Chương 73: Asking for help
"Roland Shirogane?" I asked.
It then clicked to my mind. The silver-haired man in front of me looked familiar, like a certain person who shared the same last name. That person once told an audience that her father and brother belonged to the 1st unit.
Since he looked quite young, I could safely assume that the man in front of me was Captain Noel's big brother.
"I need to talk to you. Do you have the time?" he asked.
We walked towards an alleyway and after confirming that no one else was around, Roland started talking.
"I need your help to investigate my doubts", he said.
"Doubts?"
"Do you honestly believe that Noel is someone who would threaten Westa's peace?"
"Of course not!"
"I'm glad to know that. I also believe that Noel isn't like that. Can I trust you to help clear my doubts?"
"Why me? It's not like I don't want to prove Captain Noel's innocence but can't you do it better than what I can do? You're a member of the 1st unit along with your father. You are family. Why would you trust a delicate matter to a stranger like me?"
"I can't do it because I'm a member of the 1st unit and I'm her family."
"What do you mean?"
"Noel is involved in a serious crime. Anyone related to her is suspicious. I'm sure the 1st unit has interrogated each and every member of the 13th unit already. They also interrogated all of Noel's friends and our family. The only reason why I'm not being monitored right now is because I'm in the 1st unit. I can't do anything or else they'll think I'm also a suspicious person."
"They won't monitor you because you're in the 1st unit?"
"That's right. Each and every member of the 1st unit had a thorough background check and our loyalties are with Westa and Westa alone. We would kill ourselves before we would threaten Westa's peace. The only reason why I'm not in the suspect list is because the 1st unit prides itself with its members. They don't want to think they made a mistake in checking their own members."
"Then how about your father? Shouldn't he be doing his best to prove Captain Noel's innocence? Why can't he or you help her out?"
"I said it before but our loyalties are with Westa and Westa alone. The Shirogane family is a family of knights. We take our duties seriously to the point we will prioritize our job over our family. If father received news that the 1st unit's investigations proved that Noel is a criminal, then he'll do his duty as a knight and punish her. It doesn't matter if she's related to him or not."
"Seriously? Just because the 1st unit said so, he won't believe his own daughter?"
"The 1st unit's investigative abilities are exemplary. We take pride in that. It's almost impossible to fool us. If the 1st unit's investigation says that Noel is a criminal, then all of the members will believe that to be the truth, including our own father."
"Then why are you here? From what you said, you should be valuing your job over Noel and you should be believing that she's a criminal too."
"I don't want to believe that my little sister is a criminal. However, I can't take any action based on those doubts. If I openly act, then I'll only make things worse for our family. That's why I'm asking you to check my doubts. I want you to prove the 1st unit is wrong and help my little sister."
"I don't mind doing that. But why me? Shouldn't you trust Temma for this?"
"I trust Temma, of course. But I'm relying on you or to be more specific, I'm relying on your connections."
"My connections?"
"You know Amelia Watson. I'm sure you can convince her to help you in investigating the truth about this whole incident. If you need payment, I can just pay you after this incident is resolved. I promise you that. Just help me clear up my doubts", he bowed down his head.
"Don't worry. I would do it even if you didn't bow down. I want to get to the bottom of this and help the first person who helped me when I got sent to this world."
That's right. I owed Captain Noel a lot. She was the one who gave me my means of survival in this world. If it weren't for her, I would be dying on the streets instead of sorting out papers as an administrative officer.
"Here. This might help you", he handed me a small rectangular device.
"What is this?" I asked.
"This contains a copy of the 1st unit's investigations about Noel including the "evidences" they have against her. This is the only way I can support you. The rest is all up to you and Amelia."
"Thank you. This will surely help."
Roland bowed once more and left the area.
###
I arrived home and Amelia was cooking dinner. Yogiri was also helping out. It was great to see them getting along with each other.
"Mikage, welcome back", Yogiri greeted me.
"I'm home", I said.
"Dinner's almost ready", Amelia told me and I sat on the dinner table.
After a few minutes, we began eating dinner.
"So? How was your day?" Amelia asked.
"Actually... I need your help", I said.
"Go on..."
I explained everything to Amelia while she listened intently. By the time I finished explaining, we were already done eating dinner.
"So Captain Noel is being framed?" Amelia asked.
"That's probably what's going on. Will you take the case? I'll pay you for your services. I want to help Captain Noel and I don't think I can prove her innocence on my own."
"Don't worry. I'll gladly help you. Captain Noel is your friend. The friend of my friend is also my friend. I learned to be a detective so I can help the people in need. I'll make sure to get to the bottom of this. I swear under my pride as a great detective."
"Thanks, Amelia."
"So what do we have so far? I'd like to know as much as I can so I can plan out the investigation."
"Oh yeah. Her brother gave me this device. He said it contains information about the 1st unit's investigation", I showed her what Roland gave me.
"This will greatly help. We'll go check it out... After we're done with the dishes."
"Don't worry. I'll take care of the dishes tonight. This is the least I can do", Yogiri said.
"Thanks, Yogiri", I said.
"It's no problem. Do your best on the investigation."
The doorbell of the house chimed several times and Amelia and I walked towards the front door.
Upon opening it, we saw a tall black-haired woman with wolf ears. She was wearing a quite revealing outfit but I had a feeling that I saw her somewhere before.
"Is Amelia Watson here?" she asked.
"You're talking to her. Who's asking?" Amelia asked back.
"My name is Vein, the captain of the 8th unit. I need your help to prove my friend's innocence."
"Ah. Captain Vein, you're here too?" Temma walked towards the front door.
"Temma?" I asked.
"I'm also here to hire Amelia's services", he answered.
"It seems our goals are aligned, Temma", she said.
"I'm glad to know that we have your support, Captain Vein."
Amelia looked between Temma and the wolf girl.
"I get it now", she muttered.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Alright. Let's all get inside and brainstorm how we can help Captain Noel."
"That's a good plan", Captain Vein walked inside.
"Pardon my intrusion", Temma also followed.
I sighed and followed them. If I was correct, then they also wanted to prove Captain Noel's innocence. Having more allies should be beneficial, right?
###
A/N: Another investigation arc! Wooh!
Chương 74: The 20th unit of the Westa Knight Order
We finished reading the files in the rectangular device. That device contained information about the 1st unit's investigations. To be more specific, it talked about the crime Captain Noel was involved in.
For the past month, there were cases of attacks in Westa East. People would use Dark Magic and cause chaos. Physical descriptions said that darkness would ooze out of their bodies. The sclera of their eyes would turn black and their irises would turn red.
The 20th unit were the ones who dealt with all the cases and upon investigation, they found out that people drank a certain pill before they lost control.
"Wait a minute… Pill?" I asked.
"It's almost like that person", Temma said.
"Yes. Like Theodore Sen", Amelia added.
"Theodore Sen?" Captain Vein asked.
"He's the serial murderer who almost caused a war between the Kageyama Clan and the Familiaran. Theodore Sen also took a strange pill and almost killed Temma", Amelia explained.
Theodore Sen was a skilled swordsman. And when Temma arrived, he took that strange pill. I could feel the strange energy inside him when he drank it. His appearance matched the descriptions of the people in the investigation. The pill also made him stronger and more dangerous.
We continued reading the file. The 20th unit tracked down the production of the pills but there wasn't any luck. But when they learned of a knight who took a pill, they officially asked help from the 1st unit.
The 1st unit managed to figure out the source of the pills and they cornered the man. However, that man took the pill and fought hard. They managed to capture him but he entered a vegetative state after the effects of the pills faded.
When they probed the man's memories, they saw a memory where Captain Noel was the one giving him instructions. The 1st unit analyzed the memory and they could conclude that it wasn't falsified.
"It's not a false memory? There must be something wrong", I said.
"Can we get the data about the memory?" Temma asked.
"The 6th unit was probably the one who did the analysis. If we want, I can schedule a meeting with that guy", Captain Vein said.
"Alright. Please do so, Captain Vein. Can we also have an interview with the 20th unit? I'd like to ask some questions involving their investigations", Amelia asked.
"Arranging a meeting with the 20th unit is easier. We can go there first while I try to make Magus find time to accommodate us", Captain Vein answered.
"Thank you, Captain Vein. Let's try to interview them as soon as we can. The longer we wait, the more difficult it is to find the hole our enemy made. Not to mention that Captain Noel might receive her punishment before we can find the truth."
"I'll do my best."
###
We were walking in Westa East and on our way to the 20th unit. Captain Vein managed to open up a schedule with them and they were fine with answering our questions.
"What's the 20th unit? Is there anything I should know about them?" I asked.
"The 20th unit is sort of bizarre, even if they were among the 20 regular units of the Westa Knight Order", Temma answered.
"Bizarre? How?"
"All of the knights in the 20th unit are magical knights."
"So they can use magic and stuff?"
"Not only magic. They can transform their knight uniforms into cute outfits and use strange magic."
"T-Transform?"
"The captain of the 20th unit, Dai Shima, is an immortal who can grant powers to people in the form of contracts. Once a person signs a contract with him, they'll receive power and can transform."
Transformation sequences and contracts reminded me of the magical girls in my original world. Were they like that too?
"We're here", Captain Vein said.
The 20th unit's barracks were in front of us and we were led inside by one of their knights. We arrived in the captain's office and saw a black-haired boy drinking tea.
"Hey there, Vein", he smiled.
"Yo, Dai. Sorry to bother you at this hour", Captain Vein said.
"And these three must be the ones who wanted to talk to me. Let's see… We have the Dark Knight of the 13th unit, the great detective of Westa, and the champion of the Idol Fan Tournament."
"I'm glad we no longer need to do introductions", Amelia sat down.
We followed her lead and sat down too as Captain Dai poured tea.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of you guys visiting me?" he asked.
"We want to know more about your investigations involving the strange pills", Amelia said.
"I don't mind telling you about it but why?"
"If we play this right, we'll save Captain Noel", Temma said.
"Oh… I should've expected that. When I heard that the 1st unit arrested Noel, I should've thought that she was related to the pill cases I dealt with."
"And we're here to prove that she's not a criminal", Captain Vein told him.
"Okay. It all started around a few weeks ago. My knights said that they encountered a mad man who rampaged in Westa East. That man was killed since he couldn't be reasoned with and we thought that was the end of the case."
"But it wasn't. More and more attacks popped up", Amelia said.
"That's correct. As more and more attacks appeared, we noticed the similarities between each of them. And one time, we managed to catch a person who drank a pill before they rampaged."
"I see. What happened next?" Amelia asked.
"I investigated the pills and I found out a case that was handled by the 13th unit. The first ever recorded person who drank a pill and changed the appearance of their eyeballs was on Artix 15. I believe you three were also involved in that case."
"Yes. Theodore Sen. We know about him", Temma said.
"When I found out that the knight order could be involved in this, I contacted the 1st unit and they officially took over the investigation."
"About the pills, did you guys manage to get a sample?" Amelia asked.
"Yes, we did. However, I sent the sample to the 6th unit since they are more suited in analyzing it."
"I see… Thanks for your time, Captain Dai", Amelia thanked him.
"It's not a problem. I'm glad I could help. I also don't think that Noel is someone who would be involved in a plot against Westa."
"Really?" Captain Vein asked.
"If she's involved in it, then she'll be one of the grunts. I can't imagine that musclehead to be someone who can pull the strings."
"I hate how you're right on this one", Captain Vein chuckled.
"In any case, I wish the best for your investigation. If you need any help, just say so and the 20th unit will assist."
"Thank you, Captain Dai", Temma bowed down and we left the office.
We were walking towards Westa North when Captain Vein asked a question.
"Why did we need to interview Dai? Everything he said was in the files we saw last night?" she looked at Amelia.
"It's to check if the files were real. If Mikage was given false information, then our investigation will be in trouble", Amelia answered.
"Do you think Roland will give us false information?" Temma asked.
"It's better to be safe than sorry. Someone might be pretending to be Roland and jeopardize our investigation under the guise of helping it. As a detective, I have to make sure that all suspicions are cleared."
"I see… So our next job is to ensure that the 6th unit will be consistent with the thing in our file?" I asked.
"Yes. I also want to see a much more detailed analysis of the memory about Captain Noel. And I need some answers from them."
We arrived at the front of the 6th unit's barracks. Captain Vein was about to ring the doorbell when an explosion occurred.
"What's that?!" I asked.
However, Temma and Captain Vein ignored that and rang the doorbell.
"Don't worry, Mikage. That's just a normal occurrence in the 6th unit", Temma said.
… What kind of dangerous place was I about to enter?
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