Patrolling

The moment they exited the inn, the leader divided them into pairs before sending them off for duty.

"Hehe, can ya believe we are stuck toge-*hick*-ther. Don't ya worry Zelo, I will protect ya, haha"

'I can't believe I got as a partner drunkest guard of all. He can't even pronounce my name right...if the others wouldn't bother about his disappearance, I wouldn't mind leaving him somewhere in one of the dark alleys.'

"Thanks, I will be counting on you" Zero said with an indifferent expression since there was no need to show any smile to the drunkard since he would barely see it.

"Hey, you two! Are you slacking off?" Zero suddenly heard a familiar voice from the distance. He closed his eyes in order to mentally prepare himself for this encounter. It didn't take even a few seconds before he could hear hurried footsteps of someone jogging to them.

"Oh?! If it isn't Zero!" When the person got close enough, their figure got revealed, showing a slender woman with long auburn hair tied in a long ponytail. The drunken guard beside Zero immediately began staring at her face, fortunately, with his mouth closed otherwise a drool would already be rolling down his chin.

The woman probably could also pick up a smell of alcohol around them, pinching her nose in the process.

"You have been drinking again?! You better stop it as soon as possible or I will be forced to report you. I am patient with you all only because of you, Zero." The woman frowned and said with a disgusted look in her eyes while glaring at the guy next to Zero.

"Miss Ubiquitous, we are trying to improve. We always try to drink less than the last time, you can't really blame us when we could die any time during our patrol to some revolutionaries." Zero turned to her and answered, lightly bowing his head to show sincerity.

"Aww, if you put it that way it's really hard to blame you but that doesn't explain why you can behave so sober while the other is completely out of it...whatever. And I have already told you to call me Seryu, you don't have to be so polite even if officially I am your superior!"

"*Ya really have a silver tongue, huh? Are ya perhaps aiming for this gal? Is this the reason why ya haven't screwed with any prostitute yet?*" The drunken guard near Zero whispered to his ear and Zero was glad that he was sober enough not to say this aloud in front of her.

"We will strive to improve our attitude and discipline, thank you for the understanding miss Seryu. If you excuse us, we should return to our patrol." Zero partially ignored her request for him to be more casual around her and tried to take his leave as soon as possible.

'He is really polite, even when I told him to be more casual...He is also disciplined and has a great attitude towards work. He is the ideal member of the Imperial Police! Unlike the others...' Seryu thought while staring at Zero's face before glaring at the guy next to him.

"Wait! Since you are on the patrol how about you join me? Your partner doesn't look like he is capable of patrolling anyway, he would only drag you down if a fight would break out." Seryu asked enthusiastically.

"But we have our orders..." Zero said, trying to wiggle his way out of this.

"Hehe, have you forgotten who am I? Your partner doesn't look capable of doing his job so he can return for tonight but I won't tolerate it if it happens again!" Seryu said, holding her head high while resting her hands on her hips.

Zero wanted to retort but his drunken partner instantly woke up when he heard her words.

"Thank you! Zero, please continue the patrol without me, I am indeed not feeling well." The guy said before basically running away, stumbling a few times on his way, making Zero just blankly stare at his back how he got abandoned.

"Let's go patrol the city together!" Seryu said, dragging Zero with her.

'I have no idea how to deal with this woman. I have absolutely no idea why is she so interested in me or why is she paying so much attention to some lowly soldier like me. I did my best to stay out of everyone's sight' Zero thought while looking at the ground in front of him while matching her walking pace.

The two of them talked about their day and job at Imperial Police before the conversation turned in a weird direction.

"Want to patrol the slums? It's the most frequent place where the revolutionaries tend to hide and operate from. We might find some of them and bring them to justice, what do you say?" Seryu asked with maybe a bit too much enthusiasm.

Zero already saw what her idea of justice meant and even if he used to disagree with it, in this world there was no justice.

'Justice is nonexistent in this world, justice and vengeance or murder are one and the same. I am not different, do I want to bring those who destroyed my life to justice? Yes, however, not the same kind of justice I know from Earth. In the end, what I truly want is vengeance and the word justice is just sugar-coating it.'

"Sure, I love "justice". That's why I have decided to join Imperial Police, to help people!" Zero turned his head to Seryu and said with a wide smile and closed eyes, however, there was something off about his smile, far darker than it looked like.

"Yay!" Seryu was delighted from his answer and even a faint blush crept up her cheeks. Perhaps even she detected something off about his smile but instead of getting suspicious, she looked only happier.

.

.

*Sigh* "In the end, we didn't encounter any revolutionaries." Seryu sighed after they strolled through the slums and still nothing happened as if she was hoping for someone to start trouble.

"We should keep quiet, even walls have ears. Anyway, my time is up for tonight, I am going back." Zero said while glancing behind him at a few people curled up on the street.

"Haha, no need to worry, even if some of the beggars were selling the information to revolutionaries, it's not like we have discussed any secrets. I won't keep you any longer, thanks for patroling with me tonight. I still have somewhere to go, good night!" Seryu said and Zero nodded at her as a farewell before she run off to the distance.

Seeing how she disappeared, Zero turned around and walked back to the slums instead of returning to the barracks.

He walked for a few minutes through the dark alleys of the dangerous slums before he arrived at his destination. He walked up to a curled-up figure sitting on the ground covered with an old tattered cloak.

From his time in slums, he immediately discovered it is a small girl, most likely an orphan.

The girl looked up at him when she saw his boots.

*clink* After making sure no one else is watching, Zero dropped a small pouch next to the girl who was still staring at him with a confused look in her eyes.

"If you want to survive here you need to start fighting for your life. You can consider this a head start." *clink* Zero said in a cold tone before kicking the pouch closer to the girl.

Girl's eyes widened as she looked into the pouch before she quickly hid it inside her clothes and lowered her head.

"T-Thank you, mister" Her voice was dry and not very pleasant to the ears.

Upon seeing this, Zero just scoffed before turning around and leaving the area, completely letting the girl disappear out of his mind. When his back was against the girl, her eyes suddenly changed as began staring at him with much more wisdom visible in them.

Zero has yet to be aware that this act of his might save his life in the future.