Everyone Was Happy

Shelley's words carried a lot of weight, and everyone in the room turned to look at the young man beside her.

He was our New Detective?

Luke was also taken aback when Shelley suddenly shot and killed the "New Detective."

Shouldn't she have lured him somewhere deserted before making her move?

Now...

The man was dead in his chair, and blood had splattered everywhere.

As his superior, was I supposed to sit down or not?

Shelley, Shelley. Agatha had pulled you out of prison, but she hadn't promoted you. Did you ever stop to think about why?

Luke said to Pisco, "Go dispose of the body, then bring me another chair."

"Yes, Detective Chief!"

Pisco was strong. He carried the "New Detective" and his chair out of the room, then returned a moment later with a new chair.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Luke walked over and sat behind the detective chief's desk.

He set his cane aside, then took the detective chief appointment letter and put it in a drawer.

Then...

"I'm very, very dissatisfied with the way you've handled things! The man should have been secretly dealt with by me, and then I should have arrived here with my appointment letter.

Everything should have followed the proper procedures, quietly and without drawing attention.

But because you arrested people indiscriminately, this major inauguration fiasco happened, seriously interfering with the mission the Grand Princess entrusted to me!"

Shelley and Pisco immediately stood at attention.

"Sorry, Detective Chief."

Luke waved a hand, his tone softening slightly. "Since it's already happened, I don't want to discipline my future subordinates on my first day.

Today's incident was... someone showed up here with a forged appointment letter, pretending to be the detective chief. You all saw through his ruse and shot him dead on the spot.

I trust no one has any objections?"

Letting an "Envelope" walk in with an appointment letter and openly sit in the Cape District Secret Intelligence Bureau detective chief's office was a major inauguration fiasco.

Especially since the Grand Princess's secret mission was involved.

If the Imperial General Bureau investigated and uncovered the cause of the incident, everyone in the Cape District Secret Intelligence Bureau would be held seriously accountable.

But if the incident were described as a con artist trying to deceive them, then the Cape District Secret Intelligence Bureau would have done nothing wrong—and would even deserve credit.

The detective chief had taken up his post as planned.

Everyone was happy.

The Cape District Secret Intelligence Bureau excelled at "writing" incident reports.

As for Luke's identity, no one in the room had any doubts.

Pisco had already warned them that morning not to rush into confirming the "New Detective's" identity or let him wander around.

They were to wait until Black Mamba arrived.

That meant he had known from the start that something was wrong with the "New Detective."

Black Mamba had looked at the appointment letter and shot the "New Detective" without hesitation. She had also said she was acting on the Grand Princess's orders, so she must have had another way of learning what was really going on with the detective chief's appointment.

Perhaps the instructions were hidden in the secret message.

Besides, Black Mamba had arrived so late that day—and with the real detective chief.

It was safe to assume that Black Mamba and Pisco had known all along that the detective chief and the appointment letter would arrive separately.

Something had simply gone wrong along the way, resulting in the "Envelope" showing up to take the post with the appointment letter.

In any case, it was best to make a big matter small and a small matter disappear..

Everyone chorused, "The detective chief's command was brilliant."

Done!

Luke finally let out the breath he'd been holding.

Clear Sky still needed some time to gather the materials required for the Secret Arts, and Luke wasn't strong enough yet to go wandering around this world. Sitting in the Cape District Secret Intelligence Bureau detective chief's office was a lot better than living in fear out there.

The priority now was to gather everything he needed for the Secret Arts as quickly as possible.

Only with power could he handle a situation that might change at any moment.

"Since everyone agrees... Kailina!" Luke called the name of the secretary assigned to the detective chief's office.

Kailina was a shy, rather reserved young woman. She wore a light green business suit and an oversized pair of black-rimmed glasses.

Her pale blond hair was combed to the right, covering her right ear.

Luke knew that her right ear was a metal prosthesis connected to her auditory nerves. It gave her extraordinary hearing and memory, but also made Kailina feel self-conscious.

"D-Detective Chief! What can I do for you?"

"I'll leave the incident report to you. Make sure you include everyone's contributions."

"Yes, Detective Chief!"

A bad situation had turned into a good one, and everyone's impression of their new detective chief improved considerably.

"All right, there's no need for introductions. I know every one of your files. If there's nothing else, you can all leave and get back to work."

"Yes, Detective Chief!"

Luke's "subordinates" filed out of the office one after another.

Just as Shelley was about to leave, Pisco stopped her, then turned to Luke. "Detective Chief, two brutal murders took place in Cape District last night. One was in the dockside warehouses in Windbreak Alley, and the other was at Mad Axe Gang Headquarters. A lot of people died.

"The Mad Axe Gang was hit especially hard... Their boss, Jumu the Horned Demonkin, is dead, and nearly half their key members are gone. They've suffered a crippling blow!"

Luke thought, Wasn't I the one who did that?

And besides...

"What does that have to do with us? Isn't it the Cape District Security Bureau's responsibility?"

Pisco glanced at Shelley.

Shelley hadn't expected anything so serious to have happened last night.

She explained the situation to Luke.

Raging Wave City had six districts, each with its own Secret Intelligence Bureau branch.

Although every branch reported directly to the Imperial General Bureau and none had authority over another, their operating funds came partly from the General Bureau and mostly from the city treasury.

That meant the Central Branch controlled how the city funds were distributed.

"Detective Chief, the General Bureau's funding barely covers our normal operating costs. The money we get is gone after a few drinks.

"We also have to pay the unofficial agents and informants, not to mention all the other expenses, both visible and hidden.

"But the Central Bureau claims that taxpayers' money should be used to protect taxpayers, so it gives priority to New City District and Rich District. Cape District covers an area as large as three other districts combined, yet we get only a tenth as much funding as the others—and sometimes even less.

"Every other district's Secret Intelligence Bureau has over a thousand agents, not counting the ones they keep off the books. Our bureau has only four hundred, between the official and unofficial numbers. How can that be enough to cover such a large district?

"So we've accepted sponsorship from some merchants and gangs.

"The Mad Axe Gang is one of our major sponsors. Now that their boss is dead, plenty of people will be trying to swallow up the businesses they control.

"And as the Mad Axe Gang's backers, if we can't protect them now, our other sponsors will lose faith in us."

Pisco, who knew more about how things had unfolded, added, "I've already sent a team to Mad Axe Gang Headquarters to hold off the Security Bureau's people. We need to act quickly, or the Security Bureau will swallow up their headquarters!"