Chapter 222
The meeting's main purpose was originally to discuss how to deal with the traitor Rye, but it seemed that compared to Rye being a traitor, everyone found it harder to accept Usuha Izuki being correct like a prophet. So they first spent half the time discussing Usuha Izuki, and it took Rum, Scotland, and Bourbon half the time to rescue the topic.
Everyone didn't discuss Usuha Izuki for nothing—after studying for a while, most people concluded:
"Although Botanist likes to identify undercover agents everywhere, Gin and Rye have one thing in common—they were both very openly disliked by Botanist! Botanist also constantly said Gin and Rye were similar! He must be hinting at something!"
People like to summarize patterns, and the result of this summary was that Gin very reluctantly temporarily left the organization's core. According to Rum, he needed to be observed for a period before being brought back.
Then Rum decided to select some people to investigate and hunt down Rye, while having those few people with Usuha Izuki's contact information call occasionally to see when he'd turn his phone on. If they still couldn't contact him after three days, they'd seriously start looking for him.
This was clearly a very serious and important meeting, but due to Usuha Izuki's absence, plus everyone having been overly emotional the past few days and now being somewhat exhausted, ultimately this meeting ended with a very bleak, desolate, and dreary atmosphere.
The only one who remained spirited throughout, ready to take on heaven and earth, was Chianti. Even Korn wasn't so arrogant as to point at Gin and say he was definitely an undercover agent.
Because of his fence-sitting, Scotland was confronted by Chianti several times, though he gained Vodka's gratitude.
After the meeting, Vodka even asked Scotland if he wanted to go have a drink together.
He'd been so depressed these past few days! And terrified too!
Around big brother, he didn't even dare breathe heavily, as if sitting next to an active volcano... And to be honest, he was a bit afraid of big brother speaking, worried that what came out would be an answer he didn't want to hear.
Although they now said it was temporarily leaving the core, it also showed they hadn't found any problems. Big brother was highly valued by the boss—after the intelligence team investigated a few more rounds, things should return to normal.
Not immediately dealing with Gin, Vodka was truly relieved and very much wanted to find someone to drink with.
The very intelligent and clear-headed Scotland seemed good.
Vodka felt that if he chatted more with Scotland, maybe he could become smarter too.
Scotland smiled: "Sorry, I want to go with those people to check Botanist's apartment."
Considering the possibility of FBI lying in wait, the organization planned to send some people to check the situation around Usuha Izuki's apartment and ask Miyano Akemi if she had any clues. Scotland planned to go along and take a look, since in the organization's eyes, he was always in the group that had a decent relationship with Usuha Izuki... although he'd also been reported as an undercover agent.
But compared to Gin, he hadn't received much suspicion—just another round of investigation... Thanks, Gin, truly when the sky falls, the tall ones hold it up!
Scotland sincerely thanked Gin.
Vodka naturally didn't find this strange, just sighed: "Alright, that guy disappearing for so long at a time like this is indeed unsettling. It would be good if we could find some clues... If he's okay, I suggest you tell him to move quickly."
Otherwise, living at an address exposed to the FBI felt somewhat dangerous.
Although Vodka was often tormented by Usuha Izuki, when Usuha Izuki was still on the organization's periphery, he was already very troublesome. Now with the Rye incident, Usuha Izuki might become more valued in the future... he'd just endure it for now.
He should quickly curry favor with Usuha Izuki, to avoid everyone summarizing patterns and discovering he was also deeply hated by Usuha Izuki, like defection reserve personnel...
Vodka shuddered.
Scotland nodded, then went to apply to Rum to join the team going to Usuha Izuki's apartment area.
Soon several low-level personnel and intelligence team members arrived at the destination with Scotland. The low-level personnel searched the vicinity and found no signs of FBI or other suspicious people.
Only then did Scotland step forward and knock on the door.
Miyano Akemi happened to be home and came to open the door: "Ah... Mr. Scotland, and everyone... Mr. Botanist isn't home."
Scotland looked somewhat troubled: "I see... But he was here the day Rye defected, right? Can we come in and take a look?"
"...Yes."
After letting everyone in, Miyano Akemi followed behind several people, ready to answer everyone's questions at any time.
The intelligence team was responsible for questioning, while Scotland listened from the side.
As he listened, Scotland felt cold sweat involuntarily dripping from his temples.
"Uh... you're saying that Botanist slept in that day, called Vodka right after waking up, warned him that Rye was an undercover agent, and said that day's mission would definitely fail?"
"...That's roughly what it meant." Miyano Akemi hadn't wanted to go into such detail, but the intelligence team was too skilled at extracting information, and before she knew it, she had said all this.
The intelligence team also felt this prophetic dream was a bit ridiculous and asked somewhat suspiciously: "Has he had any contact with Rye recently?"
Miyano Akemi shook her head.
The intelligence team members narrowed their eyes.
Because the organization had such a big incident, between investigating Rye and investigating people Botanist had identified, the intelligence team had been short-handed the past few days.
Since the focus hadn't been on Botanist before, the intelligence team felt that Miyano Akemi, a low-level member, probably didn't know much. So they had only called to ask if she could contact Botanist, without asking these details.
Now that they were asking about Botanist related matters, when they asked whether Botanist and Rye had recent contact, Miyano Akemi's reaction was a bit strange.
"...What are you hiding?" The intelligence team member looked at Miyano Akemi with a cold expression. "Did Botanist collude with Rye? Did he ask you to help him hide something?"
Miyano Akemi quickly denied: "No!"
Regardless, Usuha Izuki had indeed helped her and... her convenient cousin. How could she harm Usuha Izuki because of her own mistake?
But her acting skills probably really couldn't stand up to the intelligence team. Although they wouldn't torture her severely considering her sister, if she continued being pressed without giving a reasonable explanation, the intelligence team would definitely think Usuha Izuki had ulterior motives...
So she needed to quickly think of an excuse that could extricate Usuha Izuki from all this trouble...
Scotland knew Miyano Akemi was the daughter of the doctor his childhood friend had liked since they were young. He wanted to help, but in front of the intelligence team, he didn't dare act rashly—after all, their whole group was still under suspicion. The less done, the fewer mistakes made.
So he could only keep a cold face, watching Miyano Akemi's anxiety without being able to say a word.
The intelligence team continued their questioning and discovered that Miyano Akemi was definitely hiding some very important intelligence.
Everyone was quite happy, thinking that if Botanist really had colluded with Rye, then everyone in the organization—especially Gin—would definitely feel relieved!
Because this would mean Botanist's words and actions weren't because he really saw something, but came from information provided by Rye, the person involved. Regardless of what Rye had said, Botanist knowing but not reporting it was problematic.
This would also mean this was a world without mysticism, where mental patients weren't prophets!
No more innocent victims being inexplicably identified as undercover agents because they said the wrong thing! How harmonious!
Scotland had thought of this too, and he thought one layer deeper than the intelligence team.
What if Usuha Izuki really had been secretly colluding with Rye all along, the reason being to help undercover agents, and he had just been pretending to be crazy before?
Could Usuha Izuki's disappearance actually be him going to join the FBI?
He was clearly a child of Japanese Public Security—why...
Finally, under the intelligence team's pressure, Miyano Akemi decided to sacrifice herself to protect Usuha Izuki.
"Because, because Rye suddenly came to me saying he was my relative, I felt very uneasy, so I told Mr. Botanist about this and hoped he would help me verify if it was real or fake. Mr. Botanist said he would handle this matter and would give me an answer whether it was a scammer or real..."
Miyano Akemi trembled as tears fell: "I didn't expect that before getting a result, Rye would actually defect. I don't know if it's related to me, so I didn't dare mention it before... Sorry... But, but I'm completely loyal to the organization. Look, when someone came claiming to be my relative, I first submitted it to an executive for review..."
Intelligence team: "..........."
This sounded so ridiculous—more ridiculous than saying Rye had confessed to her and Botanist had stolen her love!
"Do you have evidence?"
"I do."
The reason Miyano Akemi chose to tell partial truth was partly because she knew her acting skills, and partly because... she really did have evidence.
And before Usuha Izuki left, he had told her that if necessary, she could mention the blood relation certificate... She had been puzzled about when would be necessary, but now it seemed this was it.
"...Rye gave me a blood relation certificate. It's in the drawer of the study in my apartment. You can go find it."
Intelligence team: "...There's really evidence???"
Scotland: "..........."
—Rye, what kind of strategy is this? How is there claiming to be relatives before running away?! Are FBI undercover tutorials this weird?