Chapter 47
After receiving Vodka's notification, Morofushi Hiromitsu had actually already entered the zone.
As a sniper in the organization, the work he did was naturally all "cleanup" jobs.
So when Vodka told him that Usuha Izuki had predictably screwed up, Morofushi Hiromitsu began packing his tools, adjusting his sniper rifle, ready to depart at any moment.
The orders from Usuha Izuki didn't conflict with Vodka's, but following Usuha Izuki's arrangements...
Morofushi Hiromitsu's heart immediately became uneasy.
Normally he should just follow the executive's orders, but he couldn't help asking: "Now?"
"Right, the longer we wait, the more complications arise." Usuha Izuki was blunt. "Vodka also said as soon as possible, right? This is the hotel suite where he's staying. Get over there quickly and keep your phone on."
"...Let me ask—Botanist, do you understand sniping?"
Usuha Izuki said righteously: "No, why would I need to ask Vodka for personnel if I understood?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "..........."
You don't understand anything, yet you want me to follow your commands?!
Are you trying to command me into prison?!
Morofushi Hiromitsu was stunned by Usuha Izuki's shameless attitude and didn't know what to say for a moment.
Usuha Izuki also knew what Morofushi Hiromitsu was worried about: "Although I don't understand sniping, this kind of thing is just about luring the person to where you can snipe them, then you shoot from far away, right?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu thought, well, at least this guy knew to lure the person out.
Morofushi Hiromitsu also understood Vodka's thinking—nothing more than having Usuha Izuki act as the bait. This way, with Usuha Izuki at the scene and the person dying in front of him, even if he could clear his name with the police, the organization would have leverage over him. When needed, they could use it to threaten him.
Usuha Izuki kept talking about wanting to be an ordinary person. If he ever had a mental lapse and felt ordinary people shouldn't join the organization, this leverage would come in handy, letting him know he no longer qualified to be an ordinary person. Leaving the organization would only mean prison—he couldn't even make deals with Public Security since Usuha Izuki knew so little about the organization.
This level was sufficient for dealing with Usuha Izuki.
"Since you know you need to lure the person to where I can see them, you should understand that nighttime isn't a good time. I've also looked into it—this Cult Leader is indeed very cautious. I don't think he'd be too lazy to draw the curtains." Morofushi Hiromitsu said rationally.
Usuha Izuki was displeased: "I'm sending you there because I have a way to let you snipe. Don't worry, I asked Vodka about your sniping scores—this distance is completely fine... Are you the executive or am I? Having you do a mission—why is it so troublesome? You're so bad at teamwork. I don't think you're suitable for the organization..."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "...I understand. I'll head over now."
How was this his fault for not understanding teamwork?
It was completely because this executive was too unreliable!
If it were Vodka giving him a location and telling him to wait there and snipe, Morofushi Hiromitsu would have no problem, knowing Vodka would arrange everything properly. But Usuha Izuki...
Just thinking about following a mental patient's commands made Morofushi Hiromitsu feel hopeless about his future.
Sigh, but the good news was, if the mission failed, everyone would understand it was definitely Usuha Izuki's fault and had nothing to do with him...
The address Usuha Izuki gave Morofushi Hiromitsu was the rooftop of an office building. The building had no surveillance, but he still cautiously took the stairs to the roof.
Morofushi Hiromitsu put down the bass case containing his sniper rifle and began assembling it on the spot. Just as he finished, Usuha Izuki's call came through.
"That position won't work. Move to the right a bit."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "...!!!"
He was startled.
How did Usuha Izuki know his current position?
This office building rooftop had no lights, the surrounding buildings were all far away, and there was no moonlight—basically no illumination. Theoretically, fifty meters away, without equipment, you couldn't see anything.
Usuha Izuki should be near the Cult Leader, responsible for guiding the person to where he could see. But no matter how you thought about it, the distance from that hotel shouldn't allow him to see this way.
Was he bluffing? There was no need for that, right?
Morofushi Hiromitsu steadied himself and probed: "I understand. I'm just preparing now—I wasn't planning to snipe from here anyway. Where are you now?"
"You don't need to worry about where I am. Just wait for the Cult Leader to enter your sniping range."
Such unprofessional words left Morofushi Hiromitsu speechless.
Listen to this! Who doesn't understand teamwork?! Who?!
Now Morofushi Hiromitsu was full of doubt, even worried that Usuha Izuki might stand him up.
He'd felt Usuha Izuki was unreliable from the start, because most bait personnel needed to meet with the target, then find a way to lure them to the window...
But this was the hotel where the Cult Leader lived! How long had Usuha Izuki known the Cult Leader? Could such a cautious Cult Leader let Usuha Izuki enter his territory?
At least change it to when the cult was meeting! That would be more believable—at least there would be contact and the ability to influence the Cult Leader's positioning.
In this situation... he suspected Usuha Izuki was actually nearby, which was how he could see what he was doing. But then who would guide the Cult Leader's positioning...
"Move a bit more to the right." The amateur Usuha Izuki was still giving commands. "Good, that position. The building across—second floor from the top, third room from right to left. Do you see it?"
"..........."
Morofushi Hiromitsu carefully counted twice, then answered with a deadpan expression: "I see it. The curtains are already drawn and there are no lights on inside. At this time, he's probably already asleep, right?"
Even if curtains blocked the view, generally speaking, if lights were on, as long as the curtains weren't completely opaque, snipers could still work. But with curtains drawn and lights off, pitch black... snipers weren't gods!
Morofushi Hiromitsu was already mentally composing how to explain the mission failure to Vodka... this wasn't even about passing the buck—the blame was clearly on Usuha Izuki!
"Don't worry, he's not asleep. He's sitting in the chair by the window contemplating life. Darkness probably gives him more sense of security." Usuha Izuki even provided psychological counseling. "This guy has indirectly caused double-digit deaths, fraud amounts sufficient for dozens of coups in Africa, and how many people believed him and ended up with broken families. Don't you dare go soft."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "...I won't go soft. But even if you say that, I don't know where that chair is."
Great, waiting here to set a trap for him!
If he didn't follow Usuha Izuki's commands later, would Usuha Izuki pin the blame of being a "soft-hearted good person" on him, then go around saying he wasn't suitable for the organization, maybe even suggesting he was an undercover agent?
Usuha Izuki said: "Then listen to me. Set up your rifle now... good, adjust left slightly... adjust more... stop, maintain that direction, lower the muzzle 1.3 centimeters... good, wait for this wind to pass... three, two, one, fire!"
He was supposed to be responsible for guiding the target, but Usuha Izuki was acting more like a spotter.
But even for a spotter, Morofushi Hiromitsu had never encountered such an absurd spotter in any operation.
The target was hidden by darkness and curtains—the sniper couldn't see anything. The spotter didn't report wind speed or humidity, but like an obsessive perfectionist, overstepped his authority to command the direction of his muzzle, then told him to shoot with no knowledge of the situation.
Usuha Izuki didn't understand sniping at all!
Morofushi Hiromitsu wanted to refuse this inexplicable order, but reason told him he should follow orders, or Usuha Izuki would go around saying the mission failed because he was too soft-hearted to kill.
If he fired and still failed, then it wouldn't be his problem.
He pulled the trigger. Although he could see through his night vision scope that the glass shattered, he still couldn't see much else. It was like a boxer throwing a punch that hit cotton instead of the expected target—his whole body felt uncomfortable.
"Is that enough?" Morofushi Hiromitsu asked coldly.
He'd been cooperative enough with Usuha Izuki's nonsense and had jumped through all the suspected traps. Usuha Izuki shouldn't find more fault with him now, right?
"That's enough." Usuha Izuki's tone was cheerful. "Check the news tomorrow. I'll leave the mission report to you. I'm a bit tired, so I'll sleep first. Good night."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "...???"
That's it? No follow-up harassment or blame-shifting?
By the way, where exactly was Usuha Izuki?!
Morofushi Hiromitsu was paranoid. If he weren't worried about someone discovering something wrong and searching this building, requiring him to leave quickly, he would have searched around to see if Usuha Izuki was hiding nearby.
Although the whole night was inexplicable, it must be said that the pressure Morofushi Hiromitsu usually felt from self-loathing after "cleanup" missions didn't appear this time.
Maybe it was because he didn't really feel like he'd successfully sniped anyone, or maybe the pressure was focused on thinking about what new type of torment Usuha Izuki was playing and worrying about how to write the report...
He decided to strike first.
He'd write the report later, but first tell Vodka about tonight's situation as a precaution.
Once home, Morofushi Hiromitsu quickly called Vodka and explained the situation: "...That's how it was, so I'm not clear on the actual result either."
Vodka was baffled: "Is this how Botanist handles organization missions? Does he think saying your technique is too poor will let him off the hook?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu said: "He seemed very confident that the Cult Leader was definitely dead, but you really can't see anything through curtains."
Vodka was silent for a while, thinking Usuha Izuki might have seen through his purpose and deliberately sabotaged.
Then Midorikawa was too innocent. Vodka took full responsibility: "Don't worry, even if this mission fails, I know it's not your problem."
If it wasn't the sniper's problem, then it was definitely Usuha Izuki's problem.
Later he'd use the excuse that he couldn't even handle this kind of thing to gaslight Usuha Izuki and see about getting him a different job...
As for whether to continue the elimination... actually, according to the negotiation content Usuha Izuki reported, there was no need for elimination. Even if they'd now alerted the enemy, it would be Usuha Izuki who'd be suspected, and only the organization could protect him—that barely achieved the goal.
Vodka waited for Usuha Izuki's call for help and had Midorikawa maintain contact with Usuha Izuki while monitoring the religion's situation.
Although the organization had people inside the police force, there was no need to contact them for such small matters. Too many contacts might expose them—such people were saved for critical moments. Using them on Usuha Izuki would be wasteful.
Basically, murders or attacks would make the papers. He could just read the newspaper.
What happened tonight—reporters wouldn't sleep, interviewing and writing articles as needed. It should be in tomorrow's news.
So the next day, before dawn, Morofushi Hiromitsu received Vodka's call.
"Did you see the news?"
"I haven't had time to buy a newspaper yet." Morofushi Hiromitsu asked, "What did the news say?"
On the other end of the phone, Vodka spoke in a very confused tone: "...It succeeded. The report says the Cult Leader was sitting in a chair by the window and was hit in the head from the side, killed instantly..."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "..........."
Vodka: "The curtains weren't open and the lights were off, yet it was still a one-shot kill... The police investigation is now focused on suspecting the Cult Leader was killed first, then staged to look like a sniper attack."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "..........."
Vodka spoke seriously: "Under Botanist's random commands, you still completed the mission... You said yesterday you didn't know the result—you're too modest. How did you do it? Can you do it again? If so, I'll apply to make you an executive immediately. Our organization values talented people highly..."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "...I can't, really can't, it really wasn't me, I don't know anything, this is Botanist's achievement!"
Usuha Izuki's absurd commands actually weren't random commands?!
How was this possible?!
Vodka had another theory: "Is it possible that Botanist secretly already killed the person, then had you fire a shot to divert police attention, and now it's just the police being more skilled?"
Rather than believing that ridiculous sniping succeeded under Usuha Izuki's command, Morofushi Hiromitsu also leaned toward this theory, but...
"Although he often goes crazy, he's not stupid." Morofushi Hiromitsu said. "And I think he'd find such double plans too troublesome."
"...That makes sense." Vodka was convinced. "Let's see how things develop."
At this moment, Gin happened to walk by and saw Vodka's confused expression. He glanced at him: "What's wrong?"
After all, this was his subordinate. When Gin was free, he didn't mind lending a hand.
Vodka hung up the phone and looked at Gin, who was also skilled at sniping. He hesitantly asked: "Big brother, on a night with curtains drawn and no lights inside, could you guarantee sniping a target inside?"
Gin sneered: "What movie did you watch? Can't tell reality from fantasy?"
Vodka: "...Usuha seems to have commanded Midorikawa to successfully snipe under those conditions."
If it were anyone else, Gin might have thought about it, but hearing Usuha Izuki's name, Gin immediately said decisively: "Impossible."
That kid Usuha was probably exaggerating the difficulty. Amateurs were amateurs—they didn't even know how to lie properly. Even Hollywood blockbusters wouldn't dare film it like that!
Vodka looked hesitant and handed over the newspaper: "Big brother, you should take a look first."