Interlude:
Inspector Eila
EILA SERA BERMAN had gone to the underground of the Imperial
Capital Planet, otherwise nicknamed "the trash heap." She strode through
the sleazy area in an expensive suit while the residents of the underground
cowered before her. In her black pantsuit, Eila looked like a capable
working woman, even though an armband identified her as still being in
training.
Normally these residents wouldn't give an inspecting official a
second glance, but Eila was different. As her intimidating narrowed eyes
swept over the vicinity, the residents couldn't meet her gaze.
Following behind Eila was Wallace Noah Albareto. He had long
blue hair and also wore a suit, but somehow, he made it look sloppy.
"Eila, wait for me!"
She paid him no mind and continued striding forward briskly.
"Walk faster, why don't you?"
Her alert eyes kept a lookout for any illegal goods being sold here.
After the two of them had passed by, a pair of brawny local men
whispered to each other.
"Are those two officials on patrol?"
"You don't know them? The woman's Berman. She's still in
training, but her arrest rate's way higher than any of the guys on active
duty."
"Sounds pretty crazy."
"They say once she sets her sights on you, there's no escape. What a
terrifying woman!"
***
"I found you."
Deep in an alley in the underground, Eila came across a fortune
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teller with a grin.
The fortune teller trembled at the chilling smile on Eila's face. The
besuited young woman had an air about her that was entirely different
from the typical denizens of the underground. Immediately recognizing her
as a noble, the fortune teller pulled some jewelry from within the sleeve of
her deep blue robe.
"Miss Inspector, thank you for your hard work. This is just a small
token of my appreciation. I would be honored if you would accept it."
The fortune teller held out an ornament crafted from precious
metals. The item would fetch a high price if sold, so the fortune teller
offered it in the hopes that Eila would pass her by in her inspection.
Eila ignored the ornament, however. Instead, she picked up a small
glass bottle of the drugs the fortune teller was selling and analyzed its
contents using the bracelet screen on her left arm. The fortune teller grew
desperate as she watched Eila silently performing her work.
"Wait, please! One of your fellow inspectors told me that if I paid an
agreed-upon sum, you'd pass me by for inspection. Please leave me be!"
Eila still didn't stop her analysis, even when the fortune teller told
her that her coworkers would have let her go. Instead, she grew even more
determined when she identified the components of the drug the woman
was selling.
"So you're the one selling these illegal drugs down here. You're a
criminal, peddling these substances without permission. I'm taking you
in."
"I-I'll pay! I'll give you something worth even more, so please, let
me go!"
The fortune teller took a bar of mithril out from her sleeve, but Eila
wouldn't budge.
"I'm seizing all the money you've made too. I'm not about to let
anyone get away with anything illegal!"
The fortune teller finally gave up, sinking to her knees. She covered
her face with her hands and cried. "But I pay my dues every month..."
As Eila made some notes on her bracelet screen, she told the woman
coldly, "I'll be investigating that too. You'll get a lighter sentence if you
tell us everything, so I hope you're honest."
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The fortune teller looked as if she had given up on everything.
***
When Eila returned to her workplace, her superior ran up to her
looking rather nervous.
"I heard you arrested another one, Miss Berman. So every day,
you're going into the underground to round up people dealing illegal
drugs, are you? Your enthusiasm really impresses me."
"Thank you, sir."
Eila paid her superior no mind, returning to her desk to write up her
report. Her superior remained by her side, however, and spoke to Eila
while wringing his hands.
"Everyone sees how hard you're working. With all these arrests to
your credit, you might even receive a special award from the palace."
"I have no interest in something like that," Eila said as she speedily
compiled her report.
Her superior turned instead to Wallace. "I don't think it's good to
work too hard, though... You should take a page out of Wallace's book
and relax once in a while."
Eila paused and glanced over at Wallace, who was napping with his
head down on his desk. That man should have been sent to the boonies
with Liam, but for some reason, he ended up at the same place Eila had
specifically requested.
She ignored Wallace and went back to her documents. "I think
Wallace should work a little harder."
"Y-yes, I suppose you're right." Her superior smiled awkwardly.
Eila finished writing her report, then sat back and sighed. "Is there
something you want to tell me, sir?"
With Eila's sharp gaze fixed on him, her superior hesitated. "W-
well, it's just that some people think you're going a little too far. It's true
that controlling the underground is our duty, but we can't go overboard...
The people who use this job to make a little extra money on the side don't
like what you're doing."
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Eila cursed at him internally. Kurt only went astray because you
inspectors let so many criminals run free! All of his torment could have
been avoided if you people actually did your jobs!
Eila wasn't working so diligently simply out of a sense of integrity.
What she really wanted to crack down on was the sex change drug that
was turning her friend Kurt into a woman, if only temporarily. Eila
couldn't accept the idea of Kurt becoming a woman, so she was desperate
to stop him any way she could. It might look like she was devoted to her
job, but everything she did was for her own self-interest.
That fortune teller who sold Kurt the drug doesn't understand
anything! Their relationship is so wonderful because they're both boys! If
one of them becomes a girl, it's not the same! I can't let her get away with
this!!!
Kurt had temporarily become a girl and approached Liam without
the Count realizing the truth. When Eila found that out, it upset her so
much that she chose this particular office for her training.
I'll clean the underground up good to protect LiaKur, using any
means I have to. And the first step will be taking down these dirty officials.
***
During a break, Eila yanked Wallace outside and forced him into a
strategy meeting. "Wallace, I plan on reforming this whole office."
"Why?"
The two sat across from each other at a round table on a café terrace.
Eila was drinking coffee while Wallace ate a parfait. When Eila told him
she wanted to reform their office, Wallace cocked his head in confusion.
"We're only going to be here for our training. It's stupid to take it so
seriously." Wallace took a bite of his parfait.
Eila watched him coldly. "The people who are supposed to be doing
inspections can't be taking bribes and letting people go free. We're in
charge of the underground, and I'm going to make it squeaky clean. To do
that, I have to clean up our office first."
Wallace seemed to understand what she was saying. "You want to
get rid of corruption? You're just like Liam, you know? He cleaned up his
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rural office too. They fired all the nobles there."
It was true: Liam had booted out all the corrupt nobles at his office
out in the sticks. He had performed a thorough investigation and saw that
everyone involved in the corruption was fired.
Wallace's reaction upon hearing this news had been to sigh.
"Again?"
"That's just like Liam." Eila nodded her head, impressed, but
Wallace felt differently.
"How does it benefit my patron to reform a tiny little region so far
from the Capital Planet? Liam is just too serious."
Eila asked, "So what happened there, exactly?"
"Well, all the corrupt officials are gone, and the whole region's
grateful to Liam. The prime minister himself is happy."
Even in his training period, Liam was doing a fantastic job cleaning
up the backwater region where he was assigned.
Wallace continued, "Though...I hear the HR people who suddenly
had to send new workers there resent Liam for it."
Simply firing the corrupt officials wasn't the end of things. New
personnel had to be brought there so things could get back to normal. For
the time being, Liam was using people from House Banfield to get the
work done.
"What's the issue in rooting out corruption?" Eila said. "I think we
should take the opportunity to do the same thing."
"What do you mean, 'the opportunity'? Liam's busy enough right
now! What is he doing giving himself extra work at a time like this?"
As Wallace picked at his parfait, Eila told him, "I want you to help
me out, Wallace. You're a former prince, so you have to have some
contacts in the palace, don't you?"
"I don't like the way you said that."
"Can you get in touch with Prince Cleo?"
"It'd be hard for me. I could probably contact his sister Lysithea,
but..." Wallace trailed off and grimaced. "You're not serious, are you?"
Eila smiled. "Let's get started doing a little cleanup of our own."
"Whaaat?!"
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***
A few weeks later, soldiers were dispatched to the underground to
make mass arrests.
"Don't let any of them get away!"
Leading the soldiers in her severe black suit, Eila made sure that
every single person dealing in illegal goods was arrested. In the process,
she arrested anyone else breaking the law in the underground as well.
One of the civilians working under Eila asked, "Umm... Section
Chief?"
"Yes?"
"Was there really a need to get the military involved? Don't you
think we're going a little too far?"
Eila glared at the man. "Tell me, what is our job?"
"Overseeing the underground, ma'am!" the man answered, standing
up straight.
Eila put her hands on her hips and nodded. "That's right. If people
don't take us seriously, it'll only make it harder to do that job. We need the
people of the underground to be intimidated by us. Is that understood?"
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
While her subordinate trembled in fear, one of the soldiers—part of
a ground force borrowed from House Banfield—approached her.
"Lady Eila, we've finished investigating this building. It's just—"
Before he could finish his report, a firefight broke out inside of it.
The soldiers had apparently stormed a building where a number of
underground criminals had banded together to make a stand.
Eila nodded curtly and gave the soldier his orders. "Everything's
going as planned. We've got them cornered now. You're all wearing
powered suits, so don't be afraid to hold back, all right? Arrest anyone
who resists."
A group of underground punks were no match for a fully armed
ground force.
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"They claim to have connections to nobility," the soldier went on to
inform Eila.
Do they, now? Eila didn't know if that was true, but she didn't care
either way. "Just capture them now and we'll question them about that
later."
The soldier seemed pleased by Eila's tough response. "You sound
just like a friend of Lord Liam's. We'll round them all up, don't worry."
The soldier returned to his team, and Eila looked around her at the
chaos. The underground had developed in a completely different way from
the Capital Planet's surface, so it had been easy for things to fly under the
radar here. She wondered if she could repurpose a place like this into a
paradise for her and other like-minded people.
This dump interfered with LiaKur, so I'll purify it and make use of it
for better purposes. I'll make the underground a place where wholesome
lady deviants like me and my comrades can thrive!
Eila was formulating a plan to cleanse the underground of its illegal
drug trade and turn it into an environment where people could participate
in her own hobby instead.
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