WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 369: Each One's Homeland (3)
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Kramer had shown an unexpected side of himself, but Gyeoul could not tell whether it was safe to take it at face value. Although 「Insight」 and 「Perception」 had not reacted, it would not be strange for someone of Kramer’s caliber to have the ability to use 「deception」 on Gyeoul. A presidential candidate’s words and gestures were also likely shaped by aides down to the smallest detail. In other words, Gyeoul had to consider the possibility that everything Kramer had shown him was a performance tailored specifically for him.
Either way, sincere or not, Kramer showed Gyeoul deep goodwill and abundant interest. He listened to Gyeoul’s opinions, asked about his past experiences, made jokes, laughed, chatted, and strolled slowly through the park with him. By the time they parted, Kramer did not hide his regret.
After they returned to the starting point, Kramer handed the reins to a close aide and said farewell to Gyeoul.
“That was truly enjoyable. It seems I can communicate quite well with the Lieutenant Colonel.”
“It was a worthwhile time for me as well.”
Gyeoul exchanged one last brief handshake with him. For an unexpected meeting, he had handled it fairly well. At the very least, he had not created any unnecessary hostility.
Thinking over the proposal he had received, Gyeoul suspected Kramer would be satisfied as long as he remained neutral. In a sense, that was also a mild warning. A way of saying that Kramer was a man who made his calculations carefully. It was an unnecessary warning for Gyeoul, who had never intended to take risks in the first place.
He set those thoughts aside there. As he moved toward the southern clearing where he would have an audience with the Queen of Britain, Gyeoul noticed something else that bothered him.
“Anne. I’m seeing a lot of private security company personnel among the outer guards.”
“Ah.”
Anne answered while riding alongside Gyeoul, her horsemanship much better than before.
“Yes. This riding club is not an official federal government event, after all. In essence, it’s only a social gathering of high-ranking officials from various countries, including several governments-in-exile. Accidents still need to be prevented, but it’s difficult to mobilize large numbers of military and police personnel every time for a meeting that’s held regularly. Even our Bureau is always short on people. Other departments are in much the same situation, so it’s more efficient to contract with private military companies, PMCs, than to waste large numbers of personnel on fixed duty. The costs can also be shared among the participating governments.”
“I see...”
“Partly, it’s also a matter of pride.”
“Pride?”
Anne nodded to Gyeoul, who looked puzzled.
“President Karayev of Turkmenistan, whom Kramer mentioned earlier, is a perfect example.”
“What about him?”
“Karayev wants armed forces that protect only him.”
“What happened to the guards brought from their homeland?”
Anne wore a contemptuous sneer.
“All of them were fired. From the perspective of a dictator who abandoned the country, complete foreign mercenaries might seem more trustworthy than guards from among their own people. At least they wouldn’t carry resentment over the loss of their homeland.”
“Then what happened to those guards?”
“Private military companies are also the ones happiest to take in guards and soldiers abandoned like that. If they were good enough to guard a head of state, most of them are skilled people who built top careers in their own countries. With a little training, they become excellent products. All you have to do is pick them up and sell them. What a nice business, right?”
Hearing that, Gyeoul looked at the mercenaries with new eyes. Many of them wore a company logo reading USS on their shoulders.
‘Is this what they meant by dealing with the best clients?’
United Security Services. The very private military company that had offered Gyeoul fifty million dollars on the condition that they recruit him after his discharge. Clients who not only paid well but even provided products. Their status was high too, so they were the best clients in all sorts of ways.
Gyeoul said, “It would be good to bring those people into the military.”
Above all, they were people who probably had almost no interests inside the United States. In a situation where a coup by fools was a concern, they seemed like fairly decent human resources. Anne smiled bitterly.
“There aren’t that many of them, and mercenaries have their own uses, so the government tolerates it.”
“What uses?”
“Several. First, they’re useful when the military wants to reduce its losses, even a little. Mercenary casualties aren’t counted as military casualties.”
“Mm...”
“They’re also effective for keeping militias in check. Unless it’s treason, the military can’t carry out full-scale military operations targeting citizens. Even if a firefight breaks out between a militia and a mercenary company, it’s basically an incident between civilians. Even if the law enforcement authorities take criticism, they can push primary responsibility onto the militias and mercenaries. Most of the time, the militias are more at fault anyway.”
The last part carried a tone that suggested many such clashes had already happened.
Gyeoul asked, “Are the southern militias still the same?”
“Well.”
Anne let out a sigh as she spoke.
“I’m hoping they’ll calm down somewhat after today. They say the strongholds of seventeen militias with serious confirmed charges were raided, and about six hundred people were detained. It happened at dawn today. Inside the Bureau, they’re assessing that at least one treason plot has been completely crushed. The media should be reporting on it soon as well.”
“Wow.”
“They were patient for a long time. It’s more effective to sweep them up all at once than to prod them for no reason and make them alert. The problem is that there aren’t enough prisons to hold them.”
Anne’s expression, however, showed no relief. There were still many sparks left to put out. This incident could also become the trigger for something even bigger.
As they talked, they soon reached the southern end of the park. Vehicles from catering services preparing an early outdoor luncheon came into view, and farther toward the river, a large crowd bustled in the clearing.
CIA agents were waiting there, where the British Queen’s knighting ceremony would be held.
“Lieutenant Colonel!”
Aside from Talbot, who had already reunited with Gyeoul, the other three, Tucker, Kelly, and Kowalski, welcomed Gyeoul with joy they could barely keep from turning into screams. Gyeoul dismounted and accepted their hugs. Talbot and Tucker’s attendance had been confirmed, but the other two had supposedly been uncertain.
Anne exchanged equally warm greetings with them, then said kindly, “It’s good to see you all. Now everyone who survived together that day, on that sea, has gathered again. Have you all been well?”
The three looked at one another and chuckled, as if none of them knew who should answer first. Kowalski spoke for them with a fed-up look.
“I’d like to say I’ve been well, even as a polite lie, but... you know. The Intelligence Agency is in the same situation.”
Then she looked at Gyeoul with regret.
“When I saw you again, I wanted it to be while I was on vacation, but in the end this is part of another mission. Though even this is closer to something I forced my way into.”
“Stay strong. Someday, good times will come for everyone.”
At Gyeoul’s answer, Kowalski looked back and forth between Gyeoul and Anne, then put on a playful expression.
“Hmm. From the look of things, good times seem to have already come for you two, though. I can tell just by looking at the supervisor. You’re positively blooming.”
Anne’s face turned stern.
“The Intelligence Agency is useless, as usual. Enough small talk. Let’s focus on the mission. What’s the current situation?”
The CIA agents burst into laughter. Talbot pointed toward the clearing.
“We have time until the knighting ceremony ends. The Korean president is being monitored by a separate team. The rest of us, except me, are more or less here for fun, so you may treat them as absent.”
Kowalski raised a tablet and protested.
“Then who do you think is managing the wiretapping and network monitoring system?”
“Ah, right. There was that.”
Their back-and-forth sounded like joking, but it was not entirely light.
While chatting with them, Gyeoul watched the knighting ceremony from a distance.
‘I can see why they’re holding it outdoors.’
They could have rented any solemn building they wanted. But that would have made it harder to show off the Queen’s continued vigor. Despite being over ninety years old, the Queen personally rode in on a fine horse and showed herself in good health. Two Life Guards in brilliant uniforms followed behind her. Cherry trees turning scarlet and swaying in the autumn wind made for a vivid backdrop.
Whoa, whoa. The Queen leisurely slowed her horse, smiled with a flushed face, and waved. People welcomed the British monarch with applause, laughter, and polite cheers. Though the country’s fortunes had declined, she was still the head of one of the few nations still defending its mainland. The Lord Chamberlain standing on a secondary platform introduced the Queen to the observers.
“By the grace of God, Her Majesty Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.”
That was not the end. The Lord Chamberlain repeated the same content once more in French. It was aimed at some Canadian citizens who did not speak English.
“Sa Majesté Elizabeth Deux, par la grâce de Dieu Reine du Royaume-Uni, du Canada et de ses autres royaumes et territoires, Chef du Commonwealth, Défenseur de la Foi.”
Reporters covering the event set off their flashes one after another. Although a knighting ceremony was a fairly rare sight, this was why Gyeoul did not watch it up close. If Gyeoul sat as an observer while the other Medal of Honor recipients received titles, the picture would look extremely strange.
From the British government’s perspective, the money spent to invite Gyeoul might feel wasted, but judging by the lack of separate contact, they seemed to understand that this was his way of being considerate.
Gyeoul, meanwhile, thought the event had been designed well. There would be few better opportunities for the Queen to receive attention than while bestowing titles upon Medal of Honor recipients.
Among those to be knighted was Colonel Emert of the Ranger regiment. He walked before Elizabeth II and gave a slight bow, then placed one knee on a support that looked like a short-legged chair and looked up at the Queen. The Lord Chamberlain briefly announced his achievements.
“Colonel Ray Emert. In recognition of his contributions to overcoming a crisis shared by all humanity through heroic devotion and courage, he is awarded the honorary knighthood of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.”
The Queen tapped each of the colonel’s shoulders once with a ceremonial sword and hung the knightly order around his neck. Afterward, once the colonel rose, she took his hand and exchanged a brief conversation with him.
Tucker told Gyeoul the target’s location.
“There, the person sitting in the second row is President Woo Jung-young. Would you like to look through this?”
Gyeoul declined the monocular telescope Tucker offered. With corrections, it was close enough that he could see down to the pores with the naked eye.
President Woo Jung-young, whom Gyeoul knew from information the CIA had provided in advance but was seeing in person for the first time, had a fine build, but fatigue and shadow hung clearly over him. At the very least, he did not look like someone burning with hatred. He clapped formally whenever someone was knighted. The atmosphere around him suggested he was more focused on a serious conversation with the person beside him than on the event itself.
The person sitting beside him was an unexpectedly familiar face to Gyeoul.
“Wait. Isn’t that man the vice president of United Security Services?”
Tucker examined the person Gyeoul pointed out through the telescope and answered.
“Yes. That’s Clifford Don Robinson. How do you know him, Lieutenant Colonel?”
“I met him once before. What relationship does President Woo have with that man?”
Talbot stepped in.
“I can guess what you’re worried about, but Clifford is a man who trades in people. And people from the Korean military are highly valued. Partly because of you, Lieutenant Colonel, and partly because Korea, attached to the Chinese mainland, lasted longer than Japan, an island nation.”
“Nothing else?”
“USS is a long-established mercenary company that has held contracts with the U.S. government for a long time as well. Neither the company nor Clifford personally has any motive to plot treason. Of course, surveillance is being conducted both inside and outside. If you ask Kowalski here, you could probably even listen to his secret call records with an affair partner.”
Kowalski looked dumbfounded.
“Do you want to see me get disciplined?”
“You just have to not get caught. Like always.”
“...I shouldn’t even bother.”
Gyeoul asked again.
“I did hear something like this from Anne earlier, but... Talbot. Is Korea’s situation that bad? I was told there was no financial problem. And I doubt President Woo has lost trust like President Karayev.”
“President Woo’s motive is different from that blatant piece of trash.”
“How is it different, specifically?”
“It feels like he’s sending patriots out as a means of earning foreign currency, to prepare for the future. Or perhaps he’s giving a way to survive to people who can no longer be held by patriotism alone. In the latter case, using it as bait makes it easier to control the troops who remain. If you do well, you can escape... People need hope to live.”
“...That makes no sense.”
“What do you mean?”
Gyeoul narrowed his brow.
“If that’s sincere, then President Woo wouldn’t be plotting some futile revenge. Why would he try to ruin the country he entrusted with his soldiers’ futures? If it’s a lie, then the soldiers who came over to America are exactly the people who should be watched closely. It’s strange that America accepted them and let them work here in the first place.”
“As always, that is good judgment. However.”
“However?”
“First, people have something called madness. Madness cannot be explained rationally. We also have to consider the possibility that the target of revenge is not the nation of America, but the president personally.”
“...”
“Next, the Korean mercenaries hired by USS are only given roles where they cannot become a threat. For example, assisting military and police forces in the southeastern region, or escort duty for the Logistics Bureau’s Civilian Transportation Corps, CTC... Either way, they’re far from the political center.”
The Civilian Transportation Corps referred to the civilian transport drivers who moved supplies to the three western states and the quarantine front. Fort Roberts’ supply lines also relied on that system.
Talbot continued.
“Even if they truly cause trouble, all they can do is steal a few trucks at most. Even then, they’re not assigned transport missions for weapons, ammunition, fuel, and the like. What could they do by stealing food, construction materials, and other supplies? Even in the worst case, it would only be local unrest, such as a hostage situation or a suicidal attack. It’s an acceptable risk if we’re going to dig out a conspiracy by the roots.”
“What if that poor treatment becomes the cause of trouble instead?”
“They say every new hire has a probation period. That’s how the company is explaining it.”
In other words, they were easing dissatisfaction with the promise that their treatment would change later.
The Central Intelligence Agency’s response had no gaps.
Footnotes:
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