TL: Skye
Two days after the Cabinet meeting, I set up a joint memorial in front of the ruined Presidential Palace to honor the souls of the dead.
Baaah- baaah- baaaam baam-
The requiem I'd heard countless times in American movies echoed through the air.
Attention! Present arms! Fire!
Pop-pop-pop-BANG!
The funeral salute thundered as white smoke billowed upward.
"Whew."
I watched the smoke rise into the sky as I walked up to the podium.
My eyes swept over the audience, filled with key figures from both the central and local governments.
Every face was stiff. They sat ramrod straight, postures impeccable.
'They must be grieving.'
Understandable. Most of them had received their appointments directly from President Juan, and the ministers they'd worked alongside were all dead now.
Anyone would be sad. It would be stranger if they weren't.
'They might have been slackers, but I guess they treated their subordinates well.'
Back when I was a fellow minister, there were more than a few times I'd wished they'd get struck by lightning on the street. But now that it had actually happened, all I felt was sorrow.
I too felt the weight of losing a friend pressing down on my chest.
'Ian, you bastard. Be happy wherever you are.'
With the victims of the attack in my heart, I began reading the eulogy Isabella had written for me the night before.
"Dear citizens of San Marcos, and distinguished guests who have joined us today.
We stand here in unspeakable sorrow and grief to bid farewell to our great leader and founding father, President Juan Marcos, to Prime Minister Ian Marcos who was leading our nation's future, and to all the Cabinet members who devoted themselves to our homeland.
This barbaric act of terrorism has not only taken the leaders of an era, but has shattered the peaceful lives of us all.
The ruins of the Presidential Palace behind me remain as wounds that can never heal in our hearts.
But we cannot simply sit in this sorrow and despair.
We must rise above this tragedy. We must transform our grief into courage, restore stability to our nation, and reestablish law and order in this land."
I paused here for a moment.
"I solemnly pledge before you today to fulfill all the duties bestowed upon me by the Constitution, and to devote every effort to resolving this crisis and rebuilding our nation.
I will do my utmost to find those behind this terrorism and restore normalcy to San Marcos.
Furthermore, to navigate this national emergency, I will not tolerate any act that undermines San Marcos.
Whether it be incompetence or corruption, I will punish it by any means necessary.
I will strive to earn the trust of the people of San Marcos. Acting President Yu-jin Choi."
As I finished the eulogy and turned to leave, thunderous applause erupted.
'Do they clap at funerals in this country?'
***
On the way back after the funeral.
"You did well."
"All I did was read the eulogy Isabella wrote. It was nothing."
"The same words can have completely different impact depending on who delivers them. Today, you showed the dignity befitting a national leader."
"Ahem, I do have a certain charisma about me."
"......"
I watched Isabella skillfully handle the wheel and asked.
"Isabella?"
"Yes."
"You hold a position. Wouldn't it be better to leave the driving to someone else?"
"Do you dislike my driving? Or is being with me uncomfortable for you..."
"No, that's not it. It's just that for someone who's the Presidential Chief of Staff, personally driving might look a bit odd to others."
"No one thinks that way."
"R-really?"
"Yes. And I enjoy driving. I'm good at it too."
"......"
"I can show you some drifting if you'd like."
"I'll pass."
"Besides, there's also the matter of security."
"Security?"
"Anything could happen right now."
"Hmm, that's true."
After all, we could hire a driver only to have them pull a gun on us.
'I never dreamed Javier would do something like that either.'
Stay alert, anytime, anywhere. I need to survive until the day I get back to Korea.
That aside, I looked through the reports that came in today while in the car, and something didn't sit right.
'What is this?'
Despite how hard I'd pushed the Vice Minister of Internal Affairs, the report from SIA contained only the fact that Anna, Javier's sister, had gone missing.
'That's something I could find out just by visiting her house.'
It had been four days since everything went down, and this was all they'd managed to uncover? Maybe they should reconsider using the name SIA (San Marcos Intelligence Agency).
"...Is my word not carrying weight, or are they just incompetent?"
"It's less about those reasons and more about severe shortages in personnel and equipment."
Isabella answered what I'd meant as a thought to myself.
"Do you know much about the SIA?"
"Before becoming Chief of Staff, I worked as a team leader at the SIA."
"I-I see. I did sense something extraordinary about you from the start, Isabella."
My face suddenly felt hot. I'd just called them incompetent to someone who came from there.
"You don't need to worry about it. It's true that they lack capability."
"How did it end up like this?"
"There's no money."
"What?"
Isn't abundant funding supposed to be fundamental for an intelligence agency?
"Is the budget not being allocated?"
"The budget is being allocated, but it's woefully insufficient. On top of that, the Director and Bureau Chief are embezzling a considerable amount."
"I'll need to look into this."
"Should I contact the Martial Law Commander and have them arrested?"
"No."
Arrest them for what? I couldn't even begin to explain.
"...Let's call them in and hear what they have to say first."
"Understood. I'll tell them to bring the accounting ledgers when they come."
"Please do."
*
It took less than thirty minutes to meet with the SIA Director and Bureau Chief.
When I returned after lunch, I found the two of them waiting at attention like freshly enlisted privates.
'Why are they acting like that?'
They must be nervous since this was their first time meeting me.
"There's no need to be so tense. Please, relax. Make yourselves comfortable."
"N-no! This is comfortable for us!"
"If that's comfortable for you, I can't help it. Isabella, could I trouble you for some coffee? It feels awkward to talk without anything to drink at a first meeting."
"Yes, understood."
As Isabella handed them their coffee, she shot the two of them a glare.
"Well, since meeting like this is fate, let's have a cup of coffee together. Ha ha."
"W-we're honored."
After that little icebreaker over coffee.
"You brought the ledgers?"
"Here they are!"
Once I started examining the SIA's accounting ledgers in earnest, I couldn't help but sigh.
'What a disaster.'
Despite being the official accounting records of a government agency, they were completely disorganized.
It was only because I had an MBA that I could make sense of them. Normally, you'd have trouble telling if this was an accounting ledger or a household budget notebook.
And even that household budget notebook had suspicious contents.
'A complete mess.'
First of all, the budget coming from central government was woefully inadequate.
The so-called budget consisted only of salaries for 217 SIA agents and about 2 million dollars annually in reserves. There was no other funding to be found.
On top of that, even that meager reserve fund was bleeding out through undocumented expenses.
'This is way too obvious...'
In San Marcos, the kingdom of corruption, undocumented expenses meant someone was skimming.
Of course, given the nature of intelligence work, some off-the-books money would be necessary, but when that portion was 99%, something was clearly wrong.
"Hmm."
This was a dilemma. If I confronted them with "You've been embezzling, haven't you!" they'd obviously deny it, but launching a separate investigation would require time and manpower I didn't have.
As I furrowed my brow with these thoughts and looked up, the two men's faces went white as sheets, and then.
"We're sorry! Please spare our lives!"
"Huh?"
They dropped to their knees and pressed their foreheads to the floor.
"We'll return all the money we took and submit our resignations today!"
I was dumbfounded by the sudden reaction.
'I didn't even say anything yet.'
Their posture was the prostration pose you only see in historical dramas, the "please execute me" scene.
'Did they learn that from YouTube or something?'
Well, the form was perfect. I could feel genuine desperation radiating from the backs of their heads.
"Since you put it that way... I won't take you to court."
"Th-thank you! Thank you so much! Sob!"
"We will never forget your mercy in sparing our lives!"
I looked directly into the eyes of the two men kneeling there with tears streaming down their faces.
"So, how much did you embezzle?"
The Director answered in a trembling voice.
"A-a little over ten million dollars."
Good lord. They really helped themselves.
"Then first, return that money..."
At that moment, Isabella stepped forward from behind me.
"I've been watching and waiting, but I never dreamed you'd have the audacity to lie even while facing His Excellency."
"...?"
"Are you two fearless? Or have your brains been crushed in some accident, leaving you without judgment?"
"...?"
"Did you think I wouldn't know about the profits you've been pocketing separately from the businesses set up to fund SIA operations?"
"Urk...!"
I knew it. No wonder they agreed to cough it up so readily.
'They had another stash on the side.'
Trying to con me even here? They must have thought I was some clueless pushover.
"These people are hopeless..."
"W-we just forgot for a moment! We'll return everything!"
"We'll leave San Marcos entirely and never come back!"
No matter how merciful a Korean gentleman I was, I couldn't tolerate being played like this.
"Isabella, what do you think we should do? I believe severe punishment is in order."
"Please appoint me as Director of the SIA. I will thoroughly investigate these two, punish them, and ensure nothing like this ever happens again."
"Won't it be too much to handle both that and your duties as Chief of Staff? Or would you prefer to step down as Chief of Staff and take over the SIA..."
"No. I can handle both. Also, in times like these, it's more stable to have your closest aide running the intelligence agency."
"Hmm..."
She was right. Running the government would require an intelligence agency to function properly.
"Very well. I'll separate the SIA from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and place it directly under presidential authority, with you in charge, Isabella. I'll increase the budget, so give it your best shot."
"I will do everything in my power to meet your expectations."
After a single nod, she called in the soldiers standing guard outside.
"Arrest these two traitors. His Excellency has ordered severe punishment, so I will personally interrogate them and have them executed by firing squad. Make sure they cannot escape under any circumstances."
"Wait."
Who said anything about a firing squad?