Chapter 124 - For My Mom

After testing out a few more things Loki felt satisfied and when he looked at the messy runes he wrote he sighed. He had learned a bit on how to write runes from the Spirit of the Akashic Records, the information was all over the place as the Spirit only had a few remaining memories regarding runes. It was a good thing, that the Spirit still remembered the most basic runes which helped Loki a lot. 

'Still, the more important Enchantment techniques were forgotten. Without the knowledge of enchantment, I won't be able to turn these weapons into mana weapons. Well, I guess adding runes into the bullets is already good enough. By this world's standards with my skill and equipment, I should be able to match a rank eight martial artist with ease. If I put my all into it and risk everything I should theoretically be able to match a lower-tier Grandmaster. Okay now that my preparations are done, I just need to wait for this assassin to make a move. I wonder what will he do to lure me out...' 

...

In the police station, Matsuri was sighing as he looked at her computer monitor. The city was becoming safer than it was before, this was supposed to be a good thing, but it still made her feel depressed since the change in the city wasn't because of the police. The change happening in the city was because of the assassin Fade. 

The big bosses of the underworld were dying one by one, and their underlings who were leaderless did their own thing. Those that continued on the path of being gangsters. and became bosses themselves were almost immediately killed by Fade. Then there were those that changed their ways and started living honest lifestyles. Even though it was a very difficult transition they had no choice since they either change their ways or they die. 

Even the lowly thugs were scared sh*tless by Fade's reputation, and no longer did money extortions. There were also those fakes that pose as Fade and do some self-righteous deeds. Most of them were just random citizens trying to do the right thing, but there were a few that also kill like Fade. Those fake Fade's would kill those they have deemed evil, the police had already captured most of them. Overall the city's crime rate had drastically fallen because of everything that was going on. 

While Matsuri was deep in thought Janice arrived at her desk with a troubled look on her face. Janice looked at the frowning Matsuri and hesitated to say what she was going to say, but in the end, it had to be said. 

"Matsuri, hey Matsuri, Matsuri do you hear me?" 

"Huh, oh Janice when did you come back?" 

"I've been here for a while now... *sigh* I know you like daydreaming about Loki, but there is a time and place for that." 

"W-what?! Who the f*ck is daydreaming?! I wasn't thinking about Loki at all, I was thinking about the future of this city you know." 

"Yeah, alright I believe you." Seeing Janice's reaction made Matsuri pout. 

"Whatever, so what did the Captain say?" 

"*Sigh* I guess there's no avoiding it. The Captain said that were are no longer in charge of the  Fetcher case." 

"What?!" Matsuri stood up from her desk as she shouted. Still, this was something she normally does so no one was surprised. 

"Not only that but we aren't allowed to go near Catherine Walker. We also need to hand over all our files regarding the Fetcher case to the Major Crimes Unit." 

"Now wait a second. Why the hell should I give all our hard work to those jagoffs?! I need to talk to the Captain." Matsuri was about to head to the Captain's office when Janice stopped her. 

"You know that won't help, it would just make things worse for us." 

When Matsuri heard what Janice said she knew that her partner was right. Still, she couldn't help but bite her lip as she felt ashamed and angry. 

"You know I promised that kid that I would bring his mother's kidnapper to justice. What am I going to tell him when he comes later? Should I tell him, sorry I'm no longer part of that case and I failed to do anything at all!" 

"I know... Do you think this is easy for me? It's hard for me as well, but face the facts it has been weeks since we started, and were not even close to getting any evidence against Catherine Walker. Who knows maybe the Major Crimes Unit would do a better job. As for that kid, don't worry I'll tell him what happened." 

"No, he shouldn't hear it coming from you... I was the one who made that promise, and I'm also the one who broke it so I should be the one to tell him the news." 

...

Larry Fetcher was a fifteen-year-old kid that had lost his father at a young age. He and his mother had supported each other after his father's death. One day his mother went out to buy some groceries but she never returned. 

After looking around for an entire day, Larry eventually filed a missing person's report. The Detective in charge of the case was a nice lady named Matsuri.

As Larry was waiting for news about his mother he was currently living with his paternal grandparents. He also continued looking around the city for his mother, and then one day he saw his mother entering a brothel. Larry quickly called Detective Matsuri and told him what he saw. The Detective told him to wait for her, but in the end, he couldn't, as his mother was there right in front of him.

Larry entered the establishment and confronted his mother, but when he saw her she was smiling at him while touching his body, she acted as if she didn't know him. 

"Sir, do you want to have fun with me?" 

"Mom? What are you talking about, it's me, Larry, what happened to you? Why are you here, why did they do to you?" As Larry was shaking his mother's body some large men stopped him. 

"Hey, you shouldn't be in here brat." 

"What are you doing that's my mom over there, I'm bringing her out." 

"That's not your mom kid, and you're the only one who's going out."

The security of the brothel tossed him out. Larry tried his best to get back in, but he couldn't get past the thugs blocking his way. After a while, Detective Matsuri came and they were able to somehow enter the establishment through the backdoor, but after looking around they could no longer find his mother. 

Later Detective Matsuri was able to find out that the owner of the brothel was a person called Catherine Walker. Even though they already know all that and confronted the owner, Catherine Walker denied any knowledge regarding Larry's missing mother. 

Detective Matsuri then promised Larry that she would bring his mother back to him. Larry believed in the Detective, but today she broke her promise.

"I'm sorry Larry, I was unable to do what I promised, but don't worry the Major Crimes Unit has more resources and should be able to find your mother. I'm sure that they would be able to do it, so don't lose hope." 

...

After hearing Detective Matsuri's explanation, Larry headed back to his grandparents' place dejected. He laid on his bed sobbing, as he felt betrayed. He understood that Matsuri had done her best given what she had, he knew that it wasn't her fault, but he still felt bitter about it. Even after hearing what Matsuri said, Larry knew that the police had practically given up on his mother.

As the hopelessness of his situation was eating at him, he turned on his laptop to look around the internet to distract himself. It was at that moment he saw one of those sites that talk about the assassin Fade.

'If the police can't do it, maybe he could.'