Chapter 53
With Usuha Izuki's temperament, even if he had been somewhat tempted originally, hearing the system's tone made him immediately rebellious.
He ignored the system and tried to negotiate for time first: "Hey—can't we just resolve this in the next couple of days?"
Originally choosing this person was partly because this counted as the organization eating black, and partly because the materials showed this guy was recently in Tokyo, which he thought would be more convenient.
Who knew Gin would still want to specify the time and place—what a crappy job with low pay, lots of work, and far from home.
While replying to emails, Morofushi Hiromitsu casually asked: "Ordinary people work on weekdays. Why do you insist on working on weekends? Do you have other arrangements on weekdays?"
Usuha Izuki said matter-of-factly: "Yes, I'm busy finding new people for the organization. As an HR manager, that's my main job. Physical corporate warfare and such—that's all extra work... Oh right, you reminded me, I should ask for overtime pay."
"......" I didn't remind you of that!
Morofushi Hiromitsu was somewhat speechless and vaguely suspected Usuha Izuki was brushing him off: "So have you found any promising new people?"
Usuha Izuki, who hadn't even left the Police Academy gates, answered without thinking: "None of them are very good."
He couldn't exactly use Police Academy students to make up the numbers. Though his bottom line was fairly flexible, it hadn't reached that point yet.
"Generally speaking, people who don't meet basic performance standards don't have the qualifications to negotiate with the company." Morofushi Hiromitsu said lightly. "But you could ask Gin—after all, he's the one who'll be partnering with you this time."
Usuha Izuki had already taken out his phone and was about to dial when he hesitated.
System got excited: [What's wrong? Changed your mind about buying the Body Double Puppet?]
[No, I just feel this call won't accomplish much.]
Usuha Izuki rubbed the phone keyboard: [Though I could change the person, looking at the materials for other suitable people, they might be even farther away. And if I suggest changing the time, Gin might deliberately continue picking weekdays... Though this would also farm suspicion values, I can't keep doing this forever. At worst, they'll use this as a reason to make me switch to an office job, and I don't want to go find the Middle Eastern uncles for such a trivial matter.]
Having him change jobs would consume the favors left by Arak Wine—Boss would be delighted.
Usuha Izuki definitely didn't want to do something that harmed himself to benefit others.
So he called Vodka.
System: [......? Didn't you say calling wouldn't accomplish anything either?]
[That's what I said, but why not take an opportunity to farm suspicion values?]
Usuha Izuki's tone was cheerful: "Vodka? You know Gin said he wants to cooperate with me on a sniping mission?"
Vodka was very alert: "I know. What about it?"
"Could we change the..."
Before he finished speaking, Vodka had already automatically filled in the rest according to his understanding of Usuha Izuki's bizarre logic and directly gave an answer: "Do you want to replace Big Brother? You're already a working professional—could you be a bit more mature? Work is work. Don't mix in personal emotions. That makes you look very unprofessional."
Usuha Izuki was shocked.
Vodka had actually learned to anticipate his answers! And even found him an excuse that sounded very reasonable!
Not giving him even a single suspicion value was a bit unreasonable!
So Usuha Izuki stubbornly continued saying suspicious things: "But ultimately I'm just in charge of recruitment. This work isn't within my job scope, so the pay should be increased, right? And if I'm taking the lead, shouldn't I decide the partner and timing? How about changing it to the weekend?"
Vodka easily agreed to the overtime pay—after all, Boss didn't lack this bit of money and could just allocate it from the budget to Usuha Izuki. But as for the other matters...
"You can choose the partner yourself." After all, they just needed to observe the process. "But the time can't be changed—by the way, do you have some arrangement on weekdays? Why are you always busy on weekdays?"
Vodka started contributing suspicion values.
Though just a tiny bit, there were indeed suspicion values. Usuha Izuki finally felt some consolation.
"Yes, I have very important things on weekdays."
Hearing that he didn't answer directly, Vodka was too lazy to continue asking. It was definitely either not wanting to answer or various excuses: "No matter how important, it's not more important than organization missions. Go ask for leave and be a qualified member of society. You can't keep going missing, or we'll change your job. That laboratory I mentioned last time really does need people."
Usuha Izuki: "............"
He reflected on himself.
It seemed he had been too carefree before. With such an obvious point of suspicion, Vodka was actually too lazy to interrogate him, let alone give him large amounts of suspicion values...
Tsk, he'd have to do more suspicious things later.
Continuing to entangle with this topic was meaningless. Usuha Izuki looked toward Morofushi Hiromitsu, asking him to give him a way out: "What does Midorikawa think? Which side are you on?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu knew Vodka was listening on the other side. Now was the time for him to farm useful (emphasis) organization executive trust points, so he considered his wording and answered methodically.
"Of course I'm on your side, but as an ordinary person, being able to get overtime pay during work hours on weekdays—isn't that pretty good? Why don't you reconsider?"
Usuha Izuki was shocked for the second time today.
What was going on with Vodka and Morofushi Hiromitsu—had they evolved?! How did they both become so good at understanding his thought process!
It was over—the difficulty of farming suspicion values on the organization's side would increase in the future!
Fortunately, he never planned to work very hard on the winery side from the beginning. He mainly relied on Samukawa Shinryu's side to make a living, while this side was just for fleecing the organization and enjoying himself...
Since Morofushi Hiromitsu had offered him a ladder, Usuha Izuki, who didn't want to become an office worker, climbed down: "Midorikawa makes a good point... Alright then, let's keep this timing and not change it."
Morofushi Hiromitsu was startled, not expecting Usuha Izuki to be so cooperative.
Comparing the variables... was it because today's cushions were comfortable or the grapes were delicious?
After hesitating for a few seconds, he went to wash another plate of grapes for Usuha Izuki, hoping this agreeable state would last a bit longer.
If even Morofushi Hiromitsu was this surprised, Vodka was even more so.
Vodka's pupils dilated in shock.
What?! Usuha Izuki could be this obedient?! He shouldn't be this easily persuaded!
Clearly before, he was like a scumbag, giving Midorikawa the cold shoulder. Now he only replied to Midorikawa's emails and calls and was very receptive to Midorikawa's advice...
Vodka looked at Morofushi Hiromitsu with newfound respect.
Midorikawa hadn't been driven crazy by Usuha Izuki's torment and had even mastered the secret to communicating with him, making Usuha Izuki obediently listen...
He had underestimated Midorikawa. Perhaps being a sniper was beneath his talents!
After confirming with Usuha Izuki that he had no other objections to the mission, Vodka hung up and couldn't help sharing his new discovery with Gin beside him.
"That Usuha kid... ahem, Botanist actually listens to Midorikawa very much! I never knew Midorikawa was so good at training people."
Gin wasn't surprised: "It's normal for Midorikawa to achieve this."
"......Normal?" Vodka wondered if Big Brother was looking down on him for not being able to do it.
Gin flicked his cigarette: "Botanist actively wanting him as a partner might be Midorikawa's handiwork... Hmph, his ambition is written all over his eyes."
He had become somewhat familiar with Midorikawa due to previous sniping missions, and to understand how Usuha Izuki achieved his results, they had engaged in some discussions involving many professional topics.
Although Midorikawa always smiled like a harmless herbivore, while he could barely manage to fake other aspects, when discussing professional knowledge, you could feel that this guy actually had a very strong personality. Even Gin had been subtly challenged by him, though Midorikawa handled it so smoothly that people barely felt offended.
He was someone with deep schemes who liked to hide his true self, and he had a certain degree of desire for power and authority. After discovering Usuha Izuki's value, it would be strange if he didn't try to use Usuha Izuki to climb up.
After all, Usuha Izuki could be considered a core figure in the organization. For someone like Midorikawa who had joined the organization recently and hadn't fully gained its trust, having the opportunity to break into the upper echelons through Usuha Izuki was naturally something to grasp firmly.
Vodka had mentioned once that Usuha Izuki wanted Midorikawa as a subordinate, but before long, it changed to wanting Midorikawa as a partner.
The difference between partner and subordinate was huge—equivalent to Midorikawa jumping across class lines. Though not yet an executive, he already had the qualification to speak as equals with other executives representing Usuha Izuki.
Usuha Izuki had never been very interested in organization affairs. His change of mind must be due to Midorikawa's guidance.
Gin didn't mind ambitious newcomers climbing up. He only minded waste and traitors standing where they shouldn't.
If Midorikawa could make Usuha Izuki controllable to a certain degree and his work ability was also fine, when the time was right, he'd consider recommending Boss give Midorikawa a codename.
—Morofushi Hiromitsu didn't yet know that his acting was too good and his character too successful—Gin had even attributed Usuha Izuki's invitation to partner with him to his own machinations.
Who told him to make his attitude of wanting to climb up through Usuha Izuki so obvious? Being misunderstood was natural.
This kind of obvious thing didn't really need to be hidden anyway. The adult world was full of unspoken understanding. Wanting more power was human nature—everyone could understand.
Currently, the only side effect of this misunderstanding was that when encountering situations where Usuha Izuki wouldn't listen, Vodka, who had heard about Morofushi Hiromitsu's character from Gin, would assign the task of persuading Usuha Izuki to Morofushi Hiromitsu...
There were gains and losses—Morofushi Hiromitsu could accept it.
Morofushi Hiromitsu, who was almost becoming godlike in Vodka's mind, was currently facing a completely disobedient Usuha Izuki.
After finishing the grapes he washed, Usuha Izuki was about to leave, since he needed to make arrangements at the Police Academy.
"You're about to do a mission—where are you going?" Morofushi Hiromitsu quickly stopped him.
"Aren't there still several days... I'm going to investigate this person's situation. I'll meet up with you all on mission day."
Morofushi Hiromitsu frowned: "As for materials, Vodka and the others will have them when they arrive. You don't need extra investigation."
Usuha Izuki shook his head: "No, to achieve sniping like last time, the materials you investigate aren't very useful to me. I need to collect information in my own way."
"What way?"
"You'll know when the time comes."