Chapter 139
Although Amuro Toru knew that Usuha Izuki often went crazy, compared to Vodka and Scotland, his interactions with Usuha Izuki were still somewhat limited. Moreover, it had been a while since his last heart-like-roller-coaster experience, so this sudden attack still startled him a bit.
But he wasn't a rookie undercover agent who had just joined the organization. Almost the next second he adjusted his mindset and formulated countermeasures for dealing with Usuha Izuki.
The most important point was not to follow Usuha Izuki's rhythm. Absolutely never ask "why do you say that"—this was the taboo among taboos. Usuha Izuki could ramble and potentially touch on sensitive topics.
...Actually, both he and Hiromitsu had a feeling that Usuha Izuki seemed to really know something, like the first time they cooperated when he insisted on giving them cherry blossom omamori representing Japanese police—but cherry blossoms were very common in Japan; or like directly saying Hiromitsu resembled Japanese Public Security—but he also said that Moroboshi Dai looked like FBI...
In short, there were various instances. If you said it was just coincidence, it seemed impossible for so many elements to be "coincidentally" mentioned by Usuha Izuki, "coincidentally" questioning them exactly. But if you said Usuha Izuki had really seen through the truth, yet when he said those things, they all had reasons and could all be explained.
This problem had been troubling Amuro Toru for a long time. All he could do now was grit his teeth and continue acting, absolutely never admitting anything himself.
So Amuro Toru responded: "If you like the Japanese police so much, why don't you go be one yourself."
Directly throwing the question back to Usuha Izuki, making himself invisible in this question!
But Usuha Izuki actually said happily: "Someone suggested before that I should become a police officer. You have good judgment."
Amuro Toru: "...?!?!?!"
No way?! Who's that blind?!
And what kind of person, in what setting, under what circumstances, would say such things to Usuha Izuki?!
This was getting a bit terrifying to think about.
Finally grinding out a large wave of suspicion values from Amuro Toru, Usuha Izuki stopped while ahead.
He had learned his lesson now—he couldn't stimulate too intensively within a short period, or people would become numb. It was best to be like a horror movie, suddenly striking from time to time for maximum effect.
"Anyway, hurry up and ask Rum how to handle this mission now—that's why I said you should expect the Japanese police to be capable."
Amuro Toru was confused: "Shouldn't it be the opposite? If the police can't investigate it, our mission can continue..."
"Are you stupid?" Usuha Izuki said with heartache. "If the police successfully solve the case, we won't have to do the rest of our mission, and we can still pocket part of the funds, claiming it as upfront investment. Plus, this kind of force majeure mission failure still gets 50% of the mission fee. Calculate the effort and time invested—of course expecting the police to solve the case is better for us!"
Amuro Toru: "............"
So that's why you said we should trust the police more?!
He really couldn't hold back: "You're not short of money. Why do you like fleecing the organization so much?"
He'd heard that Usuha Izuki had previously skimmed part of Moroboshi Dai's commission. What was the point?! Shouldn't someone in charge of smuggling routes be quite wealthy?!
"Because spending your own money doesn't feel good, but spending other people's money gives you a thrill. Isn't this easy to understand? We ordinary people all like taking advantage of the company."
"............"
Amuro Toru was silent for a while, then decided to quickly find an excuse to end this call: "I'll go ask Rum right away."
After saying this, he didn't wait for Usuha Izuki's response and immediately hung up, then breathed a sigh of relief.
"...Is that also someone from the organization?" The person across from him sounded incredulous. "Is that the Bourbon from your previous reports?"
"Yes."
The person across was very conflicted: "Who would suggest an organization member become a police officer..."
"Probably someone who doesn't know his identity." Amuro Toru had already found a reason. "This guy claims to be an organization member, but actually doesn't do proper work at all. Usually no one knows where he is. It's not surprising that ordinary people who don't know his identity would say such things to him in some situations... Alright, don't dwell on this. Let's talk business. Kazami, you said you had results from what I asked you to investigate?"
Kazami Yuya lowered his head: "Yes, Furuya-san. Finally got some leads."
Amuro Toru—real name Furuya Rei, a Japanese Public Security agent—put away the sarcastic smile he often used when dealing with organization people and asked sternly: "After so long, you only have some leads?"
His Public Security subordinate Kazami Yuya quickly explained: "Because that senior's records have all been erased!"
When Furuya Rei was sent to be an undercover agent in the organization, the higher-ups didn't tell him who the previous undercover was, only saying they had indeed sent undercover agents to the organization before, but wouldn't say more.
When he was more stable in the organization and asked again, the higher-ups' attitude remained subtle, still refusing to reveal anything.
Furuya Rei became somewhat anxious.
As he took on more and more missions, he might encounter situations where he clashed with his predecessor. There were also factional problems within the organization—it would be troublesome if two of their own people ended up killing each other.
The previous concern about him being a newcomer with insufficient training, having entered early taking advantage of the organization's manpower shortage, worried that contacting him would expose both himself and the predecessor—this was completely understandable.
But now he was a mature undercover agent. Still not trusting him enough to give each other a heads up—what if they really ended up in a situation where their own people didn't recognize each other?
Furuya Rei wasn't someone who completely followed rules either—you couldn't be fully compliant and still work for Public Security, especially since Public Security specialized in illegal searches. So he had his subordinate Kazami Yuya secretly investigate.
Kazami Yuya had investigated for so long to find just this little bit. He felt guilty himself, but still had to explain: "That undercover predecessor had single-line contact with a handler, and reportedly due to distrust of police internal affairs, requested erasure of his own files..."
Furuya Rei asked: "What about the handler?"
"Over ten years ago abroad, he was involved in an incident, got in a car accident, and has been comatose ever since." Kazami Yuya said worriedly. "So unless the handler wakes up, I can't investigate that undercover predecessor's identity at all—I don't even know what he looks like... Actually, if he hadn't had an accident, he should be Furuya-san's superior now."
Hearing this, Furuya Rei was stunned: "Who?"
"Inspector Kuroda Hyoue."
Kazami Yuya said: "Ever since Inspector Kuroda fell into a coma, Public Security never received contact from that undercover agent again. But probably because Inspector Kuroda didn't expect to fall into a coma, there are still some traces left behind."
Furuya Rei's expression immediately became serious: "What?"
"In Inspector Kuroda's notebook, he wrote 'Middle East' and 'Contact'... probably just jotted down while thinking, only keywords, but you can't tell what they mean. Considering his mission at the time had nothing to do with the Middle East, and he personally had no Middle Eastern contacts, it might be related to that undercover predecessor... Furuya-san? Furuya-san? Are you alright?"
Kazami Yuya looked at Furuya Rei with concern.
For some reason, his young superior's complexion had become rather unpleasant, and he was inexplicably muttering to himself...
"This is impossible... I must be overthinking..."
Furuya Rei looked dazed, using his remaining rationality to grab his cup and gulp several mouthfuls of ice water, cooling his brain.
Coincidence, it was definitely all coincidence.
If it really was like his first instinct suggested, "ridiculous" wouldn't be sufficient to describe it all.
It must be because he already had preconceived notions about these keywords, so when he heard them, he couldn't help thinking in that direction... Better ask someone who wouldn't have preconceptions for their thoughts.
"What do you think?" Furuya Rei asked Kazami Yuya. "About those words in Inspector Kuroda's notebook?"
Kazami Yuya didn't understand why Furuya Rei had reacted that way earlier.
He really looked like he'd received a huge shock. The usually decisive and rigorous Furuya-san actually showing such an expression was truly worrying.
But since Furuya-san seemed like he didn't want him to ask too much, Kazami Yuya didn't pry and just answered the question first.
"I think... maybe that undercover predecessor was going to the Middle East, and Inspector Kuroda was worried about how they would maintain contact if he was in the Middle East long-term? There might not even be signal there—they couldn't rely on letters..."
Furuya Rei rubbed his forehead.
He was recalling the intelligence about Arak Wine that Hiromitsu had gotten from Vodka.
...When was Arak Wine transferred to the Middle East?
It seemed like over ten years ago? Originally just going to assist someone, but the superior died unexpectedly, so Arak Wine temporarily took over. As a result, he rose to prominence from then on, becoming the organization's Middle East regional director.
Looking at this rise to power now, Arak Wine's luck seemed too good.
Inspector Kuroda's handler had also been in a car accident over ten years ago, leaving behind the keywords "Middle East" and "Contact" in his notebook, and since then the undercover predecessor had lost contact.
Very coincidental, but to say they were the same person based on this alone wasn't certain—after all, the world had all sorts of unreasonable coincidences.
But if, hypothetically, if Arak Wine really was that undercover predecessor...
Furuya Rei realized a very serious problem.
—Did Usuha Izuki, this adopted son, know about this or not?!