115
Us, Not Difficult
My father, who was on the Irica continent, liquidated Yudorov’s businesses.
Since Yudorov had only briefly returned to Rotman to handle Canaris before planning to leave again, his businesses were still operating well. And (very expensive) mercenaries (who were also with my father) raided those businesses at Sebastian’s request. Those guys might be bodyguards when protecting people, but they’re actually more suited to breaking in, beating people up, cursing, and “neutralizing” them. In fact, they preferred the latter type of work, so they went wild, and Yudorov’s armed guards fired a few shots into the air before kneeling on the dirt.
Rotman didn’t want to let my father enter the country. They resented him and actually wanted to refuse USB’s entry. But eventually both my father and USB were allowed in. My father openly mentioned Sebastian’s name in an interview, and Michael Riegel sent a chartered plane for my father (and members of civil organizations) on behalf of his son.
My father only talked about tracking Yudorov’s businesses and verifying his cash flow, but domestically, rumors quickly spread that “Canaris had enormous amounts of money, and all of it would be converted into compensation funds.” As if someone had deliberately planted the idea.
In reality, of course, not all those funds can be converted into compensation. But budget allocation should happen. The possibility has increased that agencies won’t play ping-pong over budget issues… No, what am I saying? This is naive. The agencies will probably fight over receiving that budget.
“They’re coming out,” said Nakaban.
Looking at the TV, I could see my father and siblings appearing at the arrival gate. People at the gate waved placards and phones with flashes turned on at my father. It was strange to see a scene usually reserved for pop stars unfolding around our family.
“I should have gone to Irica…”
Oliver, seeing the family being swarmed by cameras, became gloomy with envy. “Should have gone to Irica, should have gone to Irica.” His repeated mumbling was pathetically whiny, like chanting prayers in the rain.
“Why don’t you just quit being a priest? I think influencer would suit you better,” Kouri’s youngest team member told Oliver. Being young, he seems unable to tolerate such unseemly behavior. Oliver tried to sidle closer to me, seemingly frightened by the murderous look on the youngest’s face, but I ignored him as I stood up from the sofa. The psychiatrist said there’s no need to give him special treatment. If we consider him just a normal younger brother, that kid deserves to be scolded.
Dad looks good on camera
As soon as I wrote in the family group chat, messages flooded in.
Brother, break up with Riegel
You crazy bastard
I’m against this marriage. Absolutely against it.
Just step all over me
What happens when two lunatics meet? At least one should be sane!
Why are you saying such things?
Right. What did the sane person do wrong?
Why are the kids suddenly losing their minds?
Why? What did Sebastian do?
The uproar started again. Looking at the content, I got the gist of it.
It seems that while I was in Maderke, Sebastian had gone all the way to Irica.
It wasn’t just mercenaries who raided the businesses. Apparently, Sebastian himself was present. He already had a list of Yudorov’s businesses and destroyed all the ones on the Irica continent, leaving the cleanup to my father. There weren’t just one or two businesses. It was impossible for my father to handle all those businesses alone. My father told Sebastian he couldn’t do it, but…
“Your son is risking his life tracking Yudorov, and all you can say without even trying is that you can’t do it? Father, don’t you think it’s because of that belief—that ‘good intentions’ justify any means—that people like Yudorov were able to infiltrate? Yudorov used the path of saving people to make money, live luxuriously, and kill people. Years later, he used your other son to try to kill your son. Can this really end with just ‘I can’t do it’? Are you going to say again that ‘you had no choice’? How many times do you have to die and be reborn before you stop saying that?”
—After such a tirade, it seems my father decided to just do it. His ears must have been bleeding.
Of course, he moved because of his love and pity for me. Otherwise, no amount of harsh words could have moved our father. He’s been at odds with many people throughout his life, but whether they cursed him to his face or spat at him, he never so much as blinked. From my perspective, priests who risk their lives to serve on the Irica continent all need that kind of guts.
Anyway, my father decided to liquidate Yudorov’s businesses on the Irica continent. The first thing he did, naturally, was to contact his friends. My father’s friends are still “serving” all over the Irica continent.
That service involves things like smuggling, illegal immigration, or activities that legally might be considered fraud… In places like the Irica continent (of course, there are also proper countries on that continent—I’m talking about the unstable ones), to save people, you need to be versatile and have endless moral flexibility. Sometimes when I hear stories about our father, I can’t tell if he lived as a priest or as a Third World merchant.
Although my father had left that world because of his connection with me, he still had friends who were active there, and they entered the businesses suppressed by Sebastian’s mercenaries and began the “cleanup.”
Thanks to those friends, an enormous amount of work poured in, and my father distributed tasks to everyone. Because of this, my siblings apparently worked to the point of exhaustion right up until their return to Rotman. They begged and threatened Sebastian: let us sleep, postpone the Rotman departure date by three days, if you don’t we’ll die, and so on. But their opponent was Sebastian Riegel. He replied with a bright smile, “I’ll provide any help money can buy.” Time can’t be bought with money. Nor can medicine to dampen a father’s enthusiasm after he’s decided “to help his son.” The sons just had to work while crying. Even the youngest, Jochen, who didn’t know how to do anything, was apparently treated like Cinderella—preparing every meal, cleaning, making copies, and so on.
They were all whining that I should cancel my engagement to Riegel, that he’s a devil, so I said:
Thanks to you all, the victims will be able to receive compensation faster. Though it’s not adequate compensation for their years of suffering, they’ll receive better compensation than what would have been allocated before. Thank you.
The conversation paused for a moment. Then Jochen’s message appeared:
If you’re going to talk like that, why didn’t you become a priest!
With that message leading the way, everyone started acting up.
Yeah, you said you’d be a priest! If you’d become a priest, we wouldn’t have had to suffer like this!
You quit your job now, right? Go to theology school. Follow in father’s footsteps.
It was absurd. Then suddenly the messages stopped again, and when I checked what was happening, they were opening the car window one last time before departure to greet the people at the airport. It was probably a moment arranged by my father.
For people who cried and complained about being made to work, their faces are radiant. You’d think it was a triumphal parade. I’ve only seen them get beaten a lot because they’re orphans… Every time these guys got beaten, I’d go and join in the fighting and then father would be called… It was both funny and touching to see them waving and smiling like heroes. Yes, you could have been heroes too, but you were just unlucky at birth, right?
“I should have gone to Irica…”
And there’s always one who fails at picking sides. Oliver looked like he was about to cry. Half feeling like I should comfort him, half feeling embarrassed that he’s my brother. Not sure which feeling I should prioritize.
It seems the embarrassment is greater. As I hurriedly left the room, someone called “Excuse me,” and when I turned around, it was Kouri’s youngest team member.
“Yes?”
“That person…”
“That person” probably refers to Oliver.
“Yes?”
“Does he have a girlfriend?”
“I don’t think so?”
Wouldn’t it be problematic if a monk had a girlfriend?
I think he’ll probably quit being a monk. In my opinion, Oliver isn’t really suited to be a monk. How should I put it, the kid is worldly. Come to think of it, he studied so well when he was young probably just to show off. I heard that many people looked down on him for being an orphan, but when he became so good at studying, people around him shut up. Because he became “an orphan who studies so well.”
Wouldn’t it be better if he really did something like becoming an influencer? Oliver is built like a mountain, but his face is quite handsome. Until now, his face didn’t matter because he was a monk, but wouldn’t it be good to choose a profession where it does matter?
Of course, it’s not my business.
While I was thinking about that, the youngest team member, who had been hesitating, asked:
“What about a boyfriend?”
“Excuse me?”
“He could have a boyfriend, right?”
The youngest was quite provocative. My initial thought was “How could a monk be gay?! Especially since he has childhood trauma related to that,” but I paused. Is it really impossible? If someone has trauma related to something from childhood, must they become phobic? Should they? That’s not something I can decide. Just because the probability is high doesn’t mean I should say “definitely.” That wouldn’t be good for Oliver. That’s how I felt.
So I answered, “I don’t know.” And I corrected what I said earlier.
“I don’t know if Oliver has a girlfriend or not, what his sexual orientation is. Honestly, I don’t know his gender identity either. What I do know is…”
What do I know about Oliver? My brother, whom I once thought was closest to me, had become a stranger.
“Should have gone to Irica…”
Perhaps that wasn’t about wanting to be a hero or wanting to stand out. Maybe it was about wanting to be part of something when everyone else was achieving something. While we were all doing our best to catch Yudorov, Oliver had to swim alone in an empty pool.
Family is indeed difficult.
At this moment, selfishly, I thought not of Oliver but of Sebastian. We are lovers and will become family.
I hope we’ll always be an uncomplicated family, just like now.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
