Chapter 197
There was no time to explain Stance. It was because the patrol officer was watching from the side, looking extremely displeased.
I didn’t know what would happen if I exceeded the promised one-minute Time Limit even by a little.
I explained as briefly as possible, summarizing only the main points according to the five Ws and one H.
So… like this.
“My companions and I have somehow found ourselves in danger of being arrested by the city police. Could you help us?”
[Hmm… is that so?]
Ms. Kim’s response seemed somehow steeped in disappointment.
Right, I knew it too. From a third party’s perspective, it didn’t look like a very honorable situation.
I probably looked like a shameless criminal trying to avoid the constraints of the law using connections.
“I swear, it’s not like we ended up like this while committing some dishonorable crime. There were some circumstances. You could say we fell into a trap. We have a situation where it would be troublesome if we were arrested… I would be truly grateful if you helped us.”
[If you’re honorable, I’d like to ask you to tell me the circumstances of your crisis or the situation that makes arrest troublesome… but it seems you don’t have the leeway for that?]
“Yes.”
A brief silence flowed.
Honestly, I would have had nothing to say even if she refused.
It was a request relying purely on the goodwill Ms. Kim had shown me so far.
Furthermore, hadn’t I just glossed over it by saying “there were circumstances” and 'it’s a situation' without even explaining properly?
However, Ms. Kim unexpectedly and readily agreed.
[Well, alright.]
“Really?”
[I’m not someone who goes back on their word. Though a certain someone from somewhere seems to think of me as a complete liar…]
Flinch. Honestly, it stung a bit, but I considered this to be more the fault of Ms. Kim, who kept pushing the “Elizabeth Valentine’s fiancé' setting, rather than mine.
But looking back now that I knew Ms. Kim’s background to some extent, it seemed like the possibility wasn’t entirely zero… Hmm. No, even so, it didn’t make sense. They were rival companies.
“…Uh. Should I apologize or something?”
[Pfft, never mind. Just tell me your location.]
“East Monica, Dr. Chang’s clinic.”
[What’s the patrol officer in charge’s name?]
“Hold on a second. I’ll ask.”
As I turned my head to look at the patrol officer, he expressed his annoyance again.
[What are you glaring at? Your one minute is almost up.]
If it had been a little earlier, it would have felt intimidating.
Not anymore. Wasn’t this after I had received a firm promise of help from Ms. Kim, who didn’t go back on her word?
A patrol officer or whatever wasn’t scary at all. This was the power of connections with a person of authority.
“Hey, name.”
[…What?]
Sparks flew from the patrol officer’s lenses at my rude, informal speech. If they were lenses with a laser irradiation function, I would have already been burned to death and then some.
“I said to tell me your name. The higher-up is curious.”
[…Do you really want to die right here?]
“Want to try saying those exact words into here again?”
When I turned on the Cyberwatch microphone and held it out, he fell silent, having nothing to say.
No matter how reckless a patrol officer might be, he had a minimum sense of survival instinct. As long as he didn’t know who I was on the phone with, he couldn’t speak carelessly.
Eventually, the patrol officer surrendered, glaring at me as if he wanted to chew me up alive.
[…Damon Ward.]
“Did you hear that? He says it’s Damon Ward.”
[Confirmed. By the way, Mr. Bartender, it seems you’ve earned a lot of hatred from the patrol officer?]
“It just ended up that way somehow. I don’t think I did anything particularly wrong, though…”
At those words, the prickling killing intent I felt grew even thicker. Oops.
[Don’t torment him too much. If you think about it, that patrol officer is practically my subordinate too… It’s done. He won’t bother you anymore.]
Almost simultaneously with those words, the patrol officer flinched.
It was to the point where I could feel him frowning behind his visor.
[This is Delta. Communications are clear…What? No, could you repeat that?]
He was holding onto the comms network, as if instructions had come down straight from headquarters.
After talking for a long time, he finally spoke, suppressing his anger.
[Understood. I will follow instructions.]
With that, he whipped off his helmet visor. What was soon revealed was a skinhead man who looked like he had a nasty temper.
His lips, bearing thick scars and covered in implants, twisted.
“Right, so it seems they really were a higher-up?”
“I asked you if you could handle it.”
Only after speaking did I realize that I had once again spat out a line a villain would say.
I had escaped from public authority using the power of a person of authority and then said something like this. At this rate, I looked exactly like a genuine criminal.
The patrol officer sighed and ordered the patrols under his command.
“Let them all go. We’re withdrawing.”
The patrols released the companions they had arrested, uncuffing them without any objections.
And then they neatly began to withdraw from the clinic in perfect order.
Only the patrol officer remained at the very end.
“What’s your name?”
He then asked me. No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t seem like he was asking with good intentions. Did I have to answer this?
“I told you my name too, so don’t you think it’s a bit unfair not to answer? Or is a zaibatsu too noble to exchange names with a mere patrol officer, is that it?”
If I answered yes here, it would seem a bit too rude… Right. There was also Ms. Kim’s request.
“Aaron Nakamura. And I’m not a zaibatsu or anything. I’m just an ordinary person. One who is scared of patrol officers.”
“Well. You didn’t seem all that scared. Like I said earlier, I’m Damon Ward.”
Damon held out his hand.
As I cautiously reached out and shook it, an intense grip that felt like it was squeezing my hand crushed my hand, sure enough.
For a patrol officer, this Yangban sure was petty!
As I gritted my teeth and forced myself to endure the pain in my aching hand out of pride, Damon smiled fiercely and said.
“I’m backing off like this for today, but… I have a premonition that we’ll end up running into each other again somehow.”
“Well. That probably won’t happen.”
“We’ll see, Aaron Nakamura. It won’t be like this next time.”
Please don’t deliver lines like a protagonist retreating with a villain right in front of him or her.
As I reluctantly let go of his hand, Damon approached the procedure chair and hoisted Felix onto his back.
“Instead, I’ll be taking the informant. You don’t plan on interfering with this too, do you?”
Angela and Hina were staring this way with urgent eyes, looking like they had exactly that in mind.
And rightfully so, since if Felix was taken away by the DCPD like that, their revenge would be gone with the wind! I understood their frustration a hundred times over.
However, I firmly shook my head at them.
It was true that Felix had committed a crime worthy of death, but that didn’t mean we could kill him in front of a patrol officer just to exact private revenge.
No matter if we had a patron like Ms. Kim, that was a no-go. What’s not allowed is not allowed.
Eventually, Angela and Hina also accepted it. They wouldn’t have had any other choice.
I had managed to get the companions out of a crisis with an insane connections hard carry, so they couldn’t exactly throw a wrench in the works.
“Hahaha! I lived! Officer, thank you! I survived thanks to you. I almost died because of those murderers, what a relief. As expected of the DCPD! I believed in you.”
[Shut your trap.]
“Ah, yes. I’ll stay quiet.”
Felix, perhaps relieved that he had dodged the blade of revenge, acted frivolously as he was carried out of the clinic by the Patrol Officer.
Honestly, I was pissed off too. There was no way I’d feel good about letting the culprit go like that after going through all this trouble.
But I had a plan of my own.
If Felix used the police to escape from us, I was going to use the police to snare Felix.
“Are you still there?”
The call hadn’t been disconnected yet.
[Of course. Do you have anything else to say?]
“I have just one more request…”
When my long explanation ended, Ms. Kim readily agreed.
[I can do that much, assuming what Mr. Bartender said is true, of course. An investigation will be conducted, and an appropriate punishment will follow.]
“Thank you.”
Felix would pay for his crimes.
In the most just and proper way. I felt that this was right.
[I’ll be going now. I’m a busy person too, you see…]
“Yes. Thank - “
[That’s enough Words of Gratitude. This is goodwill, but it’s also an investment at the same time. Mr. Aaron, you know you owe me a debt for this, right?]
Ms. Kim spoke in a serious voice.
[The day will come when you’ll have to pay it back.]
Click-
The call was disconnected.
A sigh naturally escaped me.
Why did I keep getting tangled up with magnates who were too much for me to handle like this?
Right, I was the one who called first to ask for help, and I actually received a tremendous amount of help, so I had nothing to say.
I examined Ms. Kim’s electronic business card registered on my Cyberwatch.
[Militia Private Security Service vice President / Militia International outside director Kimberly Louise Lutes.]
No matter how outstanding her abilities were at that young age, it was impossible to hold the position of an outside director of a corporation and simultaneously the vice president of an affiliate company, based on ability alone.
Bloodline was necessary.
The reason the surname Lutes was unfamiliar compared to Valentine was probably that, while Valentine proudly stamped their family name as a brand, that rival group was so familiar and had such a strong impact under the name 'Militia' rather than their family name.
There was a reason why Ms. Kim had spoken her full name as if telling a secretive truth.
Hadn’t Isiho’s Iron Blood Chairman said so as well?
'I’ll praise you for not falling for the temptation. A scout from the Lutes kid… it must have been quite a seduction. Then again, considering your past, I suppose it’s not surprising.'
It was a fact I realized belatedly.
If Valentine’s founding chairman was Thomas Valentine, the protagonist of “Cold Heart”, then Militia’s was Bobby Lutes.
Robert James “Bobby” Lutes.
That was it.
I didn’t know why such a figure had come all the way to a bar in the outskirts to drink, or why she got along with me so well and readily helped me, but…
Ms. Kim was one of Militia’s nobles, a member of the Royal Family of the Lutes Family.
I didn’t know exactly what her family internal ranking was, but just looking at her rank/position, she was on the same level as that 'fiancé' who sang about loving her every day.