[ArchmageXin]

You have a point here, though most teenage Butei don't handle serious crime. Our protagonists are exceptions.

Depend on what you define as "serious" I think any crime you need a gun to stop constitute "serious". Especially in Japan with a conservative weapon code.

Butei aren't allowed to commit crimes, if they do, they get three times the punishment of normal people.

Like that matter with a clearly loose code of crime punishment. Like I don't know, BOMB an Air Plane? And at least three near murders if not outright murders? (Remember Riko gunned down at least a bus driver and airline pilots)

Plus, calling them mercenaries is a bit misleading. They're more like private investigators, bounty hunters, private security, etc given police powers and connected to the government.

Which has a host of problems to its own from an law enforcement point of view. Again, it come back to "what the heck the world is going when 14 years old girls are sent against the Triad/Mafia" <---See Aria back story.

Eh, that's typical romcom slapstick comedy.

I think it can be done better than reckless gunfire. But then, this isn't a world that make sense.

First, Riko and Jeanne are underaged, so they probably got some consideration for that. Riko at least never killed anyone, though I don't know about Jeanne. Second, they were giving info on an extremely dangerous terrorist organiztion. In real life, countries have been known to release real terrorists in exchange for prisoners, so it's not that odd.

Also, Riko claim she never killed anyone, but as I point out above, she put a lot of people's live in danger, including mortally wounding a bus driver with drive by machine gun fire.

In real life, mobsters like that would been thrown into jail, and PLEA bargain doesn't work this way. It is meant for the state to save money on a really difficult case/lack of evidence, it is usually an reduction of sentence, not complete cart-blanche to walk away, and Riko's crimes are way to high for any law enforcement to let her WALK and go to class.

What you are thinking of is "Granting immunity", again, whatever Riko/Jeanne could provide didn't offer enough even let Aria's Mom to get out. It is dubious at best.

You do realize that the organization that framed her is so top secret that telling people about it is a crime? Not much normal police can do about that.

The same organization that got taken apart in like...a book later? And a secret organization that don't even appear to work together, the police must be down right stupid. It would had been more plausible if I-U was actually bribing the law enforcement rather than "we are so powerful the police afraid of us."

Police still exist, we just don't see them much since our protag has little to do with them.

Clearly police exist enough that we don't need high school gunmen...oh wait.