Ch.113New Position! (3)

#113

“So, you’re saying that Orbis Company is intentionally causing game addiction?”

“If our assumptions are correct.”

Himena was about to refute Agent Bennett’s opinion but closed her eyes tightly and said,

“I was going to say what kind of company would do that, but honestly, without laws, there would be plenty of such companies…”

“What we need to find out now is the identity of this drug and where the American company got the Cincentoje components from.”

Agent Bennett stared intently at Himena as he said this.

Himena’s intuition kicked in.

“…So you’re saying I need to figure that out.”

“You catch on quick, don’t you? Orbis Company might look normal on the surface, but their internal intranet could be different. We’ll have to hack directly into their database.”

Agent Bennett continued with a smirk.

“I heard you asked to form a special investigation task force with that big guy you’re hanging out with?”

“Where did you hear that? I only mentioned it to Director Steve.”

“I have a wide network, you know.”

Agent Bennett, who held a fairly important position in the Department of Science and Technology, had OSA internal stories reach his ears whether he liked it or not.

“Honestly, I’m in favor of it. Himena, you honestly hate paperwork.”

“Does anyone actually like paperwork?”

“Many do. Tons of them. In that sense, the Science and Technology Department is no different from vampires. They hate seeing sunlight so much.”

Agent Bennett shook his head as he spoke.

“And this isn’t because I dislike Agent Libero, but honestly, you know he’s treated differently compared to other agents, right?”

Himena nodded with a resigned face at Agent Bennett’s words that hit the mark.

Excessive favor always has its reasons.

“Some higher-ups in OSA are saying that rather than forcing certain departments to accommodate Agent Libero, it might be better for him to operate externally with individual movements.”

Listening to Agent Bennett made Himena feel like she was a huge gold nugget that she couldn’t even sell, and she spoke with a dejected expression.

“Even though I somewhat expected this after Director Steve said he’d consider it positively, hearing it out loud feels strange.”

“Still, you know it’s a tremendous benefit to create a team with minimal oversight from above, just as you wanted.”

“That’s true…”

Himena did know.

Since OSA was ultimately an organization and department created by people, it couldn’t perfectly measure everything like a machine.

But that didn’t mean Himena had to suffer because of it.

“Honestly, it’s annoying.”

“I feel the same way about that.”

Having seen many ugly situations in this ruthless organization that criticizes the successful for being successful and belittles the unsuccessful for being unsuccessful, Himena and Agent Bennett couldn’t help but feel a sense of kinship.

Agent Bennett turned off the TV and handed over a folder, saying,

“What’s this?”

“Something I investigated along the way. It’s information on those PMC mercenaries you and Agent Patel encountered. There’s quite a diverse mix of nationalities—British, Emiratis, and others.”

The documents Himena received contained photos of faces she had seen during the shootout, apparently used as personal records.

“Where did you get this?”

“By asking around?”

Agent Bennett said with a slight smile.

“No, seriously.”

“After finding out their basic information, I had a good talk with military organizations that cooperate with our headquarters. None of them had any information from about two years ago.”

“Really…?”

“Looking into it further, no information has emerged since the moment these people joined the PMC company.”

Flipping through the documents, Himena could see that, as Agent Bennett said, the mercenaries’ records ended in 2013.

“No credit card or account records either?”

“There are credit card records, but they’re all over the place—using it in Pennsylvania the day before yesterday, then in Missouri yesterday. It’s impossible to track. The places they use them are all different too.”

If they frequently used certain places, it might be possible to investigate, but if they deliberately avoided specific locations and used their cards diversely, tracking would be virtually impossible.

Finding it hard to believe that the money trail for individual mercenaries ended there, Himena bowed her head and scratched the back of her neck.

“Oh, this is bad… What about the PMC company they belong to?”

“It only exists on paper. The headquarters is located in the British Virgin Islands.”

“…Of course it is.”

Himena put her hands on her hips and sighed deeply at Agent Bennett’s explanation.

She wished things would resolve easily for once, but cases always seemed to hit dead ends during tracking.

“But there’s still a key, right?”

“A key?”

“The PMC company and Orbis, which created Polytechnic, must have a connection.”

“…So the answer lies with Orbis Company.”

“That’s right.”

Agent Bennett wanted to help Himena more, but with limited resources, encouraging her was the best he could do.

“Think carefully about how to infiltrate Orbis Company.”

“The work is really piling up… Maybe I should ask someone else…”

Now that she had a plan for what to do next, Himena decided to leave, pressing her temples firmly.

“Anyway, thank you…”

Seeing Himena looking exhausted, Agent Bennett expressed his concern.

“Take it easy. It’s not that urgent.”

“If the evidence disappears while we’re taking it slow, we’ll end up with nothing. Though I suppose a big company like that won’t disappear overnight.”

“…You really do need that special investigation team.”

That was Agent Bennett’s comment after seeing Himena’s exhausted face despite volunteering for such demanding work.

* * *

Around sunset.

After spending a quiet, intimate time at the Hoover Dam and moving on to Boulder City, the two had an early dinner and were now in a small park.

‘Why is she taking so long? Do women always spend this much time in the bathroom?’

While sitting comfortably on a park bench chatting, Judy had excused herself to use the restroom, but it was taking longer than expected.

‘Is it because I told her to eat as much as she wanted?’

Dexter, who had been waiting impatiently, couldn’t stand it anymore and headed toward the bathroom attached to the park. There, he discovered an unexpected situation.

Two men were holding onto Judy’s arm, preventing her from returning to where Dexter was.

“I told you I’m with someone. Please let me go.”

Judy’s expression, with her arm being held, showed no fear toward the two men; rather, she was handling the situation with remarkable composure.

There are cases where people who resist violently end up in unexpected accidents with armed criminals, so even in correctional officer training, they explain that in such situations, there’s no need to unnecessarily provoke.

However, Dexter found it strange that Judy wasn’t dealing with the situation more firmly despite her self-defense training, so he looked at the bulging pocket of one of the men.

‘Ah. A knife.’

Inside the man’s pocket was a small pocket knife about the size of a palm.

Of course, a small knife could still be threatening, which is why the observant Judy wasn’t resisting further.

“What are you guys doing?”

But that’s a story for ordinary civilians, not applicable to Dexter.

“Who the hell are you…?”

The two men turned around, laughing dismissively at the voice from behind, thinking it was nothing serious.

“……”

Dexter was smiling, kindly lowering his head to look down at the men who were shorter than him.

With a height difference of almost 4 inches (about 10cm) and arms as thick as their thighs, the two men gulped.

Dexter slowly approached the two men, getting so close their faces almost touched, and said,

“Are you going to let go and leave, or not?”

At Dexter’s words, one of the men cautiously reached for his pocket, trying to pull out his pocket knife.

Dexter twisted the man’s hand heading for his pocket and said,

“If I were you, I wouldn’t pull out a knife at this distance. Unless you want to get punched in the jaw and make out with the ground.”

“Ugh!”

Feeling pain as if his arm was about to break, the man tapped on Dexter’s forearm and said,

“Okay, okay, just let go of my hand…!”

Amused by the man’s reaction, Dexter released his tight grip and picked up the knife from the man’s pocket with his thumb and index finger.

“Hmm.”

It wasn’t an automatic knife that pops open with a button press, but a traditional pocket knife with a foldable blade.

Dexter tried to open the folded blade, but it was stiffer than expected.

“This knife is ridiculously stiff. Chinese made?”

Having successfully opened the blade, Dexter examined the knife from various angles. The man, frightened by Dexter’s intimidating posture, answered awkwardly.

“Probably… Huh?!”

The man exclaimed in surprise at Dexter’s sudden action.

Dexter had placed his thumb against the flat side of the blade and applied pressure.

“…!”

The blade bent under Dexter’s hand strength.

Even though it was a poorly maintained knife, it was still stainless steel.

The blade bent with just a slight application of force, not even using all his strength, and Dexter maintained a calm expression. The two men realized they had messed with the wrong person.

Seeing their faces turn pale, Dexter chuckled and said,

“A plastic lightsaber would suit you better.”

Dexter threw the broken blade and handle into a nearby trash can and said,

“I’ll let you go this time. Get lost.”

It was their last chance to get home safely.

Not wanting to miss this opportunity, the men fled as soon as Dexter finished speaking, leaving Judy bewildered, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

“What, what just happened?”

“I chased away those punks.”

“Did you just break that knife…?”

Seeing Judy staring at him blankly, Dexter laughed awkwardly, and Judy took his hands in hers and said,

“Are you hurt? Why would you do something like that!”

“Well, it’s better than beating someone half to death, isn’t it?”

Despite his unusually harsh words, Judy was more concerned about Dexter’s hands.

“That may be true, but there was no need to break the blade. My goodness, your hands are fine?”

“I did it that way because I can break it while keeping my hands intact.”

As Dexter spoke proudly, Judy examined his thick hands, which didn’t have a single scratch.

“That’s amazing… How can you do that?”

“I’m more worried about you than my hands. Are you hurt?”

Dexter, scrutinizing Judy, noticed her reddened wrist and said,

“Was that from those bastards?”

“My skin is a bit sensitive, so it got red when they grabbed me tightly.”

“I should have half-killed them after all.”

As Dexter’s teeth grinded audibly, Judy waved her hands frantically and said,

“There’s no need for that!”

“No?”

“No! Let’s go home quickly! I feel like someone might really die at this rate.”

“Well, as you wish.”

As Dexter headed toward the park entrance, he looked at Judy walking beside him.

She was so small.

He had to lower his head to see the men earlier, but to look at Judy, he really had to bend down.

“What did you do when others were growing?”

“What? Why suddenly…?”

“How tall are you?”

“About 154cm, I think?”

“In feet?”

“5 feet 1 inch?”

“You’re really small.”

‘That’s why I can carry her with one hand.’

There’s often a difference between vaguely feeling someone is short and actually perceiving it numerically.

Dexter nodded as if he understood completely, and Judy looked at him with uneasy eyes and asked,

“…Do you dislike short people?”

“No, people can be short. When I was young, I was short and skinny too, so my parents made me drink lots of milk.”

Of course, Dexter was also shorter than Judy at some point in his life.

“What? No way, that’s a lie.”

“It’s true. If you ever come to my house, I’ll show you my photos.”

“I see.”

It was an empty response with no substance.

“Hey, you really don’t believe me.”

As the two returned to Dexter’s pickup truck, they continued chatting on the way to Judy’s house.

Dexter would enthusiastically talk about various topics, and Judy would nod and listen generously.

“So when Senior Dan told his son, ‘I think you take after your mother more,’ his son cried so much…”

“Officer Dan sounds like a fun person too?”

“He is. He helped me a lot when I was adjusting to the prison.”

As they approached Judy’s house, her expression noticeably dampened.

Parking in front of Judy’s house, Dexter got out of the driver’s seat and escorted Judy, who had exited from the passenger side, to the front door, asking,

“Why the long face?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just, today was fun, and I feel like I won’t experience this feeling for a while…”

Embarrassed by her own words, Judy’s face turned red.

“It doesn’t have to be just today.”

“What?”

Dexter approached Judy, who didn’t understand what he meant, bent down, and embraced her, saying,

“We can meet again on the next day off, can’t we?”

Dexter smiled lightly and kissed the lips of the bewildered Judy.

“……”

Feeling Judy’s stiff body gradually relaxing, Dexter proceeded a bit more intensely, and Judy, unable to resist, accepted him.

After several minutes of intense intimacy, Judy gently pushed Dexter away and said,

“Let’s, let’s stop here for today.”

“Stop here for today?”

“Yes… for today, let’s stop here…”

‘Is this how British women date?’

Looking at Judy still in his arms, Dexter nodded and said,

“Alright. See you next time.”

“Yes, next time… I’ll call you.”

Cooling her flushed face with her hand, Judy kissed Dexter’s cheek and said,

“Today was really fun. Next time, it’s my treat.”

“You don’t have to.”

After giving Judy one more tight hug, Dexter sat in the driver’s seat of his pickup truck and looked at Judy, who was still watching him from the front door, saying,

“See you the day after tomorrow.”

“Yes, the day after tomorrow…”

Dexter smiled and waved at Judy, who waved back with a shy pose.