Chapter 144: Policeman's Hell - (Part 2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 144: Policeman's Hell - (Part 2)
Upon his return to Edelphite, Evian was welcomed with open arms by the villagers. The policeman who had dashed off and immediately brought back the two runaway children—who had fled in an automaton carriage, no less—seemed like a magician.
The adults, who had been waiting to give Elly and Dev a piece of their minds, waited for Evian to release them. It looked like they were planning to deliver a long-overdue thrashing today.
But Evian spoke first.
“Just a moment. I've found the missing alchemic fabric.”
“Weren't they the ones who stole it?”
“No. The one who made off with the alchemic fabric is someone else.”
Having captured their attention, Evian headed straight for Bern’s house. Bern, who had been following silently, asked urgently.
“Wait. Why are you going to my house?”
“I received a tip. I’m going to find it. Please accompany me.”
“…Hah. I see.”
Bern sighed and followed Evian with a look of complete resignation.
There was no need for Elly’s testimony. The marks where she had dug the previous night were clear, and the attempt to cover them up was clumsy beyond belief. Evian grabbed a shovel and dug into the pit.
And there, he found a bone. He turned it over in his hands, examining it for clues.
The murmuring of the villagers rose around him.
“My goodness… a bone fragment, really in Bern’s field…”
“Has anyone died recently…?”
“We’d know if they had. Weren’t they all cremated?”
After examining the bone with a grave expression, Evian opened his mouth, his face hardening. The frightened villagers fell silent at once.
“This isn't recent. I'd say it's about thirty years old… A body buried back then.”
His observation complete, Evian slowly rose to his feet. His eyes were gleaming.
“And as far as I know, only one person disappeared around that time. The one man said to have abandoned my mother and fled the village before I was born. The man everyone believed had run away because you, Bern, personally testified to it.”
Evian stared intently at Bern and murmured.
“My father.”
Bern closed his eyes, his face a mask of utter defeat. Evian glared at him, having reverted to the cold, merciless policeman he was.
“Bern. I'm arresting you on suspicion of murder and abandoning a corpse.”
The village erupted in whispers, this time far louder than before.
A nephew was arresting his uncle; a policeman was hauling away the village chief. Bern was escorted away, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
One of the village elders muttered.
“S-so, what will happen to Bern…?”
Evian answered.
“I'm not the one who passes judgment. I don't have that authority. However, if the culprit confesses and the circumstances are clear, a military judge can issue a summary conviction.”
“Judgment? The sentence for murder is…”
“Premeditated murder is punishable by death.”
Evian’s cold declaration sent a fresh wave of murmurs through the village. Someone shouted.
“Evian! He’s your uncle!”
“What does that matter! Before a policeman, there is only the guilty!”
Evian scanned the crowd and yelled.
“Interfering with a police officer in the performance of his duties can result in a labor sentence of up to three years, depending on the severity. Everyone, step aside!”
The weight of a labor sentence was no small thing.
Factories, mines, educational camps, logistics.
A labor sentence meant being assigned to one of those places and worked like a dog from dawn till dusk. There was even a saying that six months of labor would leave your body broken for three years.
Finally grasping the true extent of Evian’s authority, the villagers groaned and stepped back. Evian, radiating the fearsome aura of a Military State inspector, pushed his way through the crowd.
But before one woman who blocked his path, Evian could not maintain his professional demeanor.
“…Evian.”
“Mother?”
Evian’s mother approached him, sobbing, and grabbed onto him. Her hand, clutching his collar, trembled faintly.
“Arrest me. Arrest me.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“…It was me. It was all my fault. It’s because of me…”
“What is?”
Even Evian couldn't just push aside his own mother. His hard-won authority vanished as he stood there, at a loss.
In that moment, a hidden story spilled from his mother’s lips.
“…Your father… he used to beat me senseless. I was a bride from a faraway place, and he was the village chief's eldest son. No one could stop him…”
“What?”
“He was a violent man. He even hit me when I was pregnant with you. Bern had just returned and got into an argument with him, and in the end, during the fight, he…”
“What?”
“I was the one who buried the body. I'm sorry, so sorry… I couldn't tell you, so I lied and said he'd run away from the village…”
The truth, coming from his mother’s own mouth, was a shock.
Evian’s father had been so violent that he had no friends. People had readily accepted the story that he had run away.
In truth, they had felt no need to question it. His absence had brought them nothing but relief.
Besides, the military government was just being established, and things were chaotic.
“I didn't want to disappoint you, you who missed your father so much… so I praised him as if he were a great man. I’m so sorry I couldn't tell you the truth…”
His mother had been an accomplice. Evian stared blankly at her wrinkled face.
The Military State is merciless. It doesn't tolerate any violation of the law, no matter the circumstances. Evian knew this better than anyone.
But he couldn't bring himself to lock them up with his own hands. After agonizing over it in the police station, he stood up.
“They said the Captain was staying at the inn…”
This was a problem Evian couldn't solve. In times like these, all he could do was report to a superior. He walked wearily toward the inn.
“…This is what happened.”
Inspector Evian, throwing etiquette to the wind, went to the Captain and reported the situation.
The blonde officer, a bandage wrapped around her head, listened to the entire story before replying in a flat voice. It was a voice that sounded vaguely familiar, as if he'd heard it somewhere before.
“Understood. However,”
Evian closed his eyes and awaited the verdict.
While Evian’s rank was nothing to scoff at, that only held true among the ‘villagers.’ A Captain was on a completely different level.
They were the ‘soldiers’ who moved the Military State. Monsters who operated under a different set of rules. From the authority they wielded to the power they possessed, they were in a different dimension from Evian.
What’s going to happen? I might get on my superiors’ bad side.
But the words that followed surprised him.
“For incidents that occurred more than twenty-five years ago, before the establishment of the military government, the matter is left to the discretion of the investigating officer.”
“What?”
A murder case, left to his discretion? Evian asked dumbly.
“Are you saying there’s a statute of limitations?”
“The Military State has no statute of limitations. There is only discretion.”
The Captain stated this in a rigid tone, as if it were her sole duty.
“Flexible application makes enforcement easier. However, for incidents that occurred before the military government, we do not hold officers accountable for failing to make an arrest. That period is considered a time of administrative vacuum.”
The Military State was always happy to have more laborers. There was much to be done and never enough hands.
So they didn't create statutes of limitations. They also granted wide discretion. If you made an arrest, the person could be put to work immediately.
The law was even retroactive. You could be arrested for a crime committed before the law even existed if they felt like it.
But since they didn't concern themselves with the administration before the military government, it was up to Evian’s discretion whether to bury the incident or pursue it.
“Why didn't I know about this?”
“It's best not to publicize things like a statute of limitations. It would allow criminals to relax. Therefore, the authorities have this guideline but do not announce it. Not even to investigators.”
Fewer arrests would be a problem, but more arrests cause no harm. It was a policy truly befitting the Military State.
Understanding this, Evian gave the Captain a dazed salute and withdrew.
“Yes, ma’am! My apologies for disturbing your rest. I will take my leave now!”
Through the closing door, he heard the Captain let out a small sigh.
“…What in the world have you been up to?”
*
“…The Military State doesn't prosecute crimes from the kingdom era. You were lucky, Bern.”
The truly lucky one was Evian, who no longer had to arrest his own mother, but he didn't let it show. Instead, he released Bern in front of everyone.
As the handcuff packet came off, Bern rubbed his wrists and spoke grimly.
“…I’m sorry. No matter what I say, I still… your father…”
“Quiet,” Evian said curtly.
In truth, there was another reason he had come to dislike Bern.
His single mother and Bern would often whisper to each other when Evian wasn't around. They would sometimes look at him with guilt-ridden expressions.
As a child, Evian had disliked Bern out of a vague sense of jealousy, but if it had all been about his father…
“Good work, Inspector Evian.”
Just then, Administrative Supply Officer Sergeant Bero approached. Evian greeted him warmly.
“Sergeant Bero. Thank you for your assistance. I would have been in trouble without the Captain.”
“It was the Captain’s decision.”
“I’m just grateful to everyone. Phew. Anyway. This should wrap things up.”
“Wrapped up?”
It was an ominous voice, implying the trouble wasn't over. Bero tilted his head and stated his business.
“…So, where is the recovered alchemic fabric? We have to do an inventory check in an hour.”
Evian shot off the ground and started running.
The village was small, and since he had just been turning the place upside down, he found the culprit quickly. His next-door neighbor, Mrs. Malpot, who had been in desperate need of cash, confessed everything.
As it turned out, it had become common practice for the inn staff to snip off small pieces of the alchemic fabric and sell them. Elly’s escape had simply blown the whole thing wide open.
There was no space to lock up the dozens of people, big and small, involved in the affair, so Inspector Evian ordered them to be confined to their homes for the time being. His work finally done, Evian collapsed into a chair at the police station, utterly exhausted. His entire body was drenched in sweat.
“Phew. It feels like decades’ worth of trouble all happened in one day…”
-And I, leaning against the wall of the police station, listened to his monologue and smiled to myself.
Of course it did. I was the one who stirred everything up.
A quiet country village like this is bound to have a few skeletons in its closet. I started by reading the memories of those around him and carefully prepared a stage just for him. Then I scattered dozens of clues all over the village.
Only a few of them were actually used, but I was more than satisfied since he’d latched onto the biggest case.
“That was the worst day… It was truly hell.”
That was the policeman's hell I prepared just for you.
You held up pretty well, though, Inspector Evian. And here I thought it was a rather elaborate gift.
“Hmph, you'd better take good care of that epaulet until I pass through here again.”
I was short on time, so I could only touch on the big stuff. There's still the matter of the affair and the identity of the pumpkin thief to deal with.
And the truth about your mother and Bern… ahem. Let's leave it at that.
Well, whatever. This is enough. If I happen to pass by Edelphite again, I’ll show you another kind of hell. Hahaha!
I was chuckling to myself as I walked past the police station.
…Who's that? I don't recognize that silhouette.
Inspector Evian, despite his exhaustion, suddenly grabbed his steel baton and strode out.
Whoa, hold on. What's with him?
I'm just an innocent passerby. Why is he suddenly grabbing a steel baton and coming after me? He has no evidence, nothing!
But only a third-rate criminal would panic and run here. As a first-rate criminal, I act nonchalantly even when under suspicion. I kept my pace steady, paying him no mind.
He has no evidence or grounds for suspicion. He'll probably just watch me for a bit and give up…
“You there. Stop.”
What? How did he pinpoint me so accurately?
Normally, I should stop here. Then, I’d act casual and deflect his suspicion. Running like a novice would be an admission of guilt.
But why…? This strange certainty radiating from Inspector Evian is…!
‘His back looks just like a criminal's I saw once. I can't be mistaken. I might be wrong about other things, but my gut is never wrong.’
Hey, you could be wrong!
Well, you're not wrong this time, but still! Acting on such certainty could get an innocent person arrested! That Military State motto about rather framing a hundred innocents than letting one criminal escape…!
He's following it to the letter.
‘Subdue first, ask questions later.’
Alright. Time to run.
I bolted.
“Stop right there!”
Evian roared, swinging the steel baton in circles over his head.
The setting sun was a deep red. As darkness once again fell upon Edelphite, a village that had unburdened itself of so many old secrets in a single day.