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~~((National Rescue Dog Day - page 6 of 20))~~
Hopefully, this peacekeeping effort wouldn't turn out to be Sai-hee's doing, but that would at least make more sense to Evangelina than all this strength being concentrated into the hands of the locals.

"Could you please present your passports and accompanying documentation to me?" said Officer Brand. He even gave them a smile--a pearly white one, no less.

Ah. Their papers had already been checked and double-checked at the port, so there was no reason to expect them to suddenly fail here. Diego moved to retrieve the items in question from a briefcase in the car.

While they waited, Evangelina eyed this Officer Brand up and down.

Quite well-built. And handsome, in that youthful way. There was almost no chance that he was as young as he appeared, though.

Evangelina couldn't sense any kind of overwhelming soul power from him, but that didn't mean anything conclusive. The Lord Goffe never exhibited such oppressive pressure, either, and he was obviously very dangerous in a fight.

Plus, there was just something about this man, something about the way he carried himself. Calm, yet attentive. Speaking clearly and with confidence.

She wondered if all members of the RPMP were like this. If so, what kind of training did they receive?

Documents in hand, Brand took a moment to look them over, and his reaper joined him.

"Excellent. Thank you." The policeman offered them back to Diego, who returned them to the car. Brand regarded his small audience again with his bright blue eyes. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience. You see, the people who were just hassling you are on an active watchlist, of sorts."

Melchor was the first to respond. "You were observing that encounter? From where, exactly?"

"That, I cannot say," said Brand. "I can, however, offer an apology for not stepping in immediately. Things are a bit tense in Ridgemark, at the moment. I have orders to only intervene directly when a situation escalates to violence."