85
No One Can Go Back
They say in baseball, a batter senses a hit the moment the ball meets the bat. As soon as I heard the explosion, the first thing that came out was the curse “fucking bastards.” It wasn’t just me; everyone from the security bureau was already running.
Half regular guests, half security bureau guests. And if we broaden the category, half guests, half bodyguards. Even among the regular guests, there were many former police, prosecutors, and others, so the overall atmosphere was “We knew this would happen.” There weren’t many terrified guests, and those who were scared were generally seated in chairs nearby, given water, and gently comforted.
After quickly scanning the overall situation with my eyes, I finally checked Sebastian’s condition. I couldn’t see clearly as he was moving away, but somehow he seemed to be smiling.
“Does it look like my fiancé is smiling right now, or am I seeing things?”
I asked Walter, who had somehow come to my side and was running with me. Walter shook his head.
“He was laughing really hard.”
“He’s not out of his mind from fear, is he?”
Sebastian is a good and upright person, even if he can be a bit mischievous. I was worried that he might have been shocked by this dangerous situation. Walter glanced at me sideways and coughed strangely. It was a choking “kek” sound, as if he was being strangled. Then he spoke in a troubled tone.
“I’m really sorry, but I don’t think the team leader’s boyfriend is the type to be, well, that soft-hearted.”
“No, he’s more delicate than you think.”
“Couldn’t he be more of an iron man than you think?”
“You just don’t know him.”
“Couldn’t it be that you don’t know him, team leader?”
This bastard has been…
I glared at Walter and increased my speed. Walter shouted from behind, “Oh, come on!” When I match my speed so he can keep up, he starts saying all sorts of things about my fiancé.
Should I run to the front first if we’re ambushed? No way. That could get you killed first. The enemy has ambushed us. In other words, they’ve acted tactically and secured an advantage. We can’t lose our tactical position either. So rather than trying to be the fastest, it’s better to coordinate with teammates, even if it means being a little slower.
As we were about to start the engagement ceremony, I took out the earpiece I had briefly put in my pocket and stuck it in my ear.
“Report your positions.”
It was Nina Volkari’s voice. Seems she’s taken command of the site. Well, it’s an appropriate choice. The director will be mingling with the guests, calming them down while checking if there are any suspicious individuals among them.
“Double Nine, two members moving to the site. 15 seconds.”
Department 2, Team 9. Moving from the center to the site. 15 seconds until arrival.
And reports started coming in continuously. Most of Team 9 is moving towards our position. Most are running from the same direction and have similar arrival times. But it’s better to arrive at the same time, so they’re coordinating their timing. For the two people coming from completely opposite directions, a report came in that there’s about a 20-second difference. Probably due to security or because they were delayed in returning after following procedures to detain the people I had arrested.
Department 2 Team 1 was checking the exterior. If they came in like this, they must have parked their vehicles somewhere, so we needed to neutralize those vehicles first. To prevent them from escaping.
The security bureau is certainly used to these kinds of situations. And Sebastian’s bodyguards were experienced too. Although they couldn’t access our radio communications, they were providing appropriate assistance nearby.
C-6. Escape group confirmed. Appears to be about five people. All armed.
F-4, 3 individuals confirmed. Two armed, one’s armed status unconfirmed.
The map of this mansion was distributed to everyone from the start. The map was divided into zones with names. This is exactly for times like this. F-4 is slightly closer, but considering the earlier reports, C-6 seems to be lacking in manpower. Walter and I simultaneously changed direction and started running towards C-6.
“Double Nine, two members moving to C-6. 45 seconds.”
C-6, suspect, aah— collision situation, collision situation!
Gunshots started to be heard. Unfortunately, there were some inexperienced guys at C-6. If we’re not careful, there could be casualties. While running, I loosened my shirt. Even a moment’s hesitation due to slight resistance in movement could lead to serious injury.
“Walter, cover me!”
Saying “cover me” implies two things. Obviously, it means to provide covering fire while being responsible for my back. Secondly, it means to hold that position. In other words, don’t come forward.
As soon as we reached C-6, I ran straight in. Because the Canaris bastards started shooting right away, I ran while hiding behind objects that could provide cover. It was frustrating that all I had was just one gun. Ah, not even a single smoke grenade, damn it.
I turned around to check if anyone in our group was lagging behind. There had to be someone. It’s not easy for five people to stay perfectly together in such a collision situation. Sure enough, I caught sight of a rather fresh-faced back view.
I approached from behind, completely masking my presence, and snapped his neck in one swift motion. It would be best to capture him alive, but now wasn’t the time to move forward leaving someone behind. Even if I knocked him out, the time it takes to regain consciousness varies depending on a person’s condition. Killing is the cleanest option.
Maybe because he was young. He didn’t have much, but I got a gun and a radio. These guys are using in-ear radios these days too. I stuck it in my empty ear and could hear the radio transmission.
Retreat!
A voice that had lost its cool was screaming. It was so loud I almost pulled out the earpiece.
Peeking out while hidden, I saw that although they were armed, it was just at the level of holding a single gun. They had neither bulletproof vests nor helmets. Were they disposable pawns, or did they have to come in formal wear to infiltrate the engagement party?
Just as I was about to move.
We need to take out Riegel!
It was a young woman’s voice. The face of the woman I saw last time flashed in my mind. Rebecca was her name, wasn’t it? The illegitimate daughter of former minister Dagoba. The daughter who inherited his ideology.
If we don’t kill Riegel, we have no future either!
The madness in her voice was disturbing. This woman was trying to kill Sebastian. Why? Wasn’t Canaris planning to work with Sebastian? Sebastian might be planning to ruin Canaris, but Canaris shouldn’t know that.
The word ‘betrayal’ flashed through my mind. But it didn’t seem likely. Sebastian has good instincts and is meticulous in his work. It didn’t seem possible that someone had betrayed him without Sebastian noticing. Besides, he has sensitive experts like Nakaban and Kouri around him.
Canaris wants Sebastian. More precisely, they need the money and influence of ‘Riegel’. They can’t afford to discard Sebastian because they desperately need both money and connections to purchase the energy bomb. However, on the other side of the radio, they’re insisting on killing Sebastian, so then…
Has a split occurred within Canaris?
This information is certainly useful. But it would be more useful if only Sebastian knew about it. At least from Sebastian’s perspective. If so, there’s only one thing I should do here.
I ran towards the outskirts where the gunfight was taking place. A gunfight in the forest isn’t actually a good choice. There are too many objects for cover and it’s difficult to secure a clear view. We know how many Canaris bastards are here right now, but the Canaris bastards don’t know how many of us there are. In this situation, they shouldn’t be engaging in a gunfight but retreating quickly. What’s preventing that is probably the young woman’s voice from earlier. The voice insisting on dealing with Riegel.
You want to ‘deal with’ Sebastian?
I climbed up a tree in the direction they were heading and waited, then blew off the head of the guy in front with my gun. With bullets flying everywhere, they couldn’t pinpoint the direction and screamed while dropping to the ground. That’s when I fired again. The third, and then the fourth guy. The last one only realized I was above their heads when the fourth one died, and he shouted while trying to aim his gun at me. But I was faster, already aiming. I just had to change direction. Since I had no intention of letting him live, I shot him once anywhere to induce shock, then once in the head.
I immediately came down from the tree, confirmed all four were dead, and ran straight to F-4.
Today, no one should be able to leave alive.
Because the zone was too far, I ended up missing the guys in the F zone. One was dead, one was unconscious with serious injuries, and the remaining one had surrendered and been arrested. The one with serious injuries didn’t look like he would survive due to excessive blood loss, and the one who surrendered was the problem. Does he know that Canaris is internally divided? I didn’t want to give the security bureau the information that Canaris was divided and that there were people who wanted Sebastian dead. The security bureau doesn’t always choose the direction of saving Sebastian unconditionally. The security bureau always chooses the direction that’s most beneficial to the country, and I didn’t want to take even a small risk when it came to Sebastian.
“It’s all over now.”
“Ah, it stinks. I’m going to go wash up.”
When I complained, the team members clicked their tongues, saying they would handle the wrap-up so I should go ahead. I pretended to go to the main building but ran in the opposite direction. Since we’ve arrested Canaris, they would surely transport them to the security bureau through the back door, like the assassins I had handed over earlier. So I had to go to the back door.
Near the back door was a cabin that Kouri had shared with me. There were various weapons prepared there, and I picked up a sniper rifle. Although it was chilly, there wasn’t much wind. So it was worth a try. Actually, preparation is crucial for sniping, but I had no choice.
All I could do was pray that the bastard wouldn’t blab before reaching the security bureau.
I ran with the sniper rifle and took position. It was a spot where I could see the door well. I could see the back window of the car, but that didn’t matter. The suspect would definitely be seated in the back.
I saw the car coming. The car is supposed to stop once. In front of the iron gate. The car can’t move before the security team staff at the checkpoint in front of the iron gate opens it. In the moment when the security team staff was identifying who it was and making contact, the suspect leaned his head against the car. As he did so, his head, which had been overlapping with the security bureau staff in the driver’s seat, completely misaligned. At that moment, I pulled the trigger.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
