EP.144 The Policeman's Hell - (Part 2)
Upon returning to Edelfight, Evian received an extravagant welcome from the villagers. The policeman who immediately brought back the runaway kids—especially the two who had fled in an automated carriage—looked exactly like a magician.
The adults, sending glares full of murderous intent toward Eli and Dev, waited only for Evian to let them go. It seemed they were fully intent on giving them a severe beating today after such a long time.
However, Evian shouted before that could happen.
"Hold on a moment. I have found the whereabouts of the Alchemy Unit."
"Didn't they steal it?"
"No. The one who embezzled the Alchemy Unit is someone else."
Having drawn their attention for the moment, Evian headed straight for Bern's house. Bern, who had been following in silence halfway, urgently asked.
"Wait. Why are you heading toward my house?"
"I received a tip. I'm going to find it. Please come along."
"...Hah. I see."
Bern sighed and followed behind Evian with an expression that said he had given up on everything.
There was no need for Eli to testify directly. The traces she had unearthed last night were clear, and the traces used to cover them up were incredibly clumsy. Evian brought a shovel and dug up the pit.
And there, he discovered bones. Evian handled them, examining the marks.
The murmurs of the residents echoed around him.
"Dear Lord... There really are bone fragments in Mr. Bern's field..."
"Has anyone died recently...?"
"If someone had, there's no way we wouldn't know. Everyone is cremated, aren't they?"
Evian, who had been examining the bones with a grave expression, soon spoke with a rigidly hardened face. At the same time, the frightened residents collectively fell silent.
"This isn't recent. Roughly 30 years, give or take... It's a corpse buried around that time."
Having finished his observation, Evian slowly rose from his spot. His eyes shone piercingly.
"And as far as I know, there is only one person who disappeared around that time. Before I was born, the single man known to have fled the village, leaving my mother all alone. Because Mr. Bern himself stepped forward to testify, everyone simply believed it."
Evian glared piercingly at Bern and murmured.
"My father."
Bern closed his eyes with the look of a man who had surrendered everything in the world. Evian glared at him menacingly, reverting to the cold, ruthless police officer he was.
"Bern. You are under arrest for murder and abandonment of a corpse."
The village buzzed with whispers. This commotion was incomparably larger than the last.
A nephew dragging away his uncle, a policeman dragging away the village chief. Bern was being escorted away, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
One of the village elders muttered.
"T-then what's going to happen to Mr. Bern...?"
Evian replied to those words.
"I do not pass judgments. I do not have that authority. However, if the suspect confesses and the circumstances are indisputable, a summary judgment can be handed down by a military judge."
"Judgment? The judgment for murder is..."
"Premeditated murder carries the death penalty."
Evian stated coldly, and a wave of murmurs rippled through the village. Someone shouted.
"Evian! He's your uncle!"
"What does that matter! Before the police, there are only criminals!"
Evian looked around and yelled.
"Obstruction of official duties can be punished with up to three years of forced labor depending on the severity of the offense. Everyone, step aside!"
The weight of forced labor was nothing to scoff at.
Factories, mines, penal camps, logistics.
Belonging to such places and being worked like a dog except for sleeping hours—that was forced labor. It was said that serving six months of forced labor would leave you with chronic ailments for three years.
Only then did the people, finally grasping a fraction of Evian's authority, groan and back away. Evian, true to his rank as a lieutenant of the Military State, exuded a fearsome aura as he pushed his way through the crowd.
However, before a certain woman who blocked his path, Evian could not maintain his lieutenant's demeanor.
"...Evian."
"Mother?"
Evian's mother approached, sobbing, and grabbed him. Her hands clutching his collar trembled faintly.
"Arrest me. Take me away."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"...It's me. It's all my fault. It's all because of me..."
"What do you mean?"
Even for Evian, he couldn't bring himself to shake off his widowed mother and walk away. The authority he had painstakingly built up was rendered meaningless as he stood there, at a complete loss.
In the meantime, a hidden truth spilled from his mother's lips.
"...Your father used to beat me mercilessly, a bride who married into this village from afar. Since he was the eldest son of the village chief at the time, no one could stop him..."
"What?"
"That violent man struck me even when I was pregnant with you. Then Bern, who had just returned, got into an argument with him, and during the struggle, he ended up..."
"Excuse me?"
"I buried that corpse with my own hands. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I couldn't even tell you, and lied that he had run away from the village..."
The truth he heard from his mother's mouth was shocking.
Evian's father had been so violently abusive that he held no one's respect. People had readily accepted the explanation that he had fled the village.
In fact, they said they never felt the need to doubt it. Because nothing was worse with him gone.
It also helped that the establishment of the military administration had caused quite the upheaval at the time.
"I didn't want to disappoint you when you missed your father... so I built him up as if he were a great man. But I am sorry I couldn't tell you the truth..."
His mother, too, was an accomplice. Evian stared at his mother's wrinkled face with a hollow expression.
The Military State is cruel. No matter the circumstances, it does not tolerate anything that violates the law. Evian knew that fact better than anyone.
However, Evian couldn't bear to lock them away with his own hands. Agonizing over this while sitting in the police box, he soon stood up.
"You said the Captain is staying at the inn..."
This was a problem Evian couldn't solve. In times like this, he had to at least report to his superiors. Evian headed for the inn with heavy steps.
"...An incident like this has occurred."
Inspector Evian took the liberty of visiting and reporting to the Captain.
The blonde officer, his head wrapped in bandages, replied in a dry voice after hearing the entire story. It felt like a voice he had heard somewhere before.
"Acknowledged. However,"
Evian closed his eyes and awaited the judgment.
While Evian's own rank wasn't inferior, that only applied among the 'residents.' From Captain and above, they were of an entirely different, lofty status.
The 'soldiers' who moved the Military State. Monsters to whom entirely different rules applied. From the authority they wielded to the power they possessed, they were on a whole different dimension from Evian.
'What will happen? I might even fall out of favor with the higher-ups.'
But the words that followed surprised Evian.
"For incidents that occurred 25 years ago, before the Military Administration, we leave it to the discretion of the investigating officer in charge."
"Pardon?"
A murder case, but discretion? Evian asked back, dumbfounded.
"Are you saying there is a statute of limitations?"
"There is no statute of limitations in the Military State. There is only discretion."
The Captain merely spoke in a rigid voice. As if that alone was his duty.
"It is because flexible application makes execution easier. However, we do not hold anyone responsible for failing to arrest those for crimes committed before the Military Administration. Because that period was a time of administrative vacuum."
The Military State was always happy to have more forced laborers. There was too much work and not enough hands.
Therefore, they didn't bother with things like statutes of limitations. They granted broad discretion, too. So that if an arrest was made, they could immediately be put to forced labor.
Laws were even applied retroactively. Even if you committed a crime before the law was established, if you rubbed them the wrong way, you'd be arrested.
But since they didn't inquire about the administration before the Military Administration, whether to question or interrogate what happened back then was entirely up to Evian's discretion.
"Why didn't I know about this?"
"It's best not to announce things like statutes of limitations. Because it loosens the tension of those who have committed crimes. Therefore, the authorities do not announce it even though they possess such guidelines. Even to investigators."
Arresting too few was a problem, but arresting too many had no drawbacks. It was truly a policy befitting the Military State.
Having grasped that fact, Evian threw a salute with a flustered face and retreated.
"Loyalty. My apologies for disturbing you while you were resting. Then, this officer will take his leave!"
Through the closing door, a faint sigh from the Captain could be heard.
"...What on earth kind of mess are you making out there."
"...They say the Military State does not pursue crimes from the Kingdom era. You were lucky, Mr. Bern."
The truly lucky one was Evian, who no longer had to arrest his mother, but Evian didn't show it. Instead, he released Bern in front of the villagers.
With the handcuffs removed, Bern rubbed his wrists and spoke solemnly.
"...I'm sorry. No matter what I say, I... your father..."
"Be quiet."
Evian said curtly.
In truth, there was one more reason he had grown to dislike Bern.
His widowed mother and Bern would sometimes whisper to each other, leaving Evian out. They would even show him guilty expressions.
Young Evian had found Bern disagreeable out of an ignorant jealousy back then, but if it was actually about his father...
"Good work, Inspector Evian."
At that moment, Quartermaster Sergeant Vereaux approached. Evian greeted him with relief.
"Sergeant Vereaux. Thank you for accommodating me. If it weren't for the Captain, I would have been in quite a bind."
"It was the Captain's decision."
"I'm just thankful to everyone. Phew. Anyway. That settles that, then."
"Settles?"
It was an ominous voice hinting that the problem wasn't over yet. Vereaux tilted his head and got straight to the point.
"...So, where is the recovered Alchemy Unit? We have to do an inventory check in an hour."
Evian immediately bolted out the door.
The village was small, and having just ransacked the place from end to end, he quickly found the culprit. The neighbor Aunt Malpot, who had been in need of quick cash, confessed to everything.
The reason being, it had apparently become a practice among the inn's staff to slice off and pocket bits of the Alchemy Unit. However, Eli's sudden escape had blown the matter out of proportion, bringing this to light as well.
Since there was nowhere to lock up the dozens of people, both big and small, involved in this affair, Inspector Evian merely ordered them to remain confined to their homes. Having finished the job, Evian collapsed into the chair at the police box, utterly exhausted. His entire body was drenched in sweat.
"Phew. It feels like decades' worth of incidents all happened in a single day..."
—And I, leaning against the wall of the police box, listened to his muttering and smiled inwardly.
Naturally. I'm the one who stirred it all up.
A quiet rural village like this is bound to have a few veiled cases, and I read the memories step by step starting from those around him, preparing a stage just for him. Then, I scattered dozens of clues all over the village.
Only a few of them were actually used, but having dredged up the biggest incident, I was more than satisfied.
"The worst day ever... It was truly like hell."
That, is the policeman's hell I prepared for you.
Still, you endured it quite well, Inspector Evian. I put quite a bit of effort into preparing this gift for you, you know.
"Heh, take good care of those epaulettes until I pass by next time."
I didn't have enough time to prepare this time, so I could only meddle with the big ones. There's still the adultery case and the case of the identity of the thief stealing pumpkins from the field left, you see.
And actually, the thing between your mother and Bern... Ahem. I'll leave it at that.
Well, anyway. This should be enough. If I happen to pass by Edelfight again next time, I'll show you another hell. Hahaha!
I was smiling inwardly as I slipped past the front of the police station.
'...What is that. That man. It's a silhouette I haven't seen before.'
Inspector Evian, despite his exhausted state, suddenly gripped a steel baton and strode out.
No, wait a minute. What's he doing?
I was just an innocent passerby 1. So why is he suddenly coming at me with a steel baton to arrest me? There's no proof or anything!
But a third-rate crook would get scared and run away here. As a first-rate criminal, I act naturally even when under suspicion. I kept my pace steady, not paying him any mind.
Since there's no evidence or suspicion, he'll just cast some doubt and give up...
"Halt right there."
What? How did he pinpoint me so accurately?
Normally, I should stop here. And reply calmly to avoid suspicion. Running away blindly like a novice is practically admitting your guilt.
But why? This bizarre certainty radiating from Inspector Evian...!
'It resembles the back of a criminal I've seen somewhere before. I can't be mistaken. I might not know much else, but my gut is never wrong.'
No, it can be wrong.
It isn't wrong right now, though! But being that certain could lead to arresting an innocent person! The Military State's motto of 'Better to wrong a hundred innocents than let a single criminal escape'...!
You're certainly following it well.
'I'll subdue him first and ask questions later.'
Alright. Time to run.
I broke into a sprint.
"Stop right there!"
Evian screamed at the top of his lungs, spinning the steel baton over his head.
The setting sun painted a crimson dusk. Darkness once again descended upon Edelfight, which had unraveled so many long-held secrets in a single day.