Chapter 79. Operation Complete.
Chapter 79. Operation Complete.
'Where the hell is he now...'
Whether he'd slipped off on his own or was just slacking off, there was no sign of the captain anywhere.
Suddenly the radio crackled, and a call came through from the Prime Minister. The odd thing was that it came to us, not to the Japanese contingent.
'What the...?'
"Thanks to you, the operation proceeded smoothly. You have our gratitude."
"Yes, there was a minor mishap, but it ended without incident. The remains and personal effects have been recovered, and the massive 'Dire Bird' was dealt with as well."
He clearly couldn't keep the giggling from leaking out as he spoke over the radio. The Prime Minister carried on with a smirk audible in his voice.
"Such a pity, in any case. To lose so capable an Awakened One from Korea."
He'd been spouting nonsense I couldn't make sense of for a while now.
"But do not worry. We will not forget your sacrifice, and Korea will be generously compensated."
Right as I was about to say something, the radio cut off, and a frantic voice from the special mission team came through.
"Multiple missiles inbound from eight o'clock...! Target is our current position...!"
'These sons of bitches...'
That cleared everything up. The captain had planned from the start to finish the job and eliminate us afterward, and he'd run off early to get clear of the missile strike.
The others were swallowing hard, tense.
"Everyone gather near the wounded."
I could have sliced through all the missiles or deflected them, but instead I simply drove my sword into the ground and created a mana barrier around it.
— Boom!! Bang!! Crash!!
A tremendous noise battered against the mana barrier like thunder. After several minutes of missile bombardment, it ended, and I lowered the barrier.
Our group was seething with rage. The Japanese contingent, meanwhile, was crushed with despair at their own country's betrayal, wearing expressions of utter disbelief.
If we showed up right in front of the bastard who'd been gleefully imagining us all dead without a trace, what kind of face would he make? I was already curious. After all, we had made thorough preparations in case of betrayal.
We hadn't heard any helicopter rotors, so unless something unusual happened, the chopper was probably still there. The captain didn't know how to fly a helicopter anyway, so he might be waiting for an extra pilot.
The wounded were mobile enough, so we brought them along and headed to the helicopter's location. And there was the captain who'd vanished, gaping at us with a look of sheer horror.
"H-How...!"
He quickly recovered his composure and frantically pulled out his radio, trying to make contact.
— Shnk...!
I sliced through both the radio and the hand holding it in one stroke. The captain clamped his lips tight, stifling a scream.
"Were you about to report that the missiles didn't do a thing and we're all alive and well? And trying to kill your own Awakened Ones—in the long term, that's a pretty poor choice, isn't it..."
I stood right in front of him, grabbed the back of his head with one hand, and whispered in his ear.
"You can't read people for shit, and that's why you're like this, you ape."
And with that, I grabbed his head and twisted. A sound like a cracker snapping came from his neck as the vertebrae broke, his tongue lolling out as he died.
I tossed him into the bushes like a piece of garbage. Ah well, the animals would take care of it anyway.
I turned back to the others and spoke with a bright smile.
"Now I suppose we ought to go collect the price of betrayal. Let's go, everyone."
Wearing a grin I couldn't keep under control, I boarded the helicopter, and the others all followed me aboard. And so we lifted off, heading for headquarters.
After a flight through a brief silence, we were touching down at headquarters. As everyone disembarked from the helicopter, the reactions split into two camps.
Those welcoming a safe return and cheering the successful conclusion of the reconnaissance.
And those who realized something had gone wrong and were horrified.
The latter, naturally, being the Prime Minister and his closest aides.
A decent number of people were watching, so I approached the Prime Minister, who was frozen stiff, shook his hand, and pulled him into a light embrace, whispering into his ear.
"Why? Not quite what you pictured? And smile."
I released the hug and slung an arm over his shoulders, facing the crowd and waving with a smile. He, too, awkwardly curled just the corners of his mouth from his rigidly frozen face and gave a stiff wave. I told everyone the operation had been tough and grueling, so we'd rest a bit and see them again in the evening, and then we entered our room.
"Sihu, that was unexpected."
"What was?"
"I figured you'd have just flipped everything over right then and there."
"How do you people see me..."
"Sihu, I have to say, I agree with Jia on that one..."
Curious whether the others thought the same, I glanced around, and every single one of them started desperately avoiding my eyes.
'Hm...'
"Anyway, I intend to tell everyone everything this evening. Did you check on that thing we prepared?"
"Yes, confirmed."
We each spent our time privately, all wishing evening would hurry up and arrive, and soon enough the sky darkened and evening came. We were summoned to the massive auditorium and dined with everyone. Naturally, we were peppered with questions.
The troops who had gone previously had, regrettably, all perished; we had brought back items to confirm each of their identities. Then the question I'd been waiting for most came.
"A number of the people who went together are missing. The captain is also missing—where have they all gone?"
"That's a very good question. They are all dead."
A very good question, and they're all dead? With faces that clearly didn't follow, people pressed me for more answers. So I told them everything—that we had barely survived the missile barrage, and about the Prime Minister's final radio transmission.
Of course, he wasn't about to admit it meekly—he wasn't an idiot. The Prime Minister and his closest aides started ranting that this was nonsense, that I was saying such things to deliberately sow division.
"He killed Japan's Awakened Ones on purpose and is doing this to rule over this place...! Fellow countrymen, you must not submit to such tyranny...!"
I stared silently at the bullshit they were spouting, my expression completely unchanged. And it wasn't just me—the rest of our party were also watching quietly. Once the excitement of the Prime Minister and the citizens who'd been incited had died down, I gestured to the team members.
At that, the team brought out a beam projector and a USB drive. They plugged the cable into the projector, cast the image onto the wall, and inserted the USB. A first-person view began to play. And then came the voice of the Prime Minister, unmistakable to everyone. Followed by the sight of countless missiles flying in.
"..."
Once all the footage ended, nobody could so much as part their lips. They had been incited, and as it turned out, the man who'd done the inciting was the one who'd committed all the crimes.
Back when we'd searched the containers at the port, I'd grabbed the body cameras thinking they might be useful for keeping records, and this time they really proved invaluable.
I drew my sword and walked slowly toward the bastards who were exchanging wary glances among their own inner circle.
"Got anything else to say?"
"If you kill us... intergovernmental relations will deteriorate severely...!"
I laughed as if I couldn't believe my ears, and spoke to him coldly.
"In this world that's already gone to ruin—where exactly is this government?"
As if I couldn't be bothered to listen anymore, I waved my hand dismissively and continued.
"Such a pity. Japan has lost so capable a leader."
I returned the very words he'd said to me, and swung my sword, killing all of his closest aides along with him.
Ordinarily, being punished through proper legal procedures would be the right thing, but such procedures had long since vanished.
"Let them know that it's all over, and let's go see about collecting our compensation."
And that night, the Minister and his aides came to discuss the nuclear material they'd offered as a condition of their cooperation.
"You may take as much as you want. However, as I mentioned beforehand, we do not have the capacity to assist..."
"That's fine. The Korean side has agreed to send people, so we only need you to tell us the location."
"I'm sure you will handle it well, but please do work carefully."
He lowered his head as he spoke. He would understand. It wasn't as if Korea had no nuclear material of its own, so he'd know why we'd come all the way here to take it. That's why he told us to work carefully—even if the homeland is reclaimed in the future, if that place is contaminated by radiation, it'll be meaningless.
And who knows what kind of effect radiation might have on zombies.
We stayed there for a few days, and personnel from the power plant and the researchers who had worked at the research complex came to assist us. Honestly, I'd been worried they'd be ivory-tower scholars who only did research, but they smiled without the slightest concern and said it was fine.
"If anything happens, you'll protect our lives, won't you, Representative?"
We gave them rest after the hard journey here and decided to depart a day later.
"Where exactly is the Tokai Nuclear Power Plant?"
"It's not too far away. But infrastructure restoration hasn't happened here yet, so we have no information on what's currently there."
Still, the President and Chairman Lee seemed to have sent reasonably trustworthy people, and they'd sent them with at least minimal armament. From what I heard separately, they'd all completed their military service and at least knew how to shoot a gun.
'Hm... am I the only one who didn't serve...?'
I wrapped up the conversation with them, and we headed to our room to rest as well. But in front of our door, the siblings we'd seen before were waiting for us, kneeling on the ground.
'Was it Yuna and Yuito...?'
Once they confirmed I was the one at the very front, the two of them pressed their foreheads to the floor, and the older sister made a request of us.
"Sir, please take us with you!!!"
At this sudden request, we all just stared at them in silence like we'd been struck dumb.