3. Chapter 2: Getting to learn

CHAPTER 2: GETTING TO LEARN.

Bracing for the cold air of the night, investigator Taketa Gennosuke opened the door of the car that brought him to the crime scene and stepped out. Two police cars were already parked nearby, and a scientific police van had its back door open, a man in an all-white suit knelt nearby and carefully observed the ground. The scene was surrounded by yellow police tape, stopping a few curious and sleepy onlookers.Gennosuke was a man in his mid-fourties, his sharp mind and astute sixth sense had helped on a lot of cases. His black hair was wild, result of the middle-of-the-night summon and a brown vest rested upon his grey work suit.

"Inspector Gennnosuke? I am corporal Seison."

Taketa turned to face the officer addressing him and shaked his hand.

"I assume you read the initial report?"

He groaned, and apparently the corporal took it as an approval. It was quite an ugly case. A whole family of four had been murdered, the neighbours had immediately called the police when a gunshot had disturbed their sleep. Unfortunately, the first officers on the scene had come too late and there were no survivors. A few points already stood out in the rest of the report, but Taketa left them for the corporal to explain more clearly as he had trouble believing them.

As he followed the corporal, explanations started to come.

"As you read in the report, four are dead. Here's the mother, Yasue Fuyu. Killed by a bladed weapon."

He pointed to a corpse covered by a blue tarp inside the kitchen, a large pool of blood had already formed around. Nearby, another man in white suit was taking blood samples. The light was still on, and a table with four plates of noodles showed clearly how the victims had been taken by surprise. Corporal Seison then left with Taketa in tow right into the nearby living room. A glass door leading to the garden was smashed, and a small body froze Taketa's heart for a moment. Despite being a policeman for his whole life, there was no getting used to seeing a child's lifeless corpse.

"Akito Fuyu. We assume he was trying to flee. Knife stab."

Then, the two of them climbed the steps leading to the first floor and into what seemed to be the parent's bedroom. There, a dramatic scene was being photographed by another figure in white. A man was hugging a small body. It seemed that in a desperate last measure, the father had tried to protect his son. The scene was heart-breaking, but another fact made it… Strange.

The bodies were covered in frost.

The skin was blue, almost white. Taketa looked through the window by reflex, but the night was still the same with its chilly temperature, certainly not enough to cause such an effect. Myriads of possibilities came into his mind, but none made sense.

"Haru Fuyu and Kenichi Fuyu. We also find it very weird. We don't have much yet, but the mother's brother answered our call and told us he didn't think she or her family had problems with anybody. Further information will have to wait as the investigation goes on. Do you need anything else?"

He scratched his chin, caressing the beginning of a beard he would have to shave soon.

"Try to find the victim's cell phones and see the phone history."

An uneasy look spread on the corporal's face.

"But sir, the phones are already in the crime scene investigators' hands. We shouldn't fiddle with potential clues…"

Taketa cut him.

"There's plenty of clues, tell them it's my order. Plus, they were already working on it when I came, maybe they finished."

"Alright sir."

As the corporal walked away, Taketa was left with the forensic investigator who was still taking photos at different angles. The silence only broken by the sound of the camera snapping each time a shot was taken.

There wasn't much to work with, but he could already draw some conclusions. The first one was that it wasn't just a simple robbery. Robbers wouldn't have killed everyone while leaving phones, tv's and valuables untouched. Maybe it was a psychopath? There was no telling what happened in a mad person's head. Maybe the Fuyu family was victim only to a lack of luck when the killer was choosing a house to attack. Checking the medical records of the area's inhabitants could prove useful.

A second conclusion was that the attacker wasn't alone. Based on the mother's position, it was very likely they had been interrupted during dinner, she had answered and killed when trying to warn the rest of the family. Then, one of the kids had been killed by someone else as he tried to flee outside. A cult then? Or a yakuza gang?

A third conclusion was that the attackers weren't armed with firearms. The position of the unused shells on the ground as well the lack of bullet holes except from those on the wall nearby showed that the father had only managed to shoot once. The lack of said firearm on the scene already gave a headache to Taketa, the perspective of deranged killers armed with such a weapon very worrying.The wounds caused by bladed weapons were quite large, meaning it wasn't done with a simple kitchen knife. Then again, it wasn't hard in this day and age to buy a machete or some kind of sword on the internet.

But the real mystery remained the frozen corpses. He addressed to the crime investigator nearby.

"Hey, can liquid azote give such a result?"

The man took a last picture before answering.

"No sir. Liquid azote is very volatile, we would be able to smell it just by entering the house if enough was used to get this result. Besides, we can't find traces of it. It's literally as if the temperature had suddenly dropped to an incredible degree on this precise place. We're as puzzled as you."

The certainty in the man's voice left no doubt about the validity of the answer. As he overlooked the scene once more, a yellow glint caught his eye. Intrigued, he searched for a bit before finding what he was looking for, half-hidden by a pair of jeans.It was a coin. A gold coin it seemed. It was in quite a bad shape and he couldn't recognize it. Then again, he knew next to nothing about ancient money. For all he knew, one of the victims could have been a collector. He notified the crime scene investigator of it just in case, then walked back to observe the rest of the house.

There was a lot of work ahead.

It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.It was this constant feeling of pain that woke up the imperial from what had been a painless sleep. Opening his eyes, Gelt found himself face to face with a beastman. For a moment, both froze. Then, Velgard smiled. Or not. It was hard to tell if he was smiling or preparing to tear someone's throat.

This terrifying vision forced the imperial to retreat, but he found himself against a stone wall. A light laugh escaped Velgard's maw.

"Calm down, imperial. I'm not going to hurt you. Rather, I'm trying to heal you. Stop moving."

A little bit calmed down, Gelt took a moment to assess his surroundings. He was sat on a stone surface, and large stone pillars seemed to be holding up a structure above them. A large river flowed just a few meters away from them. Then, he noticed something else that was… Surprising. His clothes had been replaced blue pants and black shoes, with a white buttoned vest resting on the ground just near him, leaving him bare-chested. Velgard was dressed up as well, a large vest with a hood raised up (probably to hide his ears and face), similar blue pants that seemed to be way too small for the wolfman's bulky build and black boots that fit the peculiar anatomy of the race he was of.

"What… What is happening?"

He recognized the noise of one of the iron chariots riding on the structure above them and raised his arms, bracing for the impact, but the noise died down. Velgard hadn't even reacted.

"You got beaten up pretty badly in that house last night. We had to haul you far away before the local guard force caught us and found that place under a bridge. Ygar and Olva went scouting today, we all wear the clothes we got from the house. Now, stop moving and let me finish."

Gelt looked at his chest, and his heart froze. It wasn't a nice view. Half of the upper part of his chest had been bandaged, but the other part had turned into a mix of black, purple and blue. Being an army man, he immediately recognized the signs of extreme blunt damage, but he remained positive. His wyvern scale armor had taken the brunt of the attack. He noticed Velgard was holding a clay pot with some kind of blue cream inside it.

"You're not going to poison me, are you? I know how you beastmen operate… Not fighting our armies face-to-face, only cowardly stealing our provisions and poisoning our water supplies…"

Velgard rolled his eyes, frustrated to no end.

"Listen, if I wanted to kill you, I would have left you in that house. I know you humans like to use magic to heal the high-ranking officers but we mercenaries can't afford it. This-" He showed the clay pot and its content. "will fasten your natural healing abilities. You'll be all fine in two days, but you'll get tired. I think you also have one or two broken ribs; I can't help with more than bandages for that."

Still suspicious, Geld dropped his guard and let the wolfman do his job. He clenched his teeth and repressed his groans, not willing to admit to a beastman he was in pain. Once the cream was applied and the skin bandaged, the imperial let out a pleased sight. He could feel the cold cream already soothing the pain. He then put on the white vest and took on a more comfortable position. He had to admit, wearing those clothes felt weird, but they felt very good and smooth on the skin. Not on the level of what the best imperial tailors could do, but it was surprising to find such quality in commoner's clothes.

Velgard had taken a sitting position against a wall nearby, letting him oversee anyone who could come from all sides. He was putting back the clay pot into a small wooden box, and Gelt saw that it was filled with all sorts of bottles, pots and powders.

"What are those?"

"Why the sudden interest, imperial? I thought I was vermin in your eyes." Retorted Velgard.

Clearly struggling inside, Geld managed to talk after a few seconds of incomprehensible mumbling.

"While I don't like beastmen, you did save my life, and I am a man of honor. I would like at least to know a bit about you and the other mercenaries."

Velgard let out a curious "huh?", clearly not expecting such an answer. He disliked humans (save for a few exceptions), he had come to know that a strong racism against all other races was deeply engraved in human nobility, easily extending to other groups in human society. Another fact was that he knew that when the humans had invaded the land of his people many generations ago, atrocities had been committed in the name of "human superiority".His evaluation of Geld rose up a little notch. Maybe this particular human wasn't so bad after all.

"If you must know, I am the apothecary of our little team. We don't have the numbers, so we must all have at least two main skills. I know how to use a bow, as well as being a herbalist and an apothecary. Olva knows how to use magic and how to read and write in many languages, you'd be surprised at how useful it is when we travel so much. And Ygar is our team leader, melee fighter. He's a noble as well, so he uses his connections to get good contracts."

Geld raised an eyebrow.

"Ygar? A noble?"

"Yes. You didn't think the senate chose him just from fame alone, did you?" Answered Velgard. "His full name is Ygar Fal Sodis, son of Marquis Sodis, protector of the northern reaches. He's the fifth son, so he joined the army at first but well… The orderly nature and the chain of command didn't really fit him so he left and became a mercenary instead. I was also a mercenary, and saved him from a group of bandits who had captured him. Turns out a bloody vengeance against said bandits is enough to form bonds of friendship strong enough to stay together to this day. Olva was a slave he bought, but he made a contract to free her after three years if she helped with her magic. She accepted, and decided to join us when the contract ended."

Geld took a moment to think over what he just heard, but then a detail caught his attention.

"Wait, she was a slave? How did a Rondel mage managed to get enslaved? And how did she decide to just… Join back despite having been a slave?"

Velgard groaned as he closed the leather sack holding the group's supplies.

"You have many questions, imperial. I don't know. I find the human mind extremely confusing. I think she told Ygar the reason, but she never told me. Who knows, maybe she fell in love? It's not my problem, and I don't intend on putting my nose in her affairs. She's a good companion, that's all that matters."

Dropping the matter, Geld stayed silent and joined Velgard in his watch. A few people had tried to approach, but it seemed that Velgard's intimidating size scared them off. Fortunately, they also didn't seem to get close enough to see inside his features inside the hood.

It was only when the falling sun dyed the sky orange that Olva and Ygar came back to the improvised camp.

"So, what did you find out?"

It seemed Geld had warmed up to Ygar after learning he was a fellow noble. However, Ygar completely ignored him, trying to find a comfortable position to sit in. Olva was digging in what looked like to be a backpack from this world.

"I'm speaking to you, mercenary."

Ygar took out some kind of transparent paper bag from a pocket which he tore open. He then gave what looked like to be smoked meat strips to Velgard and Olva, took some for himself then threw the package in front of Geld. Olva did the same with a bag containing four loaves of bread. Out of pride and hurt at being disrespected, Geld left the package and the bread in front of him despite being hungry as well.

"As long as you disrespect my battle brother, imperial, I shall disrespect you."

A light laugh escaped Velgard's maw.

"He was better today. Grateful we saved his skin."

Olva who was about to throw a water skin to Geld stopped her hand movement, then extended her hand and put the water skin near the package.

"Alright," Ygar then began. "We're getting closer to actual results. First of all, we managed to steal what I think is this country's flag."

Olva took out a piece of cloth from the bag and unfolded it. It was all white with a large red circle in the center. All flags had meanings, some more complex than others, but in this new world and its customs, it was hard to tell what it represented.

"We also bought these backpacks, it will be easier to hide our gear. Strangely, they use paper money. These paper slips somehow have more worth than these coins."

Curious expressions appeared on Geld and Velgard's face as Ygar showed them a number of paper slips and some coins. The idea of paper money was an alien one. If one used paper money, then wouldn't anyone who knew how to draw be able to produce such money? But when Velgard looked closer, he abandoned the thought. The quality of the drawing was great, only a few experts on Falmart would be able to produce such results. And even if they could, producing it in high quantity would prove to be hard.

Geld and Velgard flinched when suddenly light appeared. While they were focusing on the money, Olva had taken out a weird contraption, with a round bottom and a glass cylinder at the top from which the light came from. Their attention quickly drew back to the money as magical lights from Rondel, while rare, could be bought by rich noblemen and merchant who wanted to flaunt their wealth.

"Ygar, tell them about… This place."

Olva's voice sounded tired. Very tired. A bit concerned, Velgard proposed her an energizing drink of his brew but she refused with a smile, thanking him anyway. Ygar's voice grew weary as well as he started to explain.

"Well, how to explain clearly… Imagine a tower. One of those towers we saw while leaving the gate two days ago. Imagine it being at least twenty stories high. And on each floor, imagine at least twenty shops with enough riches to make even the empire's richest merchants jealous. All these riches, and hundreds if not thousands of commoners in it, buying and selling using that money we took from the house."

The imperial and the wolfman tried to imagine such a thing, but they couldn't. How could such a thing exist? So many things readily available? And mere commoners having access to them? It was simply preposterous.

As Ygar was about to continue explaining, a noise cut him. It was the noise of one of the countless iron chariots that had been moving on the bridge above them, except this one had stopped just near and the rumbling noise of its belly had stopped. After two days and a night in this world, Ygar had come to understand what it meant. Soon, otherworlders would come out of it. He raised his hand, shutting everyone.

"Velgard, are they coming here?"

The wolfman's ears raised under his hood, and he silently nodded and showed two fingers for the number of people coming.

"Olva, put back everything in the bag, we're leaving!" Ygar whispered.

But despite their best efforts, it seemed the otherworlders knew where to look. The beam of a powerful light source shined on them, and a voice rang out.

"Kon'nichiwa! Tōkyō no keisatsusho, watashitachi wa anata ni ikutsu ka shitsumon ga arimasu…"

Hello there, author here.

Don't have much to say for this chapter, so I might as well answer to some comments.

Irish guest: Yes, there's a police and military presence around the gate, surveying it 24h/24. But as much as the mercenaries don't know about technology, the japanese don't know about magic, alchemy and tactics the mercenaries brought with them.

V1kingz-98: Well, why not. I have another idea, but yours could work as well.

kiyone4ever: The scene was intended to be dark. And while yes, they deserve a harsh punishment, remember that they come from a world which places much less value on human life.

I guess that's all for now. Don't hesitate to comment, and see you next publication!