"A notice came from the chief today; Landon has dispatched an investigation commissioner."
The officer reported with a serious expression.
"They said he's already on his way and will arrive by tomorrow evening at the latest."
Hearing this, the Chief's eyebrows twisted together.
"Freeloading?"
"Picking the fruit?"
"Reaping the rewards?"
The Chief asked three questions in a row, fully expressing his dissatisfaction.
"Huh?"
The officer clearly couldn't keep up with his superior's jumping train of thought.
"No... Chief, haven't you been complaining about the pressure lately? This is a good thing!"
"You don't know a damn thing!"
The Chief said crossly.
"We've been messing with this case for a month! A whole month!"
"The progress of the case is pitifully small."
"We can't even find key information about the victim!"
"From Landon to Galloway, then to Hope County, passing through every city, and we can't even match the identity!"
"And the key suspect we finally caught has a problem with his head!"
"As soon as the investigation commissioner arrives, boom!"
"The case is solved."
"Doesn't that just prove even more that our ability is the problem?"
The officer was stunned.
That made a lot of sense!
The Chief looked at his subordinate's blank stare and shook his head helplessly.
"A-hem!"
He let out his signature strange sound and shook his head again.
"Forget it!"
"It's already like this anyway, and I can't stop it. We'll just wait for the commissioner!"
After venting his emotions, the Chief seemed to remember something and turned to look at Arthur.
"Where's Brian?"
"What has that damn guy been doing lately?"
"Didn't I tell him to go find a doctor to check his head?"
"He did,"
Arthur answered.
"He found a psychiatrist."
"Hmph!"
The Chief let out an extremely disdainful cold snort through his nose.
"A psychiatrist?"
"I think he went to see that who... forget it."
The Chief slammed the table fiercely.
"He'd better restore his reputation as the 'Hound' as soon as possible."
"Otherwise, I'll personally drive him to Landon Asylum and let him be a stupid dog there!"
Despite the cursing, the work still had to be done.
"Tomorrow, before the commissioner arrives, you go and handle the handover work."
With a wave of his large hand, the Chief ruthlessly stripped Arthur of his freedom for the next day.
"Organize all the files properly; don't let the people from Landon think we can't even write clearly."
"Yes!"
Arthur agreed readily, but in his heart, it felt like he had swallowed a fly.
Tomorrow.
Of all days, it had to be tomorrow.
That was the day his sister, Charlotte, was coming back for her holiday.
As the only pillar of the Rockland family at the moment, he had originally planned to go to the train station to pick her up personally.
Now, great.
He had to stay here and organize those damn case materials.
He probably wouldn't be able to go.
It was all Brian's fault!
If that fellow were a bit more reliable, this kind of work could be thrown to him.
After all, the two of them were the investigators of the case; what did it matter who did it?
But count on Brian?
Arthur shook his head in his heart.
Even if he wanted to, the Chief wouldn't want to.
Actually, the day after the incident at the hotel, that guy had basically returned to normal.
Of course, only basically.
Regarding this, Arthur suspected that the kid had simply drunk some bad booze the night before the case.
But wait.
Arthur's hand organizing the documents suddenly paused.
Although he couldn't count on Brian to work.
But... he could probably have Brian pick up his sister!
It was better than letting her squeeze out of the station alone carrying big and small bags.
Thinking of this, Arthur's eyes lit up.
This was called making use of waste... oh no, reasonable allocation of resources.
So he decided that after work today, he would pay a visit to Brian's house.
...
Time returned to the present.
Twilight had arrived.
Along the way, Elias and Old Ed had discussed the use of that bone flute.
The old man even complained that Elias hadn't told him immediately.
But given the situation last night, when was there a chance?
He was only thinking about running away; who had the mind to chat about this thing?
Old Ed expressed skepticism toward Elias's defense of himself, but he was soon attracted by the bone flute.
However, he could only speculate that this bone flute might be an amulet and could play a role in summoning spirit world creatures.
Things that could make a sound, like bells or singing bowls, generally pointed toward a summoning role in mysticism.
An amulet given by a Scale Seven must be able to produce a powerful effect.
The only question was whether it would be accompanied by a severe price.
Regarding this, Elias expressed that he must use it with caution.
As for its significance as an offering, Edmond wasn't sure either.
With a long, tired whistle from the train, it slowly pulled into the Hope County central station.
Elias sat by the window, looking through the glass covered in a layer of coal soot at the familiar yet strange industrial city outside.
Hope County.
The original owner's hometown, located in the heart of the Kingdom of Velen.
There was no salty smell of the seaside here; there was only a pure scent of coal smoke in the air.
This was the emphysema-like smell of the Industrial Revolution.
When he stepped off the train carrying his suitcase, a train from another direction happened to stop at the adjacent platform.
Two streams of people merged together, and the scene instantly spiraled out of control.
The already crowded platform now felt cramped to an appalling degree.
'I feel like I could leave the train station with my feet completely off the ground the whole way.'
Sandwiched between two large men, Elias had to stand on his tiptoes and silently complain in his mind.
This experience reminded him of the subway during morning and evening rush hours in his previous life; the only difference was that the people here didn't use deodorant.
"Hahahaha!"
Old Ed's gloating laughter echoed in his mind.
"It is the Spark Festival, after all!"
Just as Elias was squeezing outward with the crowd.
Suddenly.
Amidst the crowded throngs of people, he saw an incredibly familiar back.
Actually, regarding this return to Hope County, he was very lost deep down.
As a transmigrator who possessed the original owner's complete memories but retained an independent modern consciousness, the biggest difficulty was how to face the original owner's family.
He wasn't the original owner, after all.
That kind of sincere emotion connected by blood couldn't be faked; what if he slipped up?
But unexpectedly, in the dense crowd ahead.
There stood a red-haired girl.
She wore a pale yellow dress, and her red hair was like a flickering flame in the dim station.
Elias could recognize her at a glance; that was the original owner's sister, Charlotte Rockland.
'Oh shit...'
Elias instinctively wanted to hide.
This was too early!
It was just that there was another woman standing beside her.
That woman had her back to Elias, and her face couldn't be seen clearly, but looking at her figure and dress, she seemed to be older than Charlotte.
'A classmate? Or a friend?'
Elias did a quick search in his mind but didn't find a corresponding person.
But before he could analyze anything, the crowd ahead suddenly surged.
That conspicuous ball of red flame instantly disappeared from his sight.
There were simply too many people.
Elias put in a lot of effort, dodging left and right, before he finally survived squeezing out of the ticket gate during the Kingdom of Velen's version of a holiday travel rush.
He had squeezed through the travel rush in his previous life, and even after coming to another world, he was still fucking squeezing through a travel rush!
On the plaza outside the station, the cold wind blew, clearing his head quite a bit.
He stood on the steps, looking around, trying to find Charlotte's whereabouts.
Since they had bumped into each other, there was no hiding.
However, in the vast sea of people, where was there any trace of that red-haired girl?
Just as he thought he had seen wrong and was prepared to carry his suitcase to call a carriage.
He felt his back shoulder being patted by someone.
It was a small hand.
"Al?"
A crisp call came from behind him.
That was the original owner's nickname; only his closest family members would call him that.
Elias's body suddenly stiffened.
He slowly turned his head.
Before he could see clearly, a fair finger poked his cheek unceremoniously.
"Gosh! It really is you!"
A delicate and vibrant face came into view.
Her long red hair was a bit messy from the wind, but those amber eyes were shining.
Charlotte Rockland.
Alive and well, standing right in front of him.
"I thought I saw wrong!"
The girl withdrew her finger and swung her small fist to punch Elias hard.
"You're dead!"
"When we get back, Arthur is definitely going to beat you up!"
She was chirping about something.
But Elias didn't hear a single word.
He just stared at her blankly like that.
Suddenly.
He felt a trace of cold touch on his cheek.
He wiped his face.
His fingertips were wet.
He... was crying?
Elias looked at the moisture on his fingertips, a bit dazed.
"Eh? Did I hit you too hard?"
"It's not that bad, is it?"
Charlotte on the opposite side was clearly startled as well.
She had originally wanted to scold him harshly, but she hadn't expected her second brother to directly stage a scene of a grown man's tears.
"Alright, I won't talk about you anymore!"
Charlotte pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve, stood on her tiptoes, and gently wiped the corners of Elias's eyes.
Just like when they were children.
After wiping, she reached out and patted Elias's shoulder.
"Let's go! Home!"
Rate on N.U.
