103
Red Cloak
Matthias Yudorov.
The very figure often called “The Poisoned Holy Grail” within our company. Canaris’s official leader. According to Sebastian, someone who was merely used… the “Uncle Yudorov” who rescued him after he was kidnapped. And the person whom Sebastian and his father Michael risked their lives to help defect. The cause of the Riegel family’s troubles.
If Yudorov was the one who put the gun in Oliver’s hand, then he is the “King.” Sebastian had said he didn’t know Yudorov’s whereabouts after helping him defect. The man was skilled at disappearing, vanishing immediately after defecting. He could have gone anywhere. It would have been simple for such a man to enter Urnan, meet Oliver, and manipulate that innocent young man. If Yudorov is the King, everything fits. Sebastian had said Canaris concealed the fact that Yudorov disappeared, but that wasn’t true. Yudorov was Canaris’s King, and he had been operating openly without hiding this fact. He had merely lied briefly to the Riegel family. The ones who were deceived were the Riegels.
How… should I tell this to Sebastian?
That his kidnapper was his “Uncle Yudorov”?
Even after Father passed away, I avoided Sebastian, unsure of what to do. I don’t want to hurt Sebastian. I want to tear apart anything that could hurt him, far away where he can’t see. But this is information he absolutely needs to know. And it will devastate him.
Unable to summon the courage to face Sebastian, I fidgeted with my phone and opened the internet app.
When I entered the portal site, news about Canaris dominated the headlines. The Security Bureau’s Domestic Affairs Deputy Chief Mesmer had been a Canaris member, and he had detonated himself when his identity was discovered. A Security Bureau agent who struggled to prevent the explosion was hospitalized with serious injuries (that would be me), and several others sustained moderate to severe injuries. If the Security Bureau building hadn’t been designed to withstand explosions, the damage would have been immeasurably worse, and there were growing calls that Canaris could no longer be tolerated.
Meanwhile, figures apparently connected to Canaris were systematically being identified. According to police statements, several were positioned in political circles and among social elites, though most seemed to have engaged in one-off transactions to secure their interests. In this country, Canaris is like lightning suddenly striking from above. Naturally, those who dealt with such people for profit aren’t viewed favorably. The public opinion is shouting “hang them all.”
As I was skimming through the articles, my messenger app sent a notification.
Dagoba has proposed a deal
It was Nina Volkari, our department head.
Which Dagoba?
Former Minister Dagoba
What kind of deal?
He says an acquaintance of his is in danger and is demanding immunity in exchange for that information. Complete exclusion from media reports as well.
Wow, these bastards are something else these days. How can someone refer to their own child as an “acquaintance”?
So what are you planning to do?
It would be better for us if Minister Dagoba is left out. Public opinion is starting to suggest the government and Canaris are in cahoots, and the higher-ups are very uncomfortable with that
They didn’t engage in those “one-off transactions” themselves, did they?
Anyway, Dagoba’s deal will be accepted. But Dagoba must emigrate and can never return to Rotman. Those are the terms
Will Dagoba accept that?
In our country, Dagoba may be “Former Minister,” but in another country, he’ll just be an old man, or a grandfather. A man who lived his entire life as a privileged elite and who set off bombs against people because he wanted even more privilege—would he accept a life as “nobody”? To my skeptical question, the department head replied:
He has no choice. The Director personally went in
If Madam Spider ensnares you, nodding your head in agreement would be the wise choice. Right now, the Director is too furious to see straight. Blow up the Security Bureau building? That’s picking a fight with the Director. Not just any fight, but a 19th-century style duel. Standing with guns (that might explode) and advancing one step at a time to shoot. It’s started something that can only end when someone dies, either you or me. And our Director is not one to lose in such a situation.
Eventually, the department head sent another message:
It’s over. Dagoba will leave Rotman within two weeks
I told you she wouldn’t lose.
You should come in too. Things are going to get busy
Wasn’t I temporarily excluded because I’m associated with Riegel?
First they keep me out, and now suddenly they want me to come in? Despite my protest, the department head remained firm.
How can we exclude a national hero? Come in right now and work like the hero you are
Since I’m injured, couldn’t you let me off a bit?
Full-body contusions? People with fractures show up for work
That fractured bastard has no sense. Why come to work with broken bones? Of course, our company isn’t lenient enough to excuse someone just for broken limbs. But I was already considering quitting, so I don’t need to be loyal…
Ah, but as I seriously consider quitting, the benefits of being a civil servant start to come to mind. What if Sebastian goes bankrupt? At least as a civil servant, I could somehow make ends meet… No, I should push Sebastian into entertainment. He’d earn more there.
But somehow, I don’t think Sebastian will fail. He’s the type who wouldn’t even sneer at futile endeavors.
While I was lost in these idle thoughts, messages kept coming to my phone.
Get over here now. If we don’t dismantle Canaris this time, we’re all submitting our resignations
Oh come on, Department Head, your position is secure
The Director might have to resign too. So stop arguing and come in
It seemed I had to go in unless I resigned. Volkari was accommodating my whining to this extent only because they had excluded me before. Otherwise, a barrage of curses would have come through the phone by now.
Yes, I’m coming in
Before going to the office, I should probably see Sebastian briefly.
My fiancé, who had changed his clothes in the meantime, looked truly splendid. Cotton pants and a turtleneck sweater. When I gently touched the sleeve of his sweater, I felt a softness that seemed to melt at my fingertips. It must be cashmere. Ah, cashmere. It’s clothing I could never wear. First, it’s too expensive; second, it’s difficult to maintain; and third, it doesn’t suit my profession. Honestly, my job is hardly different from manual labor, and such luxury clothing wouldn’t last.
But such things suited Sebastian well. If I were a weed, he would be an orchid. A person deserving of the most precious treatment. Yet his life has never been easy. And now I must deliver news that will make his difficult life even more painful.
As my hand moved from his sleeve up to his shoulder and caressed his cheek, he lowered his eyes. Then, with a slight smile, he asked:
“You’re about to say something difficult, aren’t you?”
It’s impossible for someone with such intuition to fail. I quickly deleted the mental image of “me nobly supporting a bankrupt Sebastian” and smiled at him.
“That’s right.”
“Did you see the priest off well?”
He seemed to be guiding the conversation, as if trying to accommodate what I found difficult to say. How could such a kind person be a “vengeance demon”? It’s absurd. I smiled, remembering how Sebastian had called himself a “vengeance demon.”
I carefully began.
“That gun Oliver used to shoot me. Someone gave it to him.”
“Yes, I heard. Someone contacted Oliver in Urnan. A Canaris man, quite the con artist.”
“Oliver said he saw that person once when he was young.”
The smile disappeared from Sebastian’s face. When he was young? Soon after, his expression brightened with realization.
“Oliver saw someone who came as a guest of Father Schnieke. Right?”
Sebastian, so incredibly perceptive.
I don’t know how to tell you this story. Must I be the one to tell you about your “Uncle Yudorov’s” betrayal with my own mouth? But on the other hand, I felt I was more appropriate than anyone else. If he was going to despair, I wanted it to be in front of me. Whether I despaired with him, embraced him, or vowed to tear that man to pieces… I didn’t want him to despair alone.
“Yes, it was Matthias Yudorov. At the time, he said he worked for a workers’ rights organization and asked your father to introduce him to certain people on the Irica continent. Mercenaries, smuggling trade lines, and such.”
I watched Sebastian closely, not taking my eyes off his face. He blinked as if he didn’t understand for a moment. Then, after falling into quiet thought, he let out a loud snort. Is this the beginning? I looked at Sebastian with an anxious and painful heart, like a prophet watching for signs of doom.
Then he exclaimed, “Irica!” His expression was bright.
“Huh?”
This seems different from what I expected?
Contrary to my confusion, Sebastian embraced me with a joyful face.
“I couldn’t find him anywhere, but yes, Irica! He wasn’t in Europe at all from the beginning!”
Irica, Irica, Irica!
Sebastian’s voice was filled with mania. In his embrace, I realized: he already knew about Matthias Yudorov’s betrayal. Not only that, he was tracking Yudorov.
“Our family spent ten years helping Uncle Yudorov and his family defect. The family was fine, but getting Uncle Yudorov out wasn’t easy. We finally succeeded, but… Canaris discovered that we were behind the uncle. The uncle cut off contact with us too and disappeared. We can only believe he’s safe, and we… Canaris demands we pay the price for their loss of their figurehead.”
That’s what Sebastian had clearly said. Ah, now I understand. He was “Uncle Yudorov” until they helped him defect. But at some point after Yudorov cut off contact, Sebastian discovered the truth. He wasn’t Uncle Yudorov but a kidnapper, even the mastermind. This is like a scene from a fairy tale. The grandmother who comes with sweet treats turns out to be a wolf who has already eaten the grandmother and is waiting to eat her granddaughter too.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
