Demon Lord Shapeshifting System



Artea Holmwood. Harker had actually done some research on her while researching Yakov Perelman.

She was the child of Arthur Holmwood, the headmaster of Holmwood University. His family had apparently founded the school in 1886. But their legacy spanned for several centuries before that, as they were well-known for their contribution to archeology, anthropology and other historical discoveries.

It was a woman named Artea, this girls' namesake, who had found the first piece of the meteor that supposedly brought the dinosaurs to extinction in 1566. This predated even Mary Anning's finding of dinosaur bones in 1799 and the discovery of the Chicxulub crater in 1978. They compared the rock sample to the crater and confirmed that it was indeed part of this meteor.

But more than that, he was interested in what this Artea was all about. 

Apparently, she had been the Student Council President of Holmwood Academy since her freshman year. Ever since then, she has always won the election by a landslide. As he expected, she was studying Political Science.

Harker also knew that she had been adopted. Arthur Holmwood married a Latina woman in her late 60s, and took in this child as his own. Just with this information, he could already tell….

That Artea Holmwood was actually Alejandro Laurel's daughter. The one he had to give away due to the difficulties of war.

Though he was fond of the father, he can't say the same to Artea. Not even when he learned that they were related. She was planning to be a politician, and there's obviously nepotism coming into play with her continuous winning streak. She had grown up rich, and—

Harker stopped himself. He does realize that he was judging this woman severely, even though he was constantly reminded not to judge.

'Don't get it twisted' has proven to be more true now after everything he experienced as a demon lord. He always encountered the unexpected when he thought he knew everything.

But…

He still can't bring himself to like her at all!

"..... So I looked into all these files, right? And you would not guess what I had found, Roland." She spoke enthusiastically as they had tea.

She and Roland were facing each other, while Harker sat by Roland's side with his arms crossed. His sour expression never disappeared, and yet nobody paid attention to it. They were too busy discussing things and wearing those wide stupid smiles. It's almost like Harker's invisible.

She took out something from this fancy silver briefcase she was carrying. Harker clicked his tongue, thinking about how much money she had wasted just to buy a briefcase like that when she could have just bought a regular one. What a show-off.

"Here it is. The files showed that the father of one of the students, Galeas Fieldings, was actually Chief Lance Fieldings of the New York City Police Department."

Harker examined the picture of the boy with auburn hair, acne, and large square glasses. He looked like your average geek, and not someone you'd expect to be the son of the chief of police.

"Galeas is vying for the same internship position at NY Aeronautics that has connections to NASA as the suspect, Felix Garcia. Think about it, Roland. I don't want to make accusations, but this is too much of a coincidence." Artea said. "I mean, the murder happened just as these two had sent in their applications."

Roland seemed to really consider this possibility. "Yes…. It really is too much of a coincidence. I had also noticed how quick the arrest and detention had seemed, even at the standards of a heinous crime like this. And the witness just easily found Felix in the dumpsters."

Harker scoffed. "It sounds too far-fetched to me."

Both of them turned to him quizzically. Harker gave Roland a look, as if flabbergasted that even he would question his remark. 

"There are bars in the area, would you really be surprised about some witness finding him in the dumpsters? And would the chief of police really be dumb enough to commit MURDER just to frame his son's competition? You're connecting dots that aren't there, Ms. Artea. So I'm sorry to say this again but it sounds too far-fetched to me."

He stood up, taking Roland's hand with him. "Thank you for your help, but we already have a lead on this case. All we need is to confirm those leads in the crime scene itself."

Roland raised an eyebrow. "We're going to the dumpsters now?"

"No time like the present. Unless you want to go there at nighttime?" Harker said pointedly.

Artea looked really confused on why this man, this stranger that she doesn't even know well, was acting so prickly towards her. But she did not say anything about it. Instead, she also stood up and followed them. 

"May I go with you? I might be able to help. I quite good at talking to people, maybe we can gain more information from those who are in the area—"

"No, thanks." Harker said, still half-dragging Roland with him to the Marsedez-Bentz.

But then, Roland suddenly yanked his hand away. Almost too roughly.

"She's right, Harker. And you don't need to investigate the scene with me. You're sick, you should go home and rest."

"What!?" Harker exclaimed. "Didn't you call me out for help first? I'm the one you need the most in this case, so we're going!"

"But you're not well! I mean look at how irritable you are right now! How can you even play detective when acting like that?" Roland argued. "Go home, Hark. Your siblings are also waiting for you. Mina and Joan too." 

The way he said that had a sense of finality that made it sound like an order. And for some reason, Harker didn't like being ordered around by him. Not this time. 

"We're going." He repeated.

"No." Roland said, walking towards Artea's side. 

Harker gritted his teeth. "Fine! Go to the dangerous murder place with your girlfriend, then! Just make sure to not end up losing some face!"

Roland was incredulous. "My girlfriend? What the hell is wrong with you, Hark? You're acting weird like you're—"

Harker gave him the middle finger before he could continue as he walked out of the Faust residence. Roland sighed, both infuriated and finding his immature antics a bit funny for some reason.

"This guy is seriously a...." He couldn't even decide the words. 

Artea rubbed her chin, then approached Harker. "Don't worry, Roland. I think I can take care of this."

Roland watched in confusion as she went to Harker, and said something to him. He couldn't hear them, but it seemed to have managed to convince Harker to turn around…..

And go back to Roland's car. 

"I'm driving the car, you ride shotgun, she's on the back. Far, far back." He narrowed his eyes on her. "And I don't want her interfering unless it's needed, alright? This is our case to solve, she's just a bystander."

Artea smiled, sitting on the back of the limo. "Of course, Mr. Jones."

Roland had no idea how she did it. He sat in the passenger seat. "What did she say that made you—"

"Shut up, Catson. I'm the Surelock Holmes here, so I take the wheels both literally and figuratively. No talking while I go on my detective mode from here on out." 

Harker put the pedal to the medal and drove all the way to the district where they could find the Circus Cabaret.