----Kouki Arakawa Viewpoint

　As I sat in my seat on the plane, I drank a cup of coffee and looked at the news of the day in the paper version of the newspaper, which is rare these days. I've been so busy lately that it's been a long time since I've had this kind of relaxing time.
　It would be best if I didn't see a Russian air force fighter jet outside the window and a strong-looking man sitting in front of me. As I was thinking about this, I heard the in-flight announcement.

We are about to land at the Moscow Regional Air Force Base, where we are making a temporary landing. We will take off about 15 minutes after some passengers have disembarked.

　As I was reading more newspapers while listening to the announcement, the man in front of me coughed up a cough, so I reluctantly decided to fold the newspaper and put my seatbelt back on. But that's what I thought.......how could these guys get on this flight when we had only two hours to board the plane after arranging airplane tickets for Mr. Skinhead, or rather Mr. Anton and me on our personal terminals?
　Moreover, as soon as the plane took off and entered Russian airspace, they even flew in a fighter jet to politely escort us. Thanks to this, Mr. Anton didn't drink the coffee that his beautiful sister brought him, and he was tense the whole time.

I've been silent for a long time," he said, "but you said in your announcement that you were going to disembark, isn't that us?　Does the Russian government give civilians a touristic guide?

　I hadn't paid any attention to the fact that these guys had been sitting there since takeoff, but when I suddenly spoke to them in Russian, the guys in front of me were so upset that even a layman like me could understand. Hahaha!　Good grief. You intimidated me for over four hours all the way from Japan so I wouldn't get to enjoy my first ever pure air travel experience.
　Besides, I usually live in Hakone Base.　I live in a den full of murderous-looking courtesans and witch mothers, so your tough looks are nothing to me.

"We are your bodyguards. "We are your bodyguards, and we'll be waiting on the ground for our superiors to explain to you what happens next.

Explain?　I'm going through the proper channels to enter your country, so why am I being detained after being dropped off at an airbase instead of my original destination?

You can't hold me here!　We are simply trying to take every precaution to ensure your safety, because it would be a world-wide disaster if anything were to happen to you.

Well, that's fine. Just remember, one false move and it's a diplomatic issue.

　I told them once and for all that it's a 'diplomatic issue' and then ignored the upset men and women. Anton, who is sitting next to me, is also silent, as I have explained to him beforehand that I would imitate Mom and Claire in any negotiations, so he has to be forceful. According to my mom, it's more advantageous to take the lead in negotiations. So I spent four hours of the flight thinking that I would use the word 'diplomatic problem' to shut down the other party's movement. This way, Ossan and his men can't force us to go anywhere without an explanation.......maybe.
　But I'm hungry. We were in a hurry, so we didn't eat lunch, and at this rate, it looks like we won't be able to eat dinner either, so let's make a distant demand, shall we?　We're going to drop you off at a different airport for your convenience, so we can at least feed you.

Mr. Anton, I'm very hungry. Speaking of which, I heard that herring is famous in Russia, but how do you usually eat it?

Hmm?　Oh, it's a soup called marinade or woo-ha. It's pretty good.

Well, I'd like to try it.

　While conversing with them, I looked at the males and they were discussing in a whisper, 'Prepare dinner' in a sneaky voice. Alright, it looks like we'll be able to get a meal when we get down to the ground. The problem is the possibility of poison being mixed into the meal, but there's no need to kill me, and Mr. Anton is nominally my bodyguard, so he shouldn't be able to turn it off.
　I'm sure that if you do that, it will be a diplomatic issue for sure, and from what I found out in the car and what Mr. Anton told me, there's no need to worry about radioactive materials like polonium, which is used for assassination, because that incident never happened in this world.
　I've seen Claire-san pick and eat my food in the Merkava Kingdom, but I think that was not a tasting but a 'poisoning', which makes me think about how much she's indebted to me after all this time.

''Kunki-kun, it looks like we're going to land.

　Mr. Anton informs me while pointing at the distant fighters. Okay, so I'll do my best for the sake of my precious colleagues who took the trouble to rely on me. I drank the rest of the coffee in my paper cup, imagining my bosses on the ground waiting for me, and regained my spirits.


■■■■


　When I landed on the ground, there was a relatively warm wind blowing. It is often misunderstood that Russia is not a place of extreme cold all year round, but the average temperature in Moscow is 22 degrees Celsius in the summer, and even in Siberia it warms up to about 20 degrees Celsius during the short summer months. The current temperature on the terminal on my wrist says 24 degrees Celsius, so it's a little higher than average today.
　As I was breathing in a breath of fresh air, a man who got off the plane with me started talking to me.

The car is waiting for you, please come this way.

　As we walked to the hangar in the corner of the base as prompted, we saw a large four-wheel drive vehicle, the same color as the black luxury car, parked in the corner. Ossan approached the luxury car and opened the back seat door and urged us with his eyes to get in. There was no option to not get in the car after coming this far.
　Inside, an elderly man in a suit and an old man in a dark blue military uniform were sitting in the car and greeted me as soon as I took my seat.

'How do you do, Mr. Arakawa, I'm Lieutenant Colonel Yakov Tarkovsky of the Intelligence Bureau. Next to me is Yuri Pamfilova from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

How do you do, Lieutenant Colonel, I am Koki Arakawa. As you may know, my companion, Anton Bortkiewicz, is a former member of your top-secret service.

　While introducing himself, he looked at the situation with a light jab called Mr. Anton. The lieutenant colonel's expression was clouded for a moment, but Yuri didn't take any action. It's not easy to do something like that like your mother did, and since I don't have the dignity or anything like that, it doesn't work out so well.

I'm not sure what you want to do today.

　The Lieutenant Colonel asks me about the purpose of my visit as if he hadn't heard about Mr. Anton's background. First of all, it's the first obstacle, Claire said, 'If you want to take your time negotiating, it's an ostensible matter,' and 'If you want to achieve your goal quickly, be direct'. This time our objective is to rescue Mr. Anton's boss, we don't have much time to spare, so we'll go straight to the point.

'We need you to hand over Mr. Anton's former boss who is being held over there.

With all due respect, I don't know what you're talking about. And what does it have to do with Mr. Arakawa if he is in fact the person in custody?　All due respect, but that would be interfering in the internal affairs of the company, even for you.

This is the time to stop groping each other about interfering in domestic affairs. In fact, you would have a problem if other countries knew that I was being held in this car.

　The moment I said the word 'restrained', Yuri-san twitched her eyebrows with a twitch. Well, I suppose so........it's up to me to decide if this situation is a restraint or not. You can deport them, saying, "There is no such person, so please go away," but I would be troubled if I made a fuss later saying, "I was detained on Russian soil! But if I later complain that I've been detained on Russian soil, they will be in trouble.

"Assuming that the person is really in custody, our country is a country governed by the rule of law, and that person has committed some kind of crime," said Mr. Arakawa. Mr. Arakawa, no, Noah, are you suggesting that we release the offender?

　You're going to bring up the name 'Noah' here. Are you trying to test how far I'm serious, or are you trying to see if your mother's intentions are in play?　I don't know what they're up to, but I can't keep my mouth shut. Think, what would you like me to say to you to keep things civil?

No way. I didn't say that. I just heard that he was taken into custody this morning. Is it possible that there could have been some kind of mistake or miscommunication that led to that?　In that case, even if it's a mistake, it's hard to do the job you've been doing until now because you've been locked up. So I'm just trying to be a scout to say, 'If you want to join us, come to us.

Oh, I see. I see.

'Yes, sir. And since it's a special job, we thought we needed the permission of people like Lieutenant Colonel and Yuri-san in order to extract them, so we decided to visit them. Of course, since we're pulling out excellent people we're also preparing a certain amount of 'compensation'.

　What do you think?　As far as the lieutenant colonel's reaction is concerned, I think we've got a problem-free answer, but as usual, I'm worried that Yuri-san is silent. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most of your time with us.
　A simple text was displayed on the screen and it said, 'That thing was found in the same place as you predicted. Alright, now we can move on to full-scale negotiations. I nodded briefly to Mr. Anton and then decided to talk to the Commander.

"Commander, if you don't mind, I'd like you to confirm that the person in question is indeed in custody and has indeed committed some sort of criminal act...

I understand. Normally I would refuse to do so, but when it's Arakawa's request, I can't say no. I'll have her check it out as soon as possible, but it may take some time. In the meantime, would you like to have something to eat while you're here?

'That's a delightful invitation. I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't had lunch due to work commitments, but I'd love to join you.

　What do you mean, "We can't refuse Mr. Arakawa's request, can we? Considering the way they've been acting since we talked about compensation, I'm sure these guys had an idea of who Anton's bosses were from the beginning!　I'd like to point it out to them, but doing so would have wasted all of our hard-earned bargaining time.
　After all this time, I understand why my mother looks like an ogre after the negotiations are over. I usually thought it was because she was tired of talking about difficult things, but she was simply irritated. I'm sure you're not going to be able to find a way to make the most of your time with us.

'Speaking of which, I'm sure you've seen our country's most advanced aircraft that were on escort duty, what is your opinion as an expert?　Did you feel anything about it?

　The Commander asked me a question in the car as we started to move to where we were going to eat. I'm not sure if that was the most advanced one........the Noah's fighters that were doing flight tests on Noah's island before seemed to have much better maneuverability and attack power, but they were so ridiculous that even to my eyes they looked like science fiction UFOs, so I guess I shouldn't compare them.

I'm not an expert, but, well... it appeared to be a manned aircraft, but can't it be an unmanned aircraft?　For example, if you can control it from the ground, it would reduce the stress on the pilot on some dangerous missions. And if the target is worth the cost, it can be attacked with a body hit even after all the weapons are used up. I think we should make the most of the advantages of aircraft, which, unlike power suits, do not require precision control.

Did you mean to hit him?

　Can't be too much of a surprise, right? I'm not asking for a manned plane.　I'm saying treat them as expensive missiles because they are drones. It's not likely to happen in this day and age in a battle between aircraft, then it would be more efficient to make fighter jets 'missile carrying machines'.
　In fact, most of the fighters on Noah are unmanned, and within four or five years, all of the power suits except for a few high-spec aircraft for commanders will be unmanned. As for my mom, if I jokingly tell her the specs of the main character's plane from the robot anime I saw in a previous life, she's serious about building one, but it's impossible.

We've arrived.

　I've been smelling like a mad scientist lately, and while I've been in a cold sweat over my mom's new weapon development, it appears that we've arrived at our destination. From what I can see through the smoked glass, it's an underground parking garage?　Several civilian cars also stopped. A group of old men, presumably from the escort car, opened the car doors and led us to the elevator.

'You guys are done here,'

　The lieutenant colonel keeps the old man from getting on the elevator with us. Hm, you're going to stop intimidating him to get the best price possible? It's a good decision, but I'm the type of person who holds a grudge, so there's no point in stopping me now. I've been paying attention to the movements of the commander, thinking inwardly about how to return the favor, and I was pressing the button for the 30th floor.

''The original room is on the 83rd floor, but for security reasons, those above the 80th floor are only allowed to go up through the security room on the 30th floor.

　I see, so it's safe, and at the same time, it's preventing us from escaping on our own. In fact, even at the Hakone base, you have to go through another elevator to get to the basement floor where my mother is, so the idea is the same everywhere, isn't it? As the Commander said, we transferred once on the 30th floor and went up to the 83rd floor to find a corridor with an interior reminiscent of a luxury hotel.

'This way, sir. We've prepared a top-of-the-line suite for you, and I hope you'll like it.

'I'm honoured that you're willing to set up a place like this for me, despite my unexpected visit.

　As I was moving down the corridor, enjoying the feel of the soft carpet coming through my feet, a beautiful employee came out of the room in the direction of my progress, pushing her cargo.
　It seems that the beautiful woman was just going to walk past us, bidding us goodbye, but when she pulled up by the wall, she lost the balance of her cargo and dropped the items she was carrying. Anton saw it and ran over to help him pick it up.

'You okay, boy?'

''I'm sorry, sir!　It's okay, I'll take care of it right away. But it would be a shame if your clothes got dirty.

　The beautiful woman is hurriedly stopping Mr. Anton from helping her pick him up and is desperately trying to get him to stand. Then she stands up and pays off Mr. Anton's jacket with her hand to clean it, which I noticed.
　While the lieutenant colonel and Mr. Yuri were glaring at the useless employee, the moment the beautiful woman turned her back and hid her hands from them exactly, she slipped a small handgun into the inside pocket of Mr. Anton's jacket.

''I beg your pardon,''

　The fact that she handed the gun to us, unarmed, means she's on our side. The beautiful woman, who seems to have done her business, quickly picked up the fallen object, thanked him and left, but neither she nor Anton changed a single expression as they handed it over with natural movements. It was like watching a spy movie. This is what a skilled operative is capable of, I was more worried that they didn't notice me by my expression. I walked down the corridor in a daze, and at the end of the room, the Commander stopped and opened the door for me.

''Come in. Please sit down and wait while I bring you your food in a moment.

　I walked in the room as I was told and sat down in the chair at the large table that had been prepared for me, and the Commander sat in front of me, and Yuri sat in front of Mr. Anton. Now what do we do?
　It's no use keeping quiet until the food arrives, but I'm not sure we should be the ones to start talking to them. As I was inwardly thinking about the best way to talk to him, surprisingly, the Commander spoke to me while looking at his personal terminal.

I'm still investigating the details, Arakawa-san, but it seems that the detention of the person in question was caused by a runaway. It seems that they may have been detained without any solid evidence.

Well, that's good to hear. For our part, we'd like to think that the person who came to scout us is not the kind of person who would commit a crime.

　Yeah, I know, I know. The point is, the price I'm offering is that it's not even close to being there. It's time to present the price... The only two things I can offer the Commander are "Noah's Broadcast Rights" and "that thing" that Mr. Anton's old friends investigated immediately... which one should we choose? Which one should we choose?

Commander, if you're innocent, if he agrees to be a scout...

　As I speak to the Lieutenant Colonel, a knock sounds in the room, signaling that the meal has been brought in at the wrong time. The lieutenant colonel rises from his chair with a reply and unlocks the door, letting the employee in.
　A man dressed as a boy brings the food and dishes to the table we are sitting at, but there is a subtle smudge on the blade of the knife placed in front of me. If you look closely, the writing is so thin that only I can see it at close range.

'Asylum seekers, 18.'

　You're not a real employee either?　No, wait, that's a bit strange indeed. Mr. Anton said that in the old workplace, there were few horizontal connections, and I think that's true. If an agent is caught in another country, that's the last thing you want, so from the standpoint of blocking information, it's better to have no horizontal connections.
　But in spite of that, the fact that the beautiful woman and the boy in front of her are contacting us who came to save their former boss, I can only think that something unusual is happening.... Think about it, what in the world is going on in this country?　Was there a huge political incident or a troublesome power struggle that had broken out? As I was trying to figure out the answer to this question with my brain, which is even worse than my mother's, the lieutenant colonel smiled at me and spoke to Anton and I. He said, "Now, Mr. Arakawa, please eat your dinner.

''Now, Mr. Arakawa, please enjoy your meal. It's been a long time since Assistant Lieutenant Anton has tasted the homeland.

　Well, Mr. Anton was an assistant second lieutenant - I don't know the details, but the ranks in the Russian army must have been subtle and complicated and cumbersome. After thanking the lieutenant colonel, I was about to cut up the food with the main trout to erase the letters on the knife, when Anton-san stopped me with a somewhat panicked voice.

''Gouki-kun!　I'll go first........

　Don't worry, Ensign, there's no need to worry!　In fact, the terminal on your arm is equipped with a device that measures the concentration of pollution in the air, albeit a simple one, but it hasn't responded to anything. The irony is that the function I use when I'm holed up in the lab will come in handy in a place like this.

It's not polite to ask for dinner, Mr. Anton. Besides, there is no advantage for the Commander and his men to do anything to me.

But.....

It's really okay. Look how good it tastes.

　I know my manners will be bad, but to reassure Mr. Anton, I put a big chunk in my mouth, chewed it slowly and swallowed it. Oh, I've got an idea!　The timing is just right, so let's get even with the old guys from earlier. I can't wait to see how the Commander and Yuri will react, I'm sure they'll be surprised.

Besides, if we were to mix it in with the food, the poison would be readily detectable in the regular toxins we use. If I had to use polonium, it would be polonium, but as a researcher, it's possible that I have some sort of countermeasure in place, which is also unlikely.

Polo?

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to get the most out of this one. I knew there was a similar plan in this world as well. I inwardly confirm that my little harassment was successful.

'Lieutenant Colonel, please don't stare at him with such a scary look on your face. How could he, as an assistant lieutenant, know about the polonium?　And the way it's done and used is under the control of a much higher level of management. I'm surprised that you, the Commander, knew about it. You seem to have a very high level of access to information.

''Ha!　I certainly have a higher authority than usual in exceptional cases....

　Really?　How upset were you to admit that easily? More than half of what I said was bluffing.　Rather, in terms of what he just said, this guy's rank is not 'Lieutenant Colonel', but a higher rank. It seems to be a word of harassment to us, but he seems to have made a good impression. So, let me take the lead in the negotiations while I'm at it.

Well, putting the polonium thing aside, to continue what I was saying earlier... if he is proven innocent and agrees to be a scout, I'd like to take them all back if that's what he wants, as well as his 'subordinates'.

...all of them?

Yes, sir. Of course, we're going to extract the best and brightest from you, so we'll give your country something useful in return.

　It's not what I had planned, but the boy is probably one of my ex-boss's subordinates or something, so I help him out while he's here. The reason for this is that it's the first time I've been relied upon by a stranger in earnest, and it's a secret I'll never share with anyone.
　And hopefully I'll have some highly skilled operatives on my side who just happen to see me in person. It would be easy to ignore them, but too tempting to ignore them.

I see," he said, "that our country is suffering from the loss of a lot of good people, and we need to avoid leaking our military secrets if something goes wrong. However, depending on the content of the information Mr. Arakawa has provided to us, there is a possibility that we may be able to get permission to do so on a 'special' basis.

I see. A 'special measure'. I'd appreciate it if you would.

　Once the words were cut off, I drank a spoonful of the seafood soup "UHA" that had reached a good temperature. In my imagination, it seemed to have the unique smell of fish, but in reality, the soup was clear and beautiful in color, and tasted great. Above all, it is filled with a lot of ingredients so my growing belly is filled with it.
　As I chewed on the fish in it, the commander, who seemed to be desperate to hear what I was offering, urged me to continue with his eyes. Calm down a little bit, that's going to get you on your feet when you're dealing with someone like your mother, isn't it?　I can't think straight yet either, so just wait a little longer.

So, what's the offer?

　As I swallowed the fish and switched my mouth with water, the Commander finally couldn't take it anymore and asked me a question.

"North latitude 71 degrees 39 minutes, east longitude 111 degrees 11 minutes........

Yes?

There is a large diamond mine in your territory at 71°39'N and 111°11'E. It is not suitable for use as a gemstone for appreciation, but the hardness of the diamonds mined is nearly twice as great as usual, making it ideal for industrial use. It is not suitable for use as a gemstone for appreciation, but the diamonds mined are nearly twice as hard as normal, making them ideal for industrial use.

What the hell are you saying, Arakawa-san?　A diamond mine?

Here's what I have to show you. A few hours ago, Anton's friends went in to investigate the geology. There are diamonds in the rocks that are relatively shallow, so it looks like it could be mined in an open pit mine.

　The commander grabbed the micro-memory that was offered to him and snatched it and inserted it into his terminal with an excited look. Yuri, who is sitting next to me, doesn't seem to have the same composure as he did a moment ago, but instead leans forward and begins to pay attention to his device.
　The material I handed him contains a brief survey of the 'Popigai Crater' as it was called in my previous life. In the world before my death, it was said to be the largest crater on the Eurasian continent, but in my world, a much smaller one may have collided with it, and the existence of a huge crater is not known from satellite photos. That's probably why it remained undiscovered without any geological survey.

　In the car on the way to the airport, I asked Anton if he could investigate it, and just as I expected, a vein of diamond was found. In fact, considering the anomalies of this reincarnated world, there was no collision in the first place, and the possibility that the vein was created in order to be consistent with another world cannot be denied. As I was thinking about this, Yuri, who had recovered in a surprisingly short time, opened his mouth for the first time.

If this material is genuine, then you could have found what is in our country's territory by yourself in the not too distant future. I think we would have little to gain if that was offered in exchange.

　I understand that. We're also investigating other countries' geology without permission, and we're attacking the line of scrutiny to get them to hand over a sudden influx of asylum seekers. The information I gave you is just a hand to get the two of you and your superiors upset and confused, and it's the real price to pay for what I'm about to give you.

I understand, of course, that what is written in that document is only an appetizer in the culinary sense of the word. What I'm paying for is Noah's 'free broadcast rights' in Russia.

　Looking at the expressions on the faces of the Commander and Yuri, who this time opened their big mouths and stopped moving, I lifted the glass of water with a big smile on my face....