Willus Zorach

Willus Zorach was an officer of the World Police and heir to the Zorach Family legacy. After losing his chance to become the comissioner, he continued his police work as an investigator for the International Works Department. Having slain Fifth Pierrot, Willus later investigated a series of murders in Rolled allegedly committed by the notorious assassin.

Early Life
Born in the facility deep beneath Castle Hedgehog sometime during the sixth century EC, Willus was raised in the underground facility as a member of the Zorach Family, taught about the family history and the duty of each family head to live in the underground facility and safeguard the Freezis devices along with the other Leviantan relics left by the gods until receiving the deities' message; when he was old enough, Willus attended proper schooling outside on the Marlon surface.

At some point, Willus' parents told him the Freezis Fairy Tale of a hunter who saved a trapped bird and was then led to a feast within the forest. After hearing that the hunter returned home to discover centuries had past before rapidly aging to death in an instant, his parents warned that the birds' seeming generosity was actually vengeance against the hunter. After the death of his father, the young Willus was made the new heir to the Zorachs to succeed the current family head, his grandfather; during his life in the cold underground, Willus saw an old woman named Angela occasionally visit and drink tea with his grandfather.

Seeker of Justice
"For a period of time, you have been an excellent man and a candidate for becoming the World Police's head, correct? But your candidacy was removed by force. Now you're wasting away as merely an investigator for Justea."

- Bruno Marlon to Willus

After finishing his schooling outside, Willus joined the World Police and made a family of his own, moving into a home in Marlon; afterwards, he continued visiting his grandfather in the underground facility. Over the years, Willus helped solve numerous cases, becoming a highly commended officer. During one of his visits to his grandfather, the officer saw the broken revolver among the relics in one corner of the facility. Asking if he could try repairing the weapon for himself, his grandfather abided, noting it could do good if he didn't misuse it. Agreeing to only use it against the wicked, Willus repaired the gun and began using it for his police work.

Willus was eventually nominated to potentially become the international organization's new comissioner. He was later disgraced and forcibly removed from the candidacy, becoming an investigator for the International Works Department. Continuing to solve numerous cases for Justea, Willus became the department's ace investigator. At some point, he taught fellow investigator Heidemarie Lorre how to create his unique weapon, learning she fashioned a similar revolver based on the design. In EC 607, Willus cornered the infamous Fifth Pierrot, shooting and killing the of Père Noël assassin. As time went on, Willus prayed his grandfather would stay alive so he could enjoy his life outside more before having to take up the family duty.

Rolled Murders
"This is of course just my personal conjecture for now. But if the culprit's a member of Père Noël, it's hard to imagine he'd murder without purpose. As far as I know, Père Noël's always committed crimes with some benefit to them."

- Willus regarding the Rolled Murders

In early EC 610, Chief Hob Homer assigned Willus as the overseer for their newest Justea investigator, Ayn Anchor, to help investigate the recent serial killings in Rolled claimed to be perpetrated by Fifth Pierrot; the two then studied the eight confirmed victims starting with the merchant Ton Corpa before murdering random prostitutes. After arriving in Rolled in the early morning of January 4, the two investigators checked into a local inn and Willus fell asleep there.

When he awoke later on, the investigator heavily drank before learning there was another murder on 28th Block, heading straight for the scene. Staggering over to Ayn and the other officer investigating the boy, the pained Willus cried out that he gave up, admitting he wasn't entirely sober. When his junior partner asked if he was intoxicated, he struggled to deny it, claiming it was only seasickness and that he knew he'd never get used to a ship. Complaining about his head spinning, Ayn tersely begged him not to vomit.

The wasted investigator then finally began centering himself, fixing up his hair while noting his partner looked fine. Ayn lectured that he should be firm as his overseer and Willus brushed off Hob's words, claiming he wouldn't be monitoring him since Justea lacked an actual hierarchy. When his junior officer insisted he help investigate then, Willus explained that was why he came before complaining about how awful he felt again. Putting a hand to his mouth, the ace investigator crouched to examine the body, seeing the stab wound in the chest.

Impressed with the killer's finesse, Willus noted she was seemingly killed with little resistance. When Ayn pointed out her clothes were torn, Willus answered that that was a result of her fleeing, explaining that most criminals don't fight them. After suggesting the killer simply caught and jabbed her in the chest, Willus heard Ayn ask why and he questioned him wondering why a criminal was only targeting prostitutes before admitting the first victim was a merchant.

After hearing Ayn deduce it couldn't be robbery since nothing was stolen and suggest the killer's motive was a grudge against prostitutes or simply wanting easy targets, Willus interrupted that they were good leads but that the bodies looked too clean, touching the corpse. When Ayn asked if there was any other possibly motive, Willus suggested that the killer was looking for someone but only knew they were a prostitute; as he speculated that the killer may have learned that information from his first victim Ton Corpa, Ayn inferred that he didn't learn her name or location before Willus continued that he was therefore thoroughly searching through all the local prostitutes.

When Ayn criticized the killer's method for searching as inefficient, Willus noted he wasn't even trying to hide the bodies but instead leaving them out in the open for them to find. The ace investigator then reasoned that the perpetrator was either a simple pleasure killer or causing a commotion to distract them while he searched for his true target. Afterward, Willus admitted it was only him speculating before noting that he couldn't imagine a Père Noël member killing aimlessly given the organization's history.

Willus then remarked they had to start looking for clues and noted there was a common thread all the prostitute victims shared: their ages ranging between mid-twenties and early thirties. Deducing that was the age range of the woman the killer was looking for, Willus stated they should look for suspicious prostitutes meeting that criteria. When the young investigator questioned them searching for their culprit's target instead of the actual culprit, Willus pointed out that the local officers failed to produce any results searching for the criminal and that finding the target was the best decision. Ayn finally abided and said he'd check all the local brothels.

Over the next few months, Willus and Ayn eventually visited the brothel on Seventh block and met with its owner; there, they learned of a woman named Isabel Ismael, whose past before becoming a prostitute a year prior was unknown. Determining Isabel was a potential lead, the two planned to interview her before abruptly learning that she had passed away. After getting access to the woman's corpse, Willus investigated and confirmed with the doctor that she apparently died of Gula. Afterward, the lack of new victims cropping up in the city caused the trail to grow cold.

New Lead
"You think this's the chief's real intentions?""... The guy's got weak authority. But he also believes in justice more than anyone else. I remember how infuriated he was at Bruno during the Toragay case." "Yeah, that's true. So this is the chief's encouragement we have here. "The enemy's finally sent a challenge, here's a game for you!"... right?"

- Willus and Ayn

On May 17, Willus received a letter from Chief Hob ordering them to drop the investigation and return to headquarters immediately; he also received a letter from Investigator Qyoichi revealing Freezis Foundation Vice President Bruno Marlon was meeting with political leaders in Lucifenia the following week. While looking over the investigation papers at their inn room later on, the senior officer rebuked Ayn for sighing at their lack of success, offering him a glass while holding the wine bottle to him. He then listened as the junior investigator poured and drank some of the white wine while bemoaning their investigation hitting a dead end, off-handedly agreeing that their culprit slipped away.

When asked about Yuzette's body, Willus told Ayn that the doctor had declared her dead of disease, elaborating that it was Gula. Ayn asked in disbelief if there was anyone who still died of that in their day and age and Willus speculated she might have hated doctors or medicine in general. While Ayn questioned if Isabel could have been the culprit, insisting that some women were very strong, Willus suggested to him that Isabel was the culprit's target and that his objective was now achieved, with Ayn musing that if there were to be no more murders then that was good.

Willus replied that it wasn't good when the culprit had yet to face justice and continued to drink. When Ayn pointed out that Fifth Pierrot should have been shot dead by Willus three years ago while gesturing to his holstered gun, Willus teased it wouldn't be easy for such a small gun to make the shot. Ayn told him not to play dumb and that he'd seen it before. Inferring the investigator referred to Heidemarie, Willus clarified he only taught her the basic mechanics of the model and that hers shot flashes as well as regular lead bullets.

When Ayn mused that "Fifth Pierrot" returned despite his apparent death, the investigator quickly noted that it was someone else who had taken the name, noting the new killer using knives as a murder weapon compared to the previous one's use of them as diversions. After Ayn recalled not finding any knives in Isabel's room, Willus announced they had good news and tossed Hob's letter onto the table before him, confirming it was the chief's signature. Once Ayn questioned how that was good news, Willus explained that the timing indicated he was being pressured and Ayn deduced it was the work of Bruno.

Ayn put down the letter and Willus pointed at the signature, asking his partner if he believed that was the chief's true intentions. After the junior officer related that Hob was weak-willed but still a huge believer in justice, infuriated by Bruno's meddling in the Toragay Mysterious Epidemic Disturbance case, Willus insisted that the letter was Hob encouraging them to answer the enemy's challenge. As Ayn mused about that being the truth, Willus claimed he had proof before presenting Qyoichi's letter to him.

Willus then told Ayn about their fellow investigator's results and questioned how the parallel events sounded to him. Once the Netsuma deduced Bruno was getting them out of the way of his meeting in Lucifenia, Willus related that they were given the opportunity to catch Bruno, Fifth Pierrot, and even their leader in Père Noël. he then suggested they investigate a little more for evidence and head to Isabel's brothel. When Ayn asked what to do about the termination order, his partner strongly put down the wine bottle on the table and tersely said they'd ignore it.

Peering into the Past
Around 3:00 PM that day, Willus and Ayn visited the brothel where Isabel died and met with the brothel owner again hoping to get information of out of her, but were told that she didn't look into the past of her prostitutes. Willus then requested to examine Isabel’s belongings and got the owner’s permission.

After he and Ayn were lead to Isabel's personal effects in storage, they found a crystal ball and Ayn wondered if Isabel did fortune telling. Willus remarked that while it could be true, the ball was just a regular glass ornament, commenting that she liked making things. He then said that he had possibly found her customer list, making Ayn questioned her expressly writing such things. After examining all her belongings and finding no weapon, the young officer snapped at Willus to stop looking through her documents unless she had a bunch of papers on the people who'd been killed.

Debating with the investigator briefly, Willus then noted one of her belongings was strange and directed Ayn to a vial filled with powder. After Ayn noted there was medicine, Willus remarked that it seemed to be for a fever, with Gula disease medicine also available for purchase at a pharmacy. Ayn asked if this related to the incident and he said it didn't currently. After Willus found another customer list, Ayn pointed out he already had Isabel's list but he replied that the new one was much older.

Looking at the papers, they discovered that they contained women's names as well as men's, with arrows between names, and found one for Kaidor Blankenheim and Bruno Marlon. Musing that Bruno had been a customer, Willus said that Isabel's line of work could have been much different in the past and instead speculated that Bruno was an old business partner.

Willus then asked Ayn if Kaidor was the old Marquis that had passed away and was told that he was actually Kaspar's uncle rather than Kaspar’s father, who fled over twenty years ago after killing his wife. After studying the list, Willus instructed Ayn to investigate Kaidor Blankenheim in Elphegort while he would investigate Bruno in Marlon, simultaneously pretending to abandon the case. As Ayn acquiesced in the decision, hesitating to leave Fifth Pierrot, he stated that the two cases were related. Willus told Ayn to meet again in Rolled at May 23, and the officer departed to investigate Bruno.

During his investigation, Willus discovered that Bruno had been secretly sending his subordinates to Maistia, the development of which is currently under the jurisdiction of Freezis Foundation’s VIce President Nob Nicole. He also found out that Bruno had been frequenting the site of the black market which Nob was trying to eradicate. Having the evidence that Bruno perceived Nob’s presence as a disruption to his power in Maistia as well as a threat to the black market, Willus concluded that Bruno would soon attempt an assassination of his co-vice president.

Willus then rejoined Ayn in Rolled and the two compared the results of their investigation, the latter having found out that Kaidor had had his face changed to that of Bruno Marlon by Yuzette and he had a tattoo on his back which would identify him despite his changed face. With their case against Bruno Marlon established, the two hurried to confront the corrupt official during a meeting between the Freezis Foundation and Lucifenian government.

The Unmasking
Rushing to the Lucifenian Palace, Willus and Ayn intruded and found everyone outside the meeting room except for President Julia Abelard, Nob Nicole, and Bruno Marlon. Realizing that the assassination was soon to take place, the two argued their way inside and burst in on the remaining three. Willus then explained to the group the results of their investigation and the attempt that Bruno was making on his colleague's life.

When Willus was brought to a standstill by Bruno on his evidence, he indicated Ayn to speak and the officer came forward, noting Bruno’s previous accident coincided with Kaidor’s disappearance and pointing at the names on Yuzette’s customer list, suggesting all evidence pointing to Bruno being Kaidor before the face change. Willus listened as Ayn continued on to describe Kaidor's tattoo on his back and asked the vice president to remove his shirt.

As Bruno refused to comply, eventually Ayn and Willus both affirmed his identity as Kaidor Blankenheim and had the fugitive arrested. After obtaining his testimony, the two had him incarcerated to be interrogated at Castle Hedgehog.

After some time passed and Kaidor refused under torture to leak any more information about Père Noël, eventually assassinated by an unknown assailant, Willus and Ayn lost any lead in their case. While the World Police assumed the murderer was Fifth Pierrot, Willus and Ayn believed otherwise since the killing method and weapon were different than his previous murders. Also not excluding the possibility that the criminal had changed his modus operandi, Willus had conducted a new investigation into the assassination.

Completing the Family Duty
"Willus. The time our family finished its role has finally come. There has been a revelation from God. Terminate the Freezises, he says." "... Did he happen to say which Freezises, Grandfather? The family already on the ground or―" "Of course, the Freezises for us are those."

- Willus and his Grandfather

On January 30, EC 611, Willus went to visit his grandfather at the facility, relieved to see the man still looking lively. He then told his grandson their time to fulfill the family duty had finally come, revealing he received a "divine revelation" for them to terminate the Freezises. Willus then questioned which Freezises the god had referred to and the old man clarified he obviously referred to the devices rather than the family, pointing at the machines. Knowing it would save him from spending the rest of his days underground, Willus agreed to the arrangement without further questions.

Once the family head shut down the devices and killed the babies inside, Willus heard him assert that they wouldn't be able to return again and advised his grandchild to take whatever he needed. Willus answered he only needed his gun while displaying the relic to the old man before asking for specifics about the facility's fate. Once his grandfather explained that it would sink into the lava below and be immolated, Willus inquired where he was heading afterward. As Willus offered to have him live with him and his family, the old Zorach declined, citing he didn't want to intrude on his family, and related his plans to live with Angela.

Willus recalled the woman and his grandfather immediately revealed his plans to marry her. When the shocked Willus asked when that occurred, the old man laughed and admitted the revelation was a burden off his shoulders too, noting he could finally enjoy the rest of his life. Willus asked if he could still visit him every so often and the old man confirmed he could. Afterwards, the two exited the facility and headed above ground. Once they exited the castle tower, the Zorach elder met up with Angela and the lovers departed together. After watching them leave, Willus looked up to the sky and questioned if there was such a thing as "God".

Meeting a Hero
"She's gone completely looney." "What about, what about? Perhaps she's speaking the truth."

- Ayn and Willus regarding Germaine Avadonia

In early February, Willus and Ayn received a report that former President Julia had been found and arrested at Merrigod Plateau, claiming she was the "hero of the revolution" and many other strange things. Traveling to the Elphegortean detention center where she was being held, the senior Justea officer confirmed the doctor's diagnosis that the woman was rapidly aging and would die in a few months. Afterward, Ayn and Willus entered Julia's cell to find the old woman inside. When Ayn asked for her name, "Julia" replied that she was Germaine Avadonia.

As Ayn tried to correct her, Willus interrupted and accepted the woman's claim. He then pointed out the current year was over a century since she was last confirmed sighted and questioned what had happened to her during the time since then. The two then silently listened to Germaine explain that she had begun losing her sense of self after battling a mage on the Lucifenian coastline before blacking out while fighting Neo Apocalypse with her comrade, waking up in a cave before being arrested.

After hearing the woman speculate she was possessed by the mage and leaving the room, Ayn whispered to Willus that she was insane and he countered that she might've been speaking the truth.Shocked, the Netsuma asked what he was saying and Willus shared the Freezis Fairy Tale of the hunter who saved the trapped bird and ended up removed from his own time. When Ayn scoffed that it was a ridiculous tale, Willus noted his parents' saying it was the bird's vengeance. The junior officer then asked if he was suggesting the same happened to Julia and Willus considered the possibility, revealing the doctor's diagnosis.

Once Ayn finally admitted that it was too late to ask her about any of her crimes regardless, Willus assured him that Père Noël was at the very least crippled, if not destroyed, and that they might as well take their time and lend the former President of Lucifenia a hand. When Germaine requested she be transferred to Lucifenia, Willus and Ayn signed the necessary documents permitting her work, assigning Ayn as her companion during outings for surveillance.

Personality and Traits
Wlllus is a righteous police officer who devoted his life to working in the World Police as a Justea Investigator. He held firm belief in justice and was determined to pursue the criminals until justice was served. Although capable of doing significant things, he was a humble person, often playing down his own accomplishments.

As a member of the Zorach family, he was a responsible individual, getting mentally ready to fulfill his family’s duty to look after of the underground Freezis facility, although he later also felt alleviated at the realization that he were free from it. He was also a caring grandson, paying visit to his grandfather from time to time despite his hectic job, and offering the old man to join his family after the elder was relieved of his responsibility.

Willus was also a heavy drinker, often seeking to alcohol, even when he was carrying out an investigation. Despite his drinking habit, his job wasn’t seriously hindered by it.

Skills and Abilities
Willus was a smart and adept police officer, possessing numerous vital skills in investigation. He was experienced in examining bodies to discover any trace of the culprit left in the murder. He was also paying close attention to details, detecting suspicious objects when searching the victim’s belongings for clues.

With his grim determination of not letting the culprit get away with his crime, Willus had a great sense of reasoning and deduction, able to recognize important clues and formulate accurate theories by piecing together the few information at hand.

He was also an skilled gun user, being the one to eventually take the life of the former Fifth Pierrot, who was known to have successfully fled from the police’s pursuit many times. Willus was also capable of repairing a broken gun, a relic with the technology from the Second Period, and later taught the techniques to Heidemarie to make her own.

Character Connections
Ayn Anchor: Willus' partner in the second Fifth Pierrot investigation. Willus found Ayn to be a reliable and trustworthy coworker, although not sharing with him his secrets from his private life unless pried into. During the course of their investigation and afterwards, the two had an efficient working relationship, with Willus occasionally guiding Ayn towards the right course of thought.

Zorach (grandfather): Willus's grandfather. Willus had a cordial relationship with the man as family, and often visited him for both company and to prepare to take charge of his family legacy; as part of this, he also was willing to go along with his orders even if they seemed unbelievable. Despite this closeness, he wasn't aware of other aspects of the man's personal life.

Appearances

 * Deadly Sins of Evil: Fifth Pierrot (first appearance)
 * Pierrot & SCP Bonus Story