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by The Kekkeryist Kekkury Yuh Yeet of Yukkira. . 42 reads.

NIS: National Investigative Service - A Free City of Xia Series

Summary of the National Investigation Service (NIS)

The National Investigation Service (NIS) is one of two main branches of the Regency's Imperial Intelligence Service, also known as I2. I2 offers the services of the NIS to each of the three Princedoms to handle problems that local MPs might not have the capacity to deal with by themselves. NIS operates mainly domestically, but will operate in a limited foreign capacity with those nations whom the Regency has law-enforcement treaties with, through I2. The NIS, despite being part of I2, does not answer directly to the Regency, but rather to the Imperial Magistrate of the Regency. This is to ensure that the laws of the Regency are enforced unbiasedly, and to enable the NIS to prosecute criminals, no matter who they are. The NIS' main mission is not to conduct counter espionage, but rather, to help maintain the peace achieved by the Treaty of Xia, through the apolitical nature of assisting local governments maintain law and order within their borders. NIS thus, almost exclusively recruits from the Free City of Xia, and or its domestically foreign holdings (offices) located within key cities of each of the three princedoms.


Episode 1 Part 2: A House of Cards

"His name was Marcus Yao, and he was a friend."

Seeing the police at The House wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It's a popular spot for the police to spend time with their civilian counterparts. And more often than not, the local department overseer can be found here on Saturday nights, hosting his own private poker game for him and his friends.

All on the house, of course.

"Can you tell me a bit more about Marcus, please? What was his occupation? And how do you know him?"

"Yes, of course," His Greatness responds, "he was one of my hired bodyguards. I think he was a former IYG member? My HR head has his personnel file somewhere down on the first floor."

"With respect, Your Greatness," says Police Captain Kai Saito, "this is the third killing of a former IYG member within the last three months at your establishment. I'm going to need a bit more than a personnel file."

"That's where we come in, Lord-Captain," says a third voice.

Both men turn to the gilded doorway, just as Overseer Xia Ban, followed by several people dressed down in black, not dark blue, enter the room.

"Hail Lord-Overseer," Saito says while saluting his superior. "At ease Captain," Ban says while nodding in acknowledgement, "this is Lord-Arbiter Jin Mei and his team from the National Intelligence Service, NIS. They will be taking over the case."

"You handed over jurisdiction of the case, Lord-Overseer?" Captain Saito says with a slight tinge of annoyance in his voice. Ban nods, and adds, "NIS has connected the three killings here to two others that occurred in Mei. I was informed personally by Lord-Commander Arima himself, that he was requesting that I2 take over the case, since our jurisdiction ends at the Free City border."

Ban places a reassuring hand on Saito's shoulder, "This is bigger than us, Saito. Let the experts handle the case, and let's cooperate with them, yeah?" Saito, now full of understanding, nods and looks at Lord-Arbiter Jin Mei, "What do you need from me?"
"All your files from the first two cases, as well as anything you guys got so far on this one," Jin says, matter-of-factly. No bullshit, Saito thinks, I can trust him.

"Consider it done," Saito responds while nodding in assent, "if you need anything else, I need to make a house call to a scuttlebutt den a few miles from here. I should be back in my office by around 2-ish."

"Thank you Captain," Jin replies while turning to His Greatness, "so tell me, why do you think anyone would want to kill Marcus Yao?"

"I don't know," His Greatness replies while motioning towards the bartender, "would you like a drink, Lord-Arbiter?" Jin shakes his head as his team disperses around the room to pick from where the MPs left off. "You're having a drink at 10 o'clock in the morning, sir?"

"Most people refer to me as 'His Greatness,' Lord-Arbiter. And yes, I'm having a drink at 10 o'clock in the morning. It helps me to sleep after a long night of cards," says His Greatness while slumping back into a nearby chair. "Do you mind if I sit?"

"I do," Jin replies while glaring daggers at the man, "that chair, along with this entire room, is now a crime scene. We're going to need to cordon off this room until the investigation is over."

"I'm so sorry. I'm just a little tired is all," says His Greatness with a sigh, as he stands back up again. The bartender quickly comes over with a drink in a crystal clear glass, cold to the touch. The brownish liquid wobbles around a singular piece of round ice. His Greatness stares at it for a moment, as if in contemplation, and then puts the entire glass back, downing it all in a single gulp.

"You okay?" Jin says, eyeing the man out.

"Yeah… yeah… like I said, I'm just tired," His Greatness says again, much of the earlier flare that he had, gone now from his posture. It takes effort to keep up appearances, and His Greatness was all out of fuel. He was exhausted, and Jin could tell as much.

"Let's talk honestly, Li," Jin says, calling the man by his real name. It does the trick. His Greatness shakes his head like he's been smacked twice while putting his head in his free hand, "No one ever calls me by that name anymore."

"I know. You're the bastard son of supposedly a princess from one of the Three Houses. Everyone knows the story."

"Even you?" Li says while motioning for another drink, "I'm surprised. I've never seen you around here before."

"Because honest men like me don't do dishonest work," Jin says bluntly, much to the chagrin of Li, "Your reputation in the Lower Houses proceeds you. We've had an eye on you for quite a long time. So let's cut the act and get straight to the point."

"Tell me again," Jin says, looking Li in the eyes, "why would someone want to kill Marcus Yao? In, of all places, your room? Right in front of you?"

The NIS operations room was abuzz with human activity. Agents worked around the clock tracking down suspects, chasing new leads, and closing up old cases. The room was painted in a plain green color, supposedly reminiscent of the open fields of Yui just to the south of the Free City. There were two floors: one for the teams, and the other for special rooms and special administration quarters.

"Marcus Yao. He was a former Imperial Guardsman. He served as part of the Dragoon special auxiliary force as a Senior Specialist for their mountaineers division," begins Senior Headhunter Taiga, while putting up Marcus' driver's license on the display screen, "a small town boy with small-time dreams, he grew up in Yukai, a town on the border between Yui and Mei. Before he entered the academy, he got married to his long-time girlfriend, Sai Yuling, back in the summer of 2022. Damn that wife is hot... Anyway, a few months ago, seems like the small-town life just wasn't cutting it for them, so they decided to move from Yukai to Xia this past summer."

"So he did his mandatory four and signed up for an extra two and became a Senior Specialist. How did he end up working for Li Yu-Ping?" asks Jin.

"Well that's the thing, he didn't," replies Nalu, the team's cyber-analyst, "I pulled his file from The House's HR department, and he actually belonged to a contractor that Li Yu-Ping subcontracts work out to."

"What kind of work?" Jin says, his eyes narrowing as the discrepancies begin to pop up.

"Funny enough, cleaning," Nalu replies while catching the clicker from Taiga, "The Honest Cleaning Company is an industrial cleaning service provider that specializes in commercial and industrial workspaces."

"So what was a cleaner doing in a suit as part of Li Yu-Ping's security detail? More to the point, he has a background in special force ops, and yet, he ends up cleaning offices with an industrial-sized vacuum cleaner?"

"Well that's the thing," perks up Mia, the team's Foreign Service liaison, "he was dishonorably discharged. He's got a record, Jin."

"The man got into more fights with his superior officers than most of Usnistan does in a month."

"How does that even match-up?" Jin says with a bit of exasperation.

"Well, he had good friends in high places. Apparently, while he was at the Imperial Air Force Academy in Nioki, he trained alongside the son of the Vice Minister of Transportation. Meet Sir Yura Lao, the CEO and owner of the Express Services Conglomerate. Lao owns The Honest Cleaning Company alongside a host of other reputable third-party service providers."

"Alright, our priority right now is to find the connection between Sir Yura Lao and Li Yu-Ping. Taiga, you're coming with me to go and interview Lao. Mia, Nalu, go and talk to the wife. See if you can find anything there. Call me if you get anything."

"Yes sir," they all respond as they begin to make their way towards the elevator.

"And Taiga?" Jin adds.

"Yes sir?" Taiga says while turning back to look at Jin, only to be bopped on the forehead.

"Stop oogling at a dead man's wife. They were expecting."

"How do you know?" Mia asks, tilting her head ever so slightly.

"Call it a gut feeling," Jin says while stepping into the elevator. Taiga rubs his head, slightly out of shame, mostly because he was having a slight headache.

"Hey sir? Wanna try that again? See if you can make my headache go away?"

Jin glances at Taiga, clearly in some sort of pain, rolls his heads and bops him on the forehead again, this time harder.

"That help?" Jin inquires.

"Nope… think I'll settle for more coffee," says Taiga as the elevator door closes.

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