96
Everyone Knows Except You
Is there still someone in the Security Bureau?
I can’t ask who it is. If she wanted to say, she would have. Parke has indicated that this is as far as she can say. Worried about being followed? Worried about wiretaps? No, she was preparing for the future. Her job requires her to consider even impossible scenarios, like me betraying them.
“Take care.”
It’s not appropriate for me to see her off. What she wants now is for me to quickly disappear from her life. It’s not because she dislikes me or is wary of me. She’s about to find her direction, and that path is more efficient when walked alone.
Parke shrugged as a farewell and vanished. Even in the cemetery, which I thought had no place to hide, she disappeared in an instant. I don’t know what decision she’ll make. I’m not particularly interested either.
My interest is in the Canaris bastard (or bastards) in the Security Bureau.
Parke didn’t just say it casually. She clearly suspected someone and must have circumstantial evidence. She just couldn’t report it or was ignored, and the reason is simple. It’s a high-ranking person’s circumstances.
I can’t figure out who it is, but I can use process of elimination.
Someone who can be involved with high-ranking people must have a certain position. No group shares dangerous information with low-level employees, especially not the Security Bureau. I’ve cleaned up after many high-ranking people, but I don’t know whose messes I’ve cleaned up. So, candidates are people higher up than me.
In other words, department head level and above.
Secondly, they must be central. People in branch offices or less important positions obviously don’t qualify for such high-risk, high-return areas. So only those in the center of power are included.
But there are some people to exclude. First, Director Dill is out. I’ve heard she’s an elite from a good family. Above all, her family prospered during the Rotman era. As a scholarly family, they must have struggled during the Blaiberg era. So our Director has nothing to gain from returning to communism. Of course, people can support Canaris for ideological reasons regardless of personal benefit, but someone like Dill, with ambition engraved in her DNA, doesn’t seem likely. Nina Volkari, who shares love, ambition, and career advancement with the Director, is obviously not applicable either.
After excluding those to be excluded, I counted roughly ten people on my fingers, but I don’t know these people well enough to gauge their potential for betrayal.
Ten people…
If I manage my time well, I could ask them one by one. The method of asking might be a bit rough, but that’s okay, right? As long as I don’t hit them, it’s fine, isn’t it?
“You’re talking crazy.”
Nakaban bluntly said what Sebastian couldn’t say out of love for me. Sebastian couldn’t nod, but he expressed his support for Nakaban with a wry smile. No, damn it. There are ten of them, how else am I supposed to find out?
“First, write down all the names you can think of.”
At Nakaban’s suggestion, I wrote down the names on the paper he gave me. I had no prejudices. Because I don’t know any of them.
Starting with the two deputy directors for domestic and foreign affairs, I wrote down about ten names and handed it over. Nakaban and Sebastian looked at the paper, and Nakaban crossed out the name of the Department 3 head.
“Not a chance. I heard they’re from a family that fell during the communist era. They probably hate Canaris almost as much as Mr. Schnieke.”
I’m dumbfounded. Aren’t I the person in this house with the least grudge against Canaris? Everyone else is gathered here with their own grudges. Even Anya Becker, a minor, has a grudge, so why should I be the representative among all these people? Seeing my resentful eyes, Nakaban shook his head.
“Everyone dislikes them. They have grudges too. But I don’t think I’ve seen anyone hate them as much as you do, Mr. Schnieke. You really…”
Nakaban rarely chose his words carefully. I’m not sure if it’s for my sake or his own.
“You treat them like egg-laying cockroaches.”
Not just cockroaches. Really disgusting.
It seems Nakaban paused briefly to find an even stronger word. I was about to say, “How can you say that?”, but I decided to keep my mouth shut when I saw Nakaban’s face. His eyes were as dead as a fish’s. He’s been really busy lately, he must be drained of all vitality.
“Well, I don’t like them.”
“It’s almost at an allergy level for you. Like you think you’ll die if you sit with them. Anyway, this person doesn’t seem likely either, and this one is difficult too. They’re both extremely devout Catholics. I don’t think such people would share ideologies with guys who set off bombs at the drop of a hat. Especially this person, I heard they even pay their church dues regularly.”
Wow, how much background checking does it take to know even about paying church dues? I impulsively asked,
“What grudge does Nakaban have against Canaris?”
“I don’t have any. I just got into a big company because I studied well, and somehow ended up here.”
“Ah. Then it must be hard. You’re suffering from the tyranny of a second-generation chaebol.”
“No. The second-generation chaebol employer is fine, it’s annoying when a certain person with him causes trouble.”
That certain person is clearly me. I moved my eyeballs around and asked,
“If it annoys you that much, why didn’t you get angry?”
If I had shown it, I would have definitely apologized.
As if hearing my inner thoughts, Nakaban asked back,
“Then you would apologize, right?”
“Of course.”
“I only accept apologies in money. Mr. Riegel has always done so.”
Ah, he doesn’t even want to receive verbal apologies. Still, I apologized with “I’m sorry.” Just because you compensate for damages doesn’t mean you don’t need to apologize. When I apologized readily, Nakaban looked at me and clicked his tongue.
“It’s not like you did anything terribly wrong. You just have flaws like being oblivious, a pushover, with zero political sense, and yet you go around thinking you can do something.”
Ouch, I think my bones are broken. To break my bones with just his tongue, he’s really not an ordinary person. While I was groaning in pain from the fracture, Nakaban continued,
“But I don’t dislike people like that.”
What is he saying? I can’t understand his words.
“You’re saying you don’t dislike people who are oblivious, pushovers, with zero political sense, and yet go around thinking they can do something?”
“Yes.”
Nakaban cheerfully admitted. Of course, only his voice was cheerful, his eyes were still no different from a dead fish’s. I was about to ask, ‘Do you know you’re just saying anything right now?’ but closed my mouth, feeling sorry for the fatigue in his eyes. That’s when Sebastian, who had been watching us, spoke.
“Nakaban likes your type.”
“What type?”
“Those who give their all to others without sparing themselves or considering profit relationships, and who never break down and keep moving forward even if they’re powerless. In short, he likes passionate fools.”
I understand Sebastian put it nicely.
“I don’t like it.”
It’s annoying just hearing about it. I’ve seen many of that type. Mostly in civic groups. Especially environmental groups. People who believe they’re righteous often do this, and it’s really annoying when they do such things in situations where other people’s lives are at stake. I’ve thought more than once about drugging them to sleep until the job is done.
“People who live cunningly can’t hate people with good intentions. It’s like people living in darkness yearning for those in the light.”
Nakaban muttered silently. He seemed to be grumbling about the ‘people who live cunningly’ part. At first, I thought Sebastian was talking about Nakaban.
But I soon realized. He was talking about himself. He, the ‘person who lives cunningly’, cannot hate me, the ‘person with good intentions’. I was at a loss for words for a moment.
I think I understand why he calls himself cunning. And I know what he means when he calls me good. But I can’t agree with that. I want to deny those words with all my heart. But Sebastian didn’t say it to be denied by me. That’s why he didn’t even hide that this conversation was referring to him and me in the first place.
I looked at him straight and said,
“Then I can’t hate you.”
Because your love is the most good I know.
Sebastian understood what I meant. He made the expression he always makes at times like this. A bitter smile that looked like he might cry or be happy at the same time.
Don’t make that face.
Every time you do this, I want to find Lee Shin-yeon’s grave and drag him out to beat him. I want to break into your mother’s bedroom window in the middle of the night and confront her. Ask her why she did this to you. Was it so hard to love you a little that she made you this lonely? Did she have to give you such a deficiency that you’re moved to this extent by just one word, one piece of love like this? I want to grab her by the collar and ask.
I wish I had a way with words, but I couldn’t say anything. As I was just looking at Sebastian, suddenly there was a thud. When I turned my head, Nakaban had slammed both fists on the desk with a disgusted face and was muttering ominously.
“Are you two going to date while I do all the work alone?”
I felt a bit embarrassed. I thought others wouldn’t be able to recognize the emotions we shared. But at Nakaban’s words, I looked around and saw everyone with faces saying, “They’re at it again…” Ah, is it that obvious? Well, when you see people having secret office romances, they always think they’re hiding it well.
As I was wondering whether I should apologize or try to smooth things over somehow, Sebastian spoke.
“So the candidates have been narrowed down to about three. The fact that all three are such high-ranking officials means…”
“It means the Security Bureau is going to lose a lot of money.”
Nakaban’s eyes regained a bit of life.
The Security Bureau is a huge organization. Especially to catch guys like Canaris, a lot of manpower needs to be mobilized, which means many people need to know. It’s difficult to proceed with large-scale operations while completely concealing them from high-ranking officials.
The information fee paid to Gleinach will end up being worthless.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
