Russell nodded along as he answered another officer's inquiry about his extended stay while he made his way back to his desk.
One of his teammates also came to inquire before giving him a thumbs up after hearing that he had received his reward so quickly.
A thick stack of files regarding the details of the attempted assassination as well as extensive instructions regarding the new work arrangements were handed to him after their conversation.
Russell first read through the files detailing the incident. He had been very curious to know who had the guts to try and kill a royal family member.
The more he read the more surprised he became.
"Death Abyss? One of the terrorist organizations wanted by the military was confirmed to be the perpetrator."
"Woah! These necromancers had infiltrated the provincial capital to such an extent that even the underground of the residence where the royal family member was resting had been under their control for several years prior to the attack."
"Damn! If you don't suffer a disaster then who else will?"
"Did a long period of peace dulled their senses? What were the police and the military garrison over there even doing for all this time!? Alas! Now all of us have to suffer along with you idiots."
After reading through the entire file, he noticed some important points which had either been glossed over or remained entirely unmentioned. He understood it as parts of the classified information that couldn't be accessed by a little Patrolman like him.
With a clearer understanding of the recent upheaval, Russell then finally paid attention to the thick stack of files containing the new work arrangements.
It wasn't as much of drastic changes as he expected it to be. The assigned route has been expanded reasonably, spots where checkpoints must be set has been outlined, and secluded places that may host suspicious activities were marked down as the focal point for the upcoming crackdown.
A copy of the registry for households, businesses, and also tenants' information within the route were also stuffed among the files separately.
"Hey! Are you done yet? We need to go, the captain is urging us!"
Myles, one of his teammates, rushed over. He was in his early twenties, with average build but smaller ears on his head. His arcana attainment however was a bit higher than his, at three symbols.
"I just finished. Let's go then. It would be bad if he got all grumpy for the entire day over this."
Russell quickly got up and put away the registry copy and work files in his hat before jogging alongside him. On his way he saw another one of his teammates heading towards them.
"Aye, Hailey! Why aren't you waiting at the entrance?"
Myles asked with a puzzled look. Hailey huffed before replying, "That captain of ours suddenly had to go to the washroom. You know how long it takes for him to get out. I was thinking of taking a nap at my desk for a bit."
She had visible dark circles under her eyes, evidently hadn't gotten any good sleep for the past few days. Her brunette hair was haphazardly combed clearly showing her lack of interest in dressing up.
Unlike Myles she was even a year younger than Russell. It was unknown if it was coincidence or intentional but her desk was neighbored by his own and even her arcana attainment was similar to his own.
In the entire five person team, he had the best relations with these two.
That being said all of their aptitudes were quite poor which makes it a pity for their friendship which was destined to be a short one. A talented mage only considers those with similar qualifications to be worth their true friendship.
After all, if one became an Adept Mage with higher official positions in the future but the other was still hovering about in Novice Mage realm then how could they possibly continue their friendship with the same original mindset of the past?
If most of the mages condescend to constantly look after their less qualified friends and opened up conveniences for them then the official system of the entire kingdom would have devolved into chaos long ago.
Thus it was a necessary social behavior.
"Then should we still wait at the entrance or…?"
"Oh, come on! Chief Constable Walter just admonished us not to slack off and here we are still unrepentant. Let's avoid being made an example on the very first day. I will wait outside obediently."
Russell made his decision without any hesitation and hearing his words both of them also found it convincing so they could only dejectedly follow behind. It seems that they couldn't slack off so blatantly anymore.
He met up with the last teammate, the one who handed him the files earlier, Patrolman Parker. He was the second most senior in age among their team already in his late twenties with receding hairlines. His arcana attainment was similar to Myles, at three symbols.
"Yo, kid! Coming back to get roasted under the sun with me?"
Parker asked with a chuckle seeing Hailey return with a dejected face. She was too lazy to reply and only kept yawning intermittently.
While boredly waiting for their captain to finish up his business, Russell took this free time to go to a corner and take out the obsidian chest. His eyes showed happiness as he gazed at the three precious items.
"Firmament Clay, an arcana treasure that can help condense a symbol within just an hour of use in the Novice Mage realm."
"Lesser Epiphany Potion, a strategic resource that grants a minute of enhanced intellect with bare minimum result of one spell being able to reach the conjuring-level after use even for those of Subpar-grade."
"And, finally this."
He took out the Harm Warding Pendant and examined it carefully. Under his Eye of Inquiry its preliminary information appeared.
[Name: Harm Warding Pendant]
[Age: 3 months/99 years]
[Identity: An Arcane Artifact of Rank Two Late Stage Prioritizing All-round Defense]
"Hahaha, a higher rank artifact that I can actually use in my realm and it was the precious type that granted an all-round defense. Mr. Tickles, you wouldn't suffer in vain, you really wouldn't suffer in vain!!"
"Sigh! Though my mentor left me a vast sum of fortune none of them had the function that allowed usage across a realm. With that dark mage eyeing me still at large this defensive artifact truly came at the right time."
After lamenting for a second, Russell injected ether from his ether reserve and very quickly succeeded in putting his imprint on it. The overall functions of this arcane artifact transmitted into his mind making him smile involuntarily.
It could shield him from harm as long as his ether reserve could keep it activated with the upper limit of attack resistance being at Three Symbols Adept Mage.
It also stored a certain amount of ether within it regularly to be able to activate a passive defensive ability that automatically triggers when any harmful effects about to land on the wearer.
Anything physical, magical, psychic, or even spiritual that tried to harm him had to get through its defense first to be able to land on him. Hence its identity introduction as an all-round defensive artifact.
Russell quickly wore it on his neck and covered it under his dark robe to hide its presence from plain sight.
With this item equipped his sense of security increased greatly.
It wasn't until half an hour had passed that he saw his team's captain rushing over with a flustered red face. Undoubtedly he got scolded for still being seen loitering about in the headquarters at this hour.
"Finally you're done. Let's go, let's go quickly! We have been questioned by colleagues five times now."
Hailey hurriedly took the lead to get out of the headquarters area as they kept being met with unfriendly gazes of some higher-ups when they found their team still delaying their assigned work.
Patrol Captain Colton hadn't even caught his breath when his entire team simply left him behind and strode ahead,
"Hey! Wait a second!! It wasn't intentional on my part. That damned shopkeeper actually sold me nearly expired ingredients. Or you tell me, how could food made of magical ingredients spoil overnight?"
Unfortunately, none of them stopped to answer him so he could only pick up the pace.
He was in his early thirties, with a pot belly and a bald spot on the middle of his head. His arcana attainment was as high as four symbols but given his age it was apparent that his aptitude was very poor.
"I shouldn't have eaten last night's sandwich for breakfast today. Damn it, I got scolded so early in the morning for absolutely nothing!"
Colton grumbled under his breath and quickly adjusted his mindset to get into work mode. His face became serious and his years of experience in leading a patrol team made him exude an inherent aura of authority though not as impressive as Walter's of that time.
"Alright, everyone. Let's cheer up! We will patrol the route as we used to for the first hour and then switch it up. We will advance and retreat together when setting up checkpoints with the military garrison. We will also do the same while venturing into those deep alleys and secluded places in our route."
"Especially, you Russell! Move with the team and refrain from going out of our sight."
"... Captain, I am not a toddler. I wouldn't really go out of my way to satisfy some random curiosity."
"Aye, don't take offense. I was just being extra careful, after all, the chief himself reminded me to temporarily keep you from running around."
"..."
Oh well, he could only say that he was very glad for being able to be worthy of well-intentioned concerns from his backer.
With the captain's reasonable layout nobody in the team objected thus they began their typical patrol for the first hour. Pretty much all of the police officers in the town were hoping to coast through the long day peacefully.
Colton himself and his team were also hoping for the same as nobody truly wanted to find some shocking secrets in this small town and then get silenced by higher realm mages.
Unless someone was a lunatic who would truly hope to stir up a hornets nest? But fate wasn't kind enough to let their day be uneventful.
Only ten minutes into their first round of patrol they bumped into a crime scene!
"What happened over here!?"
Myles exclaimed in shock as his eyes fell upon the dismembered body parts. In the entrance of an alley near a trash can human body parts were discarded haphazardly.
The stench was so overwhelming that they detected it from all the way over at the next street.
Many people have gathered at the distance while covering their faces as they discussed and pointed at the body parts with all sorts of emotions.
"Quickly cordon off the scene and don't let anyone present leave without questioning them!!"
Colton hurriedly issued orders as he rushed to encircle the gathered onlookers. Three of them went with him to prevent anyone from escaping their interrogation while Russell went forward to preserve the crime scene and guard against any act to ruin it.
While heading towards it, his Eye of Inquiry was constantly focusing on the crowd from the corner of his eyes. He wanted to see if the suspect had left the scene or not.
"Huh? So criminals are actually mixed among them!?"
It was better if he didn't look but after he checked he was startled by the sheer diversity of the people gathered around here.
"Million Beast Mountain, Deliverance Altar, Death Abyss, Nightmare Fortress, Blood Clan! Most of the major criminal groups and terrorist organizations in the kingdom are all in this town. What in the world could have possibly attracted them all here!?"
Russell already felt like he would soon discover a horrifying secret.