Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 86 Copper Grass Flower

Gailid is the southernmost large city in the country.

Its area is very vast, and according to the area marked on the map, it is at least equivalent to three Nanwei cities. However, the main urban area of ​​Galid City is less than half the size of Nanwei City. In other words, nearly 90% of its area is a desolate suburb. The reason why it was able to obtain such a large planned area is naturally due to the discovery of copper mines.

My first impression of the city was one of desolation.

After taking a general look around Galid Station, Milo inexplicably felt an atmosphere similar to that of Nanwei City right after the Great Plague ended.

Moreover, Galid City's infrastructure is far inferior to that of Nanwei City. Looking at Galid City's city center from a distance, one can only see a few towering high-rise buildings, while the rest are all low-rise bungalows.

Perhaps due to the climate and topography, the trees here are generally short and the vegetation coverage is not large, which makes the whole city look lifeless, and the people in the city also seem drowsy.

It is said that Galid City is the only city without any nobles residing there. Before the mining companies under the Solomon Gang entered Galid City, there wasn't even a decent industrial enterprise. Even the Galid train station behind Milo was built after copper mines were discovered in the Ickham area, specifically to support the export of copper ore from the region.

The journey of over 200 kilometers from Nanwei City to Galid City felt like a decades-long rewind of time in Nanwei City.

When the train arrived at Galid station, there were very few passengers left; 99% of the passengers had already gotten off at the stops along the way.

In the vast Galid Station, fewer than twenty people emerged with Mellorbekah.

……

The only advantage here is the air quality.

The city of Nanwei suffers from chronic smog and the emission of countless industrial waste gases from the surrounding area, resulting in consistently poor air quality. However, after living in the city for a long time, one no longer feels anything special about it.

But after moving to a different place, Milo could clearly feel a distinct sense of clarity and openness in his nasal cavity and lungs.

Although Galid City has a mining industry, it only handles the extraction; the ore screening and smelting sites are not located here. This is an important reason for maintaining air quality.

"what----"

Milo let out a long yawn.

Suddenly I felt some small flies or insects fly over and crash into my mouth.

Without realizing it, he swallowed it whole, feeling extremely nauseous. He coughed several times but couldn't vomit, so he could only console himself by saying it was a natural protein provided by nature.

Rebecca, who was standing nearby, took out a card from inside her trench coat. The card had a name written on it—Walker Brier.

"Is this the person we're supposed to meet?" Milo glanced at the card in Rebecca's hand.

“They’re from the local law enforcement team in Galid City, serving within the jurisdiction of the town of Icom. Nero picked them up.” Rebecca nodded.

Milo looked up at the sun in the sky: "It's almost a two-hour journey from the station to Ikham. Should we go straight to Ikham, or should we check out the law enforcement office in Galid first?"

According to their previous plan, the investigation into the town of Ikham should start with the Dlaman family incident 24 years ago. According to the information they had already obtained, there was only one law enforcement office in Galid City, and other towns only had offices. Therefore, if they wanted to find the files from 24 years ago, they could only start with the law enforcement office, which was the only place that might have relevant files.

……

Before Rebecca could make a decision, a slightly weak-sounding young man's voice came from behind them: "Excuse me, are you two planning to stay in the city?"

Milo and Rebecca turned around and saw a tall, thin man who looked to be around twenty-five years old. He had a refined appearance, wore thin-rimmed glasses, and was dressed in a uniform similar to Milo and Rebecca's, except that he did not carry any weapons under his trench coat.

He was a law enforcement officer, but judging from his thin arms and legs, he was probably a civilian employee in the law enforcement team.

His appearance bore a resemblance to that of the Church's De La Chaux, both being the refined and scholarly type. However, the difference was that De La Chaux's ever-present smile gave off a sinister and eerie feeling, while the young law enforcement officer before him exuded a genuine and undeniable affability that could not be faked.

"Mr. Brier, right?"

Rebecca glanced at the uniform on the other person and confirmed that he was the person she was looking for.

“Yes, hello, Chief Enforcer. I’m Walker from the Galid Enforcement Agency. I’ve been waiting here for a while.” Walker shook hands with Rebecca and Milo very politely.

Perhaps due to his slightly hunched back and forward-leaning neck, his body language and demeanor always gave people a feeling of excessive politeness or even humility.

"Rebecca."

“Milo”.

Without much preamble, the two introduced themselves and, led by Walker, circled the plaza in front of Galeide Station to the exit area, where a carriage was waiting. Milo followed at the back of the procession, silently observing the scholarly-looking law enforcement officer before him.

When the two shook hands just now, Milo could clearly feel that there were no calluses on Walker's thumb and forefinger. On the contrary, there were obvious rough skin protrusions on the knuckle of his middle finger. This indicated that this guy really was an office worker, as he looked, and not good at handling guns. He probably held a pen more often with his other hand.

If that's the case, Milo is a little confused.

Because it was Nero who arranged it.

Nero was well aware of the hidden dangers in the town of Icom. He had repeatedly emphasized that Rebecca and Milo should act cautiously, but why did he assign a law enforcement officer who was clearly not good at fighting to assist in the investigation?

Milo couldn't understand it, and could only conclude that Walker worked in the jurisdiction of the town of Ickham and had a high level of knowledge about Ickham.

……

“Let’s go to the Galid law enforcement office first, and if all goes well…we should get to Iqm today.”

Rebecca jumped onto the carriage and told them about her itinerary.

The official statement for this mission is that it's a routine inspection, which is basically a simple visit to local law enforcement agencies. This is an internal self-inspection and exchange within the law enforcement team, and the necessary procedures still need to be followed.

Of course, the most important thing is to find clues about the Dellaman family incident.

Walker glanced down at the watch on his left wrist and nodded: "Absolutely no problem."

After untying the reins, he jumped into the driver's seat at the front of the carriage and said to Rebecca and Milo behind him, "That's how our leaders arranged it too. Your Nanwei City is one of the birthplaces of the law enforcement system, and the Galid law enforcement team would very much like to welcome elites like you two to provide guidance for our work."

Rebecca clearly didn't intend to respond to such flattering remarks. Perhaps she wasn't good at such polite conversation, or perhaps she was simply too lazy to speak.

Sitting to the side, Milo could only casually reply, "You're too kind~"

Along the way, Milo was examining the terrain around Galid City.

He stared at the patches of pale purple on the field outside the window, and suddenly felt some small insects buzzing and bumping against his face.

Fortunately, Milo had learned his lesson once before, and this time he was quick-witted and caught the fly precisely before it hit his face.

After opening his palm, Milo discovered that it was a small creature, much smaller than a fly, similar to a fruit fly, but this was outside Milo's knowledge, and he couldn't name it.

The fly has two pairs of transparent wings with a shimmering scale-like sheen on its back, and a large head with pale green eyes. If it weren't for the tiny wriggling maggots crawling out of its abdomen, which had been crushed by Milo, it would be quite good-looking.

Looking at those tiny parasitic maggots, Milo hated the little fly that had recently crawled down his throat.

He shook the dead fly off his palm and rubbed his hand against the edge of the carriage window, feeling extremely unlucky.

He thought to himself: It's just protein, it's all protein.

……

At this moment, Rebecca also noticed the pale purple flowers and grasses on both sides of the road. She looked down at the two badges on the back of the card that had Walker's name printed on it. One of them was the scythe totem of the law enforcement system, and the other was the Galid badge, with a castle in the center and a cluster of tightly packed long strips of flowers on each side.

"Aren't those the emblems of Galid City...?"

“Yes, they are all copper grass flowers.” Walker, who was sitting in the front driving the carriage, explained: “It’s embarrassing to say, but the Galid people had already engraved the local copper grass flower on their badges as early as the last century. However, it wasn’t until a professor from the Royal Academy discovered in recent years that some flowers and plants have a growth dependence on metal elements that we realized that copper grass flowers only grow on rock layers with high copper content. Otherwise, we might never have known that there was copper ore hidden in the soil beneath our feet. If we had discovered it earlier, Galid would not be in such a desolate state.”

Walker's manner of speaking and his demeanor revealed a clear sense of inferiority.

Milo, however, felt that he had only gained more useless knowledge, since he had never heard of this plant that only grew on copper mines before.

He took the card from Rebecca's hand, examined it carefully, and asked Rebecca:

Why don't we have these small cards?

"Are you eager for everyone to know you're a law enforcement officer?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes at Milo.

……

(End of this chapter)