Chapter 12 : Sheriff

Two neatly uniformed figures, a man and a woman, walked through the grimy streets.

Each step they took drew blatant stares from the surroundings.
The man, unfazed, let out a wide yawn, but the blonde woman, Reina, seemed tense, her face stiff in a strange place she’d never visited before.

Unable to stand it any longer, Reina whispered to the man ahead.

“Senior, why’s everyone staring at us?”

“You really don’t know?
You’d gawk too if you saw a penguin in a desert.”

“…”

“Ignore it.
Just think of them as people from another world—makes it easier.”

Her senior, Eric, had a point.

Rat Town was Neotopia’s darkest shadow.
A slum so depraved it’s seen as the root of the city’s problems.

A world even cops turned away from.
Rat Town was a lawless zone where law and order were mocked.

But Reina couldn’t grasp that.

They say it’s a hellhole, so cops ignore it?
No, the logic’s backwards.
It became this way because cops ignored it.

Not just cops.
Parliament’s basic systems—healthcare, education, welfare—never reached Rat Town.
The streets were filled with orphans who’d never known parental warmth.
Murder or rape happened openly, and no one cared.

In less than a day here, Reina realized this.
She understood why it was called the sewer rats’ den.

Eric told her to see them as another world’s people, but Rat Town’s residents were still Neotopia citizens, just like them.

“…We have to change it.”

Eric snorted at his naive junior’s dream.

“How?
Got a plan?”

“We can’t just leave it like this.”

“You flailing alone won’t change a place like this.
It was designed this way from the start.”

“What?”

“You don’t scatter trash everywhere.
You pile it in one spot.”

His bitterly cynical words made Reina frown.
The Eric she knew was a lazy slacker who half-assed everything, not a cold-blooded cynic like this.

His unfamiliar demeanor since arriving in Rat Town frustrated her.

“Just do the minimum.
Skim the case we’re assigned and get out.
This place stinks.”

“We have to investigate thoroughly.
I’m not leaving until we uncover the truth.”

“Ugh…”

Eric, no stranger to his junior’s stubbornness, sighed and slumped his shoulders.

With his experience, he knew this case’s orders came from Ikazuchi.
The problem?
The culprit was so meticulous there was virtually no evidence.

It was obviously a tough case, yet Ikazuchi was pressuring them to solve it fast.
One misstep, and they could face retaliation.

So, the case was a hot potato the team avoided, passed around until it landed with them.

A rookie brimming with zeal and a slacker always scheming to skive—what a pair.

Groaning over how it came to this, Eric resolved to fake some investigating and bail.

The small issue?
Reina, his partner, had zero intention of joining his plan.

A cop who can’t stand injustice—could there be a worse fit for Neotopia?

As if on cue, Reina strode into a back alley.
At the end of her path, thuggish punks were harassing someone.

Eric, tired of repeated brawls since arriving in Rat Town, didn’t want another.

“Let’s go.
They’re just friends messing around—don’t butt in.”

“You think that’s friends playing?
To me, it’s clearly cruel thugs bullying the weak.”

Ignoring her senior’s plea, Reina fearlessly approached a thug nearly twice her size.

“Hands up.
Resist, and you’ll regret it.”

“Who’re you?”

The thug, turning to see Reina, sneered at the fearless woman.

“Heh.
What drugs is our cute lady high on to be this delusional, huh?”

Without a word, she pulled out her police badge and showed it.

“Last warning.
Hands up now.”

Realizing she wasn’t from Rat Town, the thug narrowed his eyes.
But soon, his arrogant smirk returned in no time.

“Oh, so you’re the cops sniffing around?
No clue why you’d bother with a Rat Town you despise, but since you graced us with your presence, we’ll roll out the red carpet.”

The thugs’ eyes glinted with malice.
With another fight brewing, Eric, trailing behind, could only sigh.

“Die!!”

Reina calmly watched the fist flying at her.
And then,

THUD!
CRACK!!

In one move, she easily subdued her attacker.
The other thugs rushed her late, but none landed a solid hit before collapsing.

Reina dusted her hands, looking down at the sprawled thugs.
This scene had repeated several times since morning in Rat Town.
No matter how tough or vicious they seemed, none were her match.

Of course.
Reina and Eric weren’t ordinary cops.

They were elite special forces, trained to subdue criminals with cyberware or Stones that surpass human limits.

Commonly called Sheriffs by the public.

Fixing her disheveled hair from the fight, Reina spotted a man kneeling beyond the downed thugs.
Likely their victim, she approached him.

‘His face…’

She winced.
Whether the thugs did it or not, his face was half-caved in, pitiable to see.

“You okay?
You need medical attention…”

“…Don’t pity me and pss off*, you b*tch.”

He didn’t look good.
His half-dead eyes seemed to flicker with madness.

“That damn slt…!
How the…
I’ll kill her!
**Fck**!
I’ll get my revenge!!”

Reina frowned, about to say something at his attitude, ignoring the one who saved him.

“Enough, let’s go.
We don’t have time to waste on petty stuff like this.”

“…Fine.”

She reluctantly nodded.
Injustice in front of her?
She could physically stop it.

But in situations like this, even she was powerless.
She couldn’t follow this mangled man 24/7 to stop his revenge.

Ultimately, without fixing Rat Town’s root problems, her actions were meaningless.
The more she realized this, the heavier the helplessness in her chest.

As if sensing her mood, Eric, walking ahead, spoke flatly.

“Focus on our case for now.
That alone will be tough enough.”

The real reason they came here.

“Tracking the missing Stone fragment…
Is there really a clue in Rat Town?”

“That’s what we’re here to find out.
There’s one place worth checking.
Let’s dig in.”

“Okay.”

For some reason, the man’s crazed eyes kept haunting her mind.

The feeling she’d missed something important wouldn’t fade.

“Haa…”

I stretched my achy body and rubbed my eyes.

A new bed kept me up a bit, but seeing Ruby clinging to me brought a warm smile instantly.

‘As long as I’m with you, that’s our home.’

How does she say such sweet things?
I wanted to nibble her, but she was sound asleep, so I settled for stroking her hair.

This room still feels foreign, but it’ll grow familiar with time.

From now on, Red Dog’s bar was our home.

After fixing Ruby’s hair a bit, I carefully got up to avoid waking her.

Heading to the hall, I saw Lycan at the counter, early as always.

“Morning.”

“Good morning.
Sleep well?”

“Eh, so-so.”

“Starting today, you’ll train hard before missions.
Shed that clumsy kid vibe as fast as you can.”

Exactly what I wanted.
I’m itching to jump into missions sooner.

“By the way, this guy’s in charge of your training.”

At that, Karen, smoking at the counter, lazily waved.

“Call me Teacher.”

“Looking forward to it.”

“No charm, huh.
When’s good for training?
Pick a time that suits you.”

That’s too easy.

“Start right now.”

My instant reply made Karen chuckle.

“Well, not bad.”