Chapter 31
Following the address in Vodka's email, Usuha Izuki found his car at the agreed location and got in with practiced ease.
"How come it's just you and Amuro Toru? Where's Gin?"
Boss doesn't want to see you! Thinks listening to you talk is a waste of life!
Vodka thought this internally but said seriously on the surface: "Boss has more important things to do."
Usuha Izuki: "I see, so that means the three of us are organization outcasts, so we're all free, right? Mr. Amuro is understandable since he's still a rookie, but Vodka, look at how valued Gin is, then look at yourself—don't you feel empty and guilty?"
Vodka: "...???"
I just said one sentence, who the hell did I offend!!!
Vodka was somewhat used to Usuha Izuki's rudeness by now. After all, this guy grew up in the Middle East and couldn't even speak politely—it was normal for him to be harsh... No, he still couldn't swallow this humiliation. Vodka shot back.
"The most idle person here is you. I really don't know what you do normally—why don't you answer your phone?"
"I told you, we ordinary people don't answer calls after work hours."
"When did you say that?"
Vodka was confused.
Although Usuha Izuki talked a lot of nonsense every time, he liked to slip important intelligence into his rambling, forcing Vodka to listen carefully to his chatter each time. Sometimes Vodka wished he could cut open Usuha Izuki's stomach and fish out the important points, telling Usuha Izuki to stop diluting them with water!
It could be said that even if Vodka thought it was unnecessary, he still listened to everything Usuha Izuki said. This was also why he often got led off topic by Usuha Izuki—Gin wouldn't listen to nonsense so seriously.
From this aspect, Vodka unexpectedly had a lot in common with the undercover agents. When the two undercover agents went on missions with Usuha Izuki, they also had to carefully remember everything Usuha Izuki said, trying to extract useful intelligence from it.
—This even led them to think Gin seemed more refined when they saw him, a quiet, stable man of few words...
Usuha Izuki himself said too much nonsense and was momentarily stumped when asked, but thanks to not talking much at the Police Academy recently, he could still remember: "I said it in the email I sent back to Gin."
Vodka's question was answered, so he moved to the next topic: "You can't just say it's after work hours whenever you want. There should be a set time, right? When we need you and can't find you, just taking money without working—don't you think that's too much?"
The tasks they had wanted Usuha Izuki for had already been resolved without him. This time they called him out to address his disappearing act.
It would be best to probe this guy and see if he had other ulterior motives for being so dismissive of the organization.
Generally speaking, when facing such suspicious individuals, Vodka would speak more harshly.
But facing Usuha Izuki, Vodka could only try to ensure Usuha Izuki couldn't find fault with his attitude, prioritizing keeping the conversation going smoothly.
Usuha Izuki sighed: "They say people should have jobs so that if they go missing or something happens, the company will help report to police and such. But I've been missing for so long, not only do you not report to the police, no one even came to check on me. The first thing you do when we meet is blame me for being rude... This is so disheartening!"
Vodka said expressionlessly: "You weren't even home, where were we supposed to visit you?"
Usuha Izuki keenly caught the key point: "You guys were monitoring the house I bought?"
Vodka's heart jumped, feeling like he'd been trapped into revealing information, and quickly covered: "Wasn't this to confirm whether something happened to you, as you mentioned, so we investigated a bit."
"It's fine, I bought that house for you guys to monitor."
With this statement, not only Vodka but even the eavesdropping Amuro Toru was speechless.
How could someone disappear for so long then righteously say they bought a house just for the organization to monitor? Was he afraid of not seeming suspicious enough?!
Vodka immediately contributed 300 suspicion values: "What do you mean by that?"
"My beloved collections are all kept at home, so I won't run away—meaning to put you at ease." Usuha Izuki wasn't the least bit guilty.
He had drawn many strange things from lucky bags, and keeping them for their attribute bonuses, they really were beloved collections.
Vodka: "........"
Ah... your beloved collections, you mean those eye-searing things?
According to subordinate reports, upon entering Usuha Izuki's living room, they immediately saw a skeleton frame lying on a pink piano, startling the investigating peripheral member who knocked over a nearby vase. When the vase shattered, instead of flowers, a giant spider fell onto his foot—he rolled around kicking and screaming before finally calming down enough to realize it was just a stuffed toy.
Unfortunately, because this organization peripheral member's screaming attracted neighbor police reports that day, they had to flee before police arrived, unable to investigate further.
After receiving the report, Vodka could only remind his subordinates to buy identical replacements for anything broken, restore Usuha Izuki's home to its original state, and charge it to his account.
It had to be said that although the house had many strange things, you could tell Usuha Izuki had put care into maintaining it, so now when Usuha Izuki said it was to prove he wouldn't run away, Vodka actually believed him somewhat.
"Fine, but where have you been when you're not home, and what are you doing?"
"Undergoing socialization training."
"...I don't see any results. You should take remedial Japanese first—you still can't speak politely."
Vodka could understand why Usuha Izuki spoke fluent Japanese but couldn't use honorifics, assuming he learned from Arack, who also hadn't encountered situations requiring polite Japanese in the Middle East, so he tolerated Usuha Izuki's disrespect.
Now it seemed he suspected Usuha Izuki was deliberately not using honorifics...
Amuro Toru, who had been silently listening, couldn't help but ask: "Isn't Usuha-kun Japanese?"
Why would he need remedial Japanese? Although this guy didn't use honorifics, didn't he speak quite fluently? There wasn't a trace of foreign accent.
Usuha Izuki pondered: "I grew up abroad before and only smuggled back to Japan last year. Just consider me a returnee."
Furuya·Japanese Public Security·Amuro Toru·Zero: "........"
—Japan doesn't need this kind of returnee who only makes negative contributions!! Get out!!
Vodka's mouth also twitched: "Anyway, the organization gave you so much freedom, but freedom has limits. When we need you, don't play dead, or I'll think..."
Usuha Izuki said with interest: "Think I betrayed the organization? Don't worry, I'll definitely withdraw all the money from the card before betraying."
Vodka looked at him deeply: "I'll think you got beaten to death somewhere because of that mouth."
Usuha Izuki: "...Tch, fine, I might not always answer calls in the future, but I'll definitely reply to emails."
Vodka asked sharply: "So you've been somewhere inconvenient to answer calls recently?"
Watching the suspicion values quietly appearing in the system notifications, Usuha Izuki said calmly: "Yes, I'm at the Police Academy."
Amuro Toru's heart tightened.
Why would he suddenly mention the Police Academy? Was he really investigating something and conducting surveillance?
Compared to the Japanese Public Security agent who had a guilty conscience and was frantically contributing suspicion values, Vodka didn't take it seriously, only contributing 100 suspicion values as a token gesture.
After all, Usuha Izuki said it too openly. Vodka thought Usuha Izuki was deliberately giving an impossible answer to provoke him. His suspicion actually dissipated, and he just secretly rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses, saying irritably:
"Fine, Police Academy it is. If you discover anything, remember to report it. You're taking the organization's salary, so you should do some work, right?"
He wanted Usuha Izuki to write a report on his whereabouts, but the organization didn't actually pay special attention to formal members' movements. If he made this demand, Usuha Izuki might explode. Since Boss said this time was just to observe Usuha Izuki's attitude without pushing too hard, he wouldn't meddle.
Agreeing to reply to emails was already progress—they'd take it step by step.
Vodka never expected that even after accommodating Usuha Izuki so much, Usuha Izuki would still explode.
"Didn't I help you last time? It wasn't even my assignment, but if I hadn't been there, you wouldn't have noticed the person meeting with Deisenkai right under your noses... I'm HR, I did work outside my job description, and the organization didn't show any appreciation... You kept sending emails nagging nag nag nagging—nag what? A corporate slave I know says companies that don't proactively pay overtime are absolutely unacceptable! I've been very considerate these past days—do you really need me to spell it out before you understand?!"
Vodka had an incredible suspicion forming in his mind.
"...Are you striking in protest because we didn't pay you overtime?"
Usuha Izuki looked at him expressionlessly: "Plus your discrimination against my fashion sense last time really hurt my feelings. The company atmosphere feels very unfriendly... Haven't I been obvious enough?"
Obvious my ass! Who would know what you're thinking if you don't say it! Who asks an organization for overtime pay?!!
Vodka was completely stunned. He'd never in his wildest dreams thought it would be for such ridiculous reasons.
This familiar frustration finally reminded Vodka that although Usuha Izuki seemed normal enough, this guy was essentially still a psychopath! You couldn't use normal logic to figure him out!
"...It's my fault. I forgot to apply for overtime compensation for you—I'll make it up to you later."
Vodka could bend when necessary. This humiliation wasn't for nothing—as long as they dealt with this unstable element, Boss would surely think highly of him when he saw the report: "By the way, there's your codename, 'Botanist'... With a codename, you're an executive now, someone with status in the organization. You should be more careful about your actions in the future."
He didn't hope for much else, just that Usuha Izuki would have some shame after getting a codename... People with shame were generally easier to handle than those without.
Usuha Izuki was quite satisfied with this codename.
Exactly—he'd joined the organization, so not having a codename would make him look incompetent.
"Is there anything else?" Having gotten what he wanted, Usuha Izuki was ready to leave. "Not even finding a restaurant, just meeting me directly in a parking lot—that means you don't want to chat much with me, right? So I'll go?"
Vodka, whose thoughts had been called out, coughed: "Just have other things to do afterward..."
Anyway, the issues that needed resolving were resolved, and some suspicions were cleared up. He really didn't want to continue hanging around with Usuha Izuki.
"I'm free after this." Amuro Toru suddenly said. "Thanks to Usuha-kun, my evaluation mission went smoothly last time. As thanks, how about we have a meal together? I can also return that music box to you."
He was still concerned about the Police Academy. Although it was unlikely, what if... So many situations where it was inconvenient to answer calls—who would randomly mention Police Academy?
According to psychology, it was possible this word had left a deep impression in the other party's mind recently.
Hearing Amuro Toru's invitation, Vodka was greatly shocked.
Someone actually volunteered to be tortured by Usuha Izuki—this person's spirit must be diamond-hard...
But thinking it was Amuro Toru, this intelligence officer with many schemes... Vodka felt that maybe Usuha Izuki would be the unlucky one.
After all, although Amuro Toru disguised himself well, Vodka still felt he harbored ill intentions toward Usuha Izuki. He didn't believe anyone who'd spent more than three days with Usuha Izuki could like him!
Maybe Amuro Toru could collect some dirt on Usuha Izuki!
Seeing Vodka suddenly brighten up, Usuha Izuki raised an eyebrow and smiled as he answered Amuro Toru.
"Sure."