Chapter 278: Playing with Feelings (2)
Before my Regression, ‘Master’ had been the Revolutionary forces’ chief financier. The Revolutionary forces’ Dieter Schmidt—that would be exactly the right way to describe him.
Despite having contributed enormously to the Revolutionary forces, he did not join the New Cabinet after the fall of the Empire.
Rumors abounded. Some said he had died during the war, others that he had become a fabulously wealthy man beyond anyone’s reach, while still others claimed he had settled on some island to live out the rest of his days.
One thing, however, was certain. If he were killed, the Revolutionary forces would be weakened.
The Ezenheim were obsessed with digging tunnels, and digging required money.
That meant even the Aberrations hiding within human society were just as tightly bound by that monster called ‘money’…….
***
──Tap. Patter-patter.
At Georgen’s Northern Branch, Chief Inspector Gewin stood watching raindrops slide down the window.
“Chief Inspector Gewin?”
Suddenly, Chief Inspector Borch called to him.
He had supposedly been out searching until just now. Yet Borch was already spotless, as though he had changed clothes at some point.
“There’s something I’d like to speak with you about for a moment. Sergeant Paul, by any chance…….”
“He’s probably on his way back. He went to see Ms. Yvette off.”
“Ah, that’s a relief.”
Borch shook his head.
“It was quite the mess.”
As Borch smiled and clasped his hands behind his back, Gewin asked.
“What’s the situation on your end?”
“Five dead, and Sergeant Elmer took a hit in a very unfortunate place. He’s in surgery.”
“A very unfortunate place…… don’t tell me?”
“Ah, his thigh. More importantly, there’s something else we need to discuss right now. One moment.”
Borch led Gewin to a corner of the corridor.
“There aren’t any listening devices up here in the North because of budget constraints, so you don’t need to worry.”
Then he glanced around cautiously.
“Chief Inspector Gewin. We recovered some information from Master.”
“From Master?”
“Yes. We found both circumstantial and physical evidence suggesting there’s a spy inside Georgen Central……. Paul. Sergeant Paul, I mean.”
Gewin’s eyebrow twitched.
“Did you notice him acting suspiciously?”
“No. He…….”
Suddenly, memories of Paul on the train came back to him. The times his own partner had broken their promise and disappeared for long stretches.
Borch smiled.
“Looks like you did.”
“……He helped me eliminate Revolutionary forces operatives.”
“That doesn’t mean much. If it meant avoiding exposure, he could kill anyone.”
“That’s still just suspicion.”
“……No. Actually, it isn’t.”
Just then, an agent from the Northern Branch approached and reported that Sergeant Paul had returned.
Borch said.
“Chief Inspector Gewin. We in the North intend to do our job. Could I ask for your cooperation?”
“……Before that, I’ll speak with Paul myself.”
Gewin spotted Paul entering the Northern Branch.
“Paul!”
He beckoned to Paul as he approached.
“Yes, Chief Inspector.”
“Come with me.”
He took Paul back outside and, beneath the eaves, whispered a few things to him.
He repeated exactly what Borch had just been spouting.
“……Is it true?”
“No. Of course not.”
“You can’t just say ‘no’ and think that’s the end of it!”
Gewin snapped at him as though trying to scare him, but Paul merely smiled calmly.
“It’s all right. I have some connections.”
“Connections? This isn’t the kind of thing connections can solve…… though maybe they can. If you’ve got some, call them right now. Who are they?”
“No. That would make things a little too noisy. When the time comes, they’ll come help me on their own.”
He was far too relaxed. Gewin’s face twisted into a scowl.
“What the hell are you talking about? This is the North. It isn’t like Central.”
Paul merely smiled.
If things got too noisy, or word spread that a Knight was coming, Yvette and the others might go back into hiding.
Tsk—!
The sharp click of a tongue.
It was Chief Inspector Borch.
“Sergeant Paul?”
Paul and Gewin turned toward him.
Behind Borch, armed agents from the Northern Branch were gathering.
“You are under arrest for colluding with the Revolutionary forces and obstructing official duties.”
The men, bundled in thick fur-lined coats, seized Paul by both arms.
“……No, wait. Chief Inspector Borch. What are you doing? He’s from Central-”
Gewin tried to stop them.
“My apologies. The evidence and testimony are simply too conclusive.”
“Testimony?”
“I’ll explain the details later.”
Borch smiled as he glared at Paul.
Paul, on the other hand, said nothing. Was he admitting it? Or was he waiting for those ‘connections’ of his?
“Escort him carefully. He’s a Sergeant from Central, after all.”
Borch jerked his chin.
──Yes, sir!
Those Northern bastards were loud, too.
And just like that, Paul was dragged down into the basement.
“……Chief Inspector Gewin. This is the report.”
Then Borch handed Gewin a sheet of paper.
“It says Chief Inspector Gewin worked closely with Georgen’s Northern Branch and simultaneously apprehended Master and the spy within Georgen……. Something along those lines.”
Capturing a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary forces was an enormous achievement.
For someone like him, who had nothing to his name but his Genealogy Certificate, it was the kind of achievement that could let him aim for the very upper reaches of an organization like Georgen.
“…….”
Gewin was an ordinary man with ordinary ambitions. He prided himself on that. Selling out some rookie he had only just met was something he could easily do.
The problem was.
‘I have connections.’
Those damn words. The ‘connections’ kept bothering him.
Just what kind of connections did Paul have?
“……Please don’t rough him up. He’s still an agent from Central.”
Gewin tucked the report inside his coat and left it at that for the moment. Borch nodded pleasantly.
“I also believe in putting evidence above all else. I don’t just go around beating people.”
With all the rumors Gewin had heard, what bullshit. He let out a hollow laugh at Borch’s shameless expression.
***
……Yvette toured the North with Halbert Goering. The North had quite a few cultural amenities as well.
There were grand theaters and bookstores, warm teahouses, and even street stalls selling hot broth.
“The North has changed quite a lot too.”
They spent several days like that.
They did ‘nothing but’ sightsee.
“It’s all~ thanks to the Empire, you know.”
For now, she was waiting for the right moment, just in case. Someone might still be watching her.
“──We’ll be conducting a brief Genealogy Certificate inspection.”
In the North, however, inspections like this happened constantly while walking down the street.
“Here you are.”
Yvette handed over her Genealogy Certificate with complete confidence.
In truth, she had been born a slave and had never even had her birth registered. If that friend of hers had not altered her Genealogy Certificate, she probably would have been caught here. Before she ever reached ‘Master’…….
The thought of him surfaced unbidden, but Yvette forced it away.
“……The Genealogy Certificate inspections in the North are certainly strict.”
“That can’t be helped in the North. It’s why I don’t come here often.”
Halbert walked with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Ah. Have you heard the news, by any chance?”
“What news?”
“That Georgen fellow…… Sergeant Paul?”
Yvette’s gaze trembled. Halbert stroked his mustache as he muttered.
“I heard about it from Georgen a few days ago. Apparently, that bastard was actually a spy colluding with the Revolutionary forces.”
Yvette stopped dead. Without even realizing it, she froze where she stood.
“I was surprised too. Hah~ good grief. To think those bastards had sunk their claws into Georgen too…….”
She immediately understood what had happened.
‘Paul gave me one of his metal staples.’
‘He made my Genealogy Certificate legitimate, but in doing so, turned his own into a fake.’
“…….”
It felt as though a stone had settled on her chest. Something seemed to be pressing down on her heart from within.
She slowly closed her eyes, steadied herself, then opened them again.
“Sir Halbert……. There’s somewhere I’d like you to go with me.”
“…….”
Halbert’s eyes gleamed.
“You mean that place?”
He pointed toward the only five-star hotel in the North.
“No.”
She pointed in the opposite direction, toward the Northern Concentration Camp [Lacordak], which bordered the harshest mountain range in the region.
“……Why there?”
Halbert asked, bewildered.
“There’s someone I’d like to visit.”
“Uh…… even Georgen agents have trouble getting permission to visit [Lacordak]…….”
Yvette lightly clutched his sleeve.
“Would even you be unable to arrange it, Sir Halbert…….?”
Her wide doe eyes shimmered, round and bright as soap bubbles, and Halbert melted from head to toe.
“Of course I can! Who do you think I am? I’m Halbert of the Goering Family!”
He thumped his chest proudly and took the lead.
***
Chief Inspector Gewin arrived at the hospital where a Sergeant named ‘Elmer’ had been admitted. He wanted to hear the testimony from Elmer himself.
“……You saw the two of them meet?”
“Yes.”
Elmer answered seriously.
He rested a hand on his bandaged thigh and closed his eyes as though recalling that night.
“It was late at night…… near the Salon Car. I only caught a vague glimpse at the time, but the composite sketch made me certain. It was Master’s face.”
In short: Sergeant Paul had wandered around the train late at night, going back and forth between the cargo car and the Salon Car several times, and had held a ‘secret conversation’ with someone believed to be Master.
“…….”
Gewin could say nothing more.
Circumstantial evidence this strong was almost conclusive. Whether it was genuine or fabricated, there was no way Paul could avoid suspicion, and Georgen’s Northern Branch would never let it go.
“Then…… get some rest.”
“Yes.”
Gewin rose from his seat.
The moment he stepped out of the hospital room, Chief Inspector Borch suddenly strode out from around the corner and came right up to him.
“Chief Inspector Gewin. What do you think?”
“Whoa, you scared me.”
What the hell was with him popping out like that?
Gewin cleared his throat.
“Well…… more importantly, where is that ‘Whistleblower’?”
The Whistleblower. Thistle, who had handed over Master’s composite sketch.
Borch smiled.
“His name is ‘Jensen Loebel’. He’s currently in custody.”
“……Custody?”
“Yes. He’ll be sent to the Concentration Camp soon. He’ll probably be executed.”
“Executed?”
At the word execution, Gewin furrowed his brow.
“Yes.”
“What do you mean-”
“It’s one of the Northern Branch’s internal rules. We eliminate even the possibility of a double agent from the outset. You know that, don’t you?”
Borch smiled with satisfaction.
“It’s true that he helped us capture Master, but we can’t rule out the possibility that he’s a spy too, can we?”
“…….”
Gewin silently ran a hand through his hair.
“If someone has betrayed the Empire even once, they must never be forgiven. Not if you’re a true Imperialist.”
──Tick.
Gewin suddenly raised his eyes.
The clock at the end of the hospital corridor sounded.
──Tick.
“Here. Your ticket, Chief Inspector Gewin.”
Borch handed Gewin a train ticket. First class, something he had never ridden in once in his life.
“You should head straight back to Central this evening and make your report. It’s an urgent matter, after all.”
“…….”
Gewin looked at Borch. Borch met his gaze, the smile at the corners of his mouth deepening.
───Tick.
The sound of the clock.
───Tick.
Before he knew it, it was already late at night.
───Tick.
By the time he came to his senses, Gewin was sitting in the waiting room at the Northern platform.
───Tick.
“……What the hell.”
Gewin sat there for a long time, thinking.
Again and again, he slipped the ticket into his pocket, only to pull it back out.
───Tick.
The train would arrive at the platform soon. If he returned to Central and reported this case, he might even earn himself a promotion.
On the other hand, staying here meant betting his entire future on some unknown man’s unknown connections.
And yet……
───Tick.
Paul’s words, ‘I have connections’, kept ringing in his ears.
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble──.
At last, a sound rang out. Not the clock this time, but a train.
Gewin looked toward it.
[ Express Train to the Imperial Capital ]
A rush of people poured off.
A night train that seemed ‘a little more crowded than usual’.
“Haa…… shit.”
As they scattered in every direction, Gewin quietly rose to his feet.
───Tick.
In the end, he found himself back at Georgen’s Northern Branch.
Gewin had not boarded the train.
“Hey. Where’s Sergeant Paul?”
He handed his identification to the agent guarding the detention center and asked.
───Tick.
Gewin found Paul. The Northern Branch’s underground detention block. Paul was locked behind those bars.
“Sergeant Paul.”
“……Chief Inspector?”
The way Paul looked at him as though wondering why he had come was downright absurd.
Did he not understand the situation he was in, or had he lived like some pampered young master his whole life and simply had no fear?
“Let me ask you one thing.”
“What is it?”
“Sergeant Elmer testified that he saw you. He says he saw you meeting Master in secret.”
Suddenly, Paul’s expression brightened.
“Ah, thank you. Then Sergeant Elmer must be a Revolutionary forces plant. That confirms it.”
What kind of crazy shit was he talking about…… Ah, his head hurt.
“You’re still racking up achievements on your end, Chief Inspector.”
The way Paul smiled as he said it made Gewin wonder if something was wrong with him.
“……Again. Let me ask you one thing.”
Gewin gripped the bars tightly.
“Who the hell is this connection of yours?”
“My connection?”
“Yes! If you’ve got someone backing you, call him right now! If you stay here like this, you could die!”
“…….”
Paul silently stared at Gewin. He kept looking at him for quite some time, then gave a small smile.
“I have a classmate from Empire Point.”
“A classmate?”
“Yes. He’ll have my back.”
A classmate from Empire Point. Then maybe he came from a fairly powerful family. But a fairly powerful family would not be enough to fix this. Considering Georgen’s standing these days, even someone from a very powerful family…….
“When the time comes, his people will come find you, Chief Inspector Gewin. Please help them.”
“I’m asking who this friend is.”
Gewin asked again.
Paul considered it for a moment, then quietly rose from his seat and approached the bars.
“He is……”
Then he whispered someone’s name.
……Maximilian Ebenholtz.
Gewin’s eyes suddenly blazed as though fire had flared inside them. Without realizing it, he stumbled backward. A strange shiver ran through him, as though every hair along his back had stood on end.
“R-really? Really, for real? You know him─?!”
“Shh. It’s still a secret.”
At the sight of Paul raising a hand to his lips, Gewin swallowed hard and nodded over and over.
***
The Whistleblower, ‘Jensen Loebel’, was released from custody and got into a car, feeling oddly bitter but also somewhat relieved.
“How much was the bounty again?”
He asked the agent in the driver’s seat.
“Three million, was it?”
“Three million…….”
Master was one of the Revolutionary forces’ key figures. The amount did feel a little low, but the new identity was what really mattered.
Now he just wanted to settle somewhere quiet like Canilan, run a restaurant or a shop or whatever he pleased without a care in the world, and live an ordinary life.
“You seem to be in a good mood.”
The agent in the driver’s seat glanced at him through the rearview mirror as he asked.
“……Once I buy a house and a car, there probably won’t be much left anyway.”
Jensen smiled awkwardly.
‘Three million was probably about twenty years’ worth of salary for agents like these.’
Whoooosh—
Outside the window, sleet drifted quietly through the air. Jensen watched the scenery and gave a faint smile.
Having Georgen, the organization he had always feared, on his side felt incredibly reassuring.
“Are we going to the platform? Or is there more paperwork I need to deal with at some government office?”
Jensen asked politely.
“…….”
……There was no answer.
“……Excuse me?”
“Hmm…… no.”
The agent in the driver’s seat glanced at him through the rearview mirror as he answered.
“We’re going somewhere better.”
“Somewhere better……?”
Suddenly, the agent beside him pulled something pitch-black from inside his coat.
A pistol.
“W-w-what is this-”
The man in the driver’s seat was reflected in the rearview mirror. He grinned broadly and raised his eyebrows.
“The Empire doesn’t forgive anyone who betrays it even once. Who’s to say a man who betrayed once won’t betray twice?”
“W-wait…….”
Cold sweat gathered on Jensen’s forehead, and nausea began churning in his stomach.
“You vermin. You bastard, you’re going to the Concentration Camp-!”
Screeeech—!
The agent suddenly wrenched the steering wheel aside.
“──Who the fuck are you people?!”
They hurriedly drew their weapons and aimed outside, but.
Bang—! Bang bang bang—!
Gunshots rang out as the windshield shattered.
Thud. The man in the driver’s seat collapsed over the steering wheel, while the agent beside Jensen slid against the door, pistol still in hand.
It was over in an instant.
“……Haa. Haa.”
Jensen sat there blankly, panting.
Clunk.
A moment later, the car door opened.
A figure emerged through the swirling sleet and looked down at him.
“Pleasure to meet you.”
“…….”
The first thing the man did was hold out a business card.
“I’m Knight Maximilian’s Operations Officer.”
The name ‘Maximilian’ reached Jensen’s ears before he even registered what the business card looked like.
“……M-Maximilian?”
Jensen Loebel repeated the name, utterly dumbfounded.
~~~
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