Detective Harrison Leonard’s office was located in the basement of the Balldlum Police Department.
Sandwiched between the morgue and the autopsy room, the placement felt like a deliberate slight—because it was. His role as the liaison between Cartesius and the police wasn’t publicly acknowledged, and his habit of butting into investigations outside his jurisdiction had earned him no favors among his colleagues.
Not that he cared.
Ever since getting involved with Unlaws years ago—or more precisely, since being recruited by Cartesius—he’d accepted the isolation.
If corpses passed by his door, so be it.
Normally, his expression remained flat, his emotions muted.
“Hey, Harrison. We’re here to bother you.”
But when both Lonzder Enhance Diah and Elteel Sirius Flame showed up at his office, his expression turned to one of shock and astonishment.
“Wh— Hah— Hah…!?”
“What, some new breathing technique? Looks unhealthy.”
“No, that’s not—! What the hell? The two of you? Where’s Hamish!?”
“Norman-sama is standing by this time. Lonzder-san and I are handling the case.”
“Hah? Her? Just you two? …Wait, hold on. I haven’t even heard about any case from Hamish’s sister.”
Lonzder raised an intrigued brow, but Harrison clearly knew nothing.
Usually, Sphere Hamish would’ve already given orders—yet there’d been none.
“……No, more importantly. Are you really doing this on your own?”
It had been a year and a half since Harrison began working with Norman.
Lately, the boy—now a full-fledged detective in name and practice—had been tackling cases accompanied by one of the four Unlaws. Never two, never alone.
Yet today, Norman was nowhere to be seen. Only the Gemstone and the Hellhound stood before him.
The matching detective agency badges pinned to Lonzder’s chest and Elteel’s belt felt like a bad joke.
“Are you sure about this…? What kind of case is it, anyway?”
“Dunno. Still figuring that out. More importantly, get us access to the sealed-off catacombs.”
“Hah? Catacombs? Well, I can, but… which ones?”
“All of them. There should be seven in this city. We already wasted yesterday checking every active cemetery and above-ground burial site.”
“Wait—just the two of you!? There weren’t any reports!”
“Oh please. Two beauties wandering graveyards? Who’d bother reporting that? Right?”
“Even if you say that… I wasn’t informed either.”
“I was gonna ditch you if you pried too much. Surprised you kept quiet.”
“I am your assistant. I’ll wait for your explanation.”
“Good attitude. Anyway, Harrison. Hand over the permits. We could sneak in, but I’d rather not hear Norman bitch about it later.”
“Indeed. We mustn’t inconvenience Norman-sama.”
“………………”
Their conversation was slightly disjointed, but the fact that these two were even communicating was a miracle.
More shocking? They’d started investigating yesterday without a single argument.
Unbelievable.
“You’re really okay with this? What’s your goal here?”
“I’m a detective. Solving cases—duh. Relax. I’ve got a hunch this time, and my new assistant hates jokes. We’ll play it straight.”
“Rest assured, Mr Harrison. I’ll keep an eye on her.”
“……”
Of the four, Elteel was the least problematic—but that didn’t make her trustworthy.
Without Norman as a leash, how she’d behave was anyone’s guess.
“……Fine. Wait here.”
Yet Harrison decided to humor Lonzder.
“Oh? Thought you’d resist more.”
“Frankly, I’m uneasy… But Hamish must’ve sent you. I don’t trust you, but I trust him. And I owe him.”
“You two are closer than I thought. Tell me about that debt someday.”
“No. It’s none of your business.”
As he turned to leave for paperwork, Harrison muttered one last warning:
“I don’t know what you’re planning—but don’t screw up. Hamish went out of his way for this.”
Something he’d never say to the man’s face.
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“So? Care to explain now?”
Elteel’s voice echoed through the narrow, lantern-lit stone corridor.
With Harrison’s permit secured, they’d headed straight to the western catacombs.
Dust choked the air; their lone lantern barely pierced the darkness.
The path was barely two meters wide, vanishing into shadow. No map—yet Lonzder strode ahead without hesitation.
“Tch. I thought ‘waiting for explanations’ was an assistant’s job?”
“Gently prodding a dramatic detective is also an assistant’s job.”
“……Point taken.”
Lonzder smirked, kicking aside a stray bone.
They’d decided to work together just yesterday. As Harrison was told, they’d spent the day combing cemeteries. Lonzder’s only instruction: Tell me if you smell anything odd. Yet nothing stood out.
Now, their target was the catacombs.
“Owen Whisper was a mass murderer.”
“A serial killer? We dealt with one last month, didn’t we?”
“The Ripper? Same in body count, but Whisper’s motives were different. Remember why the Ripper killed?”
“Righteous fury, Norman-sama said. ‘He couldn’t stop himself.’”
“A deranged reason. Simple: ‘I kill for X.’ But Whisper? Different.”
Lonzder exhaled smoke, bored.
“He killed for the sake of killing.”
“That’s…”
“Yeah. Crudely put? A pleasure killer.”
Not because he had to kill, but because he wanted to kill.
A motive stripped to its vile core.
“Originally a mercenary, Whisper came to Rubyvas for his leader’s funeral after the man’s death. But for someone who craved killing, a land without war could never satisfy him. The problem was that instead of returning to the battlefield, he chose to satisfy his urges by slaughtering his fellow mercenaries and their families—all of whom had gathered for the funeral.”
“Well now, what a nuisance.”
“I’ve never heard of a pleasure killer who wasn’t.”
“…Fair point.”
Only the sound of two pairs of footsteps and their conversation echoed through the passageway.
They passed several turns and small chambers where coffins rested along the walls, but they ignored them all, pressing deeper inside.
Elteel’s nose still hadn’t picked up anything unusual.
All she could detect were the scents of dust, earth, stone, the burning wick and oil of the lantern in her hand, and Lonzder’s tobacco. The tobacco smell clung to her nostrils, but since it was always lingering around Lonzder, it didn’t interfere much with her senses.
“It’s a bit tasteless to call it a joke, but Whisper rigged the leader’s coffin with explosives. He set them off just before burial, wiping out everyone who’d gathered. A brutish approach, but in a twisted way, it’s impressive.”
“That’s just poor taste.”
“Compared to him, I’m practically tame. In the end, Whisper, having awakened to the thrill of graveyard explosions, made the cemetery his base and turned bombing funeral attendees into his life’s purpose.”
“………………”
Even Elteel, who had seen all sorts of Unlaws, was at a loss for words.
“Wait… how does someone even pull off bombings in a graveyard?”
“The first time, he nearly got himself killed too—only he survived. Claimed the explosives were a ‘farewell gift’ from his comrades, tucked inside the coffin. A ridiculous story, but with everything blown to bits, there wasn’t much investigation. Whisper played the grieving survivor, helped with grave maintenance during his ‘recovery’…”
“And then set off a second explosion? That’s obviously suspicious!”
“That’s where he was clever. After the incident, Whisper was the first to step forward, ranting about how ‘Exploiting our fallen brothers’ deaths to harm others is unforgivable!’ or some such nonsense.”
“No way… That’s way too shady.”
“Easy to say now, listening after the fact. When you’re in the middle of it, things aren’t so clear. Secondhand stories have a way of dulling the truth.”
“…………Coming from a detective, that sounds profound.”
“My job is taking those secondhand tales, stretching them however I please, and digging out the truth.”
Lonzder smirked self-deprecatingly.
“Either way, Whisper played the crowd masterfully, rallying them against a fictional bomber. Of course, no culprit was found, the attacks continued, and eventually, the lord hired me.”
“……………………Father.”
Elteel let out a long sigh. Her emotions were a tangled mess.
But that wasn’t what mattered right now.
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