WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 308: Greek Islands (8)

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What would the next revelation be? Something that would cause no small ripple once it came to light. Looking back, there was one incident in Gyeoul’s own record that fit. Gyeoul typed out the possibility that had occurred to him.

「Could another secret that Candidate Kramer has secured be related to Operation Fair Strike?」

He had worried about it once before.

The mission to track Changcheng 9 had effectively been a failure. Whatever had happened to the submarine itself, the ultimate objective had been to prevent a nuclear attack on the mainland. But the government had recast that failure as a partial success. Citizens had needed hope after Manifest Liberation was thwarted, but depending on how one looked at it, the government could also be accused of maneuvering to dodge responsibility for a security failure.

If Kramer knew, it was an option he would find tempting.

A moment later, the Net Warrior terminal vibrated. A message from Anne.

「Can you talk right now?」

After reading the question, Gyeoul checked the time and replied.

「Whenever you like, if it works for you.」

He did have a morning schedule, but he was not so busy that he had to guard every minute. Most of the tasks Major General Rogers had asked of him were already done, and he was not in a position to be run ragged like the soldiers. Since he was due to relocate soon, he did not even have supplementary training.

‘FBI Headquarters must be different.’

Bearing that in mind, he had mostly kept to texts. This new revelation would make them busier still. The supervisor herself would welcome contact from Gyeoul at any time, though.

Gyeoul thought he knew why Anne wanted to call.

She replied a few minutes later.

「All right. I’ll call soon. Wait just a little.」

While he waited, Gyeoul read the personnel guidelines sent down from blockade line command. They said officers were still in short supply, so anyone qualified for a commission and interested should be found and reported. The results would be reflected in performance evaluations. The government did not seem to have any plans to reduce troop strength even after the front stabilized.

‘Is the reason... keeping people employed?’

One reason the Army had been able to expand so easily was the enormous number of disaster refugees. There were more than twenty million in California alone, and if the two other contaminated states were included, the number approached thirty million. Plenty of people had also moved from areas near the blockade line to the safer Northeast.

Of those, at least the younger population had been absorbed by the military. If millions were sent back all at once just because the front had shrunk to less than half its former size, it would become a massive source of trouble. It would be like throwing dry kindling onto several existing sparks. Riots joined by former soldiers would be hard to suppress, and even if they were suppressed, the suppression itself would become a problem.

So from here on, the quarantine war would also have to serve as a kind of New Deal project.

There was a reason the government cared so much about selling war bonds. The value the public affairs office saw in Gyeoul belonged to the same context. The balance keeping the economy intact could collapse at any moment.

‘Couldn’t they redirect manpower into contaminated zone restoration projects?’

As Gyeoul thought about it, he realized there was no need. They could simply increase the proportion of engineering troops to match demand. In terms of stable employment, that was better. It was not as though they were rebuilding the cities in the contaminated zones from the ground up. It would also help somewhat in blocking the inevitable noise that would come with restoration projects, along with interference from people chasing private profit.

That was about all he could think of for now.

Still, they must truly be short on officers. Gyeoul reread the guidelines. They said results would be reflected in personnel evaluations, but how effective would that be? The higher the rank, the harder it was to fill the position. Senior officers important enough to receive guidelines like these were hardly going to suffer disadvantages over recruitment results alone.

Anne’s name appeared on his smartphone screen. Gyeoul tapped accept.

“Hello?”

「Sorry. I said soon, but I’m pretty late, aren’t I?」

“Late? It hasn’t even been ten minutes. Thank you for calling when you’re so busy.”

A small laugh came from the other end at his deliberately easy tone. He could hear the relief in it.

「I’m glad your voice sounds all right. I was worried you might be very anxious.」

“I am anxious. About what will happen to this country from here on. There are people I promised to protect. But I don’t think anything is going to happen to me just because the truth comes out.”

「True. I suppose I was worrying for nothing. Even when we were trapped together on that ship, you stayed calm to the very end. Looking back, I think that was when I first...」

Her voice trailed off. The silence that followed was the kind that came from being flustered by words that had slipped out unconsciously. If it was a feeling she carried with her all the time, it could leak out in the wrong context. Gyeoul did not ask what came next.

Anne covered her embarrassment by speaking a little faster.

「Anyway, I wanted to tell you not to be anxious. It’s true that the satellite signal jamming reduced accuracy. If not for you, the citizens of Hawthorne would most likely be dead by now.」

So his achievement might be diminished, but the ones who would be put in a difficult position were the current administration. It would be hard for the damage to reach Gyeoul in any fatal way. They had already had this conversation once before.

「Even if Kramer knows the real story behind Operation Fair Strike... even if he knows Shangjiang Yang Yongbin’s nuclear attack actually achieved its objective, I don’t think he can release it carelessly.」

“Why?”

「Because you’re involved, Gyeoul.」

Then she talked about public opinion.

「Politics is a battle of image even more than substance. It would be a problem if it looked like he was attacking ‘Major Han Gyeoul.’ No matter how careful Kramer himself is, the opposing camp would accuse him that way. Considering the tendencies of the people who support the Republican Party’s maverick, the risk is too high.」

Calling Kramer the Republican Party’s maverick reflected how the party leadership actually treated him. In Korean terms, he was close to a disowned child. The President had said that even the Speaker of the House, a senior Republican Party figure, disliked the presidential candidate from the same side.

Meanwhile, disaster refugees made up a large share of that maverick’s core support base. Among citizens, they were the ones living the hardest lives, and they had that much less room in their hearts.

「If the Republican Party looks certain to lose and he wants to shake up the political situation at the last minute, that may be different. But if he’s slightly ahead or slightly behind, he won’t act rashly. Ah, this isn’t just my personal opinion.」

She likely meant it was the Bureau’s internal forecast. As an agency that had no choice but to be sensitive to power, it would have reviewed the matter from many angles. Her explanation was only one part of that.

Gyeoul said, “There’s one thing bothering me.”

「What is it?」

“I don’t know if you know this, but I’m planning to make a defense donation fund contribution. The amount is pretty large.”

Anne had not been present when he decided to donate aboard the Pequod. He had not told her separately either. But since she had been his supervisor, she had the authority to check the cables going back and forth, so it would not be strange if she knew the account existed. As for the donation itself, she was a Bureau manager, so she could have viewed information related to Gyeoul. It was not a particularly classified matter.

As expected, she answered that of course she knew.

「I thought it was a very you decision. But why?」

“I heard it’s going to be made public soon, and I was worried he might see it as deliberate interference...”

「Meaning an attempt to help the current administration by drawing attention away from the revelation?」

“The bigger problem is that I really do want that.”

「I understand how you feel.」

At Gyeoul’s deliberate sigh, Anne laughed softly again.

「Kramer isn’t a man with no sense of reality, but yes. If we’re asking whether the possibility exists, I’d have to say it does. Still, exposing it recklessly out of spite... As long as the approval ratings are neck and neck, wouldn’t it be more rational for him to aim for the next presidential election?」

“People aren’t always rational, and anyone can make a mistake.”

「I understand your concern, but now is the best time to make the donation. For the government, and for you too, Gyeoul.」

“For me too?”

「Why don’t you think about it? If I’m the only one talking, I feel sad after we hang up.」

This time, Gyeoul made himself laugh.

“Is that all right? You’re very busy.”

「I am. The last time I got off work was already the day before yesterday. But people can’t go without any rest at all. There’s no better rest than hearing your voice.」

“Aren’t you embarrassed to say things like that?”

「I started thinking it would be better than holding back and regretting it later.」

In the past, she had still seemed strongly intent on restraining herself. Was it because the end had been delayed by so much? As time went on, her expressions grew more direct. Out of sight, out of mind did not apply to Anne. The more she endured and missed him, the deeper her feelings seemed to become. It might also have been an expression of impatience.

“This is a different topic for a moment, but if you haven’t been able to get off work for two days, will you be able to meet me when I go to D.C.? You’re only going to get busier from now until the presidential election.”

「You don’t have to worry about that. I’m scheduled to be assigned to event security for a certain period.」

“Event... Ah, the Mainland Recovery Ceremony.”

「Yes. You may have heard already, but the part Gyeoul will participate in is unofficially called the triumphal ceremony. Over five weekdays, fifty-five Medals of Honor will be awarded. It will be the first time since the country was founded.」

“That really is a lot. Fifty-five.”

「Compared to the total number of people who fought, it’s an extremely small number.」

“If you’re handling security at an event that large, you’ll be busy in its own way, won’t you?”

「Even so, I’ll have enough time to meet Gyeoul. I was chosen for that purpose in the first place. While you’re staying in D.C., I’ll be fairly free too.」

“...”

「From the Bureau’s perspective, it’s more like separately managing one agent who has a connection to Major Han Gyeoul. You’ll be entering the military government office soon, and you may someday be responsible for a dependent territory or territory. They expect it to help in the future, whether with investigative cooperation or something else.」

After laying out the situation, she asked carefully.

「Gyeoul, are you offended?」

“No, not at all. I’m relieved, actually. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have been able to see Anne even if I went.”

He continued, reassuring his supervisor.

“I am a little concerned about how much they know about our private relationship, but well, I don’t mind if it’s known. If that’s what they intend, then you’ll feel less burdened when you help me personally too.”

「...I see.」

Then came a brief silence.

Gyeoul brought the subject back.

“What you said earlier, about now being the best time to make the defense donation fund contribution.”

「Ah, yes.」

“If the donation becomes a topic of discussion at this point, the presidential candidates will probably have to mention it somehow too. Is that what you were thinking?”

「Something close to that.」

Joanna gently affirmed it.

「Whether they’re asked about it on the campaign trail or argue over it in a debate, both candidates will have no choice but to take public opinion about your donation into account. Haven’t you seen that in Korea? In order to win an election, candidates compete over a specific issue by offering better pledges than the other side.」

“Of course I’ve seen it. What you’re saying is that both candidates will promise better refugee policies than before, right?”

「Yes. This is when competition will be at its fiercest. There aren’t too many days left, but there aren’t too few either.」

“Once they make public statements, even if they don’t keep them later, they’ll still feel the pressure.”

「That’s right. Even an empty pledge is better than nothing. That’s why I thought Gyeoul had deliberately chosen this timing.」

“That’s a misunderstanding. It just happened to work out this way. I did expect my image to improve, but I didn’t think that deeply in this direction.”

「Is that so? The you I know seemed perfectly capable of it.」

It was not simply a joke. Joanna had admitted that the relevant authorities had already been monitoring and observing him before their first meeting. So she likely had a fairly deep understanding of the judgments and decisions Gyeoul had made for the alliance.

「This may be a needless question, but does that money not feel like a waste?」

“I’ve already heard similar things several times... The amount was larger than I expected. Still, I’m spending it where it should be spent.”

「You’re probably the only person who can say that. I was right back then after all.」

“Back then?”

「I said it the day before we parted. Apart from my feelings of love, helping you would be one of the best things I could do in an age like this.」

Gyeoul remembered too. It had been a conversation after he received her confession.

Joanna made her words formal.

「You have my sincere respect.」

“...That’s embarrassing.”

Gyeoul naturally gave a wry smile.

Footnotes:

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