Chapter 414
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 414
Chapter Title: It's Just a Crime.
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"You fucking idiot. I told you to stay put, and you couldn't hold it in for even a day before causing trouble."
"But, boss, we couldn't just let this punk surveil us."
"Why the hell were you tailing him in the first place?"
"He talked back to you like he had a death wish, so we figured we'd teach him a lesson."
"......If you were gonna do that, why not make it look like an accident and be done with it?"
"That's why I brought him to you instead of killing him. I'm no good at that stuff."
"Big fucking hero, aren't you, moron."
When he came to, Bachemensky realized three things.
One, that he was tied up.
Two, that the voices sounded familiar.
Three, that the back of his head throbbed with pain.
Putting those pieces together, he quickly grasped the situation.
"Ugh...... What the hell is this, Brother Lev?"
"You're awake?"
The man with metal cuffs on both arms.
Lev Borvich clicked his tongue.
He scratched his head vigorously, then spoke.
"Sorry about this, Brother Bachemensky. Looks like my guy fucked up."
"Fucked up? You kidnap someone out of nowhere and that's all you have to say?!"
"But that's the truth, what can we do?"
"......"
"So, with that in mind, Brother Bachemensky, how about we call today's events water under the bridge? Shit happens, right?"
Bachemensky glared at Lev's apologetic expression for a moment.
Then he sighed.
"Fine. I'll let it slide this once."
"Haha, thanks a ton. I'll make it up to you later."
Lev laughed at the response.
Then, abruptly, the smile vanished from his face.
"......You think I'd actually say that, you dumbass?"
Thwack!
"Gah!"
"If you're gonna lie, at least sell it. The second you got back, your face screamed you were gonna rat me out. You really thought I'd just let you go?"
Lev sneered at Bachemensky, who rolled across the floor from the kick.
Then he said coldly.
"Hey, kill this bastard."
"We can just straight-up kill him?"
"Make it gruesome. Easier to pin it on someone that way."
"Ah, you're gonna frame that guy?"
"Yeah. If one of my close aides 'dies,' that secretary prick might finally take things seriously."
"As expected of the boss. Leave it to me—I'll turn him into mush."
The giant drew a massive hammer.
Lev stepped back, arms crossed.
The other men around them grinned as they watched.
Facing these men filled with nothing but murderous intent, Bachemensky ground his teeth.
Of course, he was a revolutionary too.
He was always prepared to give his life.
But not to the Okhrana—and certainly not like a dog at the hands of his fellow revolutionaries.
Trembling with unspeakable injustice, rage, and despair, Bachemensky finally spat out.
"Kill me if you're gonna! But you bastards will pay for this someday!"
"Pfft, hahaha! Try it if you can. Your head's gonna crack first."
The giant mocked his curse.
Then he hefted the hammer—easily over a hundred kilos—and swung it down at Bachemensky in one brutal motion.
Or tried to.
......If only the hammerhead hadn't popped right off.
Thud.
"Huh? What the—why's my hammer......?"
This wasn't some cheap piece-of-shit hammer with a wooden handle. It was a high-level item—why had it suddenly broken?
And why were Lev and the others staring at him with bulging eyes?
The giant blinked in confusion, then froze.
He'd finally noticed what dangled from the handle on the floor.
"Aaaargh! My wrist! My hand!"
Splurt!
It was sliced so cleanly.
The giant collapsed, clutching his wrist as blood finally sprayed out.
And then a voice rang out.
"I was gonna let it play out a bit longer...... but you lot couldn't wait even a few days before screwing up."
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Me? Just a passerby NEET."
A white-haired young man answered Lev's shout as he belatedly assumed a battle stance.
In the air thick with killing intent, he alone remained utterly relaxed. Bachemensky's eyes widened.
"R-Rino, brother?"
"Yo, researcher dude. You look like shit."
"How are you here...... No, wait—was that you just now, Brother Rino?"
"I get you're curious, but talk later."
Rimon shrugged.
Then he twisted his wrist.
Invisible threads, thin and sharp as could be, snapped taut. He smirked coldly.
"First, time to beat down these assholes."
"You cocky little shit......!"
Lev ground his teeth.
But he didn't move recklessly.
He hadn't even seen the giant's wrist and hammer get severed wholesale. He was wary of Rimon's power.
"We're the Revolutionary Government's Security Bureau! You know fighting us means opposing the Revolutionary Government itself?!"
"Says the guys trying to grab and kill a high-ranking official on a whim."
"This is...... a party secret mission! No place for an outsider like you!"
"And I say I'm getting involved."
You talk.
I'll smash.
With that mindset radiating from him, Rimon strode forward.
Realizing words were useless, Lev finally roared.
"Kill him!"
And......
Exactly one minute passed.
"So."
Sergey remained silent with a stiff expression for a long while.
Then he spoke in a heavier tone than usual.
"You turned them into mush and dragged them here?"
"Less 'mush' and more...... they resisted too fiercely during the takedown."
"Brother Bachemensky."
"......Yes."
Bachemensky bowed his head limply in the end.
No matter how you sliced it, the state of Lev and his men in the jail wasn't excessive force—it was them getting stopped just short of death.
That's why Sergey eyed Rimon with heavy eyes.
"Brother Rino, wasn't that a bit much? A few of them won't walk again without a high-level healer."
"That's a shame."
He'd lopped off their limbs entirely.
Like it was no big deal.
Sergey fell silent watching Rimon's brazen reply, then suddenly asked.
"Have you heard about high-ranking Revolutionary Government officials getting attacked lately?"
"......Was that actually true?"
"It is. Dozens of victims already, and more than a couple crippled."
Bachemensky froze.
Sergey looked at Rimon with sunken eyes, ignoring him.
"Are you involved in that?"
"Beats me. I don't remember chopping up any revolutionaries."
Rimon shrugged.
He watched Sergey furrow his brow, then twisted his lips slightly.
"But I have roughed up a few pieces of trash who impersonated Revolutionary Government officials to rape, pillage, and murder innocent civilians."
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"I mean the reality happening all over Moscow right now."
"No way! There's no way any of our revolutionary brothers would......!"
"Dude, you forgetting the guys who just tried to kill you were revolutionaries too?"
"......!"
Bachemensky's face hardened.
Lev and his crew were Security Bureau.
They were supposed to protect Moscow in the Okhrana's stead, yet they'd done this so brazenly.
He finally realized other revolutionaries might really be committing crimes.
But Sergey didn't seem all that surprised.
He just spoke gravely.
"Looks like some brothers have gone astray."
"'Some' feels like an understatement. And it's not the kind of thing you just brush off as a slip-up."
"You're right."
Sergey nodded slowly.
Then he said quietly.
"My brothers' mistakes are my mistakes. I'll apologize on their behalf."
"Not to me. I wasn't the one almost dying."
"......If anything, I should apologize. As a member of the Revolutionary Government, I share responsibility for not preventing this."
Rimon looked indifferent.
Bachemensky was grim.
Sergey shook his head at the pair, each refusing for their own reasons.
"No, my apology isn't just because I'm sorry. It's because of the request I'm about to make."
"What request?"
Bachemensky blinked in confusion at the unexpected words. Sergey slowly turned.
And said to Rimon.
"Brother Rino, no more acting on your own like this."
"......Just stand by and watch people die?"
"A good citizen reports to the Security Bureau. A brave one steps up to save lives. But......"
"But?"
"One citizen judging and punishing criminals on their own? That's just a crime."
I'll overlook what happened so far.
But if it happens again, I'll arrest you as a criminal.
Bachemensky's eyes widened at Sergey's solemn declaration.
"Sir, Brother Rino was only doing the right thing!"
Without Rimon, at least dozens—maybe hundreds—more innocents would have suffered.
So Rimon's actions in stopping revolutionary crimes weren't wrong.
Bachemensky protested.
Sergey nodded.
"I know."
"Then why......?"
"What Rino did may be right on a personal level, but wrong on a national one."
Bachemensky looked baffled.
Sergey explained gravely.
"Allowing one person to define crimes and mete out judgment destroys the rule of law. And lets the powerful become 'justice' itself."
"......So punishing a few criminals arbitrarily means overlooking even more crimes."
"Exactly."
With power or without.
Personal vigilantism can't be tolerated.
It disregards everyone else's sense of justice, right or wrong.
Above all, it violates the equality at the Soviet Union's core.
"If you really want to punish crimes, join the Security Bureau. I'll support you fully."
Rimon eyed Sergey silently for a moment, emotionless and purely official.
Then he spoke.
"Justice should be enforced by the state, not individuals...... Fine words. I can agree to an extent."
"You'll accept my offer?"
"Before I answer, one question."
"What is it?"
Sergey asked calmly, ready to answer anything.
Rimon sank his golden eyes deep.
"What about the revolutionary criminals? What'll you do with them?"
"We'll impose internal regulations so they can't do it again, and punish based on severity."
A predictable answer.
But Rimon caught the nuance and cocked his head.
"In other words, sweep it under the rug like nothing happened publicly?"
"......Yes."
"S-Sir? What do you mean?"
Unlike the stunned Bachemensky, Rimon wasn't surprised.
As if he'd expected it.
Or was used to it.
He just asked flatly.
"Can't expose the Revolutionary Government's dirty laundry?"
"Losing the people's trust now would bring greater chaos to the Soviet Union."
Externally, Russia the enemy nation.
Internally, cash and manpower shortages.
That was the Soviet Union's dire straits.
Public knowledge of revolutionary crimes eroding trust could shake the federation itself.
As Bachemensky groaned at Sergey's quiet words, Rimon chuckled instead.
"Huh. Is that really all?"
"......Are you saying I'm lying, sir?"
"Not lying, but feels like you haven't shared every reason."
"What other reason?"
Rimon smiled meaningfully at the indignant Bachemensky.
"For example: kicking out those assholes now would put your revolutionary ass at a disadvantage in faction wars."