WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 143: Officer's Hell - (Part 1)

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Lieutenant Evian of Edelheit was one of the few sources of pride in Edelheit, a town on the edge of the military state.

He had earned decent grades in elementary citizen school before enrolling in a distant middle military school. The school was entirely residential, and after enduring its grueling examinations, he graduated with fairly good marks through sheer effort.

His grades were not good enough for high officer school, but he could have become a soldier if he had wanted to.

Instead, Evian chose to become a police officer.

They were called police, but they were really a subordinate branch of the military police. Becoming a police officer in the military state meant closing off one's own path to advancement, but there was one advantage soldiers could never have.

Once one rose high enough in rank, one could choose where to work.

Evian had endured the harsh life of a police officer for one reason only: to return to his hometown and care for his single mother. At last, he had achieved that goal.

At the small police station in Edelheit, Lieutenant Evian was sorting documents after another satisfying day of work.

『Lieutenant Evian of Edelheit.』

A voice rang out. Lieutenant Evian looked around.

"Who is it? My shift is over."

『If you learn who I am, you will feel a terror you cannot resist. Every breath you take will become hell, and you will want to hide in a hole like a frightened rat. Wouldn't you be happier not knowing?』

That was excessive for a prank. Lieutenant Evian frowned and sprang to his feet. A steel baton, familiar from years of use, was already in his hand.

"What the hell? What kind of prank is this?"

『A prank? A prank, you say. If it were a prank, you would be happy. Heh heh. Lieutenant Evian, starting tomorrow, you will taste hell. Look forward to it.』

"How dare you threaten a police officer!"

Furious, Lieutenant Evian kicked open the door and scanned the area, but only the grim street, drowned in darkness, greeted him.

The ominous feeling had kept him from sleeping properly.

Evian had spent the previous night patrolling every secluded corner. The town had been peaceful to an almost regrettable degree. The only strange thing that day had been Lieutenant Evian volunteering to work overtime.

All he had done was send Ellie, who had been roaming around instead of going home, back to her house.

In other words, Ellie wandering around was nothing unusual. Ellie getting caught by Evian and sent home was the rarer event.

Then what had that been yesterday?

Evian was walking down the street, running a hand through his hair, when he heard a commotion nearby and immediately ran toward it.

"Someone stole a motor carriage!"

"Don't be ridiculous! The alchemical fabric we stored in the warehouse yesterday disappeared!"

The people of Edelheit had split into two groups and were arguing.

Edelheit had two major facilities.

One was a large inn, and the other was a motor carriage repair shop.

Edelheit was fairly well situated. If the land directly north had not been the useless Abyss wasteland, it could have become a transportation hub several times larger than this.

In any case, the military state had built an inn and repair shop in this quasi-transportation hub.

The inn and repair shop belonged to the military state, and the townspeople were regularly called in to perform labor at them.

At first, the residents disliked being forced to work at these facilities despite their already busy lives.

Still, the inn and repair shop looked too grand for them to dislike completely. In such a remote region, the large facilities built by the military state seemed like symbols of a new age. After years of laboring there, the residents gradually grew attached to them.

There was nothing wrong with taking pride in one's work, but it had created a problem.

The inn stood in the center of town, while the repair shop stood alone along a distant road. Their locations and required skills differed, so the residents gradually began going only to the facility where they worked. It was only natural for the two groups of townspeople to separate like oil and water.

As a result, the people of Edelheit had split into two factions.

"What's going on here?"

"Oh, Lieutenant Evian! You came at the right time! Give these people a good scolding!"

The people from the inn side welcomed him. Edelheit's only police officer claimed neutrality, but Evian had been born on the inn side.

Evian gave a vague nod and looked over the crowd.

"Please explain what happened in an orderly manner."

"Those repair shop bastards stole the alchemical fabric from the inn warehouse!"

The repair shop side, which had shrunk back a little when Evian approached, quickly argued back.

"What a false accusation! How would we even know where your alchemical fabric was, let alone steal it?"

"You're the ones who always bragged that we don't know how to drive! Why are you looking for your missing carriage among us?"

It was chaotic, but Evian had grown up in this town, so he roughly understood what was happening.

The inn and repair shop had changed the residents in different ways, just as their work differed.

Those who had built careers at the repair shop, which required technical skill and dexterity, had gradually begun looking down on the people from the inn. Most residents had initially belonged to the inn side and scoffed at them, but children from the repair shop side often stood out at citizen school. The inn side had slowly come to suffer from an inferiority complex. They openly looked down on the repair shop workers, yet they did not stop their children from playing at the repair shop. They actively encouraged it.

If not for Lieutenant Evian, Edelheit's pride and a police officer born on the inn side, the repair-shop side's confidence would have soared through the roof.

In any case, a problem had struck the two facilities that claimed every fault in the world belonged to the other side.

The inn's alchemical fabric had disappeared.

A motor carriage being repaired had disappeared.

And each side suspected the other.

As Lieutenant Evian listened, it was only natural that the mysterious voice from yesterday came to mind.

"Could an outsider be responsible?"

"But only one person came to this inn yesterday! She's still staying at the inn!"

"If there's an outsider, we should suspect her first. She may have infiltrated this place beforehand!"

A resident from the inn side scratched their chin.

"She was... an impressive person. A captain, I think. She said she was heading to the capital after finishing her mission."

"Forget everything I just said. All of it!"

They called them our inn and our repair shop, but they were really military state assets. A captain could take a motor carriage and alchemical fabric as though they were her own. Even a captain would be punished for embezzlement, but the combined residents of this town had no authority to do anything about it.

She could also kick Evian in the ass for suspecting her. Evian did not want to be kicked by a captain.

"Then are you saying the alchemical fabric and motor carriage disappeared on their own? Without anyone entering or leaving?"

"Well... that is..."

As the residents looked away awkwardly, someone gestured for Evian to come over.

"Evian, come here for a moment."

Vern, the representative of the inn side, called him over. Evian responded with a hint of annoyance.

"Mr. Vern. At least show some respect. I'm the lieutenant in charge of security here."

"Do I need to show respect when calling my nephew?"

Vern answered with a little swagger.

After Evian's father had run away from the village years ago, Vern, his father's younger brother, had become his guardian and raised him. He was practically the village chief, and his position had only grown stronger after his nephew returned as a lieutenant.

Evian found him unpleasant, but he could not punish the man when he had committed no crime. Evian was a police officer.

"Of course you... Haa, never mind. What is it?"

When Evian approached, Vern lowered his voice.

"Ellie and Dev have disappeared."

"What?"

Ellie was the inn's greatest troublemaker, while Dev was the repair shop's oddball. The two teenagers had grown up amid the town's conflict and were always eager to tear each other apart whenever they met.

Yet those two had disappeared at the same time?

"Both sides are worried. Either Ellie accidentally strangled Dev to death, stole the alchemical fabric, and ran away, or Dev beat Ellie with a wrench and ran off in fear. It must be one of those."

"How would Ellie drive, and how would Dev steal alchemical fabric... Ah, wait."

"Exactly. The two of them often snuck into each other's facilities to play hide-and-seek. Unlike us, they know everything about one another. Like scouts studying the enemy. It isn't impossible."

That was why Evian put a hand to his forehead. It was entirely possible.

They had motives, enough malice, and a history of causing trouble for the townspeople. Those two might really have killed each other.

"They were both in town until last night! I personally sent them home!"

"Then they must not have gone home. Their families say they haven't seen them since that evening."

"Damn it. Then neither of them can have gone far! Wait here!"

"Are you going after them?"

"I have to! I can only hope they're both alive!"

Evian pushed through the crowd. The residents trembled with both a strange sense of hope in their police officer and fear that the child on their own side might have done it.

Evian then encountered the facility managers, who had been waiting for him.

"Lieutenant Evian. I'm Supply Administrator Vero, a sergeant. The alchemical fabric is not expensive, but it is still a major supply item. We cannot remain silent after losing it."

"I'm Technical Officer Challe, a sergeant. The motor carriage is expensive. I hope you resolve this quickly. If this is reported to the authorities, the entire town will receive punitive labor sentences."

"An officer is staying at the inn. She's recovering from an injury, but if word of this reaches her ears..."

The officers responsible for each facility pressed Evian politely. If Evian's rank had not been higher than theirs, those harsh words would not have ended as words.

Evian shouted irritably.

"As long as they're back before afternoon inventory, it'll be fine! Just wait! Ah, and Challe! Is there a carriage I can use?"

"One remains."

"I'll borrow it for official business. That's permitted, right?"

"Approved."

Evian started the motor carriage and made a wide circuit around the town. There were two recent sets of wheel tracks. One belonged to the captain's carriage, and the other led away from town.

It was fortunate that they were easy to distinguish. Evian followed the carriage tracks.

The Abyss wasteland was vast. If the two fools had crossed the hill without knowing better and entered the Abyss wasteland, Evian would have no choice but to give up, return to Edelheit, and wait for the authorities' judgment.

Fortunately, Evian found the stopped motor carriage not far away. He parked nearby, climbed down at once, and strode toward it. His eyes held nothing but anger for the immature fools who had caused this mess.

"Sniff... sniff..."

As he began to hear Ellie's crying, Evian grew frightened. What if Ellie had accidentally killed Dev and run away? What would he do then?

If Evian had been from another town, he would have coldly arrested Ellie and proudly added another line to his career. But he was from this town, and he wanted it to remain peaceful if possible. A troublemaker was liveliest in town, not in prison.

Evian swallowed hard and threw open the driver's door as if attacking it. His eyes met someone inside.

"Eek! Big Bro Evian!"

"Dev?"

Dev was in the driver's seat, holding the wheel. Ellie was sniffling in the passenger seat. Once he saw that they were both safe, Evian was overcome with indignation. He grabbed Dev by the ear and dragged him out.

"You little punk. Who told you to steal a motor carriage?"

"N-no! I didn't steal it. This is a test drive! Challe said we had to make sure it was properly repaired! I was going to check it while practicing my driving!"

"Did you tell Challe before leaving?"

"No? I wanted to surprise them. Ow, ow!"

Evian shook Dev's ear back and forth as he shouted.

"If you were going, you should've gone alone! Then there would've been less reason to suspect you! Why did you drag innocent Ellie along?"

"Did I drag her? She snuck in herself! Then she started crying and saying she didn't want to go back to town, so what was I supposed to do?"

His indignant shouting did not sound like a lie. Evian, who had been about to slap Dev across the cheek, sighed and spoke to Ellie.

"Ellie, I don't know what happened, but how could you run away without telling anyone? Your mother is waiting. Let's go back..."

"Sniff, I... can't go back...! I'll die!"

"Die from what? I'm a police officer. Who would kill you?"

"No! I really might die...! I found it...!"

Ellie, who had been sobbing, squeezed her eyes shut and shouted.

"...A corpse!"

Evian's eyes widened at the unexpected report.

"What?!"

There were two carriages and two people who could drive. With Ellie in his carriage, Evian listened to the whole story.

Ellie had been planning to cause trouble as usual when she found strange writing. After following it around, she had discovered a horrible trace hidden by this peaceful frontier town... buried bone fragments...

Evian asked, "Wait. There can't be any bones. Everyone who died recently was cremated."

"Sniff...!"

Evian clicked his tongue. Pressing a panicked child would get him nowhere.

He was a police officer, not a heartless military policeman.

"If you found a corpse, you should have told me. Why did you keep quiet?"

"But Uncle Evian..."

Ellie clamped her mouth shut again. Evian pressed her impatiently.

"You don't trust me? Ellie, I didn't win my lieutenant's rank through gambling! You only get promoted to lieutenant by catching criminals with uncanny skill under the military police everyone calls heartless! Don't underestimate me!"

In the military state, military administration ruled everything.

All medical treatment was handled by military hospitals, and the engineering corps took charge of civil construction. The military police conducted investigations.

Administrative soldiers managed civilian administration, and even factories operated under the Bureau of Technical Development.

It was a country of soldiers, where not only police and military forces but even businesses were not separate from military rule.

Except for a few highly specialized things, everything belonged to the military state.

"The people of Edelheit don't know this, but even a rank with 'wi' in it, like lieutenant or captain, is impressive! The military state only separated us by affiliation on purpose!"

To prevent the person responsible for a town's security from becoming corrupt, the military state assigned police officers under a separate chain of command. As a result, Evian did not have much authority compared to his career and rank.

Put another way, his status was high compared to the authority he held.

"...Sniff."

Perhaps Evian was simply too familiar to her. Ellie would not speak. Evian glared before sighing.

"Haa. If you still don't trust me, there's a captain at the inn, so tell her. She's far above me. Maybe that'll satisfy you."

Ellie recoiled in horror.

"N-no, not the inn. Then I'll die...!"

"Why not? Was a corpse found at the inn?"

"Eek!"

"...Don't ever commit a crime anywhere. Seriously."

Then a thought occurred to him.

Why had Ellie kept her mouth shut? Why had she complained that she could not tell Evian?

Could it be?

"Where did you find it? At Mr. Vern's house?"

"Eeeek!"

Vern was the inn side's representative, where most of the townspeople belonged, and was practically the village chief.

He was also Evian's uncle, whose authority had become even greater since Evian arrived.

A corpse had been found in his house.

Part of Evian had hoped Vern had done something wrong. It would be nice if he could punish the man and cut down his authority.

But he had not wished for a corpse to appear. Murder was another matter entirely.

"...Don't worry."

Still, Evian was a police officer in charge of this town's security. He could not overlook a clue to a murder case.

If he ignored such a serious incident, the military state might punish him. Worse, the entire town could receive severe penalties.

He had to stop that.

"I will find the culprit."

Lieutenant Evian hardened his resolve.

Footnotes:

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