As night drew near, Raine made her way to the police headquarters after her daily routine and confronted the elegant, wide-foreheaded Inspector Allen. Her presence was meant to be brief, and she had no intention of overstaying, so she declined a seat and stood firmly at ease.

Allen glanced at his cluttered table, the reddish glow of the setting sun cast neatly across it. He reached for a pipe, stuffed it with green leaves, and brought it up to his nose. He took a long whiff and the smell had him blushing for a moment.

"I didn’t expect to see you here, Detective Raine St. Claire. Weren’t you meant to be on the mission?"

Before Raine could speak, Allen signalled for her to wait.

"I never get to take this at home, and my assistant never lets me have a taste at work either. She’s out on a break. I simply can’t resist the flavour."

Raine let out a sharp breath. Her time was running out, and she needed this done.

"I have something concerning the Lona Case. I believe we are pursuing the wrong suspects. We must change direction."

Allen remained absorbed in his pipe. The glance he finally spared her was not what she’d expected at all.

"Why would we do that?"

Raine frowned. Though her expression had hardly been warm before. The difference was that this time, she meant it.

"The suspects are the Bandits. Frost and his partner were only caught up in this matter. They did what they had to do to survive."

Disappointment crossed Allen’s face. He leaned back into his seat and began massaging his forehead slowly, as if her words were something he could physically work loose.

"You think I didn’t know that? We are here to make people feel safe and secure, even if it is a lie. Someone must take responsibility for the Lona incident, even if it means we lie or do not dig deep enough.

"It isn’t just the Zynx family that needs someone to blame for their daughter’s death, there are two other families too. Do you know how absurd it would sound if we told them their children were killed by supernatural humans... to grieving families?"

Allen paused mid-sentence, not quite aware he’d done it. The words had tasted wrong the moment they left his mouth.

"We know the Bandits do not act on orders. You know exactly what that means, it means we must find out who ordered them to act. Can you do that? I sincerely do not think I can. I cannot attack a sovereign of an organization just for information about a possible culprit when that organization will most likely wipe me out before I even get a response."

Raine’s eyes narrowed to a hard focus on Allen, the kind that sat somewhere between scrutiny and a warning.

"Then why don’t we leave it to the Secret Detectives? They deal with cases concerning magic, don’t they? You want to preserve the reputation of the police, but you are afraid to hunt for the truth."

As she spoke, Allen looked straight at Raine, his grey irises reflecting Raine’s stunning figure. Her words reminded him of something a wise detective once said to him.

His tone turned bleak as he said, "The honoured Detective Bridget once said, ’We are guardians, not angels. We are miserable people, trying our best for ordinary humans who live their lives with worry. In the end, we are one with madness.’"

Allen massaged his temples and gave his words a moment to settle.

"The Secret Detectives do not care about the families of the victims. They only seek to capture Frost and his partner for their own reasons. But we do... we do care, and we must care."

Allen stared at the coldness and unreadable expression Raine gave off and wondered if his words were getting to her at all.

"Both Frost and Natta are weak. According to the report I stole from the Secret Detectives, their senses are dull, and their judgement is slack. They do not even carry their own weapons. This means they are mere humans, experienced at most. You can do this, Raine. That is why I asked for your help."

Raine turned Allen’s words over in her head repeatedly. Everything he had said, she already knew, and in truth, she knew far more than Allen could ever tell her, age gap and all.

But she had come here anyway, as if quietly wondering whether the path they had chosen was truly the right one for the people.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

She knew exactly where the case was pushing her. Frost and Natta were innocent. But innocence didn’t matter here. Peace and harmony had to be maintained.

The world knew nothing of magic. She understood what that meant, that the families of the deceased would be terrified to hear it. But denial wasn’t something she was willing to offer. Not when justice was at stake.

A cleared throat from Allen snapped Raine back. He had a knowing smile on his lips as he put the fire out in his pipe and placed it back precisely where he had taken it from.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"I don’t doubt your skills. With everything in your possession, you can hold your own against the Bandits, but not without losing a limb or two. You must be decisive, as you have always been. You must arrest Frost and his partner and charge them with murder, all three of them."

Sweat beaded on her brow, her body shivering despite her bravado. The case had to be solved, she knew that. Her reputation, her license, everything was on the line. But this... this wasn’t the world she wanted to fight for. Where criminals roamed free and innocents were made to suffer.

’I get it. I’m supposed to maintain peace and order, and the most logical thing would be to give the grieving families a clear target to blame... but—’

Inspector Allen watched her, brow furrowed. He could see the hesitation written across her face. Every bit of it. And it made his blood boil.

"You understand how important this case is, don’t you? I urge you not to act foolishly. Think clearly and do not let emotions cloud your judgment. This is the world we face, and it is never fair."

Raine clenched her fists and forced the words out. They didn’t come easy.

"I can’t do it, Inspector Allen. I just can’t."

Everything froze the moment she spoke. As though the world around her had been waiting for those exact words. The building glitched. Inspector Allen, who had looked every bit a real person moments ago, glitched too. And then everything vanished. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Raine felt the bizarreness settle over her, and the next thing that caught her attention was the mechanical voice ringing out across the simulation hall.

"You have successfully failed the Realism exam."

Raine opened her eyes to find herself in a relaxing seat, staring up at the ceiling. The memories of everything that had happened filtered back in, and she could separate what was real from what wasn’t.

The life of Detective Raine had been fabricated, but the feeling it left behind was real. Quick decisions without emotion, that was what separated good students from average ones at this academy. She’d failed that. Her irritation at her own incompetence was real. Fist tight, face contorted, wine-red eyes cast down in disgrace.

—

Meanwhile, somewhere on campus, Leomaris was in much the same position, but he hadn’t woken with conflicted emotions. He’d been placed in a situation where sacrificing a village to save a city was the only option. And that was exactly what he did.

Despite not knowing it was a simulation while experiencing it, he’d made a logical decision with surprising speed. That part shocked him, if nothing else.

Only one exam stood between him and his place in the top five now, the Theoretical exam. And with that, he was a step away from meeting the protagonist of this world.