Chapter 20 : Chapter 20
Chapter 20
The moment I finished reading the letter, I prepared to head to the Public Security Bureau.
‘Just in case, I should bring the stabilization spray as well.’
The stabilization spray was a device that dispersed the Mist’s Lullaby drug in the form of fine particles. I had made it as a precaution for situations where Draksan might suddenly go on a rampage.
“GRAAAAAAAH!”
I heard it even before I entered the building. It was less a human scream and more like the roar of a beast.
That distinctive, throat-scraping sound was familiar.
‘That is Draksan’s voice.’
When I stepped inside, the scene was complete chaos.
“Ugh, ugh… GRAAAAAAAH!”
“Calm down, Draksan! Draksan Caligus!”
“I will kill you, I will kill you all! I will kill you! Grrrr, I will kill youuu—!”
Blue currents of electricity were coursing over Draksan’s body.
They were clearly coming from the magical electric collar fastened around his neck.
Even at a glance, the voltage looked intense. Yet Draksan seemed utterly unfazed by it. Even under that current, he was not only throwing off investigators but subduing them outright.
Several investigators lay sprawled across the floor of the Public Security Bureau, having been overpowered by him.
“Th-that… that monster…!”
The investigators muttered in horror. After witnessing their colleagues being subdued, they hesitated to approach Draksan recklessly.
“Justin! Bring out Chief Justin! I will kill him! I will kill him!”
Like an unruly civilian causing a disturbance at a local office, Draksan shouted Chief Justin’s name and screamed threats of murder.
His eyes were bloodshot. It was a physical sign that appeared when he lost his reason during an episode of Intermittent Explosive Disorder.
I cautiously approached Nyxle.
“What exactly is going on here?”
“D-Doctor!”
Nyxle’s eyes lit up with relief.
“Dr-Draksan went on a rampage, and even the electric collar could not subdue him. I thought… maybe you could stop him, so I contacted you through Gipone…!”
“I understand. Just a moment.”
Shaking the spray canister, I approached Draksan.
“JUUUSTIIIIN—!”
The instant Draksan glared and charged at me.
HISS.
I sprayed the prepared mist.
‘HNGH—!’ At the moment when Draksan, his reason drowned in rage, took a deep breath, the dispersed drug was inhaled straight into his nose.
The murderous focus in his eyes vanished.
THUD.
Moments later, he collapsed.
“Whoa…!”
“D-did you get him?”
A few investigators uttered ominous lines, but Draksan did not rise again.
“You got him!”
Seeing Draksan completely limp, the investigators cheered.
While they rejoiced as though a monster had been slain, Nyxle approached me.
“Th-thank you, Doctor! If it were not for you, several investigators might have died…!”
“It was only possible because Draksan was unarmed. If he had been holding his axe, I would not have been able to subdue him either.”
“Y-yes, that is true…”
Looking down at the fallen Draksan, I continued.
“So, what exactly happened? And why was he calling for Chief Justin?”
“Ah, well…”
Nyxle lowered her head. As she fidgeted with her fingers, I sensed the scent of shame.
After hesitating, she finally spoke.
“…Miss Lena Caligus has awakened.”
“Lena Caligus?”
It was a familiar name. Controlling my expression was difficult.
“Yes. Draksan’s daughter.”
There was no other way to put it.
A dreadful miracle had occurred.
***
Summarizing what I heard from Nyxle, it went like this.
‘Draksan’s daughter, Lena, awakened from her coma. However…’
If Draksan learned that Lena had awakened, he would certainly file an appeal.
Wishing to avoid trouble, the Public Security Bureau concealed this fact.
But it could not be hidden forever.
“You know Hadler had a son, right? A man named Hardi….”
Hardi, who was also a victim in the case, requested a visit with Draksan and informed him that Lena had awakened.
“Is Hardi not the young man Draksan assaulted while drinking? And yet he told Draksan about Lena?”
“Hardi does not seem to harbor much resentment toward Draksan.”
“I heard he was beaten nearly to death.”
“From what I could tell, he seemed to think he deserved that much. Maybe he believes he is paying for his father Hadler’s crimes in his stead… or something like that.”
In any case, once Draksan learned the truth, he attempted to appeal through a legal team arranged by Hardi.
“That is understandable. His daughter, whom he believed would remain in a coma forever, awakened. Of course he would want to reduce his sentence even a little.”
“Yes, but the appeal was dismissed.”
“Dismissed? Why…?”
“He missed the deadline.”
Because the appeal period had expired, it could not be accepted.
That was where the real problem began.
“The Public Security Bureau did not tell Draksan that Lena had awakened for four entire days.”
“If they had informed him immediately, he would not have missed the appeal deadline.”
“Yes… Ever since then, Draksan has been causing disturbances every day. Today was especially severe, which is why I contacted you through Gipone…”
“I see.”
“This has become extremely troublesome. The media is questioning us and attacking relentlessly…”
Nyxle handed me a newspaper. It was a weekly I did not subscribe to, and it was filled almost entirely with articles about the Public Security Bureau and Draksan.
Headlines like “Victim of the ‘Monster Tamer’ Case Detained Due to Public Security Bureau Cover-Up” and “Barbarian Rights Groups Stage Sit-In Outside the Court” stood out.
The media was framing the case as oppression against Barbarians, and there was more than enough reason to see it that way.
Because the situation had escalated this far, civic groups were now demanding that Chief Justin himself be arrested.
Extremist groups centered around Barbarians had even issued threats of terrorism, claiming they would blow up the courthouse or kidnap the judge unless Draksan was released.
“This has grown enormous.”
“Yes… I do not know what to do anymore.”
As I finished reading the paper, I thought,
‘This is one hundred percent the fault of the Public Security Bureau.’
None of this would have happened if they had not concealed the truth in the first place.
They must have hidden the fact of Lena’s awakening without much thought.
‘They probably just wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble.’
That careless decision only made things far worse.
I stared straight at Nyxle.
Nyxle was an investigator of the Public Security Bureau. She could have told Draksan the truth if she wanted to.
That would mean she had participated in the cover-up…
Honestly, I could not help feeling disappointed.
Sensing my gaze, Nyxle looked aggrieved, her face crumpling.
“P-please do not look at me like that! I did not know!”
“You did not know?”
“Yes! Hiding this was entirely Chief Justin’s unilateral decision. A-and at the time, I was not even in my ‘active phase’…!”
By ‘active phase,’ she meant that control of her body had not been hers, but Feral Wolf’s.
Her claim that she had not participated in the cover-up was not a lie. Her tone, expression, and even her scent conveyed her indignation clearly.
“I understand. That is at least a relief.”
“Y-yes, please do not misunderstand…”
“So it was Chief Justin’s decision alone. Then what is he doing now?”
“Well…”
Nyxle hesitated before speaking.
“…Nothing. He is doing nothing.”
“Nothing at all?”
“Yes. No response whatsoever… Even among the investigators, there is a lot of discontent. I argued with him over this as well.”
I was surprised to hear that she had argued with him. Nyxle, in her human state, seemed far too timid to openly defy her superior.
“I think this is shameless and wrong. At the very least, I believe we should have issued an apology….”
She was right.
From my perspective, if Chief Justin had handled this properly, it would have been resolved quickly.
There would have been no need for a press conference. A simple apology would have calmed the situation.
So why had he done nothing? Out of pride? That did not seem like him.
“I cannot fathom what he is thinking.”
“Yes, neither can I…”
“I need to speak with him. Is Chief Justin in his office?”
“No, he is out at the moment…”
“Then I will come back tomorrow. If Draksan causes another disturbance, feel free to call me.”
“Ah, yes! I will inform Chief Justin.”
“Thank you.”
***
The next day.
On my way to Chief Justin’s office at the Public Security Bureau, I encountered an unexpected obstacle.
“Justin, step down!”
“Come down here! Someone like you has no right to be Director!”
It was a protest.
Each person held a placard and shouted insults toward Chief Justin.
Reading the signs, I saw slogans like “Public Security Bureau and Judiciary Exterminating Barbarians” and “Absolute Opposition to Director Inauguration.”
‘It is a sizable crowd.’
The names on the flags were varied: “Barbarian Rights Advancement Committee,” “Universal Racial Equality Association,” and more.
The mass of protesters completely blocked the entrance to the Bureau.
“Excuse me, I need to pass through…”
“Justin, step down!”
“Yes, step down! But please let me pass…”
Asking for understanding, I forced my way through the crowd.
Only after several wasted minutes did I manage to enter the building.
Perhaps because of the protest, the atmosphere inside was utterly deflated.
Even the investigators who recognized me and greeted me wore expressions heavy with exhaustion.
I headed straight for Chief Justin’s office.
“Oh, Dr. Kain!”
“I came rather suddenly. Are you busy?”
“I am always busy. Still, I can spare some time to speak with you.”
Chief Justin greeted me with his usual inscrutable smile.
I returned the courtesy and glanced around.
His office felt oddly bare.
Looking closely, I noticed that the shelves, sofa, and other furniture were gone, leaving only a desk and chair.
“It seems you have already moved your furniture to the Director’s office. The inauguration must be soon.”
“Yes. I will officially become Director of the Public Security Bureau.”
I examined his expression.
He did not seem particularly excited, but neither did he look especially worried.
Public opinion was calling for him to be removed not just as Director, but even from his current position.
The protest was large enough to surround the Bureau building.
Holding an inauguration under these circumstances would only fuel criticism.
There was even the risk of unrest breaking out during the ceremony.
‘What is he thinking? Does he have no plan at all…?’
As I pondered how to begin, Chief Justin spoke first.
“You made it in somehow. It must have been difficult with the protest outside.”
“They completely blocked the entrance. I barely made it through.”
“What were they saying?”
“They were shouting that the Public Security Bureau is trying to exterminate Barbarians.”
Chief Justin let out a small chuckle.
“Humans are truly a curious species. Those who shout about ending discrimination against Barbarians—do you know how they treat non-human races?”
“I do not.”
“They do not even consider them people. Some extremist groups treat them as animals or objects.”
“I see. That is beyond my concern.”
“I thought as much.”
I took a breath and asked,
“Why did you do it?”
“What are you asking? Why I hid the fact that Lena Caligus awakened from Draksan? Or why I did not issue a press conference or apology?”
“Both.”
Chief Justin nodded.
“To answer the first question, it is a misunderstanding to say I hid it. I simply did nothing, because there was no obligation to inform him.”
“That is sophistry. You wanted to avoid trouble, did you not?”
“Well, that is not entirely wrong. Now, for the second question.”
He took a sip of the cold coffee on his desk, frowned, and continued.
“Simply put… admitting fault would only make things bigger.”