“Roland Shirogane?” I asked.
It then clicked to my mind. The silver-haired man in front of me looked familiar, like a certain person who shared the same last name. That person once told an audience that her father and brother belonged to the 1st unit.
Since he looked quite young, I could safely assume that the man in front of me was Captain Noel’s big brother.
“I need to talk to you. Do you have the time?” he asked.
We walked towards an alleyway and after confirming that no one else was around, Roland started talking.
“I need your help to investigate my doubts”, he said.
“Doubts?”
“Do you honestly believe that Noel is someone who would threaten Westa’s peace?”
“Of course not!”
“I’m glad to know that. I also believe that Noel isn’t like that. Can I trust you to help clear my doubts?”
“Why me? It’s not like I don’t want to prove Captain Noel’s innocence but can’t you do it better than what I can do? You’re a member of the 1st unit along with your father. You are family. Why would you trust a delicate matter to a stranger like me?”
“I can’t do it because I’m a member of the 1st unit and I’m her family.”
“What do you mean?”
“Noel is involved in a serious crime. Anyone related to her is suspicious. I’m sure the 1st unit has interrogated each and every member of the 13th unit already. They also interrogated all of Noel’s friends and our family. The only reason why I’m not being monitored right now is because I’m in the 1st unit. I can’t do anything or else they’ll think I’m also a suspicious person.”
“They won’t monitor you because you’re in the 1st unit?”
“That’s right. Each and every member of the 1st unit had a thorough background check and our loyalties are with Westa and Westa alone. We would kill ourselves before we would threaten Westa’s peace. The only reason why I’m not in the suspect list is because the 1st unit prides itself with its members. They don’t want to think they made a mistake in checking their own members.”
“Then how about your father? Shouldn’t he be doing his best to prove Captain Noel’s innocence? Why can’t he or you help her out?”
“I said it before but our loyalties are with Westa and Westa alone. The Shirogane family is a family of knights. We take our duties seriously to the point we will prioritize our job over our family. If father received news that the 1st unit’s investigations proved that Noel is a criminal, then he’ll do his duty as a knight and punish her. It doesn’t matter if she’s related to him or not.”
“Seriously? Just because the 1st unit said so, he won’t believe his own daughter?”
“The 1st unit’s investigative abilities are exemplary. We take pride in that. It’s almost impossible to fool us. If the 1st unit's investigation says that Noel is a criminal, then all of the members will believe that to be the truth, including our own father.”
“Then why are you here? From what you said, you should be valuing your job over Noel and you should be believing that she’s a criminal too.”
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“I don’t want to believe that my little sister is a criminal. However, I can’t take any action based on those doubts. If I openly act, then I’ll only make things worse for our family. That’s why I’m asking you to check my doubts. I want you to prove the 1st unit is wrong and help my little sister.”
“I don’t mind doing that. But why me? Shouldn’t you trust Temma for this?”
“I trust Temma, of course. But I’m relying on you or to be more specific, I’m relying on your connections.”
“My connections?”
“You know Amelia Watson. I’m sure you can convince her to help you in investigating the truth about this whole incident. If you need payment, I can just pay you after this incident is resolved. I promise you that. Just help me clear up my doubts”, he bowed down his head.
“Don’t worry. I would do it even if you didn’t bow down. I want to get to the bottom of this and help the first person who helped me when I got sent to this world.”
That’s right. I owed Captain Noel a lot. She was the one who gave me my means of survival in this world. If it weren’t for her, I would be dying on the streets instead of sorting out papers as an administrative officer.
“Here. This might help you”, he handed me a small rectangular device.
“What is this?” I asked.
“This contains a copy of the 1st unit’s investigations about Noel including the “evidences” they have against her. This is the only way I can support you. The rest is all up to you and Amelia.”
“Thank you. This will surely help.”
Roland bowed once more and left the area.
###
I arrived home and Amelia was cooking dinner. Yogiri was also helping out. It was great to see them getting along with each other.
“Mikage, welcome back”, Yogiri greeted me.
“I’m home”, I said.
“Dinner’s almost ready”, Amelia told me and I sat on the dinner table.
After a few minutes, we began eating dinner.
“So? How was your day?” Amelia asked.
“Actually... I need your help”, I said.
“Go on...”
I explained everything to Amelia while she listened intently. By the time I finished explaining, we were already done eating dinner.
“So Captain Noel is being framed?” Amelia asked.
“That’s probably what’s going on. Will you take the case? I’ll pay you for your services. I want to help Captain Noel and I don’t think I can prove her innocence on my own.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll gladly help you. Captain Noel is your friend. The friend of my friend is also my friend. I learned to be a detective so I can help the people in need. I’ll make sure to get to the bottom of this. I swear under my pride as a great detective.”
“Thanks, Amelia.”
“So what do we have so far? I’d like to know as much as I can so I can plan out the investigation.”
“Oh yeah. Her brother gave me this device. He said it contains information about the 1st unit’s investigation”, I showed her what Roland gave me.
“This will greatly help. We’ll go check it out... After we’re done with the dishes.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of the dishes tonight. This is the least I can do”, Yogiri said.
“Thanks, Yogiri”, I said.
“It’s no problem. Do your best on the investigation.”
The doorbell of the house chimed several times and Amelia and I walked towards the front door.
Upon opening it, we saw a tall black-haired woman with wolf ears. She was wearing a quite revealing outfit but I had a feeling that I saw her somewhere before.
“Is Amelia Watson here?” she asked.
“You’re talking to her. Who’s asking?” Amelia asked back.
“My name is Vein, the captain of the 8th unit. I need your help to prove my friend’s innocence.”
“Ah. Captain Vein, you’re here too?” Temma walked towards the front door.
“Temma?” I asked.
“I’m also here to hire Amelia’s services”, he answered.
“It seems our goals are aligned, Temma”, she said.
“I’m glad to know that we have your support, Captain Vein.”
Amelia looked between Temma and the wolf girl.
“I get it now”, she muttered.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Alright. Let’s all get inside and brainstorm how we can help Captain Noel.”
“That’s a good plan”, Captain Vein walked inside.
“Pardon my intrusion”, Temma also followed.
I sighed and followed them. If I was correct, then they also wanted to prove Captain Noel’s innocence. Having more allies should be beneficial, right?