Bloodline Evolution: I Can Choose Opposing Paths

The moment he did, it hit him immediately. Even while covered by the veil of water, the burning sensation in his throat remained.

Definitely poison...this guy wants to kill me! Because I said I was a food inspector?

Regardless, Aren held it inside his mouth, trying to use his past knowledge of poisons to decipher which it was.

All the while, Shen stood by the table, satisfied. He hadn’t even tried to hide the small grin on his face.

But still, he didn’t leave.

Tch...this guy’s thorough.

Without another choice, Aren enveloped the broth with more of his pure water ether before...swallowing.

Gulp...

The burning sensation grew. Ordinarily, it would spread throughout his body by now, slowly killing him from the inside.

However, due to the water ether enveloped around the cluster of broth, it remained within his body, just past the throat and barely into the stomach. Aren couldn’t let any of it touch his other internal organs.

Once Aren had swallowed the broth, the owner hadn’t even bothered waiting for the ’comment’ he had been pressing about, and slowly said:

"Well, take your time! You don’t need to call me again and just leave the payment on the table, I trust my customers!"

"That is...if you can finish it."

With those final words, he turned and went straight back into the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone.

Aren started coughing immediately, forcing the cluster of broth and his water ether up his throat before spitting the whole thing back out into his bowl.

"Aren! Hey, are you alright?! I can’t believe you just did that!"

He steadied himself against the edge of the table, breathing slowly as the last remnants of the burning sensation faded from his throat.

"...Didn’t really have a choice. It was that or expose our cover."

Miu frowned, glancing down at the bowl before pushing it even farther away. "...That’s not food."

"No...it’s not."

"Which begs the question," Miu continued, looking at the bowl once more. "Why serve it at all? If this is what he’s been making, how did this place even stay open?"

Aren eyed the bowl again, studying the surface of the broth as it clung unnaturally to the sides.

"He wouldn’t, not something so obvious like this."

"Then why would he..." Miu started.

"Because we said we were food inspectors," Aren cut in calmly. "He was insistent enough to force one of us to eat it."

"But wouldn’t he be sloppy? If he tried to poison you and something were to happen to you, wouldn’t I be able to expose him?" Miu tilted her head in confusion.

That’s true...how can someone be this thorough, yet this careless at the same time?

"Regardless," Aren nodded. "Let’s call to confirm."

Miu watched as he dialed something on his phone. It rang only once before the person he called picked up.

"Yeah?" Stella’s voice came through the line, slightly muffled. "I’m in the middle of something, make it quick."

"We need you to check something," Aren said. "Shen’s Noodles, food inspection records."

There was a brief pause on the other end.

"...You already went there?"

"Yes."

"...I told you not to do anything reckless."

"Just check."

"...Fine. Give me a second."

The line went quiet for a minute or two until Stella came back, shuffling could be heard from the other side, presumably from papers.

"...Alright, I’ve got something," Stella said. "Last recorded inspection...looks like it was around 8 months ago."

Miu blinked. "That’s a long time..."

Aren’s eyes narrowed slightly. "...How often do restaurants usually get inspected?"

"Depends on the region," Stella replied. "But for a place like this? Roughly every six months."

"So it’s overdue..." Miu muttered from beside him. "Then the last inspector..."

"Likely came and never got to report anything," Aren finished her sentence.

The line on Stella’s end went silent for a moment before she spoke up again. "Don’t be hasty with conclusions like that. Just sit tight, I’ll be there soon."

The call ended immediately afterward. Both of them glanced at each other before Miu ultimately sighed.

"We’re not sitting tight, are we?"

"Nope."

Aren reached into his coat and pulled out a few bills, placing them neatly on the table before pushing out his chair and standing up.

The bell chimed softly as they stepped out, and just like that...life continued. And under normal circumstances, Shen’s plan would work, and no one would know if anything inside the restaurant was wrong.

Miu exhaled sharply, her shoulders finally dropping. "...Okay. Nope. Absolutely not normal."

Aren scanned the surrounding paths, eyes locking onto a corner where it turned sharply into a small back alley street.

"There should be a back entrance..."

Miu blinked. "...You’re serious?"

But Aren barely heard the question, as he was moving towards the street already.

It didn’t take long at all. The side street branched off just a few buildings down, easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it.

The further they walked the quieter it became, with sounds of the main road fading behind them, replaced by the echoes of their own footsteps on the pavement.

And at the very end of the back alley street, a plain metal door set into the back of the building.

"...That’s definitely it," Miu muttered.

"Yeah," he stopped a few feet short of the door, eyes narrowing slightly. "...We go quiet from here."

Miu nodded.

"...Got it."

Aren exhaled softly. "Aqua Veil."

A thin layer of water spread outward from his body, so subtle it barely disturbed the air. It wrapped around both of them, distorting the space just enough to bend light and blur their outlines, to make their presence...fade.

At the same time, Miu softly muttered. "Domain of Silence."

Her voice echoed softly, yet all of a sudden, Aren couldn’t even hear the sound of his own breathing. He tried speaking, but couldn’t hear any of his own words.

"Oops, my bad, my control isn’t right yet," Miu started.

Aren frowned but tried again. "Ahh...ahh...testing. Okay good."

He moved his hand onto the doorknob, looking once at Miu to wait for her confirmation. Once she nodded, he turned the knob and pushed.

The thing that immediately hit them was the smell, so bad that it made Miu gag and cover up her nose.

"What the..."

Aren’s eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, scanning the space in front of them.

"Storage area," he muttered quietly.

Shelves lined the walls from end to end, stacked with ingredients—boxes, sacks, containers of various sizes. At first glance, it looked like any other backroom, but again...just at first glance.

Aren stepped forward slowly, careful with each movement despite Miu’s Art wrapping around them.

He reached out, fingers brushing against one of the containers before lifting the lid just enough to peek inside.

...

The contents had long since gone bad. Not just slightly, but completely gone bad.

The texture had broken down so much that he didn’t even know what the can was supposed to contain. Even without the smell, it was obvious enough by the uniformly gray color that didn’t belong to anything edible.

This can’t even be considered food. Hell, even a city rat wouldn’t scrounge around for something like this.

Miu leaned in beside him, taking one look before immediately recoiling. "This can’t even be considered neglect anymore..."

Aren nodded lightly.

Even someone who didn’t understand cooking would know. Even someone who didn’t care...wouldn’t use something like this.

"...This isn’t something you miss," he said quietly.

"...You’re saying he knows?"

Aren’s eyes lingered on a rice sack in the corner, grains leaking slightly through a tear in the fabric.

"...Anyone would."

"Let’s continue," he said.

Because that wasn’t a question that both of them would’ve wanted the answer to. Though there were more pressing matters.

Another metallic door stood between them and what Aren presumed was the kitchen. On the other side of said door, small muttering can be heard along with the loud thuds of what was probably a big cleaver coming down onto a wooden cutting board.

"Uhm, A–aren? I kind of don’t feel like w–we should go in there..." Miu stuttered.

She’s right. Going in there is a bit too dangerous considering I don’t know what he even is.

Let’s just eavesdrop on him for now...

Aren slowly approached the metallic door, finding out that it was unlocked before giving it a tiny push to open it ajar.

Shen was there with his back turned, standing over a wooden chopping block. His arms rose, a gigantic meat cleaver in his hand before it came back down.

Thud.

There was nothing on the board, no meat or vegetables, just the wood. Yet he kept repeating the same swing over and over again.

"...shit..."

The word slipped out under his breath, just barely audible with Miu’s Sound Element.

"...shit, shit..."

Thud.

"They’re onto me... they’re onto me..."

"Fuck... what do I do... what do I do..."

Thud.

His grip tightened around the handle.

"...Did it work? Did the poison work...?"

Thud.

The cleaver slammed down again.

"Fuck! They’re gone! They’re fucking gone! I need to get out of here!"

Aren could feel Miu’s finger tighten around his sleeve. Every time the knife went down, she flinched a bit.

Until—

THUD!

The knife came down so hard that it broke the wooden board, wooden splinters flying everywhere, yet he didn’t seem phased at all.

But with the large swing, Miu flinched, her foot brushing against the nearby metal rack.

Shit! It’s gonna fall!

Channeling lightning ether into his foot, Aren burst over to the metal rack, barely managing to hold the entire thing up, but—

He couldn’t save it all, as one can rolled right off, dropping its contents everywhere onto the ground. The sound itself had been swallowed whole by the Domain of Silence...but the tremor that it made...

"Huh? Who’s there!"

Aren’s eyes were fixed on the door...

Before it opened.