Cop Craft – Dragnet Mirage Reloaded

「You scum of the Semani. Confess your sins for all to see!」

Upon entering the interrogation room, Tilarna suddenly placed the suspect, Lejico, in a chokehold and slammed his head down against the table. Once. Twice. Thrice. She conducted her beatings mercilessly, laying him down on his backside. Bringing his ears to her mouth, she proceeded to shout intimidatingly at the man, with all the power she could muster.

Her petite body hid the strength of a giant. Earlier, she had chanted what appeared to be a spell of some kind, so perhaps this was just another form of her mildi1.

「Wha, wai…..sto⸺」

Under the watchful eye of his captor, a certain Mr. Lejico began flapping his arms and legs uncontrollably, his mouth repeatedly opening and closing as he endured pure torture.

「‘Tis your uncouth presence that compels a noble such as I to stoop so low as to entreat you with the laws of this world! Such were the orders of the Dorini. In our mighty Farbanian Kingdom, you do know the punishment reserved for thieves, correct? First, your limbs shall be severed whilst you are kept alive. Following that, a large jar of Zevry beetles shall be unleashed upon your body. And finally, left for a day in that state, your remains shall be left to rot in the Oviza Swamp! Of course, the wrath of the Goddess Lubarna shall descend upon your kin as well. If you wish to avoid that fate, reveal the contents of that casket!」

Pulling the pale-faced Lejico away from Tilarna’s grasp, Matoba heaved a sigh as he muttered.

「You were too good.」

「Let go of him, Kei. Why are you stopping me?」

「You think he’s gonna be talking like that? There’s an order to everything. If you were just a bit less⸺」

「Shut it. This rakebye2 deserves no such thing. Rather, it would be better to peel off his skin and stuff his wounds with salt. The Goddess Lubarna will surely forgive him with that. With that said, Kei. Go fetch us some salt. In the meantime, I shall prepare the ingredients for this man.」

Drawing the shortsword from her waist, Tilarna slowly approached the suspect.

「……Got it. Just don’t mess up the interrogation room, will you? It’s hard to clean up the bloodstains, y’know.」

Just as Matoba moved to leave the room, the man began to scream out information, tears streaming down his face.

「Please forgive me! That coffin was stolen! We swindled the grave robbers for it. We were searching for buyers when we heard someone here on Earth was offering a fortune for⸺」

「Their name?」

「He called himself Zeniya.」

「Where is he now?」

「I don’t know. It’s the truth!」

「So you people crossed the Mirage Gate, bringing that coffin with you to this city. You also mentioned grave robbers earlier, correct? Where did they find this coffin of theirs? Tell me all that you know!」

Matoba looked on as Tilarna grabbed the man’s collar, forcefully rocking his head. If anyone else were here, this would be a problem. But, I guess this should be fine. Or so Matoba thought to himself.

The age-old convention of good cop/bad cop ⸺ in other words, offering the carrot or the stick ⸺ was still going strong here in the 21st century. Having usually played the role of bad cop, Matoba himself did not think that he would get the chance to play good cop so soon.

Unaware of their motives, Lejico shouted.

「They said they found her in the mountains surrounding the Velmosh region!」

「The Velmosh region, you say? Home to the Durasians?」

「That’s right!」

For an instant, a cloud came over her graceful features. As her grip began to loosen, the man broke into a coughing fit, regaining control over his breathing.

「Could it have been the remains of a Duras Dyril?」

Tilarna looked down, bringing her right fist to the left side of her chest. Unable to follow the flow of the conversation any longer, Matoba inquired, a puzzled look on his face.

「You have something in mind?」

「Yes…… No. But, ‘tis impossible. For such a creature to exist, I cannot imagine. They are mere legends.」

「I don’t follow. The hell are you talking about?」

「Ladé Neven……」

「Huh? Ladé…… what now?」

「I do not know. However, worst-case scenario, Cecil may be⸺」

As Tilarna muttered, she let go of the man, turned on her heels, and bounded straight out of the interrogation room.

「Oi!」

「That body is dangerous.」

He did not have the chance to ask in detail. Tilarna flew into the hallway like a bullet, shooting a glance at the elevator display before deciding to descend the nearby stairwell instead. All of a sudden, she had disappeared from Matoba’s sight.

Dangerous? That mummy? And ⸺ what was that about Cecil?

This was no time to be staying still. Just as he went to go after Tilarna, he spotted the man lying down on the interrogation table and clicked his tongue.

「Stay here. And just so you know, forget everything we did to you. My boss didn’t exactly give us the okay over here.」

『A bit too late for that, don’t you think?』

A voice came from the speaker mounted to the wall of the interrogation room.

The Magic Mirror3 attached to one of the walls lit up, revealing the figure of Inspector Zimmer watching from the cramped observation booth. Having just been recently employed here, he was probably making the rounds, monitoring the activities of his subordinates. And in the process, he had most likely seen Tilarna’s great escape. With a single glance, he knew that his boss was beyond angry.

「Fuck.」

As Matoba unconsciously voiced out his thoughts, a blood vessel popped out of Zimmer’s temple.

(⸺'Fuck'? I go out of my way to see what my veterans were doing….. And what do I find? THE ALIEN TORTURING THE SUSPECT AS SHE PLEASED! I SHOULD BE FIRING THE LOT OF YOU FOR THIS!)

Though he thought of yelling at him, Zimmer instead jerked his chin forward, saying.

『Fucking go already!』

It seemed as though the lecture would come later. Matoba burst out of the interrogation room in a great rush. The elevator isn’t here yet. No choice but to run all the way down⸺

In all this confusion, his feelings suddenly shifted to worrying about Cecil.

What was it called? Ladé? Something like that. I’m getting a really bad feeling about this. Gotta hurry up.

Tilarna flew down five flights of stairs in police headquarters, making a beeline for the front entrance. She leaped across the patrol cars parked in the parking lot as if she were jumping over hurdles in an obstacle course, before cutting through Bluebird Street, bypassing the coming and going of the cars in the process. One of the vehicles on the verge of colliding into her spun uncontrollably to avoid the little girl in its path, ultimately crashing nearby. Despite the clamor that ensued, Tilarna did not pay it any mind.

Immediately facing the front of the police headquarters was the coroner’s office.

「Logo diti, rabna ie Gizenya3.」

Chanting with all her might, the white overcoat she wore was bathed in light, instantly transforming into a full suit of silver4 plate armor. Even in the Semani world, Vyfert steel armor can be hard to come by. Aside from the flying contraptions of the Dorini, this armor would easily repel any projectile that came into contact with it. It was exceedingly light. Moreover, it absorbed impacts well.

Iron shutters had been dropped over the entrance to the morgue. She could not get in. Aiming to enter instead through the window of the offices nearby, Tilarna drew her Dynange5 from her waist, lobbing it at the glass. The crack on the window expanded radially as the glass shattered under the force. Tilarna took this opportunity to sneak inside the deserted office.

Unfortunately enough, her intrusion had triggered the security alarm. Trampling over shards of glass, Tilarna picked up the shortsword that had fallen onto the floor, before racing down the stairs to the basement.

She heard the cry of a woman. It was Cecil’s.

(I have to make it……!)

She could feel a chilly presence as she got closer. It was most definitely rahtena, and yet it reeked of death. Her chest filled with discomfort at this sinister sensation.

She descended the steps below. In front lay the morgue. The doors had been flung wide open. Just beyond, there Cecil was. Crawling on all fours, she was trying to escape by through the stairs. A naked woman was standing behind her. Her mouth, throat, and chest were dyed red all over with fresh blood.

It was clear that she was not your normal person. After all, the offensive odor that only Tilarna could detect came from her.

「Cecil!」

Fear-stricken, Cecil looked up at her. Tilarna leaped halfway down the stairs, jumping over her to slash at the naked woman. Letting out a fierce battle cry, she swung her longsword. However, the point of her Krége6 cut through nothing but air. With an astounding level of agility, the woman had leaped out of the way, thereby avoiding Tilarna’s attack.

The doors shook open with a crash, as the woman retreated into the morgue.

「Run away! And do not look back!」

Shouting to Cecil, Tilarna burst into the morgue without even a moment’s delay.

Her right hand held her longsword overhead, whereas her left gripped her Dynange much as one would a flashlight. The posture she adopted was almost cat-like in nature, much like a bow being drawn back. This was a form of Vredeni swordsmanship equipped to handle close-quarters combat under conditions of limited visibility.

Contrary to her expectations, no ambush came. The woman was crouching in the center of the room, comfortably waiting for Tilarna to arrive.

The two bodies lying on the floor were undoubtedly the victims of her slaughter. Blood was splattered all over the walls. There was no mistaking it. This woman had murdered the two in cold blood, feasting on their blood as she did so.

「Ladé Neven7……」

Translator’s Notes: TL Note: The Farbanian word for ‘magic.' TL Note: The Farbanian word for ‘idiot.' TL Note: Imagine Google Glass but on a mirror. Also known as a more futuristic one-way mirror. TL Note: Silver as in color. Not silver as in the material. TL Note: The Farbanian word for ‘shortsword.’ TL Note: The Farbanian word for ‘longsword.’ TL Note: The Farbanian word for ‘vampire.’