Kyon left the department and arrived at the menagerie nearby.
«Go home. I don"t need your pretty face anymore.» - Kyon said casually, putting on his elegant black mask. He was going to return to the department another person. Even his voice was a bit lower now.
Juno stared at her a.s.sistant with dismay, then, after some hesitation, she asked:
«Is Kara really a demon?»
Kyon nodded.
«Really... How could I be friends with a demon all this time and did not even notice it?! Then... It means that my honor and dignity have been irrevocably lost!» - Juno lamented in disbelief, talking to herself. Such things were of immense importance for her. That"s the way she was brought up. The mere thought that she was so close to being seduced in her own room gave her a nasty s.h.i.+ver in her loins.
Kyon chuckled. It was ironic that the heartless s.a.d.i.s.t was worried about her innocence and honor.
«Juno, believe me, you are no better than Kara, in this regard. You don"t have to worry. The princess would be the first to suffer from your relations.h.i.+p. I have no doubt about it.»
«I am not kidding! It"s not funny!» - Juno screamed frantically. If Kara was a demon, and everyone found it out, then rumors would spread. Juno risked to be condemned by the n.o.ble society, and it would be a serious blow to her reputation! Didn"t he understand?! Dunce!
Kyon took a deep breath as if he was about to explain something obvious to an unreasonable child:
«All of you have been brainwashed since childhood. They have instilled in you hostility towards the other races. It"s sheer folly! Any rational creature can find the common language with their own kind, but the races in this world lack cultural or intellectual cultivation for mutually beneficial coexistence. Open your eyes and see that the supreme beasts or demons are the same as people, even if the beasts eat people, and the demons are vicious. Kara is a holy nun compared with you. Anyway, why do I have to explain all these simple things to you? Go away, dirty minx who makes friends with evil demons. Shame on you. Ugh.» - He spat to hurt her even deeper.
Still numb from his unexpected tirade, Juno watched Kyon leave slowly. Then her blank eyes regained their focus, and she gradually came to her senses. He was just being sarcastic! It was a waste of time to listen to this jerk, totally not worth it. The question was how to act around Kara? Was she someone to be afraid of? Did Juno have to watch out all the time? Did she have to despise the princess? In any case, it was better to stay away from her.
A short reflection on what he said, Juno felt grat.i.tude to Kyon for the important discovery. She had underestimated his quick wits. He greatly impressed her with his strange but reasonable line of thinking. Moreover, she was struck by what had happened. Kyon got things his way, the ambitious b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Juno was glad that she had refused to challenge him, or she would have received another slap to her dignity for hasty conclusions. How is it even possible to have everything his way?«Wait!» - Juno screamed, catching up with Kyon. – «You forgot to thank me!»
«Uhm… Well, thank you.»
«No! Your promise…» - Juno stood in front of him with her charming, ingratiating smile on her face.
Kyon rolled his eyes and cleaned her key in silence. Her reaction was still enthusiastic but no longer as intense as before. Juno gave no ecstatic puppy squeals, she didn"t jump for joy. She only flashed a broad smile full of satisfaction. And no thanks from her! Juno no longer took into account the colossal value of the work he did to change her mediocre innate talent. However, Kyon couldn"t care less as long as she sat still looking pretty and didn"t cause trouble, just grumbled and held a grudge at times.
Shortly afterwards, Kyon entered the department with the mask on his face and presented his golden card. He was given temporary access to the second floor, the appropriate uniform, a personal sound transmitter with the frequencies of his subordinates. He was also explained the powers that the temporary formation on his wrist gave him.
Kyon went upstairs and was surprised by the atmosphere up there. He expected to see long gloomy corridors with lots of cramped offices, but he found a kind of office cubicles with thin translucent walls between the working s.p.a.ce. There were no doors or sound insulation. The lively conversations mixed into a continuous cacophony of sounds. The place was bustling with activity. The Pareto principle proved to be efficient.
All this noise and completely unorganized corporate chaos made Kyon"s inner perfectionist suffer. He recalled the floor map and headed for the file room with undisclosed files.
The investigator in this world was a self-sufficient unit with various duties from the moment of recording and investigating the crime to taking the criminal, who would be sentenced later in court. The investigator is a detective, a forensic scientist, a police officer, and a soldier all in one. Starting with the 6th rank, investigators get a subordinate, usually an investigator of the 7th rank who is more like a junior partner. The investigators of the 5th rank have three subordinates, and those of the 4th rank (the head of the section) run the department. It"s easy to determine the rank of the investigator by the uniform, size of the office, the confident expression on the face, and other signs. As a rule, the 7th rank is someone"s subordinate, gaining experience. The 6th rank is almost the same. However, they sometimes get some independence to carry out clearly defined tasks. Starting with the 5th rank, the investigators get more or less free in their actions, if there are no urgent or special tasks from the authorities. Kyon decided to act as modest and inconspicuous as could be, but his d.a.m.n black mask still attracted unnecessary attention.
Somehow, he made it to the file room and began to study the files. He couldn"t concentrate at first because of the numerous investigators and servants scurrying around. The working buzz in the department also distracted him. Once again, Kyon got convinced how helpless he was without lifesaving Synergy.
However, before Kyon turn on the "filter," he overheard with his upgraded ears a delicate conversation at the other end of the hall. An investigator was enthusiastically sharing with his colleagues some exciting news.
«It can"t go on like this. The third elite brothel of Boston out of five is closed to the public. The elite prost.i.tutes can"t get out of bed. The doctors say they will have to stay in bed for another month or two. What do we do about it?»
«We could castrate him.»
«Prince Charles? Are you kidding?»
«I suggest we agree with the popular opinion and henceforth call him "Prince the Hot Underpants."
Everyone laughed.
«Who would have thought that the great prince, the second most influential person in Cernos, the elegant and n.o.ble young man, would suddenly break loose like a l.u.s.tful dog? What is it? The male libido? After all, he is eighteen years old, not fourteen! How long has he been restraining his unbridled l.u.s.t? We need to arrest the lady who drives the guy crazy!»
«At all events, he isn"t going to stop. The prost.i.tutes from the two other brothels are already leaving the city with their suitcases, afraid to fall under his hot... thing. Soon he will disable the remaining two elite establishments. However, he will just move on to the brothels of lower rank!»
«And then he will move on to cheap prost.i.tutes!» - Someone added, laughing.
«And then the men will end up brawling. There will be an increase in crime, an economic crisis and, as a result, the collapse of the whole kingdom! BOOM!»
The entire department roared with laughter.
Kyon sympathized with the poor fellow. The beautiful thief had destroyed the prince"s prestige with a single sentence. She had turned him into a crazy s.e.x maniac! How mean and cunning of her! However, if she hadn"t stolen his ring, Kyon would also be laughing at the prince now.
A few people tried to come up the guy in the mask, wondering what kind of masquerade he had arranged there. However, as soon as they noticed the identification marks on his uniform symbolizing the fifth rank, they immediately got out of harm"s way.
It"s funny how it all worked out. The investigators of the 5th rank and above rarely entered the file room. They sent their subordinates of the 6-7th rank instead. n.o.body wanted to mess with the weird guy in the mask.
Kyon couldn"t believe his luck and continued to study the files going from one room to another. The number and variety of crimes didn"t cease to amaze him, as well as their variability. Lots of immoral and cruel events might occur in the world where 2-3 stages in the soul development can become an insurmountable obstacle in the battle, and 4-5 stages can make you invulnerable to weaker opponents. Together with a low cultural level, it can turn into sheer horror. In Laurel"s opinion, he was in the real dark times of looting, kidnapping, violence, street gangs at their best, criminal organizations...
While Kyon"s birds were flying around the city, his team of 95 people, armed with pistols and special darts, set off to follow the orders of the voice in their heads. They split into groups of 2-10 people. Some of them had a rat on the shoulder for some reason. Each group had a specific task: to get to a certain point, to find some clues, to gather some information, to talk to the witness or the victim, to find the criminals, and so on.
The victims and the witnesses easily identified the perpetrator. However, at times, it required some more proof to develop an efficient evidence base. When all the necessary evidence was there, and the guilt was proved, Kyon"s people took the criminal with the help of guns. Even a child could use those wonderful things. A soft blast, and the criminal lies unconscious.
Following the instructions of the voice, they took the unconscious body to the department by the local taxi service where three people in the investigator uniform of the 7th rank admitted the criminal and detained them. The witness or the victim of a crime often came along with them, looked at the unconscious body with fury or contempt.
Those witnesses who had too many things to do or couldn"t come for some other reason visited the department in the evening, or at night, or in the coming days to testify for the court.
The three men who received the bodies and delivered them to the dungeon on the ground floor were subordinates of an investigator of the 5th rank. They had worked as investigators for many years, but they could not recall such folly in their entire service. Civilians came at regular intervals and handed sleeping bodies. Who were all those people? Why had they been sedated? Were they really criminals? Who the f.u.c.k were they working for?!
Their colleagues glanced at the trio and cracked up about it. The three men were red in the face and cursed their boss who had given them this absurd task.
The morning gradually gave way to the evening. Kyon had just finished studying the files and was writing with lightning speed the reports on the criminals they had caught. He didn"t write his name, wis.h.i.+ng to stay anonymous.
Kyon"s found out about a terrible crime from his subordinates. A woman from a wealthy family abducted handsome men, gave them stimulant medication and forced them to have s.e.x with her. It was a big deal for Kyon until he saw her face. It turned his stomach. Hairy warts covered half of her thick lips that were actually a decoration on her ugly fat face, strewn with acne and wrinkles. Her fine mustache was in tune with her image of a pig-faced beast.
When Kyon found the victims of the crime, he almost lost faith in this world. Poor handsome guys with thin, taut bodies seemed to have lost their souls. Their eyes were empty, their faces were lifeless and white as chalk. They had undoubtedly experienced some serious psychological trauma.
When the news spread that the rapist had been taken, the reaction was different. Some got scared, others screamed, some roared violently like tigers who had achieved long-awaited freedom. Everyone could feel that justice existed, and the state took good care of them. The ogress would get the punishment she deserved! It was the best thing that had ever happened! People lined up at the door of the department to identify and testify. She was destined to rot in slavery in the mines for the rest of her life!
Kyon had a sense of accomplishment when he closed the last report. No one else in the whole world could solve 80 crimes in a day. Moreover, he had also written competent reports on them. He had chosen the easiest and most obvious cases on purpose to achieve maximum effect in the shortest time. If he had begun with the most complicated tasks, the number of solved crimes would have been less by more than ten times.