Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 347: Arc 5, - 41: Shifted Glances

"What’s with the getup? Aren’t you supposed to be in red?" Fumeko eyed the garments of the man.

He stood up in one swift move and stood upright. With his arms firmly by his side, he strode forward with his chest puffed up, "I grow weary of this impromptu interrogation.

Nor does this conversation entertain me in such a way that I wish to divulge any bit of information you may seek." He glared through the glass at his visitors.

With the figure towering over the blonde, it was not too different than that night—with the exception of the glass. ’He doesn’t remember? Or is he withholding information? Or is this just not the same guy. It was a shapeshifter—a shapeshifter.’

Jotou’s brows knitted closer and closer together. The brunette had nearly the same expression whilst Hotaru seemed to ponder something else entirely...

"Come on, we’re not getting anything else from him," Fumeko broke the silence.

"Are you sure?" the redhead turned.

"Hundred percent," she replied as she gave one last leer to the man.

"I never got your name," Jotou pursued.

"Neither did I get yours," the man kept his posture.

"You asked who am I, I answered. I asked what’s your name, you still haven’t. Or is courtesy among the many masks you wear?" Jotou’s eyes sparked. Fumeko and Hotaru paused to observe without uttering a word.

There was, a slight twinge in his eye. It was not of disgust or disturbance, but perhaps, amusement? "I believe my words pertained to all of you."

"Adventurers." Jotou gave a plain look back.

As the man peered to her... it almost looked like a challenge—a test. She had honoured this loosely put together deal that nobody really agreed to... "Ambrose."

"Well Ambrose, I’d ask why you’re in here," Jotou carefully calculated her words.

"Suspicions I believe is the way they worded it."

"Of?" Jotou narrowed her gaze.

Ambrose watched her eyes and the patterns in her irises as he said in reply, "I am not entirely certain what spurred this approach from Commissioner Coates, but you can be certain I shall entertain you no longer," he tipped his head down, turned and walked back.

"Come on, we can’t be away from her for too long," Fumeko got the blonde’s attention.

They marched away from the cell and returned to the other, where Feather lied on her bed. "Back so soon? What business were you getting up to?" the lizard-woman cooed.

"None of your concern," Hotaru replied. "Unless you’re willing to give an answer back."

"Depends on how, interesting the answer you give will be~" she stretched her legs off the bedside and sauntered up to the glass. "Does that sound fair?"

"Not really, sounds like a half-assed verbal contract and I can’t really hold you to your word," the blonde glared to the prisoner’s eyes.

"Oh is that so? Then any information I give, you can’t really trust now, can you?" Feather hummed. "How about this Jotou Howllett; I give you an answer for free to any question. In exchange, we continue with that deal of getting information for information."

"Like you’re gonna do that," Fumeko doubted. In the distance, they heard clunking and shifting—the officers were coming back.

"It’s still intriguing, isn’t it? Don’t you want to test the waters, cold, warm or hot?" Feather fluttered her lashes.

...

Jotou placed her hand on the glass, "What happens when I die?" she leered into the light green eyes of the Poison Feather.

Her lips, curled up bit by bit into the widest of grins. Those light green eyes barely gave a flutter as she stared right back—her lips tightly sealed.

"BAM!"

Jotou flinched back with her left arm out in front of Hotaru. Fumeko shuddered slightly, but crossed her arms whilst Hotaru’s tail spiked and ears bristled.

Feather drew back the dark green tail that she had slammed against the glass. Those reactions were better than she had hoped~ She stepped away from the glass with a satisfied grin.

"What happened to the answer?" Jotou glared and laid a hand above her own heart.

"What’s the matter? I thought you wouldn’t hold me to my word," she stretched an arm.

Before any of them could get another word in, several footsteps clacked down the hallway. Right beside the officers they had seen previously and Fumeko’s father, was someone new.

He was shorter than Kazuo, but still relatively tall. In the same police uniform of black with red trimmings, except wearing a dark leather coat over it all, was a man with short, black, rabbit-like ears.

His blackish-brown hair was parted to the side then slicked up, with a badge of his station on his leather jacket. A short beard he kept and two dark brown eyes darted to the individuals down the hallway.

"If it isn’t the Thundering Blade and the Azure Firefly," he spoke gruffly, as if he had just finished a cigarette. "And this is, your daughter," he gave a single glance to Kazuo before looking back to Fumeko.

The brunette narrowed her gaze the rabbit-man, "It’s Fumeko Namora; and you are?"

"I’ve already met you once, when you were no bigger than a couple of pumpkins. Commissioner Kier Coates, head of Dolpool Police," he greeted, swaying his hat in his hand.

The commissioner turned to look at Feather, "You know, important business usually starts in my office, not in the affinity cells."

"Your officers said it was fine if we went on ahead; you seemed to know why we’re here," Hotaru said after a nod to greet him.

"That’s cause the good detective here," the commissioner pushed an elbow into Kazuo’s stomach lightly, "told me about you all being here. I didn’t mind if you came in to check the Poison Feather.

I figured you’d like some time with a former enemy. With all of last year’s news, this one’s the one that escaped. Alongside the, icy wind was it?"

"The Frosting Wind," Jotou corrected.

"Potato, potahto—One state secret and another," the commissioner looked to Feather. "Got anything out of her?"

"Wouldn’t that be simply wonderful for you," Feather cooed.

"Well, last we saw of her, she escaped via teleportation with Frost. Now she’s here," Fumeko uncrossed her arms.

"Ah yes, that day. Almost an entire division wiped, a princess was poisoned, the detective’s daughter was sent plummeting off a cliffside, first time I ever truly saw Frost injured, the heat of those plateaus was dreadful-"

"Sorry, plummeting off a cliffside?" Kazuo interrupted the lizard-woman’s monologue and turned to face his daughter.

"Ehe, guess you don’t know everything," Fumeko twisted her lips to the side and faced to the right to avoid his gaze. "I still made it back and got a hit on Frost, sooo... Anyway, we don’t know why she’s ended up here or the reason for her arrest."

The commissioner’s expression flashed to doubt for a second, "Kazuo didn’t say anything about it? He’s the one who told you we had Feather here, correct?"

"Obviously, but we don’t really know everything that happened that led to her arrest and she’s not exactly telling us," Jotou covered.

"I see. We can talk about it more upstairs," his rabbit-like ears ticked as he turned and walked.

"Well then, ta-ta," Feather waved her hand with a bend of each of her fingers. "Hopefully, we’ll meet again under," her eyes darted around her cell, "better circumstances."

"Let’s hope we don’t meet at all and you stay here," Jotou gave a sideways glance to Feather before they were escorted out the hallway. Fumeko gave one final look to the cell that hosted Ambrose...

Up the platform they went, each pair of eyes darting to another close by. "You know, the news hasn’t quite caught wind of your little adventuring party being here yet," the commissioner uttered.

"It’s better if it stays that way. We don’t wanna get too much attention from the press," Jotou scanned the walls that led up.

"Secret’s safe with the department for now, but no promises. What do you call yourselves again?"

"Uhm, we don’t really have a name for that," Hotaru pondered.

"Don’t most parties do? Especially the ones of renown and high level?" Commissioner Coates probed whilst Kazuo crossed his arms and watched the rabbit-man.

"Well we don’t," Fumeko eyed up to him.

"Hm, you’re all definitely not the usual type of adventurers, what with your feats and all. What’ve you been up to in the city? Hopefully it’s been treating you well," the commissioner replied.

"Mostly we’re here to visit and attended a graduation ceremony," Hotaru tilted her head.

"That’s right, congratulations," the commissioner looked down to Fumeko.

"Thanks."

"Other than that, just exploring the city. We were thinking of going to South End and head for the Burntish Adventurers Guild to take up some commissions," the redhead finished.

The commissioner nodded and let out a small sigh, "A few nights back, we had some odd weather. Loudest thunder we heard in a while in this city, know anything about that?"

"Are you insinuating I did it?" the blonde knitted her brows.

"It’s a possibility, doesn’t hurt to ask. After all, you’re known for your sky-piercing thunder and you were in the city at the time, right?" he faced up as the platform arrived at its destination.

Jotou looked him in the eye, "We heard it too, but I wouldn’t know much about it. Sounded like some random stormy thunder to me."

"Yeah, it was cloudy that night, but weirdly no sign of rain or storm," he muttered under his breath. With a light click of his tongue he turned to her, "Well the weather’s a hard thing to predict. Anyhow, the case."

"Why’s Feather here?" Fumeko stepped off the platform alongside the others. The ringing of telephones, the click-clacks of typewriters and the sound of chatter returned.

The commissioner walked forward and into the precinct, ushering everyone to follow, "She was staying at Hotel Feldspar for weeks till around late November, when she poisoned a bellboy and hid the body.

After some resistance and tracking, we finally apprehended her early December. She complied in the end at court and bargained to be kept away from the press while serving her time.

She wasn’t only charged with that, but she is a criminal of war that fled. We couldn’t get our hands on any record of her name, she insisted on calling her by her title," they walked up a wooden staircase to the side

"Wait, you didn’t even think to inform at least the princess of Cravolta or any of the other allied countries about this?" Hotaru’s ears pricked and she glared.

"The Grand Alderman knows of her detainment here. She was trialled in the highest court of law and as per the deal, she confessed to the murder and admitted her means and motive.

Besides not needing to truly inform other countries of her whereabouts since she’s under lock and key, it’s way above our jurisdiction to make a move like that; we’re police, not ambassadors."

Hotaru scoffed and rolled her eyes.

Jotou on the other hand, had her gaze on the stairs she climbed.

The commissioner peered to the blonde, "Do you have some issue with this?"

"Feather’s more cunning than that... Are you sure she didn’t intend to be caught?" Jotou responded.

"Why d’you think I’d approve you all to be here?" the commissioner placed a hand on the door and stepped into his office. "But fact over belief—we can’t just not arrest her."

"Good point, but still," Jotou replied.

"If you couldn’t infer much from her, then I suppose your business here is over. Unless you want to interrogate her further, but that’s gonna need some paperwork," Kazuo told them as he entered behind.

"That," Hotaru looked to her other two companions. Both Jotou and Fumeko shook their heads. "Won’t be necessary. Thank you for the hospitality, we’ll be on our way then."

"I’ll be with the commissioner for a minute, then we can go pick Asobi up from school," Kazuo replied. Before entering, he gave Fumeko a look—what look, even Fumeko couldn’t quite decipher.

"Sounds like a plan," Fumeko replied.

"You wouldn’t have some area to just lounge, would you?" Jotou asked the officers around them.

"Well, yes-"

"Let them in the breakroom Hutch, it’s fine," the commissioner commanded the officer about to speak. With that, the three were escorted towards one of the breakrooms.

...

"Looks like your kid’s been busy over the months," the commissioner let his guard down a little.

"You’re telling me..." Kazuo watched as she walked away.

"Reminds me of how reckless you were when you came into the city," Commissioner Coates gave a chuckle and entered his office.

Kazuo sighed and turned to enter.

"Like father, like daughter. You sure you don’t want a smoke?"

"You’re not gonna convince me," Kazuo shut the door.

"Just being polite."