Yuki Mu noticed the two gazes from over there, but he did not turn back. He merely quickened his pace slightly as he headed for the National Police Agency.
...Mm. Hagiwara and Matsuda probably would not chase after him anyway. They were both about to be late for work themselves.
Let them puzzle it out on their own for now.
Yuki Mu stepped into the building that belonged to the National Police Agency, swept his gaze across the interior, and frowned almost imperceptibly.
He walked several steps down the corridor to the left front.
At the corner, an utterly unremarkable-looking officer had already been waiting for him there. “Please come with me, Mr. Yuki.”
“—The Director is waiting for you.”
*
Yuki Mu walked out of that highly classified room, let out a sigh, and leaned against the wall in the corridor.
He spent a moment contemplating life.
The [Public Security] card identity drawn by [Beika · Yuki Mu] was, in detail, that of an Assistant Inspector recruited by the National Police Agency after passing the first-class national civil service examination with outstanding results—the so-called “career track.”
And the person waiting for him in that room had been Kuroda Hyoue, currently the Director of Intelligence Section Two under the Planning Division of the Security Bureau at the National Police Agency. He had once been gravely injured in a car accident while being hunted by members of the Black Organization, and had remained in a coma for ten full years.
Kuroda Hyoue was now serving as the chief of the First Investigation Division at the Nagano Prefectural Police Headquarters. Logically speaking, his identity within the National Police Agency ought to have been so highly classified that “Yuki Mu” should not have known it at all, and yet...
Recalling Kuroda Hyoue’s fate line, Yuki Mu felt a rare trace of a headache.
【System,】he asked inwardly with extreme calm, 【what exactly is going on with this identity setting where his parents were undercover Public Security agents who died in the line of duty... and used to be comrades-in-arms with Kuroda Hyoue?】
That was one of the reasons Kuroda’s base trust value toward him was comparatively high.
As for the other reasons... after Yuki Mu entered the room, his 【Detective Max Skill】 had triggered passively, and he roughly inferred that after waking up, Kuroda Hyoue had also investigated [Yuki Mu]’s background. The bombing case and Miss Tanimura Rie’s case had both received particular attention from him, so he seemed to hold Yuki Mu’s abilities in rather high regard.
The final hurdle had been the meeting just now with Kuroda Hyoue himself.
A man who had climbed to that position naturally possessed outstanding powers of observation, judgment, and deduction, not to mention vast reserves of experience. It had fallen to him personally to determine whether [Yuki Mu] was fit for use— fit to serve in the newly established 【Special Operations Section】, a unit directly commanded by the National Police Agency, with Kuroda Hyoue himself temporarily acting as its supervisor.
Its primary responsibilities covered investigating and striking at all manner of criminal forces, including the Black Organization and every sort of illegal yakuza group. It also included investigating and expelling foreign agencies such as the FBI, CIA, and MI6.
Unlike divisions such as the Planning Division, which deployed long-term undercover agents and spies, the Special Operations Section was positioned for direct engagement.
It would stand fully on the very front lines, taking direct action against criminal organizations.
Because of the Section’s unusually high priority, other departments—including the Metropolitan Police Department’s Public Security Bureau—were obligated to cooperate with its operations and provide any intelligence they already possessed whenever the Special Operations Section required it.
As for why Yuki Mu had been chosen, besides the identity-related reasons above, there was one more point.
Kuroda Hyoue wanted the Special Operations Section to become the sharpest blade possible, with every member an elite.
Because the Section’s level was so high, Kuroda wanted, as far as possible, to avoid filling it with personnel inserted by the tangled power struggles of various factions in the upper ranks. On top of that, there might also be infiltrators from criminal organizations among those same higher-ups...
That would make the unit unstable and uncontrollable, and strip its creation of all meaning.
After witnessing Yuki Mu’s conversation with Kuroda Hyoue, even the system was stunned. 【Let me check.】
While the system remained silently occupied, Yuki Mu watched expressionlessly as a bewildered Kazami Yuya was brought into the room next to Kuroda Hyoue’s.
Not long afterward, Kazami came back out. The moment he saw Yuki Mu standing there with his arms folded against the wall, the composure on his face visibly cracked.
“You...”
Yuki Mu nodded calmly. “I look forward to working with you, Mr. Kazami.”
Ah.
Originally, Yuki Mu had been assigned under Kazami Yuya...
But now that he had become a member of the Special Operations Section, although his police rank was still lower than Kazami Yuya’s, his operational clearance had already surpassed Kazami’s.
Kazami Yuya’s mentality suffered a rare collapse.
—It gave him the surreal feeling of having openly been stood up by a subordinate he had not even met yet, only for that same subordinate to transform on first meeting into his superior.
The worst part was that he had nowhere to complain about it.
Because information concerning the Special Operations Section was still classified, the reason Kazami Yuya had been told was twofold. First, as Furuya Rei’s direct subordinate, he truly was trustworthy. Second, he was being asked to temporarily assist Yuki Mu.
The young man’s face remained unreadable, his emerald eyes quietly fixed on Kazami Yuya, who still looked somewhat dazed.
Kazami Yuya pushed up his glasses, silently took a deep breath, and forced himself back into composure through sheer strength of will. “So... are you going to the First Investigation Division now?”
Yuki Mu now possessed two identities.
One: an assisting member dispatched from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Public Security Bureau to the First Investigation Division. If anyone asked, the answer was simply Public Security confidentiality.
Two: a member of the newly established Special Operations Section.
Yuki Mu glanced at him. “...The Director just told me to take a few more days off and make the necessary preparations for the identity.”
To be honest, he was a little shocked too...
His once perfectly ordinary Public Security identity had suddenly sprouted another nested layer.
Kazami Yuya, who worked overtime every day and had finally been assigned a subordinate only to watch that subordinate become his superior instead: “......”
Without comparison, there could be no hurt.
At that moment, the system finally returned. 【I found it.】
【This is because the world consciousness automatically filled in the missing parts. You can treat it as a form of protection for the city consciousness.
The self-completing mechanisms are all designed to benefit the identity’s ability to act. After all, if a legally valid identity simply appeared out of nowhere without any past behind it, that would arouse suspicion in the early stages and make operations inconvenient.】
Yuki Mu: 【Why didn’t you tell me something like that sooner? I originally intended to just idle through this Public Security job...】
The system turned meek at once. 【If you had drawn a black-side identity card at the time, it might have been easier to take it easy.】
Yuki Mu considered that for a moment, then still shook his head. 【Forget it. The black side... heh.】
As [Beika], Yuki Mu did not really possess any absolute concept of good and evil, nor any traditional sense of justice.
It could even be said that, for the sake of this city’s stability, It would be more inclined to keep the red and black sides in a delicate balance.
But...
Yuki Mu let out a cold laugh. 【Those little bastards on the black side—every single day, what kind of “art” are they playing at? Explosions? They really enjoy flying Ospreys around to bomb Tokyo Tower, do they?】
A city’s land was its flesh and blood, so every large-scale act of destruction produced a real and immediate sympathetic sensation. Because of that, Yuki Mu now felt extremely cold-hearted about the matter.
【This is perfect. With a Public Security identity, I can reasonably go and disable all those damned bombs ahead of time...】
—There was nothing wrong with Beika administering a little punishment to disobedient children, was there?
*
Inside the First Investigation Division office.
“What is this supposed to mean—” After listening to Inspector Megure announce the arrangement, Shiratori Ninzaburo looked thoroughly displeased. “It’s bad enough that Public Security takes cases away all the time without even bothering to give a reason. And now they’re sending people in here too? Please. This is the First Investigation Division, not some shelter for Public Security.”
Inspector Megure coughed twice. “Uh, well, that is... he has his own mission, after all... He’s only helping out on the side.”
Shiratori!! The man is right outside!! Restrain yourself a little!!
—Still, Inspector Megure had not expected the transferred Public Security officer to turn out to be Yuki Mu, so he did not particularly mind the arrangement. He was actually rather cheerful about it.
And Matsuda Jinpei, who had only moved into the First Investigation Division office yesterday, frowned as well.
—Yes. After what happened with Hagiwara Kenji, Matsuda Jinpei had still chosen to transfer from the bomb disposal unit to the First Investigation Division.
For some reason, however, the approval and paperwork had all gone through with astonishing speed...
He had assumed the whole process would take at least two weeks, but instead they had packed him off to the First Investigation Division in a single day.
Matsuda Jinpei had just been about to say something when a voice from the doorway—one far too familiar over the past two days—cut him off at once.
“Officer Shiratori.”
The newcomer spoke at an unhurried pace. “The First Investigation Division is not a place for you to throw a spoiled rich boy’s tantrum either.”
Shiratori Ninzaburo, heir to the Shiratori Group: “......”
Inspector Megure, who knew that Yuki Mu had in fact been skipping work until now: “......”
Matsuda Jinpei forcibly swallowed the remark that had almost come out of his mouth and nearly choked on his own saliva instead. One eyebrow shot upward so high it practically flew away. “? Yuki??”
“Mm.” The young man, currently receiving the collective stare of every officer present in the First Investigation Division office, looked perfectly calm. He would not even spare them an extra glance, and merely tossed Matsuda Jinpei a casual reply. “Oh. I’m also very surprised that neither you nor Officer Hagiwara noticed.”
Paired with his expressionless face and those empty green eyes, there was not the slightest trace of actual surprise in him. If anything, it only made the remark sound even more indifferent and faintly mocking.
Matsuda Jinpei laughed in irritation. “You said yourself that you weren’t a police officer.”
Yuki Mu walked over to the desk that had quite obviously only just been cleared out for him and took his seat with leisurely composure. “Because I’m Public Security.”
Everyone, once again: “............”
So what if he was Public Security? Did Public Security somehow not count as police in the broad sense???
The system said, 【...Doing it this way does make Recognition Level rise quickly, but it also drives up hatred value.】
Yuki Mu’s personality and attitude were so sharply defined that anyone who met him would form a vivid first impression at once. The system could even guarantee that although Matsuda Jinpei was also, strictly speaking, rather sharp-tongued himself, Yuki Mu could absolutely and securely draw all the hostility onto himself!!!
Had it not seen Shiratori Ninzaburo, who previously could not stand Matsuda Jinpei, already shift targets!!!
The system glanced at the backend prompts.
“The hateful Public Security guy,” “that cold-faced fellow,” “that expressionless arrogant bastard”...
The system said silently, 【Although the first impression gives Recognition Level very generously, this is not exactly good for sustainable long-term development... is it?】
Yuki Mu merely let out a light laugh in his mind. 【Is that so? They think I’m expressionless right now, but I can sneer too.】
The system: 【......】
Yuki Mu: 【Don’t worry. Everything comes step by step... Besides, there is such a thing as contrast. Just watch me.】
“Don’t look at me like that.” The newly arrived young Public Security officer, his hair dyed a dark green, sat lazily in his chair and swept his gaze around the office before suddenly giving a soft chuckle. “No need to be so unconvinced.”
His tone was very light as he looked at Shiratori Ninzaburo, who had been the one voicing objections just now. “Give me three minutes.”
“Hand me the file. Three minutes, and I can solve the case you’ve been working on for three days.” One of his hands rested on the desk, lightly propping up his head. His body language was utterly relaxed, but the calmness of his words was full of brazen arrogance. “—Do you believe me?”