Isabelle (1)
Isabelle (1)
From the Capital of each kingdom.
To the estates of nobles across the continent.
The seven major criminal organizations established their own territory.
The Red Tower District, west of Magitia.
This is where the gangs that have become attached to Magnes operate. The area assigned to Terry among the three captains.
To be more accurate, it was the former captain's area that Terry handled.
"I don't know if I'll ever find out."
By now, Terry should be immersed in the Oberg Imperial Laboratory.
Redin walked along the alleyway ahead.
The walls were painted with everything from skulls to headless people. It was a scary place to be alone at night.
BAM!
The door next to him burst open and a young man shot out.
"Ugh!"
He gagged a few times, holding onto the wall and vomiting everything out.
“Uweeeeeew!”
A tattoo of an owl on his forearm came into view.
He was from Magnes.
Looking at his weak stomach and youthful face, he seemed to be a new member of the organization.
He must have had an initiation ceremony or something.
Soon, he heard several people laughing through the open door.
"You're throwing up like an idiot."
"Don't get in here, asshole!"
Two men walked out.
One of them glanced at him, frowned, and advanced towards him, seemingly intent to fight.
The one next to him restrained his advance.
"We have a lot of work to do. Let's just take the kid."
"Don't wander in here, unless you want to be ransacked."
The two of them dragged the young recruit, semi-forcibly, into the building.
He craned his head to look at the building.
"One... two... three... four."
And a fifth building.
That's the place he was supposed to visit.
The hideout of the people who lent money to Sophia. Originally, he was just going to clean it up and leave, but then he realized he needed a smokescreen.
Might as well take care of this while he's at it.
He lightly loosen the cuffs on his neck and wrists and open the door to the building on the right.
Creak!
"What the-"
"Who are you!"
The guy who tried to start a fight strode quickly toward him. He started walking forward too, ready to subdue the man.
"You're the asshole from earlier, you know where this is."
The man charges, his fists outstretched.
Redin easily avoided it, then grabbed his arm and snapped it in the opposite direction.
Snap!
"Arrrrgggghhhh!!!"
Just in case he tried to run away.
Snap!
He shattered his leg.
"Y-You... Fuck!"
Leaving the screaming man alone, he grabbed the fleeing one by the scruff of his neck and smashed him down to the ground while tripping his legs.
Leaving him unconscious.
He walked up to the cowering new recruit and leaned over.
"Do you want to live?"
"... Yes."
"Go to the Guard Station in the center of Magitia and bring in the men wearing Black Uniforms. They'll rush over as soon as you tell them the Special Task Force has called them."
In every city's capital, there are Burning Hell's arrest squads poised for immediate mobilization.
"Uh... yes, I understand."
"If you want to run, you can go. Chasing and catching is my specialty."
" I'll be quick... I'll bring them back."
He watched the new recruit run off, then turned. He heard shouting as he climbed the stairs to the top of the building.
They had begun to gather in response to the screams from below.
Screeech!
The sound of something scraping on the floor.
The sound of men grabbing their weapons.
Several individuals look down from the stairs.
Their clothes were stained with blood. It looks like they were beating someone.
"Do you want me to go up? Or you guys come down."
"Go!"
* * *
Capital of the Kingdom of Resha.
Magitia.
In the center of the city was a collection of specialized organizations that could be deployed at any time.
From firefighting to counterterrorism.
And the Crime Suppression Squad.
"Good morning!"
"You're early."
The ground floor of the building was filled with people heading to work.
To the left of the entrance on the bustling first floor was a quiet space. A small room with a sign that said Emergency Response Team.
"I'm sleepy... so sleepy.."
Isabelle, a member of Crime Control Team 3, looked at herself in the mirror and tousled her hair.
"Damn..."
"Senior, good morning!"
A man approached Isabelle's side. Isabelle sighed as she smiled at the man's enthusiastic demeanor.
"Morning is bullshit."
"You haven't worked your shift yet?"
The Crime Control Unit had an emergency response unit.
It was the first unit to arrive and preserve the scene, and it was staffed by several teams from the squad in shifts around the clock.
"Can't you tell?"
"Who's next on duty?"
"Some asshole."
"Ah... You said you asked a senior out a few days ago and got rejected."
As the junior gave a small laugh, Isabelle shook her head and gritted her teeth.
"He's a douchebag."
"Here he comes, little guy."
Isabelle's gaze flicked toward the entrance.
A blue-haired man with his hair slicked all the way back, his forehead exposed, was striding in, grinning broadly.
"Good morning, everyone."
The cheerful voice was an extra.
"What a... b... bastard."
"Senior, hold it together, one more outburst and the captain will end you."
"Two hours late... two hours."
Gritting her teeth, Isabelle was about to storm out of the room.
A young man entered the building.
He looked quite frazzled.
"Huff... huff... there's a... black uniform."
The young man, sweating profusely, looked around, then ran to the men in black.
"I was told to bring the people in black uniforms."
"Who."
"He told me to tell them the Special Task Force was asking for them, and they'll come rushing over."
"Special Task Force? Where are they?"
A group of black-uniformed Burning Hell guards rushed out of the building.
Isabelle looked at them, stunned.
"Have I seen the wrong thing? Having crime control in the Kingdom of Resha and the first thing they do is look for Burning Hell's prison guards?"
"I think you saw it right, the man even had an owl painted on his forearm, I think he's trying to turn himself in or something."
"Fuck it, follow me."
"Senior, where are you going? Aren't you going to switch shifts?"
"Right now, our squad's being treated like idiots, are you just gonna stand there? I'm going to straighten up the hierarchy."
Isabelle stormed out of the room. She cast a locating spell on the prison guard closest to her.
Whoosh!
She watched them disappear using the teleporter, then checked the location of the last one.
West.
Where the Red Magic Tower was.
"Senior?"
"Red Tower, west, let's go."
Isabelle immediately hopped into the teleporter. Her vision shifted, and she ran after the prison guards as they ran in the distance.
They arrived at an alleyway.
The streets were crowded with bloodied men. One in particular had broken a bone and was screaming in agony.
"Senior, did you... Wow, it's really crazy."
"He certainly made a spectacle of it."
"Wasn't this just a bar, why....."
While they were still doubting.
Crash!
The window shattered and a man fell to the floor, struggling in midair.
"Aaaahhhh!"
"Let's go. I want to see what kind of asshole is messing around in our neighborhood."
Isabelle walked into the building with the broken window.
As she did, a man with dark hair and a cold aura was coming down the stairs.
Unlike the others outside.
There wasn't a drop of blood on him.
"These are members of the Magnes organization. Arrest them all and turn them over to Burning Hell."
"Aye, sir."
The guards moved at his command.
"Wait."
Isabelle raised her hand to stop them.
"This is our territory. Who the hell are you to arrest them?"
"Who?"
The cold looking man asked.
Isabelle flashed the ID around her neck.
"Crime Squad Unit 3, Isabelle. And you?"
"I'm Redin from the Burning Hell Task Force 7th Division."
"Task Force? What are you doing here?"
"We're rounding up members of the Magnes organization."
Isabelle looked at the junior beside her.
"Was there any sort of official letter about Magnes?"
"There wasn't."
"You heard the man. Come back later with the official documents, and leave these guys behind."
"Did you take money from these guys?"
"Don't you dare say that to an innocent person....."
"Then get out of my way."
Isabelle's eyebrows furrowed.
"Ha. You're pissing me off. What, get out of the way?"
"It's in the new Magnes law that just passed. It says we don't need a letter of authorization to capture members of the Magnes organization."
"Course it does...."
"Go ask the captain himself. It's been months since we sent out an official letter to the Six Kingdoms."
Redin brushed past Isabelle.
"You don't even know that, and then you're obstructing me, Crime Control sucks."
"What the... fuck?"
"Se... Senior, please, hold on, be still!"
"Let go! Let go! I'm going to beat the shit out of him today and die with him."
* * *
After handing them over to the prison guards, he slipped out of town.
Anyone caught today will be transported to Burning Hell by the arrest squad. He also made a comment about going out of his way to capture Terry, so it wouldn't be suspicious.
If there's a problem, it's the woman who was screaming before he left the scene.
Long hair, blonde.
Exotic looking.
"I never thought I'd see Isabelle."
Like Manuel, the paladin he met along with Tervis, Isabelle was one of the named characters who would later join the party of heroes.
Isabelle of Madness.
Like the one he'd met earlier, she had a wild personality that earned her the nickname Madness.
She was also very skilled.
There wasn't a lot of information in the game about the Hero's Party, so he didn't expect to see her here.
Because of her personality, she can become a nuisance though, as she's a bit obsessive.
If he can take care of the flame fox today, he won't have to see her for a long time, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
"I'll make this quick and get out of here."
He turned on his heel and headed for the Forest of Illusions.
The Forest of Illusions.
One of the tourist destinations in the Kingdom of Resha, it is home to the Familiars that mages often bring with them.
Most of the Familiars are of the Fantasy species.
The newest trainees to the tower were given lessons in the Forest of Illusions to cultivate their affinity towards them.
"Welcome to the Forest of Illusions!"
People dressed in animal costumes were waving.
In front of them were many young children.
At the entrance of the Forest of Illusions, it was like a children's park, with all the friendly fantasy species.
Redin paid the entrance fee and went inside.
As with any children's park, there were shops selling various food items, as well as places selling the favorite food of the fantasy species.
First, he went to the food shop.
The favorite food of flame foxes is not commercially available, so he has to make it himself.
"Welcome."
"Please give me two sour grasses, sunshine bellflowers, and five moonlight roses."
He bought the food and entered into the park.
There were flowers in what looked like a green meadow, and here and there fantasy species in the form of herbivores like rabbits were running around.
A fence surrounded it.
Beyond the fence, in the forest, there were some more dangerous fantasy creatures, and one of those dangerous creatures was the Flame Fox.
'Shall I head out to catch it?'
As he started to walk slowly, he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Gotcha."
Isabelle?