Chapter 5 - The Public Security Department
"Ms. Aria, are talking grimoires rare?"
"You can just call me Aria. I'll do the same with you. And yes, they're rare. This is the first time I've ever seen one."
Hmm...
"El, you should pretend to be an ordinary book when we're out in public after all."
"Sure thing."
Once El returned to me, I picked him up.
"Hey, hey! Let me see! Let me see!"
Since Aria was eagerly pestering me, I handed El over to her.
In exchange, she handed me the staff she'd been carrying, so I took it.
"Wow... I can't read any of this. I wonder what kind of grimoire it is. It looks pretty ancient, too..."
Aria flipped through the pages.
"Even a mage can't read it?"
"Nope. I've never seen these characters before..."
"Could you turn the pages a little more carefully?"
"Oh, sorry!"
Aria was completely absorbed in reading El.
What impressed me a little was how readily she'd handed over her staff.
I could never hand a weapon to someone I'd only just met.
"Aria, could you show me around?"
"Oh, right! Sorry, sorry!"
Aria returned El to me, so I gave her back her staff.
"I've heard that we're being assigned to a newly established team, but do we have a building or something?"
"Yes. I'll explain as we walk around. Follow me."
Aria started walking, and I followed her.
I glanced around curiously. As expected, the atmosphere here was quite different.
"Are there a lot of magic item shops around here, too?"
"There sure are! Pretty impressive, huh?"
It really was impressive.
I'd have to explore the area on my days off.
"So, what about our new department?"
"How much has Rufus told you, Leon? He contacted me out of the blue, too, so I don't know much about it myself."
I could understand that. It had certainly been sudden.
"All I know is that the team is being established as part of an effort to combat the growing number of crimes involving mages and magic items. I also know the recruitment requirements."
"That's it? Huh? You crossed a national border with only that much information?"
Aria looked astonished.
"They only approached me yesterday."
"What? And you accepted right away? Did you hate Valtenburg that much? Oh, were you having trouble with someone at work?"
"I'd just been told I was fired."
"...S-Sorry."
Well, there was no need for her to apologize...
"Anyway, that's why I accepted on the spot."
Though I did think it over a little.
"I-I see... Well, you know how the royal capital has a large population? Naturally, that means there's a lot of crime. Someone develops a new magic item, criminals start using it, and then another magic item is developed to counter it. But apparently, the countermeasures can't keep up, so they're always one step behind."
A never-ending game of cat and mouse, huh?
"I see. The downside of technological convenience, then."
"Pretty much. On top of that, the military and the police technically have different responsibilities. So they created an organization with the authority of both. That's the Public Security Department. Our Anti-Magic Team is one of its divisions, and you're our leader."
The police maintained public order, while the military primarily dealt with external threats.
Which meant we'd be handling both kinds of work.
"Got it. How many people are on the team?"
"You, me, and two others."
Four people, then.
"That's not many."
"It's a newly established team, so maybe they'll add more people later. Some of the other teams are already up and running, but we haven't even gotten started yet."
Hmm...
"Hey, Aria, how old are you? Where were you working before this?"
"Me? I'm twenty. I was a student until the year before last, and I started working in military accounting last year."
...Rufus said she was barely more than a rookie, but she really was practically a rookie.
"What about the other two? Are they the same?"
"Let's see... One of them is a year older than me and worked for the police until last year. The other is twenty-six and was hired mid-career. Apparently, they recruited that person from somewhere else, just like they did with you. Oh, but neither of them is here right now because they're away for training. They'll be back tomorrow, though."
Hmm... With a team like that, I could see why they'd chosen me as the leader.
"Fair enough. So, what exactly will we be doing?"
"Maybe we'll receive orders from our superiors or go on patrol? I haven't been told the details, either. I was only assigned to this team recently, and we haven't even started operating yet. Until now, I've mostly been making tea and doing odd jobs for the other teams. Oh, but I'm good at accounting! I got good grades in school, too."
This was starting to worry me...
"El, what do you think?"
"You'll manage somehow."
What an optimist.
"When you have time, could you show me a map of the city or something? If that's the kind of work we'll be doing, I'd like to familiarize myself with the area."
"Sure. Oh, there! Over there!"
Aria pointed toward a five-story building.
It looked fairly new, and barbed wire ran along the top of the surrounding wall, making the place look heavily secured.
"Looks like a military barracks."
"It's pretty much the same thing, after all. Come on. You need to meet the department head."
We walked over and entered the grounds.
There was a sign on the wall that read "Public Security Department."
Apparently, the entire building belonged to the Public Security Department.
We entered through the front entrance. Directly ahead was a reception desk, where a young woman with long brown hair sat.
She was another striking beauty, with an air of elegance about her.
"Jane! I'm back!"
"Welcome back, Aria-chan. Is that him?"
The receptionist, whom Aria had called Jane, looked at me.
"Yes. This is Leon."
"I'm Leon Helferich."
"I'm Jane Ridley, and I work at the reception desk. It's a pleasure to meet you."
I shook Jane's hand.
As expected, her hand was soft. She clearly wasn't a warrior.
"So, where's the department head? In their office?"
"They're with the Special Investigations Team on the second floor right now. Oh, Mr. Leon, let me explain the layout. You probably saw the sign outside. This is the headquarters of the Public Security Department. The first floor houses general affairs, reception, and meeting rooms, among other things. The second and third floors are where the field teams are stationed. The department head's office is on the fourth floor, and the fifth floor is used for storage. There's also a holding cell in the basement."
This really was starting to sound like a police station.
"Our office is at the back of the second floor. Since we're going there anyway, let's head up."
"Sure."
We took the nearby stairs up to the second floor.
There was a corridor with three rooms on either side. At the far end on the left, I spotted a nameplate that read "Anti-Magic Team."
"Our office is the one at the far end on the left. The Security Team is right across from us. Before that, from left to right, are the Intelligence Team and the Forensics Team. The two rooms closer to us are the Special Investigations Team and the Magic Item Analysis Team. Oh, and all of them are already operational except ours."
I see...
"So that's the one."
I looked at the Special Investigations Team's office, the one closer to us on the left.
"Yep. There are a lot of unpleasant people in there, so watch out."
I'd already gotten a bit of a sense of it from our team's lineup and the fact that we hadn't even started operating yet, but was the Anti-Magic Team really that insignificant...?
I mean, our team was the only one with such a vague name...
Even so, I decided I'd have to do my job regardless, and followed Aria into the Special Investigations Team's office.
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