Chapter 763: Collateral Damage

"It's a bit too much, actually…"

After glancing at Leon's mountain of dishes, the female police officer nodded blankly, then began eating from his plate while leaning in close, lowering her voice conspiratorially:

"Leon, the incident that caused such a stir recently—the Secret Investigation Bureau has finished its investigation. It was definitely the radical rebels!"

Recently?

"The Gold Finch Marquis who drowned himself in the lake?"

"Further back!"

Further back than that…

Hearing this, Leon's heart stirred slightly, and he ventured cautiously:

"Are you referring to…?"

"Of course it's the burning of the Boarding Tower! Didn't you read the papers?"

"…"

"You really didn't read them!"

After staring at Leon in disbelief, the female police officer couldn't help but complain:

"Even though it's not exactly your job, you're still part of the Police Force—surely you at least subscribe to the Police Special?"

"…"

It's not about subscribing or not—it's that I burned the Boarding Tower myself, and the AI inside the airship is still gathering dust in my Mirror World.

And incidentally, you're involved too—because the fake IDs and uniforms I used to sneak past security were all taken from your unregistered Police Force inventory…

"Forget it, if you didn't read them, you didn't read them."

Unaware that she herself was an accomplice in the Boarding Tower attack, the female police officer shook her head, gave up trying to explain the importance of newspapers, and decided to just include Leon in her next subscription. Then she grew serious:

"If you don't know about the Boarding Tower, then at least know it was burned—and along with it, a very precious special airship was lost."

When the Kingdom of Korok learned the news, they reacted with furious anger, immediately pressuring the Kingdom through their ambassador, demanding results within two months—even if they couldn't identify the criminal, at the very least they must recover the lost airship's core component."

"So… this job got dumped on your lap?"

"What else?"

Scooping up a large spoonful of rice pudding and chewing it furiously as if venting her rage, the exhausted female police officer said helplessly:

"Who else are you going to send to find criminals and search for lost items? The Finance Force's corrupt leeches?"

"Leon, do you know? After the Korok ambassador sent the formal protest, threatening to cut off economic ties and suspend airship routes if no results came within a month, the capital's high-ups panicked!"

The Princess, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Finance… these past few days, layer after layer of officials pressured us relentlessly. Only the Princess offered help; everyone else grew harsher than the last. In just a few days, the Minister of Public Order's hair turned completely white…"

"Don't just listen to me—eat your food! It'll get cold!"

"Oh, right!"

Forking a piece of fried cod into his mouth and chewing mechanically, Leon frowned in deep thought: "No wonder so few police have been coming to eat lately—and they all look just like you, like they haven't slept in days. Were they all deployed?"

"Exactly!"

Plucking a slice of apple pie from Leon's plate, the female police officer groaned:

"Especially our Secret Investigation Bureau—we've been handling the rebel cases all along, so we've taken the most blame. The new bureau chief gets dragged daily by the Minister of Public Order to be screamed at, then comes back and screams at us… Look over there!"

As she spoke, she pointed with her fork to the side. Leon followed her gaze and saw a police officer with darker circles under his eyes than Isah, hunched over his table, staring blankly as he scooped mashed potatoes with a spoon, his head nodding listlessly.

Honestly, watching him eat like a sparrow pecking grain, Leon doubted he even knew where the spoon was—he looked ready to shove it straight up his nose.

"He's from our bureau's overnight field team. He just got back from patrol this morning, and after eating, he has to go straight to another meeting…"

After sympathetically glancing at the exhausted colleague, the female police officer said with visible dread:

"He's already on his third rotation—luckily, that's the easier one. The first rotation? We went over seventy hours without sleep, covering half the capital. When we came back, we felt like we were dying…"

"I'm totally fed up! These rebels are insane! Why not just kill the Finance Minister? Even storming the Imperial Palace would make more sense! Why target the Boarding Tower?"

"Honestly, I'd rather they went back to trying to assassinate my father than have to endure this kind of overtime… Seventy hours straight! I don't even know how I survived it!"

"…"

Oh… sorry. I had no idea my attack on the Boarding Tower would cause all this…

"Uh… Isah…"

Watching the female police officer gnawing on fish bones with furious contempt, ready to curse the "rebels" at any moment, Leon—the secret mastermind behind the Boarding Tower attack, the root cause of the entire Police Force's overtime—felt a pang of guilt and said hesitantly:

"You haven't told me yet what you need me to help with."

"Oh right, I almost forgot…"

After spitting out the fish bone with un-ladylike disregard, the female police officer looked up at Leon with hopeful eyes:

"Does your Clearance Bureau have anything especially good at finding people? Or… someone who's especially good at finding things?"

"We still have over a month before Korok's deadline, but tomorrow I'm on the fourth rotation. If we still haven't found anything, I'll have to go through eight or nine more rotations… ugh…"

After swallowing a huge mouthful of stewed beef, whether from the heat or from the looming horror of two months of endless overtime, the female police officer's eyes welled up as she pleaded:

"Please, Leon, help me out! Even if you can't find the attacker, just recovering Korok's lost item would be enough! If this keeps up, I really won't be able to hold on…"

"…"

I'd love to help you, but the attacker is sitting right here eating, and the item Korok wants is in my cufflink… I can't exactly arrest myself and hand myself over, can I?

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can help with that…"

After silently apologizing to Isah for the collateral damage, knowing she'd never find the truth, Leon ventured cautiously:

"How about this—I'll get a note from our bureau chief saying there's a special case requiring outside assistance. You take it, request leave, and sneak into my office to catch a few hours of sleep?"

(End of Chapter)