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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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The car turned into a secluded alleyway, devoid of security cameras. Like the flip side of any glamorous city, the back alleys here were a bleak and rough-looking slum. The car, carrying the two knights, stopped in front of a shabby building in a desolate alley. Access to the building’s entrance was already being controlled.
As they stepped out of the car, an officer, presumably in charge, approached and greeted them.
“Thanks for coming. I’m Sergeant Jack Snyder.”
“Security Bureau, Ellie Rowner. This is Karl Zeile.”
“Have you been briefed on the situation?”
“Briefly, on the way here. I heard a military-related individual was murdered…”
“Yes, that’s correct. This way…”
The three of them passed through the police line and entered the building. They climbed the creaking wooden stairs to the second floor. There, police officers were already busy snapping photos, supposedly preserving the evidence.
Entering the murder scene, they immediately saw a man lying dead on the floor. The cause of death was cardiac rupture due to a laser gun. Judging by the putrid stench and the swarming maggots, he had been dead for a while.
Ellie, slightly frowning at the gruesome sight, asked the sergeant for the man’s identity.
“His name was Conte Magnici. Uh… he was a civilian at the time of death, but he served in the military a few years ago. That’s why I contacted the Security Bureau.”
“Let’s see.”
Ellie took the device offered by the sergeant and carefully read the information displayed on the screen.
The deceased had worked as a technician in the headquarters’ Intelligence Bureau for over 10 years. The place seemed an odd fit for someone who’d achieved such a prominent position.
While Ellie examined the information, Karl looked around the scene. Overdue notices scattered carelessly on the floor, and a stack of Imperial lottery tickets on the desk… For some reason, the deceased seemed to have been burdened by debt.
The police likely suspected it was the work of a debt collector, but it was too early to jump to conclusions.
Karl looked at the monitor on the desk but couldn’t find the connected computer tower. …It seemed the perpetrator had taken it.
…This doesn’t seem like a simple grudge killing.
Why take the computer tower then? Perhaps there was some information that needed to be hidden. …And the deceased just happened to be a technician who worked for the Intelligence Bureau.
Ellie, having skimmed the information, approached Karl.
“Looks like a crime motivated by resentment.”
“The computer tower is missing. Wouldn’t that suggest an attempt to conceal information?”
“Well, maybe they took it thinking it might be worth something?”
While she had a point – a debt collector might have taken it hoping to find something valuable – Karl couldn’t shake his suspicion. It was that feeling, you know? Something smelled fishy.
Karl narrowed his eyes and scanned the small room. Ellie asked him what he was doing.
“…People with a lot of debt usually have hidden compartments. Places to hide valuables when debt collectors suddenly show up.”
“Really?”
“Perhaps there’s one here too?”
Hearing this, Ellie beckoned to the police officers and instructed them to thoroughly search for any hidden compartments. However, despite their extensive search, they found nothing.
Then, Karl brought a long rod from somewhere and began tapping the ceiling, spot by spot. Ellie watched his actions with interest.
After tapping for a while, he found a spot on the ceiling where the sound was heavier and duller. The two knights’ gazes met. Something was there.
The police officers, too, couldn’t hide their interest in the rapidly developing situation.
The spot happened to be directly above the desk. Within easy reach if someone stood on it.
Karl stepped onto the desk and felt around the wooden ceiling. Then, a panel suddenly opened.
Ooh…
The police officers let out small gasps of amazement. As expected, knights were different.
Karl first took a scanning device and checked for anything suspicious above the ceiling. Fortunately, there were no traps, just a black bag containing something.
As he climbed down with the bag, everyone’s eyes were fixed on him. However, he didn’t open it.
“Senior Officer, I think it’s best to take this back and examine it.”
“Should we?”
Ellie told Sergeant Jack that they would take the evidence back for examination. It might be related to classified headquarters information.
Of course, a mere sergeant wouldn’t dare refuse. Orders were orders.
With nothing more to investigate, the two returned to their car with the evidence. Inside the car, Ellie looked at Karl, seemingly impressed that he had advanced the case so quickly.
“…Where did you learn something like this?”
“I’ve seen a lot of similar movies, so it just came naturally.” “You did well, really.
You were much better than me. You seemed like the senior.”
“I was just lucky.”
But Ellie knew this wasn’t something that could be accomplished with luck. Suggesting there might be a hidden place was one thing, but tapping the ceiling meticulously with a stick was definitely something that couldn’t be done without experience.
…It felt like there was something there.
However, it was too early to jump to conclusions. As he said, he might have just seen a lot of movies.
Soon, the car started with a rumble. Ellie asked what was inside the bag.
“It seems like a mechanical device. Perhaps a storage device?”
“Could it be a clue to this case?”
“There’s a high probability of that.”
The two returned to the headquarters’ office and informed the chief about the case, and that they had brought evidence.
“Go to the investigation room and check it out.”
“Yes, Chief.”
They took the bag and headed to the investigation room. They carefully unwrapped the bag and checked its contents.
As Karl had predicted, it was a storage device. He connected it to the main unit and tried to access it, but it was, of course, locked with a password. Naturally, even he didn’t have the skills to unlock this.
“I think we need a specialist for this.”
So, they called a technician from the headquarters’ intelligence department and instructed them to try and crack it. Fortunately, the stored data wasn’t locked with quantum encryption, so it wasn’t too difficult to unlock.
…Or maybe not.
The deceased was also a technician from the headquarters’ intelligence department. They couldn’t have not known that anything other than quantum locking could be unlocked instantly. There had to be a reason they set the password with simple numbers and letters. …Perhaps they intended it to be easily opened if someone found it.
Anyway, once the lock was opened, the two were able to confirm a tremendous amount of information. Of course, Ellie, who was almost a layman in this area, didn’t understand the content even after seeing it. However, the erudite Karl immediately grasped what this information was.
“This is… a satellite.”
“…A satellite?”
“Yes, it seems to be information about a satellite.”
“So? Is that it?”
“…I’m not an expert in that area either, so I don’t know more than that. I think we need to ask an expert about this too.”
“Let’s do that then.”
So they sent this information back to the technician in the intelligence department and asked them to find out exactly what it was about. The technician asked for a little time.
Finally having some breathing room, the two went to the break room and had a cup of coffee each. Sipping her coffee, Ellie looked at Karl with a strange gaze.
Not only was he handsome, but he was also smart and good at his job, making him incredibly attractive. Honestly, she hadn’t been without some prejudice because he came from the training camp, but that feeling had completely vanished. …Frankly, it wouldn’t have been strange if he were a full-fledged agent, not a trainee.
“You’re really amazing. Truly beyond expectations.”
“You’re too kind. I was just a bit overzealous. It just happened to work out perfectly.”
“Luck is also a part of skill.”
Karl, instead of being overly humble, just grinned. Excessive humility can sometimes feel like flattery.
After finishing their coffee, Dana approached them, saying it was lunchtime. Louis hadn’t returned since he left earlier. He would probably eat lunch out.
Since the chief usually ate separately, only the three of them headed to the cafeteria. Ellie proudly explained to Dana how brilliantly Karl had handled the task, and she rejoiced as if it were her own accomplishment.
A perfect man who’s handsome, has a great physique, and is good at his jobㅡ.
“This is all thanks to Dana’s good teaching.”
“Oh, what did I doㅡ!”
When Karl said that, Dana’s lips curved upwards, practically reaching her ears.
My one and only junior is so thoughtful tooㅡ!
Pink-head stared dreamily at Karl’s profile.
Her mind, like the color of her hair, was dyed pink.
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