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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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“Romer spam canned set! Such a precious thing!”
Leticia’s surprised voice. Loud. It sounds like she’s saying it for my benefit.
“Oh, if I’d known you’d like it this much, I would have brought it sooner. I was wondering when to give it to you, but then I heard you moved, so I came to give you a housewarming gift.”
“H-housewarming?”
Housewarming? Today of all days? It seems not only me but Leticia is quite flustered. I noticed last night that her voice tone shot up when things deviated from her expectations, and it’s the same now.
“…Yes. Come to think of it, I’ve never attended a subordinate’s housewarming during my time in the military. Since you happened to move, I thought it was a good opportunity. But both you and I are so busy that I completely forgot.”
“No, it’s fine. Thank you very much for the gift.”
This is a dilemma.
A housewarming, by definition, means looking around the entire house. In that case, I, who came into the dressing room, will definitely be discovered.
Should I just stomp out? That’s also a problem. If I can’t leave and it’s awkward to stay here, I’d rather hide deeper.
The room is quite spacious. There’s nothing I can’t hide in. The built-in closet is also quite large, so there shouldn’t be any problem hiding a person. But when I opened the door,
“What is this?”
There were neatly folded leather tights. Various colors. Black, brown, red. Next to them were smoke grenades of various types, clearly marked ‘military use’.
It’s confirmed. The mysterious pervert who helped us escape last time is Leticia. But why? Why on earth?
Surely, Virginia and she aren’t conspiring to set a trap for me, are they?
“Would you mind if I looked around the house?”
No. Let me rethink. What if Virginia purely came to congratulate Leticia?
Virginia came on a holiday morning, even carrying a spam gift set for a subordinate’s housewarming. Even emphasizing that it was ‘something she had never done before.’
If Leticia were to say “I’m sorry” here, it would look strange and impolite to anyone.
“Oh, please come in. Please sit on the sofa here. I’ve kept you standing at the entrance for too long. I apologize.”
Right. Well, there’s nothing to be done. Leticia and Virginia aren’t just one-time acquaintances, so if she just snatched the gift and said “go,” that would be a problem.
“General, would you like tea or coffee?”
“Just water. I’ve been drinking too many caffeinated beverages lately, so I’m getting severe migraines. Still, I heard good news last night, so I think things will get better now. In fact, that’s what I came to talk about.”
To come on a subordinate’s day off and push work on her.
“Good news?”
“I think we’ve caught the real culprit of the Tights-Wearing Phantom Thief. We’ve struck out many times, but this time it seems highly likely.”
Wasn’t Leticia not caught yet? Did they catch an innocent person? Leticia was silent, and Virginia seemed curious.
“You don’t seem surprised?”
“Well, there have been quite a few cases of copycats caught so far. Was it a fact revealed during interrogation, perhaps?”
“Interrogation is ongoing, but the facts revealed so far are sufficient. They handled military supplies with great dexterity, and seemed to know a lot about the deployment of guard posts. I thought the real culprit would be a soldier or ex-police, but strangely, none of them have been so far.”
At this point, it wouldn’t be strange if Virginia suddenly declared, ‘You are the culprit!’ On the other hand, Leticia was trying her best to hide her dismay.
“Surely, soldiers and police wouldn’t do such a thing?”
“Specifically, retired soldiers. Approaching it that way explains everything. But infiltrating the National Military Police kitchen and trying to steal from the food storage, that was too much. So, you don’t have to do what I asked you to do.”
Last night, Leticia seemed quite troubled by that issue. When I subtly asked her about it and cheered her up, she, pretending to be reluctant, told me everything… or rather, roundabout.
‘Actually, there’s a thief who’s been causing trouble in the city. And several copycats of that thief have emerged. So my superior wants to send a message to the thief to ‘surrender.’ By driving the copycats into a deadly situation. But I, I don’t think that’s… right.’
‘Why do you think that?’
‘Because they’re people too. If they made a mistake, they should be punished, not killed. Even if they do nothing, they could turn into zombies and die at any time, so if the law tightens too much…’
Leticia’s final line, which she didn’t want to cross, even if it meant being called a traitor’s pawn. Or perhaps she wanted to resist being called a ‘compatriot seller’ for the rest of her life. And now, Leticia’s dilemma seems to have been resolved quite easily.
“You mean unleashing fakes to pressure the ‘real’ one?”
“Yes, you don’t have to do that. We’ve caught the real culprit, and he’s going to be executed by firing squad in front of Hampton City Hall.”
Clang.
The sound of a spoon hitting the sink.
“Did you say execution?”
“Because there are more than enough reasons. He robbed good people of their possessions. He shamed the National Military Police in front of civilians.
Think of the numerous copycat crimes committed by audacious individuals who fear no public authority. This is a challenge to the community, a mockery of law and order. I can no longer condone such acts. Especially in times of such intense unrest as now.”
The real culprit, she says.
I looked at the closet. The equipment inside clearly indicated that Leticia was the ‘Tights-Wearing Phantom Thief’ herself.
So, this time too, they’ve clearly caught the wrong person.
Virginia’s words continued.
“Even those within government agencies are getting involved in these copycat crimes. I understand. The black market has frozen. Whether you go with food coupons or meal tickets, you can’t get proper food. But if everyone starts stealing, the community will eventually collapse.”
I couldn’t stand it anymore. I slightly opened the door and peered out, practically lying on the floor.
Fortunately, the hallway was quite long and dark, and from here, only the back of Virginia’s head was visible. As long as she didn’t have eyes in the back of her head, I wouldn’t be caught.
But Leticia had turned pale. Even to my ears, Virginia seemed to be subtly speaking for Leticia’s benefit.
“And it’s already happening. You know that other regional militaries, like ours, have conscripted civilians into military organizations and formed self-defense forces, right?
There are also stories of them collecting supplies and provisions by roaming unprotected areas where acute hunger symptoms are less severe. And in that process, unsettling movements have been detected. Deserters, I mean. Interestingly, it’s rarely one or two people escaping; it’s squads or platoons.
They don’t want to live alone in unprotected areas either. But if they occupy places with abundant goods, like department stores… that’s a sufficient lure. It’s a top-secret document, but I wanted you to know for your reference.”
Soldiers moving around, she says. That’s unsettling news. Squads or platoons that have worked together for a long time becoming bandits? I don’t want to deal with that. But how do those guys get their bullets?
“As you know, Leticia, Hampton also needs to prepare for the future. With roads narrowing and the quality of goods worsening day by day, we cannot feed the city’s people by relying on supplies and exchanges. We also need to go out and look.
However, we will not repeat the same mistakes. So… we need to form teams with active duty personnel and civilian forces, but only select those with ties to Hampton. They won’t flee, leaving hungry families behind. Not yet.”
This seems very dangerous.
This ultimately means the military will take the lead in requisitioning civilian property. And if regional defense forces are doing that, eventually all the military forces in the country will do the same.
And then what? Once food runs out, only the beasts, meaning the military, will be left to fight each other.
“General, if even the supplies in our immediate vicinity run out, then what…”
Leticia seemed to have the same question as I did.
“Of course, I’m not saying that will continue to be the case. What I want is stockpiling. We need to gather as many supplies as possible until the ‘Great Purge Operation’ is specifically established.”
Great Purge Operation? That’s a new one to me.
“General, is that ‘Great Purge Operation’ still classified? All I know is that it’s a counterattack against the zombies being planned by the Elza government and the National Military Police. Reorganizing administrative districts and redefining absolute safe zones… that’s all I know.”
That seems like a meaningless operation. According to Cassandra, the people of Elza are already infected with the zombie virus.
But Virginia is quite serious.
“Only the highest commanders of each unit and regional administrators know for now. In fact, it’s not even a secret. Nothing has been decided. Everyone’s just bragging about how great they are. It would be really great if there was a competent adjutant like you in that position.”
“You flatter me.”
“No. If it weren’t for you, Hampton wouldn’t have been able to maintain this stability. You don’t have to worry about the Tights Phantom Thief anymore. She will officially remain a dead person.”
Even though I was only looking at Virginia’s back, she somehow seemed to be hissing. Cunning and subtle. As if coaxing.
“Leticia. I’m truly fortunate to have you as my adjutant. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to do all these things. And what I have to do in the future.”
‘What I have to do.’ Something subtly emotional seems to be entering her tone. Virginia lightly stood up.
“Right. Anyway… I’ve kept a person on holiday for a long time, talking only about work. It’s a difficult time, but still, thank you very much for your efforts, Leticia.”
“Th-thank you.”
“Then I’ll be going…”
Hmm. Good. She’s leaving like this.
“Oh. Right.”
What now?
Virginia turned around at the entrance as if she had forgotten something.
“A housewarming is also about looking around the house, isn’t it? I was so flustered, being my first time. If it’s alright, would you mind showing me the inside of your house?”
“Well, the house is quite messy, but if you don’t mind…”
“I’m curious. To see if the administrative department did their job properly. There are many terrible houses with mold, unknowingly. As my subordinate, I need to see it with my own eyes.”
Oh, no.
This won’t do. I put away the weapons in my bag and crammed in Leticia’s tights and smoke grenades. Since it was a large bag, I could somehow stuff everything in.
I placed the bag in the corner of the closet as if it had always been there.
“Okay.”
I finished preparing by taking off all my upper clothing.
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