A hollow-shaped staircase leads to the top floor.

The door was opened with a snap, and the cold air of the night suddenly poured into the space that was not warm.

"Hoo ......"

He exhaled a long breath of air in his lungs, as if the depression in his heart had dissipated a lot with this. Lloyd thought so and smiled unconsciously. Then, tighten the chains of your coat - the night was still a little chilly at Crossbell.

Although you can't say that you can see the whole city, you can still see most of Crossbell from here.

Brightly lit. The windows of shops, the windows of residential buildings, the lights on the streets, orange, bright yellow, dark orange, all kinds of chaotic colors are intertwined. Under the dark purple night sky, the hard gray-black silhouettes of the buildings were strangely dyed by the chaotic colors.

At night, the city of Crossbell becomes quiet. This is also one of the traditions of Crossbell, where the night is used for rest, and people rarely go out - of course, the real reason is not so simple. It's just that smart people don't need to explain, and it's easiest to explain it to simple residents and children.

"Haha, what a great night view......"

With his arms pressed against the fence, Lloyd sighed lightly.

"Crossbell is a metropolis after all—though my uncle's city is not small."

This is not the intimacy of a returnee. Although the Autonomous Prefecture of Crossbell is small, the city of Crossbell is one of the largest metropolises in the entire Semuria continent.

Politically, it has been suppressed by the empire and the republic for a long time, and it has become more and more deformed, but also because of the two suzerains to support, Crossbell's economy has developed rapidly. The president of IBC, the world's largest bank, is a native of Crossbell, and the IBC is headquartered in Crossbell.

Unlike deformed politics, Crossbell has a well-developed economy. Besides, it's something that Crossbell people are proud of, right?

I'm still back......

Lloyd looked at Crossbell's Clock in the central square, his mind empty.

Three years ago, because of the death of his eldest brother, the grief-stricken Lloyd chose to flee.

He then lived in his uncle's house in the Republic of Calvard, and spent three years at the police academy in the west of Crossbell, where he successfully obtained his qualification as a search officer.

During those three years, Lloyd tried to prevent himself from thinking, remembering, or even hearing anything about Crossbell.

I'm afraid, three years ago, the reason why Lloyd fled from Crossbell was that he was confused, right? Suddenly I lost my pillar and didn't know what I had to do...... Once, Lloyd thought that as long as he was like his eldest brother and was admitted to the search officer, then he would be able to find the motivation to live like his eldest brother.

But now it seems that it is just a kind of confusion. I was so nervous about time to prepare for the exam that I couldn't think about anything else, but now I don't need to be so nervous, and the unresolved confusion is back.

Lloyd's expression grew heavier.

He suddenly began to wonder if his choice to become a policeman was really what he wanted.

"Meow ......"

With a lazy cry, something jumped on Lloyd's head sensitively, and with Lloyd's flaxen hair as a pedal, there was a reverse jump, falling to the ground on the roof, and stretching gracefully.

It's a black cat. The coat is dark but a little messy. Looks like it hasn't been taken care of in a while.

"Huh? How? Is it a cat? Appeared in the building, that is, settled here before the support department moved in? ”

Lloyd seemed to be explaining to himself. The black cat looked at the behemoth in front of him and meowed inexplicably.

"Haha, sorry to bother you, I'll go back."

With that, Lloyd stroked its head, pushed the door open and went back.

Is it because they are afraid of disturbing the cat's quiet night? Or is it simply because Lloyd doesn't want to keep reminiscing?

I'm afraid Lloyd himself doesn't know.

There was a faint sound of arguing downstairs.

"Is Randy back?" Lloyd muttered to himself and walked downstairs.

In the hall on the first floor, a tall red-haired man was wearing only a pair of boxer shorts and was arguing with the blue-haired girl in the corner.

The red-haired man was naturally Randy, at this time he only had a pair of shorts on his body, waterproof slippers on his feet, a healthy and sturdy body with water droplets hanging on the surface, and a few light brown scars on his wide body, which seemed to have been left by the battle.

At this time, Randy is wiping his long red hair with a white towel.

"Randy's seniors are still more self-focused."

Theo's voice. She was now doing something to the guiding terminal in the corner of the wall, and she didn't look back.

"Ah~ don't say that. Isn't it a matter of course for you to call this place home? Randy laughs as he walks to the table, where a bottle of cold whiskey sits on it. Because of the temperature difference, the smooth bottle was covered with water droplets like Randy's now.

Bite off the cap and take a sip.

"Whew-this is cool, do you want a bite of Theo sauce?"

"I said don't persuade minors to drink......" Lloyd's helpless voice came from the stairs.

No one explained it to him, but he still understood the reason for it.

Lloyd had just gone to find Randy, and he wasn't there because Randy was taking a shower in the bathroom on the first floor at this time. Although there are bathrooms on every floor, only the one on the first floor has a bathing function. Then, after bathing, wear ...... The casual Randy is seen by Theo, who happens to be on the first floor......

"But there are still women here, so it's not good to wear nothing." Lloyd said as he walked down the stairs and intervened between the two men.

"Yo, good evening, Lloyd—do you want a drink?" Randy greeted him with a smile and raised the bottle in his hand.

"No, I'll forget it too......"

Lloyd sighed, Randy's rashness left him a little unsure of what to do. The best thing to do in this case is to......

"Theo, what are you doing?"

Yes, the best thing to do is to change the subject.

"Senior Lloyd." Theo turned around and nodded to Lloyd in greeting. "As you can see, I'm checking the guide terminal."

"Terminal? Do you mean this? ”

Lloyd said, gesturing to the patchwork of black square boxes in the corner, and in his opinion, he couldn't understand why it had been made like this.

Although the force guide has been popularized and people's lives have been inseparable from it, its principle is still only understood by a few researchers. For ordinary people, they only need to understand how these guides should be operated and what they can do.

Theo looked at Lloyd and continued to explain, "This is the consortium's investigation of the ZCF (Central Chase Workshop in the Liber Kingdom) as a place to study conductive technology. The Kapel system (understood as a desktop computer) is a general-purpose terminal after the modification. Information can be sent and received from the police headquarters through the Steering Network. ”

"Ah...... My head grew when I heard this. I'll go back to the room first, good night to the two of you~"

Randy, who was standing behind the two of them with the idea of hearing and seeing, interjected. He didn't want to understand this complicated thing, so he casually said goodnight and went back with the unfinished whiskey.

Actually, I didn't understand it. Lloyd echoed in his heart. But he didn't dare to say it, and it was clear that Theo had explained himself in as ordinary terms as possible.

"Senior Lloyd, how much do you know about the [Guiding Network] project?"

"Uh...... I've only read it in the newspaper occasionally, but I don't understand it. I remember that it seems to be a plan carried out by the Epstein Foundation......"

Theo nodded, adding, "Hmm. The development plan, which was originally initiated by Epstein and Chase Chuo Kobo, is now being carried out mainly by the consortium. Today, large-scale trial applications are being carried out in the city of Crossbell. Here. Theo said, glancing back at the intricate machinery.

"That's part of that."

"I still don't understand...... Lloyd asked, a little embarrassed, "what exactly is this plan going to do?" ”

Theo sighed and refined the language again: "In short, the terminal uses new technology developed on the basis of the old communication machine. With this technology, it is possible to build an efficient intelligence network by connecting not only communication but also terminals with computing capabilities. To put it simply, that's it. ”

It's not simple at all......

Lloyd sighed deeply and tried to say his opinion: "In other words, it can improve the efficiency of internal liaison and command in the police department, right?" ”

Theo nodded in agreement, "As far as the function of this terminal is concerned, it's pretty much the same - although the Conduction Network is not my area of expertise, there is no problem operating the terminal. Considering the needs of future use, I think it is better to check it first. ”

"I see. In that case, Theo doesn't seem to have thought about resigning at all, right? ”

Again, Lloyd asked the question that was bothering him.

“？” Theo looked puzzled.

"Well, I mean............ When Theo was his age, I was just a playful little kid. You said that the consortium sent you, that ...... It can't be forced to work or something, right? ”

Lloyd looked at her questioning expression and quickly began to explain.

"......" Theo looked at Lloyd in surprise. Seeing her like this, Lloyd was also taken aback: "Is it possible, is it really me right!" ”

Lloyd said seriously: "No matter what kind of secret there is, you can't swallow your anger when you encounter this kind of thing!" If I don't dislike it, I can do my best to help—"

Seeing him so serious, Theo took a step back as if frightened, and accidentally bumped into the box behind him.

"Well, please calm down." Theo was still flat. "I wasn't forced to work. Rather, this assignment was a willful request made by myself. I have my own personal reasons for staying here. Theo closed his eyes as he spoke, and his head slowly lowered, "In short, that's it. ”

Uh, as a result, am I completely mistaken?

Lloyd smiled, hoping to ease the awkward atmosphere.

"And, Senior Lloyd, you should worry about yourself before you worry about others."

"Ah...... I'm sorry, I'm too nosy. ”

"No, it won't."

Theo didn't pay attention to it, but she was still happy. In fact, for some reason, Theo's perceptual ability is much stronger than that of normal people, and the most direct manifestation is to perceive the Seven Divine Veins and perceive people's feelings.

The flow of the Seven Jewels, which ordinary people could not notice, Theo could roughly sense it. Ordinary people can't see through the heart of the interlocutor, and she can understand it to a certain extent.

Theo knew very well that Lloyd, who had gone downstairs earlier, was full of confusion. Although it is not clear why he is confused, the feeling is so strong that Lloyd cannot think about anything else. And just now, the "justice" in Lloyd's heart and the mood of "rescue" hoping to help him suddenly overwhelmed the "confusion".

That is to say, just now, Lloyd was really angry that she was forced to work and really wanted to help her, and this mood overtook his confusion for a moment.

But...... What kind of good people would put other people's affairs before their own.

Theo thought, his amber eyes scrutinizing Lloyd's face. Lloyd was even more embarrassed to watch.

While contemplating, Theo added, "However, in the case of the Inquisitor, it seems that being too kind will cause inconvenience in the performance of his duties. Unlike guerrillas, you have to learn to be suspicious of others to do this kind of work, right? ”

"Well, it's really to the point."

Hearing her say this, Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief. It's always better to have a topic to talk about than to be awkward for both of you - although it's not so easy either.

"I guess I'm still naïve. I thought that through the training of the police academy, I had thoroughly trained myself...... However, it is true that those alone are not up to the job of a search officer......"

Lloyd remembered his confusion on the rooftop and admitted his inadequacy.

Theo continued to stare at his face, not knowing what he was thinking. Then, she bowed slightly. "The monitoring of the terminal is basically completed, and it seems that there will be a project to link the guide line tomorrow, so I will rest early today."

"Yes. Good night and a good rest. ”

"Well, I'll go back to my room first. Good night. Theo said this as he walked towards the stairs, and before going upstairs, Theo suddenly turned around.

"Senior Lloyd, are you still going to talk to Senior Randy?"

"Well, probably. I'd like to talk to Randy a little bit too. ”

Theo nodded, and said with a serious face, "Please don't be undressed like him in the future." ”

"I won't!"