To work in an investigation agency, especially one dealing with supernatural cases meant to go through full time action-filled working days. And sometimes, there were days in the GI, short of Goemon Investigations Agency when things could turn insanely freaky and dangerous.
And today was one of those days.
The day was begun not in Shiori’s regular agent cubicle in the GI building, second floor. Instead, all regular and special GI agents present were crammed together, sitting orderly in the General Meeting and Briefing Room in the eleventh floor.
Shiori looked around the room, observing the agents who all sat upright with tensed faces. She couldn’t help but feel a sense of nervousness and excitement. A special mission meant that they were dealing with something big, something that required the best of their abilities.
She turned to Nishi, her tomboy colleague, who was an expert in pistols and hand-to-hand fighting techniques.
“So, what do you think this mission is all about?” Shiori asked, her eyes scanning the room for any clues.
Nishi grinned mischievously. “I have a feeling it’s going to be something tough, dangerous, and top-secret. And who better to brief us than our own GI Director, Miss Fuwa Mizutani herself.”
As if on cue, Fuwa Mizutani entered the room, and all the agents stood up and bowed down in respect. Shiori couldn’t help but admire her beauty, but she also sensed an aura of strictness and rigidity from that short-haired woman in her late twenties.
“Thank you all for responding to the call in a short notice,” Fuwa began. “As you have known, JinCorp runs almost all the vital and large businesses in this city. However, its operations are too large, so it’s almost impossible to detect any shady business in between.”
JinCorp, a conglomerate owned by Noboru Jinbei, was the biggest home-grown company and business in Daitoshi to-date.
Keiji, one of the agents, likened it to searching for a needle in a haystack. Fuwa nodded in agreement.
“However, we’ve received a report that a suspicious shipment has arrived in the Daitoshi Kubomaru Harbor,” Todo Takahashi, the top special GI agent, interjected. “According to the manifests, the cargo is said to be machinery spare parts. But there is no record or documentation of where the spare parts were transported to from the harbor warehouses.”
Shiori listened intently, trying to make sense of the situation. Nishi was already fired up, ready to fire a barrage of questions.
“To what company was the shipment for?” Nishi asked.
Fuwa replied that it was for a company called Henjin Machineries, but it was a valid, registered company.
Shiori explained her thought, “I think Henjin is legal, but it’s only a dummy or a camouflage. The real company behind it is unknown, and the shipment had already been delivered without documents or receipts.”
Fuwa commented, “Exactly. Thats a good analysis, Agent; err, what’s your name again?”
“Shiori Amiga, ma’am, from Yorinaga’s team.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Noted. Right, so the only way to investigate this case is through a visit to the warehouses complex in Kubomaru Harbor.”
“We need to confirm whether it’s a crime, a blunder caused by human error, or something bigger than that,” Todo said. “It was too frequent to be considered as blunders, therefore it was greatly suspicious. You have to extract information and proofs from the ones who handle the shipment, their CCTV records and so on. Find out whether JinCorp is behind this blunder or not.”
“So, judging from the qualifications, responses and questions weve received throughout the briefing, we shall send several teams,” Fuwa concluded.”Todo’steam will track the address of Henjin Machineries in our database and pay a visit there. And the team infiltrating the warehouses complex in Kubomaru Harbor will be Yorinaga’s team. Yutaka’s team and Mizuki’s team will act as backups. And my team will monitor and coordinate the whole operation from the HQ.”
Keiji expressed his concerns about his team, consisting of one man and two girls, and one of the girls was still a greenhorn.
“I know what I’m doing,” Fuwa rebuked, “I still remember, Shiori Amiga’s passing grades during the trials were way exceeding expectations, some even only decimals to perfection.”
“Plus, your team proactively asked questions during the briefing,” Todo added. “So, its only fitting that your team takes the vanguard and we let Shiori Amiga do the talking if necessary.”
“Yes, even the roughest brutes will soften up to Shiori’s innocent, school girl looks.”
Keiji facepalmed, saying, “Ah, I guess that cant be helped. Very well then, leave the vanguard job to us.”
Shiori felt a rush of excitement and fear. She knew that the mission would be tough, but she was ready to face the challenge. The thought of uncovering the mystery behind the shipment and possibly bringing down a large corporation like JinCorp filled her with determination.
“Get yourselves ready and talk to me when you do,” Todo, the agent with the military-man demeanor said, snapping her out of her thoughts. “All teams will head out together one hour from now. Now move it, move it, move it!”
Created with Sketch.
Shiori, Nishi, and Keiji were standing at the entrance of Kubomaru Harbor, ready for their mission. As they walked towards the warehouses complex, Shiori couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease.
The complex was vast and filled with shipping containers stacked upon each other like a labyrinth. The tinted screen made it even harder to see, and the only light available came from the dim street lamps. They activated their followers, which highlighted the area and made it easier to navigate.
Keiji, their leader, had a stern expression on his face. “I figured that Daigo Katoh, the warehouse supervisor handling the missing shipment won’t cooperate with us with talks alone. So, we have to improvise by searching for that cargo ourselves here.”
Nishi, the youngest member of the team, was hesitant. “But the cargo was said to be already transported somewhere else, right?”
Keiji shook his head. “Yes, but I think it’s a fake statement to distract us from the real transaction.”
“So, the shipment is most likely still here, right?” Shiori asked.
“Good guess, Shiori. So, let’s search for the container with the code DKH-3170-2846-HMC,” Keiji said, his voice determined.
Nishi groaned. “Aww, it’ll take us all night to search for it physically in this sea of containers!”
“Use your supernatural powers to detect it, then!” Keiji exclaimed. “They didn’t call us supernatural agents for nothing, right?”
Shiori nodded. She closed her eyes, focusing on her psychic abilities. She felt a sudden rush of energy within her as she opened her eyes, and her vision turned bright purple.
“But wait, I detect very odd creatures also guarding this area,” Shiori said, her voice laced with concern.
“What are they? Don’t tell me they’re just the average night watchers,” Nishi asked.
“No, they’re short, balding and have duck beaks as mouths!” Shiori exclaimed.
“They’re kappas! I knew it!” Keiji said, surprised. “But oddly, Todo and Fuwa didn’t mention kappas in the briefing.”
“That’s also a bit strange, all right. They should’ve surveyed this place first before deploying us!” Shiori added.
“Hm, I think they have their reasons. Tell you what, I’ll ask Fuwa about it later. Now, we have a mission to accomplish,” Keiji said, his voice stern.