Now Against the Current - 3
Ever since I laid eyes on that pouch—one that looked guaranteed to rate Unique at the very least—I've been plagued by ominous dreams.
A spy's limbs hung one each from the four corners of the Academy. The head dangled in front of the main building. The principal, upon witnessing the sight, flew into such a rage that he rejuvenated himself or something. A demon-summoning circle, was it?
Oh, and as a bonus, the students were so horrified they went crying to their families. The houses that heard their tearful complaints then lodged protests with the administration. Which meant I got thoroughly chewed out by the Minister.
Why does this feel so real?
It was a dream that cherry-picked only the absolute worst outcomes, yet it was so plausible it drove me even crazier. If it had been pure nonsense I could have dismissed it as a bad dream, but one wrong step and things really could spiral exactly like that.
It was enough to make me lose my mind. From now on I had to avoid even the lightest disciplinary action. Write a single Disciplinary Report and I'd be thrown straight into detention—turning me into a Chief with a criminal record.
"I—I'll stand by Karl no matter what happens!"
For a moment I pictured Margeta outside the iron bars, eyes welling up. Of course an image like that had to surface in high definition.
The guilt was going to kill me. Maybe I should start carrying suicide poison again, just like old times?
"Brother?"
"Ah."
Luise's voice pulled me back from the brink of the abyss.
"What is it? Something wrong?"
I forced my expression under control and spoke. Luise looked up at me with pitying eyes.
"I think something's wrong with you more than me, Brother."
I had no good answer for that. Something was wrong, all right. Something enormous.
What really stung was that she'd read it on my face. I used to have a decent poker face, but these days I kept getting caught.
Is she just that sharp?
Or maybe it was the versatile heroine buff that kicked in for everything except her own love life. Or not.
Anyway, once Luise had glimpsed my true feelings, I couldn't hide everything. Insisting "nothing's wrong" would only make me look more suspicious. She'd start poking around for the real problem.
And knowing the First Section Chief's personality, she wasn't going to stay quiet at the Academy. She'd definitely come charging into the clubroom to hang out.
Better to tell her in advance.
An unexpected outside visitor. Worse, a visitor I already knew was coming. Saying nothing under those circumstances would be far stranger.
Besides, the First Section Chief had already met the club members during the Expo. No harm in mentioning it.
"Actually, a guest is coming."
After a brief internal debate, I opened my mouth.
Right. Better to be open about it and keep her pinned down in the clubroom. Hunting the internal spy was the Second Section Chief's job anyway. The First Section Chief only had work after the spy was found.
"A guest?"
"You know. The one with white hair and red eyes. From the Expo."
"Ah, that older sister?"
She nodded, clearly remembering. Once you saw that appearance, it was hard to forget.
"She's the free-spirited type, so..."
The implication—that a troublesome guest was arriving and that was why my face looked sour—seemed to convince Luise. Strictly speaking it was true, which only made it more persuasive.
The First Section Chief's visit was annoying enough. The Red Wave that caused her visit was even more annoying.
Damn it.
Where did all these guests even come from?
"She likes bread, so I should prepare some in advance."
The soft smile on Luise's face only made me feel worse. The host was this kind, yet the guest...
"She'll eat anything, so don't go overboard."
"Hehe, but she's still a guest."
She was this kind...
"We're here!"
"Haha, sorry we're a little late."
Before long the club members came pouring in—late, for once.
Balance, maybe?
Looking at them, the thought struck me. Perhaps the president was endlessly kind precisely because the members were so... unconventional?
Luise was the one keeping the club's average personality in check.
Long carriage rides are a drag. The rattling, the stuffiness, and if you can't find a town or village to stay the night, you're stuck camping outdoors.
This time, though, I could enjoy the trip. I was on my way to see the Chief—what was a little carriage ride compared to that? I could walk to the edge of the continent if I had to.
"Hmm-hmm-hmm~"
My spirits were so high I caught myself humming without thinking.
"That happy about it?"
The Second Section Chief spoke up. Happy? What a pointless question.
"It'd be even better if I were going alone."
"Then you can find the spy yourself."
The Second Section Chief's face, full of mockery, made my blood boil. Using a correct argument as a counter—how underhanded.
"Hey! Cut it out!"
So I hit him. How dare a weakling talk back.
There's only one letter of difference between a correct statement and a statement that gets you punched—the Chief himself said so. As a Section Chief, I was simply acting according to the Chief's will.
I nodded in satisfaction as I watched the Second Section Chief twitch all over from even a light touch, unlike usual. His reactions had been excellent lately; hitting him was actually fun.
"I hope it stays like this from now on."
"What a horrible thing to say."
It was meant to be horrible, yes.
But I didn't say that out loud. Today's quota of torment had already been filled.
"We'll arrive by evening, right?"
"Yes. That should be about right."
I glanced at the map while the Second Section Chief kneaded his shoulder and answered. We had just passed Baron Landen's territory, so evening would be plenty of time.
"Anyway, I never expected the Red Wave to be inside the Academy too."
He added that we couldn't even handle it the old way, which made me tilt my head. He spoke as if he'd run into them before.
"You've met them before?"
"All the time when I was a team member. Why are you talking like you've never seen them?"
"I only saw them once before I became Section Chief."
The Red Wave was harder to encounter than their reputation suggested. The Empire practiced zero tolerance and zero mercy against them, so they were usually killed on the spot. Even when we tried to take them alive for interrogation, they often committed suicide right there.
That was why I'd only seen them once as a team member—and as a mere team member, I hadn't even been properly involved in the interrogation.
"So unfair that you got to see them by yourself. Division 1 barely ever ran into the Red Wave."
The old resentment welled up and I started grumbling. If they were just hard to meet, fine—but hogging them for Division 2 alone was dirty.
"What was I supposed to do? The previous Chief ordered us to kill every last one."
The Second Section Chief's shrug soured my mood. The previous Chief really was the problem. No fun, no flexibility, and not even cool.
If anything bad happened during my time in the Audit Department, it was almost always because of the previous Chief. Ever since the current Chief took over, life had been way too enjoyable.
"...But isn't the previous Chief the Minister?"
I frowned, then voiced the thought that suddenly occurred to me. Come to think of it, the person who held the Chief position right before ours was the Minister, wasn't he? He only lasted less than a month, but he did hold the post.
"Not officially. His Majesty promoted him straight to Minister before the appointment was even approved."
"Whoa."
So officially it was a two-rank promotion. Impressive, though I wasn't jealous.
"Anyway, under the previous Chief, if even one Red Wave member was spotted, the entire village got wiped out."
That jogged my memory. Something about how everyone was a potential accomplice so eradication was the correct approach, or whatever.
Even now it didn't sound sane. It wasn't efficient either. People just got scared and went deeper underground, or filled with nothing but hatred and ran wild.
"We can't exactly raze the Academy, so that's inconvenient."
And in the current situation it wasn't even an option. That previous Chief, honestly...
"So this time we do it properly. Capture them alive if at all possible."
"Yes~"
Glad to hear it, I nodded. Every spy the Second Section Chief found meant more materials for me. Meeting the Chief was already a joy, but this wasn't bad either.
As my sour mood gradually recovered, I glanced sideways.
Will he like it?
Unlike last time at the Expo, I'd prepared a gift this round.
"For someone locked up, tofu is the best. They say they hate it, but they go crazy for it."
That was what the Chief had said long ago, when the Minister was in detention.
So the Chief would like it too. House arrest or detention—being locked up was the same either way.
I heard it's a restorative dish from Armain.
I'd even put thought into the menu. Just plain tofu would be boring.
The people of Armain really were something else. Who thinks of making a cake out of tofu?
I was resting in the lodging when a sudden knock came at the door.
They're here. What was bound to come has finally arrived.
"Coming—"
—Click
"Whoa, it opened."
"The Academy's not much, huh."
These bastards.
I grabbed the back of my neck at the sheer audacity of picking the lock and walking in before the owner could open the door.
You lunatics. Even if a door can be opened, waiting for the owner to open it is basic social contract.
"Chieeef! It's been so long!"
While I watched the scene with mixed feelings, the First Section Chief flapped her hands and came bouncing over.
Fine. They had come to help, so I should at least gre—
"A gift!"
...et them.
"A gift?"
Instinctive warning climbed my spine. Had the word "gift" always been this unsettling?
"Yes! I've been preparing it hard for days!"
Shit.
Hearing that made refusal even harder. No matter how obvious it was that the thing was ominous, I couldn't just ignore a subordinate's sincerity without a proper reason.
Obvious. The future in which I would grab the back of my neck again was far too obvious.
I'm going crazy.
This was workplace harassment of a superior. Something I never even imagined when I was a team leader.
"Thanks."
I steeled myself and accepted the box the First Section Chief held out.
Was it just my imagination? The weight felt familiar—almost the same as something I'd felt not long ago.
Ah.
The moment I opened the box I froze solid. Sadly, it had not been my imagination.
"Do you like it?"
I slowly raised my head at the First Section Chief's giggling question.
"She worked hard to get that. Even in Armain it's not well-known, so stock is limited."
I managed a creaking nod at the Second Section Chief, who had just finished locking the door again.
So I was going to eat that obscure food twice.
"...Thanks."
Thanks, you bastards.
"I'm so glad you like it!"
"Wow, I've never seen anything like this in my life."
I stared down at the cake with my two archenemies snickering on either side of me.
Shit.
And so the three of us split the Tofu Cake. The fact that it was delicious only made me more annoyed.