New Gods of North America

"Are you saying that, apart from the shot that hit you, all the other shots were fired by you yourself???"

Inside the academy's patrol office, the security chief on site was dumbfounded as he confirmed with the arrested assailant.

The man nodded earnestly, blood still seeping from the bandage on his shoulder, "It may sound a bit unbelievable, but that's indeed the case."

Then, after thinking for a moment, he further refined the narrative, "Lever-action rifles can actually fire very quickly, and I also had a handgun with me... so there would be other types of sounds as well."

Standing beside them as onlookers were Seth Grayson, Wayne, Inessa, Lina, and seven or eight members of the detective agency.

At this moment, their roles were respectively "academy students who inadvertently encountered danger", "wealthy young masters strolling by the lake", and "bodyguards of the wealthy family acting bravely".

After the target surrendered,

Seeing that the commotion had grown too large, some of the detective agency members packed up and hid, planning to leave in batches secretly.

The remaining members, along with the cooperative captive, proactively went to the patrol officers to "report the crime", claiming to have caught an assailant illegally firing a gun.

"The right of citizens to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" is written into the United States Constitution,

However, the Constitution is only a "broad principle."

In specific practical management, "allowing possession" does not mean "any gun can be legally possessed", "allowing carrying" does not mean "a person can carry it anywhere\

,"Nor does it mean one can "display it at will" and "easily fire it."

Currently, in the bustling states of the East Coast, the "defensive weapons" that usually have fewer issues are small-caliber handguns or hunting rifles.

Lever-action rifles, shotguns, and large-caliber handguns, although the police in various places generally don't actively investigate them and sometimes turn a blind eye,

In most cities, they are not legal, and theoretically, possessing them still requires relevant documents or permits.

If the police find out, or if something happens that causes the police to "should know you possess illegal firearms", then the police have to take action—for example, if you take out illegal firearms in public and are witnessed by multiple citizens, or if someone formally reports it to the police.

Therefore, to avoid disputes and trouble, the detective agency's other lever-action rifles were taken away by the retreating members, leaving only one as the assailant's "weapon."

Wayne, Inessa, and Lina, one is a formal student of the academy, and the other two are learners receiving course education at the academy. According to the academy's management regulations, the three of them theoretically should not carry weapons within the academy.

So, in the script, the person who fired the gun could only be the "assailant illegally carrying a gun" and the "bodyguards who stopped the assailant."

The academy's patrol officers certainly don't count as "police."

But the academy, as a relatively independent and special small community, also has the autonomy to hire security personnel for defense. The patrol officers are not usually very easy to talk to.

However, even though the detective agency members hid and planned to leave in batches, the remaining number was still quite large. Even if each detective agency member only carried a handgun, it wasn't something the patrol officers were willing to confront with force.

So, the situation became what it is now.

The target cooperatively took the blame as the "shooting assailant." Without actually injuring anyone, it's hard to say whether it counts as a "crime."

The members of the detective agency who remained, as a large group of "good Samaritans" who proactively reported the crime, could cooperate with the patrol officers' inquiries and await the arrival of the police without being treated harshly.

Wayne and the others were innocent students or witnesses. Although they couldn't leave temporarily, they had no criminal suspicion.

After listening to this plot that had been unanimously approved by all parties, the security chief on site rubbed his temples with two fingers, supporting his forehead with one hand, feeling both absurd and unwilling to escalate the matter.

Anyway, the assailant had been arrested, and no students were injured. Although several people had successively come to report the sound of gunfire by the lake, the situation had been tentatively calmed down, and there was now a suitable reason to write the report.

Especially since the blonde and beautiful young lady was clearly frightened, her eyes were red from crying.

Looking at the number of bodyguards around her, the patrol officers were a little worried that such a foreign learner from a good family might complain to the academy because of the unexpected fright.

In the end, he chose not to delve deeper:

"Alright. Anyway, I've already asked someone to contact the Georgeburg Police, and I will also have someone notify Chief Bill Tench as you requested. When the police arrive, you can go with them."

...

Time gradually moved into the late night. The patrol officers even thoughtfully wrote a note for Wayne, proving that he had not deliberately violated the academy's accommodation regulations.

What surprised Wayne a little was that it wasn't Bill Tench who led the people to pick him up, but David Mills.

David Mills' current public identity is Senior Inspector of the Georgeburg Police Department, theoretically higher than Bill Tench, and considered the apex of administrative officers in the local police force.

After easily leading everyone away, David Mills ignored the far-fetched story and called Wayne into the carriage alone, directly starting to ask on the way:

"Wayne, what are you guys at the detective agency investigating this time?"

What Wayne said could probably all be considered the truth, "We discovered a suspected 'Fallen'. Currently, we have a witness who can accuse him of being related to the School of Life, so we carried out the arrest."

"Is it a mission arranged by the Cathedral?" David Mills asked.

"The Cathedral hasn't formally arranged these. However, our detective agency's job is to assist in maintaining law and order, so when we discovered a suspected 'Fallen' in the academy, we directly launched an investigation," Wayne replied.

This is actually a gray area.

David Mills knows that the detective agency has Bishop Corleone's permission, and also knows that Wayne is a student of the academy.

But whether there is any connection or deeper meaning between these two things, I'm afraid it would be difficult to figure out, and most people probably wouldn't dare to confirm it with Bishop Corleone.

As for the part where the detective agency might have a conflict with Pastor Pashel, Wayne felt that it might be better for him not to tell David Mills.

"Pastor Bazini asked someone to notify me to come over."

David Mills seems unhappy in Georgeburg recently, "According to church regulations, unless there are instructions from the Bishop, the Georgeburg Church has the right to take over matters related to the Fallen in the local area. The suspect you arrested should be investigated by us."

Hmm...

Wayne thought for a moment, "I remember Tom Hagen seemed to say that the church usually doesn't conduct detailed investigations of current professors and students in the academy?"

David Mills nodded, "That's indeed the case."

As a former small-town sheriff, Wayne is very sensitive to the matter of "jurisdiction":

"I'm not very clear about the specific internal clauses, but according to church regulations, isn't the academy actually not within the daily management scope of the Georgeburg Church?"

This is something that people usually don't easily notice, but it's not hard to guess if you think about it carefully.

Not taking the initiative to investigate means not having to bear responsibility for negative events that occur in the academy, so naturally, it won't be included when delineating the management scope—this is related to how to define "dereliction of duty."

David Mills was slightly stunned, and frowned, "The management of academy-related matters should indeed be the responsibility of the academy church. But the daily affairs of the academy church also need to be guided by the Georgeburg Church."

"Then I understand."

Wayne smiled at David Mills, "I'm not targeting you, but the Bishop has tacitly allowed our detective agency to assist in investigating 'cross-regional' cases. We also participated in the investigation of 'Fallen' cases before, and the Cathedral clearly didn't object.

"Our detective agency is very serious about 'complying with church regulations'. If the Georgeburg Church wants to take over, then I'm afraid we need to receive a clear instruction from the Cathedral, or have Pastor Pashel, who has jurisdiction, contact us directly."

We sheriffs from Western small towns sometimes do things this way.

It's not that we want to go against the local church, but someone came to bail him out as soon as we caught him, which makes us feel very insecure…

David Mills didn't seem to expect this situation to occur, then he thought for a moment, and seemed to feel that Wayne's statement didn't have any major problems.

He lightly exhaled, "Alright, after I go back, I will report the situation to Pastor Bazini truthfully."