Chapter 1: The Afternoon of the Wolf Part 4
Unlike Armorica Village with beautiful nature scenery, this place was near mountain. The mining field was just at the top of the town. People used to work as miners. The structure of the town was mostly built by iron racks and shelves with two floors height. The mining field was on the highest floor, third floor.
Before the entrance of the town, a bus stop was set. Beside the bus stop, a few orbal vehicles were placed there, including a black giant car.
"This is the place where the origin of the sepith, Mine Town Mainz…"
"…Located in a fairly steep place, I must say." Tio looked around, examining the structure of the town carefully.
"Well, this place is just like Armorica Village, very different from the city." Randy rubbed his chin.
"You're right. However, in order to facilitate the mining work, they implanted Orbal System as well." Elie explained, and noticed the strange black giant car. "This black car is…?"
"Is this…ore transport?" Lloyd asked.
"Hmm…don't you think this car too stand out for ore transport?"
"…It seems to be the newest special transport made by Reinford Group of Erebonia." Tio said immediately she found matched data in her database.
"Newest…? This is expensive, right? Is this car belongs to the mayor of Mainz?" Still, a strange feeling lingered in the heart of everyone.
"Probably." Lloyd simply ignored the car for the time being. "Anyway, we should visit mayor first."
The mayor house was located at the deepest part of the town. When they reached mayor's house, a miner passed by told them to wait because there're guests in mayor's house.
"I heard they are discussing the matter of the Monster Mauling case. I don't know who you are, but you better wait them to finish the discussion first." Then, the miner went off.
"…What should we do?" Tio turned to Lloyd, asking.
"It couldn't be help. Let's ask around before visiting mayor."
The others just shrugged. There's nothing they could do, so they follow Lloyd's instruction and walked around the town, asking about the case. They found the victim of the case as well. He seemed fine, despite he still needed rest for fully recover.
However, they didn't get any new information about the wolf type monster. After they walked around the town, they figured it should be the time to visit mayor's house.
When the team almost near mayor's house, they found two black suit men walked out from mayor's house. The black suit men looked familiar, and they're no other than…
"[Revache & Co.]!?" They quickly hid behind the building nearby. "What are they doing here?"
The black suit men didn't notice the team, simply walked to the black car and got into it. Not long after that, the car drove off.
"Huh? That car belongs to [Revache & Co.]?"
Lloyd crossed his arm, pondering in his head. He tried to sort all the hints out, but still, he lacked of information to link them properly. For now, he couldn't completely see through the case.
He needed more information.
He simply ignored the mafia first, suggested to visit mayor. First thing first.
"Again? What do you want from us? I told you again and again that I will reply as soon as I can…hmm?" Upon their entering to mayor's house, the one greeted them was the grumbling from the mayor. But soon, the mayor found the team.
"They are not the men just now." Mayor's wife said, quickly walked out to greet the team. "I am very sorry, please come in."
"Sorry for interruption. We're police under Special Support Section. We would like to ask few questions about the Monster Mauling case."
… …
"I see…police from the city, huh? For a moment, I thought you guys are bracers." Mayor laughed.
"Err…people use to say that, too." Lloyd scratched his head. "Mayor, we have inquired some town people about the case, and I heard that the incident is still happening?"
"Up until now, this is the third time. They happened at night time, and no people were injured. But somehow, someone was attacked at last. Fortunately, it was minor injury. But the degree of victimization is getting bigger."
"I see…"
"We heard that nothing happen when CSGF was patrolled, right?" Elie asked.
"Yes, that's right! The monsters are pretty tricky…" Talking about CSGF, mayor started to get agitated. "And the CSGF! Why are they suddenly retreated! They need to do something about this! Don't you think so!?"
"Y-Yeah…" The team smiled bitterly. Part of them were sympathized CSGF.
"Speaking of which, did you request help from Bracer's Guild?" Out of the blue, Randy asked the old couple.
"Well, before CSGF came, we did request them once. But they're so busy with works on hand, and since CSGF came in, we couldn't let them keep patrolling."
"…But CSGF suddenly retreated this morning." Tio finished the rest for him.
"Yeah…talk about bad luck." The mayor sighed, rubbing his head. "Just when I think I should request help from Bracer's Guild, those men come to me."
"You mean [Revache & Co.], right?" Lloyd asked.
"Hmm…what did they tell you, mayor?" Elie examined mayor's expression carefully.
"Well, umm…they suggested replacing CSGF to protect this town, says to prevent monsters from attacking."
It shocked the team for a while. They didn't expect that will come from [Revache & Co.] at all. Lloyd coughed to clear the shock within him before speaking.
"What do mean by…protect?"
"It's not free…of course?" Randy raised his brows, looking to the mayor with doubt.
"They don't plan to charge us, but relatively, they want to monopolize the trade of sepith, for the time being." Mayor explained. He didn't seem convince as well.
"P-Please wait a moment." Elie broke the conversation. "The mining right should be owned by Crossbell City."
"You're right. We must strictly abide by the maximum amount of mining imposed by government in order to avoid excessive exploitation. Because sepith has its international market, it's impossible to disrupt the market. However, the mining market is determined by our own."
"…I get it. To [Revache & Co.], this deal is equivalent to protection fees." Tio said.
"Yeah, you can say so. But you know…we also have businessmen who have been dealing so long. I just don't know what to do now." Mayor let out a deep sigh. His brows were twitched together.
"I see…it indeed is worried."
"With some weird guys involved, things get complicated now." Randy shrugged, resting his chin on top of his palm. "Hey Lloyd, why are you smiling?"
The others turned to Lloyd, who was smiling indeed.
"Mayor, do you mind to leave this matter to us? We might be able to solve this case for you."
Suddenly, instead of answering Randy, Lloyd said something completely nonsense.
"L-Lloyd…? Elie, who was sitting beside Lloyd was widened her eyes in shock.
"What are you talking about…?"
Mayor eyed him with doubt, hesitating for quite a while.
"Special Support Section…huh? Can we really leave the matter to you?"
"Yes, of course. If everything goes smoothly, we can settle this tomorrow."
Since it's evening when they finished discussion, the team decided to stay at the inn. Of course, there's other reason as well – the promise made by Lloyd. He had to explain everything to his comrades clearly.
"Lloyd…is it alright with the promise you made just now?" Elie asked with disturbed.
"Yeah…I only know there are two kinds of monsters involve in the matter. Can we really eliminate all the black wolves by tomorrow?" Randy scratched his head. He wasn't sure either.
"No, I don't have to eliminate them." Lloyd shook his head. "Our task is to find out the unexplained point in the investigation report."
"Hmm…well, you're right."
"So, all we should do now is to gather all the information, just like what the white wolf told us." Lloyd took out a piece of paper, putting it on the table. "Let's have a short briefing."
"You did notice something, didn't you?" Randy chuckled bitterly.
"I did. And now you're the one to validate my reasoning."
"Alright, alright…"
"About this Monster Mauling case, there are few unexplained points in CSGF's report. Under our investigation, several doubtful points have been sorted out. But one of the information that should have been determined had become uncertain."
"What do you mean by that?"
"The motive of the wolf type monster."
"Hmm…considering of the attack at hospital, it doesn't seem they attack due to hunger." Nodding, Randy agreed to this point.
"According to the chief village, it may also be the warning from the [Wolf God], but in fact, the one attacking is likely to be the black wolves." Elie said.
"…It's true that can't no more determine their motive." Tio said timidly.
"I think it's still too early to assume the black wolves did this by chance. Just think about the case in the hospital, they were choosing a very clever route to invade the rooftop of the Ward Building. And, they left without doing much damage to the victim."
"It's true to say they were not doing it by chance. This was just too perfect."
"Do you think, there is certain meaning in this?"
"Indeed. In this case, people tend to be confined to qualitative thinking. To get the convincing goal, we should change to another thinking mode."
"Changing thinking mode…?"
"It's not that difficult. The so-called [crime], there will be [culprit], [motive], [means], [result] and several major elements. What if we use these to do dislocation thinking?"
Randy and Tio couldn't catch the fast thinking mode of Lloyd, both started to confuse. Seeing that, Elie quickly took out a pen and wrote down the details on the paper.
"Hold on, let me do briefly summarize."
[Culprit] = Black wolves
[Motive] = ?
[Means] = The body ability of the wolves
[Result] = The victimization in area
"Alright, this should do." Lloyd took over the paper and did correction according to his reasoning.
[Culprit] = ?
[Motive] = The body ability of the wolves
[Means] = Black wolves
[Result] = The victimization in area
He passed the paper to the other three. "How is it?"
"This is…!"
"…If you're correct, then the culprit should be someone else that use the black wolves as their means, motive is to test out their body abilities…"
"Hey, this is totally different from the beginning!" Randy dropped his face. "So, someone is behind this, huh?"
"If monsters can manipulate, it's more likely. But the question is, how to control so many monsters in one time…and this question, can be inferred by the testimony of someone. "
"By someone…?" Elie and Tio looked at each other, while Randy got that in instant.
"Oh, that person, huh?" He smirked.
"So you actually noticed it?" Lloyd smiled. "It's Sizuku Maclaine. You all remember what she said?"
"Hmm…she said…"
"Because of the little curious, I opened the window there to listen carefully, but I didn't hear the scream anymore. Instead, I heard some gasps…after a while, I heard something jumped up…hmm, that's all."
"Y-Yes. Hmm…while I heard those voices, I felt like I heard another sound mixed in, Ding…like that."
"You mean…that sound is the one control the wolves?"
"Most likely."
"…Dogs and wolves can hear high-frequency sounds that human can't hear…long ago, people used this principal to make special flute."
"Canine Flute, you mean?" Randy answered. "Now the technique of manipulating military dogs still exists in this world. But compare to regular army, Jaeger Corps use more often."
"I see…we seem to be able to see the outline roughly. In this way, there is a need to move with monsters…don't tell me!" Elie gasped as she suddenly realized something.
"I guess it is just as you think." Lloyd nodded to her. "Tio, Can we use [Enigma] communication function in this town?"
"…No problem. The communication function can be used within Crossbell."
"Oh? Who do you want to contact?" Randy asked.
"The hospital reception."
… …
"Okay…alright. I see…thanks." Elie put down her orbment with a sigh. She smiled weakly. "Lloyd, just the same as you think. On the day monsters attacked, there seemed [Revache & Co.]'s black car was parked at the parking lot. From what I heard, it seems to be to sell the daily necessity of hospital at high price."
"Hey, the timing was just too good, wasn't it?" Randy sighed. "By the way Lloyd, how did you know their transport was parked there?"
"…Yes, I am wondered, too. They could have driven there during late night, right?" Tio tilted her head. The three of them stared at Lloyd at the same time.
"I don't think so. In that case, Siziku could have heard the car sound." He shook. "At first, I thought the monsters came in through the bushes, but there were no footprints on the goods there. Instead, there were traces of friction on the railing opposite the parking lot. That's the reason I think there's a high possibility coming from there."
"Oh I get it now…" Elie rubbed her chin unconsciously. "Because there's certain height towards the parking lot, the monsters shouldn't have reached…"
"But if there's a transport as a springboard, it can be easily invaded." Randy added for her.
"…I see. All the clues have linked together." Tio looked at Lloyd.
"Yeah…and the motive is to monopoly the trading right of sepith…no, this is just a conditional." Elie asked the opinion of Lloyd, and Lloyd confirmed her thought.
"Most likely. What the mafia needs the most is the fighting capacity to overwhelm their opponent [Heiyue]. If they're going to put wolves in battle for this purpose…"
"Well, monsters that don't listen to instruction are useless, so it is necessarily to test the possibility of manipulation in actual combat." Randy grinned. "So this is the truth of the Monster Mauling!"
"I guess so. Moreover, this matter is getting wrong when mafia came to visit immediately after CSGF retreated. And the commander of CSGF seems to have some relationship with the authorities, it's not difficult to think the authorities and mafias have some communication beforehand."
"Hmm…yes, this is most likely." Elie lowered her head, feeling down. "Although I know how corrupted our government is…but this is just…anyway, do you think they will continue to do this?"
"I guess the tests were enough. Letting CSGF retreat also means they don't want to cause anymore unrest. However, those men seem to have extra attempt."
"…You mean the monopoly of sepith…"
"Guess they will launch again." Randy whistled, smirked.
Lloyd pondered for a while.
"Mayor will look for Bracer's Guild on tomorrow morning. If there's a final threat, the only chances will be tonight."
"Alright, then!" Randy was all fired all.
"Yes, we can't leave it like that." Elie nodded. "Should we contact CSGF?"
"…No. Mafia will get informed if CSGF launches out. Let's do this by ourselves."
"""Roger!"""
Late night, two mining workers walked out from inn. They just finished works and enjoyed their beer time. Most of the town people had sleep by that time.
"I seem to drink too much." One of the workers hiccupped.
"Oh no, is this late already? Mayor commanded us to go back earlier"
"You mean the Monster Mauling case? Oww…come on, I have enough with this already! I can't go to casino, at least let me drink as much as I can!"
"Looks who's talking here? You DO go to the casino during weekend, don't you? And give all the money to the makers. Well, you are a very good customer to them, though."
"S-Shut up! I-I'm saving my money to that casino, that's it!"
"Alright, alright…Hmm?"
Suddenly, they heard some strange sounds. Both looked at each other, but didn't found anything unusual. However, when they turned around –
"W-What the…!?"
When they came to realize, they were surrounded by three black monsters. They leaned back to back, freaking out.
"D-Don't tell me…these are the…wolves!?"
"Don't come near me!"
The two of them hugged together, almost cried out. Then, they heard a voice above their heads.
"Hey, close your eyes!"
"Hmm?"
While they were still confusing, a flash bomb dropped down, and immediately blinded the workers and monsters.
"Whoa!"
"W-What is this!?"
"It's flash bomb." Randy smirked on the floor above them. He turned and leaped down to their sides, signaling them to get into the inn. "Looks like it's quite useful to deal with these trained dogs."
The monsters – black dogs were lying on the ground, lamenting. At the time being, Lloyd and the girls quickly surrounded the black dogs.
"Grrrr…."
The black dogs were really worthy as trained military canines. They recovered in second and got back up. They seemed very angry by the sudden attack from the team.
"…Looks like this will be tricky."
"Don't mind it! Just beat them off!"
Tio already cast water magic, just waiting the instruction of Lloyd to release to the dogs. Once Lloyd commanded the battle, she immediately released [Flow Bombardment]. Following up, Lloyd and Randy both used crafts [Accelerated Strike] and [Full Blow].
But the dogs quickly caught back their paces and did counter-attack. They dodged some of the attacks, impinging from the side of the guys. Lloyd held up his tonfa to defend, while Randy pushed them back with halberd.
Meanwhile, Elie cast wind magic [Field of Wind]. The guys tried to draw the dogs' attention to them with the help of Tio at the back.
"Please stay back!" Elie shouted, and released the magic. The wind blew the dogs to the air like a tornado, and those dogs fell down heavily to the ground.
"This is tough." Lloyd said while bewaring the dogs from getting up.
"Those…are dogs, right?" Elie asked.
"…No doubt that they are military canines."
Suddenly, the dogs got up and turned their back, running to other direction. Shocking, the team quickly chased after the dogs. The dogs kept running until they got outside of the town to the large field. The black giant car Lloyd saw once before was placing there, with two black suit men standing near the car.
"GRRRR!"
"Huh? What's wrong with them?"
After getting back to the side of their masters, the dogs collapsed immediately.
"What the hell with them!? We ordered them to attack the town people!"
"Yeah…they're back too fast."
"That's it!"
"Huh…?"
"We're Crossbell police, Special Support Section."
"You're member of [Revache & Co.], aren't you? We're going to arrest you on suspicion of vandalism and assault."
"W-What…? Police!?"
"Why the hell police are here…wait, Special Support Section, huh? Is that the same bunch of cops that destroyed our plan at Downtown, right!?"
"Heh…Looks like we're quite famous." Randy shrugged, smirking.
"…Should I feel proud of it…?" Tio stared at him with suspicious glare.
"Tch…whatever. All we need to do is to shut you up!"
"Yeah, damn right! You seem to have been taken care of our partners before…and now our little pets, too…" One of the black suit men raised a cruel smile. "Now, it's our turns!"
"Tch…intend to resist?" Lloyd cursed under his breath.
"Hahaha…That's our line! Come on, time for counter attack!" The black suit men threw a bottle of drug to the dogs. Surprisingly, the drug healed the dogs' wounds in instant. "Attack!"
"Using drug to heal? Damn!"
"Come on, we're pro mafia." Smirking, the black suit men took out their weapons as well. "Tear them apart, little pets!"
"GRRRRRR…"
"They're coming!"
Five versus four this time. The opponents didn't give the team any chance to cast magic. Randy used his craft [Flame Dragon Strike] to do line attack. Some of the dogs were smart, dodged it while one of the black suit men got hit by it. Not wanting to lose, the black suit men shot to distract the team.
The cooperation of team had been disturbed, especially Elie and Tio unable to support the guys like they usually did. The girls did their best to protect themselves.
"Elie! Tio!"
"We're…fine! Lloyd, your front!" Elie shouted, being pushed back by the dogs. "Arrgh!"
To distract the dogs, Tio used the orbal magic staff to release some electric to the dogs.
"…No end of this." She had long doing combat like this, and felt really tired. She panted heavily, sweat covered her forehead.
"Thank you, Tio…"
"Lloyd, what should we do?" Randy and Lloyd stood back to back, cursing. At the corner of his eye, he saw the black suit men opened the back door of the giant car. Six more military canines jumped out from there, completely surrounding the team. "There're more of them!?"
"Tch…" Lloyd bit his bottom lip bitterly. "This is too bad…!"
"Ten of them, huh? This is too much…" Randy frowned, tasted the bitter in his mouth.
"Hehe…see, the situation is reserved. This is your punishment that always gets into our ways!"
"Don't worry…we will slowly torture you guys to death."
"If this continues…" Elie lowered her head, feeling numb on her legs.
"Tch…" Randy looked around. ("I think I have no choice, then…")
"Alright, let's start our happiest time -"
Suddenly, a howl cut in, stunning the military canines.
"W-What the…?"
"Hey, w-what's happening!?" The black suit men looked up to the hills. "They are…!"
Up at the hills, they were uncountable brown fur wolves surrounded them which was leaded by a white wolf.
"Grrrr…" The white wolf let out a loud cry, immediately the dogs collapsed on the ground. They groaned in deep fear, trembling hardly.
"…That's…"
"The white wolf!"
"Whoa…what a great timing."
Deeply, Randy was relief. He really appreciated the white wolf for saving him to show his true strength. He guessed he could still allow to stay in this city.
"W-What the hell with all of you!?" The black suit men panicked. "Get up! Just get up, dammit!"
"You hear me, bastard!"
"…I guess that's the different between the true and false." Lloyd sighed.
"Well, how dogs win against wolves?" Randy chuckled.
"…The white wolf seems to be very angry as well…" Tio said with a light smile.
"You mean…he come for revenge?" Elie giggled, let out a sigh in deep relief.
The team quickly rushed to the two black suit men.
"Alright, you're done. We will arrest you under the name of vandalism, damage and obstruction of public service -"
With everything done, the wolves returned to the deep of forest. The white wolf watched them went off, he too, followed behind them. He took a glance at the team once more before he went. He seemed to have something in his mind -
Up to another high hill, a purple haired girl with beautiful one piece dress was watching the whole matter. She let out a childish and mischief smile.
"Oh well…he did notice me, huh? I wonder what is he…"
The girl – Renne smiled happily, like a kid got a new doll.
"Still…the team is too naïve. If the white wolf has no intention to help, how they will end up?" She sighed. "This sounds worrisome."
"…This is only a beginning." A deep voice sounded behind Renne.
"Oh, you came." Renne chuckled. "I see…if they're unable to handle, I bet you will help them instead, right…[Sword of Wind] Arios MacLaine."
"…I think the same goes to you, Ouroboros Enforcer, No. XV [Angel of Extermination] Renne."
"Oh, you actually know me. That's great…bracer who refused the S-Rank invitation upgrade."
"…I just feel that S-Rank is too much for me, and it's too heavy to be seen as the replacement of Cassius Bright."
"Really? To tell the truth, I have met Cassius Bright once, and from the skill the swords, you're better than him. Oh yes, I feel like you are as strong as the strongest person I know."
"…Thank you for your compliment, I guess?" Arios raised a brow. "I know you've been Crossbell State for couple of months and were wondering if you plan a [Tea Party]…"
"Well, you don't seem to know everything. Even I don't start [Tea Party], Crossbell itself is enough with excitement. I don't need to get myself into it, do I?"
"It's good to hear that from you. Looks like you stay for some private matters, but…when are you going to hide from them?"
Renne obviously shook. She looked away from Arios, remained silence.
"I'm not going to say too much about your relationship. After all, it's been big help for me they come to Crossbell. As for you…you know on one can escape from the immediate answer."
"…Stop worrying me. I'm here not just because of Estelle and Joshua. [He] needs to be repair, and furthermore, I have something I need to confirm with."
"Something to confirm with…?"
"It has nothing to do with you. I promise I won't cause you any trouble. In return, don't interference with me." Renne raised a smile. "Of course…including telling Estelle and Joshua about me, too."
"…Alright. As long as you don't cause trouble here, I won't get into your business." Arios nodded.
"Well, thank you. I have to go." Renne slightly bowed. "Take care, [Sword of Wind]."
Arios watched her went off.
"She just like a lost kitten…in this way, they will only continue to be confused. If there is third party that can bring good chance, perhaps…" He looked at SSS who was busying down there, shrugging.
The next day morning, CSGF arrived at Mainz and took over the mafia members.
"You're really great!" Noel excitedly exclaimed. "We didn't expect you to see through the truth!"
"Well…to tell the truth, I am shocked, too." Sonia adjusted her spectacle. Her face tensed up. "But I still wish you to call us before trying to do anything."
"Err...we're sorry." Scratching his head, Lloyd lowered his head and apologized. "In my head, I thought Commander of CSGF would leak the information to the mafia…"
Hearing that, Sonia sighed. "I am sorry if you thought that way. However, what would happen if the white wolf didn't lend his hand?"
"Errr…" Lloyd was speechless.
"I have to say, that was close." Randy dropped his shoulder.
"There are many ways to do this, such as discuss with Sergei or directly to me. There are still problems in Crossbell that are difficult to solve. But the idea to solve all the problems by your own is just wishful thinking." Sonia slightly raised her voice, but didn't sound too straight.
"Y-Yes…"
"We're really sorry…"
The team all lowered their heads, not dare to retort. They were doing wrong at the first place, though.
"…Alright, enough with the preaching. Anyway, it's good to see all of you are fine. I would like to thank you for solving the case for us."
"Deputy Commander…"
"Come on, you only make us feel embarrassed." Randy smiled with a hint of embarrass.
"Oh yes…Deputy Commander, what should we do with the white wolf?" Noel asked.
"Well, it seems he's been wronged. I think we should observe first."
"Please don't worry about him." Tio cut in. "He's not stupid enough to cause any unnecessary disputes."
"I think so, too." Chuckling, Sonia nodded to her. "In this sense, the one stupid is human. In order to carry out the actual combat test of the military canines, they cause riots everywhere. Even they have someone support them at the back, they are too arrogant."
"Yes…"
"But I think they can't escape this time, right? Since they caused such a big trouble…" Lloyd's voice died when he saw the faces of Sonia and Noel. "Eh…? Don't tell me…"
"They might on bail, I guess?" Elie frowned.
"There's a high possibility will be ended up that way."
"While there have been revelations of smuggling by the mafia around the border, we have been pressured to bail them out everytime. It's more than just bail, they just return the smuggled goods for a reason." Noel darkened her face. Elie could see the helpless from her.
"What!?"
"…This is helpless." Tio closed her eyes.
"Now you talk about it…the same happened at Bellguard Gate, too." Randy rubbed his chin.
"… …" Hearing all that, Elie pressed a hand on her chest, but it didn't help to ease the pain.
"Anyway…we can't give up. If all of us give up here, Crossbell is done." Sonia crossed her arms, smiling. "Many people are holding the same idea and doing their best as well, just like you all."
"…Yes."
"Well. We should go now. Ride our cars. We'll send you back to Crossbell City." Sonia turned to her back. "Let's go, Noel."
"Yes, Ma'am!"
Lloyd let out a big yawn on the way back to SSS office.
"…Stop yawning like that…I feel sleepy, too…" Elie kept rubbing her eyes.
"The morning sure was tiring." Randy lost his usual energy, too.
"…I can't take this anymore…" Tio knelt down, almost slept here.
"Anyway…let's have a sleep before reporting to the chief." Lloyd suggested, and all of them cheered for the idea.
However, they found someone unexpected at the entrance of the office when they reached there.
"Yo, you finally come back."
Sergei leaned against the wall, with cigarette on hand.
"Chief…what are you doing here?" Lloyd asked.
"Don't tell me you're actually waiting for us?" Randy smirked.
"Don't be silly." Sergei huffed. "Oh yeah, Sonia had told me everything just now. Not bad."
"Hmm…thank you, I guess?" Lloyd smiled bitterly.
Was he praising them?
"Then, may I know why are you here?" Elie tilted her head.
"…Yeah, it is weird to smoke at the place like this." Tio narrowed her eyes.
"No no no, nothing weird." Sergei shook. "There's no way you can smoke in there, with someone like that inside."
"Huh?"
"Someone like that…?"
"Who's inside?"
Sergei shrugged. "Who knows? I thought he is your guest? That attitude…what should I say? Unusual…or thick-skinned?"
The team completely confused his Sergei's words.
"Anyway, that person is inside there, right?"
"Let's meet the person."
The four of them agreed to the idea, and turned the knob, going inside the building.
And to their surprise, the one at the lounge was -
"HUH!?"
"W-What the…!?"
"…Why…?"
Sergei followed behind them. "So, you did know him. He suddenly bugged in. And when I thought to shoot him…he just lied down and slept there. Seeing that, I just couldn't shoot him."
The five of them stared at the white wolf that was sleeping at the middle of the lounge, waving his tail leisurely. They all face-palmed.
Ignoring Sergei, Tio rushed to the side of the white wolf.
"…What happens to you? Why are you here?"
The white wolf got up.
"Grrr…ow!"
"Tio, what did he say?"
"…[My name is Zeit. Thank you for cleaning our suspicions.]"
"Zeit, huh…?"
"So…he came all the way to say thank you?"
"Grrrr….rrrrrrrr…"
"…Eh?" Tio turned her head to Zeit with shock filled her face.
"What is this, Tio?"
"Hmm…he says…[But you're still young and unreliable. I have no choice, I'll lend my hand for the moment. I'll help you when I feel happy.]"
"WHAT!?"
"Hey hey HEY!"
"GRRRRRR….OW!"
"…[No worries, I already passed everything to my subordinates.]"
"That's not what we're worried about!"
But Zeit completely ignored Lloyd and back to his sleep.
"So…that's the [Wolf God], huh?" Sergei raised a smirk. "It's quite confusing, but I guess you have to stick with him."
"Chief…"
"Anyway, just report as police dog. From now on, it's up to you to decide what to do with him. I have to go back to my sleep. Night."
"W-Wait! Chief!"
But Sergei ignored Lloyd, going up to the stair, as if telling them this had nothing to do with him.
"He's such a cruel man…"
"Is this going to be alright…?"
"I don't think any problem…plus, he is reliable." Tio stared at Zeit's sleeping face, nodding. "More importantly, this fluffy, warm white hair is so charming." Her eyes were filled with sparks.
"That's…I have to agree with you." Elie giggled.
"So…another weird, yet reliable helper, huh?"
"…I think I should buy a collar for him…"
"Hey…" Randy sweat dropped.
Alright, I'm finally done with Chapter 1. This is really tiring, but I feel happy about it. ^^ See you guys on Chapter 2!