Ch.138Episode 8 – Say Hello To My Little Friend

The rumor about my romance with Lucia is information I planted.

It means it was officially planned propaganda with the support of the Military Intelligence Bureau.

As I recall, a Military Intelligence officer took a photo of Lucia smiling slightly while we were walking and chatting casually, then leaked it to the press.

Some media outlets suspect there might have been some kind of exchange between Lucia and me, but in reality, Lucia and I are barely even friends. We’re just acquaintances who chat briefly when we happen to run into each other.

Lucia is a clergy member who grew up in a monastery and received ordination, and I was an intelligence officer who absolutely could not date foreigners, so romantic feelings couldn’t possibly have developed between us in the first place.

Of course, I do feel bad about spreading a false romance rumor that she never wanted. But at the time, I had no choice.

Our lives—Lucia’s, mine, and Camilla’s—were hanging in the balance depending on whether Lucia would become a saint or not.

It’s a poor excuse, but that was the reality.

Fortunately, Lucia wasn’t swayed by the rumors, and I never saw her as a romantic interest either, so nothing like that ever happened between us. Besides, isn’t it the specialty of tabloids to arbitrarily link famous people together and gossip about them?

So the Military Intelligence Bureau leadership decided to quietly bury the issue. Even though the Military Intelligence Bureau was the one that created the false information in the first place, they probably wouldn’t have made a big deal of it even if the romance rumor had been true.

So I lived forgetting about the whole matter.

That is, until Charnoi brought it up again.

“Admit it, Intelligence Officer…!”

“……”

“You had a romance with the Saint…!”

Episode 8 – Say Hello To My Little Friend

After much trouble, the Inspectorate’s audit finally ended. I admitted to two of the three charges brought against me by the Inspectorate.

The Inspectorate concluded that the final charge against me (romance with Lucia) was unfounded, as there was insufficient evidence and the intelligence was deemed unreliable, so the criminal offense was not established.

I never even had the intention of violating regulations in the first place.

“Good work…! The details of the procedure, including the date of the disciplinary committee meeting, will be delivered in writing later, so please wait quietly at your quarters…!”

Anyway, the audit wrapped up well.

Now I just have to wait for the disciplinary committee.

*

On the day the audit ended, I bought some cheap military-supplied beer and returned to my quarters.

What you see when you open the front door is a staircase. The Ministry of Defense had slathered it with shiny mint-colored paint to cover the peeling old paint, but they couldn’t hide the cracks in the walls.

I climb up those narrow, low stairs, holding a brown paper bag to my chest.

Finding my keys, which I can barely remember where I put, I fit them into the narrow keyhole, turn to open the door, and reach in with my key-holding hand to turn on the light.

-Click.

With the bright light comes the sight of a small room of about 10 pyeong (about 330 square feet). A cramped, smelly, stuffy studio. The walls are stained yellow as if something had dripped down them, and I catch sight of a cockroach, hiding like a mouse, scurrying away between the furniture.

“…Right. This is what military quarters should be like.”

I set down the brown bag in my arms with a sigh. No matter how many times I see it, these quarters are truly shitty.

I took out a bottle of beer from the crumpled bag. I struck the bottle against the edge of the table, and amid the dull impact sound, a refreshing sound could be faintly heard. I lifted the bottle and took a big swig.

The thin, rattling sound goes down with the beer. The cheap lager beer was still bland, and these shitty quarters were still shitty. I wonder how many people have passed through this godforsaken place.

I put down the beer bottle and looked around the quarters for a moment. The quarters remained exactly as they were when I first moved in. The stains on the wallpaper, the peeling paint, the creaking door. Of course, the cockroaches that have been with me for years are still here too. The quarters, worn by time, were still old, cramped, and empty. Actually, “desolate” might be a more fitting word than “empty.”

A lot has happened over the past few months, but it seems nothing around me has changed. Maybe I haven’t changed much either.

So I leaned against the sink and drank my beer pathetically.

“……”

As the alcohol enters my system, my body suddenly heats up. As blood begins to flow through my clogged veins, I start to notice things I had forgotten.

The first thing that caught my eye was the mail. Mail delivered while I was away had piled up haphazardly in front of the entrance.

Utility bills, tax notices, insurance premium default notices, publisher invoices, letters from acquaintances, a letter from some media outlet, advertisements for a new brothel nearby, and so on. The last one must have been left by a pimp. How the hell did they get past the front gate?

“Let’s see… What I need to pay this time…”

I crouched down at the entrance to check the delivered mail. Since there’s no automatic transfer in this neighborhood, the first thing I always do when I return from deployment is pay the overdue fees, so it’s all too familiar by now.

Checking the letters, I found that a lot of payments had been missed during the months I was away. Magazines, academic societies, newspapers, publishers… Just looking at the envelopes, I can vividly imagine the writers screaming for their subscription fees.

While checking the dunning letters with the intention of paying them all, I suddenly remembered my bank balance. I had deducted money from my salary to cover activity expenses for the Order and the Institute out of my own pocket. Now that I think about it, that adds up to quite a bit.

My salary did increase when I was promoted to Major, and various allowances would have accumulated while I was on deployment, but performance bonuses aren’t paid immediately. The same goes for my salary.

I sat at the table, drinking beer and pondering when the next payday would be.

Given my current financial situation, it seemed impossible to pay a large sum at once. I’ll have to cancel all the magazines first. I probably won’t have time to read them anyway. Same with the newspapers. I’ll have to think about the academic societies…

As I was examining each letter one by one, someone knocked on my door.

-Knock knock!

Silence fell over the apartment that had been filled with the sound of rustling papers. Who could it be? I wasn’t expecting anyone today.

I put down the letters and walked to the bed. I took out the pistol hidden between the frame and mattress and pressed myself against the wall by the entrance. After carefully checking the peephole and confirming the visitor’s face, I opened the door.

The white-haired old man, holding several boxes in his hands, greeted me cheerfully.

“Oh, you’ve returned to your quarters? You got here before me, I see.”

“…No, Director, what brings you here?”

“I stopped by on my way home from work. Come in. Put the gun away.”

It was Clebins.

*

Alcohol drinks people, and cigarettes burn life.

Alcohol and cigarettes are harmful in every way. Cigarettes damage the lungs, and alcohol lowers alertness. Both contain a certain level of addiction, which is why they’re classified as drugs, and sometimes people ruin their lives by becoming addicted to them.

But despite recognizing these dangers, everyone can sympathize with how difficult it is to quit alcohol and cigarettes. People in distress depend on something, and the easiest things to turn to are usually alcohol or cigarettes.

And that applies to intelligence officers too. In my more than 10 years of service in intelligence units, I’ve seen people quit gambling, but never seen anyone successfully quit smoking or drinking.

Of course, I’m no exception.

“Were you drinking? Seems I’ve interrupted a good time.”

“It’s nothing. I was just drinking alone.”

I cleared away the beer bottles scattered on the table.

“There’s nothing shameful about drinking. Look, it’s still here.”

Clebins smiled good-naturedly and placed one of the boxes on the table. It was alcohol.

Specifically, whiskey. Military-supplied liquor commonly found in supermarkets. There was quite a variety.

“A gift.”

“Thank you. Would you like some tea?”

“No. It’s lonely, so let’s have a drink.”

He must have been on his way home from work, as Clebins was wearing a suit rather than a military uniform. I put two glasses on the table, and while I prepared some snacks, Clebins filled the glasses himself. So we sat around chatting and drinking.

“You must have had a hard time with the Inspectorate investigation after coming back from deployment. Have you adjusted to the jet lag yet?”

“Jet lag? Well, one day is enough for that.”

Clebins nodded and picked up his glass.

He emptied his glass in an instant, then with a more relaxed expression, refilled it and leaned back against the chair.

“Quite some time has passed, but this place is still the same. The front door still creaks, and the paint is still slathered on thickly. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, but nothing has changed.”

Clebins looked around the interior of the quarters, smacking his lips.

“Did you also stay in military quarters, Director?”

“I did when I was a junior officer. Now I commute from my own home.”

“I used to drive you every day.”

“Ah, that’s right. I’d forgotten since my aide changed. You used to drive the official car.”

Clebins had bought his own house near the capital. I heard that while his noble family had a historic townhouse in the capital, he bought a house in a relatively closer area since it was in the opposite direction from the Military Intelligence Bureau building.

He looked around the Ministry of Defense quarters he was visiting after a long time and chuckled.

“The soundproofing was terrible, it was a nightmare at night. Is the soundproofing still bad here?”

“Yes. That’s why officers who secretly bring women sometimes get caught.”

“Hmm… Are there still people like that? That’s maddening.”

The Abas Ministry of Defense built apartments for soldiers serving in the capital, but given the state of the world, the condition was quite poor. Drafty and unable to maintain temperature. Hot in summer and cold in winter, that kind of place.

Of course, as Clebins mentioned, the soundproofing is also poor, so officers who secretly bring partners to their rooms sometimes get caught having sex. This happens quite frequently.

That’s why most officers can’t stand these quarters and take out loans to buy their own homes. Especially if they have a family or a romantic partner, it’s hard to live here.

“I hear the new buildings are decent, but it seems there are no plans to demolish and rebuild this one.”

“Redevelopment is an expensive undertaking. The waste disposal costs alone would be considerable, I imagine.”

“Don’t you want to move to the newly built quarters? I could put you on the priority list.”

“I go abroad often, so I don’t stay here much. If I move to a new building, wouldn’t I just end up paying more for utilities?”

“Well, that’s true.”

He broke off a piece of chocolate that was served as a snack.

“My introduction was long, but good job, Frederick. The disciplinary committee will be convened soon. There’s no need to drag it out.”

The remaining matters will be handled swiftly, he says. Since he was just relaying what had been decided from above, I simply nodded.

“What will the disciplinary action be?”

“Since you’ve admitted to two charges—embezzlement and security regulation violations—you’ll receive two disciplinary actions according to regulations. The embezzlement is judged to be a mistake due to unfamiliarity with internal regulations, so it will be handled with a reprimand. The security regulation violation will be handled with a three-month salary reduction.”

“The security violation is quite serious, then.”

“It might be understandable if it were our company. But you accessed another company’s data without permission, so it can’t be helped.”

Two minor disciplinary actions. It seems it will be wrapped up with writing a statement of apology and losing a third of my salary.

Actually, since this is an unofficial audit, I won’t face any disadvantages, but if it were real, it would have been quite a blow for me. My meager salary would be cut, and promotion would become difficult.

While I was wondering if this level of disciplinary action would be sufficient, Clebins smiled slightly and spoke.

“It’s a formal procedure, so there won’t be any personnel disadvantages. Of course, your salary will be cut for three months and you’ll have to submit a statement, but there’s a solution for that too, so don’t worry.”

“That’s a relief. But what was the last charge? That I’m dating a foreigner? And the Saint Lucia, no less.”

“The audit officer seems to have gone a bit overboard. But it’s not entirely wrong, is it?”

“Do I need to go to an Inquisition…?”

“With four women around you, suspicions can arise anytime. If she were just a civilian, it might be different, but who would complain about you dating an intelligence agent? Some do, though.”

“You know that’s a violation of the code of ethics and grounds for disciplinary action, right?”

“Can’t you take a joke?”

“……”

I turned my head away in disgust. His nasty disposition remains even when drinking.

Anyway, that nymph is the problem. I hope I never see her again.

“By the way, have you had your gunshot wound examined? It doesn’t seem like the kind of injury that should be left untreated for long.”

“The fragments have been removed, so there shouldn’t be any problems. I’m also taking antibiotics regularly.”

Clebins nodded and loosened his tie. Seeing him gradually change the subject, it seems he’s wrapping up the disciplinary matter here.

“I’ve given word to the General Affairs Department to pay for your medical expenses, but if there’s any problem, go see a priest. I once received treatment from a priest when I was seriously injured.”

“Injured? What kind of injury was it…?”

“Oh, haven’t I told you this story? It wasn’t a major injury, but I was stabbed with a knife once.”

“A knife? How did you end up getting stabbed?”

“The work of an investigator is predictable, isn’t it?”

He was saying he got stabbed while catching a spy. I’ve been hit by a car, stabbed with a knife, and shot too, but Clebins seemed quite calm about it all.

He refilled his glass and looked out the narrow glass window of the quarters. The night view of the Abas capital was faintly visible through the small window.

“Director of Counterintelligence. When I was an investigator, I never thought I’d get this far. You’ve done well for yourself.”

“Indeed. Has anything improved since you became Director?”

“Many things have changed, but nothing has improved. Nothing comes to mind specifically.”

“Right. What about your promotion? It’s about time for the announcements.”

“I did get promoted.”

Clebins emptied his glass and set it down with a thud. I politely refilled his glass while agreeing with him. Since he had received his star, it was safe to assume that the position of Military Intelligence Bureau Director, which a Brigadier or Major General would assume, would be Clebins’ position.

Although it deviated from the game story… Well, there shouldn’t be any problems. There’s no one else who could be the Director except Clebins now.

Looking at me, Clebins asked me a question.

“I heard you received a job offer from the Royal Intelligence Department?”

“Huh? Ah… Yes, that’s right.”

I put down the whiskey bottle and tilted my head.

“But how did you know about that?”

“A department head from Intelligence told me. He said his junior is in the Royal Intelligence Department and that Leoni went to see you during Operation Barren Land. I just guessed.”

“I see.”

A Military Intelligence Bureau officer hearing news about the Royal Intelligence Department from his junior. It wasn’t unusual.

National Intelligence Service to Military Intelligence, Military Intelligence to National Intelligence Service, Military Security Command to Police, Police to National Intelligence Service.

Military Intelligence Bureau to Royal Intelligence Department, Royal Intelligence Department to Military Intelligence Bureau, Cabinet Security Office to Special Investigation Bureau, Special Investigation Bureau to Royal Intelligence Department.

Since there’s such a severe shortage of personnel, this kind of personnel recycling is common in the industry, so I just nodded.

“Why did you stay with the Military Intelligence Bureau instead of going to the Royal Intelligence Department? The treatment and conditions are much better there.”

“Well… I stayed because the Military Intelligence Bureau is more comfortable.”

“Then why did you join the Military Intelligence Bureau in the first place?”

“……”

I emptied my glass and thought deeply. Why did I join the Military Intelligence Bureau?

After pondering for a while, I gave an answer that hardly seemed like an answer.

“I just thought it would be comfortable here.”

“An intelligence unit being comfortable? You must be quite the oddball.”

“Well, the work in intelligence units is so comfortable… Plus, I can work in the capital.”

“If that’s the case, you should have transferred to the Capital Guard Unit. Why come to the Intelligence Bureau and suffer? In all my years, you’re the first person to say Intelligence Bureau work is comfortable. While you’re at it, visit a psychiatrist on your way to the hospital. Quit drinking too.”

“What kind of joke is that? Weren’t you the one who brought me to the Intelligence Bureau in the first place?”

“That’s right. I heard there was someone who shot and killed three armed infiltrators, so I thought he must be a sharp fellow and went to get him. But now I see…”

Clebins clicked his tongue and laughed. He and I emptied our glasses, and I filled them anew.

Suddenly, something curious came to mind. I put down my glass and asked Clebins.

“By the way, are you close with Director Leoni?”

“We know each other. She’s been my senior since cadet days… Let me see.”

“Why are you calculating that?”

“Just wait a moment. I’ve been in the Military Intelligence Bureau for over 20 years, so we’ve been together for about 25 years.”

For people who have lived together for 25 years, they don’t seem very close. Maybe they have a bad relationship. Perhaps if Leoni had been a department head or director in the Military Intelligence Bureau’s overseas division, they would have fought all the time.

Although it wasn’t easy to imagine Leoni and Clebins fighting. I just smiled slightly and drank my alcohol.

“Anyway, good job. Rest for about a month before returning to duty. Your next deployment will require preparation. I’ll also need to see you briefly soon.”

Seems like he has some new task for me. I’m glad to get a generous vacation.

“Ah, I almost forgot.”

Clebins fumbled in his pocket and pulled something out. It was a letter.

“This is a letter addressed to you. The Inspectorate was keeping it. Now that the audit is over, you can have it back.”

“Huh? A letter? Why was the Inspectorate keeping it?”

“I’m not sure about the contents, but they said they were holding it as supplementary evidence related to the embezzlement.”

I received the letter Clebins handed to me.

With his permission to open it, I tore open the packaging to check the contents.

“What’s in it? The outside says it’s from a tailor shop.”

“It looks like some kind of receipt. But I don’t recognize this store?”

Strange. Not only is it a store I’ve never seen before, but I had a suit made last year and haven’t ordered a new one.

The stationery was very luxurious, and the handwriting was very small and old-fashioned. I struggled to read the barely legible writing through my alcohol haze.

I stared at the letter for a long time. Only after reading the entire letter did I understand what it was.

“……”

“What’s the matter?”

“…It’s an invoice requesting payment for a newly tailored suit.”

After seeing the name written on the letter and checking the amount, I downed my drink. The letter listed an amount of about one million won in Korean currency, along with the name of a family member.

It was a familiar name.

I barely managed to speak while trying to calm my boiling insides.

“It seems my younger sister has had a new suit made.”