Chapter 215: 214 The Early Start of the Inquiry

「……」

Upon hearing her best friend's question, the red-haired director's smile froze slightly, then she gave her an exasperated side-eye.

Can't you just avoid bringing up such a depressing issue when I'm in a good mood?

And besides, do you think I want to be last? With only two and a half people left in our division, we've already pushed ourselves to the limit just to clean up all the anomalies in the kingdom every year!

Moreover, our division's performance this year was actually quite decent—we wiped out over a dozen dens of the Black Cult of Ban in the first half, seized a large quantity of anomalies, and even eliminated a Jianglinshengling in the second half.

With these achievements as a foundation, we should've at least been mid-to-upper tier, even if we didn't rank high—so why did so many problems suddenly erupt at year-end?

……

"Negligent! Lazy! Shameful!"

As the red-haired director exchanged glances with her best friend, the virtual shadow of the Clearance Bureau chief continued slapping the marks of the lowest-performing divisions, condemning them with deep sorrow:

"As the final barrier between humanity and anomalies, your shoulders bear the entire race's safety! Look at this shameful review result—I'm ashamed for you! Especially you, Virgin Division—you actually had the nerve to smile just now!"

After slamming hard on Virgin Division's "Dung Beetle Mother" emblem, the Clearance Bureau chief glared furiously and roared:

"I'll excuse Small Dog Division and Lyre Division—Small Dog's former chief just retired, and the new one is still green and needs years to train; Lyre Division's main force is still trapped in the glacier from last year's polar nomad attack, so their poor performance is understandable.

But Olivia, what about you? In the first half, your division joined forces with Snake Division for a joint crackdown, yet you only captured five followers of the Black Cult of Ban, while your people knocked out over eighty of Snake Division's officers! What exactly are you trying to do, Virgin Division?"

"Chief, that incident was purely an accident, and it wasn't even a joint crackdown—it was just our operations accidentally overlapping."

Hearing this, the red-haired director stood up and protested:

"I took the Black Cult of Ban operation seriously—after the central bureau issued the crackdown order, I immediately dispatched Emma, our strongest officer, to complete the task as quickly as possible.

Emma had already located the cult's gathering site and activated the 【Execution Platform】 to make arrests, when we discovered Snake Division's people were also lying in wait nearby—and their crimes were even worse than those of the cultists, so they got caught in the crossfire."

Under the murderous glare of the Snake Division chief, the red-haired director continued earnestly:

"You know Emma's 【Execution Platform】 activates based on the severity of one's crimes—and it affects friend and foe alike. The moment she activated it, Snake Division's officers collapsed immediately, screaming louder than the cultists. Emma had no choice but to shut it down, letting the cultists flee into dreams."

"Chief, instead of blaming Emma for being too harsh, why don't you investigate Snake Division's officers and find out what crimes they committed that made them collapse faster than the cultists under the 【Execution Platform】?"

"Fine, let's call the Black Cult of Ban incident a misunderstanding."

Tired of arguing with the red-haired director, the Clearance Bureau chief slammed hard on the "Dung Beetle Mother" emblem and barked:

"Then what about these incidents at year-end? Anomaly attacks happened right under your nose—with your officers present—and hundreds of nobles died, paralyzing your kingdom's road and military operations for nearly two weeks. What do you have to say about this?"

"This… the Lyon family incident was purely an accident…"

After mentally cursing Li Ang viciously, the red-haired director gritted her teeth and defended:

"Li Ang hadn't even been officially confirmed yet—he was just a new recruit who'd joined less than a month ago, and the opponent was the heart of a near-god-level demon… it was simply an unforeseen emergency."

"Besides, the estate was sealed off—he couldn't request support from the bureau—but in the end, he not only protected most of the people's safety but also successfully resolved the anomaly. I believe this shouldn't count as dereliction of duty; it should be commended."

"Heh, you always have an excuse."

"Even failing to clear an anomaly in time, causing over two hundred noble casualties, you dare call it a heroic rescue that saved most lives—your thick skin must be an anomaly itself."

After two sarcastic remarks, the Clearance Bureau chief's expression softened slightly and continued:

"But since Li Ang is a new recruit and the circumstances were exceptional, I'll accept this outcome—barely pass you. But what about the royal family?"

"According to our agreement with royal houses, each kingdom must provide funding and supplies and unconditionally support our clearance operations; in return, our divisions stationed in each kingdom are obligated to protect the royal family from anomaly threats."

"Yet first, your princess was attacked by an anomaly and forgotten by the entire kingdom; then, when your officers visited, they got into an argument with the prince and beat him for hours in the reception hall… and according to the king's complaint, this isn't even the first time?"

"This… this can be explained."

After adding another black mark against Li Ang in her mind, the red-haired director endured the strange stares of over eighty colleagues and pressed on:

"Li Ang did have a minor dispute with the prince, but the princess had already accepted his proposal—so besides being a Virgin Division officer, he is also a Prince of the Blood."

"Without using any anomalies, he merely gave his wife's younger brother a few light punches over an argument—that's a royal family internal matter, outside our bureau's jurisdiction."

"As for the princess's attack, while our division's negligence played a role, the main cause was a hidden plot—someone even borrowed partial effects of the 【Illusion Jar】. I suspect one of the directors may be behind it, and I've already submitted a formal inquiry request."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, the Clearance Bureau chief paused slightly, then frowned and asked:

"You're preparing to file an inquiry against a director? Olivia, how come I wasn't informed about such an important matter?"

"This…"

The red-haired director looked embarrassed and said:

"You received the Watch Palace's warning years ago and have been hunting the Old King of the Ancients ever since—since your last appearance, nearly eight years have passed. When we submitted our inquiry request, we never imagined you'd return this year…"

"You didn't expect me to return… or you didn't expect me to still be alive?"

The virtual shadow of the Clearance Bureau chief lowered his head, glanced at the few directors on the board who looked awkward, and snorted coldly:

"Relax—the time flow in the Old Lands is only one-fiftieth of yours. Even if you all die of old age, I'll still be perfectly fine here!"

"Heh, I originally contacted you just before the year-end review to check on the bureau's condition—I never expected to catch a director's misconduct in the process… Go on, Olivia, which director did you catch red-handed?"