Chapter 230
While Vodka was still confused, Usuha Izuki had already started rattling off his explanation.
"You watched me get on the shinkansen with your own eyes, even in the same car as you—you can't say you didn't see me or didn't know I was there too, right? But you put a bomb on the shinkansen without telling me a word. If I hadn't gone to solve it, I would have blown up along with the shinkansen by now."
Usuha Izuki's tone was cold: "Are you trying to say you forgot to tell me? No matter how you think about it, the possibility that you and Gin planned to assassinate me from the beginning is much higher, right?"
Vodka: "............"
This... put that way, it really did look like he and Big Brother wanted to assassinate Usuha Izuki...
But he swore he never thought that! From start to finish, he just wanted to complete the mission quickly and get far away from this shinkansen with Usuha Izuki on it!
It was just because he didn't want to say a single word to Usuha Izuki and was completely focused on avoiding him that he overlooked the need to notify Usuha Izuki!
How to put it... he felt there was no need to worry about Usuha Izuki at all—the only one who needed worrying was himself when appearing near Usuha Izuki. Making this kind of oversight, the other people in the organization would probably understand him...
However, this couldn't convince Usuha Izuki himself.
Vodka was horrified to discover that according to Usuha Izuki's reasoning, he and Big Brother really did look like undercover agents!
The kind of undercover agents who would eliminate the person most threatening to their hidden identity within the organization first!
"...Uh... it's not like that, let me explain..." Vodka stammered.
Usuha Izuki was leisurely: "Go ahead and explain, I'm listening."
"............"
Vodka was silent for a long while: "...If I said I trusted you'd be fine..."
"Well, you trusted the right person—I'm indeed fine now. But that's based on the premise that I dealt with that bomb. You're calling to hold me accountable, aren't you? Where does that show you trusted me?"
Usuha Izuki sneered: "Just wait to sit on the bench with Gin!"
After saying that, he hung up.
Vodka went to find Gin with a mournful face: "Big Brother, I messed up..."
After hearing Vodka's summary, Gin was silent for a moment at Vodka's naivety.
...Vodka hadn't thought to remind him, but he had actually wanted to blow Usuha Izuki up there directly.
Anyway, Usuha Izuki always liked to play disappearing acts. By the time the organization discovered he was really dead, there would be no evidence left. As long as he sealed Vodka's mouth, Usuha Izuki's death would remain a mystery.
Although keeping Usuha Izuki alive could ensure the Middle East smuggling line continued smoothly, it would also seriously affect the organization's development.
When Chianti directly called him an "undercover agent" again, Gin realized that the negative impact Usuha Izuki brought to the organization was approaching an irreversible point.
Whether those two undercover agents before were coincidence or Usuha Izuki's real ability, letting Usuha Izuki continue so recklessly framing loyal members—whoever he said was an undercover agent would be suspected—who knew if this influence wouldn't one day backfire on the organization?
For such a massive organization, external attacks couldn't really cause much damage, but internal destruction was extremely terrifying, and Gin suspected Usuha Izuki was exactly this kind of existence.
Even if Usuha Izuki wasn't an undercover agent, if he suddenly went crazy one day and threw the organization into chaos, that wouldn't be surprising either.
Therefore, even though Gin clearly knew that if Usuha Izuki died, the Boss would be unhappy and the Middle East smuggling line would be affected—those were all short-term impacts. After the turbulence passed, there would always be solutions. But if Usuha Izuki didn't die, that would become a long-term, serious problem!
This kind of unstable existence should be eliminated quickly!
The Boss couldn't make this decision, reluctant to give up Middle East profits—then he would!
—Sitting on the shinkansen, Gin's mind was full of these thoughts, quite feeling like he was doing something great that others didn't understand but was indeed necessary.
Unfortunately, it failed.
He just didn't know whether Usuha Izuki had truly seen through his killing intent or was just pinning blame as usual.
Actually, Gin completely knew what the result would be when Vodka made this call, but he had to make it. If Vodka didn't question him, it would instead arouse Usuha Izuki's suspicion and confirm that he really wanted to silence him.
Fortunately, the Boss should understand his mood of temporarily forgetting to remind in his hurry to get away from Usuha Izuki. Gin had also figured out the Boss's habits and roughly estimated this punishment—marginalization for a period until Usuha Izuki calmed down, forgot about this matter, or... had his attention diverted by other things.
...To this extent, the Boss still wanted to continue letting Usuha Izuki have privileges and lord over the organization for the sake of the Middle East line... The future seemed somewhat bleak.
Gin lit a cigarette and closed his eyes.
He couldn't make another move against Usuha Izuki recently, couldn't even deliberately think about it. Better to wait and see if there would be opportunities similar to today's.
Usuha Izuki wasn't clear about Gin's thought process, but he did sense Gin's suppressed killing intent.
So after hanging up on Vodka, he quickly composed a complaint email and sent it to the Boss with practiced ease.
The Boss wouldn't believe Gin was really an undercover agent now, but when these scattered suspicious points accumulated, that would be hard to say. He hoped Gin would continue working hard in the future and contribute more framing material.
"Good, done." Usuha Izuki closed his phone. "So next... it's about time to go back and check on the office."
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Night was hazy as three people stood in a small alley, discussing in Italian.
"Are you sure you want to come here for consultation? Are you out of your mind? Is this something we can consult others about?"
"What's wrong? He doesn't know what our treasure map hides! Just asking him to help decode the cipher!"
"...No, the point is, is this person reliable? Is he a detective or what?"
The only Japanese person among the three explained: "As for this person, my brother in Japan told me that in the underworld, they call him [Consultant]."
The other two Italians gasped: "What consultant? A crime consultant?"
"Just [Consultant]." The Japanese man said. "They say he used to be a corrupt cop who pulled all kinds of operations you could and couldn't imagine while on duty. Finally, he made a big case as his resignation gift. The police knew it was him but couldn't do anything—they couldn't find a shred of evidence and could only let him leave..."
"Wow..."
For criminals, outwitting the police and escaping unscathed was simply the ultimate romance of crime.
The Japanese man added: "Even people he sent to prison came out and praised him endlessly, wanting to follow him... then they went back in because they pissed off the Consultant."
"...Uh, really no sentiment at all?"
The Japanese man looked quietly at his accomplice: "You expect an antisocial personality to show sentiment? For [Consultant], being interesting is most important."
That Italian thought about it and changed his tune: "You're right."
"Anyway, this office only opens at night, and closing time is uncertain. I'm going in now. If I don't come out in half an hour, you guys..."
The two accomplices looked serious: "Don't worry, we have guns and will go in to rescue you."
"...Wait another half hour."
Accomplices: "..."
"[Consultant] won't kill people. I heard he prefers making people seek their own destruction, but this is my first attempt too, so I don't know if the rumors are true... When I came yesterday, the door wasn't open at all. Otherwise, I might have known the answer yesterday and wouldn't have lost the cipher paper at Tokyo Tower today..."
The Japanese man was quite depressed: "I knew those elementary school kids weren't honest—they stole and hid our cipher. Good thing I made a copy beforehand... I'm going over now. Be careful outside."
After instructing his accomplices, the Japanese man clutched the cipher paper in his hand, looked at the house that seemed somewhat hazy in the night mist, shrouded in shadows, and took a step forward.
It was called an office, but there was no sign hanging. They said if the first floor lit up, that was [Consultant's] business hours—meaning business hours were limited to nighttime.
As for why it was nighttime, probably because [Consultant] knew that many people who came to him couldn't see the light and wanted a safer consultation environment.
With a head full of random thoughts, the Japanese man finally reached the door.
He took a deep breath and knocked.