95
The Traitor is Alive
While Sebastian and Nakaban were verifying the information given by Gleinach, I had one more thing to do.
I don’t know how things will turn out, but one thing is clear. Things are taking a violent turn. Both in how I’m acting and in the means the other side is using. Once the direction of a flow is set, it rarely changes. It gains momentum.
So, if things were really going to get violent now, I needed to prepare for that.
After a long time, I went to the ‘shop’ and bought everything needed for armament. If I told Sebastian, he would surely give me the money, but I didn’t want to do that. So I had to cancel one of my savings accounts. Then, after frugally shopping with that money, I stopped by my apartment. From now on, I was planning to set up booby traps. There would surely be bastards coming here. If someone came here without telling me, it was safe to assume they had malicious intentions. So they shouldn’t complain even if they die.
I set it up so that when the front door opens, a machine gun immediately starts firing. For the bedroom door, I arranged for a flamethrower to activate the moment it opens. There were several other things too. But my goal was that if there was someone who still came into my bedroom after seeing a colleague full of holes, that bastard was really determined, so then I’d eliminate the entire house. So I soaked all the fabrics with oil. After the flamethrower, it would burn vigorously. Ah, I also attached several fire alarms that make a tremendous noise when a fire breaks out. So that everyone in this building could flee in panic.
As I was leaving the apartment, I met an unexpected person.
“Team Leader Schnieke.”
Lea Parke, code name ‘White Sparrow’. The fake White Sparrow was standing there in a long coat, her face half-hidden by the upturned collar. It was clear she had been waiting for me on purpose because she had something to say to me.
Impressive.
I was honestly amazed. Both this person and Gleinach, these so-called flying spies are all impressive. They must have followed me all the way here, but I didn’t notice a thing. Even though I’m trained to detect and shake off tails and was being quite careful.
The first time I saw this person was at my engagement party. She was with Sebastian’s mother and younger sister. She was a tall, slender woman with a quiet impression. But one shouldn’t be swayed by such impressions. I’m often told I’m kind and look like a pushover too. And that is part of my personality. But does that mean you wouldn’t be scared if you met me on a dark street after we’ve become enemies? Character and actions are different things from the start. What determines actions is the atmosphere of the society that person is part of.
“Ms. Parke, was it?”
When I pretended to know her, Parke nodded.
“Could we go inside and talk?”
If you go in, you’re heading straight to the afterlife.
I couldn’t say that, so I shook my head. Of course, I know how to disarm the booby traps and enter. But it’s not something I can show in front of others. First of all, the front door must not be opened. I’d have to completely remove the doorknob, carefully take it out, and then cut the connected piano wire. There’s no easy way to disarm it other than this crude method. After all, I set it up with the intention of burning down any intruders, so how could disarming be easy?
“Let’s talk at a cafe.”
“What I have to say isn’t for public places. I’d prefer somewhere with fewer people.”
“Ah, I know a place like that. A place with no people and open enough to check for tails. It’s outdoors, is that okay?”
At my words, Parke smiled faintly.
“Of course. Give me the address.”
And when we met at that place, there was no smile on Parke’s face. I had suggested the nearest cemetery to our apartment. But my words were true. A cemetery has no people, eavesdropping is impossible, and you’re free from tails. Where else in modern society, in the city, is there such an open space? Yet there are almost no people, and even fewer who stay.
“I heard you’ve returned. Congratulations.”
I handed her a bottle of water I had bought while making this obvious greeting. I thought it would be good to have something to drink in case the conversation became long. But since everyone drinks different things, water was the easiest choice.
Parke looked at the water curiously and then gave a cold smile.
“No matter what, I’m not worried that you’d play tricks with a drink you’re offering. We’re colleagues, aren’t we?”
Ah, Parke seems to think I bought transparent water for her. Because it’s a drink where you can clearly see if anything has been added or not. Even the seal can be checked.
That wasn’t my intention, but I just nodded. The fact that Parke thought this means she’s worried about drinking something that might have been tampered with. Ah, of course, she must have many enemies and needs to be careful in her profession. The problem is that, as she said, she has to consider such things even with food given by a workplace colleague. She said she “wouldn’t worry about drinks from a colleague,” but it was only after hearing this that I realized.
She can’t comfortably drink even beverages given by workplace colleagues.
“May I ask what this is about?”
It’s clear she has something to say to me, but on the other hand, she’s in a position where she has to worry about something. So I felt I should be careful in asking. When I asked with as much caution as I could muster, Parke said, “Shall we walk?” and started walking. For 10 minutes, she circled around the most exposed areas. She was checking for tails. And only after she was certain there was no surveillance did she open her mouth.
“You know that I had infiltrated Canaris, right?”
She’s not checking if I know or not. This is just an introduction to her words. Like saying “You know.” The main point is coming.
“I only found out after I came back that there was another ‘White Sparrow’.”
She spoke gently, but there’s no way she wasn’t pissed off. A mission she risked her life for, only to find out she was just bait? Anyone would be angry. I can guarantee that as someone who was also used as bait.
Parke looked down at the water bottle for a moment. Whether she wanted to make her heart as clear and pure as the transparent water, or whether she wanted to drown all those involved in the water, I couldn’t tell. To me, it seemed like the latter.
Parke looked at me with an expression that was a contradiction between her softly curved lips and her fierce eyes.
“How did you get over this absurdity, Mr. Schnieke?”
How?
I thought about it. How did I get over it? Parke seemed to think that I had overcome being used as bait by having some grand determination and exerting tremendous willpower, struggling alone to the brink of death. But I didn’t do anything like that. I just got angry, holed up in bed for a while, had some sex with Sebastian, got engaged…
Ah, I suddenly realized.
“I didn’t get over it.”
I’ve never officially declared to myself that I would get over this. Of course, I do intend to try to get along with my team members again. What fault do they have? They were just following orders from superiors while working at the Security Bureau. But by that logic, I’m not at fault either.
“If you haven’t gotten over it, how can you work so naturally? Don’t you hate everyone?”
“If I hate everyone, wouldn’t I be the one losing out?”
I’m in a somewhat elite line at the Security Bureau. Moreover, I’m now the leader of the only team that moved from Department 1 to Department 2. I moved at the same time as the power axis shifted from Department 1 to Department 2. Like a casting vote of power.
“Is it okay to be used like this again for the sake of benefits?”
Parke asked. This seems to be what she was curious about. Only then could I understand what she was ultimately worried about. Ah, the Security Bureau was her background, her colleagues, and her axis of good. But now that the Security Bureau had used her, she seemed unsure about what axis she should move on. In other words, the distinction between friend and foe had become unclear. Ah, if it’s something like that, she shouldn’t be asking me.
“This is just an example, Ms. Parke. Let’s say your father was killed by a doctor during a war. You’d want revenge, right? As you know, being in a war means social justice has already disappeared. There’s almost no way to implement justice other than personal revenge.”
“That’s right.”
“So you want to take revenge, but the doctor is currently the only person in charge of patients in that area. Let me say in advance, the doctor intentionally killed your healthy father out of self-interest. But he’s also the only one trying to save patients in this area. These kinds of situations happen all the time in the world. Don’t they?”
At my words, Parke’s eyes became bloodshot.
“So are you saying if I just endure, the whole world becomes happy?! Are you saying it’s okay for my father to die like a dog because he’s taking care of patients in that area? Or are you saying that if I want my revenge, I should be prepared for the guilt and pain of the consequences? What are you trying to say?!”
Parke’s shout was filled with anger, hatred, and pain.
Being an undercover agent is not something you can do with just ordinary patriotism. As I said, life is the most precious thing to people. There are very few humans who sincerely weigh money against life. Dying for money is dying like a dog.
But things like loyalty, country, and beliefs often gain value far above life. And once that value is recognized in the heart, one can throw away not just life, but anything important. It’s not for nothing that Oliver shot at me. That Canaris bastard touched what was more important to him than life and used him as a human weapon.
Parke, likewise, had gained the higher value of patriotism. It’s a kind of drug. I’m doing a great job. I’m doing the noblest work of all. Once you fall into that intoxication, you can’t get out. Of course, there are various reasons for being an undercover agent, but without some degree of that intoxication, it’s really difficult to do that job in the end.
What the Security Bureau took from Parke wasn’t just pride. It’s like taking drugs away from a drug addict. That’s why Parke is angry now.
“You don’t necessarily have to take revenge, but you don’t necessarily have to not take revenge either. You could become a doctor yourself, decide to take care of the patients, and then kill him. You could bring another doctor and then kill him. You could transfer the patients to another hospital and then kill him. Or you could just kill him and forget about the patients. My point is, do you need to decide that right now? You don’t know what to do right now, do you? I’m the same. I don’t know who I should resent, or if I should quit the Security Bureau because I went through this shitty experience. But now I’m less loyal than before. I’m always ready to leave the Security Bureau. So what I’m saying is, if you can’t decide now, you don’t have to. The fact that you think you have to decide right now whether to be hostile to or forgive the Security Bureau is probably because you’re under too much stress. You should take sick leave instead. If you take sick leave now, they might even give you paid leave.”
Parke’s eyes widened. She looked at me for a moment, then looked down at the water, then startled, looked back at me. Then she said:
“So you’re saying you’re shaking hands with the devil. You could part ways like this…”
“Or if I don’t like it, I could shoot them one day. There’s no need to decide such things now. I think we can abandon the loyalty that says ‘we must protect them no matter what’ because we’ve been through this. That’s just my opinion for now. But it doesn’t matter if my opinion changes again. On days when I want to keep my loyalty, I’ll keep it, and on days when I want to betray, I’ll betray.”
At my words that there are no more promises, Parke bit her lip. I’m not sure what she’s thinking about my words. Eventually, she nodded.
“Thank you. Thanks to you… I’m starting to see a bit of a way forward.”
That’s good. I came to this cemetery where I have no connections, not knowing what I’m doing here. I came sheepishly hoping to get some information, and I was too transparent… While I was inwardly reflecting on thinking about information in front of someone who was struggling, Parke held out her hand. As I was about to take her hand and say goodbye, Parke leaned towards me and whispered:
“Be careful. Canaris still exists within the Security Bureau.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
