In This World, the Police Officer Became Part of the Violent Crimes Unit(7)

I didn’t go straight to the place written in the address.

It’s obvious. All of this is planned by Sai, so if I went without any preparation, it would be better to just die.

Then what should I do? Gathering police support forces is an option, but we need to be careful since the guys with Snake are likely to be superpower users, not ordinary thugs.

For adult women, 7 hours after disappearance is the critical hour.

But in this case, it’s hard to see it as an ordinary kidnapping. Now that it’s presumed that the guys who kidnapped Sai did so to take her position.

To understand their purpose, rather than wondering why they’re calling me, I should think about why the kidnappers haven’t killed Sai yet.

Kidnappers’ purposes are often money and valuables, or simply murder.

But this case isn’t for money. The purpose is closer to murder. But there must be a reason they’re not killing her right away-

That Snake guy deliberately called me. And since he said he’s Sai’s subordinate, he must know how dangerous a person she is.

Putting these facts together, that Snake guy. Isn’t he doing this because he doesn’t know what Sai is planning, like me?

I often thought about pretending to be crazy and stabbing Sai when I was with her, holding a knife or whatever.

But I stopped because I felt I couldn’t handle what would happen after stabbing Sai.

In the first place, it didn’t seem like she would just be helplessly killed, and I couldn’t know how far she had set things up.

And that Snake guy, Sai’s subordinate, must be thinking the same. Sai is like a landmine laid on the ground, so it must be terribly frightening.

So he deliberately approached me. It’s highly likely he came thinking that I, who Sai approached even after deliberately erasing her memories, might know something.

Then what should I do now? What I thought of was going to Yagi and requesting support.

Honestly, I still can’t believe that woman failed to protect Sai, but if it’s her, she must be doing anything to save Sai.

Since she approached me first to talk about Sai, it’s not strange behavior to inform her about Sai.

So I was going to contact Sai right away and try to do some rescue operation or whatever for Sai through her, but…

“Did you witness the missing person directly? This is serious. It’s certainly a case that should be linked with our Special Investigation Team, but – in the midst of the uproar over a congressman’s daughter being kidnapped by a superpower user, I’m not sure how quickly we can move.”

“What the fuck.”

That’s what Yagi said when I went to her office and explained the situation.

I wondered if I had misheard or if my ears were wrong, so I asked again, but Yagi just repeated the same answer like a record.

Moreover, she had bruises all over her exposed face as if she had been beaten somewhere, and while I could understand the injuries, her condition was strange somehow.

It’s like seeing a doll wearing human skin. I didn’t think she would show such a lukewarm reaction when told Sai had been kidnapped.

I glared at her in the office with backlighting shining down.

She’s not normally an emotionally rich or friendly person, but the Yagi in front of me now exuded an even more inhuman atmosphere than usual.

There’s no vitality in Yagi’s eyes, and I feel an uncomfortable sense of dissonance as if a mannequin with a beating heart is standing in front of me.

Did she get brainwashed? As I was looking at Yagi with my head tilted to the side. She suddenly smiled, lifting the corners of her mouth, and said:

“I went to see the higher-ups today. And I got an answer. To leave her alone.”

At first glance, it sounds like she’s saying she can’t move due to orders from above, but from the fact that she specifically said “her”, I realized who she had received orders from. It was Sai.

In normal cases, I would think “as expected, Sai had been planning from before”, but – that’s not it.

Sai was capable, and watching her intervene in various incidents wearing a Hahoetal mask according to Sai’s words, I just thought she was a capable bastard.

I still have a vague memory of seeing descriptions in the novel that Yagi was Sai’s fanatic and a person who could die smiling if it was her order.

I knew, but. I didn’t think it would be to this extent. I’ve seen all sorts of pseudo-religions while doing police work, and people who went crazy falling into them.

So even though I heard Sai controlled Yagi, I thought Yagi was just at the level of an ordinary fanatic, but I realized that thought was naive.

Sai in front of my eyes now. She was sitting like a doll with commands inputted, without harboring any suspicions or questions.

How can a person have such eyes? What on earth does one have to go through, how does a person become like that?

As I said, being a police officer, I often saw people who went crazy with pseudo-religions and destroyed everything including their families, falling into ruin.

They were people who went mad with fanatical belief and stubbornness like madness, and had eyes that had gone crazy.

But Yagi’s eyes reminded me of a marionette with all human choices, thoughts, and opinions removed.

Moreover, thinking about it, she said she went today. If Sai hadn’t lost her memories but was acting, she wouldn’t have given such a simple order revealing her abnormality like this.

That means for whatever reason, Yagi went to Sai, and Sai likely said something like “Leave me alone!” literally to Yagi.

Did Sai, who knows nothing, intuitively sense Yagi’s essence and become frightened? Looking at Sai’s abnormal behavior, it’s possible.

And Yagi is following Sai’s words exactly like that. Like a machine with commands inputted.

Strangely, I could be certain that Sai was really in a state of lost memories from Yagi’s disgusting appearance.

And that I couldn’t get any information or cooperation from this woman, too.

“…Team Leader, are you really okay with that?”

While I was shuddering with more disgust than when seeing an insect, words shot out of my tongue on their own.

At my question, Yagi smiled brightly and slowly nodded her head, answering:

“Because we must obey orders.”

Without a shred of doubt… No, no. This isn’t it.

Saying there’s not a shred of doubt is an expression with blind faith or belief underlying it.

What Yagi is showing now isn’t belief or anything. There’s just a machine in front of me that has given up thinking, given up being human, and only follows orders.

Was I the one who babbled that this crazy bitch was capable? Feeling pathetic about my past self, I left the office.

It’s impossible to get help from Yagi, no, the Special Investigation Team in this case.

But I don’t intend to go to this address alone without any preparation. Then as expected – New Hope. Let’s call Mina.

The problem is how to call her naturally…

I thought for a moment that since Sai and Mina know each other, telling Mina that she suddenly went missing today and there was only one piece of paper with a strange address left at home… Um, would that be strange?

No. With this address, there’s no need to say where the address is or to come here or anything like that.

Because the place written in this address is a place both Mina and I know well.

The redevelopment area in Cheonho-dong. An ill-fated place where redevelopment has been indefinitely postponed after being completely ruined by the battle between the spider mutant and New Hope during the Human-Centered Incident.

Well, I can just say that some suspicious people took Sai to that place, and tell her not to come no matter what she sees.

…Let’s start steeling myself. My intuition shouts. In this case, it will be decided whether I can arrest Sai or not.

So, let’s go after proper preparation. I’ve already come to the Special Investigation Team’s investigation building to meet Yagi, so I should be able to meet the captain too.

“Oh, hyungnim. What brings you to the Special Investigation Team? Have you returned?”

“Hey! Munsu! What on earth brings you here!? Did you get kicked out of the Violent Crimes Unit?”

“Nothing.”

I gave brief answers to people greeting me as if they knew me and went straight to where the captain’s seat was.

The captain was sitting in the place I remembered, in his usual appearance. He looked a bit surprised to see me appear suddenly.

Knowing that I didn’t have time to explain the situation, and shouldn’t, I immediately reached out my hand to the captain and said:

“Give me back the case notebook I entrusted to you before. I lent it to you saying you needed it to write the case report, so why haven’t you returned it yet? You finished writing the report, right?”

“…Right. Sorry. I forgot. I’ll return it.”

Reading the intention behind my incoherent words, the captain handed over the case that had the USB and syringe cleverly inserted under the notebook where I had written the original story contents.

I received it and lifted it while smiling slightly. The captain said to me:

“Is it a case? The Violent Crimes Unit is really busy too.”

“Yes.”

“You talked with your team leader, right? Man, that person is really annoying. Telling people from other departments what to do.”

“……”

“Such a dangerous person. Right?”

I reflexively looked around. Damn it. As expected, this person is quick-witted.

There were no people paying attention to this place visible. But there’s suspicion that Special Investigation Team 2 is doing strange things, and they must be connected to dangerous forces.

If rumors spread that the captain noticed something about the team leader and is digging around, this person would be in danger too.

“People should avoid danger, shouldn’t they? You don’t have much left until retirement, so be a bit more careful.”

“Then why are you acting like someone who’s going to die tomorrow? What wind blew into you to make you like this?”

I smiled involuntarily at the captain’s words.

He’s right. I don’t know what this looks like, a guy who said he’d be careful and live moderately.

But as long as I’m wearing this uniform, I swore I’d do what needs to be done, and I promised a child who lost his brother that I’d arrest Sai.

And now. Even if I can’t prove what crimes she committed, I’m certain now that she has definitely lost her memories.

So if I can, with these hands.

I picked up my phone while checking the feel of the plastic case under the notebook I got back from the captain.

I have to prepare everything. A way to surely end it, whether it’s Snake or steak.

I moistened my dry lips with saliva.