When a suspect is arrested or taken down the investigation follows a steady pace just to make the case more solid until it's finally closed. I was looking forward to that part and could savor it already. There's nothing like working at my own pace without the sense of urgency of an open investigation. I thought we were at that place, but things changed the moment I figured there was something missing.
"The item the criminal used to move back and forth from his other dimension was not found." I present Hale with a single sheet of paper that listed all the seized items.
"What's the big deal? We got him. It's over." Agent Hale waved a dismissive hand.
"There's a chance that other people might be implicated on the case." I am aware I lack experience on the field, but that is precisely why I insist. Field agents only see suspects, criminals and victims, but from a desk's point of view we pay closer attention to material means such as weapons or vehicles. A criminal can only be caught after committing the crime, but if we reduce the amount of unregistered weapons we can prevent the crime from being committed in the first place. To desk agents, everything comes up to numbers.
Taking down the suspect is good, but as long as the item that allowed him to move back and forth from dimensions without government supervision there would always be the chance for a new criminal to appear.
"That may be the case, but we can catch them when they get their heads out of the shadows. It's always the same, returnees get greedy and we catch them."
"Do we?" I let the weight of my question suspend in the air.
Hale wasn't having it but still decided it was best to consult with the director. Now that he's my supervisor I don't have a direct line with her. Too bad, I really liked passing by her office and dropping documents. I didn't know anything personal about her which most people would take as being distant, but to me it meant that she took her work seriously. It showed on the way she stacked the folders, on the way she ignored people who entered the office unless it was absolutely necessary to greet them, but especially on the way she never ever talked about herself unless asked. If I had to name one person I admire, it would probably be her.
"I got you some good news." Hale's smile made me think maybe I was being transferred back to a desk, but what followed caused me to grimace.
"Case's already closed, but you are allowed to keep investigating on your own." Allowed is code for mandatory which didn't bode well for me or the stacks of paperwork I was looking forward to.
"Can you send me to the suspect's world?" I ask the system from a safe location.
"I can, but I won't."
"Then how am I supposed to make it there? I can't just wish myself onto another world."
"You can't, but you have assistants. Up until you received your first assistant I had to fill all the paperwork for you and also calibrate dimensional travel." The system manager replied.
I went back to my office and asked my assistants if they could help me. Thompson was a data analyst just like me and he had no clue about the inner workings of traveling, but agent Nora came from logistics and was trained in dimensional magic. She knew the theory and despite never doing it before she was confident that she could open a gate to that world. The problem was that although she would be able to create a gate, there was a risk of her making a mistake and sending me somewhere else.
"There's a record of the world that returnee visited so it should be easy, but I'll need some time to gather enough mana. I'll also need to store some extra in case of emergencies." Nora explained when she confirmed it with the database.
I couldn't indulge on the sweet paperwork waiting for me unless I figured out how did the returnee managed to travel between the dimensions. I could wait for Nora to have the gate ready and start investigating on the other world, but there was still some work I could do from this side.
I checked the seized items list over and over until I decided what items were worth inspecting first and I brought Thompson along to the evidence department. It was a place without windows and rebar kept us separated from the personnel. It's also forbidden to socialize or make friends with people who worked in the evidence department to prevent coordination in case someone wanted to steal the items. They could even lose their job if they were caught chatting.
That's why I just presented the list of items I wanted to inspect and waited for the man to hand us the items.
"Why jewelry?" Asked Thompson.
"Because there weren't any books." I shrug. I don't know what kind of items can be infused with magic, but the idea of a ring carrying dimensional magic seemed way more likely than a chair or a carpet. We took the items to the testing room where magic was allowed to a certain extent. There were also several tools which I never bothered in learning how to use. I was never interested in magic and just did my job like any other agent.
"This is a flying amulet! And this one is a charm of defense. I can't believe they just let you take all of this!" Thompson adjusted his glasses after using the identifying staff on the items he mentioned. Honestly, it was strange seeing him so fired up about those items, but it was nice seeing him make human expressions for once.
"They're just worthless trinkets to people like us. The only reason we can operate them is because we're at the bureau." I shrug. They could be pretty handy in other worlds, but they were highly forbidden in this one. As far as I knew, even possessing these items was a felony.
"What will they do with this items?" Thomson asked. I didn't have the answer so I just relayed what the system manager said.
"They're added to our Vault which field agents may access depending on the circumstances. We travel to other worlds like any other people, but there's a difference. We enter new worlds while our bodies are still alive which means we are exactly as strong as we are here and that puts us at a disadvantage compared to other travelers who are granted a 'cheat'. Other worlds can be very dangerous and it's only thanks to the vault of seized items that we can carry out our missions safely."
"So, our cheat is items..." Thompson bobbed his head to himself.
"This is odd... it's a teleportation amulet. Do you think this could be it?"
"There's only one way to know." Replied Thompson followed by the system manager.
"You're allowed to use it, just bear in mind it could take you somewhere dangerous. However, it probably won't take you too far."
"I'll give it a try." I activate the amulet and the first thing that hits me is nausea. For a moment there I thought it was summoning sickness, but when I finally managed to look around me the scene told me otherwise.
It looked just like the warehouse where the healing potions were being smuggled. Same cargo pallets, containers and even the tarps laying around. When my eyes settled to the dim light I realized it was actually the inside of a ship and I informed the system manager.
"I have your location, you're still within our borders." The system manager informed at the same time it reassured me reinforcements were on the way.
I started describing what I saw to the system manager as I walked around the place. The air was stale and inside of the walls was rusty hinting that the ship needed some maintenance. I made sure to read out loud whatever I could read even if they were just the names of international brands. Documenting for the record was the only thing I could do, or so I thought until I pulled one of the tarps to see the cargo.
It was dark, but clear as day I could see a bunch of people all packed together like cattle. They were thin and sickly, but eerily silent as they stared at me with empty eyes. Their clothes were ragged and dirty, but they told the story of wealth and status.
"Loraina Althurien Tuanan." A woman stepped to the front passing through without brushing against others somehow.
"They're elves. Make sure to secure them, no matter the cost." The system informed.
"I don't speak elvish." I informed the woman. There's an air of nobility about her not even her poor condition was able to hide.
"That is my name."