567 Strings Attached
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In contrast to what most people would expect, Carmen’s administrative systems were actually quite efficient in doing what they were actually designed for, and it only took around an hour from the initial report by the police chief of the port town for the higher-ups to become fully aware of the situation.
An emergency video conference was called almost immediately, and everyone ‘invited’ could only join in a panic.
“What happened?!”
“Did the Gray Wolfe go ballistic somewhere again?”
“There infighting is really getting out of hand these days, isn’t it?”
It was no secret that emergency meetings like these were only called when something really big happened, and there were only a few forces in Carmen who could cause disturbances like that. WIth the recent internal turmoil of the Gray Wolfe Corporation, their assumptions were actually quite reasonable.
Of course, they were also subconsciously trying to deny the possibility that the meeting could have been called because one of them really, really fucked something up.
Much to everyone’s relief, however, the commissioner started flapping a printed-out report of the recent shutdown of the human traffickers in one of their port towns angrily. “Cress! On whose orders did you make this nonsensical move today? Do you have any idea how much trouble you have caused me? Who gave you the authorization to bust this gang down?!”
Cress was naturally short for Cressida, the chief of police in the small port Emilia arrived in as ‘Emi’. Despite her seemingly glorious title, though, it was only really her own port town in which she enjoyed supreme authority, and she remained well aware that the commissioner could easily dismiss her for any reason without notice whenever he felt like it.
After all, since he mentioned she got him in trouble, it definitely meant there was someone even higher up the chain who got annoyed by her actions.
Even if she could make a valid case against her dismissal, the average time it took for the judiciary in the country of Carmen to provide such resolutions was close to twenty years, which would be more than enough for her to be completely ruined under the influence of someone with that level of power in Carmen.
Normally, she would be about as terrified as her clenched fists on the camera would suggest, but in reality, Cress was actually shockingly calm on the inside. ‘Luckily, miss Penny has already made a way out for me if things go south, though I wouldn’t mind taking a few more risks for the princess! I hope this screen recording will be worth it.’
After getting the general gist of the situation from the commissioner’s scolding, the others in the meeting didn’t miss the chance to step on her while she was down, either. After all, now that they knew they wouldn’t be coming under the commissioner’s fire, wasn’t this as good a chance as any to earn a few more points in their favor?
“It has been well-established that only by keeping a close eye on known criminal masterminds can we best create countermeasures and ensure the safety of our citizens.”
“Do you not know that getting rid of criminals we know won’t reduce crime, but only create an unknown void that is much more dangerous?!”
Of course, officially their argument was that it was better to just know which thieves operated in which area than to arrest them all. This way, they could still track those offenders down if something truly valuable was lost and needed to be recovered, instead of fumbling about in the dark when some unknown new thief got to it instead.
It may not be very convincing to some, but as long as it was good enough to fool the gullible general public, who cared?
Even her direct superior was quick to chide her. “I never took you for someone who would let the power get to their head, but I guess I was wrong.”
Cress scolded him in her head for being a sellout who only wanted to earn easy brownie points with the commissioner, but fortunately, she managed to retain an apologetic expression despite the thousands of curses almost bouncing off of her tightly sealed lips.
It was for her princess, after all.
Of course, everyone only mistook her determination for cowardice, though no one mocked her for it. Knowing just how helpless she was to resist the powers from the top, there was also a certain level of sympathy they had for the woman.
After all, they would also be in the same situation if they made a stupid decision in the future.
No matter how depressed she was, they knew that she could only mask her frustrations behind a professional smile and nod along apologetically unless she wanted to be unemployed and homeless before she could blink.
“I’m truly sorry. I just saw the picture of the little girl who was lost and let my emotions get the best of me. This will definitely never happen again, I promise!”
These higher-ups may pretend to be decent and reasonable people in front of the public, but everyone here knew very well just how petty and small-minded they really were. If she really ‘offended’ them somehow, they would definitely make sure she all her savings would forever remain ‘sealed for investigation’ while she starved to death on the streets!
The commissioner snorted. “It’s good that you realize your mistakes. I will talk to the higher-ups for you, but be prepared for the punishment.”
“Y-Yes!”
Fortunately, her humble words seemed to have appeased the man to an extent, and everyone breathed a secret sigh of relief.
Though whether it affected whatever punishment he had in mind for her remained unknown, wasn’t it a good thing to always have someone right in front of them in the line to the guillotine?
Now that the higher-ups were displeased with Cress, having her around made sure that their dissatisfaction would only be vented on her. But if she was gone so soon, wasn’t it very likely for one of them to become the next target for their frustrations instead?
While they were still nodding in self-satisfaction, however, none of them realized just how much of a disaster their words were going to bring.
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