It Sure Doesn't Feel Like My Fault
At that moment, Yohan was walking through the Transmission Tower Forest.
In the commander's office of the 8th Gendarmerie Special Task Force.
Information Officer Leticia held a perfect stance.
It felt like she had stepped back into her days as a candidate officer.
But she could not show any signs of disarray in front of the new commander.
Despite the new commander having stayed up for two straight nights to fix the messy atmosphere and said she needed to wrap up her duties quickly.
Leticia had come in looking just as neat and tidy as on the day she assumed office.
Yet here she was, her face flushed red despite having left work early and slept like a rock.
She had heard about the incident that happened last night from the duty soldier, so she was heading to the information department to tear it apart.
'Hoot's bag got stolen? If such a thing had happened, we should have filed a report!'
'Hah, but the new commander told me not to report it! She opened her eyes 'like this'…!'
The new commander, who had pulled an all-nighter, was reviewing the report with perfect posture.
Yesterday she had said, 'You must have been running on empty from overwork, so go home and rest today. Don't take any calls,' and sent her back home.
She was kind for a Roemer person, but in the end she was still an inescapable 'Roemer.'
'Yeah. This is how you straighten out your subordinates' discipline, huh?'
Leticia was from Elza.
Though the name suggested autonomy, it was really just the eastern half of the divided Elza Republic under Roemer rule.
While Elza people cursed her as 'Roemer trash' and Roemer people cursed her as 'second-class citizen,' the only way to survive had been through studying hard.
So she studied relentlessly and built up her stamina to get into the Elza Eastern Military Academy.
She entered the elite training class and graduated with top marks, receiving the position of information officer.
Her self-made success was her pride, and also the fuel that let her endure her trashy superiors.
When the war broke out, she naturally became a Roemer soldier.
And now she was part of the occupying army that ruled the occupied territory.
Thanks to that, she no longer got cursed to her face as 'Roemer trash.'
Instead, the door and windows of her apartment were covered in graffiti, but after the zombie outbreak, even that had stopped.
'So what? I'm an Elza person. What am I supposed to do?'
Even when doing the same work, she was always discriminated against.
Roemer-origin superiors always stole her achievements.
'What? Don't like it? Quit, then.'
Leticia acted like any normal Elza.
She doubled her effort on everything.
Give what you have to give, and take what you want to take. There was no other way.
In the end, she was right.
The old guys disappeared quickly, but she kept getting promoted.
Now she was a full-fledged information officer.
In a non-combat situation like this, such a promotion was shockingly rapid.
That was why Leticia had not been angry about the new commander arriving.
Though the new commander was from a Roemer noble family, younger than her, higher in rank, and her entire military career was locked behind top secret, making her suspicious.
But Leticia had already learned that life is unfair.
And just as expected.
Things had gone smoothly for days, but today she was trying to restore discipline.
'A soldier goes home before their mission is even finished. Truly righteous spirit. I stayed up two nights and you still slept well? And now you've forgotten the bag too.
That's what Elza people are like…'
That was the kind of scolding she had prepared for.
'Whether old or young, parachutes are all the same. Noble family origin? What's the point. Whether you jump or not, trash is trash.'
Since things had come to this, Leticia had made up her mind: don't let any weaknesses get taken from me.
That included holding a perfect stance like a new recruit.
'Your report to your superior is that kind of thing?'
She did not want to get hit with any of those nasty tricks.
'…Hoot's case should have gone well.'
Leticia was disappointed.
Hoot's case had been her plan.
To take down a weak terrorist and bring down the entire organization in one stroke.
But even that plan had fallen apart.
The bag suddenly disappeared.
'If luck was so bad, how could this even happen…'
Leticia felt like giving up.
Yeah, yeah. She would vaguely listen, then go back to working hard, drink until she passed out, and sleep.
That was her plan.
Finally, Virginia Helford set down the documents.
"Well then. Information Officer. What do you think?"
It was, of course, about the bag seller.
"Technically brilliant, cunning, and thoroughly sinister. However, I judged that he is not a radical faction member of the Elza Liberation Movement."
"Explain."
Leticia was outraged at the cold reply.
'You wrote all of it in the report, you stupid human!' she wanted to shout, but as an elite officer she did not let her irritation show.
"Objectively speaking, the bag carrier Hoot is highly capable. Mini Bell Village is one of the deepest and most worthless zones in the Human Non-Protected Zone.
Yet Hoot crossed the entire Human Non-Protected Zone in a week and reached it without even getting infected.
Of course, Hoot's recent dishevelment is true. That's why the Elza Liberation Movement had been watching him closely.
But that was merely 'concern' for a comrade they had fought alongside for a long time, not 'surveillance' for mission capability or betrayal risk. So the odds of attaching a monitor or tracker are low."
"Keep going."
"If Hoot's ability was really suspicious, they would have assigned someone else. But the branch chief Hans did not do that. He simply assigned the work to Hoot.
Considering this point, the possibility that the bag seller V is 'someone Hans sent from the Elza Liberation Movement specifically to cover the case if Hoot betrayed him' is small."
Brief silence.
Virginia let out a sigh.
"…If that's all, I'm quite disappointed."
Even though she said she was disappointed, her face did not change at all.
It sounded like something from another world.
Leticia's insides were boiling, but she remained calm.
"If there was anything lacking in my report, I would immediately supplement it…!"
The fact that she had not been shut up showed she was truly an elite.
She had held firm even while Virginia Helford tilted her head and opened her eyes 'like this.'
Shimmering silver-blonde hair.
Pale skin.
Purple eyes that seemed to pull you in the longer you looked.
Gold-like lips in the dim window.
With three hundred eyes and black lipstick on her lips, she was truly terrifying.
'Who? Virginia Helford? Ah, the White Viper? Infamous. Calmly crazy woman. I've heard such fierce women can't even be found in the capital.'
'Heard the rumor? As a kid, she got bitten by a snake released by an assassin, but the little girl bit the snake's head and chewed it up. And then she somehow survived the venom too?
Said her white skin and hair, and purple eyes, were because of that.'
Leticia thought she was probably just a dirty-tempered noble young lady.
But no. The person in front of her was truly a 'viper.'
A predator raised from childhood as a ruler.
A noble who ate similar prey and grew stronger by eating more.
Virginia released the breath she was holding.
Leticia breathed in.
The air felt refreshing.
"Information Officer. Time is our greatest asset. Especially right now as the infection spreads.
So I do not want you to keep repeating the report you took such care with from now on. I am not that old that I forgot what I just read. Am I younger than you?"
"I apologize. I will correct it."
"However, this time I will overlook the fact that you have developed bad habits from serving a stupid superior who could not even read, since we are not following the world's flow. And when I asked 'What do you think?' I meant for you to tell me your thoughts on the report."
"…?"
Leticia looked at Virginia with slightly odd eyes.
Fortunately, the new special task force commander kindly added, "New information may have come in after it was written. Thoughts you may have had while writing but did not note. Or perhaps you held back details out of fear of a storm.
These official documents cannot hold such things, but I want you to tell me the analysis you have accumulated through experience so far. Even a weak intuition is fine.
Tell me every possible scenario, forecast, and possibility. If it sounds plausible even with imagination."
Leticia was startled.
There was such a thing.
But saying it out loud would be a type of content that could get her shot.
'But can I really say it? To someone who has internalized loyalty to family, patriotism, and military obedience since childhood?'
Leticia hesitated.
Her expression was one of someone trying hard to hold back what she wanted to say.
Normally she would never do that, but Virginia was looking at her 'like this,' so she could not stay calm anymore.
Fortunately, Virginia did not keep staring at her subordinate who was hesitating.
Instead, she sneered.
"…Leticia Information Officer. Having served under an incompetent superior for so long, have you become half-decent? I heard you graduated from the Elza Eastern Military Academy elite officer class, but am I wrong?"
"No."
"Then what is that hesitation? You just got called out and started thinking up excuses? Or do you think I am no different from the previous one and am hesitating to report?"
Leticia's insides boiled again.
The woman who had been pressing her lips together made her decision.
"I think information has leaked from the higher command."
Virginia stared at Leticia blankly.
Leticia waited.
"So?"
This time, her emotions seemed about to show.
Leticia paused for a moment.
"I do not understand what you mean."
"That's right. Because you are lying."
"Commander. I ask you to correct that."
Leticia's face hardened.
Cursing her as incompetent she could endure.
That had been the usual thing she heard from her previous superiors.
She had become used to being called 'stupid Elza girl.'
But lying?
"I have submitted inaccurate reports because of insufficient capability. I have also made wrong inferences based on insufficient information. But I have always worked diligently in any situation. I have never submitted a report while knowing it was a lie."
"Really?"
For some reason, Virginia's sneer grew thicker.
Anger welled up to her throat, but Leticia tried not to waver.
"If you think I am unsuitable for the position of information officer, issue the personnel order. I will swear loyalty wherever I am. But that does not mean I am admitting to a crime I did not commit. I, have not lied."
Virginia snorted.
She even tapped the desk with her fingers.
"That's what you'll say. You are lying to yourself. Lies have become so ingrained that you don't even realize you are lying. I can see it, but it seems you cannot."
Bang! Virginia slammed the stack of documents on the desk with her palm.
"All records of your activities, every operation you participated in, every report and analysis you submitted. I read them all overnight while staying up late. Completing the next elite officer training program perfectly is believable.
In the home country, there are few who craft such active, bold, and realistic operations. Yet there were hardly any instances of them being carried out. Probably because the old-fashioned superiors who dislike adventure were sitting there acting as your boss?
Still, the 'weak link strategy' plan that passed, which was to psychologically attack Hoot, a tired Elza Liberation Movement terrorist officer, was almost a miracle.
It was one of the plans the previous commander pushed through to show she was not just playing around despite being audited for negligence and sexual misconduct. A terrible boss, but she had good subordinates. In the end, the terror was stopped."
Leticia was confused.
Was she praising her or trying to push her off the edge by grabbing her collar?
Virginia continued in a cold voice.
"The military's principle has not changed much from wartime: 'Move according to the plan, but do not miss opportunities to achieve merit. Act boldly, make decisive calls, and think wisely.'
The weak link strategy plan contained all of that. If the person above you had been even slightly more competent, or even a normal level commander, the result would have been much better. I do not belittle what you have done so far. That would be unjust. It would actually be right to give you high praise."
'What's the problem here.'
If she could, Leticia would have grabbed that woman by the collar and shaken her.
Virginia picked up the cigarette case, then threw it away, and brushed back her falling bangs.
In the shadow around her eyes, her purple gaze was eerie.
"But something is missing from you. Something important and decisive is missing. So I judged that you are lying to yourself and to me. What do you think it is?"
"I could not get only half the achievement."
"No. Not that. Is there really nothing?"
Now it felt like tutoring.
'If you've grown old enough, now think with your own head!'
"…I apologize. I do not know."
"Information Officer."
Now she was talking to a child.
"Leticia Information Officer. I know you know I'm not asking this to hear such a thing. The 'weak link strategy' was not something like that for you.
It was a plan you submitted with real enthusiasm, fully considering your own judgment, analysis, and feasibility, not just mechanically following orders from above.
Like all those precious plans that had been ignored until now.
Yet a person with that ability removed something important that a human should have. I cannot understand how you did not notice. Did you really not know? Do I have to point this out too?"
"I could not anticipate the unexpected variable. I never thought anyone would steal the bag."
Leticia finished her answer and paused.
Strange things swirled in Virginia's eyes.
Leticia felt scared, but could not look away.
It was hypnotic.
A small snake swirling beautifully in those pupils slowly moved.
But it was even more dangerous.
Virginia whispered as if sticking out her tongue like a snake.
"Not angry?"
"…Angry? What do you mean?"
The eyes are a mirror of the heart.
Strange colors dripped from Virginia's eyes.
Courage? Wisdom? Greed? No. Madness.
Leticia realized.
That was the eyes of a mad person.
The eyes that, the moment you saw them, you should have said 'Ah, this is not normal' and fled long ago.
"Truly not angry? Anger, rage, do I have to teach you? I was so angry last night I couldn't even sleep. How much pain you must be in, how furiously angry a damn thing that took what was mine must be feeling, even I who am reading this report feel my blood boiling like this!"
Virginia slammed the desk with her fist.
A thunderous crack rang out and the desk crumpled.
It was a steel desk, and the fist-shaped dent was huge.
Blood flowed from her torn hand, yet her expression did not change at all.
"C, Commander, my h, hand… t, treat it first…."
"'Not angry?' Don't you know what that means? What, what? Honestly? Honestly, can I tell you that? This is ridiculous. Nonsense!
A subordinate who does not even get angry while being robbed of what she did, who accepts it like someone else's problem, with no ambition or greed, being 'smart,' saying honest words? Do you want me to believe that?
Even though you came to work this morning after hearing that all the effort you put in had vanished, you stand there dumbly asking 'Hand?' I am talking about your work, Leticia! I am talking about your merits!
Yeah, was it good to have what you had taken away? Was a life of endlessly nurturing what you made, then bowing down to the strong like Elza slaves, good?"
"No!"
Leticia's large chest heaved.
Her eyes were even a little wet.
The late resentment she had been holding back welled up.
Feeling like she would burst if she held it any longer, she bit her teeth.
"Leticia Information Officer. Are you an Elza person or a Roemer person!"
"I, I am…!"
"Say it loudly! Do not mumble!"
"I am a Roemer person!"
"Is Roemer your master or your slave!"
"Master!"
"Then act like a master!"
Virginia stood up abruptly and slammed the desk with both fists.
The desk legs were completely shattered and the crumpled metal slammed to the floor.
Loud noises came from the corridor. It seemed like spectators had gathered. But no one dared open the door and come in.
"Whether your birthplace or your education or even your parents, it does not matter! Whether you were master or slave before, it does not matter! If you act like a master, even a slave becomes a master. A slave does not have the qualification to be a master!
Leticia, Leticia Information Officer! Find out which bastard dared to take your share and tear them apart. Whether they are from another government agency, spies from Western countries, just information sellers, or even the home country commander's family, it does not matter.
Do not let them take what you have with open eyes again, Leticia! Even if the other person is you! Do you understand!"
"Understood!"
"Then go find it! Bring it back and report to me. I will tear it apart with my own hands and throw it to the zombies as food! Do not salute, get out right now! It's urgent!"
Leticia strode out like kicking the door open.
The soldiers and officers in the corridor all stepped aside. But none of them dared speak to Leticia, or even try to clear the broken desk.
"Daring to…."
Virginia lit a cigarette with her bloody hand and looked out the window.
'Bag seller.'
She had already decided who that was.
This was the work of an agency employee.
Anyone who touched the Gendarmerie, anyone who interfered with the sacred council's mission, would have their roots pulled out, no matter who they were.
Other government agency employees of the Roemer Republic. Those who tried to steal the Gendarmerie's achievements.
It was clear. It could only be those people. Unless they fell from the sky or sprouted from the ground, there could be no other possibility. Otherwise, how could they steal the bag based only on information they reported to the top?