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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Gossip and rumors, unconfirmed information and plausible flyers.
Things that circulated wherever people gathered. The intelligence department was in a similar situation, but two things were different.
First. The intelligence department had to fish out plausible clues from this sea of nonsense. Second. Sometimes, the intelligence department was the source of the nonsense.
These two things were making the elite officer Leticia’s head spin.
“『Cultists who believe in the Goddess of Hunger are controlling the zombies.』 What do you think of this information?”
A private meeting with Virginia, which had not happened in a long time. Leticia could not understand Virginia at all.
Even though she had appeared on so many broadcasts and had become the propaganda model for the Elza government and military, she had not caught the celebrity bug, and had not changed at all from when she had first arrived.
‘A military uniform isn’t some kind of snake skin, how can she change so much when she’s wearing it and when she’s not?’
Leticia wondered just how much self-control she had, or if all people born as ‘nobles’ were like this.
“I believe the probability of that is very low.”
“I’m curious about the reason.”
At her superior’s question, Leticia cleared her throat and adjusted her clothes.
For some reason, Virginia frowned slightly.
‘What is it, is she annoyed because I’m taking my time?’
Leticia was a little scared, but she was secretly pleased that she had provoked Virginia.
“What is more important than determining whether a piece of information is true or not, is whether that information has value. Because it is a waste to determine the truth or falsehood of a useless fact. But this intelligence report can cause a huge stir. According to my analysis…”
Leticia gathered various information and clues and told her, but the point was concise.
The division of Elza.
The faith in the Goddess of Hunger was a traditional belief in Elza. Regardless of whether one was pro-Minsk, pro-Römer, or loyal to Elza.
Not all people of Elza believed in the goddess. But it was a fact that they were born and raised in the cultural sphere of the goddess faith.
Even an atheist would be in a situation where they would hurl insults like, ‘that bastard is such a terrible scrooge that even the goddess wouldn’t ask him for food.’
But what if a rumor spread that a ‘cultist’ of the goddess was controlling ‘zombies’?
The people who followed the goddess faith and those who did not would be divided, and even among the believers, the radicals and the moderates, the rigorists and the pragmatists would be divided.
“The surest way to escape the suspicion of being a cult is to drive someone else into being a cult. Therefore, it is expected that meaningless accusations and complaints will be rampant, and it is judged that the emotional gulf will become even deeper in the process.
Most of all, the Elza government had supported the goddess statue excavation project as a national project, and had also carried out a large-scale promotion of the goddess. But if a story spreads that a ‘cultist’ of the goddess is controlling zombies, the disgrace that the Elza government will suffer will be unspeakable.”
Virginia nodded her head once, and then again.
‘As expected, Leticia is still useful.’
Leticia was competent. And she was loyal to Elza and to Virginia herself. Whatever her private life was, that was an unchanging fact.
Of course, her use of the Minsk communication satellite information network had the potential to violate the security law. But it was not a major crime. It wasn’t as if she was leaking secrets, she had just sent an embarrassing picture of herself to a suspicious man…
“Commander?”
“U-uhm?”
“Are you alright? Your complexion suddenly…”
Leticia, who had shot up, brought a glass of cold water. Virginia accepted it gratefully. It was a time when her mouth was dry and her throat was burning.
“Your face suddenly turned bright red. If it’s because you’re too hot, I can open a window and ventilate…”
“No, no. T-there’s no need for that. I’ll do it after the meeting is over.”
She had even stuttered a little. ‘Did she catch a cold?’ Leticia thought that it was possible. Because Virginia did a lot of work.
“I will continue with the report. From what I heard, this information was sent by an agent active in the western country, Minsk.
What Minsk ultimately wants is to expand their influence in Elza. If so, the more Elza is divided and fragmented, the easier it will be to draw them in. Because it is more convenient to eat a large pie in pieces than to swallow it in one bite.
Therefore, I have judged that there is a high probability that this story is a false piece of information deliberately fabricated by the Minsk intelligence department.”
‘A pie. She must mean, 『like an apple pie with sticky honey water flowing from the warm flour』.’
To Virginia, it was a very shocking description. It was a phrase that Leticia had sent with a picture to that bastard, Caesar.
“You really seem to be uncomfortable somewhere…”
At Leticia’s careful question, Virginia woke up from her strange thoughts. Just by recalling that embarrassing phrase, it felt like her hands and feet were tingling.
“Leticia. This information must be known only to you and me here. And the moment you leave this room, you have heard nothing.”
It meant that it was classified information of a grade that Leticia would not normally have access to. To tell her this meant that she had to come up with a new plan, different from what she had done so far.
“Yes. I understand.”
“A mercenary from Minsk is active in the land of Elza.”
“Pardon?!”
She almost shot up. She had not heard such information in any of the reports she had received. But Virginia’s face, though a little flushed, looked resolute.
“This is information that was identified in Römer. It’s not information that has been shared with the Elza side. If this information is shared with the Elza government, Elza will have no choice but to take physical action. Because it means that they have conducted military activities in the territory of another country.”
In the midst of her bewilderment, Leticia understood Virginia’s words. If Elza were to go to war with the western country, Minsk, then Römer would also have to automatically participate.
Then another war would break out. In a situation where all three countries were suffering from the virus, they wanted to avoid war as much as possible.
“Minsk’s technology is excellent, but in the fields of biotechnology and medical technology, it is inferior to Elza. And Minsk’s situation is by no means good either.
So those bastards are sending mercenaries to Kibele’s research facilities and factories. They’re trying to find a clue about the Cro-virus somehow. And the source of this information is…”
Virginia pointed to the map hanging on the wall. Samarano. A half-day’s distance from Hampton.
“They said this was the point of transmission.”
“If so.”
Leticia was bewildered. A human who controlled zombies. Where in the world could such a being exist? It was a story that did not make sense, from a common sense point of view.
“This is the last communication from the Minsk mercenaries. They probably died there. And we cannot know on what basis they sent such a message. There is no context at all.
In that situation, Minsk is planning to dispatch an additional investigation team to the Samarano area. They must be trying to find out what happened.”
“Why didn’t the Elza intelligence department…!”
Although she herself was a member of the Elza intelligence department, she had never imagined that they would be this incompetent. Most of all, the fact that she was hearing such a story from a ‘Römer noble’ was a little embarrassing.
“Minsk did not attack just anywhere. They chose and attacked only the most remote places among the human unprotected zones, and they are moving very secretly.
If they were to enter the human protected zone, they would, of course, clash with the Elza National Gendarmerie. But the unprotected zone is not under the jurisdiction of the National Gendarmerie. Because it is a place that should not be entered at the government level. Therefore, we cannot conduct an operation here either. In principle.”
In principle, that was so. And the National Gendarmerie was famous for being an organization that ‘adhered to the principles, but in unavoidable cases…’ and so on, with a long list of footnotes.
Leticia understood why Virginia had told her this information.
‘Lead the troops and intercept, or capture, the Minsk investigation team. But do not make it obvious that it is a military operation. It is not our jurisdiction, but you must create a reason and justification to break through.’
But Samarano. This was far from Hampton. Although it was a human unprotected zone, it belonged to a completely different administrative district. No matter how much she thought about it, there was no justification to lead the Hampton army there.
And she couldn’t contact the unit in charge of the Samarano area either. Because they knew nothing about this situation. She couldn’t just say, ‘Minsk mercenaries are roaming around in that area!’
Because this information was a top secret among top secrets that only a very few should know.
Frustrated, Leticia looked at the map again. Virginia was staring at her intently.
Although she was a woman who would freely put on tights and commit all sorts of crimes every other day, she wanted to remain a good subordinate to Virginia.
Because that sense of immorality was all the more stimulating.
“…Here. At this place, there is a Kibele research complex. There’s a cultured meat research facility, and also a seed and seedling research facility.”
“And?”
“What if the justification is to secure the next generation of food? There will surely be zombies in the human unprotected zones. So the excuse of leading an army to secure supplies is also possible.”
“I think that might be difficult.”
Virginia crossed her arms.
No matter how chaotic the Elza government was, a minimum of principles and concepts remained. It was also the reason why the National Gendarmerie could not rashly enter the human unprotected zones.
It was to prevent acts of plunder carried out by the hands of the gendarmerie.
The other National Gendarmerie and regional defense forces were all short on supplies. But none of them entered the unprotected zones.
If someone were to enter, in the end, everyone would cross the line, and the National Gendarmerie, which had laid hands on the property of civilians, would become a pack of bloodthirsty madmen.
They would not touch the property of the unprotected zones. They would rather let it rot in there. This was the unspoken rule.
“Is there no other way than that? An unavoidable situation where the National Gendarmerie has to lead an army into a human unprotected zone.”
There was one.
“…There is.”
“What is it?”
“It is the case where a criminal or a reactionary force has fled into an unprotected zone. In such a case, action before reporting is also possible. But in that case, there must be definite evidence.”
“Then the matter has become simple.”
Leticia looked at Virginia with a puzzled eye. The matter had become simple? It seemed to have gotten more complicated.
“It would have been good if we had caught a member of the Liberation Army… how many tights-wearing phantom thieves have we caught so far?”
“Ah… twenty-one. Of those, ten have survived.”
Eleven had either turned into zombies or had been killed by bullets fired by the National Gendarmerie or civilians. There were also cases where they had thrown themselves off to avoid being caught.
“Drive them to that place.”
Leticia’s face turned pale. It meant to dump the criminals into a human unprotected zone. She would rather have killed them, but that was an act of turning a living person into a zombie.
“Give them a suitable opportunity and let them escape, and then kill them all. Based on the evidence, go to Samarano… this should be enough.”
“B-but…”
“It is an order.”
She couldn’t move when she looked into Virginia’s eyes. Leticia swallowed dryly.
“I will obey.”
Leticia left the conference room. Virginia opened the window and put a cigarette in her mouth. It was a cigarette she hadn’t smoked at all lately.
“Now. ‘Real Tights-Wearing Phantom Thief’. Move. You have to move, so that we can catch that bastard.”
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