247 – Revisit
The Executive.
The moment Leah heard what was behind the incident, she wasn’t surprised.
She was rather casually nodding her head in a calm manner.
She had expected it to some extent. A group with enough power to hide their names openly while proceeding with such suddenness. It would be even more strange if I hadn’t even thought of the executive branch as a candidate.
But since it became clear that the executioner had moved, the seriousness of the incident increased.
They enforce only one standard.
It’s only when a being related to ‘mystery’ tries to break the order of the world.
To take an extreme example, even if Germany’s Nazis start a world war and stain the earth with fascism, the executive branch will never move unless it is connected with mystery.
If you move without any standards, the executive may be swayed to maintain the power of any individual.
For the same reason, the executive branch is ostensibly established under the Crown of Britannia, but in reality it acts freely and independently from the chain of command of the Crown or Parliament.
In other words, the fact that the foundation was raided and robbed must have been a pure executive decision without any other forces involved, and it means that we obtained information that our foundation is related to the mystery.
The possibility that immediately came to mind was, of course, that the executive department had noticed my identity.
I don’t know where the culprit came from, but if so, it must be a sufficient and overflowing justification for the executive branch to move.
But if that was the reason, it’s strange that I’ve been walking around unscathed until now.
If you have enough intelligence to notice that I’m running a foundation, of course you have to figure out my home address.
Maybe this incident happened because of a completely different problem, regardless of the Phantom Thief Raven.
“I… Could it have been helpful…?”
As the moment of deepening her worries, Leah, who got nervous because I didn’t respond, looked at her and asked a question.
She nodded her head in affirmation, then asked about her unfinished story behind her.
“Yes. But what happened after that? Did you just rob the building and confiscate the evidence and leave?”
When I looked around, they really didn’t leave a single document behind, and they robbed it. I don’t know what they were looking for, but seeing how they moved so loudly, it was clear that it was very important information.
“That, while searching the building, the staff members were also called in one by one to interrogate them. However···. Everyone but me was arrested and taken away…”
“What? Everyone except you?”
I wondered if it was an exaggerated expression, but when I saw him nodding his head with a serious expression, it seemed like it was really true.
It’s a bit strange. It would be understandable if they all caught on without exception.
But why didn’t you just leave Leah alone and arrest everyone else?
With Juliet and I both away, Leah officially holds the highest rank. In other words, it means that she should be the number one target for her arrest.
“Hmm…”
I frowned at the flow of events that could not be easily understood with common sense.
“Has nothing else happened to you since then?”
“Yes. I was afraid that I might get caught like everyone else, so I hid in my room… There was nothing special…”
Should I say fortunate out of misfortune? It might have taken her a lot longer to find out who was behind it if she had even been dragged into her executive branch.
I haven’t figured out what the opponent’s purpose is yet, but it’s safe to say that I’ve obtained an essential clue just by finding out who it is.
What should I do now? The trouble didn’t last long.
The executive branch is not a clumsy organization that moves haphazardly and spontaneously. The executive branch is an organization that moves secretly so as not to be seen by the general public while removing as many variables as possible based on overwhelming force and public power.
In other words, leaving me and Leah alone must also be an intentional result.
Then the action I should choose is simple. You just have to openly go to the executive branch and ask. As long as they didn’t arrest me anyway, that means I’m proud.
Of course, if the fact that I am the Phantom Thief Raven is discovered, the executive department will not stay still, so I did not forget to pay as much attention as possible so that my disguise would not be discovered.
***
“I never thought I would come here again…”
A familiar building that I have visited once before.
However, unlike now, I was an academy student named Chloe Morris. And she wasn’t alone, she came with Gina.
Come to think of it, Gina seems to be getting better. As far as I know, the injuries sustained from the battle with the Count were quite severe, and he was immediately admitted to the hospital after returning from Paris, and has not yet been discharged. When I went to the hospital, I was relieved to see that he looked fine.
She owed her a debt she couldn’t afford. If she hadn’t been for Jina, she would have been beaten by the Count without even having a chance to hold out until the head of the agency came.
She said that she would rather pay me her debt, but that doesn’t mean I can ignore her life’s grace. I’ll have to repay you properly after I’m discharged later.
It’s time to stop thinking about getting off topic for a while and get back to the main topic.
There was no reason to procrastinate any longer, so she immediately took the step she had stopped and moved forward.
Of course, I couldn’t go inside the building without any obstruction.
“Stop. This is a classified government facility. Unidentified members of the public are not allowed to enter.”
There was no problem since the executioner personally led us in the last visit, but now I came to the enforcement department by myself. Of course, there is no way it will pass just because you insist on letting them in without anything.
Of course, I had already expected that much.
I took out the notice I had brought beforehand and showed it to the security guard.
“I came after receiving a notice about seizure and search. As a representative of the Foundation, I want to actively cooperate with the investigation.”
“This is…”
As he scrutinized the notice I held out, he narrowed his eyes before long.
Perhaps it’s a special mark that can only be confirmed by the executive branch? Whatever it was, judging from the atmosphere, it seemed like it would be easy to pass.
The guard stopped me at the entrance and went inside the building for a few minutes.
“To get inside, you have to go through a body search.”
“As much as you like.”
He confidently opened his arms.
I didn’t come to fight the enforcer anyway, so I didn’t bring any special combat equipment. It would be very troublesome if I brought magic tools for no reason and was suspected of being the thief Raven.
Of course, I brought some means to escape in case of an emergency. It would be quite difficult for an ordinary guard to notice that.
As expected, the security guard conducted a body search as thoroughly as possible, but he did not find any problems and let me through. Following the guidance of the security guard, I went into the building and calmly grasped the structure of the building again.
Then I arrived in front of the door of a certain room.
After the guard knocked and opened the door, there was a woman with a familiar face sitting there.
I remembered who that woman was.
An enforcer who came to the academy to investigate Gina’s dragon. She even engaged in sparring in the auditorium for taking a closer look at dragons.
The name is clear… Catherine.
Yes. It was Catherine.
It was quite a long time ago, so it was vague, but it was such a shocking memory that I was able to recall it right away.
At that time, she thought she was really going to die while watching the referee for no reason, and her heart raced.
I felt quite welcome after seeing it for the first time in a while, but that was my own one-sided feeling.
Now, in the other person’s eyes, I wasn’t a green academy student, but a dignified gentleman and a trustee of the foundation, Lupin.
From Noble mtl dot com
She spoke to me with her cold, calculating eyes, carefully deconstructing and analyzing me.
“This is unexpected. I didn’t know you would come here on your own.”
“…After making that mess?”
To be honest, no one will be able to understand this method of the executive branch.
No matter how much you move for the cause of preserving world peace, there is a line that can be tolerated.
Moreover, the Lupine Foundation is a non-profit relief/charity foundation that deserves praise from the public eye. Now, they harmed not just one foundation, but also the socially underprivileged connected from it.
Nevertheless, Catherine was confident.
Just as she is convinced of the fact that she is the first and her opponent is the unstoppable Eul.
“Of course. I didn’t know that you, who had established a fake company where all employees were spies, would be the first to argue.”
“What?”
I hear something I can’t understand, so let’s ask without even realizing it.
She raised her eyebrows and let out her cynicism.
“Are you really thinking of coming back now? Even though it has already been revealed that 52 out of 54 employees are reactionaries seeking to overthrow the state?”
···Ha. Was it like that?
Juliet, this woman…!