102
King
Of course I woke up. Quite normally.
The one who wasn’t normal was Sebastian. It seems while I was lying down, he neither ate nor slept, just staring down at me. He had been standing so long that Nakaban and Kouri practically begged him to sit down. Apparently Kouri’s wife Martina, Anya, Mr. Becker, and even his mother brought food and pleaded with him to eat.
…Well, that’s what they say. How would I know? I was unconscious then, wasn’t I?
“Wow, can a patient eat this well? It’s truly amazing,” Nakaban clicked his tongue.
I rubbed my hands together looking at the lunchbox Mr. Becker had brought. Wow, such a luxurious feast right when I open my eyes? Good, good. I had been worried the doctor might not let me eat, but they said it was fine.
“Mr. Becker’s food is so delicious. Mr. Nakaban, please have some too. Sebastian, why aren’t you eating? Did you already eat?”
“I am eating.”
“Eat more. This is delicious. Ah—”
Sebastian seemed to want to remain in his depression and misery a bit longer, but I didn’t want to give him time for that. No, I’m the one who got hurt, so why have you lost so much weight? Dating a sensitive boyfriend seems to be somewhat high-maintenance. Why does he get so haggard so easily?
When I held out fried chicken in front of his mouth, Sebastian reluctantly ate it. Salmon too, shrimp too, salad too, steak too. While I was pleased to see him eating well, Nakaban and Kouri looked at Sebastian with betrayed eyes.
“By the way, what happened to Mesmer?”
“Unfortunately, he died.”
“Ah, what a shame. If Mesmer had lived—”
I was about to say we could have extracted more detailed information, but Sebastian interrupted while chewing on salad.
“We could have killed him by peeling his flesh off 1mm at a time while he was alive. It’s really regrettable.”
I looked at Sebastian in shock. Meeting my gaze, Sebastian frowned.
“What? Too cruel?”
“No, it’s not like I can call you cruel… but you’re more of an elegant and refined type… it doesn’t suit you, that’s all.”
“Elegant and refined? I’m a revenge seeker who’s dedicated my life to vengeance.”
“No, even that is so…”
I looked down at the beautiful dishes laid out before us. And the face of Mr. Becker who made and brought them.
Not just seeking revenge, but gathering everyone’s hearts to seek revenge—even that method is so… Well, I don’t think this kind of expression fits this era, but it’s really noble.
But this conversation didn’t seem worth prolonging. Sebastian isn’t the type who particularly wants to keep hearing he’s elegant and refined, so I moved on and asked what I was curious about. That day, what I remember is looking at that empty space where the brandy bottle in the glass cabinet used to be.
What happened after that?
Sebastian explained it briefly, and the Director and Department Chief who heard I had awakened explained in more detail. The story went something like this:
I suddenly shouted “Run away!” and immediately after, Volkari grabbed the Director’s wrist and ran without hesitation. Being security bureau people, they all fled the office without asking “Why?” or “What’s happening?”. While escaping, Mesmer was laughing like a madman.
As they fled, staff members shouted “Run away! Run away now!” causing nearby employees to flee as well. I came out a little late and got caught in the explosion. Later investigation showed that before I came out, I apparently threw whatever metal furniture I could grab toward where Mesmer was while escaping. I probably tried to reduce the blast radius. In fact, because the Security Bureau building itself was so sturdy, the bomb Mesmer had set could only destroy Mesmer’s office and three or four adjacent offices, but even that was considerably reduced because I had thrown metal cabinets and such. There were no fatalities, and injuries were limited to bruises from running and falling, one fracture from someone who tumbled down stairs, and me who was caught in the explosion. But even I was quite intact considering I was caught in an explosion. My whole body was bruised and torn in places, but there was no organ damage or fractures. That was fortunate.
I was just in a coma for three days, which seems to have driven Sebastian crazy. But I woke up and since there was no medical problem, I was soon discharged. And the person I met was my father. Father was shocked that I was injured, and even more surprised that it was due to a bomb. Believing his son’s life was in danger, Father returned alone to Rotman.
When I met Father at home right after being discharged, his face was completely drained of color.
I was worried about how to reassure him, but seeing his face like that, words failed me. Surprisingly, Father didn’t say much. Just one thing:
“This father is not prepared to lose Armin Schnieke twice.”
He must have been very shocked. Since the original owner of this name also died in a bombing. I can’t cause Father such grief twice. I should be more careful, I thought, when Sebastian spoke from behind.
“The name is unlucky.”
I could see anger gathering on Father’s face. Why is he provoking people again? When I turned to Sebastian, he smiled broadly.
“You should change your name. It’s clear you’re suffering like this because the name Armin is unlucky.”
Hey, why would you say something like that?
Just as I was about to stop him, Father glared at Sebastian with fiery eyes.
“Are you finished speaking, Mr. Riegel?”
“How could I be, Father? You shouldn’t speak so unkindly to someone who you know is restraining himself and not saying much.”
Oh no, two intelligent people are about to verbal wrestle! What should I do?
As I looked back and forth between them wondering how to intervene, suddenly Father pressed his lips shut. It was a difficult situation to understand. Sebastian was the one who had spoken rudely, so why was Father closing his mouth?
Did something happen between Father and Sebastian?
While I was looking at Father with concern, Father sighed.
“I found what you asked for. The man Oliver mentioned. The man who came to see me.”
“It took longer than I expected?”
I thought it would take 2-3 days, so it was unexpected. Father shook his head at my words.
“I had no idea my handwriting was so terrible until now.”
Oh my.
Being a diary, there were many parts he had written hastily, which apparently made it difficult to read. Anyway, what matters is that he found it. I waited for Father to tell me the man’s identity. But Father shook his head.
“We need to talk privately.”
Father’s face was a mixture of worry and embarrassment. The man’s identity troubles my father? My father is the type of person who would immediately report a fellow priest from the same parish if they did something wrong.
When I looked at Sebastian, he said, “Call me if anything happens,” kissed me on the forehead, and left the room.
As soon as we were alone, Father grabbed my hand.
“I don’t know how to say this.”
Oh. The situation seems quite serious.
As I quietly looked at Father’s face, he sighed deeply and opened his mouth.
“Let me tell you this story first. At that time, I didn’t know who he was. As you know, I was abroad. He told me he was running a worker-related organization, and I just thought, ‘I see.’ What he wanted from me was a bit unusual, but I didn’t think deeply about it because… in Irika, it’s common to seek mercenaries or deal with smuggling lines for volunteer work. It’s unavoidable. So… and truly, I swear to God, I had forgotten about it until now.”
The longer Father’s explanation became, the more uneasiness crept up, grabbing my ankles. Unable to shake off the ominous feeling crawling up my body, I held Father’s hand.
“So, who was it?”
Father’s eyes shook wildly. Eyes wondering if he should tell me. Now the ominous feeling had crawled up to my neck. Barely restraining myself from frantically shaking Father’s hands, I looked straight at his face.
“Father, I work for the Security Bureau. You’ve noticed I do that kind of work. As a Security Bureau employee, I can protect you. So please tell me. Who was that man?”
Father’s eyes shook even more. Finally, Father tightly closed his eyes. Like people who climb to dizzying heights for bungee jumping but can’t bear to look down before jumping, just like that.
And Father whispered very softly.
“Yudorov.”
“There are a few misunderstandings. Uncle Yudorov was just someone who urged labor law reform. That ‘organization’ he supposedly had was just a gathering. Even a little-known fact is that the name of that gathering was ‘Grain.’ It means that each worker’s human rights are precious like a grain.”
“Matthias, Yudorov,” Father said once more.
Matthias Yudorov. Now the puzzle pieces were starting to fit together. I understood. Who Canaris’s ‘King’ was.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
