"Yes, sir," said Kees, disappointment evident in his voice as he finally understood what his master was trying to tell him. He knew Bastijn was probably right about the situation, but that did not make it any easier to accept. Everything he had believed about becoming a police officer seemed to be colliding with the reality of the world around him. He had joined the force because he wanted to enforce the law and protect people, not because he wanted to learn when the law was convenient to ignore.
"I can see that you are disappointed, Kees, and I understand why," Bastijn said, his voice becoming somewhat gentler. "You have every right to feel that way, and honestly, I am disappointed as well." He leaned back in his chair and sighed before continuing. "But you need to realize that we are living in a new age now, and it is going to be an age where strength ultimately prevails. If you are not strong enough to enforce your will, then you may not have much of a say in what happens."
Kees opened his mouth to argue, but Bastijn raised a hand and stopped him before he could begin. "I know you want to protest, but this is simply the reality we have been given," he said. "Now, in a strange way, we should be grateful that we live on a continent where the old noble houses and families have survived." There was a complicated expression on his face when he said that, because the existence of those families remained a secret from the general public, while people in high positions within the government knew very well that they existed.
Bastijn himself knew more than most police officers ever would. He was a confidant of the current Minister for Public Security, and his assignment in this town was not entirely about ordinary policing. Part of his responsibility was to keep an eye on the Sonnenbergs, the family that controlled the region. He had little doubt that, at this very moment, members of that family were dealing with the bandits somewhere beyond the town.
"But what I mean is that those families have already lived through periods where a person's life could become practically worthless," Bastijn continued. "A noble could kill someone beneath them and face little consequence, simply because of the position they were born into." He paused and rubbed his chin. "From everything I have heard and seen, the great houses have absolutely no desire to recreate that kind of society here in Europe."
Kees frowned. "Why not?"
"Because they believe it does not create a functioning society," Bastijn answered immediately. "They understand something that people often forget when they become powerful." His expression hardened as he continued. "The reason ordinary people could live relatively comfortable lives before all of this was because the public still possessed ways of hurting the powerful if they went too far."
He gestured vaguely toward the ceiling, as though trying to encompass the entire continent with the movement. "But imagine what happens a thousand years from now. We could still be alive, our descendants could still be alive, and the difference between the elites and everyone else could become so enormous that nothing an ordinary person does would matter." His voice became quieter. "At that point, society would effectively exist at the mercy of whoever happened to be strongest."
Kees stared at him, absorbing the words. Bastijn knew the argument sounded alarmist, but he also knew there was truth behind it. Things had never been perfectly equal before mana arrived, yet ordinary people had possessed more ways to push back when something went wrong. Now, with personal strength becoming an actual factor in society, Bastijn was no longer convinced that those safeguards would remain effective forever.
"But then what is the point of me wearing this uniform?" Kees asked.
The question came out quieter than he intended, and Bastijn immediately noticed the suppressed tears in his apprentice's eyes. Kees had entered the police force because he believed in something greater than himself. Now, after only a single conversation, those ideals seemed to be crumbling in front of him.
"Don't be like that, Kees," Bastijn said with a tired sigh. "We still enforce the law, and we still protect innocent people." He leaned forward and placed both hands on his desk. "As for the great houses, why would you think they would bother ordinary people? They have rules within their families that forbid that kind of behavior."
Bastijn's expression changed when he remembered what happened to people who broke those rules. "And believe me, none of them ever want to be caught violating those rules. The punishments are cruel." He shivered slightly as the memory resurfaced. "I have personally watched one of those punishments take place, and I can assure you that nobody involved wanted to experience it a second time."
Kees swallowed. "But if they have their own rules, why don't they simply follow the real law?"
He genuinely did not understand the mentality of these supposed noble houses. Deep down, Kees suspected that if he ever possessed that much power, he would be tempted to ignore the law himself. That was precisely why the idea of powerful families voluntarily restricting themselves made so little sense to him. If nobody could force them to obey, then why would they choose to?
"Because they consider the concept humiliating," Bastijn replied. "They believe they should be responsible for judging their own people." He shrugged slightly. "It sounds arrogant, and it is, but their internal rules exist partly to prevent their own members from becoming monsters."
"They are also concerned about their legacy," he continued. "A family that has survived for centuries does not want one arrogant fool destroying everything their ancestors built." Bastijn paused before adding, "That is why those rules are taken seriously, even if the rest of society does not understand them."
He then leaned back and gave Kees a knowing look. "Besides, think about what would actually happen if we went out there right now and confronted them." His voice became practical again. "If they cooperate with our investigation, the only thing we will discover is that the bandits attacked them and died within minutes of the fight beginning."
Kees frowned. "And then?"
"And then the entire case gets thrown out as reasonable self-defense," Bastijn said. "There is no crime if the evidence shows that they were attacked first and responded appropriately." He picked up his cold coffee and stared at it for a moment. "So look at it this way: you can keep your oath and your ideals, because those are good things to have."
Bastijn pointed toward the door. "Just consider those people outside your jurisdiction unless they leave enough evidence for you to act. If that happens, then you do your job." He shrugged. "Until then, don't touch them with a ten-meter pole, and you will be perfectly fine."
Kees remained silent for several seconds before finally nodding. "Yes, sir."
"Good."
Bastijn waved him out of the office, and Kees reluctantly turned toward the door. He looked back once, as though hoping his master might suddenly change his mind, but Bastijn had already returned his attention to his paperwork. The young officer eventually left, closing the door behind him with a quiet click.
Bastijn picked up his coffee again and discovered that it had become even colder. He took a sip anyway.
"Probably not what he wanted to hear," he muttered.
For several moments, he simply stared at the dark surface of the coffee. Kees's reaction had reminded him of the person he had once been, back when he still believed that the world could be understood through laws and principles alone. He wondered when exactly those ideals had begun to disappear.
Probably when I realized how cruel the adult world really is, Bastijn thought.
One of the first assignments he had ever witnessed involved the arrest of a foreign spy. At the time, Bastijn had still been young enough to believe that an arrest was simply an arrest. Then he had learned what the spy had been trying to accomplish and what the authorities had been willing to do to prevent it.
The man had not been an ordinary criminal. He had been part of an organization that wanted to bring Europe down from within, and they had stopped at almost nothing to accomplish their objective. Bastijn had watched people who seemed perfectly ordinary on the surface reveal just how ruthless they could become when the survival of their country was at stake.
After that experience, the average murder case had started to seem almost mundane.
A domestic argument that ended in death was terrible, but Bastijn understood it. A robbery that went wrong was tragic, but he understood that too. Even revenge killings could be explained by human emotions that had existed for thousands of years.
The people operating at the highest levels of power were different.
They could move nations with a decision made in a single room. They could destroy someone's life without ever personally meeting them, and they could manipulate entire organizations while remaining invisible to the people below them. Compared with that, a few bandits disappearing into the swamp seemed almost insignificant.
Bastijn sighed and finally set the mug down.
Not that it matters anymore, he thought. As long as ordinary people never suspect what is really happening, perhaps it is all worth it.
He returned to his paperwork, forcing himself to concentrate on the ordinary problems of the town. Somewhere beyond the walls of his office, the world was changing again, and Bastijn knew there was nothing he could do to stop it.
For now, however, the people of the town still believed that their police chief was doing his job.
Perhaps that was enough.