Chapter 3: Anton in Crisis

Kouki Arakawa’s Point of View — Two Hours Later

What am I doing? Was it really necessary to break out of the sealed base using Ageha?

As I absentmindedly pondered my situation, I sat in a seat on an aircraft drinking coffee from a paper cup. Spread out in front of me was a paper newspaper, which was a rare sight these days, and I was reading the day’s news.

I’ve been so busy lately. It’s been a while since I last had a chance to just sit and relax like this.

It would have been a perfect moment if the Russian Air Force’s fighter planes weren’t visible outside the window and if a mean-looking middle-aged man wasn’t sat opposite me.

“In a few minutes, we will be landing at an air force base in the Moscow district, where we will make a brief stop. A number of passengers will be departing the aircraft, and we will take off once again after approximately fifteen minutes on the ground.”

I went on reading the newspaper while listening to the announcement, but then the man opposite looked at me and loudly cleared his throat, so I reluctantly folded away my newspaper and re-fastened my seat belt.

When I bought a ticket for this flight so I could rescue Anton, I barely had time to catch the flight myself, I reflected. They did well to get onto the same aircraft. I didn’t expect to see fighter jets escorting us the second we entered Russian airspace, either.

“I know we haven’t spoken at all, but... when the announcer said ‘a number of passengers,’ he was talking about us, wasn’t he?” I asked... in Russian. “Did the Russian government start providing guides to help civilians with their sightseeing?”

I’d been completely silent since we’d taken off, but now I was suddenly speaking in Russian. I didn’t need any special training to see how shocked the men sitting in front me were.

Heh. Serves them right. They’ve been bugging me ever since we left Japan. I was looking forward to riding an ordinary plane for the first time, but they’ve ruined it for me. And don’t they realize that I live on the Hakone base? I spend all my time with dangerous-looking men like Cote and witches like my mom. That mean look doesn’t intimidate me. It’s just an annoyance.

“We’re here to escort you,” the man opposite said. “My superiors will greet you on the ground. They can tell you the details.”

“Details? I know I’m entering your country, but I’m doing everything by the book. You’ve got no right to divert my flight to a military base and then arrest me.”

“A-Arrest?! You’ve got it all wrong! If anything were to happen to you, it would be a great loss for humanity. Our country considers your safety to be paramount.”

“If you say so,” I said skeptically. “Just remember that one wrong move will cause a diplomatic incident.”

The words “diplomatic incident” seemed to cause them some concern, but I closed my eyes and tried to ignore them.

Mom once told me that whoever takes the initiative has an overwhelming advantage in negotiations. After Mom told me to go rest, I figured out that the threat of a diplomatic incident would make it difficult for the other party to act freely. Now these guys can’t force me to go anywhere without an explanation... or at least, I hope not.

I sighed.

I’m so hungry. I was in too much of a hurry to eat lunch. And at this rate, I won’t have a chance to eat dinner, either. Maybe there’s some polite way to ask them to feed me? They won’t let me land at the airport, but they should at least let me eat.

“I’m getting hungry,” I said. “I’ve heard that Russia is famous for its marinade and ukha restaurants.”

This caused them to talk quietly between themselves about “preparing dinner.”

Looks like they might actually feed me when we land, I thought hopefully. But what if they poison my food? Well, I don’t suppose they want to kill me. That’d cause a diplomatic incident for sure.

Thanks to doing research on the way here, as well as having Ageha obtain some records from the Russian government, I’d determined that a certain polonium-related incident had never occurred. The risk of being poisoned by a radioactive substance seemed negligible.

That reminds me. Clare is always stealing food from my plate when we’re in the Merkava Kingdom. I thought she just liked to taste everything, but she must have been checking it for poison. Clare does so much for me. I shouldn’t take her for granted in the future...

**

Once we were on the ground, we were met by a warm breeze.

It was a common misunderstanding that Russia was cold all year round. In reality, the average summer temperature in Moscow was 22°C. Even Siberia heated up to about 20°C during its short period of summer.

The terminal I wore on my arm now told me that the temperature was 24°C, making today slightly warmer than average.

I took a deep breath of the refreshing air.

“There’s a car waiting,” said one of the men who’d gotten off the plane with me. “Please come with us.”

I did as I was told and walked towards a hangar in the corner of the base where a high-class black car was waiting, along with a large four-wheel-drive vehicle.

The man walked towards the car and opened the rear door. He looked at me as if he was waiting for me to get in. I couldn’t refuse after coming this far.

I tried to appear as relaxed as possible as I accepted his invitation and climbed into the car.

Inside, an elderly man wearing a suit and a middle-aged man wearing a dark blue uniform were waiting. The man in the uniform greeted me as I took my seat.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Arakawa. I’m Lieutenant Colonel Yakov Tarkovsky. I’m an intelligence officer. The man beside me is Yuri Pamfilova. He’s here from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And the man sitting here is Anton Bortkiewicz. He’s a member of a top-secret Russian unit. Anton sought asylum in your country after his involvement in a top-secret project, but yesterday, he was placed under arrest after illegally entering the country. Is he an acquaintance of yours, Mr. Arakawa?”

The lieutenant colonel’s face reminded me of a cat toying with a mouse as he introduced Anton. But none of that information was news to me. The capture of both Anton and Joseph might have surprised me without Ageha’s help, though.

After giving me back my terminal, Ageha had kept using its spare resources to track Anton this whole time, as she was worried about him. She’d also hacked the main terminal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and learned that both men had been captured.

Having been told this, I knew I needed to use my political influence to its fullest extent.

“Nice to meet you, Lieutenant Colonel,” I said. “My name is Kouki Arakawa. Naturally, I’m acquainted with Anton. It was under my orders that he returned to his home country on business. But there must have been some misunderstanding. I’m shocked to hear that he’s under arrest.”

“Under Mr. Arakawa’s orders? I see. And what business brings you to this country today?”

Here’s the first hurdle. Clare said to “state your business in a roundabout way when you want to negotiate carefully” but to “cut to the chase when you want to achieve your goal quickly.” My main goal is to rescue Anton’s commanding officer. I don’t have time to waste. I’ll cut to the chase.

“I’d like you to hand over Anton and his former commanding officer, who’s in your custody.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know who you’re referring to,” the man said smoothly. “And suppose such a person were in our custody? I don’t see how that would be any concern of yours. Not even you should be interfering with our internal affairs.”

“Let’s not play games. I expect it would be a problem for you if foreign nations learned that you had me confined in this car?”

Yuri raised his eyebrows just a little when I suggested that I was currently “confined.”

That’s right, I thought firmly. I’ll decide whether this counts as confinement or not.

Now his options were limited. He could tell me, “No such person exists, and I’d like you to leave” before deporting me, but I could cause a lot of trouble later by declaring, “The Russians detained me!”

“Supposing such a person really were in our custody...” he said carefully. “This is a country based on rule of law. That person would have to be guilty of some crime. Are you suggesting that a criminal be handed over to you? To Noa?”

So he’s bringing Noa into it now. He must be wondering how far I’m willing to go. Or maybe he wants to know whether my mom is involved. I didn’t know what his intentions were, but I had to say something. Think. What’s the diplomatic way to handle this?

“Of course not,” I said. “But my understanding is that this person was arrested very recently. Could it have been the result of some sort of mistake or miscommunication? That sort of mistake can make it very difficult for someone to continue their current job, even if they’re later released and everything is cleared up. This is even more the case if they’re executed for a crime they didn’t commit in... say... nine hours from now. That’s why I’m here as a recruiter. I thought perhaps this person might want to join me.”

“Very well. Now I understand.”

“Indeed,” I said. “The job I had in mind is no ordinary job. I couldn’t possibly offer such a post to someone without first asking permission from someone like the lieutenant colonel or Mr. Yuri Pamfilova first. And of course, I wouldn’t attempt to headhunt someone of such exceptional skill without offering some form of compensation.”

How’s that? I watched the men carefully. Judging from the lieutenant colonel’s reaction, he won’t make any objection, but I’m worried about Yuri. He hasn’t said anything.

We all remained silent for a while. During that silence, Ageha spoke to me using an earpiece connected to my terminal.

“Based on a spectral analysis from a satellite and the local environment, there is a 99.89% probability that the deposits you spoke of are present, Father.”

All right! Let’s take this discussion forward. I should ask Ageha whether there’s anything I can do for her later. As a reward, maybe I should transfer her to a big terminal with more resources rather than keeping her crammed into the terminal I’m wearing?

“Lieutenant Colonel, perhaps you could determine whether this person truly is in custody, and whether they are truly guilty of any criminal behavior,” I said.

“Very well,” the man said. “I would normally refuse, but I can’t deny a request from Mr. Arakawa himself. I’ll investigate as quickly as I can, but this may take some time. Perhaps you’d join us for dinner in the meantime?”

“I’d love to,” I said readily. “I’m ashamed to admit that I haven’t eaten lunch because I was busy with work. I’d be happy to join you.”

Although something about his words seemed odd. What did he mean by, “I can’t deny a request from Mr. Arakawa himself”? His attitude changed the moment I mentioned compensation. I’ll bet they knew all about Anton’s commanding officer all along, but were just playing dumb! I wish I could call them out on it, but the negotiation is going well, so it’s too big of a risk.

I sighed.

Now I know why Mom always looks so fierce after she’s finished negotiating. I thought all the complicated talk was making her tired, but now I see that’s not it. This sort of stuff is irritating. I remember Macho Man saying that after Clare finishes a negotiation, she likes to shut herself up inside a training facility and give her subordinates hell. Yeah, I can see why now. This stuff is pretty stressful.

The lieutenant colonel spoke as the car headed toward the place we were going to eat dinner. “I’m sure you saw the state-of-the-art jets that our country used to ensure your safety. As a specialist, what did you think? Impressive, are they not?”

Those were state of the art...? I thought skeptically. The fighter jets we have for flight training on Noa Island have way better maneuverability and offensive capabilities. Our jets remind me of UFOs from science fiction. Those Russian jets didn’t even compare.

“I don’t consider myself a specialist, but they... they looked like manned craft,” I said carefully. “Weren’t you able to make them unmanned? If you can control them from the ground, it will be a lot less stressful for the pilot in a dangerous mission. And if the target justifies the cost, the jet itself could be flown into the target once its ammunition has been used up. Unlike powered suits, jets don’t need such precise control. I think that’s the real advantage of aircraft.”

“Th-The jet itself?” he stuttered.

Don’t act so surprised, I thought, exasperated. Obviously, don’t do it while there’s a pilot on board. Just think of an unmanned craft as an expensive missile. Aircraft never fight against each other in this day and age. You have to use them to deliver missiles to get the most out of them.

Almost all of Noa’s fighter jets were already unmanned. And I expected that all powered suits would be unmanned within the next four or five years, except for a few high spec models used by commanding officers.

I once told Mom half-jokingly about the specs of a unit used by the protagonist in a robot anime from my past life, I reflected. Now she seems serious about making it a reality. But building a unit like that isn’t possible. Or at least, I hope it isn’t possible. I can’t imagine how we’d use an antimatter-powered unit capable of operating both in space and on the ground.

I started to break into a sweat thinking about how my mom’s efforts to develop new weapons were beginning to make her look like a mad scientist.

“We’ve reached our destination,” the lieutenant colonel said.

It was hard to tell through the tinted windows, but it looked like we were in an underground parking area. A number of civilian vehicles were parked nearby.

There were several middle-aged men standing around who had probably ridden in an escort vehicle. One of them opened the door to our car and guided us to the elevator.

All of the middle-aged men started to board the elevator with us.

The lieutenant colonel stopped them. “You needn’t accompany us further.”

Looks like they’ve decided to be less threatening in hopes of working out a better deal. It’s not a bad idea, but it’s a little late. I’m the type to hold a grudge. I secretly pondered how I’d get back at them.

I watched the lieutenant colonel press the button for floor 30. He explained, “We’re actually headed for a room on floor 83, but for security reasons, we can’t reach level 80 or above without passing through a security room on floor 30.”

I get it. It’s not just a safety precaution. It also makes it harder for me to leave.

The Hakone base used a similar system. You couldn’t reach the level where my mom worked without switching to a different elevator. It must have been inspired by the same thinking.

Sure enough, we changed elevators on floor 30 and then went up to floor 83. There we found a wide corridor with furnishings that reminded me of a fancy hotel.

“This is the place,” he told me. “A high-class suite has been prepared. I hope it will be to your liking.”

“I’m impressed that you’ve prepared all this for me after I arrived unannounced.” I could feel the softness of the carpet through my shoes, and it made the walk along the corridor quite enjoyable.

As we moved down the corridor, a beautiful female employee emerged from a room up ahead, pushing a trolley in front of her. The woman bowed politely and tried to pass by us, but as she moved the trolley toward the wall, it became unbalanced and toppled over. The contents spilled across the floor, and Anton immediately ran over to help her pick them up.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m so sorry!” the woman said frantically, urging him to rise to his feet. “Please, leave me to clean this up. I’d hate for you to get your suit dirty on my account.”

Once Anton stood up, she brushed his jacket clean with her hand, but I realized what she was doing.

While the lieutenant colonel and Yuri were glaring at the clumsy employee, she turned her back to the two of them and slipped a small handgun into the pocket of Anton’s jacket, keeping her hands hidden from their view.

“I’m terribly sorry,” she told us.

Well, if she gave us a weapon when we’re unarmed, she must be on our side.

She finished clearing everything off the floor, then bowed once more and left. The woman had passed the weapon to Anton without either of them acting in any way unnatural or betraying anything through their facial expressions.

It feels like I’m in a spy movie. So this is what highly trained agents are capable of. I just hope my reaction didn’t give the game away.

We continued to the very end of the corridor. Then the lieutenant colonel stopped and opened the door to a room in front of us. “Please make yourself at home. If you’d like to take a seat, the food will be with you shortly.”

I went ahead and entered the room. We sat at the large table prepared for us. The lieutenant colonel sat down in front of me, and Yuri sat down in front of Anton.

I don’t want to sit here in silence until the food arrives, I thought. Maybe I should start a conversation myself.

I tried to think of something to talk about, but then the lieutenant colonel unexpectedly spoke while looking at his personal terminal. “Mr. Arakawa. I’m still investigating the matter, but it seems that the person you spoke of was arrested for their role in a mutiny. There appears to be no conclusive proof of their guilt, so there is a possibility that they’ll be released.”

Yeah, yeah, I thought snidely. We both know what’s going on here. If I make the right offer, you’ll let her off the hook.

“I’m relieved to hear that,” I said smoothly. “Personally, I don’t think that the person I’m here to recruit is the sort to commit a crime.”

Time to tell them what I’m offering, I decided. I can either offer him Noa broadcasting rights or the information that we got from Anton’s old friend. But which one? I suppose the broadcasting rights is the safest choice.

I spoke up. “Supposing this person is indeed innocent and they accept my invitation...”

There was a knock at the door to inform us that our food had arrived. It was terrible timing.

The lieutenant colonel responded and rose to his feet. He unlocked the door and an employee entered.

A man dressed as a waiter carried food and cutlery to our table. He placed a knife in front of me that had some sort of dirt stuck to it.

No, not dirt. When I looked more closely, I saw writing on the knife so faint that only I would be able to read it: “18 SEEK ASYLUM.”

This waiter isn’t a real employee, either?! Something weird is going on here. Anton said he didn’t have strong connections to his former colleague, and I don’t think he lied. If an agent is captured by a foreign nation, it’s all over for them, so having no strong ties is best for controlling information. And yet, that woman and the waiter in front of us are here to help us rescue his superior. Something unusual must have happened. Think. What could have happened to this country? Was there a coup? Is there some sort of power struggle?

My brain wasn’t as powerful as my mom’s, but I used every bit of brainpower I had to try to think of an explanation.

The lieutenant colonel smiled at Anton and me and urged us to eat. “Please, go ahead and start eating, Mr. Arakawa. You too, Probationary Second Lieutenant Anton. It must have been a long time since you last enjoyed the cuisine of your homeland.”

So Anton was a probationary second lieutenant? I thought. I don’t understand Russian military ranks. They sound needlessly complicated.

I thanked the lieutenant colonel and then cut into the trout on my plate so that the writing on my knife would be erased.

“Kouki!” Anton moved to stop me. “Let me eat first...”

No need to worry about that! I thought triumphantly. The terminal I’m wearing on my arm might be a basic model, but it’s good enough to detect contaminants in the air, and it hasn’t detected anything. I never thought this feature would be useful for anything other than those days when I’m shut up inside the lab!

“Anton, don’t be so rude,” I scolded. “They’ve gone to a lot of trouble to prepare dinner for us. The lieutenant colonel has no reason to wish me harm.”

“But, Kouki...”

“I’m serious. It’s fine. Look how good this food is.” As bad-mannered as it might be, I scooped up a large amount of the food and slowly placed it in my mouth before chewing and swallowing.

I just realized something! I thought gleefully. This is a great chance to get back at those men! I can’t wait to see how the lieutenant colonel and Yuri react to this. I’m sure they’ll be surprised.

“If there were an everyday poison mixed in with our food, we’d detect it quite easily,” I said calmly. “I expect they’d use polonium, but being a researcher, I’m likely to have prepared some countermeasure against that, so they’re unlikely to try such a thing.”

“P-Polo...?” Anton didn’t seem to understand what I was saying, but the lieutenant colonel was glaring daggers at him.

Even Yuri was looking concerned as he tapped his mouth with a napkin. It was the first time I’d gotten a reaction out of him.

I knew it. I grinned. A plot like the one I mentioned to Mom must have happened in this world, too.

I was relieved because it meant that I hadn’t lied to her, and I was also glad to see I’d made both men uncomfortable.

“Lieutenant Colonel, I’d rather you didn’t scowl at Anton like that,” I scolded. “A mere lieutenant would have no knowledge of anything to do with polonium. I’m sure that such an operation would be handled by much higher-ranking people. To tell you the truth, I’m surprised that a lieutenant colonel even knows anything about it. You must have access to some fairly sensitive information.”

“Ugh!! Yes, I’m an exceptional case. I have more authority than an ordinary lieutenant colonel...”

Seriously?! He must be really agitated if he’s admitting that so easily. I was mostly bluffing just now. Judging by what he just said, his true rank is something higher than lieutenant colonel. I just wanted to put him in a bad mood, but now I’ve put myself in a better position. With the current mood, I should be able to take the lead if I go back to negotiating.

“Let’s forget about this polonium business,” I said coolly. “As I was saying... If the individual in question was found to be innocent and accepted my invitation, I was considering inviting all of their subordinates, not just the one individual.”

“...All of them?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “Naturally, I wouldn’t take away such talented personnel without offering your nation something of equal value.”

It wasn’t what I’d originally intended, but the waiter was probably one of the captain’s subordinates, and I wanted to save him, too. Mostly I felt that way because having someone ask me for help directly for the first time was satisfying, but that was my secret.

If things went well, we could be lucky enough to gain some highly skilled agents. I’d already seen what they were capable of. I could have just ignored them, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up.

“Indeed, it would be a great blow to our nation if we lost such a great number of talented individuals,” the lieutenant colonel said. “We also need to consider that this creates a small chance of military secrets leaking out. But if you are able to provide us with information in return, there is the possibility of a special exception being made.”

“If you’re able to take special measures in this case, I’d be most grateful.”

I stopped talking for a moment so I could try the ukha soup while it was still hot. Despite my expectations, it lacked the unpleasant smell that’s characteristic of seafood, and it was clear, beautifully colored, and delicious. Most importantly, it was rich with nourishing ingredients that my growing body needed.

As I was biting into a piece of fish from my soup, the lieutenant colonel stared at me with obvious impatience. It looked like he was just barely stopping himself from asking what I was going to offer them.

Relax a little. If my mom were sitting here right now, she wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of you. I’m still thinking about it, so you’ll have to wait a little longer.

“What was it you intended to offer us in return?” the lieutenant colonel burst out.

I swallowed the fish and then moved on to my glass of water. Now we start the real battle. I’ll have to be very careful what I say here.

“71° 39' north latitude, 111° 11' east longitude....” I said smugly.

“I’m sorry?”

“There is a large area that can be mined for diamonds within your country’s territory. It’s located at 71° 39' north latitude, 111° 11' east longitude. I can’t give you any diamonds to inspect, but the diamonds you’ll find there are almost twice as hard as ordinary diamonds, and I expect they’ll be ideal as engineering materials.”

“Mr. Arakawa, you can’t possibly be claiming to know the location of undiscovered diamond deposits!” he exploded.

“The documents are on this memory chip. A few hours ago, a friend used a surveillance satellite to survey the area. A spectral analysis suggests that there’s a 99.89% probability of diamonds being present relatively close to the surface. It should be possible to extract them by open air mining.”

The lieutenant colonel grabbed the micro memory chip that I held out to him and hastily inserted it into his own terminal. Beside him, Yuri had lost every trace of his relaxed composure, and was leaning toward the lieutenant colonel to get a better look at his terminal.

The document they were looking at contained a basic survey of an area that was known as the Popigai crater in the world of my previous life. In that world, it was said to be the largest crater in Eurasia, but the impact appeared to have been smaller in this world. There was no massive crater, and its existence wasn’t clear from satellite images. As a result, the area had never been surveyed, and the crater had never been discovered.

Just to be sure, I’d asked Ageha if there was some way she could survey the area. Her answer? “It’s possible if it’s okay for me to do something slightly illegal.”

I’d given her the go-ahead. As predicted, she’d identified diamond deposits.

Given the strangeness of this world I’d been reincarnated into, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that the diamonds had been “created” in order to make this world more consistent with other worlds despite no impact ever occurring.

I think I’ll leave all that complicated theoretical stuff to my mom, I concluded.

Meanwhile, Yuri regained his composure surprisingly quickly. “Even if this information is accurate, we would have discovered this ourselves eventually because the deposits are in our own territory. We have little to gain by accepting this offer.”

I know that. I’ve suddenly got a bunch of people asking me for asylum, and surveying another country’s land without permission was the best option I had. I know I’m walking a fine line here.

My offer had only been intended to be enough to trade for two people, with a bonus of unsettling the country’s top brass. Now it was time to make my real offer.

“You’re right, of course. Think of that data as an appetizer. Now for the main course. What I’m offering are the rights to distribute Noa’s TV broadcasts for free within Russian territory.”

This time the lieutenant colonel and Yuri were left with their mouths wide open.

I picked up my glass with a broad smile on my face.

**

The lieutenant colonel and Yuri told me they needed to speak to their superiors, then hastily fled the room. They probably didn’t know how to respond to my offer because it wasn’t something they’d expected me to give them.

I kept on eating because my stomach wasn’t quite full. Anton, on the other hand, sat in silence, save for his heavy breathing.

The sound of knives against ceramic plates filled the room.

Did I make Anton angry? I wondered, and decided to talk to him.

“Isn’t the food great, Anton? I wish we had green tea to go with it, rather than just water.”

“I envy you, Kouki,” he said slowly. “How can you be so relaxed at a time like this? I wish you’d take fewer risks. What would I tell Miki if anything happened to you?”

Oh. He’s still angry because I ate without letting him taste my food for poison. I already told him how I knew it was safe. He needs lighten up a bit. I suppose it’s a good time to ask him some questions.

I tapped my finger against my personal terminal, making sure he noticed. Then I opened up a chat window and sent an invitation to his terminal’s address.

“Sorry, but this room might be bugged,” I typed in. “This chat application was made by Noa’s engineering department, so it’s safe to use. There could also be cameras, so please scramble your terminal screen.”

Anton joined me in the chat room. “What is it?” he wrote.

I wanted to ask him about things that had been bothering me. His responses would probably have a major influence on how the negotiations went after the lieutenant colonel returned.

I started with a simple question. “Was the woman dressed as a maid a friend of yours?”

Seeing my message, Anton knitted his brow and typed a brief response. “You noticed? You’re right. Her codename is Sasha.”

“What about the waiter who brought me the knife with a message written on it?” I typed.

“I don’t know. This is the first I’ve heard of that.”

So the maid we saw in the corridor is an agent on our side. That waiter must be a member of Chernobog, too. But why is he asking me to give them asylum?

“The waiter told me that 18 people are seeking asylum,” I wrote. “I think that’s why Sasha was here. Do you know anything about this? Even the most trivial detail could be useful.”

“It’s been three years since I left Chernobog,” he wrote. “I have no idea. I think someone from our intelligence department such as Miki or Clare might know something.”

As always, we can’t figure anything out without getting Mom involved. I sighed. I don’t normally mind asking her, but... she’s going to be angry at me for going to Russia without saying anything. And I can’t imagine how angry Clare must be after I left all that work with her. I can just picture her wearing those glasses that suit her so well, with a blank expression on her pretty face, asking me, “Are you ready to die?” I don’t think I’m ready to face that. And if I don’t want to face the wrath of Noa’s witches, I’ll have to get through this without relying on them.

But without them, there was no more I could do. It was a real dilemma, but I couldn’t just sit here wasting time. If I did that, I’d have to face Macho Man’s anger, too. I knew what he’d say if he was here: “A man doesn’t hesitate!! Don’t just sit there!!”

“There’s no way around it,” I said aloud. “I’ll ask Mom directly and see if she can give us information.”

Anton looked at me in surprise.

I know why he’s looking at me like that. The connection status icon at the top left of my terminal screen disappeared the moment the lieutenant colonel left the room. It might have been a way to keep us isolated and to prevent us from obtaining more information, or perhaps it’s standard procedure. But either way, it won’t work on me.

“Kouki... I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’ve been cut off from communicating with anyone outside this room,” he said. “There must be some sort of electronic jamming.”

“That’s no problem,” I replied. “This terminal is a next-generation quantum terminal made by Luin Corp. And Mom made her own modifications to it. It’ll take more than some basic electronic jamming to affect it.” I looked into the terminal’s camera. “Right, Mom?”

If I’m right, Mom gave up on pursuing me the moment I left the Hakone base, and instead she’s been using the terminal’s microphone to pick up the noise around me in hope of learning something about my situation.

“When did you figure it out?” she asked. “And don’t worry about the room being bugged. Your terminal has electronic countermeasures.”

Yes!! I knew she’d be listening in.

Mom took control of my terminal, and the screen displayed the image of Noa’s demon lord, Miki Arakawa. As expected, her expression was terrifying. I wished I’d been wrong about that.

“I know how overprotective you are,” I answered. “I left for Russia, but you didn’t try to contact me. I knew you had to be listening. Is... Is Clare okay?”

“An hour ago, she took one of Noa’s large transport planes and set out to pick you up. She took a mid-air refueling craft with her, so I think she’s waiting outside of Russian airspace until she receives contact. I can see you’re worried, but I’d advise against avoiding her. She brought a hunting tranquilizer gun.”

If you know I’m in danger, then can’t you stop Clare somehow? I thought, alarmed. I’m not Macho Man. If I get hit with a tranquilizer dart, it’ll kill me! At least I have Anton to use as a shield. Oh yeah, I still need to ask Mom whether she knows anything about what’s happening in Russia...

“I won’t run from her,” I said quickly. “More importantly, I need to know what’s happening here in Russia. I’m sure you’ve heard the whole conversation.”

“Sadly, I have no idea what’s happening,” she answered. “The Russians have been awfully quiet lately. Our intelligence department has been focusing on the United States and the EU.”

Are you kidding? Well, that’s disappointing. I know something has to be going on. If I just had some kind of hint...

“So what was your plan?” Mom asked.

“Plan?”

“I don’t understand what you were thinking when you set off for Russia to negotiate, but I’m sure you had a good reason. If you’d just tell me what you’re planning, I might be able to negotiate for you.”

Should I feel bad for not having a good reason? I was just hyped up because Anton asked me for help, and I thought maybe I could create a new market for anime merchandise here in Russia. I didn’t think this whole thing would be such a pain, but I’m the one who started the negotiation, so it’s my responsibility to end it.

“You don’t have to do that,” I told her. “There’s another little thing I want to do while I’m here, anyway, so I’ll take responsibility for finishing things. Could you take in the people seeking asylum? You might need to make arrangements to extract them yourself in case things get difficult.”

Mom sighed. “You’re growing up so fast. All right. Leave it to me. But don’t forget that a lot of people are concerned about your safety. If you ever feel like it’s all a little much, there’s no shame in asking for help.”

“Thanks. I’ll bear that in mind.”

Mom looked a little sad as she disappeared from the screen and returned control of the terminal to me.

I can’t live my whole life depending on my mom. I wish she wouldn’t look so sad about it. Maybe she’ll feel better if I do something to show her how much I appreciate her when I get back.

With that decided, I went over the whole situation once more in my head.

**

Yakov Tarkovsky’s Point of View

I left Arakawa to his meal and relocated to a suite one floor below. Across the table sat Yuri Pamfilova, the director of the Foreign Intelligence Service.

The director hadn’t spoken for some time. He looked shaken as he repeatedly drank from his bottle of water.

I couldn’t stay quiet any longer. “Director, what will we do now?”

He stopped drinking his water and produced a cigar case from his pocket. He offered me a high-class cigar, and I thanked him, took one, and lit it.

Finally, the director spoke. “He really is a monster...” He spoke as if the words caused him pain.

I knew who he was referring to without having to ask. Kouki Arakawa, the boy eating the meal we’d prepared in the room above.

Not only does that boy who’s no more than a freshman at a technology academy know highly classified secrets of our nation, he also knew the location of diamond deposits that we didn’t know about ourselves. I can’t help but fear that boy. I wonder if the director feels the same way.

“Do you know how he found out about the polonium incident?” the director asked me.

“I’ve no idea. All information about that incident was limited to paper documents to prevent leaks. Without infiltrating our underground vault, there’s no way that Arakawa could have learned of it.”

“And yet, he knew...”

He knew things that no one could possibly know. He didn’t just put us in a difficult situation; that young boy has us both dancing to his tune.

Although I hadn’t expected it to be easy to deal with Kouki Arakawa, somewhere deep down, I’d still thought of him as a mere child. I now deeply regretted underestimating him.

“It may well be that Arakawa knows all the details of the incident,” the director said.

“It’s not possible! Not even you or I knew of it until just this morning. He couldn’t possibly...” My voice trailed off.

We’re dealing with a monster. Even if he knows the details, he’ll probably act calm and pretend he knows nothing. It was clear to me now that something had been wrong from the beginning. A diamond mine and Noa broadcasting rights, just for the sake of Lieutenant Anton’s former commanding officer? It’s too much. Perhaps he’s known everything from the start, and is waiting to hear us confess?

Recent intelligence suggested that Kouki Arakawa’s mental state had been greatly improved by ethics training.

“Perhaps this entire negotiation was intended to send a message,” I suggested. “Something like, ‘Tell me what you know and you won’t be harmed’?”

“You may be right. When Alice Alford was abducted, he used his own connections to learn a little about her secret. A lieutenant colonel working for the UN reached this conclusion while planning Alford’s rescue. Perhaps Arakawa learned enough to prove our involvement.”

“That would put us in a very difficult position. Let’s not forget that he wiped out an entire terrorist organization singlehandedly for Alice Alford’s sake. No matter how much his sense of ethics has developed since then, he now has the strength of Noa behind him. He could have us all killed...”

The chilling fact was, we weren’t just facing Arakawa himself. If the incident did come to light, the Russian Federation would have the entire world to answer to. Not only would we lose the influence that being a great nation gave us, there was a real danger that the Arakawa Family would pressure the UN to revoke our membership completely.

No, it’s even more serious than that. The Russian Federation will be awakened, and there’ll be major turmoil. Turmoil on that scale could lead us into...

“...World War 3...” I muttered.

“It seems you’ve reached the same conclusion,” the director said. “Well? Do you see now why I’m sweating as I drink this water?”

“But would it really come to that?” I burst out. “We’re talking about the survival of mankind being put at risk for the sake of just one girl.”

“I don’t think he’d need to go that far. He merely needs to set the world against Russia and Russia alone. They’ll release all information related to Alice Alford, and then Arakawa will hold a press conference. ‘I still love her,’ he’ll tell them. That’s all it will take. Arakawa will play the gallant knight, vowing to protect the innocent maiden. Our role will be that of the evil empire. His recent efforts to take control of the media are clear to see. Perhaps that was all part of the plan.”

Yes, it all makes sense. Noa’s commercials have enough impact to trigger social phenomena. If they made a TV program that was critical of Russia while bolstering the Arakawa point of view, the whole world would side with Noa in an instant. The boy truly is a monster. How far into the future can he see? Can he predict all possible outcomes, no matter how unlikely?

“Here’s what we’ll do,” the director said. “Provide Kouki Arakawa with all the information we have relating to the Alice Project. We also need to prove that we have zero affiliation with the cult known as New World. Head back to headquarters ASAP and gather the relevant documents.”

“I’ll leave immediately!”

I saluted the director before dashing out of the room and heading for the elevator. I had to return before Arakawa lost his patience and took action.

I seem to recall that he was incredibly fond of animals, I thought frantically. Perhaps we could give him a movie about caring for the Russian desman. They’re rare creatures, and one of Russia’s national treasures. It could at least keep him entertained for two or three hours.

While waiting for the elevator, I used my personal terminal to send a message to one of my people, instructing him to bring the video footage to us.

The elevator was taking a long time to ascend, so I jabbed the elevator call button a few more times.