TCWGRF 9

Weeeeee, the siren announcing the start of the curfew rang out, and the city, as if dead, fell silent and was buried in pitch-black darkness. However, the area in front of the Public Security Bureau headquarters was bright with lights lit to celebrate the inauguration of the new chief commissioner.

The city’s rules were an obligation only for the citizens to follow. The politicians, after all, could hold or attend splendid banquets at any time, monopolizing the quiet night.

Due to the Party’s recent policy of prohibiting unnecessarily extravagant social events, a suitable justification, like the inauguration of a new chief commissioner, was needed. But for them, roaming outside during curfew hours, or things like alcohol and expensive clothes which were forbidden to citizens, were close to daily life.

“Most of those who responded that they would attend have arrived, but the number of attendees itself is too small, which is problematic. Even ‘Lot’ did not come….”

To today’s protagonist, who was checking his attire one last time in front of the mirror, his adjutant Walter delivered the rather unpleasant situation.

It was an inauguration ceremony held much later than his predecessors’ because permission had been so hard to obtain, yet the key figures of the Party had declared their absence in droves.

It would have been better if they had at least replied that attendance would be difficult due to some circumstance. Usually, they returned the invitations without even receiving them and did not provide a reason for their absence. It was the same for Samuel’s adoptive father, ‘Lot’.

There were some who came up with their own reasons, saying they were afraid an irreversible accident might happen if they gathered in one place, but this was the Public Security Bureau, guarded by hundreds of police officers. In the city’s foremost fortress, such an excuse was not valid. Besides, during the time of the previous chief commissioner, a has-been who had lost all his connections, had not everyone attended except for a few who were unwell?

This was nothing more than a childish power struggle. Even if they had to reluctantly tolerate an outsider with no qualifications ascending to the position of chief commissioner of public security, they did not want to step forward to applaud and congratulate him in person.

Why would such great people bother to grace a place celebrating a mere guard dog being given a plausible-sounding title?

Receiving the list from Walter’s hand, Samuel’s eyes, which were casually scanning the attendees, drew a meaningful arc.

On the five-page invitation list, fewer than half were marked as confirmed attendees. The first page, in particular, had a number you could count on one hand, and the following pages barely exceeded ten. Only on the last page was there enough of a crowd to save face.

“Still, everyone who was going to come came.”

The numbers were utterly useless. What mattered to Samuel was whether the top-grade bait, the kind that would whet the appetites of the fish he had penned up, had arrived. Fortunately, two of what Samuel considered the highest-grade bait had readily accepted the invitation.

It was, after all, a fisherman’s discretion to test with as varied materials as possible to know exactly what the big fish wanted.

“Chief Commissioner, the deployment in the main building is also complete.”

Knock, knock. With a knock, Sarah entered and announced that the other side was also ready.

Samuel checked his reflection in the mirror once more. A pristine white uniform without a single speck of dust, a crisply shaped hat perched atop his sparkling blond hair, and beneath it, cool blue eyes submerged in the shadow cast by his dense eyelashes, creating a perfect beauty.

“Well then, shall we go?”

Creak. The door of the official residence prepared for the chief commissioner of public security opened, and a man, honed as sharp as a knife, strode out onto the bright corridor with heavy steps.

With every step he took, shadows clung to his feet, reminiscent of bloodstains, but he did not look down at the floor. Holding his head stiffly high, he only looked up at the light, permitted to a select few, that shone like the sun even in the black night.

*

Dignitaries adorned in colorful dresses, suits, and jewels that seemed capable of blinding the eyes even at night, disembarked from their cars one by one, stepped gracefully onto the carpet laid out in advance, and entered the annex of the chief commissioner’s office.

“Wow, what a scene.”

“I guess those are the high and mighty people from the Party?”

“Hah.”

“It’s a different world.”

The patrol members who remained at this hour could not take their eyes off the rare spectacle unfolding outside the window.

A party happening after curfew, food and drinks prepared with sophisticated flair, clothes meant not for protection against the cold but purely for style.

For the citizens, who were far removed from pleasure, it was an utterly unfamiliar world, one they could not understand, nor carelessly covet.

“Alright, alright, stop gawking and let’s get moving.”

When someone urged them on, everyone, as if by agreement, moved away from the windows and picked up their respective belongings.

Today, the patrol members’ duty was not to patrol the city, but to patrol the main building of the Public Security Bureau.

With the exception of the officers in charge of security outside the building, all available forces had been redeployed to protect the annex and the important guests, leaving the main building completely empty. So, the patrol members were assigned to stand night duty instead.

In any case, all the doors inside were securely locked, and the entrance and each guard post were being monitored with fiery eyes. There would be no ‘suspicious person’ who would dare to enter this far, yet they made a fuss by summoning the entire patrol force, including those who had already finished their day shifts.

“I guess we’re just unlucky. We worked our bones off during the day, and now we have to work all night again. Hahaha.”

“Haha, you’re right.”

Vincent and Isaac, with self-deprecating laughter, forced away the exhaustion that clung to their entire bodies and stood at the very end of the line of people forming a file to exit the room.

“It’ll be a relief if I just don’t doze off….”

“Me too.”

The citizens of the city woke when the sun rose and went to bed when the sun set. That was no different for Isaac, who came from the outside.

“Haaaah. I’m dead tired.”

Vincent, who had already let out a long yawn several times, seemed to be having a hard time shaking off his drowsiness. He was swaying like a drunkard with unknowingly drowsy eyes.

The patrol members, paired up in teams of two, immediately scattered to their assigned patrol areas, from the first to the eighth floors, excluding the ninth and tenth floors where the chief commissioner’s residence and office were located.

The area Isaac was to cover with Vincent was the east side of the third floor of the main building. It was an out-of-the-way place to begin with, and an unimportant space where miscellaneous items and outdated documents were piled up, so it was just the two of them without any other members.

The place, which had bustled with so many people coming and going during the day, became so silent at night that even the sound of his own breath seemed loud.

In the cool, unfamiliar air, which felt as if a man-eating monster might actually appear, goosebumps rose on Isaac’s skin.

“Um, Vincent….”

“…….”

“Vincent?”

“…Ah, uh-huh. Right, right….”

He tried to shake off this gloomy atmosphere by talking to his partner, but he was already letting his head drop from side to side listlessly. For a man in his early middle age, even just standing seemed strenuous, let alone an all-night patrol.

Just then, the gazes of others did not reach this way, so a brief nap would probably be fine. Isaac supported Vincent and sat him down at the end of the hallway, kindly suggesting, ‘I’ll go look around by myself, so you can rest for a moment.’

Slump. Vincent, who had been waving his hands in refusal, saying he could not do that, eventually could not overcome the weight of his eyelids and fell asleep as soon as his back touched the wall. Isaac tried calling his name several times from the side, but seeing as there was no response, he would not wake up unless shaken.

“Phew.”

A sigh of relief escaped him at his partner’s deep slumber. As if he had been waiting for that very moment, the young man, now left alone without a partner, changed direction and tiptoed toward a certain door on the third floor.

*

“An outsider, of all things. Is the chief commissioner position even appropriate for him?”

“It couldn’t be helped. There wasn’t a suitable person.”

“Still, how could that devil-like man….”

The story that the new chief commissioner of public security was an outsider had already been a widespread controversy for some time. So much so that people openly chattered about it even at the gathering to celebrate his inauguration.

The city’s powerful figures thus displayed their blatant contempt for Samuel.

It was no different for the guests whose names were only on the last page of the list, those who were not in a position to openly refuse the inauguration invitation or give him a piece of their mind.

“Still, he was educated in the city, and he is a loyal dog of the Party. …He barks when told to bark, and bites when told to bite, doesn’t he? Haha.”

“All the more reason to keep him on a tight leash and tied up in the yard! Who knows what might happen the moment you let him in the house?”

“He won’t have the guts for that. He is a dog, not a human like us.”

From a distance, the protagonist of the night was walking in, but the people’s jeers showed no sign of stopping.

Such is the nature of an exception that appears, breaking a rule that seemed solid. The existing group would feel an indescribable displeasure and contempt, but once they realize the opponent is a being they cannot strike down with their own hands, they will quickly adapt as if nothing happened and start sizing up their usefulness.

“There they are, the grease stains of the city, all gathered together.”

Grease stains. That is what Samuel used to call the politicians. There was no more fitting nickname for those who monopolized wealth and enjoyed power while doing nothing.

At the joke Samuel made with a slight smile at the entrance of the banquet hall, Walter, who was escorting him right beside him, tried to stop him in a small voice.

“They might hear you from this distance.”

“I am originally vulgar, and an outsider on top of that. There’s no harm to be done.”

“Ahem! Chief Commissioner…!”

Worried that their conversation might leak out, Walter deliberately pretended to clear his throat, trying to somehow cover up the words that had scattered into the air.

“I would like to let everyone know that the main character has arrived.”

“Ah, yes.”

“I have an important appointment later.”

“Understood.”

Clap, clap, and stomp, stomp. When Walter used rhythmic clapping and a stomp of his foot to draw people’s attention, the sharp, chaotic chatter finally ceased, and all eyes poured onto Samuel at once.