EP.143 A Police Officer's Hell - (Part 1)
Inspector Evian of Edelfight. He was one of the few sources of pride for Edelfight, which could be considered the frontier of the Military Nation.
He achieved decent grades at the Primary Citizens' School and enrolled in a distant Secondary Military Academy. At the all-boarding secondary academy, he passed the grueling exams and, through sheer effort, managed to graduate with relatively outstanding grades.
While it wasn't enough to go to the Senior Military Academy, he could have become a soldier if he wanted to.
However, Evian deliberately chose to become a police officer.
It was called the police, but it was actually a subordinate organization of the Military Police Corps. In the Military Nation, becoming a police officer was nothing more than voluntarily blocking one's own path to success, but it had one unique advantage that couldn't be compared to being a soldier.
Once his rank rose high enough, he could choose his own station.
Only to return to his hometown, and to serve his widowed mother. Inspector Evian endured the rough life of a police officer and achieved that fruition.
A small police box in Edelfight. It was while Inspector Evian, having satisfactorily finished his shift today, was organizing documents.
『Inspector Evian of Edelfight.』
Someone's voice was heard. Inspector Evian looked around.
"Who is it? Working hours are over."
『If you knew who I was, you would feel an irresistible terror. Every moment you breathe will morph into hell, and you'll want to hide in a hole like a frightened mouse. Wouldn't it be happier not to know?』
That was too much for a prank. Inspector Evian frowned and stood up abruptly. Before he knew it, his hand was holding a steel baton he had grown familiar with over the years.
"What? What kind of prank is this?"
『A prank? A prank, you say. You would have been happy if it were just a prank. Keuk-keuk. Inspector Evian. From tomorrow, you will taste hell. Look forward to it.』
"How dare you threaten a police officer!"
Furious, Inspector Evian kicked the door open and looked around, but only the gloomy streets engulfed in darkness welcomed him.
Unable to sleep properly due to the ominous atmosphere.
Evian continued his patrol last night, wandering around every nook and cranny of the dark alleys. The village was lamentably peaceful. The only strange thing that day was Inspector Evian, who volunteered for night duty.
The only thing he did during the night was sending Elly, a tomboy who was roaming around instead of going home, back to her house.
In other words, Elly roaming around wasn't strange. It was rarer for Elly to get caught by Evian and be sent home.
Then what on earth was that yesterday?
It was when Evian was walking down the street, ruffling his hair in frustration. Hearing a commotion from over there, Evian ran straight towards it.
"Someone stole the auto-carriage!"
"Don't make me laugh! Over here, the Alchemic Orbs kept in the warehouse yesterday have disappeared!"
The residents of Edelfight were divided into two factions and fighting.
Edelfight has two main facilities.
One is a large inn, and the other is an auto-carriage maintenance shop.
Edelfight's location was quite good. Geographically, if it weren't for the utterly useless Abyss Chasm Wasteland right above it, it would have become a transportation hub several times larger than this.
Anyway, the Military Nation built an inn and a maintenance shop in this quasi-transportation hub.
The inn and the maintenance shop were assets of the Military Nation, and the residents of this village were periodically called to perform forced labor at the inn and the maintenance shop.
At first, the residents disliked these facilities that forced labor upon them in their already busy daily lives.
However, it was hard to blindly hate them when the inn and maintenance shop looked so grand. In such a frontier, the large facilities built by the Military Nation seemed like symbols of a new era. As the residents continued their forced labor for several years, they gradually grew attached to the facilities.
Working with a sense of ownership was good, but because of that, a problem arose.
The inn located in the center of the city, and the maintenance shop standing alone on a distant road. Their locations and required skills were different from each other. Therefore, the residents gradually only went to the places where they performed their forced labor. It was a natural course for the two types of residents to separate like oil and water.
As a result, the residents of Edelfight were divided into two factions.
"What is going on?"
"Oh, Inspector Evian! You came at the right time! Please teach these bastards a lesson!"
The residents of the inn side welcomed him. The only police officer in Edelfight declared neutrality, but Evian was born on the inn side.
Evian nodded briefly and looked around at them.
"Please explain concisely what happened."
"The maintenance shop bastards stole the Alchemic Orbs from the inn's warehouse!"
As Evian approached, the maintenance shop side, who had been slightly intimidated, refuted again.
"What slander! How would we know where your Alchemic Orbs are to steal them!"
"Look who's talking! You guys who sneered at us for not even knowing how to drive a carriage, why are you looking for the missing carriage from us!"
It was completely chaotic, but Evian, a native of this village, could roughly figure out what was going on.
Just as the inn and the maintenance shop had different characteristics, they also changed the residents' attitudes differently.
Those who built experience at the maintenance shop, which required skills and dexterity, implicitly began to look down on the people on the inn side. At first, the inn side, which had the majority of the residents, scoffed at them, but as the maintenance shop kids actually stood out at the citizens' school, the inn side gradually had to suffer from an inferiority complex. Even while outwardly looking down on them, they went as far as actively encouraging their children to hang out at the maintenance shop rather than stopping them.
Lately, if it hadn't been for Inspector Evian, the pride of Edelfight and a police officer born in the inn, their momentum would have soared to the sky.
Anyway, a problem occurred at these two facilities, which claimed that all the wrongs in the world lay with each other.
The inn's Alchemic Orbs disappeared.
The auto-carriage undergoing maintenance disappeared.
And they were suspecting each other.
It was only natural that the mysterious voice from yesterday came to the mind of Inspector Evian, who was listening to the story.
"Isn't it the work of an outsider?"
"But only one person visited this inn yesterday! She is still staying at the inn!"
"If there's an outsider, we must suspect them first. They might have infiltrated this place first!"
The inn-side resident scratched his jaw and replied.
"That... she was a great person... A Captain, I think. She said she was on her way to the capital after finishing her mission."
"Forget what I just said. Completely!"
They only said "our inn" and "our maintenance shop," but they were actually assets of the Military Nation. If she were a Captain, she could take the auto-carriage and the Alchemic Orbs as her own. Even a Captain would be punished for embezzlement, but even if all the residents of this village were combined, they didn't have that authority.
Additionally, she could also kick Evian's butt for suspecting her. Evian didn't want to be kicked by a Captain.
"Then are you saying the Alchemic Orbs or the auto-carriage disappeared on their own? Without anyone coming in or going out?"
"Th... that is."
As the residents were flustered and averted their gazes, someone gestured to Evian.
"Evian, come here for a moment."
Bern, the representative of the inn side, called Evian. Evian, called over with a gesture, replied with a slightly displeased look.
"Mr. Bern. Please show at least a minimum of respect. I am the Inspector in charge of the security here."
"Do I need respect to call my nephew?"
Bern answered a little arrogantly.
After Evian's father ran away from the village in the past, his uncle Bern became his guardian and took care of him. He was no different from the village chief, and his status was rising day by day after his nephew Evian returned as an Inspector.
Evian actually found him unpleasant, but he couldn't punish him when he hadn't committed any wrongdoing. Evian was a police officer.
"Of cour... Hah, no. What is it?"
When Evian approached, Bern said in a hushed tone.
"Elly and Deb have disappeared."
"What?"
Elly was the biggest tomboy at the inn, and Deb was the eccentric at the maintenance shop. The two teenagers, who grew up in the conflict of this village, were dying to get at each other's throats whenever they saw each other.
But those two, disappeared at the same time?
"We are both worried. Whether Elly accidentally strangled Deb to death and stole the Alchemic Orbs to run away, or Deb beat Elly with a wrench and ran away in fear. It must be one of the two."
"How would Elly drive, and how would Deb steal the Alchemic Orbs... Ah, wait."
"Right. The two used to sneak into each other's facilities and play hide-and-seek. Unlike us, they know everything about each other. Like scouts probing the enemy. It's not impossible."
That was why Evian held his forehead. Because the possibility was high enough.
They had a motive, that much malice, and a history of causing trouble for the residents. If it were those two, they might have really eaten each other alive.
"Those two were in this village until last night! I personally sent them home!"
"Then it seems they didn't go home. They said they haven't seen them since that evening at home."
"Damn. Then neither of them could have gone far! Please wait a moment!"
"Are you thinking of going to catch them?"
"I have to! I only hope they are both alive!"
Evian strode through the crowd. The residents trembled with a strange anticipation for the police officer, as well as anxiety that their side's child might have committed the crime.
Evian finally faced the facility managers waiting for him.
"Inspector Evian. I am Supply Officer Sergeant Vero. The Alchemic Orbs aren't highly expensive, but they are still a major supply item. I cannot stay silent after losing them."
"I am Technical Officer Sergeant Challe. The auto-carriage is highly expensive. I hope you resolve this quickly. If this is reported to the authorities, the entire city will be sentenced to punitive forced labor."
"There happens to be an officer who visited the inn. She is resting due to injuries, but if this matter reaches her ears..."
The managers of each facility politely pressured Evian. If Evian's rank wasn't higher, those harsh words wouldn't have ended as just words.
Evian shouted nervously.
"It will be fine as long as it returns within the afternoon inventory check! Just wait! Ah, and Challe! Is there a carriage I can use?"
"There is one left, but."
"I will borrow one for official duty! Is that okay?"
"Approved."
Evian started the auto-carriage and swept widely around the village. The most recent wheel tracks were two. The one the Captain came in, and the one leaving this place.
It was fortunate it was easy to tell. Evian chased the traces of the carriage like that.
The Abyss Chasm Wasteland is vast. If the two ignorantly crossed the hill and entered the Abyss Chasm Wasteland, Evian would have to give up everything and return to Edelfight to wait for the authorities' judgment.
Fortunately, however, Evian found the stopped auto-carriage not too far away. Evian parked his auto-carriage nearby, immediately got out, and strode over. His eyes were full of anger towards the immature kids who committed this stupid act.
"Sob, sob..."
However, as he gradually heard Elly's crying, Evian grew afraid. What if Elly accidentally killed Deb and ran away. Then what should he do.
If Evian were from another village, he would have ruthlessly arrested Elly and proudly added a line to his career record. But he was from this village, and he wanted the village to be peaceful if possible. A tomboy is most vibrant when she is in the village, not in prison.
It was when Evian, swallowing his saliva, yanked open the driver's seat like he was pouncing. He locked eyes with someone in the driver's seat.
"H-Hieek! Brother Evian!"
"Deb?"
Deb was holding the steering wheel in the driver's seat. Elly was sniffling in the passenger seat. Confirming they were safe, Evian felt indignation and grabbed Deb's ear, dragging him out.
"You brat. Who told you to steal an auto-carriage?"
"N-no! This isn't stealing, it's a test drive! Mr. Challe said I had to check if it was completely fixed! I was just going to test it and try driving!"
"Did you tell Challe before you left?"
"No? I wanted to surprise him. Ouch, ouch!"
Evian shook Deb's ear back and forth and shouted.
"If you were going, go alone! Then there would have been less suspicion! Why did you drag innocent Elly along?"
"Did I drag her! She snuck in herself! And on top of that, she was crying and whining about not wanting to go back to the village, so I was stuck!"
His aggrieved shouting didn't seem like a lie. Evian, who was about to slap Deb's cheek, sighed and spoke to Elly.
"Elly, I don't know what's going on, but why did you run away without a word? Your aunt is waiting. Go back..."
"Sob, I... can't go back...! I'm going to die!"
"Die, my foot. I'm a police officer, who's going to kill you?"
"No! Really, I might die...! I... found it...!"
Elly, who was tearful, squeezed her eyes shut and screamed.
"...A corpse!"
Evian's eyes widened at the unexpected tip here.
"What?!"
There were two carriages, and two people who could drive. Evian listened to the whole story with Elly in the car.
Elly, who was about to do her usual tomboyish antics, discovered some bizarre writing. And as she kept wandering around following it, she discovered a terrible trace hidden by this peaceful frontier village.... Buried bone fragments...
Evian asked.
"Wait. There shouldn't be bones. Everyone who passed away recently was cremated."
"Sob...!"
Evian clicked his tongue. Pushing a child in a panic wouldn't get him anything.
He was a police officer, not a ruthless military police.
"If there's a corpse, you should have told me. Why did you keep your mouth shut?"
"But, Uncle Evian..."
And Elly clamped her mouth shut again. Evian urged her as if frustrated.
"You don't trust me? Elly, the rank of Inspector wasn't won in a gamble! An Inspector is someone who has to throw criminals into the ruthless Military Police Corps from below like a ghost to get promoted. It's not something to scoff at!"
The Military Nation is ruled by military administration over everything.
All medical practices are in military hospitals, civil engineering is entirely handled by the engineering corps, and investigations are done by the military police.
Administrative soldiers execute the administration of ordinary citizens, and even factories operate under the Technology Development Bureau.
It is a nation of soldiers, where not even military police, let alone businesses, are separated from the military regime.
Except for a very few special things, everything belongs to the Military Nation.
"People in Edelfight don't know well, but just having the 'Officer' character attached to your title is a big deal! The Military Nation intentionally separated the affiliations to make it so!"
To prevent the person in charge of a village's security from becoming corrupt, the Military Nation separated the affiliation and tossed them there. Because of that, Evian didn't have as much authority compared to his career or rank.
In other words, it meant his status was high compared to the authority he possessed.
"...Sob."
But perhaps because Evian was too familiar. Elly wouldn't open her mouth at all. Evian, who glared, let out a sigh.
"Phew. If you still don't trust me, there is a Captain at the inn, so you can tell her. She is a far higher person than me, so even you would be satisfied."
Elly recoiled in horror.
"T-The inn is no good. Then I will die...!"
"No, why. Was a corpse found at the inn or something?"
"Eek!"
"...Don't commit a crime wherever you go. Seriously."
Then a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
Why did Elly keep her mouth shut? Why was she grumbling about not being able to tell Evian.
Could it be.
"Where did you find it? At Mr. Bern's place?"
"Hieek!"
The representative of the inn side with many people belonging to it, and the person who was virtually the village chief of this village.
His uncle Bern, whose authority had grown even higher after Evian's appearance.
For a corpse to come out of his house.
He even had a wish that Bern had rather committed a wrongdoing. It seemed it would be good if he could punish him and break his authority.
But he didn't wish for a corpse to turn up. A murder case was a completely different story.
"...Don't worry."
But Evian was a police officer, and he was in charge of the security of this village. He couldn't just let it go even if he had caught a clue to a murder case.
In the first place, if he ignored and passed over such a major case, he might be punished by the Military Nation. On top of that, a severe penalty could fall upon this entire village.
He had to prevent that.
"I will definitely find the culprit."
Evian firmly resolved.