"Sergeant, is it really okay to let them investigate their own case?" Alix asked, concern evident in her voice as they walked through the empty streets in the morning light. "Didn't Sergeant Halley assign us to do it?"
"I think Sergeant Halley would understand," Dallas said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "They didn't even see who attacked them, and the place where it happened isn't even real. How are we supposed to investigate that?"
While Alix had reservations, she couldn't argue with her. There were no leads to follow regarding their attack, and honestly, it didn't hold the same excitement or prestige as the murder case they were currently working on. Solving those high-profile murders could open up plenty of opportunities for both of them.
Alix had already taken advantage of her time on the force, rasing her magic a whole stage in just four years.
She couldn't understand why more mages didn't join; it was better than attending some low- or mid-tier universities, where students and lecturers fought for their positions. With so many high-level professionals in the force, she could even get personal lessons from them.
"And it's not like the case isn't being investigated at all," Dallas said with a smirk. "I'm sure those idiots will handle it themselves." Alix nodded, hearing her, though she still looked a bit troubled.
"Those arrogant shits pushed their work onto us again, and I thought she wasn't a total bitch," Cassian muttered under his breath, fully aware that they had both been assigned to investigate their case but had instead been handed off to the two of them.
"Isn't it a good thing? We can handle it ourselves since we know the most about it," Robert replied, also realizing what their superiors had done.
Cassian nodded but still looked annoyed. "It still leaves a bad taste, though…"
"Well, you can spit it out on the ones who attacked us when we catch them… haha," Robert chuckled.
But Cassian couldn't find humor in his friend's joke. Shaking his head, he asked, "Robert, why did you make such an ugly face when Sergeant Dallas mentioned that Detective Julius is holding a lecture in the morning? I thought you'd be excited."
"I didn't make that face because of that... and it wasn't ugly, okay?" Robert said, feigning anger. "It's because Sergeant Dallas is going to be assisting Detective Julius in his lecture, and I really hope she doesn't make us train or do anything at all..." He looked a bit frightened at the thought.
"Why?" Cassian asked, confused.
"Well, first you should know why her rank is sergeant instead of detective, even though she's weaker than others," Robert explained, sparking Cassian's curiosity. He hadn't thought about it before, but now that Robert mentioned it, it did seem strange—Sergeant Hally was strong, even stronger than anyone in the special unit.
She wasn't even close to Alix, who was the second weakest after her—well, there was also he and Robert, but if you considered only those who had crossed the limits of mortality... "It's because she isn't really part of law enforcement; she's with the city guards, sort of like the city's army. She's a sergeant there, or more like a drill sergeant, you know—the one who trains new recruits?
Let me tell you, she nearly drilled a hole in my body during her lectures before Detective Julius came."
Cassian was surprised to learn this but felt confused about why someone from the army would be in law enforcement. Wasn't a second-circle warrior weak for a sergeant? As that thought crossed his mind, he suddenly shook his head; the one who had attacked them was a first-circle warrior, meaning second-circle warriors were stronger, even if they didn't seem like it.
He realized he really hadn't seen any of them fight in real life.
But why would she come here, and why would Sergeant Halley or anyone in charge allow her to keep her rank as sergeant, which was of her pervious organization? Cassian didn't know, and neither did Robert. There were too many missing pieces in everyone's stories within the force, even Sergeant Halley's. Why would such a powerful figure like him need to work?
He could easily kill monsters and live a wealthy life, as the carcasses of those creatures sold for a high price.
When Cassian asked Robert about it, he smirked and replied, "Because of the goodies the department seizes from the criminals."
Cassian didn't understand and replied with a confused tone, "Are you saying the higher-ups keep them for personal use? Like a corruption or something?"
"No, no, there's no corruption. It's allowed by the city," Robert said, shaking his head. "Do you know about merits?"
Cassian shook his head, prompting Robert to continue. "I figured as much, or you wouldn't have asked that question." As the morning sun rays began to pierce the darkness of night, he explained, "Merits are another type of currency you earn on top of your salary. You can earn them just by doing normal work in the department, but usually, you only get about one merit a week or so.
There are other ways to earn more, like solving cases, catching high-profile criminals, or even holding lectures, like Detective Julius is doing now."
"And now you might be wondering what they're for. As I mentioned, the goodies we seize from criminals belong to the department, but they aren't given away for free, and you can't just buy them with regular money. You use these merits to purchase or loan them from the department, however you like," Robert explained. Cassian's eyes lit up as he asked, "Why didn't anyone tell me this before?"
"No one does. They're all a bunch of assholes. I figured it out only after working there for a month," Robert said, sounding annoyed. "And there's no chance of corruption because this merit system is controlled by the city head and his organization. They oversee the distribution of the goodies in exchange for merits.
Believe me, there's a lot of great stuff available, from fighting techniques to mana gathering methods. I've even traded for a sword and a fighting technique myself."
"I should check that out soon," Cassian said, excitement bubbling in him at the thought of getting a power boost to kickstart his journey to become stronger in reality.
"You definitely should," Robert replied with a smile, pleased to see his friend excited. But then his expression turned serious as he continued, "That aside, what about the attack on us? We need to identify who attacked us first."
Cassian nodded, pushing aside thoughts of merits and goodies. His expression grew grave as he said, "It'll be tough; we didn't even see the person's body, let alone their face." They walked in silence for a few seconds before he added, "But we do know the attacker was a warrior—a rare type, a ranged one.
The weapon was also unique because of its size, and then there was whatever magic device they used to create that pocket space Alix mentioned."
Robert nodded thoughtfully and said, "We should start by searching for the weapon and finding out more about the mana device; they might lead us somewhere."
"I'll look into the device while you search for the weapon," Cassian replied. Robert nodded in agreement. "I'll ask around the smithies—one of them might have crafted it."