The Adjutant and the Superior Officer Are of One Mind
The Adjutant and the Superior Officer Are of One Mind
My gut feeling told me.
That something big concerning Lucy was going to happen today.
Not to boast, but my intuition was generally pretty accurate.
I stayed wary of Lucy all workday, constantly on guard, but contrary to my expectations, Lucy just worked silently as usual.
"It's quitting time, Captain."
In the private office, Lucy, having finished organizing the documents, turned to me and spoke.
'...It's quitting time already?'
I took my eyes off Lucy and looked at the wall clock; it was 6 p.m.
Momentarily bewildered, I cleared my throat and rose from my seat.
"Right. Let's go."
I packed a few documents into my briefcase and stepped out of the office, Lucy following close behind.
We went down the central staircase and were just stepping out of the entrance to the General Headquarters.
"Um, Captain."
I turned to see what it was, and Lucy held out an umbrella.
"This is the umbrella I borrowed from you earlier. Thanks to you, I managed to stay out of the rain. I meant to return it sooner, but you've been so swamped with official duties, Captain, that a chance never quite presented itself."
Ah. I did lend her an umbrella.
"Glad you put it to good use."
As I took the umbrella, Lucy looked up at me, blinking her red eyes.
"And congratulations on being awarded the National Medal. Considering the favor you've received from the higher-ups, promotion to Major is only a matter of time."
...What was this? A threat?
I stiffened, unable to read her intent, and Lucy bowed her head.
"Well then, I have a prior engagement, so I'll be off first."
With those words, Lucy walked on ahead.
Was my intuition wrong? Truly nothing had happened.
Watching Lucy's retreating figure blankly, I opened my briefcase and put the umbrella inside.
'Well, everything's good as long as nothing happens.'
I closed the bag and looked up at the sky; it was clear, without a single cloud.
'It must be summer now.'
The sun hadn't set even though it was 6 p.m.
The breeze was mild and gentle.
Feeling good, I took a deep breath and walked lightly forward.
'I heard a new dessert shop opened on the outskirts of the capital. Should I check it out?'
I'd been tangled up in all sorts of incidents and accidents lately, so I wanted to do a little healing for myself now and then.
*
"Boss. I think we'll be able to distribute our goods on Rayburn 23rd Street now too. We slipped the cops patrolling there a bigger bribe than before, and they said they'll turn a blind eye for the time being."
Inside the room where the old ventilation fan spun, mafia boss Nickel let out a satisfied laugh.
"See? What did I tell you? If they won't take a bribe, you just have to stuff them with more money. Let's keep widening our routes like this and build up a cell organization."
As Nickel put a cigar in his mouth, a henchman rushed up and lit it with a lighter.
Nickel puffed a few times, then exhaled smoke, and the henchman stepped back.
Tapping the ash from the burning cigar into the ashtray, Nickel spoke.
"Today there's a meeting with a customs inspector, so tell everyone to get dressed up in suits. Gotta grease that smarmy little bastard's stomach so opium smuggling gets easier than it is now."
"Yes! Understood!"
As the henchman answered vigorously, Nickel waved his hand dismissively.
The henchman then opened the door and went out.
Seeing that, Nickel took a few more puffs of his cigar before heaving his heavy body up.
Pushing back the creaking chair, Nickel stood before the full-length mirror and straightened his attire.
His hands, decked out in luxury brands, wore several gold rings.
Gazing smugly at his own body, wrapped in expensive things, Nickel gave a greedy smile.
'It's easy. I never knew it would be this easy...!'
Nickel was originally a spy for the Allied Nations.
The opium trade was purely a business he'd started for local fundraising purposes.
But as the scale gradually grew, and he eventually had thirty-odd men under him, greed for money swelled in Nickel's heart far more than loyalty to his home country.
So he betrayed his country and his organization.
Because living in wealth and splendor selling opium in the Empire was several times more comfortable and prosperous than risking his life on espionage work.
It had already been over a year since he'd ignored his home country's contact that way, but he felt no pangs of conscience.
'In the first place, my homeland treated me as expendable hardware too...'
There was no reason to follow them any longer.
Having finished his self-justification, Nickel was just about to turn to go meet the customs inspector.
Cheolkeok─
The cold metal of a silencer pressed against the back of his head.
The moment he wondered what on earth it was, the space behind Nickel's body reflected in the mirror began to distort.
'Optical camouflage...!'
It was a high-level technique that rendered the user transparent by using mana to reflect and refract the light that touched the body.
Therefore, the number of people who knew how to use optical camouflage, within the Empire as well as within the Allied Nations, was extremely small.
If so, who on earth was the person dispelling optical camouflage right now? As he waited, dripping with cold sweat, a woman with red irises slowly revealed herself.
"...!"
The moment he saw her, Nickel's heart pounded violently.
He had heard of her. The rumor of the 'Red-eyed Reaper' who executed traitors to the motherland.
But wasn't that just an urban legend? As Nickel floundered, eyes widening, Lucy slowly moved her lips.
"Nickel Mayer. The motherland gave you countless opportunities. But you frequently refused."
His body felt frozen at the chilling voice.
Swiftly darting his eyes back and forth, Nickel spoke, his voice trembling.
"W-Wait! Keeping me alive is to the Allied Nations' benefit! I'm scattering opium all over the Empire! Even if I betrayed you, I'm not doing anything that benefits the Empire!"
"That is not an excuse."
"Please! Th-then let's do this. I'll give you all the money I've collected—"
Lucy pulled the trigger.
Phtip─
A small gunshot, suppressed by the silencer, rang out, and then blood spattered.
Nickel's heavy body staggered for a moment, then fell to the floor with a thud.
"..."
Coldly looking down at the fallen Nickel, Lucy dusted off her hands and opened the window.
It was three stories high, but it wasn't much of a problem for Lucy.
Leaping down like a cat, Lucy landed lightly on the ground and entered a nearby alleyway.
Avoiding the begging vagrants and moving this way and that, Lucy was finally able to enter an alley where there was no one.
Now, if she changed her clothes here and emerged, the mission would be a success.
Thinking she could relax, Lucy took the sunglasses from the inside pocket of her coat and put them on.
Red eyes tended to stand out to people, so it was best to hide them as much as possible.
Afterwards, having readjusted the position of her wig, Lucy took off the blood-stained coat and absentmindedly turned her head, then stiffened to a halt.
Because she made eye contact with an Imperial soldier coming around the alleyway.
At first, she was merely annoyed, thinking the workload had increased, but upon studying the soldier's appearance, Lucy, unusually for her, couldn't help but be flustered.
'...Daniel Steiner?'
The soldier with black hair and wolf-like sharp eyes was none other than Daniel Steiner.
Because of this, a crack formed in Lucy's expressionless face.
'Dangerous.'
Who was Daniel Steiner? He was a man who, not content with having piled up countless achievements, was a master at sniffing out and interrogating spies.
On top of that, he also had a knack for combat.
She had certainly heard that he had killed Colonel Jeremy on the Northern Front in a single strike and had fought and won against seven soldiers.
Also, it was Daniel Steiner who had made a pile of corpses out of eight Allied agents when rescuing the princess this time.
'Of course...'
If Neural Acceleration was the only technique Daniel could use, she could fully suppress him.
But her opponent was a thorough, calculating, cold, and sinister man.
There was a probability that he could use techniques other than Neural Acceleration but was keeping them hidden from the outside world.
Besides, even if she succeeded in killing Daniel here, she wouldn't be able to escape the Empire's investigative net.
If he were just some ordinary soldier, maybe not, but Daniel was an elite among elites, awarded the National Medal by the Emperor himself, and a candidate for early promotion.
If such a person were found as a corpse in an alleyway, a massive investigation would be launched, and in that process, Lucy would be arrested with a high probability.
'In that case...'
There was no choice but to smooth over this situation as much as possible.
Fortunately, Lucy was currently wearing a wig and sunglasses.
If she acted as if she were someone else and deceived Daniel, she might be able to get out alive.
The worst-case scenario was that Daniel had tracked her from the start and came into the alleyway, but she decided not to act recklessly until that became certain.
Thus, while Lucy was racking her brain devising various methods, Daniel was also thinking along similar lines.
'I just got lost on my way to a dessert shop...'
I turned down the alleyway and ended up face-to-face with Lucy, whose coat was stained with blood. The worst.
...For one thing, there was a reason I was certain that woman was Lucy.
I'd come into the alleyway just before Lucy put on the sunglasses and had seen her red eyes flash.
'Looks like she ran into me in the middle of some intelligence operation.'
It was a headache. The moment I let on that I'd realized Lucy was a spy, I might end up with a bullet hole in my forehead.
But the probability of that was low.
Unless she was a fool, Lucy would try to get out of this situation now.
Wasn't she conveniently wearing a wig and sunglasses right now?
That immediately suggested that Lucy would act like someone else.
'Then, is there only one way?'
The two of them, having forcibly calmed their minds, looked at each other in silence.
At that moment, what the two were thinking was this.
'I have to thoroughly deceive Daniel.'
'I have to grit my teeth and let myself be deceived.'
Truly ironically, the hearts of the two had converged in a strange place.