Chapter 258
The first to notice something was wrong was Stout's deputy.
After all, Stout handled smuggling-related work and couldn't do everything alone. The orders alone would be enough to blind him, so he definitely needed a team under him.
The deputy had the most contact with him, needing to communicate regularly and even meet for discussions.
After being unable to contact him for more than five hours during non-sleeping time, the deputy felt something was wrong and started reporting up the chain.
Of course, the deputy didn't think of Stout in terms of being an undercover agent or traitor. After all, he knew Stout might receive important promotion soon—even if he were an undercover agent, who would run at such a critical moment?
The deputy was worried that Stout might have encountered some danger. After all, in their line of work, crises were like wind, constantly accompanying them.
He reported the situation to Stout's direct superior, Rum, with purely positive concern.
Rum: "................"
Unlike the clueless deputy, Rum immediately thought of Usuha Izuki's warning.
...No, it couldn't be. Stout probably just encountered some minor trouble and would return after resolving it... No, he couldn't just wait. He should send people to look and investigate Stout's last known movements.
Rum decided quickly and rapidly arranged for people to investigate.
Unfortunately, after a full day, they still knew nothing. There were no clues in Stout's house either—the person had simply vanished like vapor with the materials he always carried.
After receiving such investigation results, Rum fell into long silence.
He thought for half an hour, then called Bourbon, who was often assigned to deal with Usuha Izuki: "Do you believe someone can identify undercover agents just from paper summaries?"
Bourbon was terrified.
What was wrong with Rum? This tone of questioning life itself... Wait, could it be that Usuha Izuki had guessed right again this time?!
"...Depends on how detailed the information is and what's recorded. But if you're referring to Botanist looking at Stout's information, then I don't believe it." Bourbon maintained his persona, saying coldly, "What's wrong with you, suddenly asking this kind of question? You're not really believing Botanist's nonsense, are you?"
Rum was silent for a long time, as if struggling whether to admit: "...Stout has disappeared."
Bourbon, who had already guessed: "...How could he disappear?"
"I don't know." Rum had felt he was in his prime, but suddenly felt twenty years older. "Ask Botanist again, see if his story has changed... I'm going to report to the Boss."
Until this moment, Rum still held hope.
Stout had only disappeared, right? And it had been less than a day. If Usuha Izuki hadn't complained to the Boss before, this wouldn't even warrant bothering the Boss.
Looking on the bright side, maybe Stout had drowned while fishing by the river!
Rum racked his brains and wrote a report about Stout's disappearance to the Boss, trying to downplay the situation, indicating that maybe Stout would reappear in a few days, possibly alive, possibly dead. He couldn't conclude that Stout was definitely an undercover agent.
Botanist had only looked at documents—everything might be coincidence. They couldn't be too influenced by Botanist. He would continue sending people to investigate.
Boss: "..........."
Honestly, the Boss was now inclined toward Usuha Izuki.
On one hand, Rum had just assured him Stout was fine, then the person disappeared, making Rum look very unprofessional—even if Stout wasn't an undercover agent, his capabilities probably weren't as impressive as Rum claimed.
On the other hand, the Boss couldn't help remembering the example of Akai Shuichi that Usuha Izuki mentioned in his letter.
The same pattern: Usuha Izuki warned that someone might be an undercover agent, investigation concluded no problems, then trouble occurred...
This déjà vu made the Boss think in bad directions.
Moreover, Usuha Izuki's eye for people did have some merit. The Korn and Chianti he recruited were very loyal and useful. Previously, they thought he was bad at spotting undercover agents, but Akai Shuichi's escape proved Usuha Izuki could be quite capable—the exhaustive method was one thing, but the probability of correctly guessing the other party's FBI background... while possible, wasn't very high.
It was just that Usuha Izuki couldn't explain his reasoning, always saying it was intuition when asked, which made it hard for people to trust his words.
...But now the Boss felt Usuha Izuki was truly an honest child. Maybe he really did rely on intuition?
How else could one explain Akai Shuichi actually being FBI, and this time, just looking at documents and feeling the other party was an undercover agent?
—Though Stout had only disappeared, the Boss already thought he was probably an undercover agent, just giving Rum face by not saying it outright.
Rum sensed the Boss's attitude and gritted his teeth, continuing to search for Stout while threatening the organization members in Britain: find him alive or dead, or don't come back!
Then he started praying that Stout had been hit by a car, drowned in a river, killed by falling objects... anything but being an undercover agent!
Even if he was an undercover agent, please don't let him be MI6, otherwise...
He would be the next Gin!
...No, no, it wasn't that bad yet. After all, he had indeed had people investigate thoroughly several times... It couldn't really be like Usuha Izuki said, that working hard and being capable meant being an undercover agent, right? How could the organization function then?
Investigating a missing person's whereabouts was very time-consuming work.
The good news was that in less than a week, though they hadn't found Stout, they could confirm his allegiance.
The bad news was that even if Stout wasn't an undercover agent, he had definitely defected, because several of the organization's bases in Britain had been exposed, with Stout clearly being the source of the leak.
Even some of those who went to investigate Stout had completely followed Rum's orders—unable to find the person, they didn't return, probably captured.
Rum: "...Is Stout MI6?"
The organization member in Britain who had luckily avoided capture didn't understand why Rum's focus was on this: "Our bases..."
"Tell me first! Could Stout be MI6?!"
Organization member: "...Whether Stout is or isn't, we're not sure, but those who raided us should be MI6. Other organizations wouldn't be so brazen on British soil."
Rum closed his eyes in pain.
Ah, this cruel, heartless, and unreasonable world...
If there's me, why must there also be Usuha Izuki! Is it just to torment me, trip me up, and make me miserable?!
If there were no Usuha Izuki, even if Stout really was MI6, he would just be someone who misjudged character. He could say that because it was an MI6 agent—elite among elites with sophisticated background fabrication—being deceived was understandable. But now...
Rum hardly dared imagine how the Boss would evaluate this situation.
[That Botanist could discover just by looking at documents, but you couldn't?]
[Botanist even warned you, so why did you still insist on your way?]
[When I asked you for final confirmation, you swore to me that you'd investigated multiple times and there were absolutely no problems. This is your 'no problems'?]
Rum could already imagine the Boss saying these things in a disappointed and cold tone.
Originally, because of the Akai Shuichi incident, Gin was at the bottom in this regard. Now he had become the bottom one. After all, Gin wasn't in the intelligence group, so not discovering problems was barely excusable, but he was in the intelligence group. If even he couldn't discover problems, the nature was completely different.
Usuha Izuki would probably start saying he was unworthy of his position and should step down!
How to remedy this?
It seemed there was no way to remedy it. At times like this... should he start a race to the bottom? If there was something bigger to attract hatred, would he be better off?
Coincidentally, Vodka had similar thoughts to Rum.
He had been busy with Sherry's disappearance recently, feeling very anxious, when he heard about Rum's misjudgment.
His first reaction was shock—that Usuha Izuki kid had guessed right again?!
This was really bizarre!
Was this heaven taking away Usuha Izuki's brain but giving him useful intuition?
His luck was also very good. After so many years, Rum had finally produced someone who could compete with Usuha Izuki, and now he was gone!
He had previously said Usuha Izuki's workplace maneuvering tactics were too simple and childish, but now it seemed high-end workplace competition was just this plain and simple—competitors would just disappear while working...
Since Vodka had been working overtime recently, he was mentally fatigued. Combined with subconsciously believing in Usuha Izuki's supernatural abilities, he felt dazed for a moment, and his excited emotions were suppressed by fatigue.
But he was still happy.
"Boss! Rum's also in trouble recently!" Vodka said cheerfully, "Didn't Botanist say Stout was an MI6 undercover agent, and Rum didn't believe it? Well, Stout also disappeared, and now they've found out he might really be an MI6 undercover agent! Botanist really succeeded in solving cases based on resumes!"
Last time with Akai Shuichi being FBI, because it involved him and Gin, Vodka was very excited. This time it was Rum's misfortune, so he was much calmer—though Usuha Izuki would be smug again, Rum's misfortune was more important now.
When you're unlucky, seeing someone else as unlucky as you, maybe even more unlucky, improves your mood.
Vodka shared this news with Gin in the spirit of sharing a joke to relieve his tense nerves.
Then he saw Gin's expression visibly darken.
Vodka immediately stuttered in fear: "Wh-what's wrong?"
Stout was Rum's person. His boss had always been at odds with Rum. Hearing about Rum's misfortune, even if he wasn't in the mood to be happy, his expression shouldn't get worse!
Gin didn't explain and turned to leave.
This left the overtime-addled Vodka to figure out the reason himself.
That Usuha Izuki kid did have something supernatural about him. Though identifying undercover agents from documents seemed absurd, like a blind cat catching a dead mouse, when it happened multiple times, it felt somehow subtle.
Last time was Akai Shuichi, this time was Stout, next time...
Wait.
Vodka suddenly understood.
Another incident like this! What if next time Usuha Izuki said he and his boss were undercover agents?!