Translator: Nox

Chapter 30

<30>

"This is something the Investigation Bureau should handle. Why am I unnecessarily worrying about the safety of that cunning criminal?"

Raven stared into space.

"Is this proof that I'm being manipulated by that woman? Was I originally this soft-hearted?"

He debated whether to rewrite it or not, but there was no time as the Central Investigation Bureau's escorts arrived.

The escorts were all unfamiliar faces. It might be a small mercy not to have to see Chase's smarmy mug.

It was already late at night. Without further ado, Raven quickly finished administrative procedures like paperwork and exchanges with the escorts and led them out of his office.

"The subject for transport is in the underground detention center. Please follow me."

Upon reaching the underground detention center, Raven paused. The door was ajar. The subordinate who should have been guarding the entrance was nowhere to be seen.

'My gut feeling is bad.'

Raven raised a hand, signaling the personnel following him to stop, and pressed himself against the wall next to the door. Then, he placed his hand on his holster and peered inside.

His subordinate was inside the detention center, crouched down and looking under the bed, seemingly searching for something.

The woman, standing behind his subordinate with her hands clasped behind her back, began to creep towards him. Then, she raised a hand, hidden from view here.

'What is she trying to do?'

Did she sense his gaze? The woman, about to reach out towards the back of his subordinate's head, suddenly turned her gaze this way.

When her eyes met Raven's, she flinched and took a step back.

Raven narrowed his eyes and asked,

"What are you doing there?"

"Ah, Captain."

His subordinate jumped up and saluted.

"There was said to be a rat."

A rat?

Raven shifted his sharp gaze to the cunning woman.

Just moments ago, she had been eager to approach the person searching for a rat...

Now, she was pressed against the corner of the wall, nervously scanning the floor as if genuinely afraid a rat might appear.

Suspicious.

But it was no longer his job to be suspicious of her. Raven informed the woman in a businesslike tone,

"You will get used to rats in the detention center you're being moved to."

"What? Moved?"

"Effective immediately, the Thieving Crow case will be handled by the Central Investigation Bureau. Therefore, you will be transferred to the Central Investigation Bureau headquarters in Capital City."

After Raven officially notified her, a female escort entered and searched the suspect. When nothing was found, Raven cautioned the escort.

"She has the superpower to pull objects out of thin air, so please be careful."

The escort, who had been reaching for a rope, put it back and pulled out handcuffs.

The woman meekly put on the handcuffs, glaring at Raven as if she wanted to kick him.

"Let's go."

As the escort began to lead her away, the woman turned back to Raven.

"Hey! I told you I didn't steal that damn ruby! Did you even investigate the person I told you about? Investigate them!"

"I will relay that to the Central Investigation Bureau."

"Yeah, right. Why did I even bother trying to help you guys..."

Even as she was being led away by the escort, the woman glared at Raven with teary eyes. Her final words echoed in the hallway.

"Just you wait! From now on, I'm going to live like a real villain!"

Raven and Wesson stood side-by-side, watching as the escorts loaded the Thieving Crow into a car parked in the Police Bureau's rear parking lot.

"No reporters, no fan club... a perfect night for an escort," Wesson remarked.

As soon as Wesson spoke, they heard the sound of footsteps from behind. Both of them instinctively turned around.

"Chief?"

Grant, the Chief of the Scientific Investigation Division, stopped as he emerged from the back door, perhaps on his way home.

"Oh... you're here at this late hour. Is something going on?"

"We're here to transfer a suspect."

"Ah... I see. Who is it this time?"

Grant pushed up his glasses and peered intently at the transport vehicle shrouded in darkness. Raven then remembered something he had forgotten.

"You'll need to return the evidence for the Thieving Crow case you're researching as soon as possible."

"You don't mean the transport subject is the Thieving Crow, do you?"

"Yes, that's correct," Wesson replied.

"Unfortunately, that matter is now being handled by the Central Investigation Bureau. Please send the evidence to the Central Investigation Bureau headquarters in Capital City."

"Ah, Capital City..."

Grant, who had been staring blankly at the rear of the car, suddenly exclaimed and rushed back inside.

"Wait, please wait a moment. I'll bring the evidence right away."

It took quite some time for Grant to rush back out with the evidence bags.

"Be careful, as there's a possibility of an ambush during transport," Raven cautioned the escort, who was finishing preparations for departure, and then offered,

"There's no harm in being thoroughly prepared, so how about our patrol unit escorting you until you leave Eden City?"

"Thank you for the offer, but it's not necessary. We are sufficient on our own."

The escort, who had brusquely refused, boarded the vehicle. As the car door closed, Wesson grumbled sarcastically,

"Those Central Investigation Bureau guys are so arrogant."

With the engine roaring, the car carrying the Thieving Crow began to pull away. It merged onto the road outside the parking lot and soon disappeared, leaving only the red afterimage of its taillights.

"Well, at least I won't have any more headaches thanks to that damn fox..."

Wesson was about to finish his sentence by asking if Raven felt the same, but he fell silent upon seeing his superior's expression.

'The Captain must be frustrated.'

He must have wanted to make up for the oversight of not knowing a criminal had infiltrated his unit for years, by personally solving the case to the end.

However, Raven wasn't frustrated. He felt a sense of relief, similar to Wesson's, though for different reasons.

Of course, he had felt anger when the Director informed him that the Central Investigation Bureau was taking over the case.

"You might have wanted to see this through to the end for your own vindication..."

It was only when the Director added those words with a hint of regret that Raven realized the true reason for his anger.

I wasn't just clinging to this case to make up for my mistake. This is my case.

The thought of someone else handling that woman, not me, felt like an invasion of my territory.

It's natural for an investigator to become attached to a case. Especially if you've been in charge for over three years, living and breathing Thieving Crow day and night.

But sometimes, attachment becomes obsession, and obsession leads to deadlock.

'What kind of person is the criminal?'

In this instance, the problem was that this curiosity had crossed the line.

'Is this person also being forced to commit crimes? Like my past self, who lived under coercion without even realizing it?'

He might have even developed a deeply personal attachment, seeing his own past reflected in the criminal.

Perhaps the reason he still hadn't solved the case was that he had lost his objectivity as an investigator.

"Hey! I told you I didn't steal that damn ruby! Did you even investigate the person I told you about? Investigate them!"

The fact that he was swayed by the suspect's nonsensical words was proof.

Therefore, it would be better for everyone if he stepped away from the investigation.

The red afterimage of the taillights had long since vanished from the dark street. Yet, Raven was still seeing the afterimage.

'Yes, seeing myself like this, it's right for me to step away from the investigation.'

He turned his back, leaving behind the woman's wronged gaze.

---

"Raven Hunt! Why do you have to interfere with everything I do?"

I silently fumed, sitting in the dark back seat of the car.

"Did I owe that man money in a past life?"

Otherwise, there was no explaining why he showed up at the exact moment I was attempting an escape.

It was a stroke of luck that I noticed him before I was caught and managed to hide the fake gun.

'Then, what about the quest? Did it fail?'

As soon as I asked myself that, a system message appeared.

[Quest 2 will be modified according to the situation.]

Wow... the system is being suspiciously kind today.

I immediately checked the modified Quest 2 window.

'...Canceling that thought about kindness.'