Ch.363[Episode 363] Alice in Gachaland

When Sir Dominic was heading home after buying all his groceries, his phone rang.

Sir Dominic put down his bags for a moment and checked the caller ID, but it was a number he didn’t recognize.

Sir Dominic couldn’t resist his curiosity and answered the call.

Unknown caller numbers could expose one to various risks like voice phishing, but Sir Dominic wasn’t knowledgeable enough about electronic devices to be aware of this fact.

“…Who is this?”

[“Ah, Sir Dominic. This is Inspector Javert.”]

A familiar voice came through Sir Dominic’s phone.

It was Inspector Javert, the police officer he often encountered whenever there was an incident.

“Ah, Inspector Javert. What’s the matter?”

Sir Dominic’s voice brightened as soon as he realized this unknown number belonged to Inspector Javert.

After all, Inspector Javert was a police officer who was favorable toward Sir Dominic.

[“Well… I think you need to come to the police station.”]

“…?”

Sir Dominic tilted his head at Inspector Javert’s words.

It was understandable, as he was suddenly being asked to come to the police station without knowing the circumstances.

Seeming to realize this, Inspector Javert hurriedly began to explain the situation.

[“You see, a Star was just involved in an assault case and keeps asking for you. Saying that you could vouch for their identity…”]

“?”

Sir Dominic tilted his head despite hearing the explanation.

He couldn’t understand what Inspector Javert was saying at all.

Nevertheless, Sir Dominic thought he should at least go to the police station after hearing Inspector Javert’s words.

He was curious about who this person… no, this Star was who was desperately looking for him, and why they were looking for him.

“I understand. The police station, you said?”

Sir Dominic finished a few brief exchanges with Inspector Javert and then hung up.

He wanted to go straight to the police station, but Sir Dominic suddenly realized he was holding bags full of groceries in both hands.

Sir Dominic decided he should first return home to drop off the groceries, then take transportation to the police station.

…

Several tens of minutes later.

Sir Dominic arrived at the police station riding a spider tank.

While an airship would have been faster, there was no docking area for airships around the police station.

Sir Dominic immediately parked the spider tank in the parking lot in front of the police station and went inside.

The police station was filled with officers doing their jobs and criminals who were either arrogant or feeling wronged.

There were so many people inside the police station that one might wonder if Gachaland really had this many police officers and criminals, and given their numbers, the building was quite large.

It was so vast that Sir Dominic could see parts in the distance still obscured by fog, beyond his field of vision.

“…It’s so large I don’t even know where to go.”

Sir Dominic looked around the police station interior briefly, then stopped a passing officer to ask about Inspector Javert.

“Excuse me. Do you happen to know where Inspector Javert is?”

“Ah, just a moment.”

The officer who heard Sir Dominic’s question briefly contacted someone through his in-ear microphone, then nodded and answered Sir Dominic.

“Go straight ahead and turn left, you’ll see a break room. At the end of the break room, turn right and you’ll find the Violent Crimes Division. He’s there.”

“Ah. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

The officer who answered Sir Dominic’s question then disappeared elsewhere.

Sir Dominic followed the directions, going straight ahead, turning left, and then turning right at the end of what appeared to be a break room.

There he saw a sign that read “Violent Crimes Division.”

It seemed Sir Dominic had found his way correctly.

“Well, I’ve found it, but…”

Sir Dominic looked at the space beyond the sign that read Violent Crimes Division.

Like the rest of the police station, it boasted an enormously wide space, and Sir Dominic realized it wouldn’t be easy to find Inspector Javert in such a vast area.

He could ask another officer like before, but unlike the previous officers, the ones here seemed very busy and stern, making it not the best atmosphere to ask questions.

In the end, Sir Dominic decided to search through the Violent Crimes Division space one by one.

Until just now.

“Sir Dominic! Over here!”

Sir Dominic turned toward the familiar voice.

There was Inspector Javert waving his hand, holding a paper cup in one hand.

It seemed he had come to get a cup of coffee because his throat was dry during an interrogation.

Sir Dominic thought this was fortunate and approached Inspector Javert.

“It’s been a while, Inspector Javert.”

“Indeed. I can’t even remember when we last met. Life in Gachaland is so busy…”

Inspector Javert scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

His comment about being busy seemed true, as his forehead appeared to have gotten a bit wider since the last time Sir Dominic had seen him.

“Anyway, you said someone was looking for me?”

“Ah, yes.”

Inspector Javert got straight to the point at Sir Dominic’s question.

“A Star has been involved in an assault case, but since they’re not a Star invited to Gachaland but one who came as a traveler, we can’t verify their identity. When we asked if there was a way to confirm their identity, they said if we brought you, you could confirm who they are.”

“Me? Confirm a Star’s identity?”

Sir Dominic’s eye widened in surprise at Inspector Javert’s words.

His one and only eye grew twice its size.

At that moment, a police officer who had been making coffee beside them spoke up.

“Couldn’t you just send an identity verification request to where the Star came from? Sir Dominic is a busy person, and calling him here like this…”

“Ah, about that.”

Inspector Javert began explaining the current situation to the junior officer.

“The dimension that Star came from has developed somewhat, but they still don’t have a computerized system. So making a request could take months. At first, the Star was going to go that route, but then said they couldn’t stay at the police station for months and mentioned Sir Dominic.”

“Ah, I see. That makes sense.”

With those words, the junior officer disappeared with his coffee.

He probably had urgent business to attend to.

Sir Dominic finally understood why he had to come to the police station in person.

And as soon as one question was answered, Sir Dominic thought of a new one.

How did this Star know Sir Dominic?

Sir Dominic briefly wondered if the Star might be I’m Not Little, but that wasn’t it.

The Star who knew Sir Dominic was said to be a traveler from outside, not a resident of Gachaland.

This meant either Sir Dominic’s name had somehow become known outside, or the Star already knew him…

After thinking for a while, Sir Dominic voiced what he thought was the most likely possibility.

“Did this Star introduce themselves as the White Crow?”

“…? No. She had a different name… what was it…”

Inspector Javert tried to remember the Star’s name at Sir Dominic’s question.

He remembered that the name was quite simple, but with so many cases, it was common to confuse criminals’ names.

“Aris? Eri? Aither? Alli? Elise? Something like that, I think…”

The mention of “she” and the similarity of the names Inspector Javert was listing.

Sir Dominic suddenly thought of his former lord.

Lady Alice of Feralant.

But Sir Dominic chuckled, thinking it couldn’t be possible.

In his memory, Lady Alice was definitely human.

Sir Dominic never dreamed that Lady Alice could have become a Star.

“Ah. Now I remember something.”

Inspector Javert finally seemed to recall something and gave Sir Dominic one piece of information.

“She said she’s from Feralant, like you, Sir Dominic.”

Sir Dominic’s face stiffened at those words.

With that information, the possibility that the Star looking for him was… someone Sir Dominic knew became much higher.

“That-“

“Well, talking about it isn’t as good as seeing for yourself. Let’s go to where the Star is. You’ll know something when you see her, won’t you?”

Sir Dominic was about to speak to get more information from Inspector Javert, but the inspector cut him off and suggested seeing the Star directly.

At that, Sir Dominic nodded reluctantly.

Once Sir Dominic agreed, Inspector Javert immediately turned and began walking toward where the Star would be.

Sir Dominic followed behind.

While Sir Dominic’s body was following the path Inspector Javert took, his mind was tangled with all sorts of complicated thoughts.

“Here we are, Sir Dominic. This is the Star who’s been looking for you.”

Sir Dominic finally stood before the Star who had been looking for him.

However, Sir Dominic said nothing upon seeing the Star.

Instead, he began to doubt his own eyes.

I suppose having only one eye means its performance is severely worse than having two.

“It’s been a while, Sir Dominic?”

Regardless of what Sir Dominic was thinking, the Star was very happy to see him.

Like meeting an old comrade after a long time apart.

Seeing this, Sir Dominic realized his eye was perfectly normal.

“…It’s been a while, my lord.”

There, though somewhat changed in appearance, was definitely his lord.

Lady Alice of Feralant.