Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: Truth is Always One!
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Reisi and I thoroughly searched every corner of the brothel. However, we couldn't find DJ's mother.
According to my flawless deduction, she had to be here. So why wasn't she?
"Uncle. She's really not here?"
"I told you, she's not! She hasn't come back here once since she ran away!"
"Aish! Damn it!"
Frustrated, I kept badgering the nearly sobbing bald guy until my bald contempt switch finally flipped off.
I had several dangerous switches inside me. They always activated on their own, ignoring my will entirely. The bald contempt switch that had just gone up was no different. It turned itself on, tormented the poor bald man until it was satisfied, and only then switched off. It was just like the Black Flame Dragon slumbering in my right hand.
Am I a degen? Yeah, guilty as charged. I love that anime.
If someone asked me, "You a degen?", I'd proudly declare, "Yes. And what about it?"
There was no shame in it. Everyone in the world pretended otherwise, hiding it away, but deep down, they all loved degenerates.
Why hide their true feelings when they liked it more than anyone? It made no sense to me.
Leaving the dazed bald guy behind, we stepped out of the brothel.
"Anis, what do we do? She's not in the brothel."
Reisi asked me.
Had my deduction gone wrong? It put me in a foul mood.
Where the hell had she gone? The unparalleled genius detective Anis Harper fell deep into thought.
This was the first time in my brief detective career that my reasoning had missed the mark so spectacularly. It wounded my pride terribly.
Unparalleled genius detective Anis Harper faces a crisis.
Failing like this wouldn't look good on my record. I had to catch the culprit, come hell or high water.
But she'd already bolted. How? The case had hit a dead end!
Yet I didn't panic. I crossed my arms and sank into thought.
When you're at a dead end, the right move is to approach from a different angle.
"Do we really need to catch Dimoney?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Reisi looked at me like I'd lost it. We needed to nab the culprit, so why say we didn't? I opened my mouth calmly and explained.
"Let's go back to the beginning. Why were we after Dimoney in the first place? To track down the drug dealer who sold her the stuff."
"Right."
"So there's no need to bust our asses hunting her down. The dealer she bought from probably has more than one customer like her in this district."
"Oh. Yeah, you're right."
"In that case, why not frisk a few random passersby? If we're lucky, we'll score some drugs."
This was a slum where security was so trashed that even a 14-year-old kid might carry drugs. Pockets of clueless boys had the stuff, so what about everyone else? No doubt about it—if we grabbed random people off the street and patted them down, drugs would turn up in no time.
Then we could interrogate the junkie right there on the spot. Catch the addict, identify the dealer—one stone, two birds.
Reisi's eyes went wide at my perfect, flawless plan.
"Ooh, Anis, you wouldn't happen to be..."
"Hm?"
"...a genius?"
"Heh heh heh."
And there it was—that swell of pride rising from deep in my chest.
"But is it okay to just go around doing that willy-nilly?"
"Armbands make it fine."
"What if nothing turns up?"
"Then nothing turns up. In armband lingo, that's called 'take it or leave it'."
"Gotcha."
The case, mired in a maze, entered a new phase. Mysteries are like onions—peel back one layer thinking you've uncovered the truth, and another phase awaits.
But that was just another veggie to stir-fry for the unparalleled genius detective that is me. Time to slice it into star shapes.
Dead end ahead? Just go around.
"The truth is always one!"
"Ooh!"
The two girls thrust their arms toward the sky, united in resolve, and resumed their patrol. It was 2 p.m., the streets bathed in abundant sunlight and eerily empty, but the girls' eyes blazed like the sun itself with their determination to crack the case.
"Ah! Target spotted ahead!"
"Frisk him!!"
"W-what the hell!? Who are you kids!!"
The silver-haired girl pinned the man down while the black-haired one rifled through his pockets. They were little more than armed robbers flashing armbands.
If Yoon Na-rin had witnessed the whole thing from start to finish, she would've surely called the pair...
...dumbasses and morons.
The barrier encircling the city. Beyond it lay fortresses built to protect the barrier from magic beasts.
Slopes carved to repel the beasts' advance, topped with neatly stacked embankments. Behind them stood the final bulwark: the fortress itself. All of it formed a defensive line safeguarding the barrier.
One fortress each guarded the city's north, south, and east sides. The west bordered the sea, so no fortress there. Magic beasts never invaded via the ocean.
'...This is ridiculous.'
At the eastern fortress beyond the city outskirts, Yoon Kang-woo sighed from atop the towering watchtower as he scanned the horizon. Ironically, the barrier—the very thing meant to protect them—was instead shielded by the fortress. The contradiction grated on him.
Recently, magic beasts had been appearing frequently in the central districts. Not long ago, a high-rank beast had shown up unusually, followed by a massive raid that reduced all of B District to rubble.
Yet the Hero Association sent no reinforcements to the center. Worse, they were redirecting forces even further outward. Outskirts personnel to the outer fortresses. Central forces to the outskirts. Even his little sister had been reassigned to the periphery lately.
X District—the outermost fringe. Cross the fortress and the barrier, and you'd be there.
"Tsk."
She was still just 17. She should be at the academy, learning everything she could, not shipped off to the fringes already. He couldn't fathom what the Association was thinking. Irritation surged at the worry for his sister, and he clicked his tongue.
"...Something wrong, sir?"
The two men beside him glanced nervously and asked. They were new recruits, freshly transferred from the outskirts districts.
"...Nothing."
Yoon Kang-woo turned his gaze back forward. It was still the same. The vast horizon showed not a single magic beast, and the sky hung silent.
Silent. Too silent.
Even without raids, beasts usually poked their heads out from afar now and then. Yet it had been over a week with no sign of them. It should've been cause for celebration, but for some reason, Yoon Kang-woo couldn't shake the ominous feeling.
What if magic beasts appeared in the center?
Not on the outskirts, but smack in the middle of downtown?
The outskirts' baseline was mid-rank beasts. High-ranks were a dime a dozen.
When B District got hit, most were low-ranks. A few mids mixed in, three highs, but still mostly lows—and it devastated the place.
So what if the outskirts beasts popped up centrally? All the promising talents had been shipped to the fringes, leaving only green, inexperienced nobodies behind. It didn't take deep thought to see the catastrophe coming.
'...Has the Association finally lost its mind?'
Yoon Kang-woo's characteristically aged face twisted in a scowl. The newbies flinched at the sight.
"...D-did something bad happen...?"
"Nothing."
The exchange looped right back, and the recruits grew even more wary of his mood. Yoon Kang-woo kept his eyes fixed ahead.
After an awkward stretch of silence, a woman's voice rang out from the base of the tower.
"Hey, you!"
Yoon Kang-woo looked down to spot the owner of the voice—a blonde with her long hair tied up in a ponytail, blue eyes fixed upward on him from the watchtower.
Aselrika Cornel. His old academy classmate and peer.
"You lunatic! I told you last time to quit climbing the damn watchtower! Get down here!!"
For some inexplicable reason, she always hated seeing him up there. Here we go again, Yoon Kang-woo muttered under his breath.
"Alright then. You're up."
"Yes, sir!"
He patted the newbies' shoulders and descended the tower. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Aselrika laid into him.
"Quit going up there! You got time to play watchman!? The newbies doing solid guard duty get all uncomfortable 'cause you're always hogging the tower!"
Watchtower duty was typically grueling grunt work for rookies. As Aselrika said, Yoon Kang-woo had enough seniority that he shouldn't be pulling it.
But he didn't care. Whenever he had a free moment, he'd climb up and stand watch with the newbies—for any eventuality with the beasts. What did rank matter? More eyes were always better.
He'd even share some encouraging words and talk about the right mindset and convictions for a hero. Yoon Kang-woo was convinced he wasn't doing anything wrong.
So why was his comrade here so pissed? He couldn't figure it out.
"Look... whatever. The commander's calling. Go."
"Right."
Aselrika looked like she had more to say but swallowed it and waved him off. Yoon Kang-woo nodded and headed out.
Heading to the commander's barracks, Yoon Kang-woo spotted him outside having a smoke and called out.
"You wanted to see me?"
"Yeah."
Yulian Flick—the man in charge of the eastern fortress beyond the barrier. Not a top-ranking hero, but his leadership and bold decisions had elevated him to command.
"Up on the watchtower again?"
"Yes."
"Hard work's fine, but take it easy. No beasts in sight anyway."
"Yes, sir."
It was the standard exchange whenever Yoon Kang-woo met Yulian—just a habitual greeting ingrained by now. Yoon Kang-woo would climb the tower regardless, and Yulian knew it. To them, it was no more than checking on each other's well-being.
Yulian exhaled a long plume of smoke.
"...Right. Uh, you put in for central dispatch last week, yeah?"
"Yes."
Yulian broached the main topic. Just as Yoon Kang-woo had anticipated, this was about his request from the previous week.
"Can't approve it."
"...Why not?"
Yoon Kang-woo's eyes narrowed.
"We've got to hold this place. If the barrier falls, it'll be worse than anything in the center."
"I didn't become a hero to babysit a barrier. I did it to protect the citizens."
"Protecting the barrier is protecting the citizens."
"Even with beasts ripping citizens apart in the center?"
"......"
Yoon Kang-woo eyed Yulian curiously. Until recently, he'd been the one arguing to the Association for high-rank heroes in the center—just like Yoon Kang-woo. He'd even been supportive of the dispatch request last week. So why the sudden change?
"...Anyway, no dice."
"Then grant me leave. Craving some home cooking."
"...Can't do that either."
"...Why the hell not? Last time you practically shoved me out the door to rest up."
"Beasts were scarce then."
"They're nonexistent now."
"Hah..."
I knew it. Backtalking again. Yulian sighed and ground out his cigarette.
"Association doesn't want periphery forces thinning out. Not just us—north fortress, south, all the same. They're pulling personnel from everywhere and reallocating."
Yoon Kang-woo didn't drop his dissatisfied glare. Yulian sighed again, softer this time.
"Not like I wanna hold you back. Situation feels off to me too. I still say we need to send folks central."
"......"
"But what can ya do? Higher-ups want it this way. Orders are orders."
"......What the hell's the Association thinking? Makes zero sense."
"......Beats me."
"Who's behind this policy? The Chairman?"
"And what're you gonna do, knowing that? Go pick another fight with the execs?"
"Just curious. Who greenlit this nonsense? Chairman's solo call?"
No matter how many lunatics filled the Association's top ranks, not everyone would've signed off on something this absurd. There had to be pushback. Yoon Kang-woo figured only the Chairman could've steamrolled it.
"...Higher than the Chairman."
But Yulian's answer bucked expectations.
Higher than the Chairman? Few had that kind of pull on beast policy. Yoon Kang-woo pressed.
"...The Mayor, then?"
"......No."
Yulian's finger pointed skyward.
"Even higher."