B: The Beginning

Take wing and gather,

as the festival of stars is nigh.

You're amazing. You know that?

Just the rookie we've been hoping for.

Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't know that.

- -

-Eh? - She dead?

- -

Nope, still alive and kickin'.

In that case, hurry up, and get started!

Right.

Guess it's time for us to clean our kill.

- -

Huh? Henry! Richard!

What?

KINGDOM OF CREMONA, OLD TOWN

- -

MATSUMOTO PANETTERIA

Hey! Want some freshly baked buns?

Oh, crap! Oh, crap! Oh, crap!

-I'm so late! -Oh, there you are.

-Good morning, Lily. -Morning, Koku!

-I bought some buns. Would you-- -Sorry! Running late!

Maybe some other time, 'kay?!

But they're freshly baked, warm, sweet red-bean buns.

Hey, Mom, I left without my I.D.!

-You seen it?! - You'd lose your head

if it wasn't attached to your shoulders!

This is one-oh-five.

We've located a homeless man's tent off the forest road.

One-twelve here. Multiple blood stains

found in the parking lot. I'll leave them for CSI.

Good morning, ma'am!

Shush! Jeez.

Good morning. How are things going?

Well, decided to show up?

Oh, yeah. Sorry about that.

Oh, you want a red-bean bun?

Freshly baked!

Eating at a crime scene?

That's bold of you.

So are the victims more-- You know?

The victims had been linked

to multiple murders in our jurisdiction.

We'd pegged them as serial killers

and were about to make our move...

but before we could so much as get an arrest warrant,

our misguided friend took matters into their own hands.

"Killer B."

I'm sorry, sir. This area--

Buzz off. It's fine. Shoo. You're in my way.

-I insist-- -Huh?

Hold it! Who the heck is that?!

Uh, he said he's R.I.S.

Well he's not, and you know you can't let civilians in here.

-Hmm. Hmm? - Excuse me.

I need your attention.

For the time being, this area is off-limits

to anyone that's not authorized personnel.

All right, mister, have you had one too many this morning?

I'm telling you civilians aren't allowed in this are--

Ah! Ha ha!

Is that you, Genie? Hot damn!

It's been far too long.

"Genie"?

Eric and Jean have been dying to see that grungy face of yours.

You should visit them.

Huh?

Hey there.

ROYAL POLICE, COASTAL BRANCH

All right, people, that pretty much covers

the intel we've collected so far,

but there's still another matter...

Holy shit. I can't believe it's really him, Mario.

It's Keith Flick.

Eh, he's just a has-been,

flew the coop over ten years ago.

Hey, Eric, I got everything ready to go.

Good. Before we begin the briefing,

please allow me to introduce someone.

Direct your attention to your two o'clock.

The man standing beside Jean is Keith Flick.

He's rejoined our unit from the Archives Division.

Everyone, give him a warm welcome.

Okay, Kaela, begin.

Early this morning,

several bodies were found in the forest.

We've I.D.ed the dead

as the Crouse Brothers, Henry and Richard.

Both were killed with a sharp bladed weapon.

The other victim was a woman who'd been badly injured.

We took her to the hospital for medical treatment.

We've confirmed she was abducted, held prisoner,

and raped by the Crouse Brothers

along with their younger brother, Julian.

Another psychopath.

Speaking of whom,

Julian's whereabouts are still unknown.

Kill him. Kill him.

I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna kill his ass!

- -

Kill him dead. Kill him dead...

if it's the last thing I do.

I can arrange that for you.

However there's just one condition.

You have to help me with a little something.

Now, then, the first order of business

is finding out who killed these criminals.

This'll be the primary focus of the R.I.S.

Commonly known as "Killer B," this is the lead suspect

that we will be pursuing from here on out.

-His victims have been... -Bastard!

I wish they'd called him

"The lousy, good-for-nothing, scumbag killer."

Are the lame insults really necessary?

We hold strong the belief that in the past few years

he's been involved in 15 killings.

Mario, go ahead, and present your report.

We've discussed this before, but since we have a newcomer,

I'll go over it again from the top.

A single blow from an extremely sharp blade

was the method of slaughter.

No defensive wounds were found,

which means our perp quietly stalks his victims

and slices them up before they can cry out.

Whoever this guy is, he's a pro.

Hmm?

Brandon, do you have a profile?

Well, I've been working on it nonstop from various angles,

but without any keywords to narrow it down,

there's just no way to make it any more accurate.

How about the mark?

Kaela, you mind tossing it on the screen for us?

One sec.

There are countless numbers of similar marks.

-It's just an ordinary "B." - Wow.

All this crap is hurting my eyes.

So this guy's even got fan sites?

I guess he's real popular.

There's more if you want to see 'em.

- - Keith...

Eh?!

looking at this,

does anything strange jump out at you?

You fell asleep.

Kaela, bring up those other images.

Sure. Would you like all of 'em?

Just don't hurt Boris' sensitive eyes.

No promises.

Hmm.

ARMY TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT DIVISION, SECRET TRANSPORT

What the hell is going on?!

COASTAL BRANCH, FORENSICS LAB

-Yes, you're right. -

You sure got old.

Genie.

There aren't any ashtrays around here.

Everywhere's no-smoking now,

which works since I quit some time ago.

Still bitter. Some things never change.

Then don't drink it.

Hmm.

It's the anniversary of her death.

-Time sure flies by. -Hmm.

I see that you're already hard at work,

but if you ever want bitter coffee, drop by anytime.

Sure.

Oh, almost forgot.

Hmm.

Could he tell that I was lying?

Requesting for army and municipal police assistance!

There's someone attacking an army convoy.

They've stolen an I.F.V. and are currently fleeing

toward the capital on the Aqua Line.

The royal family has declared martial law

and say we are to obey General Bern's orders...

-Now what's going on? -until further notice.

Is this a revolution?

I want everybody out there immediately!

Mario, take command on the scene!

- Roger! -Brandon, you're our liaison

-with the local cops. -Got it.

Boris, you're with the army.

Also, I'd you to oversee our unit placement.

You want me to do what?!

Please, do it.

All right, fine.

-Keith. -What?