TL: Skye
A week had passed since the civil war ended. It had been a whirlwind of a week.
First, we conducted a thorough investigation of all officers and soldiers in the 1st Infantry Division and Artillery Regiment, identified the active participants, and handed down summary punishments for treason and rebellion.
Why punishment without a trial, you ask?
Because our great Republic of San Marcos has no law schools, which means no professional judges, prosecutors, or lawyers.
The only way to become a legal professional is to work at the court for at least five years and then take the bar exam. How could that possibly produce competent legal practitioners?
This system has been a breeding ground for corruption for ages, but that's a story for another time. The punishments themselves were quite simple.
For starters, the ringleaders Garcia and Dani each received 40 years in prison. The 19 officers who actively participated were uniformly sentenced to 10 years.
As for the officers whose families had been taken hostage and the soldiers who had no choice but to follow their superiors' orders, all of them were found not guilty.
"The sentences seem too lenient. Treason is treason, after all. I think we should at least have the two ringleaders publicly executed by firing squad."
"......"
Isabella suggested that the punishment was too light and offered her opinion on public execution.
"We cannot achieve unity that way. Only forgiveness and reconciliation can bring San Marcos together."
As a nonviolent humanitarian aspiring to be the next Gandhi, I refused without hesitation.
'What's the point of executing them when it wouldn't benefit the country anyway.'
Of course, sentencing is sentencing and money is money. I made sure to charge them the exact amount in damages the state had incurred.
This war had cost us over 200 million dollars, including the price of the drones.
Based on this, I seized all of the Motiñu brothers' assets.
After thoroughly turning their accounts inside out, the two of them had combined liquid assets of about 7 million dollars.
'Their salary is 1,000 dollars a month. How did they manage to save that much?'
On top of that, there were 5 million dollars worth of diamonds of unknown origin in the division commander's office safe.
Of course, that still left 183 million dollars to collect, but there was no need to worry.
In the open nation of San Marcos, they could work to pay it off.
Working in the coal mines paid 12 dollars a day, so if the two of them worked hard, they'd eventually pay it all back.
'The repayment period is unlimited, and I'm not even charging interest.'
What other country in the world gives criminals such generous terms?
At this point, we could hold our own against the Nordic countries as a human rights leader.
"Absolutely."
I was nodding to myself with satisfaction when Isabella informed me.
"Your Excellency, Major General Bruno Alves, commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, is waiting outside."
"Oh, is it that time already? Send him in."
The 2nd Infantry Division. They hadn't joined the rebellion, but they hadn't come to help suppress it either.
They'd taken the most ambiguous position of any unit in this civil war.
I couldn't punish them, but leaving things as they were didn't sit right either.
Still, I'd decided to sort things out while I had the chance.
'There was no guarantee something like this wouldn't happen again.'
Shortly after, the office door opened and Major General Bruno entered.
"Glory to San Marcos!"
With his graying hair and the look of a friendly neighborhood uncle, he snapped a salute the moment he walked in.
"Y-you called for me, Your Excellency!"
His nervousness was understandable. Garcia had been in the same position as him and had staged a rebellion. He had to know he was under suspicion too.
I deliberately didn't respond, just stared at him. The longer the silence stretched, the more visibly his legs began to tremble.
"Have a seat."
"N-no, that's alright! I'm more comfortable standing!"
"It makes me uncomfortable. Sit down."
"Yes! Understood!"
He perched himself on the armrest of the sofa, barely sitting at all.
'Why is he sitting there of all places?'
Does he have an itchy backside or something?
"Major General Bruno?"
"Yes!"
"During this civil war, the 2nd Division was awfully quiet."
"W-well, that's...!"
His face went pale as he answered.
"W-we simply couldn't act rashly because we were worried about leaving the border unguarded! It's the truth! Please believe me!"
"No."
This is an island nation surrounded by ocean on all sides. What border?
I sighed.
It was absurd, but I decided not to press him. San Marcos needed stability right now, with the civil war just ended.
"I know. I know you're a cautious man, Major General."
"Y-Your Excellency..."
"Which is why I want to discuss restructuring the military."
I slid the reorganization proposal across my desk to him.
"With the dissolution of the 1st Infantry Division, there's a significant gap in the Army. The Armored Division will cover for now, but that can't continue indefinitely."
"That's right."
"So I'm planning to reorganize the 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions into the East and West Defense Divisions respectively. The 1st Infantry Division will become the East Defense Division, and the 2nd Infantry Division will become the West Defense Division."
"What? But that's the same as..."
"Not the same at all. The names are different, for starters."
"I... I suppose so."
"Anyway, with the reorganization, I'll be assigning new commanders..."
"......"
I watched him fidget nervously as I asked.
"How would you feel about taking off the uniform and taking a government position?"
"A g-government position?"
"There happens to be an opening for First Vice Minister of Defense. I think you'd do an excellent job, Major General Bruno."
"I-it's just so sudden..."
"Why? Not interested?"
"N-no, not at all! How could I refuse! I, Bruno Alves, am prepared to jump into fire or water if Your Excellency commands it! Just leave it to me! I'll do better than anyone!"
"Excellent! It seems I judged you correctly."
I walked over to where he sat perched on the armrest and extended my hand.
"Then I'm counting on you going forward. Make sure to help me out, alright?"
"It's an honor! Your Excellency!"
"Commander Pedro will be waiting for you. Since you'll need to work closely together, at least go introduce yourself before you leave. The Senior Secretary for Defense will fill you in on the details of your discharge and inauguration."
"Yes! Sir!"
Bruno practically fled the office. The moment the door closed, Isabella approached me.
"Your Excellency's scheming is truly remarkable."
"What do you mean?"
"You just gave the First Vice Minister position to that untrustworthy man."
"Well, they say keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Rather than worrying about what he might do from a distance, I figured it was better to keep him nearby where I can watch him."
"Besides, he'll fail the next Civil Service Competency Exam on his own."
"Ah..."
Right. He'd get a failing score on the next exam and be dragged off anyway.
Major General Bruno had graduated high school, entered military academy, and spent his entire life as a soldier.
The chances of him passing an exam at his age, with a mind already set in its ways, were essentially zero.
Isabella nodded, deeply impressed.
"Your Excellency always has a plan."
"N-not at all."
In any case, with Bruno's reassignment, San Marcos's military was now completely under central control.
There was no longer any need to fear regional warlordism or worry about rebellions.
The civil war had allowed me to excise the festering wounds and build an even stronger foundation.
'Now all that remained was...'
I picked up the document sitting on the corner of my desk.
"Time to deal with this."
It was the secret contract between Garcia and Chevron.
*
The terms of the contract between Chevron and Garcia could be summarized as follows.
Chevron would provide full support for the independence of the Motiñu Republic.
In exchange, Chevron would receive full rights to the Northern Oilfield.
The Motiñu brothers would receive 100 million dollars annually for ten years.
The terms were absurd.
First of all, they'd sold out for pocket change.
The Northern Oilfield was a medium-sized reserve with an estimated 400 to 900 million barrels.
With current oil prices at around 65 dollars per barrel, extracting just 700 million barrels would generate 45 billion dollars in revenue.
Of course, drilling costs would need to be deducted, but if oil prices remained high, the profits would be astronomical.
And they'd handed over such a valuable oilfield for a mere 1 billion dollars, paid in installments no less.
'These guys aren't just idiots...'
This is why people need exposure to the wider world.
Growing up in a country with a per capita GDP of 2,800 dollars meant they couldn't even recognize when they were being swindled.
'And why were they pocketing the money from selling the oilfield?'
That resource belonged to the nation and should have gone to the people.
These bastards would have made even Yi Wan-yong[1] weep with envy.
In any case, the contract contents alone were enough to pressure Chevron, but there was one problem.
'I didn't have proper evidence.'
Nowhere in the document was there any word that could specifically identify Chevron. Not even the name Douglas & Hofman appeared.
Looking at the contract alone, it was simply an agreement between Garcia and an investment company called Tate Investment.
Well, that made sense. A major oil corporation wouldn't be careless enough to leave evidence behind.
They'd hidden their tracks so thoroughly that even after turning over everything connected to the Motiñu brothers, not a single trace of Chevron had surfaced.
But there was one thing they hadn't anticipated...
"Your Excellency, I've brought the lawyer who led the negotiations with Garcia from the United States."
"...What?"
Our Intelligence Director Lucio was far more capable than anyone had imagined.
"W-where from?"
"He was staying at a hotel in Florida."
"How did you bring him here?"
"I explained the situation and politely persuaded him to come."
"And he just came along?"
"Yes."
"By the way, what happened to your face, Lucio?"
"I fell."
"...I see."
"Indeed."
I had no idea what kind of persuasion he'd used or how he'd gotten those injuries on his face, but I decided to let it go.
What mattered right now was finding evidence.
"If you leave the interrogation to me as well, I won't disappoint you."
"You brought him, so go ahead."
The next day, Lucio lived up to his reputation as a capable Intelligence Director and came back with damning evidence.
"Being a lawyer, he had a lot stored in the cloud."
There were two pieces of evidence in total. The first was a contract showing that Chevron had commissioned the negotiations with Garcia. Unlike the contract Garcia had possessed, this one clearly identified the contracting parties and the terms, making it irrefutable evidence.
The second was a phone recording...
[...Director, don't worry. I've already taken care of things on Garcia's end. We left no evidence, the advance payment was made in diamonds, and the weapons payment was laundered through a paper company. It'll be impossible to trace.]
[Are you certain? If things go wrong, you'll be the one taking the fall.]
[Even in the worst case, I'll make sure Chevron's name doesn't come up.]
[I'll trust you on that.]
[Then about the success fee...]
[If you can secure San Marcos's oilfield, what's a success fee? Chevron will guarantee Douglas & Hofman's revenue for the next ten years.]
It was ironclad evidence that left no room for excuses.
Now the question was how to use this evidence.
I began discussing the approach with Isabella.
"What about filing an official protest with the US government? We could use this evidence to reveal that Chevron was behind the civil war and suggest they may have been involved in the bombing that killed President Juan and the Cabinet members."
"Do you really think the US government would investigate Chevron over that? They'd more likely accuse us of defaming one of their corporations."
"Then what about going to the media first? If this goes public, the US government won't be able to stay on the sidelines."
"I don't know about that. What about filing a lawsuit instead?"
"A lawsuit... in the United States?"
"Yes, we take this evidence to a top law firm and file suit. We demand astronomical damages. That would naturally draw media attention, and the US government would have to start investigating whether it's true or not."
"That's certainly a fitting approach for the land of lawsuits... It does seem like a good plan. Should we proceed immediately?"
"Let's start by looking into law firms. Specifically, ones with a track record of winning against Chevron."
"Understood."
But as it turned out, this entire discussion was unnecessary.
"So... who did you say you were again?"
"I'm Ellen Evans, Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the US State Department."
"John Brown, FBI International Operations Division."
The Americans had come to us first.
***
Translator Notes:
[1] Yi Wan-yong (이완용): A Korean politician infamously known for signing the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty in 1910, making him synonymous with national betrayal in Korean culture.
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