AMLP 05

Chapter 05

The cleaners dispatched by the Association swiftly recovered the ‘subject’ from the explosion site.

Apart from the pieces of flesh stained with stone dust or sewage, the recovered subject was damaged beyond recognition.

A torso, half of which had been blown away vertically, was placed on a cold stainless steel plate. Clothing and personal effects, burned and torn by the gunpowder, were all transferred into transparent petri dishes.

A laboratory where researchers in white coats and cleaners in blue vinyl protective suits bustled about.

Two people stood on the other side of a glass window that offered a clear view inside.

After one researcher placed the petri dishes at regular intervals and left, a man with neatly tied-back white hair removed his black gloves and put on thin latex gloves.

—

“It’s fortunate there was something worth salvaging, considering he was at the explosion site.”

“That’s good to hear. Mr. Friedrich, can you tell anything from it?”

“Could you give me five minutes?”

—

What lay on the petri dishes was trash.

Scraps of fabric with singed edges, labels, plastic fasteners from the ends of shoelaces, blackened pieces of metal.

Yet the man called Friedrich used tweezers with a calm and dexterous touch, observing and examining each item one by one.

Beyond just looking, he smelled them, held them up to the light, and even tasted a bit of what had rubbed off on his glove.

*Ugh, disgusting.*

The woman watching him shuddered inwardly and waited.

After a moment, the man finished his investigation and spoke.

—

“It’s ammonium nitrate. It seems the recent tightening of policies by the Shelter government has made nitroglycerin trading more strictly regulated. It was likely smuggled in disguised as industrial coolant or materials for manufacturing chips. In short, it means it’s easy to obtain. It’s a simple explosive that can be made with the right conditions, though it requires some expertise. Cheap, and easy to disguise. There’s no better material for an improvised bomb.”

“What about the person? Was he an accomplice of the Witch?”

“Probably not. He seems to have lived in the Fourth Residential District, or perhaps further out in the Fifth Residential District. He might have been an orphan.”

“How can you tell all that?”

“Cosette, are you really asking me that now, after all this time?…… The inside of his clothes was yellowed and the seams were worn, which immediately tells you he couldn’t afford to buy new clothes regularly. Or, if he sweats a lot even after washing, it inevitably ends up like this. And look at the label—the printed ink is completely worn away. It’s been worn for a long time. Same for the shoelaces.”

“How do you know about his family situation? Couldn’t he have just run away temporarily? Because of something like domestic violence?”

“I’m keeping that possibility open, but first, judging by the body’s build and estimated age, it seems unlikely. Picking a fight with a man of this physique is quite a high-risk move. Even I wouldn’t want to do it.”

—

Friedrich pointed beyond the glass window with his latex-gloved hand and explained.

The woman murmured with an air of curiosity, ‘Oh, I see,’ and then asked.

—

“Can you really make those guesses without having received any investigation-related imagery?”

“It’s all clearly visible through the glass window. It seems your observational skills are lacking.”

“That’s not my specialty. I’m a field agent, not a detective.”

“I didn’t encounter this body when it was alive, did I? But things like where the clothes are stretched or frayed, how the hat was worn, the dirty shoes and worn-down heels—I can tell at a glance. And also this.”

—

He spoke rapidly, without pausing for breath, and naturally pulled out a white stick, waving it in front of the woman called Cosette.

Cosette’s eyes widened.

—

“What’s that?”

“The subject’s credit stick. I slipped it out when I brushed past the body while it was still alive.”

“Friedrich Paine! Are you some kind of pickpocket?”

“It’s good to have insurance in case we lost him, isn’t it? This is fortunate. By tracking the stick’s issuance date and serial number, we can figure out his movements on the day of the explosion. I trust the Association can manage that much.”

—

Friedrich bowed his head politely and met Cosette’s gaze.

At a loss, she snatched the credit stick from his hand.

He acted as if nothing had happened and began removing his latex gloves to put his original ones back on.

—

“‘He’ is a disposable asset. Identifying the body is less important than finding where and how he made contact with the Red Witch, but it’s more likely they met in the Fourth Residential District than the Fifth, isn’t it? It would be much easier to meet secretly there than in the Fifth, where there’s a gang on every block.”

“Let’s check that out. I’ll see if we can access the surveillance camera footage.”

“I hope it goes well. I wish we could use this case to drive the witches to the stake.”

—

He spoke casually, but Cosette glanced at him with a wary look.

Cosette, who worked at the UK branch of the Human Conservation Federation (H.C.F), specifically in the Field Operations Department under the Anomaly Management Bureau, had met him three years ago.

When she first joined, Friedrich had already been under an external contract with the Association for several years. When her senior was promoted, the position of handling Friedrich was passed on to her, the new recruit.

Three years—long enough, yet short enough.

Cosette prided herself on having worked on a considerable number of cases with Friedrich, yet she still knew very little about him.

*Is this just how business relationships are?* She silently asked her senior, who was no longer in this world, but of course, there was no answer.

Well. In the end, work is just work. It could be nothing more, nothing less.

Since Friedrich had even gone so far as to steal the credit stick, she might as well try to trace it.

If that body really was one of the Red Witch’s disposable assets, tracking it shouldn’t be too difficult.

As if already losing interest, Cosette turned and followed Friedrich, who was heading toward the exit.

But before she could take more than a few steps, a loud ‘Weeeeeng’ sound echoed through the laboratory.

—

– *Attention to all staff of the UK Shelter Branch, Anomaly Management and Research Institute. An anomaly has been detected in Research Building A-56. In accordance with safety protocols, we are requesting lockdown of the research building and cooperation from the Field Operations Department. All staff are requested to evacuate calmly.*

– *Again, attention to all staff of the UK Shelter Branch, Anomaly Management and Research Institute…….*

—

Research Building A-56.

Cosette and Friedrich reflexively turned around as their building was called out.

Beyond the large glass window, the laboratory, once filled only with white light and silence, was suddenly thrown into chaos by the researchers’ panic, blaring sirens, and red warning lights.

Below it all, the half-white corpse lay quietly with its eyes closed.

—

***

—

When Raimund opened his eyes, he was alone in the orphanage cafeteria.

*Why am I here? What was I trying to do?*

There was no one around. He looked down at his small hands and clenched and unclenched them a few times.

His memory was strangely hazy, yet elusive. He felt a persistent unease, as if he had forgotten something very important.

Swinging his short legs, he jumped down from the cafeteria chair, which was too high for a child to sit on comfortably, and headed outside.

The day was exceptionally bright. Even for England, infamous for its fog, that day was rare—clear enough to see the sky beyond the dome.

Stepping out of the cafeteria, Raimund basked in the light of the artificial sun, mounted high above, like someone seeing the sun for the first time.

The passageway connecting the cafeteria to the outdoors provided a cool shade under the sunlight.

Between the pillars reaching the ceiling, long shadows of light stretched at regular intervals.

The aesthetics of alternating black and white in a steady sequence.

Suddenly, Raimund felt that someone was watching him.

As he turned around, there was a large black cabinet at the far end of the corridor.

—

-*Creeeak.*

—

Raimund knew that cabinet.

The cabinet standing in the outdoor area of the orphanage’s first floor was a piece of trash left behind by the previous owner before the orphanage was built.

However, since the orphanage was established, it hadn’t been convenient to move it anywhere, so it was used to store miscellaneous items like cleaning tools.

But occasionally, mischievous residents would put things other than cleaning tools inside.

Dead mice, cockroaches, mantises, earthworms. Or…….

—

-*Creak, creak, creak.*

—

He knew this cabinet well.

Raimund instinctively backed away from it. But the eerie sound coming from inside the cabinet did not diminish one bit.

—

-*Creak, creak, creak, creak, creak, creak, creak, creak, creak, creak, creak, creak, creak, creak, creak, CREEAAAAAAAAAK!*

—

A sound like nails scraping down a metal plate. Screws began to loosen from the red-rusted hinges.

His nerves sharpened, his breathing grew ragged. Raimund clamped his hand over his own mouth, his green eyes’ pupils slowly dilating.