110
I’ll Resign
“Is he dead?”
When Department Chief Nina Volkari, who arrived late, asked, Yudorov squirmed. I proudly answered.
“As you can see, he’s alive!”
“A giant human worm.”
Where did I hear that even worms squirm when stepped on? Anyway, thinking I should demonstrate that, I stepped on one of Yudorov’s legs that had been shot twice. Yudorov squirmed violently.
“Stop that.”
The Department Chief grimaced. Indeed, Yudorov had lost a lot of blood, so the smell wasn’t very pleasant. Oh of course, while Sebastian and I were beating him, Kouri, from SARD, had artistically provided first aid to Yudorov so his life wasn’t in danger. And actually, even though it was two gunshots, they both just grazed him without penetrating anything. Though it must be horribly painful.
“Who fired the gun?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“The bastard was trying to escape.”
The Department Chief looked at me with suspicious eyes.
“Why did you turn off the camera?”
Um…
I had discreetly broken it just before beating August Kuno, what should I do? As I failed to continue speaking, Jay intervened.
“It wasn’t turned off, it was broken, Chief. With gunfire, it’s inevitable that the camera would break, isn’t it?”
That’s right. I, who experienced the gunfight, could have broken the camera from shock. Since it’s a similar story, can we just let it go?
Jay is being surprisingly helpful. I quickly nodded at Jay’s words. Then the Department Chief received a gun from Baral, who had come with her. It was the gun Sebastian had used to shoot Yudorov. Of course, I had already put my fingerprints on it. I’m thorough, but Kouri, who came from SARD, had carefully placed my fingerprints on the gun. There was no way it would be discovered. I was feeling relieved when—
The Department Chief frowned at the gun.
“This isn’t your gun.”
Ah, right. There was that basic problem. I hadn’t thought about why I would use someone else’s gun instead of my own. As I blinked my eyes, this time Walter spoke.
“In an emergency, who cares whose gun it is? I think it’s Mr. Riegel’s gun.”
“Where is the gun’s owner?”
This time, Kouri, who had stayed with us here, answered.
“Ah, he returned to Lumaier with Mr. Riegel.”
“You left the scene on your own?”
As the Department Chief’s eyes sharpened, Kouri raised both hands and answered carefully.
“Sebastian Riegel’s condition was too poor. As you know, he’s someone who was kidnapped and even tortured because of this man. Besides, due to Schnieke beating him too much, perhaps past memories suddenly came back… he had something like a seizure, and it seems they judged that it would be troublesome for everyone if something went wrong.”
“Who made that judgment?”
“Michael Riegel.”
The Department Chief looked around at me, Jay, Walter, Kouri, and the human worm with a displeased face. Her face said, ‘Should I go along with this shallow trick of yours?’ Eventually, her eyes turned to Alfred Baral. Baral, who looked even more bear-like today because he was armed, presumably to guard the Department Chief, stared at me and then turned to the Department Chief with a smile.
“Judging by the wounds, what turned Yudorov into a giant worm wasn’t the gunshot but fractures. The skill that crushed the bones in his limbs is that of a professional. But it seems his life isn’t in danger, so he’ll be able to attend court. The skill that considered even this part is certainly Team Leader Schnieke’s work without a doubt.”
Baral’s words sounded at first like he was reporting on me, but in reality, he was defending Sebastian, my fiancé. The meaning was clear: I was definitely the one who caused trouble, so leave the Riegel father and son alone. The Department Chief understood what Baral was saying and glared at me.
“Tell me what you were thinking.”
Looking at Nina Volkari standing there with her arms crossed majestically, I suddenly felt like laughing. The Department Chief gave me a “you’re laughing?” look with angry eyes, but I didn’t feel like apologizing. Because I could feel how satisfied and relieved she was at this moment. If Yudorov had escaped this time, the Director’s entire line would have fallen. But by capturing Yudorov and finishing off Canaris, that line had entered the highway to promotion. How fortunate and delightful it must be.
“This bastard isn’t human.”
At my words, the Department Chief’s face hardened. We often face non-human bastards, and if we act like this every time, it’s no different from private revenge. How can you give a civil servant’s authority to someone who enforces the law privately?
“I lack the qualities of a civil servant.”
Yes, people like me shouldn’t be given such authority.
“I’ll resign.”
I took off all the equipment I had in front of the Department Chief and left the mansion. The Department Chief seemed confused. However, she didn’t tell me not to quit or ask why. She just glared at me with an angry face.
I have no regrets toward the Department Chief. The same goes for the Director. My team members followed me, asking why I was doing this suddenly, but eventually returned to the Department Chief’s side after her stern command, leaving me behind. Alone, I wandered the night streets and stopped in front of a café.
The café was a famous franchise café. Suddenly, I remembered the night I first met Sebastian. That night when I was sent to Lumaier after rolling around in Maderke, I wanted to drink coffee from this café. Since this famous franchise was rarely seen outside of Lumaier, I had thought I should definitely drink coffee before going down to Maderke, but after that, I hardly had the chance to drink that coffee.
When I disguised myself as an aspiring barista to approach Sebastian, there was no reason for me to drink coffee from another café since I worked at one. Living with Sebastian, I hardly remembered outside food because I ate so well at his house.
“Latte, please.”
I’m drinking the latte in Maderke that I had promised myself I would definitely have in Lumaier. The blockade has been lifted and this café has entered Maderke. The world moves faster than I think.
While waiting for my ordered coffee, I looked around at the items sold in this café. Things like coffee cups with this café’s logo on them, or calendars with various branches of this café drawn on them. Everything seemed nice. Nevertheless, the feeling of awkwardness might be because my eyes have become accustomed to those amazing things in Sebastian’s house.
I saw a phrase written on the calendar.
“Killing the dog does not cure the bite.” (*Lincoln)
It seemed each month had a quote written on it.
Whether you kill the dog or not, that’s a subsequent issue. What’s important is knowing that being bitten by a dog won’t heal. That’s actually the essence of revenge. Revenge is fine to do or not to do, but revenge doesn’t heal the pain. In our industry, many people who said they would take revenge ended up choosing suicide or seclusion after their revenge. They lost all motivation for life and withered away. They thought their hell would end once they took revenge, but it wasn’t like that at all, so they collapsed, not knowing what to do.
I didn’t want Sebastian to be like that.
If revenge could heal Sebastian, I could kill the worm more cruelly than anyone in the world… but in a state where I don’t know what kind of aftermath would hit Sebastian, I thought it was better for him to be alive. Wouldn’t that always give Sebastian a bit of reassurance?
Not something that’s already dead and nothing can be done about it, but a living target for revenge that can be realized anytime if he really wants to kill him might be safer for his mental state.
Honestly, I don’t know about Michael Riegel’s mental state either.
“Number 174, latte customer. Customer who ordered a latte, number 174!”
I realized a little late that I was customer number 174. I went to the pickup table, received my latte, and came out after looking around at more products while sipping it.
I guess I’ll just go to the train station, take a train, and move to Lumaier. Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve taken a train. When was the last time I took one? Even after thinking for a long time, I couldn’t remember when I last took one. It was definitely before I joined the Security Bureau… While I was thinking with a hazy mind—
“Armin.”
I turned around at the sound of someone calling me, and Sebastian was standing there.
Suddenly, I remembered a snowy night. I think he was standing with a similar face back then too. Ah, now it’s warm spring. Sebastian doesn’t have a coat on his body. And in my hand is not a bottle of alcohol but coffee.
“On a day when you send off someone you care about, if the sky is clear, you want to kill everyone. Why, how can the world be so peaceful—you feel this unbelievable sentiment.”
That’s what Sebastian said that day.
“Do you still find it unbelievable how peaceful the world is?”
Sebastian seemed not to understand what I meant. But that was fine in its own way. I asked again.
“Do you want to kill everyone?”
“No. Now I just want to live with you. Just want to live.”
Sebastian opened his arms. I walked over and hugged Sebastian. Then he hugged me tightly. Rarely, his body smelled of dust instead of perfume.
The snow had stopped long ago, and today was quite warm. It was a spring night.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
