harsh life in these war zones.
Yet, to keep the spirits of the alphas living in these tough lands high, the Empire would send out a few betas from the Tower to the border outposts each year. It was done under the excuse of helping to heal those alphas with severe psychic problems.
After all, the Empire publicly said not to abandon any alpha lightly. Over the years, though, this exercise had become more of a formality.
Every year, the Empire would symbolically send betas out on these missions. Whenever they arrived, they were greeted with a big welcome, their visit recorded on video. The betas would spend a day or two in the challenging conditions before rushing back, full of complaints. They barely helped deal with the psychic problems affecting the poor alphas at the borders.
There are so many alphas that need help - they’re as numerous as the mountains and the sea - but the number of dispatched young betas was quite limited. They can’t really do much and can only make a token appearance.
The young betas are sitting in a big, bright dining room, eating. Through the large glass windows, they can see the never-ending wilderness. Even though they didn’t want to leave when they first set off, they are still a group of young people who’ve never left the Tower, and everything in the outside world is new and interesting to them.
Under the bright green grass, there are tons of buildings left by humans. The overpasses and street lights that used to cover the entire city have collapsed, looking like a dead dragon, half-buried in the yellow sand, with only a few broken pieces still stuck in time, looking up at the bright sun.
Many skyscrapers, over hundreds of years, have had their steel bodies worn away by time. They stand quietly in the wilderness, covered in green, looking like hundreds of big tombstones.
"Wow, are those where ancient humans lived?"
"See those tall buildings that look like towers? The tiny black holes that cover them, I heard, were the houses where people used to live," the alpha who first called everyone explained.
"Wow, why did they build such tall houses and live in such tight spaces? The land is so big, and I heard there was no Polluted Zone back then, right?"
"Back then, there were lots and lots of humans on this planet, so many that you can’t even imagine. There wasn’t enough land for them to live on. People had to build their houses taller and taller, layer on layer, living squeezed together like bees. Yes, just like what you see."
"No wonder Serge Bloch is the top student in the annual assessment. He even knows ancient history so well," a friend praised the boy. "You’re first in every subject, aren’t you?"
Serge, sitting in the blimp’s dining room, looked away from the window, elegantly unfolded his napkin, and smiled modestly, "That’s not true, there are certainly people with better grades than me."
"Serge would be the top student in all subjects, except for the psychic strength test. Every year, he’s beaten by that weirdo."
"You mean, that person?"
"Yeah, who else could it be? Her grades are all terrible, she can’t sing, she can’t dance. I saw her burn the trash can in cooking class."
"How could Serge lose to such a person? Did she cheat somehow?"
"Exactly, besides psychic strength, her grades in all subjects are so bad. Why would she get matched with such a great mate so early?"
"That person is the only son of the Riker family, I heard his name is Tarian. He has already passed the test as a powerful young alpha, his psychic incarnation is a very magnificent cheetah, and he is handsome and, I heard, has a good personality."
Serge raised his hand to stop his friends from gossiping further. "Don’t talk like that. She’s better than me at psychic strength. We should go with what the Tower decides."
Growing up in the beta academy as a top student, Serge had learned from his teachers since he was a kid to be disciplined, humble, and mild-mannered. He was a role model for students his age in both his grades and his behavior.
He knew that as a beta, being humble and gentle was most important. He shouldn’t talk behind others’ backs, even if he felt it was unfair and had doubts.
Once, he quietly asked his teacher why he always lost to that person in this subject. "Sir, I just want to know how much stronger her psychic strength is than mine? Then I can work hard to try and catch up to her."
At that time, his teacher only sighed and gently patted his head. Even though his teacher didn’t say anything, the pitying look in his teacher’s eyes made him want to rebel. He took a long time to think and adjust his mindset to get back to a calm and obedient state, so he wouldn’t feel overly competitive every time he heard that name.
He kept reminding himself, "A beta shouldn’t have such a strong desire to win or lose, it’s not right."
"What a beta should pay attention to is not this." His teacher’s serious teachings still rang in his ears. "The most important thing for a beta is to learn to gently and carefully control psychic power, to be able to help your future mate, who the Empire matches you with, handle their negative emotions. That’s enough. It’s not good for a beta to be overpowering."
Serge took his teacher’s words to heart and let go of those wrong thoughts.
The most important things for a beta are calmness, gentleness, beauty, and selflessly dedicating their life to their mate. Everyone believes in these values. Serge also believed in them, year after year, carefully and strictly disciplining himself to be the perfect beta.
When the other betas heard the gossip, they leaned in and started to chatter.
"You’re talking about Kestrel, right?"
"Does she have some kind of background? She’s pretty mysterious, doesn’t socialize at all, and is always cold and alone every day. I don’t think any alpha could put up with her."
"Exactly, I think they’re bound to break up sooner or later. Who would want a beta who can’t even pass a cooking test?"
"You guys don’t know yet? Kestrel and the guy from the Riker family have already called off their engagement." A girl sitting at the end of the table put down her gold fork, gently wiped her mouth with a napkin. "It just happened recently. I heard that Kestrel caught Tarian with another beta."
"Really? Then what happened? Tell us everything, Nicole."
Everyone loves a bit of gossip, even the gentle and elegant betas are no exception. Everyone’s ears perked up, and even the school’s top student, Serge, couldn’t help but lean in slightly.
Nicole, with big curls on her head, looked slightly out of place in the dignified uniform of the academy. But she was of noble origin, a hereditary aristocrat. Her father, a baron, was the official spokesperson for the royal family. This made her lifestyle a bit more carefree than the average betas, and no one dared to restrict her.
"It’s as clear as day, there’s nothing to explain. Kestrel was tough, right there and then, she took the engagement ring off her hand and tossed it into the sewer in front of those two." Nicole said, "The news has already spread among us, you just didn’t know."
"Really? She actually threw that ring into the sewer?" Someone asked incredulously, "I heard that it’s an heirloom of the Rikes family, worth a lot of ashcredit."
"Of course, it’s true. That banquet a few days ago, the day James passed away. I saw Kestrel, she no longer wore the ring." Nicole pursed her lips and then went on, "To be honest, I quite like her character. It’s better than crying and causing a scene when faced with such a situation."
"Right, isn’t Kestrel here as well? She seems to have joined the Special Research Division. We’re on the same blimp going to the outpost. Why don’t we call her over and ask?"
Nicole lifted her head and began to search through the crowd. It didn’t take long before she spotted the person she was looking for. She waved in that direction and yelled, "Kestrel, come over. Sit here."
Before anyone could stop Nicole, they saw that girl, who had been studying at the academy for many years but was unfamiliar with everyone, the legendary weirdo, walking over with a plate of food, looking confused.
"Did you call me?" Kestrel asked as she approached. Like all betas, she was elegant and had delicate skin. However, instead of the complex patterned dress of the beta academy, she wore dark blue sportswear suitable for movement. The material of the clothes was high-grade, but it looked slightly unfitting. She had tied a belt around her oversized clothing, and her long legs were clad in hard-soled high-top shoes. Her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, revealing smooth forearms, and she was spinning a tray of food with two fingers.
She seemed too calm to be a woman who had just experienced betrayal from her mate. She stood casually in front of everyone and asked with an emotionless face, "Did you call me for something?"
"No," Nicole smiled at her, making room for her. "We’ve been classmates for so many years and haven’t really talked. I heard you’ve joined the Special Research Division, so I invited you to have lunch with us."
And so, Kestrel sat down next to her, holding her plate. In reality, she didn’t remember Nicole’s name, even though the girl acted like they were familiar. In fact, she couldn’t name most of the people at the table. She only vaguely recognized the male beta sitting by the window as a classmate.
Several years ago, likely after the semester tests, Serge had stopped Kestrel in her tracks. His eyes, tear-stained and beseeching, sought an answer from her. "Could you, could you show me your psychic incarnation?"
Kestrel was puzzled, a question mark practically visible above her head.
"I just want to see how much of a gap there is between us," Serge managed to say, as though he had gathered all his courage to utter the sentence.
Beside Serge, a fluffy purebred Chinchilla cat popped out. The kitten tried its best to make its body look bigger, growing to the size of a husky, a size rarely seen among betas.
The ’enlarged’ Chinchilla cat meowed fiercely at Kestrel, its voice still kittenish, and it even extended its little claws.
Kestrel, suppressing all her emotions, worked hard to keep all her restless psychic tendrils in the darkness in check. She completely ignored Serge, walking past the white kitten with an aloof expression.
"Please hurry, please hurry," Even her tendrils were urging her.
Afterward, she didn’t know if the ignored beta she had left behind was upset to the point of tears.
Now, sitting at a table with her academy classmates, Kestrel felt awkward asking everyone’s names. She knew that forgetting people’s names was generally considered impolite. So, she had to play along, acting as though she knew who everyone was, but just chose not to converse. The chatter at the dining table abruptly ceased, descending into a moment of awkward silence.
