That afternoon, feeling restless for no reason, I went to Zhou Lizhi and mixed bodies with her. That night, Bri caught on and pounced on me as well.

It didn’t feel particularly awkward, and maybe it was something I should get used to. Considering it’s the national mourning period, it feels like we’re doing something wrong, but those aren’t deaths I need to mourn anyway.

Come to think of it, Zhou Lizhi with her weak loyalty to the country, and Briar Churchill who’s likely to ignore the tragedy that happened in her own country – among us three, there was almost no reluctance to become promiscuous during this ‘self-restraint’ period.

However, even for me who had shamelessly straddled between two women like this, it was a bit burdensome to bring up the possibility of fooling around with another strange French lieutenant.

Wednesday night, lying in bed with Bri, I asked her what she thought about Lieutenant Duey. I wasn’t announcing that I would sleep with her, just simply asking how she seemed.

“Catherine Duey? Why that soldier suddenly?”

“Just because. There was some conflict last time, and I was wondering if things had gotten too bad between us.”

“Hmm…”

Churchill glanced at me with a slightly suspicious look. I couldn’t say her suspicion was unfair since I had done something, but Briar Churchill soon seemed to put aside such thoughts and started to seriously consider my question.

“Duey, that woman is a fool.”

“I had similar thoughts.”

“Among fools, she’s a malicious fool.”

“I’m curious why she gets the additional title of ‘malicious’. Is she malicious as a fool, or is she a malicious person herself?”

“I mean she’s malicious as a fool. I think the worst kind of fool is the one who goes around proclaiming, ‘I know I’m a fool. Everything I say is stupid.’ Don’t you agree?”

“…”

“At the very least, if you’re going to do something idiotic, you should believe what you’re doing isn’t idiotic. While inwardly fanatically believing in their own wisdom, they’re just pretending to ‘knowingly act foolish’ to defend themselves from criticism. That’s what you hear when she talks.”

Certainly, Duey would often appeal that she was such a person, knowing that excessive nationalism could lead to historical tragedy, that warmongering and war-crazy ideology isn’t healthy. She seemed to be saying something like this: I know it’s foolish to prioritize the glory of the motherland above all else, but it’s natural because it’s the expression of a natural desire.

But Churchill’s words might be right.

If you know it’s foolish, why not just take the path that isn’t foolish?

In fact, maybe Duey believes the nationalistic and chauvinistic path is wise, but she just pretends to acknowledge it because she doesn’t want to handle the criticisms.

“Those who can’t openly justify or prove their own wisdom while repeating foolish things are the worst of the worst. But they’re also interesting. Because someday they have to choose a path. Whether to choose the path in their heart, or the path the world says is right.”

“Which way will Lieutenant Duey go?”

“How would I know? More importantly, let’s be quiet. Talking about other women in my bed is enough with just Zhou Lizhi. I don’t want to hear about any more stories, okay?”

I tightly closed my mouth and shut my eyes.

That night, I spent the night together in Briar Churchill’s bed. The next day, October 15th at the school where the national mourning period was still ongoing. I secretly called Rebecca Katerfeld to a corner seat in the library. It was a secluded and quiet corner seat where even studying students rarely came.

The German psychic, who had been called out by me as if reluctantly, sat across from me after confirming there was no surveillance or eavesdropping around.

“You called me out again. I have nothing more I can tell you, and no way to help you further.”

Katerfeld said with a deep sigh. I didn’t miss the strange part in her words and asked:

“It’s strange to say you have no way to help.”

“It’s not strange. Do you know what another term for the national mourning period is?”

“It’s the period of maintaining martial law.”

I answered immediately. Rebecca nodded. In fact, for us inside the Huangpu barrier, maintaining the mourning period was nothing more or less than a ‘rest period without classes’. Also, even though there was a global atmosphere of mourning, there was little movement to force us foreigners to mourn or restrict our actions.

The atmosphere among Chinese female students who could only survive by succeeding in China was quite different from ours. They seemed very afraid of being marked by the authorities as ‘not mourning’, and tried not to engage in self-improvement activities like ‘studying’ during this period, to the extent that the library was empty today.

They were worried that studying for their own development during the period when the state was mourning the victims would leave a bad impression on the authorities. Thanks to this, it was good that we could use the empty library as a meeting place instead of a cafe, but the excessively totalitarian atmosphere also gave me goosebumps.

So I could easily imagine the atmosphere outside Huangpu.

From what I’ve heard, each provincial government has declared different levels of martial law, with the military controlling major cities, and a significant portion of public security and police law enforcement authority has been transferred to the National Revolutionary Army.

Especially in Guangzhou city where Huangpu School is located, I heard the atmosphere is so strict that heavy tanks openly patrol.

“Security measures have also been strengthened. I can’t help you contact the CIA anymore. It’s beyond my capabilities. The message would be intercepted and decrypted before even reaching Berlin.”

“It’s okay. I’ll take care of that issue myself.”

“What do you mean you’ll take care of it…”

“Our intelligence agency is not such a sloppy organization.”

I said.

“I’m going to Beiping at the end of the month. I’ll be going north through Huabei via the trans-continental railway. No matter how great China is, they can’t maintain surveillance throughout that long route. I’m sure headquarters will contact me no matter what. Either after I arrive in Beiping, or on the way. They’ll find a way to contact me. That’s the kind of organization the CIA is.”

“Ah… Well… I suppose an insider would know better…”

Katerfeld seemed not to have thought of that. She probably assumed that with China’s entire security being so strict, the CIA would also back off and leave everything to me.

But as she said, I’m an outsider. I know better what kind of people our organization is made of. The White House’s faithful dogs are not the kind of people to miss such an opportunity.

“So if you lied to me, confess quickly. The moment I confirm that the order you delivered wasn’t the CIA’s real order, I’ll kill you.”

I was serious. If a woman who knows my identity is also an untrustworthy person, I can’t let her live long. Katerfeld shrugged and brushed her hair as if my threat didn’t bother her at all.

“Then I guess I won’t die by your hand right away. Rather, it’s good that I can firmly establish trust. After you contact headquarters, it will be proven that I was really the contact who delivered the CIA’s orders to you.”

“I hope so.”

“So, I assume you didn’t call me out just for that threat.”

It seemed like it was time to get to the main point. It wasn’t good for this meeting to drag on.

“I wanted to get the great detective’s consultation on an issue. It’s a very personally troubling issue, but one I can’t just gloss over.”

Katerfeld showed interest in my words. Probably because my attitude was that of someone who was genuinely troubled.

“What’s the issue? Tell me.”

“Catherine Duey proposed to have sexual relations with me.”

“…Lieutenant Duey?”

It was clear that the content of my consultation wasn’t what Katerfeld had expected. This German, who could even handle mind reading freely, widened her eyes and turned her head around as soon as she heard my words.

“I’ve heard rumors that the French are open-minded, but to think it would be to this extent… A woman with intuition like Catherine Duey’s would surely know that you’re already straddling two… somewhat of a playboy, but to want to crawl in and join that harem herself… It should be a difficult issue even just for female pride… No, but why is this an issue to consult me about? Go consult with your other two lovers.”

“It’s because Duey doesn’t seem to have proposed just out of sexual desire.”

“Then what is it?”

“She seemed to claim that she knows something about Chen Yayuan. She clearly said that if I wanted to hear more about that issue, I should embrace her. I don’t know what to do. Does she really have valuable information? Or is it just some other scheme?”