Chapter 239 - Too Cold

“Good morning, Finn.”

The cheerful voice of Anne greeted Finn as he walked into the reception area for the 3P Department. It was a strange sight, seeing the plump, cheerful woman sitting at the long desk among four other secretaries, but so was seeing Chief Luan’s name on a plaque on the wall as the 3P department’s chief.

“Morning.” Finn nodded, offering a polite smile, “Chief Luan said to let you know he’d be a while, but he’d be back for the Chief meeting.”

“Of course. Thank you for letting me know.” Anne nodded, not at all worried about her boss’s punctuality. “How’s your new office? Do you have everything you need?”

“It’s just fine, thank you.” Finn nodded, exchanging a few more pleasantries before taking his leave and walking down the hall.

He passed by several junior officers in the hall, who paid him little mind. Though his office was in the 3P department, he had very little need to interact with the officers in it. To most people - Anne included - he was one of the many inspectors that investigated the fairly benign cases that the department handled. “Peace, Petty Crime and Public Service” was both the largest and also the most mundane department in the force, which made it the perfect department for a Special Ops investigator to hide in.

Finn’s new office was neither central, nor out of the way. It was also very familiar to him. As he turned the key in the lock, his eyes fell on the name plate by the door. Finn Mackenzie, Inspector.

A nostalgic glaze passed over his eyes as he thought about the many times that he had entered this office in the past. But back then the name on the plate read Yang Yun, Inspector.

Finn entered the office, hearing the auto-locking mechanism click as the door shut behind him. The morning sun shone through windows, brightening the room.

Feeling melancholic, he didn’t walk to the desk immediately but stood at the door, quietly observing the space.

Not for the first time he reflected on how many things had changed, compared to just a month or two ago.

Chief Fang was gone. The reason was unclear. After Chief Fang murdered Chief Bear, the mind-controlled Chief Vox captured and incarcerated him in the high security cells under the cathedral. After the truth of the situation had come to light the chiefs filed for his release, only to be blocked by the defense ministry.

Even the newly appointed Special Ops chief, Chief Gwynn who had come from the military and was rumoured to have direct connections to Lord Noga, only shrugged and said there was nothing she could do. Mysteriously, after the aftermath of Deka’s failed reincarnation was cleared up, she was called back to the military and relinquished her title.

On the one hand, it didn’t surprise Finn. Gwynn’s cavalier attitude gave him the impression that she didn’t actually take the job seriously. But he couldn’t fathom why the defense ministry would haphazardly appoint and then remove someone in this manner. Such a move would only confuse and frustrate the Chiefs, who were already trying to deal with the chaos in the organization.

A memory of a conversation whispered in the back of Finn’s mind.

“The military and police are not allies. They’ve never been.” Chief Yun had told Finn one evening, in this very office, “But Jintang… He kept the peace between the two organizations.”

“He was a previous special ops chief like you, right?” Finn asked, “Do you have military connections too?”

“I do.” Chief Yun nodded, “But I gained them after taking this role. Chief Fang was originally from the military.”

Chief Yun took a drag from his cigarette, his eyes distant for a moment. Then he glanced at Finn out of the corner of his eyes with a shrewd grin, “That’s not for anyone to know. Don’t go spreading that.”

“Of course.” Finn replied.

“The police force reports to the ministers, who are appointed by Lord Noga to serve the people. So, the police force reports to the people.” Chief Yun let out a long, smoky exhale as he shook his head, “The military reports to Lord Noga, but Lord Noga reports to the capital. So in essence, the military reports to the capital.”

“The capital? You mean Tenyuan? I thought the three provinces were equal.” Finn said, recalling his geography. Tenyuan was the capital city of Banbajan province, and the official capital of NianXing.

“On paper, perhaps. It lets Lord Noga and Lord Matsunaga save face.” Chief Yun said, “But as you move up in the world you’ll start to see the subtle power dynamics. In the trinity of Kumin, Huan and Banbajan, Banbajan sits at the top.”

“I’ll keep that in mind…” Finn frowned.

He was startled by a sudden laugh from Yun, “Don’t look so serious, Finn. It’s not a big deal. Even if you become a police chief one day, it won’t be high enough for these kinds of politics to matter.”

“Just keep this in the back of your mind. If you ever have to deal with the military, remember the symbol on Banbajan’s flag.”

“The golden scales of order.” Finn replied, picturing the gold and red flag.

“Whatever taken, must be returned in kind.” Chief Yun nodded, “Lord Shah’s decree.”

~

A knock at the door interrupted Finn’s reverie. He frowned, taking a moment to clear his mind before opening the door.

Officer Minnie Kim stood on the other side, sharply dressed in her uniform with her hair tied in a bun.

“Good morning.” Finn said, letting her into the office.

“Morning.” Minnie replied with her usual friendly tone.

Finn avoided her gaze as he returned to his desk, gesturing for her to sit across from him, “How’s your investigation coming?”

“We’re basically at a dead end.” Minnie frowned, looking somewhat dissatisfied, “My best guess is that Ming Ru has fled the city, and has taken Edwin with him.”

Ming Ru, the elder monk who had been shot through the throat by Finn in the forest cave, had subsequently been stabilized and imprisoned under the cathedral. He was the high-profile prisoner that Finn had informed Char Char about. In the chaos of Prince Deka’s failed resurrection, after the intruder had completed his sabotage mission he had gone straight to Ming Ru’s cell and released him. Ming Ru, a spirit domain adept, was able to escape with the intruder through the spirit plane.

Despite attempts to chase and track them down, the two were able to make a clean escape. Worse yet, the identity of the intruder was still unknown.

“Did you check the monastery?” Finn asked.

“It’s been abandoned, as you suspected.” Minnie nodded, “The Cloud Peak monks have likely retreated deep into the mountains, near the LingNan border. There are a few sightings of travelers with monk hairstyles heading south.”

“They were aligned with the Marked Devout cultists. Perhaps they plan to retreat to Fuha.” Finn rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “I’ll bring this up to the Chiefs, it’ll likely be escalated to the military. Perhaps they can patrol the southern borders and catch them before they escape.”

“Ming Ru, though… He’s from the Heavens Gate Monastery. If Edwin is gone too, we’re out of leads. They’ve likely made it back to Huan by now, out of reach.” Finn frowned, “I raised the possibility of sending a request to Huan to keep an eye out for them, but the ministry was unwilling to label a respected public figure as a fugitive. It’s out of our hands. Don’t spend any more time on this.”

He contemplated the issue for a moment before realizing that Minnie was looking at him with an amused grin.

“What?”

“When are you going to be promoted to Chief?” Minnie asked, “You’re basically performing the duties of one, managing our team and playing with interprovincial politics.”

“That’s not up to me to decide.” Finn shrugged, not particularly interested in the role.

With Chief Gwynn stepping down, the special ops department was missing a chief. Based on his apprehension of Ming Ru and his subsequent performances, Finn had been assigned to lead the former inter-department investigation team that had been lead by Chief Bear. There was another special ops team formed from the previous members that had been under Chief Yun, but Finn hadn’t been introduced to them.

Finn ran through his list of active cases. There were the investigations into the identity and motives of the cathedral intruder, the whereabouts of Ming Ru, the pursuit of the cloud monastery Abbott and his monks who were now considered traitors.

He had also been given responsibility over continued relations with the Pearl Lotus Society, who had key information on Marcus Gantt, the suspected mastermind of the failed resurrection ritual. He still needed to meet up with Sansen Zhao, his official point of contact for the society.

And then there was his secret plan to make contact with the White Maiden through Char Char…

He was deep in thought when Minnie suddenly reached out and held his hand, snapping him back to the present.

“You’re doing great.” Minnie said, looking sincerely into his eyes.

“Tell me that when we have some results.” Finn pulled his hand away with a frown.

“Results will come.” Minnie replied with a smile.

Finn contemplated calling Minnie out on her gesture. Ever since that moment in the warehouse two weeks ago, he sensed that she was trying to get closer to him. She hadn’t done anything inappropriate, though this was certainly one of her more direct signals.

On some level he wondered if she was just naturally warm, and not actually sending signals at all. If he was mistaken and called her out on the actions, would she be upset? It might lead to an awkward professional relationship after. Since she hadn’t done anything particularly indecent he’d decided to ignore the signs.

“In the meantime, we should investigate the Cloud Peak monastery grounds, to see if they left any important evidence.” Finn said seriously, “Since it could be dangerous, we should gather the whole team together. Can you call the meeting?”

“Yes, sir.” Minnie smiled.

“That’ll be all for now.” Finn’s lips pressed into a thin line as he held back the urge to sigh.

She stood to leave, but as she reached the door she paused, then turned to face him, “You know, Finn… You don’t have to handle all these cases alone.”

“I’m not. I just called a team meeting, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but- it feels like you’ve taken it all on yourself to solve these cases. You’ve been a great leader, but it’s okay to lean on us once in a while. Me, Wren, everyone.” Minnie said.

Minnie held back a giggle, her lips curling up into a sheepish grin as she saw Finn’s blank, unamused expression, “Okay, okay, I’m leaving.”

She quickly left, closing the door gently behind her.

Finn tapped his fingers on the desk, staring at the closed door with a frown. Was there a problem with team morale? Though she had lead the suggestion with a compliment, it felt like she was criticizing his leadership style.

He ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh, mumbling softly, “I’m too cold, huh.”