Russell looked grimly at an inconspicuous corner of his house.
His gaze then fell on Housekeeper Samantha. Seeing her safe and sound, her information in the Eye of Inquiry also showed no sign of changes making him breathe a sigh of relief before going back outside under her puzzled eyes.
He took out his Starlight Scroll and Stellar Quill.
"[Chief! This is bad! My home has been compromised. There are hidden surveillances planted in the ground floor. I am afraid that the other two floors above hadn't escaped their grasps! Requesting urgent help!]"
That's right, he simply alerted his backer.
It really couldn't be that he had to fight wits and courage with the mastermind all alone while Walter would remain in the dark and not be able to provide a hand throughout it?
Not utilizing one's connection properly was utter folly!
"[That's indeed malicious. Unfortunately, it's inconvenient for me to leave the headquarters unattended. I will send the ape golem instead. You should be familiar with it.]"
"[Thank you, chief! I am waiting right outside the entrance.]"
Russell smiled in satisfaction after confirming that Walter wouldn't let him fend for himself. He beckoned Samantha to come outside and after she did he told her the situation.
Her face quickly turned pale from fright and she cried, "Wait! You're telling me even the bathrooms might have been planted with surveillance!? Then doesn't that mean…"
Russell patted her shoulder as he motivated her, "Girl, think positively! Just because you might have been seen naked by a lecherous criminal doesn't mean that everything is over. Every bad deed has its karma and every crime has its punishment."
"Have trust in our police department! We will soon apprehend the mastermind behind this and bring them to justice! I have already contacted our Chief Constable."
"Rest assured, he will definitely lend us a helping hand in our troubles. He is aware of the negative impact this incident could bring and is definitely unwilling for such a lecher to go unpunished."
Samantha finally calmed down. Indeed, if a Valiant Mage realm officer like Walter, who's also familiar with them, steps forward to help then there isn't much she had to worry about, at least in this small town.
They didn't have to wait for long before a streak of light descended from the sky and landed before them. The magical light transformation receded showing the true appearance of the humanoid figure.
It was the ape golem!
"Good evening, chief! I apologize for troubling you again."
"Good evening, Sir Walter!"
Russell and Samantha quickly stepped forward and greeted politely. He had already told her about the ape golem that's why she didn't react in surprise after seeing its appearance.
The ape golem nodded very humanely before replying in exasperation, "But it doesn't look like it will be a good evening for any of us."
"First, that dismembered body and then those dark mages attacks. To top it off, even a smuggling den was discovered and our town's Mayor had to be sent in because of his brother's crimes."
"And now, you're presenting another one! Why do I feel that ever since you joined the police department the entire town has been turned upside down?"
Walter's voice carried a strong hint of suspicion in it. He had been thinking about the recent incidents on his way here and he did find a common point. This brat was always involved one way or another.
After finding the hideout of Million Beast Mountain, he encountered the dismembered body of smuggler Luka with his patrol team and also accidentally exposed the hiding dark mages gathered among the crowd leading to a great battle involving multiple Valiant Mages.
You know, it's truly rare for someone in the Valiant Mage realm to be forced to make a move in this remote town in years. Now recall the situation in the past few days. Just how many Valiant Mages had been forced out in the open?
Three from the police, two from military, one from civil administration, and those two criminals from Blood Clan and Deliverance Altar. When you retrospect and count it the number was actually nearing two digits.
A grand total of eight!
Walter had been serving as the Chief Constable of Little Clover Township for a few years now and he had never seen such a grand scene involving so many highest combat powers in a local settlement of township grade.
That's why he now felt that Russell was too good at stirring up trouble! He indeed did his job as a police officer exceptionally well but it ended up sacrificing the surface tranquility of this town.
It was hard to describe his current mood after figuring this out.
To say that this subordinate was disappointing he had exposed and solved many detrimental factors within the town. But if he said that this brat was a capable officer then he also put the entire town in a state of extreme tension, forcing the enactment of martial law.
That's right, after finding the proof of extensive damage to the field array Major Ryan Wilson had imposed martial law after seeking permission from the King's Judge.
Now, no civilians regardless of their mage or dullard status were allowed outside their dwelling unless absolutely necessary. Except for keeping the required bare minimum troops at vital positions all military officers and police had been deployed to patrol every inch of the town.
Anyone seen breaking the martial law will be apprehended on the spot and if the subsequent investigation proved any falsehood in the suspect's statement then they will be killed on the spot without needing to go through judicial procedures.
This kind of "execute first and report later" power was too dangerous for an armed institution to hold without any restrictions. This is also the main reason why military garrisons had to go through the King's Judge to impose martial law.
Power without any checks and balances will eventually lead to tyranny, this is a time tested truth.
"Chief, you misunderstand me. It's not that I don't like peace and tranquility but there are too many snakes hiding in the dark. I am unlucky enough to keep bumping into them."
Russell explained with an aggrieved expression. He didn't take Walter's suspicion to heart. It was inevitable that his frequent presence on such incidents would arouse his superiors' suspicion.
What he needed to do was to keep calm and blame it on his bad luck. Bad luck for encountering those troublemakers.
Additionally, as long as there wasn't any evidence of his initiative in causing incidents everything could only be attributed to his exceptional talent in criminal investigation, making him a very capable officer in others perception.
That being said, he also needed to rein it in a bit as tonight's event caused way too much impact. It's foreseeable that people from the prefecture will be dispatched soon.
Taking advantage of this martial law period where all dark mages will desperately squeeze to hide their tail in the shadows, Russell wanted to "underperform" during the working hours and focus more on his off duty time on reaching the Four Symbols Novice Mage realm in arcana attainment.
The matter regarding the transfer to Flowing Tide Pavilion had to be put on the agenda. Of course, only if he wasn't greeted by a room full of colleagues after waking up tomorrow morning!
"Sigh! Come on. Let's go inside and take a look at the damage."
Walter stopped continuing the topic. He was also very tired from today's "liveliness" so he didn't want to argue with this eloquent brat. The mini-field array prevented the sweep from his Heart Mirror, he still needed to enter first to inspect.
The two Novice Mages followed behind him with a relieved expression.
Walter didn't even need to exert the effect of extrasensory perception. Relying on his far higher arcana realm he instantly noticed the sense of being spied on as soon as he entered the building.
He locked on to it and soon discovered the wheat grain sized hidden surveillance items planted in various unfrequented spots in the ground floor. His Heart Mirror then unscrupulously swept the entire building, not paying any attention to matters regarding intrusion on a lady's privacy due to it.
Given the seriousness of a situation mages typically didn't care about propriety as long as they could solve the problem with overwhelming means. Perhaps this was a common trait among all seekers of arcana enlightenment.
"There are indeed many hidden surveillance items planted throughout your house. What I don't understand is how did you discover it in the first place? From what I can glean the invisibility function of those items isn't something those in the Novice Mage realm could see through without accidentally touching it."
"Hehe! I can only say that it's fate. Please look over there, chief."
He looked over at the place Russell was pointing at smugly. In the corner, the chairs and tables for reception hadn't been moved away yet. A silver platter on one of the small round tables had a bowl of nuts on it.
Walter frowned for a second, not instantly getting what he was talking about until he suddenly saw a ripple showing in the reflection of the silver platter. Only for a fraction of a second the appearance of the surveillance item was reflected!
"Oh? You noticed such an obscure malfunction?"
He questioned Russell with narrowed eyes. He found it a bit far-fetched.
The malfunction on the invisibility function of that item wasn't surprising to him as there was no such thing as a faultless artifact in this world but he certainly didn't believe that he just so coincidentally saw it and discovered the issue of his house being compromised so easily.
Russell again put on an aggrieved expression, "Chief, you don't trust me at all! Though there is the saying that 'there are not so many coincidences in this world only moves made by a mastermind in the dark' but, but! but!! I really discovered it because of a string of coincidences."
"After I entered the building I saw her and greeted her good evening. At that time she just happened to be coming from that direction and the reflection of that item also abruptly appeared."
"At first I thought I was seeing things. Only after staring at it for a bit and seeing it happen the second time did I confirm that my house has been intruded by a malicious person."
"Chief, you can ask her if my words were honest or not!"
He grabbed Samantha and pushed her forward. Under Walter's questioning gaze she hurriedly nodded in confirmation. In fact, the situation at that time was indeed such.
She was thinking of putting away the furniture, to the storage room at the second floor that she just cleared up and designated earlier to better tidy up the house, starting from that corner.
Russell happened to return at that time from the headquarters after submitting the case closure report. He suddenly paused in the middle of his greeting and scrutinized the corner grimly before heading outside again to contact Walter and also calling her to wait outside with him.
"..."
Walter had a speechless expression.
It was unknown whether he believed it or not. After collecting all the surveillance items and checking for any hidden tricks possibly overlooked he left the ape golem to Russell's side temporarily to provide protection in face of retaliation after the perpetrator finds out about the exposure of their hidden surveillance.
Walter disconnected and set the ape golem to automatic mode after transmitting some basic information about its operation to him.
"Phew! Finally, I can call it a night. Let's go, let's go. I am tired from running around all over the town."
Russell stretched his hands, cracking sounds came from his joints testifying his physical strains.
He locked the entrance door, operated the mini-field array in entering the highest defensive mode, and finally instructed Samantha to sleep on one of the rooms in the third floor for tonight as he planned to keep this strong ape golem right outside his bedroom.
Being close in proximity could help in providing swift cover if danger truly comes knocking in the middle of the night.