Chapter Fourteen: The Attributes of a Police Officer

“This is Deputy Chief Zihara, and this is Deputy Chief Aikawa... As for this one, I need not introduce him anymore, right? Our legendary hero of the police force, Chief Shiraishi!” Ebiwara began introducing everyone to each other.

“Chief!” Both Zihara and Aikawa saluted respectfully.

Zihara appeared as a middle-aged man with a shaved head and a burly build... Well, if Shiraishi weren’t here, among the other three, he would definitely stand out as notably imposing. Coupled with his bald head, he looked somewhat fierce, but since Shiraishi was present, Zihara’s bulkiness paled in comparison.

Shiraishi had previously reviewed some information about him from Iwata. Deputy Chief Zihara Tora was a rare “non-career” police inspector—which was unusual since the ceiling for most non-career officers was the rank of chief inspector; achieving inspector was theoretically possible but practically required transitioning to the “quasi-career” track.

After all, inspectors rarely had on-site opportunities and were typically assigned to management roles.

The “non-career” officers, no matter how capable, were primarily meant for frontline duties!

However, there were always exceptions, like Zihara Tora... He originally came from the riot police and, having performed great feats, he managed to break through the limitations of the non-career track and ascend to a senior police officer.

That was already the limit.

No further advancement was possible.

He was now content with his work since Zihara Tora was more muscle than mind; his current duties mainly involved overseeing daily training. His title of deputy chief was purely an honorific reward.

Aikawa Gin, on the other hand, sported a full head of silver hair. Though younger than the chief, he was already 58 years old, with only a year and a half left before retirement. His weathered face told the story of a seasoned veteran policeman. Coming from the quasi-career track, Aikawa handled the typical responsibilities of a deputy chief.

In this respect, Shiraishi was quite satisfied with the Mioka Police Station—there was no friction with the deputy chiefs despite his own “parachuted” appointment.

Neither of these two seemed to expect much chance of promotion.

At the very moment the two saluted Shiraishi, he also observed their “attributes”!

[Zihara Tora (Deputy Chief of Mioka Station):
Age: 46.
Overall Rating: SR.
Mind: Justice (75), Principle (79), Gentleness (40), Subjectivity (31), Passion (65), Tenacity (67).
Body: Exceptionally healthy, exceptionally strong, bald...
Skills: Combat (SR), Restraint (SR), Driving (R)...
Potential: Difficult to improve in all areas.]

[Aikawa Gin (Deputy Chief of Mioka Station):
Age: 58.
Overall Rating: SR.
Mind: Justice (77), Principle (61), Gentleness (77), Subjectivity (50), Passion (42), Tenacity (60).
Body: Suboptimal health, aging, physically drained...
Skills: Interrogation (SR), Finance (SR), Reasoning (R)...
Potential: Difficult to improve in all areas.]

Shiraishi could see the attributes of the two deputy chiefs in the office, but since the old chief was not a subordinate, he was outside the scope of his inquiry.

He also noticed that the two deputy chiefs’ ratings were quite good—even if the exact meaning of the “mind” attributes was somewhat vague, and the “body” category was unclear, the overall ratings were clear: both were ranked SR.

But their skills showed stark differences.

The skills listed seemed to include all abilities rated N or higher.

Zihara Tora’s most prominent skills were Combat and Restraint, perfectly matching his profile...

By contrast, Aikawa Gin was evidently the more suitable deputy chief, possessing excellent frontline officer skills such as Interrogation and decent Reasoning. More importantly, he was proficient in administrative Finance and other managerial capacities.

Setting aside the “body” aspects for the moment...

Regarding the “mind” category, from Shiraishi’s six years of police experience, he vaguely understood that these seemingly positive traits were not necessarily better the higher the numbers!

The system’s display indirectly confirmed this...

For skills, ratings like SR were clearly superior to R, but the “mind” scores were just numbers without an explicit indication that higher was always better.

The exact standards remained to be verified...

Shiraishi couldn’t see his own values because the “mind” attribute was more about personality inclinations, and “point allocation” could not alter one’s character. The interface for viewing subordinates differed from that for himself.

Moreover, Shiraishi was unable to assign points to others; he could only view ratings.

Development likely relied on assigning tasks to cultivate their abilities.

However...

With one deputy chief nearing retirement and the other still middle-aged but primarily strong in physical traits, neither showed much potential for growth.

Of course, having learned about his system, Shiraishi understood this didn’t mean the two deputy chiefs were truly incapable of progress; it only meant that with his current Insight and Spirit stats, he couldn’t detect any hidden potential.

He even suspected that the “body” readings he saw were influenced by his medical and psychological expertise, not a guarantee of perceiving every physical condition.

After all, this was a scientific world, and the system adhered to basic scientific principles.

Everything he observed was filtered through his own perception, naturally limited by his own abilities.

That said, since developing subordinates yielded “points,” cultivating young talent was Shiraishi’s paramount priority, rather than focusing on uncovering secret potential in the two aging deputies.

At this moment, Shiraishi’s heart was light, as any frustration from being reassigned had completely dissipated.

If he had truly transferred to the police headquarters, he would certainly be desk-bound, managing tasks even as a department chief, without the chance to lead hundreds of officers.

In a way, as a Police Inspector, being assigned to a large station was the best choice for accumulating “training” points.

Of course, Shiraishi had not forgotten his original method of gaining points!

After mastering new skills, passing qualification exams or achieving accomplishments could also earn points...

He wasn’t yet focusing on qualification exams, but he was preparing to pass the bar exam—having already reviewed most of it during his hospital stay.

It wasn’t that Shiraishi truly wanted to become a lawyer; rather, the exam was notoriously difficult, and with his experience, the harder the exam, the greater the reward upon passing!

As for achievements...

“Senior Ebiwara, are there any thorny issues currently at the station? While you’re still here, I want to push myself hard so I won’t be flustered when facing them alone later!” Shiraishi said politely.

Indeed, with his experience, resolving some long-standing problems or backlog cases at this time would surely yield achievement points.

Of course, Shiraishi wouldn’t brazenly claim he could solve problems the old chief couldn’t.

Though Shiraishi appeared burly, he was far from impolite.

Ebiwara understood Shiraishi’s intent and smiled before replying, “Young people are really something—full of drive! Unlike us old timers...

“As for thorny issues... well, nothing too urgent, but there are indeed three matters giving me headaches... Haha, I’ve been troubled by them for a long time, and now, Chief Shiraishi, it’s your turn to worry!”

It was clear that Ebiwara, who was about to retire, was in excellent spirits.