Two days had passed since then. Julius had been sent back to Berlin, and Gabriel, along with the Revenant Knights, continued their surveillance. For a brief moment, it seemed the Manticore killings had stopped. There had been no new victims.
"Suspect is active again."
For the past forty-eight hours, Elena Kasner had been under close watch. She was still the prime suspect in the apparent suicide of Professor Herschel Adelbert Becker, and now, potentially, the next target of the Manticore.
It hadn't been a pleasant assignment. Every night, Elena returned to her work as a private escort, meeting clients across Munich's underbelly.
What drew the Knights' concern, however, wasn't her profession, but the men she met.
Their profiles were anything but ordinary.
——If this gets out, it could turn into a full-blown scandal.
"Agreed." Gabriel nodded.
Currently, Elena was meeting with the personal secretary of Munich's mayor, a married man with deep political connections and a spotless public image.
The surveillance feed flashed across the holo-display in front of Gabriel. He watched silently as Elena entered a high-rise apartment complex in the Marienplatz district.
——Good for you then, Knight Gabriel. You just gained leverage the Schneiders could use to control Munich's secretary.
"I suppose so."
It was no secret within the Revenant Knights that Gabriel Ludwig Dieterich was a complete Schneider loyalist. One of their most capable assets. A hunting dog who knew exactly which master he served.
After nearly an hour, the door to the motel finally opened. The mayor's secretary stepped out first. He raised the collar of his coat and looked around the street. After a moment of hesitation, he hurried toward his car and drove off without looking back.
A few minutes later, Elena Kasner emerged.
To the untrained eye, she looked like any other woman leaving after a late-night meeting. But Gabriel's men kept a careful distance, tracking her until she made her way back to her apartment in the southern district.
Her profile painted a bleak picture. Born to a Czech prostitute and abandoned at a Kinderheim at a young age, Elena spent most of her childhood under institutional care.
Eventually, she was adopted by a foster family, only for that family to die in a homicide case.
Later, she was taken in by another foster home, but tragedy struck again. Both families met the same fate. Their deaths left her with no one and nowhere to return to.
After that, not even the Kinderheim dared to take her back. Labeled as cursed, she was left to fend for herself.
In a city like Munich, that meant doing whatever it took to stay alive.
Her work as an unregistered escort wasn't a choice, but a necessity. A way to keep food on the table, pay the rent, and fund her education in a world that had already abandoned her more than once.
A week passed like that.
The police had grown impatient. There was no concrete evidence to implicate Elena Kasner in Professor Herschel's death.
The investigation had gone stale, but the Revenant Knights carried on, continuing their surveillance.
Still, there had been no new killings connected to the Manticore.
"That's…"
The man meeting with Elena this time wasn't a politician or another client from Munich's underbelly. It was Dr. Otto Kranz, director of Heilige Kreuz Medical Institute.
——Seems like her future's set. Sleep with the director, and she's got herself a golden ticket to a high position after graduation.
Gabriel exhaled through his nose. "If that's the case, then she's smarter than she looks."
An hour later, a report came through the terminal.
——Knight Commander, a new report just came in. Another suicide case. The victim… is the secretary.
"...."
Munich really was a shithole. In just two weeks, there had been two suicides, and both victims shared one thing in common.
Elena Kasner.
Gabriel exhaled. "Three of you, head to the scene. Secure it and get forensics on standby. The rest of us move in and detain the suspect."
Even if it wasn't connected to the Manticore, there was no denying it anymore. Elena Kasner was at the center of something, and whatever it was, it reeked of anything but a coincidence.
——Understood.
Within minutes, Gabriel and his unit were on the move. The Revenant Knights moved through the shadows of Munich's red light district.
Gabriel and his partner crouched by the ledge of the second-floor motel window. They peered inside. Elena Kasner was straddling Dr. Otto Kranz, both of them fully nude.
Gabriel tapped his terminal and spoke, "Knight Albrecht and I will enter through the window. The rest of you, secure the hallway and all possible exits. Make sure no one gets out."
——Yes, sir.
Gabriel exhaled quietly, his breath fogging against the cold glass. "On my mark."
Albrecht gave a single nod. Then, in perfect sync, Gabriel raised his boot and shattered the window with a single kick. The glass burst inward as the two vaulted through.
The shock on Elena and the doctor's faces was instantaneous.
"Dr. Otto Kranz, you're under investigation. Miss Kasner, you're coming with us."
Elena let out a startled gasp. In a panic, she quickly scrambled off the doctor and yanked the blanket up to cover herself, pressing her back against the headboard.
"W-What the hell is this?!" Dr. Otto blurted out, fumbling for his clothes.
"Stay where you are," Gabriel ordered.
Elena's breathing grew shallow. Her hands trembled as she clutched the blanket tighter, her wide eyes alternating between the two armed Knights and the shattered window.
"I—I don't understand," she stammered. "Why are you here? What did I do?"
"Two men connected to you are dead, both ruled as suicides within two weeks. I don't believe in coincidences that convenient."
Dr. Kranz turned toward them. "I—I'm not involved! W-Why am I under investigation?!"
Gabriel's glare grew icy cold. "You're the director of a state-funded medical institute and a married man, caught in bed with a cybernetic medicine student, an unregistered escort, and the prime suspect in an ongoing homicide investigation."
The words landed like gunfire. Dr. Otto froze, the color draining from his face. His throat bobbed as he tried to speak, but no sound came out. It was clear that, after tonight, his career and his marriage were both as good as over.
"Miss Kasner."
The atmosphere shifted. Elena remained seated on the bed, her hair falling over her face, shadowing her expression.
Gabriel exchanged a glance with his partner and gave a subtle nod. Albrecht stepped forward with cuffs in his hands.
Then Elena lifted her head.
———!
In one swift motion, she pulled Dr. Otto against her chest and tightened her arms around his neck. Her fingers spread open, nails elongating into crystalline shards.
"Don't move," Elena said. As she spoke, her teeth refracted into shards.
"...."
Albrecht froze mid-step, the cuffs still dangling from his hand.
Gabriel's hand tightened around his photon saber, though he didn't ignite it. He knew that weapon wouldn't help him now.
Because in that instant, as he watched the crystalline veins spread across her skin, Gabriel understood.
Elena Kasner was a Glassheart.
"...."
…And the Manticore.