Wednesday, March 20.
After receiving Gin's email last night, Ritsu already knew he would be picking up a new recruit today. What he didn't expect, however, was that the recruit would be a woman and an intern announcer at Nichiuri TV.
Being placed inside a television station likely meant she belonged to the intelligence division. He'd have to remind Rei about this later.
Sitting in his car, idly playing with his phone, it was almost lunchtime. The blinking red dot on the tablet beside him steadily drew closer. Ritsu reached out and turned the tablet off, better not let the new recruit notice the transmitter attached to her.
Knock, knock, knock.
Knowing who it was tapping on the window, Ritsu unlocked the car door. The recruit understood immediately, circled around, and got into the passenger seat. A faint, refreshing fragrance followed her, lily of the valley. Pleasant.
He glanced sideways, observing the girl with a ponytail. The first thing that caught his eye was her bright blue, cat-like eyes. She was quite beautiful, with a small curl of hair at her forehead, and still carried the youthful air of someone fresh out of college.
The Organization's intelligence division was always full of attractive people. No wonder she'd been assigned to a TV station, her looks alone were enough to make her a celebrity.
"You must be Macallan, right? Hello, I'm the new recruit, Mizunashi Rena. I'm currently an intern announcer at Nichiuri TV. My lunch break is pretty short, so can we keep this brief?"
Straight to business and talkative right off the bat. As expected of the intelligence division; being good at conversation was a required skill.
That was also the biggest reason Gin hadn't assigned Ritsu to that division, he knew his own limits. Anyone who knew him understood he wasn't particularly good with words.
"There's not much to talk about. This is just an introduction, nothing more."
Gin had assigned Rena to him in order to build up his own team. Someone like her, highly educated, attractive, and from the intelligence division, would be a valuable asset once she developed.
His blunt response completely derailed the lines she had prepared. She smiled awkwardly and glanced at the file in his hand.
"Is that for me?"
"Yes." Ritsu handed her the folder and added, "Be careful when you act. As a new hire, you should know what questions you can and can't ask."
"I understand. I'll be careful."
Inside the folder was information on several people she needed to investigate. To put it plainly, there were individuals in Nichiuri TV's management who weren't exactly clean. Some even had dealings with the Organization. Rena's job was twofold: establish herself at the station to facilitate the Organization's operations and monitor those connected to it.
"This is my email address. If you need anything, contact me."
"Got it. Then if there's nothing else, I'll head back."
"Mm."
Watching Rena leave the car, Ritsu turned around and headed for Mie Prefecture. There was a mission there today, a rare three-person operation. Judging by that alone, it was likely to be troublesome.
Their target this time was to steal an artifact from the Romanov dynasty. It was currently stored in a warehouse on the outskirts of Mie. Due to the number of valuable items inside, security was tight. at least ten armed guards.
Honestly, Ritsu hadn't expected Gin to assign something like this. Stealing artifacts, it wasn't like they could just sell them off. Would they just stash them away and admire them in secret? Did someone high up in the Organization collect antiques?
After putting on his earpiece and connecting to the team channel, Ritsu drove out of Beika Town. Checking the route to Mie, he asked, "Rye, what's your situation?"
"No issues at the moment."
"Bourbon, how about you?"
"The guards rotate every thirty minutes. There are about thirty personnel in total. I think we can slip in during a shift change but we'll need to get uniforms first."
"Mm. We'll move once I arrive. Still plenty of time."
At around 4:50 PM, Ritsu successfully reached a point about one kilometer from the warehouse. Turning off the engine, he adjusted his earpiece.
"I'm in position. The shift change should be soon, right?"
Holding a military-green AWM bolt-action sniper rifle inside an abandoned building, Akai replied in a low voice, "Ten minutes. No abnormalities in the staff building on my end."
Hidden in the bushes, watching the warehouse, Rei whispered hoarsely, "No issues here either. The guards out front are pretty alert."
This was tricky. Ritsu was confident in a direct assault but it would result in heavy casualties, something he didn't want.
So from the beginning, had Gin intended for him to kill everyone?
That did sound like something he'd do.
"Let's wait a bit longer. Bourbon, fall back slightly. You'll handle command, you don't need to engage."
Up to now, in every mission, Rei had played the role of a behind-the-scenes operator. Though he participated, he never took direct action, mainly because Ritsu wouldn't allow it.
It was enough for one person to have blood on their hands. As someone in intelligence, Rei didn't need to become like him.
"Alright, then I'll—"
BOOM!!!
"?!"
The sudden explosion startled all three.
Ritsu immediately drew his handgun, frowning. "What was that? Why did a bomb go off?"
Akai, observing from the staff building, reported, "Something's happened here. The staff building just exploded, looks like C4. About half a kilogram. Half the building's gone."
"They didn't target the warehouse, but the staff building. Looks like someone else is after the same thing."
Ritsu carefully advanced toward the warehouse, issuing orders in a commanding tone, "Bourbon, fall back. I'm going in with the crowd. We can't let the artifact fall into someone else's hands."
"You sure you can handle it alone?"
"Isn't Rye here? His sniping skills aren't bad."
Akai hadn't expected Ritsu to trust him this much but he had no intention of letting someone Gin valued get hurt. He was patient, the type to play the long game.
With a cigarette between his lips, he said, "Don't worry. I've got you covered."
"Cut the chatter. Get ready to move. Bourbon, keep watch and report anything immediately!"
"Got it!"
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Bonus chapter @20 PS