I Become a Secret Police Officer of The Imperial Academy

Chapter 2

It might be a somewhat common story.

Like being born into a game you were playing.

I wasn’t a hardcore player, but since it had dozens of different endings, I played it about three or four times.

They say it’s a game where random events occur, leading to completely different storylines…

But I wasn’t that interested, so I just played it a few times to see the endings and that was it.

The graphics weren’t all that flashy, and if I wanted to experience a romantic vibe, there were far better games for that.

Gamers who had practically lost themselves in the game would always say, “You can play for thousands, even tens of thousands of hours!” But I had a job.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have much money either, so I couldn’t afford to sink my limited free time into that game.

Who brought me here?

They could have just left me running on the hamster wheel.

Or if they were going to bring someone, they should have picked someone who knew this world better than me.

That person would have come up with a solution in no time.

Anyway, I don’t know much.

Other than things like who the main character is and who the heroine might be.

Maybe someone from this world crash-landed on Earth and decided to make a similar story into a game.

Either way, fortunately, I was born as a noble whose wealth overflowed to the point of rotting.

The only complaint I have is that I ended up as a noble who, to put it bluntly, is the emperor’s hunting dog. If you put it nicely, I’m a noble who can kill other nobles if given permission.

Of course, that’s officially impossible.

Still, thanks to that, I was able to attend the academy alongside the main character.

By sticking close to them, I might even be able to call them a friend. Yeah, maybe I could call them a friend.

I even made a real friend.

Saying it aloud like this makes me feel a bit embarrassed.

Even though, just now, I locked that friend up in the basement and waterboarded them.

Not that it matters. We don’t even have proper classes.

There seem to be quite a few teachers who were caught up in various incidents.

Despite that, I still went to school.

The main character, for whatever reason, wants to drag incidents around with them every single day, diligently attending school like a model student. So, if I want to stick with them, I have to stay on the move too.

That way, if the world ever faces a crisis, they might just save me.

Honestly, it feels like we’re in a crisis right now.

Anyway, during the day, I had some “slightly coercive conversations” with Ethel and a few other friends in the basement. Before dinner, I left the basement.

My hands were drenched in water.

“Uweeeek!!”

But it’s fine. The door is a thick iron door, and the inside is packed with sand, so no sound from inside would reach outside.

So I vomited freely.

Good thing I skipped breakfast and lunch.

“Miss, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Marco.”

“…If it’s too much for you, it’s okay to leave it to us.”

Marco said that as he looked me in the eyes.

“You guys wouldn’t hold back, though.”

They’d probably half-kill them without a second thought, not caring if they lived or died.

“……”

Marco, despite being a servant, had probably buried more people than anyone else around me. He didn’t respond.

After a while, he spoke with a slightly hesitant tone.

“The family head is worried that the young lady may be overworking herself.”

“This is something I’ve always done and something I’ll continue to do.

Just because the target this time is a friend, it doesn’t mean I’m going to let my emotions mess things up.”

The official name is the Imperial Security Bureau, but in reality, it’s just a secret police force.

If you asked how it differs from a normal secret police force, a normal one wouldn’t be able to enter places outside of their jurisdiction. But I have access to every single “conversation room” throughout the entire empire.

Of course, we don’t use words like torture room or underground solitary cell.

It’s like how people call mental hospitals “the white house on the hill” to make it sound less ominous.

It’s just unpleasant otherwise.

“Clean things up and head back to the mansion.

There’s not much to do, anyway.”

He nodded and headed to the bathroom to get a mop.

I sat on the chair placed in the hallway, closed my eyes, and breathed for a while.

Even so, the numbing sensation of guilt clinging to my body didn’t go away.

Ethel was… yeah, she was my friend.

The first friend I made after enrolling at the academy.

Even though I was the one who drenched her with water while she was covered with a towel, she still called me her friend, rather than hurling hateful words at me.

She even said she didn’t understand why I was doing this.

If I’d just invited her over for tea and had a relaxed conversation, maybe things could’ve been resolved peacefully.

Or maybe, if I appealed to our friendship, she would have explained what her parents were up to or what connection they had with the demons. If I’d brought the main character along, we could’ve asked her together.

Yeah. Maybe. Just maybe.

How about I offer a pathetic excuse that no one will believe?

I don’t trust myself.

As far as I know, the game was supposed to be a story filled with hope.

Sure, there were some dark and sometimes despairing moments, but those could be overcome with a simple save and load.

In the end, it was about a brilliant protagonist saving beautiful kids, building relationships, and defeating the villains. That’s how the story ended.

I never imagined that a filthy bunch like the demons would pull off something on this massive scale.

If you look for intelligent demons among them, the only ones you’ll find are succubi who just spread their legs for men.

So how was I supposed to know something like this would happen?

If I had known, I would have just holed up in my room playing games.

For hours, for tens of hours, for hundreds, for thousands of hours.

Sure, there were moments in the game where demons caused trouble, but it was never this bad.

Honestly, my parents deserved to die.

They were awful people.

But maybe, because of some faint sense of family loyalty, the fact that they’re dead still puts me in a somber mood.

And because I was incompetent, my sister died too.

My sister, who told me to wear pretty dresses, go on trips, eat good food, and date someone instead of dealing with gloomy criminals all the time.

If I’d known it would end like this, I would’ve stood right in front of her and worn a pretty, fluttering skirt at least once.

Her final words as she lay dying were, “Don’t cry.”

Because of that, I couldn’t even cry. Instead, I just sat in the hallway, sniffling and dry-heaving like a mess.

“Don’t forget me,” she said.

Isn’t that one of the cruelest things you could ask of someone?

Because it forces you to be sad about them for the rest of your life.

And so, I began to hate a lot of things.

Myself, everything related to demons, and all the incompetent fools who couldn’t even stop one uncivilized demon.

I wiped the corners of my eyes roughly with a white handkerchief and gazed at the hallway lights for a long time.

A bug, having somehow slipped in, circled around the light. It flew too close to the gas flame and burned to ash.

I glanced at the watch on my wrist.

“About an hour left until the senior comes out, huh.”

If I work for 30 minutes, clean up for 10 minutes, and walk back, the timing should be just right.

I opened the door to the room right next to where Ethel was being held.

Instantly, a foul stench stabbed into my nostrils.

The person in charge must have stepped away for a break, as the lights in the room were off.

I felt my way along the cold cement wall and switched on the light.

With the faint crackle of electricity, the light flickered briefly before finally turning on.

In the center of the room was a man, his mind seemingly elsewhere. He was on his knees, his ankles bound to the floor with shackles.

“Julius, you look terrible.”

“…Did you come here just to mock me?”

His entire body was covered in long wounds, with blood still dripping from them, but his gaze had not lost its fire.

I suppose he’s different from his weak little sister.

“I’m sure you’ve heard this over and over, but I’ll ask you again.

Why did your parents shelter and aid demons, and where did they flee to?”

Spit.

The sound of him spitting was louder than expected.

It echoed faintly throughout the room.

The bloody phlegm splattered onto my clean white clothes.

“You really shouldn’t do that, especially considering who’s locked up in the room next to you.”

“……”

“Don’t know? I just had a little chat with your little sister a moment ago, with these very hands.”

“…You… That child has nothing to do with this. You know that, don’t you? She’s someone you’d come over to play with when you visited our house.”

Even invoking old memories, huh?

“I used to enjoy teasing you, Julius. Watching you two siblings like that made me think, ‘Ah, they’re so close.’”

I pulled out a fresh, white handkerchief and roughly wiped my cheek and the front of my clothes.

The handkerchief would have to be discarded, and I’d need to change into fresh clothes.

“I had a younger sibling I loved too… no, used to love.”

People like this won’t open their mouths even if you submerge them in water, pour a mix of spices and chili powder into their nostrils, or even chop off parts of their body.

They have too much to protect.

So, in the end, it’s easier to target what they’re trying to protect rather than them directly.

Did I forget to inform the handler that I had already locked his sister up?

“Do you know how heart-wrenching it is to lose an only sibling?

But you’re not sad yet, Julius.

So just confess.

We’re a little too old to be playing water games with our friends, you know.”

“…All I did was take in some people with nowhere to go, feed them, give them a little money, and send them back on their way.”

“Yeah, yeah. We’ve already heard that story.

I’m asking you where those damn parents of yours ran off to.”

“I don’t know.”

“Every time you spit out that useless crap, I’ll feed one of Ethel’s fingers to you.

You can answer ‘I don’t know’ about nine more times.

She’s already lost one, after all.”

“…That’s…”

Well, it’s not like there’s any way for him to know that.

“Think it over carefully.”

I left the room for now.

By tomorrow, he might have a different perspective.

It was time to change into fresh clothes and return to being an ordinary girl.