----Kouki Arakawa Viewpoint

　The sound of clinking and knives scraping the dishes echoed through the room. After I presented my free broadcast rights, the Commander and Yuri-san hurriedly left the room, saying, 'I'll go talk to my superiors about it. Perhaps they couldn't handle it with the authority given to them for content they hadn't expected. I didn't feel my stomach growling even after they left, so I continued to eat, but it's hard to breathe because Mr. Anton has been silent the whole time. Are you angry about something?　I spoke to him with such anticipation.

'It's delicious, Mr. Anton. If possible, I'd like some cold green tea instead of water.'

"........I'm jealous of you, Gongju. How can you be so relaxed in this situation?　And don't be too reckless, if something happens to you, what should I tell Miki-san?

　You're still upset that you ate your dinner without the poisoning you just saw. I've already explained to you what I was talking about, but I don't know how worried you are. I have a more important question for you, Mr. Anton. Tapping my finger on my personal terminal so he can see me, I open the chat screen and send him an invitation from my registered address.

'You'll have to excuse me here, as there's a possibility of eavesdropping. The program itself was created by Noah's tech department, so it's safe, but please scramble the screen because I'm worried about the cameras.''

What the hell is wrong with you?

"Is the woman in the maid's outfit on our side?

　I confirm that Mr. Anton has entered the chat room, noticing his intentions, and I ask him a question that's been bothering me all along. Depending on the answer, this could mean major changes to the negotiations after the Commander returns, but I suppose that can't be helped. As soon as Mr. Anton sees the sentence I wrote, he frowns slightly and answers briefly.

'You noticed that,' he says. That's right, the code name is Sasha.

'One more thing. What about the boy who carried the knife with the letters on it?

'I don't know. In fact, I've just learned that such a thing has happened.

　Hmm, is the beautiful maid I passed in the corridor a good agent on my side? If that's the case, that boy is probably a member of the Chernobog, but it makes me wonder why he's asking me for help in defecting. Maybe I should ask Mr. Anton if he has any idea why they would want to ask for asylum.

'Boy, he has asked for 18 asylum seekers. I'm wondering if you have any idea why Sasha might have contacted you for this purpose.　No matter how small it is,

''It's been three years since I left Chernobog, and I can't think of anything. I'm sure intelligence services like Miki-san and Claire could be on to something.

　I thought you had to be related to Mom to get the information. We can make inquiries but I'm pretty sure she's pissed off that I came all the way to Russia without asking. And I think Claire is furious with me for abandoning her job. She has a beautiful face that looks good in those glasses and doesn't have any expression on her face, "Do you want to die? I'm confident I'd shit myself if they said anything.
　I don't want to rely on them because I don't want to incur the wrath of those scary witches. But the dilemma of not being able to move forward if you don't rely on them is swirling around inside me, but if I'm not careful about it, my brain muscle macho will tell me, "Don't worry, man!　Take action! You can't help it.

It's no use. Let's contact your mother directly and get information from her.

　When I made a hard decision, I met eyes with Anton-san, who had a surprising look on his face. The connection status icon on the top left corner of the terminal has disappeared since the Commander left.
　I don't know if it's to isolate us and keep us from getting unnecessary information, or if it's simply a normal diplomatic thing to do, but either way, it's useless.

You may not have realized it, but I've been unable to get in touch with the outside world since a while ago. It's possible that we're getting electronic interference.

'It's no problem, my device is the next generation of Ruin's quantum terminal. And it's been magically modified by my mother, you know?　This level of electronic jamming is out of the question... right, Mom?

　While answering Anton's questions, I spoke to the camera attached to the terminal. If I'm right, my mother should have returned from Noah Island when she heard from Claire that I was headed to Russia. After that, I think she's been picking up external sounds from the microphone for voice communication and grabbing every single thing about us.

When did you notice it?　And as for the wiretap device, I've taken electronic countermeasures from this device, so you won't have to worry about it.

　Yeah!　I knew you were spying on us after all. At the same time as Mom replied, the control of the terminal was taken away from the other side and the figure of Noah's great demon king, Arakawa Miki, appeared on the screen. And as expected, his expression was in the form of a prajna, but I didn't want this one to be right.

It's because my overprotective mother didn't contact me when she arrived in Russia. By the way ... what about you, Claire?

"A large transport belonging to Noah picked you up an hour ago. They're waiting out of airspace until you call. I think you might want to run for your own good, despite the look on your face.　She's taking out a tranquilizer gun to capture the beast.

　Mom, who saw the change in my expression, will give me some advice, but I'd rather stop Ms. Clare than talk like that. You're not a macho person and you'll die if you get shot with a tranquilizer gun.　Worst-case scenario, we'll have Mr. Anton as a shield. In the meantime, let's just stick to the plan and ask him if he's learned anything about the situation in Russia.

We're not going anywhere. For that matter, I'm sure you've been listening to me, but have you heard anything about the situation on Russian soil over there?

'I'm afraid we don't have anything. It's partly because they've been quiet lately, but the intelligence community has been focused on the United States and the European Union.

　Seriously, I'm completely out of my depth. But there's definitely something going on, and if I could only figure out the clues to it, I could figure it out....

So, what's the plan?

Yeah?

''Mom, I don't understand what Gongju is thinking about going to Russia to negotiate like that. But since it's you, there must be some reason for it, right?　If you tell me that, your mother can take over the negotiations.'

　I'm sorry, but there's no such thing as a good reason.　I was just happy to be asked by Anton, and I wanted to create a good sales channel for my anime goods in Russia. Suddenly I was in trouble, but since I was the one who initiated the negotiations, I needed to take responsibility for the end.

You don't have to. And since I have my own little agenda, I have to take responsibility for my own actions. I'd like to ask your mother to accept the asylum seekers and arrange for the worst-case scenario to escape.

''Huh, you've become a grown-up all of a sudden, haven't you? All right, let me take care of the formalities, but don't forget that there are a lot of people who care about you. But don't forget that there are a lot of people who care about you.　There's no shame in turning to others when you think you can't.'

Okay. I'll remember that.

　At the same time as I reply, my mom's slightly sad face disappears and the control of the device returns. It's time to get away from your parents, as expected, right?　Don't look at me like that. In exchange, I'll do something filial when I return home, so please forgive me this time. While thinking about this inwardly, I decided to put the past situation in my mind once again...




----Yakov Tarkovsky's Viewpoint...


　I turned back to my suite one floor below, leaving Arakawa in his room while I ate my meal, and looked at Yuri Pamfilova, Director of Foreign Intelligence, who sat across the table from me. The director has been silent for a while now and repeatedly brings a bottle of water to his mouth with a blue face. I can't keep silent any longer and talk to him.

"Mr. Secretary, what can I do for you?

　At the same time I called out to him, the Secretary stopped drinking water and took a cigar case out of his suit's inside pocket and held it out to me. After thanking him, he pulls out one of his fine cigars and lights it, and the Secretary finally opens his mouth gravely.

''Well you're a monster.

　I don't need to ask 'who' to understand that Arakawa Kouki is enjoying the meal I've prepared for him in the room above us by now. A kid who had just entered the Academy of Technology was not only aware of the highest level of secrecy in our country, but he also knew the exact location of a diamond mine that we didn't even know existed.
　The only thing I can think of anymore is fear.

Do you have any idea why people knew about polonium?

I don't know. The information is on paper to prevent leakage. Unless they got into the vault, there's no way for Arakawa to know about it.

But I knew...

　It's a good thing that he or she knows something that no one else is supposed to know, and that's what stopped me and the Commissioner from moving forward, and we were inadvertently taken advantage of by that inexperienced child. It's not that I was optimistic, but still, I can't deny that I had a thought in the back of my mind that this is just a child. It's not a good idea, but it's a good idea.

I'm not sure if Arakawa has caught the case.

No way. We didn't even know about it until this morning.　And I'm sure Arakawa knows that...

　After saying that much, my words have become buttocks. That monster would know that, but he would 'pretend not to know' and set up a negotiation without a care in the world. If you think about it calmly, it was abnormal from the beginning, it was too much in our favor to offer the location of the diamond mine and Noah's broadcasting rights for free for the former superior officer of Assistant Lieutenant Anton.
　Didn't he know all this from the beginning, waiting for us to be honest with him?　The latest reports indicate that Arakawa Kouki's mental state has improved significantly with ethics training.

"Then is the bargain he just made his own 'warning' about 'tell me what you know and I won't harm you'?

'I suppose, when a girl named Alice Alford was kidnapped before, Arakawa had a small amount of her secrets from his own network. It was analyzed by the UN lieutenant colonel during the rescue conference, and perhaps from that little bit of information he found evidence of our involvement.

'If that's the case, you're in big trouble.　He is the one who tried to single-handedly destroy a terrorist group for Alice Alford. No matter how much his sense of ethics has improved, he now even has a powerful military force called Noah. They'll kill us all....

　And Arakawa is not the only enemy; if the incident comes to light, the Russian Federation will be criticized by the entire world. If this happens, not only will it lose its voice as a great power, but if the Arakawa family puts pressure on it, it could even be expelled from the UN. On top of that, the nations of the federation, which are quiet at the moment, would come up for air and cause a major disruption. And where will that confusion end up?

World War III.....

You seem to have come to the same conclusion. Have you?　Now you understand why I was drinking water in a cold sweat.

'But could that really happen?　Causing the endangerment of humanity for one little girl.

We don't need to make the worst of it, we only need to make our country look bad. After the release of Alice Alford's information, Arakawa can hold a press conference and say, 'I still love her. That's all it takes for Arakawa to become a knight defending a weak girl and we become an evil empire. Wasn't that what the all-too-obvious media seizure was all about these days?

　Indeed, it all makes sense if you think about it that way. Noah's commercials have the impact of creating a social phenomenon. If Noah were to make a TV show to criticize our country and defend Arakawa's point of view, the whole world would be on his side in no time.
　Ahhhhh, I knew that kid was a monster. How far into the future can he expect to go, and how minuscule a possibility does he act?

You see, we will provide Kouki Arakawa with all the information we have on 'Project Alice'. We need to prove that it has nothing to do with the New World cult. You're going to go back to headquarters and gather all the pertinent data as soon as possible.

I'll get right on it!

　I salute the Secretary and then run out of the room and head for the elevator. I have to get back before Arakawa gets numb to waiting and takes action. Come to think of it, I remember that he was very fond of animals. As I recall, in Japanese, he was a Russian Deathman, a rare animal that we are proud of, and I'll order a video with information on the breeding of "Vief Holly". As long as I can show it to you, I think I can manage a couple of hours.
　With that in mind, I ordered my subordinates to retrieve the images with my large personal terminal attached to my waist, and pressed the button repeatedly to summon the elevator, which was not coming up.