Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 618 Uh—

I don't know when it started... oh, it was probably after the fire. Ever since then, Enid's gaze towards Milo has become somewhat evasive, perhaps because there's a hint of unfamiliarity between them now and then.

With her sometimes clever and sometimes confused mind, she must have realized something, but it was difficult to figure it out. That feeling was probably like when you are still the same person, but when you look back, you find that everything and everyone around you has become unfamiliar. Confusion and bewilderment will invade all your thoughts immediately.

For her, the law enforcement team was not the same as the glorious force she had longed to join, and those familiar faces began to feel unfamiliar.

Especially Milo.

He began to resemble the familiar figure Enid remembered, but became more like the terrifying image she had seen in her dreams—the source of malice that soared through the air and ravaged half the port city…

...

Enid didn't have many friends to begin with.

She is the eldest daughter of the Kent family. At the academy, few commoner students, except Emma, ​​are willing to associate with her. Now, because of her status as a law enforcement officer, her friends from the aristocratic class have long since become estranged from each other.

What troubled her most was that she rarely saw Emma anymore. Emma was even more engrossed in those books than before. At first, thanks to her understanding of ancient scripts, Enid could at least participate, but now she found that she could no longer understand Emma's calculations at all, and... it seemed that Emma had no desire to share them with her.

And then there was the chief enforcer, Rebecca, whom Enid had once regarded as a role model and exemplar. She'd been disappearing frequently lately, much like Milo when Enid first joined the enforcement agency. Moreover, she felt that the entire enforcement agency—no, the entire city of Nanwei—seemed different. Everyone was preoccupied with the bounty board, even their free time was filled with talk of bounties. Enid found herself unable to fit in, because it all gave her an unreal, surreal feeling, a sense that this was a world worse than a dream.

This isn't the first time something like what happened at the fire scene has occurred.

In the eyes of many colleagues, "law enforcement" seems to be synonymous with "killing wanted criminals," and everything else is irrelevant to them, even if a crime is happening right in front of them, or if someone across the street is about to perish in a fire.

If it were just a few individuals like this, that would be one thing, but what puzzled Enid was that everyone around her had become like this.

If things continue like this, perhaps one day she will realize that the problem actually lies with herself.

But she always believed that the duty of law enforcement officers was to maintain the peace of the city. She missed the terrible days when sirens would pull her out of bed in the middle of the night to carry out missions, because that was the will symbolized by the scythe totem of judgment.

But ever since that black-glowing mark appeared on the Judgment Scythe totem on the ceiling of the Enforcement Hall, everything has become unfamiliar.

She had no idea that the crack came from the abyss.

I don't understand these things either.

She only sensed that everything around her was changing drastically, as if everyone was following the guidance of some voice and heading in another direction or on another road, while she remained on the original road.

...

That day, after I yelled at Milo.

If Milo retaliates or has any other strong reaction, Enid wouldn't find it strange.

But when she pushed him against the wall, he had a puzzled look on his face, as if to say, "What are you doing?"

The gist of it is that he didn't even know why Enid was angry.

It was that extremely eerie feeling that sent chills down Enid's spine.

She didn't understand what was wrong with everyone.

Inside the burning building, the wails and cries for help were so piercing, but the people outside, including Milo, seemed not to hear them at all.

……

The number of case documents piling up at the law enforcement office is increasing. Four tables have been set aside in the lobby to store these shelved case documents, but the piles are only getting bigger because no one is taking care of them.

Even his colleagues were indifferent to the case information provided by the complainant.

In less than half a month, the crime rate in nearly thirty parishes in the southern part of Nanwei City quadrupled.

However, the law enforcement officers from the four major law enforcement agencies still spent their days circling around the bounty board, discussing things they couldn't understand at all, such as "dripping stone" and "shining dripping stone."

...

Enid is very tired.

Yesterday, she intercepted two children who were supposed to be kidnapped and taken to a port of smuggling. The traffickers were from Arden village and were armed with firearms.

Fortunately, no one was seriously injured in the end.

However, the task, which should have been carried out by at least a whole law enforcement team, was only carried out by Enid alone. Moreover, the escaped criminals were not pursued, and the matter was left unresolved.

She had no interest in the criminals with bounties on their heads; Enid only focused on the villains she saw who were extending their knives towards the people.

Although she was indeed very tired and wanted to lie down and get a good night's sleep, there was something Enid decided to figure out for herself.

That's where the wanted poster came from.

Enid was probably the only one in the entire law enforcement system who thought to find out where this thing came from, because everyone else was busy searching for wanted criminals.

However, it is actually very difficult to find out the origin of that thing.

Even Enid herself couldn't pinpoint exactly when that unassuming wooden sign started appearing in front of the law enforcement office; there was always a feeling that it had been there all along…

…So Enid applied for several consecutive night shifts because after wandering around the law enforcement office, she couldn't find out the source of these bounty notices from any of her colleagues, and no one even knew the specific department.

On the seventh night after a week of staring at the wanted poster, she finally saw the "staff" responsible for updating the wanted list.

Late at night, a black sedan was parked in front of the law enforcement office.

A person dressed in a long black coat got out of the car; their face was obscured by the dim streetlights.

He had a stack of newly printed arrest warrants tucked under his arm and a small metal bucket in his right hand containing glue and wooden brushes.

After skillfully covering the newly issued arrest warrants with them, the man got into his car.

Enid, who had been dozing on the windowsill, immediately perked up, grabbed her weapon, climbed out of the law enforcement office, and followed the car headlights, weaving through the streets and alleys of Nanwei City in the dead of night, keeping a leisurely pace behind.

……

The vehicle traveled through most of Nanwei City.

The South City Law Enforcement Office was probably their second-to-last stop tonight, because after updating the West City Law Enforcement Office, the car drove back into the quieter old town.

Finally, it stopped in front of a printing factory.

...

As we all know, in any story-driven work, all characters except the protagonist and the main villain are given a special ability: to court death.

Whether it's triggering a crisis, getting caught in a crisis, or leading to an even more serious crisis, the journey of courting disaster never ends, and most of the time, it will unknowingly bring unnecessary trouble to important figures.

The good news is that Milo has a very deep understanding of this law, which stems entirely from the TV series he watched with his mother when he was young.

Although he couldn't clearly explain what a TV series was to those around him today, the underlying concepts could be fully conveyed.

Milo had conveyed this "law" from another world to people including Emma, ​​Finn, Yan, and Enid, using it as a warning to them to avoid courting death. Of course, he only said this after he had fully mastered the ability to devour fear; after all, this thing isn't exactly friendly to one's sanity.

……

So when did Enid realize that her actions tonight were suicidal?
It was probably when she was hiding in what she thought was a safe, dark corner and saw the vehicle that drove into the printing factory yard yawn.

Some people might wonder, why would a car yawn?

If I were to say that this isn't a car at all, but rather a combination of seven or eight Mi-Go bio-organisms, wouldn't that make much more "reasonable"?

After the pink crustaceans with huge membranous wings scattered into pieces, the only driver in the "vehicle" got out, pulled down the hood of his long coat, and took a few steps toward the printing factory.

Soon after, the muffled hum of machines began to echo through the printing plant.

And whether it was just her imagination or not, Enid felt that she heard some very subtle sounds mixed in with the noise of the machine's axles. The sounds were like a woman sobbing with her face covered, and it was an older woman...

...

This is probably the downside of living in a city with people who have a deep-seated fear of food.

After witnessing the chilling scene involving Migo, Enid, who should have been driven by fear to flee the place in panic, instead felt a strong desire to go inside the printing factory and find out what was going on.

...

And so, in the dimly lit, deserted printing factory, she witnessed the scene she had hoped for.

A tall, elderly woman wept as she operated an old machine to print large-format bounty posters.

……

The good news is that Enid wasn't foolish enough to just walk in and introduce herself as a law enforcement officer, blah blah blah.

She silently climbed up the beam of the factory building through the skylight and crept into the depths of the printing factory, into one of the darkest corners hidden in the entire factory area.

The bad news is that the old woman who was weeping with her face covered did not have eyes on her face.

...

As Enid stared wide-eyed, trying to make out the face of the elderly woman a few meters below, she suddenly noticed an eyeball with a "little tail" floating in the air to the left of her face.

At this moment, its eyes, like Enid's, were wide open, staring intently at Enid's face, scrutinizing her frantically.

……

"Uh--"

Enid swallowed.

"Can we pretend nothing happened?"

"So... I'll pretend I was never here?"

(End of this chapter)