ch45

“……It was a long, long time of patience. Really….”

Combat police are foul-tempered.

Combat police are thugs.

Combat police are quicker to use their hands than their words.

NPCs who rush over at the slightest thing and start shooting at player parties, subcontracted units of corporations.

My long experience and the prejudices I’d built up as an outside observer contained some truth, but after actually experiencing it, I realized that it was right to praise the people who managed to maintain a gentle personality while working in this environment.

I recalled the month of hell I’d gone through, flashing by like a dying man’s memories.

Whether they were too lazy to find a broker or simply lacked the ability, there were numerous cases of uncovering handmade forged IDs not registered in the city system.

A crazy person who screamed that it was a Mega Corp trap as soon as the wheels of his truck got stuck, and pulled out a gun, only to be knocked unconscious with ten taser lines stuck all over his body.

A scavenger who I don’t even know where he came from, walking in with a sand-covered coat fluttering, and asking confidently where to get a citizen ID.

A guy who flew a drone from a location a bit far from the barrier, got it shot down by a turret, and then ran away, causing the entire gate guard to be dispatched to the middle of the desert for no reason.

A piece of trash who spat phlegm right on the visor when asked to submit the hardware or memory card hidden in his pocket, and got beaten senseless with a baton.

Especially the drone incident, we were terrified thinking some kind of air raid was happening, and the last guy, before the other officers could do anything, Helena knocked him out herself by swinging her scabbard.

……I scrubbed it to death, but the front of the visor still looks a little yellow. Damn it.

The data smuggler we caught just yesterday made all those villains look cute.

But there’s a reward that justifies all that hardship.

The good news that instantly blew away the stiffness in the back of my neck and the chronic headaches that wouldn’t go away no matter how much I rested recently just popped up in front of my eyes.

[1,850,000 Credits have been deposited from the Harvest Planet Social Order Maintenance Department. Thank you for your service! ]

In addition to the base salary, there was also a huge bonus given to our team, which boasted the highest arrest rate. The Cyberware alert that anyone would be happy about wasn’t just displayed to me, as the tense atmosphere in the workplace instantly loosened.

To let us know about the deposit this early… it greatly helps to boost morale.

Thanks to that, the police suddenly became much kinder, and it was clearly visible through the camera how the people leaving or the new inspection targets were embarrassed by the change in attitude.

Ah, don’t worry. It’s festival time here!

“…Ah.”

I absentmindedly turned to the side to recommend shopping, but then remembered that Anne wasn’t in her seat right now.

I thought she was just the only engineer in the DS3 work team that was there before I came… but she’s actually directly under the command of the headquarters. No less than the chief engineer during the daytime hours.

It’s a position she earned because she’s capable enough, but it’s a little awkward that she, who looks so fragile, is actually higher in position than Helena.

In any case, Anne, who is closest to the higher-ups and is the top of the engineers, went on business trips very often.

It’s not outside like I initially thought, but she goes here and there inside the gate, which is a far cry from me, a recluse whose activity range is limited to the control room, Gate 3, vending machines, and restrooms.

Thump, thump…!!

The control room door is ringing. Our senior has returned.

“Did anything happen?”

“Nothing happened…!”

I quickly flipped down my visor, afraid that someone might peek in even for a moment, and opened the control room door, but was immediately startled by the storm of cold air that rushed in, and pulled my ungloved bare hand back.

Occasionally, Anne’s body radiates coldness when she returns from a business trip.

It’s not a metaphorical expression that euphemistically says she’s cold-hearted, but her surrounding air and uniform are really cold.

I don’t know why they’re blasting the air conditioning so hard even though winter is approaching. Is it because the physical police officers have a lot of body heat? When you wear a full set of riot gear, it’s hard to feel the outside temperature anyway….

Anyway, the timing is amazing.

I don’t have any leeway because I’m secretly pouring all my Credits, except for the minimum living expenses, into my own ’empty savings account,’ but… I believe she’ll generously understand if I buy a terminal.

“Hey… Anne? If you’re okay with it, could you help me pick out a good terminal after work today?”

Her body, which was busily manipulating the terminal because she had unfinished work, stopped.

“……With Helena too?”

“…No, just the two of us.”

I made it clear that I wouldn’t cowardly avoid it anymore, so if we had anything to say to each other, let’s just get it off our chests now.

Actually, I don’t have much to say, so I’ll probably be asking more questions… No. That’s also a selfish idea. Let’s solve Anne’s unknown interests first and then think about it.

“I’m glad. Asha, who kept backing away, is finally approaching me.”

“…I’m really sorry about that.”

I’m sorry to her, who constantly showed that she wanted me to face her, but I was busy in my own way.

Every time a new villain appeared at Gate 3, which is my assigned area, I suspected, ‘Is this bastard going to cause something to happen…!’

When a radio wave other than the frequency controlled by the city was suddenly intercepted, I investigated, wondering, ‘What ominous sign is this…!’

After spending a whole month on edge and trembling like that…! I reluctantly admitted it.

Unconditionally preparing for a threat whose timing and method I don’t know was too much for an individual. …Wouldn’t it have been the right choice to focus on mercenary work and buy some Care Bot to watch over them in shifts with me?

I hope you understand my decision to pursue a change in our relationship, which I’ve been putting off until now….

• ……Control room? …DS3-CE2 Engineer? Is the scanning result normal? –

“Ah?!”

Hearing Helena’s urgent communication, I quickly stuck to the keyboard and monitor again.

Even though I learned through experience that excessive tension is worse than being relaxed, neglecting work is out of the question.

But… the scan data of the cargo trailer that just came in, the 3D schematic diagram, is unusual.

The length of the printed modeling and the trailer part visible beyond the actual monitor are excessively different. This is probably….

• …A gap is observed between the detected trailer length and the actual length. Can you check the innermost inner wall? –

The police, who confirmed the existence of the double wall by banging on the side from the outside, rushed in with saws and welding machines.

At this point, I’m curious about the smugglers’ income. They probably earn more than salaried workers… There’s no way, but do they earn even more than mercenaries, so they keep appearing even when we catch them?

Squeak… Squeak, squeak, squeak—!!

Clunk… Clunk…!

“……?”

The noise of banging and bending and tearing off the iron plates is within the expected range, but there are far more footsteps shaking the iron plates than the number of people who went in. It’s quite noisy even though there’s no fighting going on.

Soon, the police who entered came out and sent a hand signal… and naked people came out one by one.

“…….”

Are those people illegal immigrants… or human trafficking?

It was difficult to look directly at their dark faces, where only depression and resignation coexisted. Fortunately, criminals who don’t have the ability to pay fines or income are not imprisoned but deported. They will be quietly investigated and then sent back.

…It’s a relief that it costs money to detain and imprison someone.

But almost twenty people were dragged out of that narrow secret space.

“Haaa…….”

Even Helena couldn’t maintain her police spirit this time, and shook her head while clutching near her forehead.

Of course, Gate 3 was closed again to sort out the situation and hand over the criminals. In the end, neither I nor the team leader, who caught them, could shake off the bitter feeling and reached the end of our shift.

“I’m sorry. It’s a business trip order from the headquarters.”

“…Don’t tell me it’s that heavy weapons armory inspection again? They’re really rough on people.”

Just as I was belatedly thinking of a logical excuse to keep Helena from following me, Anne, who had received her second call today, wore a troubled expression.

Giving me work right before the end of my shift? Isn’t this complete abuse?

If this place is really exposed to a massive offensive, the authority of the ruling class, the corporations, will fall to the ground, so I understand why they’re concerned… but I think it’s a bit much to immediately call the engineers and have them inspect the equipment system whenever something happens.

…But an order is an order.

Inevitably, I decided to postpone our private meeting until next time and was preparing for the shift change when she made an unexpected suggestion.

“Or… would you like to come along, Asha, and learn some of my work…?

“…Pardon?”

…Suddenly? I was covering my head because I was about to leave the control room, so my dumbfounded face was hidden… but I couldn’t understand why she came to that conclusion.

Besides, I wanted to have a proper conversation in a properly prepared place, not just chatting while working.

I thought Anne felt the same way, but it’s unexpected.

In any case, if an engineer who hasn’t received any authority or orders suddenly appears and wanders around, there are a lot of violations just in the work rules and regulations that come to mind right away.

There was also Dreyfus’s warning not to act rashly… I couldn’t scratch the scab of a troublemaker that had barely calmed down with insubordination.

“It’s okay if we just go shopping together next time, or even tomorrow.”

“……Is that so? Okay.”

It wasn’t just me who thought I missed a good opportunity, as Anne left without hiding her disappointed expression.

For now… Anastasia, belonging to the police force, is ending her service here today. Right after deciding that I should go home and check out some mercenary requests that I can easily carry out, I vaguely saw something strange on the external camera.

“Huh…?”

The vehicle that was kicked out without being able to enter the city was trudging back the way it came.

It was hard to recognize because of the dust, but when I looked closely, it was the human trafficking trailer that had caused a commotion a few hours ago.

But, the trailer, which had almost reached the end of the camera’s visibility, began to shake unsteadily from side to side, and soon lost its balance and left the road, crashing into the wasteland.

It didn’t just deviate for a moment, but rolled down the slope and completely overturned.

I tried to ignore the commotion in my chest and quickly broadcast the accident to the communication channel.

• An overturning accident has been observed within the Harvest Planet Gate 3 area! A large number of casualties are expected, so we will await the judgment of DS3-1 Team Leader. –

The police, who were busily organizing their equipment and moving, turned their dissatisfied gazes to the control room, and then immediately changed their target to our team leader.

And most of them, even before an answer came out, gave up after seeing their superior and prepared to dispatch….

• ……Even if the police have no obligation to provide relief, they have a duty to remove obstacles on the road. Please request support from the night shift waiting on the control room communication. –

…I’m really glad Helena is the team leader.