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Chapter 52: The Melinoe Archives

Finn, Iris, and Jim used the teleporter in the mansion to fast travel to the Phantom Slayer Corps’ headquarters. Iris brought her wheelchair along this time, since it would be a hassle if Finn had to leave with her every time she wanted to pick up a new book in the library or something. Her weapons, a handgun and a sniper, were both holstered in a special compartment attached to the handle of the wheelchair so she could pull them out swiftly at any time.

“Y’know, I never thought there would be a day when I would see two Ghost Hunters like you. One blind, one crippled,” Jim noted as they walked into the massive tower that lay ahead. “How’d ya get accepted?”

“The Guildmaster let us in,” Iris responded, since Finn clearly wasn’t going to talk. “That aside… are you a Phantom Slayer as well?”

“Ha! Me? No. I’m a freelance Hunter. Don’t belong to any guild. I just go ’round, killin’ bloody Ghosts whenever I see ’em,” Jim chuckled, then snapped his fingers. “Oh, but if some chimp offers me money, then by all means I’ll gladly lend ’em a hand.”

“A freelance Hunter… will they even accept you here?” Iris asked.

“‘Course. The Hunter system is universal, guild or not. I even got a bloody card, see?”

Jim took out his Hunter card and handed it to Iris, whose eyes widened as she saw the stats displayed on it.

[Name: Jim Halifax]

[Age: 27]

[Alias: Tarot]

[Angelica: Cardmaster]

[Affiliations: None]

[Rank: S-Class]

“You’re… an S-Class Hunter?”

At this, Finn’s ears perked up. He had not been expecting this.

Jim scoffed. “Why so surprised? There’s no shortage of talents out there. S-Class is just the bloody beginnin’.”

“S-Still… considering the two of us are both D-Class, you must be a lot stronger than we are.”

At this, Jim stopped walking for a second to stare at Iris, right before they entered the tower. A grin curved up on his mouth as he thought of an idea.

“Well then, pretty lady. Why don’t we test that theory?”

Iris blinked. “Eh?”

*****

Soon, the trio boarded one of the elevators in the guild HQ. The waiting time was quite long, but not enough to make them want to take the stairs instead. Besides, since Iris’s wheelchair was here, they couldn’t take the stairs even if they tried.

After the three boarded, Jim pressed on the button to go to the fifth floor.

“Um… where are we going?” Iris asked.

“The bloody library, of course. That’s what we came here to do, no?”

“Ah, okay, I see… it’s just… what you said earlier concerned me a bit.” Iris let out a sigh of relief.

Jim smirked. “What, the whole deal with testin’ that theory o’ yours, mate? Don’t worry, we’ll get to that.”

“Um… I’d prefer not to get killed, thanks…”

“Relax, young lady. You won’t get killed, no matter how bloody hard I try.”

Finn was curious about this, while Iris was confused. Still, they didn’t have any more time for questions as the elevator arrived at its destination with a loud ding. The doors slid open, and what was laid out before them was a corridor leading into a massive library.

The three got off of the elevator and headed closer. When they were right before the entrance, Iris looked up and read the line of text inscribed on the sign.

“The Melinoe Archives…”

“Melinoe — goddess of ghosts and nightmares,” Finn added, the first time he’s spoken since this trip began. “I can see why the library was named this.”

“Well, no, ya can’t ‘see’, but yes,” Jim agreed, before snapping his fingers. “C’mon, Let’s head in.”

Together, the three entered the library. From the inside, Iris could use her Oculus Angelica to see it spanned multiple floors, about five in total. Every floor was filled with bookshelves, every bookshelf was filled with books, and every book was filled with knowledge. The glass panels around allowed for readers to turn their heads and gaze in wonder out at the wide open stratosphere, empty yet beautiful.

There were plenty of people around in the library right now, but none paid attention to the three of them as they entered.

Well, almost none.

“Welcome to The Melinoe Archives, Library of the Paranormal. What can I do for you today?”

A calm, gentle receptionist asked this question as the three of them all turned to face her.

“Well, it’s these two’s first time here,” Jim said, nudging Finn. “I’m just showin’ them ’round.”

“I see. That’s alright, just remember to stay quiet as much as possible as to avoid disturbing others. If you want to check out a book, just bring it here or to any other receptionist on the upper floors.”

“Hear that? Stay quiet,” Jim said, chuckling lightly.

‘You’re the only one talking…’ Finn thought in his mind, but knew better than to say it out loud.

“Enjoy your tour,” the receptionist said with a warm smile.

“‘Course,” Jim winked charmingly, then leaned in close to the counter. “But that aside… can I borrow yer phone real quick? Mine broke, and I need to call someone.”

“Sure,” the receptionist replied, pulling out her phone and handing it to him after unlocking.

Jim smirked discretely. Iris peeked over and saw him secretly opening the poor receptionist’s contacts, gaining her phone number, before quickly switching to the dial page and inputting ‘000-000-0000’. Then, he brought the phone up next to his ear.

“Aye, what’s up, Bakris!”

[The number you are trying to dial is not a working number. Please try again.]

“Hm? The meet is tonight? Oh, bloody hell… I nearly forgot, thanks for the reminder.

[Beep. Beep. Beep.]

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Don’t worry, I won’t be late. 9 o’clock, on the dot.”

[The number you are trying to dial is-]

“Mhm. Alright, thanks mate, see ya tonight.”

Jim hurriedly hung up and handed the phone back to the receptionist.

Finn and Iris: “…”

They overheard the whole conversation since they were right next to Jim, but the receptionist seemed to be absolutely clueless — until she checked the phone logs and saw 000-000-0000, anyway.

“Thanks, girl,” Jim chuckled before heading off. Finn and Iris followed, though they were utterly unsure of how to respond to Jim’s actions.

As they went out of earshot of the receptionist, Iris decided to finally speak up.

“Jim… you realize she’ll find out what you did once she checks the call history, right?”

“Oh yeah. That’s the point,” Jim replied, which stunned Finn and Iris even more.

“… What?”

He stopped and sighed, turning around to face the two. “Aye, kids. How to pick up girls 101, with yours truly. Step one, get their phone number by any means. Step two, purposely let ’em find out about what yer tryin’ to do so they think it’s cute, and step three: profit. Got that?”

“…”

“Good, ya get it! Now, let’s bloody hurry up and get this tour done, ’cause I got a date tonight, baby.”

With that, he resumed walking once more, leaving Finn and Iris dumbfounded by his… flirting tactics.