WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 370: Each One's Homeland (4)
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The knighting ceremony ended in just over twenty minutes. There were not that many Medal of Honor recipients scheduled to receive honorary titles. Because of that, Gyeoul even felt a little sorry for the queen, but after meeting her in person, he realized there had been no need.
Time with the most famous war hero was an expensive commodity. The British queen hoped to win someone's goodwill by sharing that time with someone else. The person she had brought to him was an influential federal Representative.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Colonel Han Gyeoul. I am federal Representative Hadrian Singh Khalsa. Your Majesty, I sincerely thank you for arranging this occasion."
"Representative."
After greeting the queen, Gyeoul bowed to the Representative and shook hands.
How many handshakes was that already today?
Anne, watching from the side, did not look pleased. It probably felt as if the line the Bureau had drawn was being played with. One unexpected meeting with a Republican Party presidential candidate had been enough. But from the queen's point of view, she had only invited a friend. It was a clever bribe, one that would be hard to criticize unless someone pushed very hard. It was also difficult to classify a four-term Representative as a suspicious figure. It could be done, but they would have to bear the political cost. They would have to hold not only the Representative responsible, but the British queen as well.
Kowalski's voice flowed from the micro receiver attached inside his ear.
「Britain knows what it's doing too. Building a connection with a Representative, making a silent appeal to Sikhs in Britain, Canada, and the United States, winning favor from Hindus who see Sikhism as one of their own branches, advocating for minorities, indirectly supporting the Democratic Party, and improving the royal family's image. They handled all of that in a single move.」
As the name suggested, Representative Khalsa was Sikh. Kowalski searched the web and explained that Khalsa was a member of the Khalsa Amritdhari, the orthodox group within Sikhism. It was help she provided even though it had nothing to do with the mission.
As a result of colonial rule, Britain had the largest Hindu and Sikh populations of any country outside India. That meant they had no choice but to pay attention to them.
"That sword."
Representative Khalsa looked at the sword at Gyeoul's waist with satisfaction and asked,
"That is the kirpan gifted by the Bhagat Parmanand Foundation, is it not? Did you perhaps hear in advance that I would be coming?"
"No."
Gyeoul shook his head.
"I only wore it because I liked the phrase written on it. I also like the meaning of the sword itself. I heard that Sikh swords symbolize the courage to protect the weak."
There was no need to explain why he liked the phrase. The Representative was delighted, and that delight only grew as the conversation continued. Gyeoul showed an understanding of Khalsa's religion that went beyond ordinary knowledge. That was thanks to his remembering what Major Singh had told him.
"That is moving."
The long-bearded Representative smiled brightly.
"Major Bahadur Singh has become quite famous even within the Sikh community. Though parts of his faith may clash with existing tradition, the upright courage he has shown is worthy of being held up as an example for all brothers and sisters. I also wish to say that I am sincerely glad to learn that the friendship between you and him is exactly as I have seen and heard."
It was a slightly sensitive subject. Gyeoul chose his words quickly enough.
"The Major has helped me in many ways. He is an excellent officer and a fine person. It is regrettable that such a good person had to transfer units half against his will because of unfair treatment. Though since I gained a colleague I can trust thanks to that, I suppose I should call it great fortune for me."
"Oh..."
Representative Khalsa asked in admiration,
"May I take that to mean you are aware of the problem of religious discrimination in society?"
Gyeoul knew Khalsa was trying to give his words meaning in front of the cameras, but he still answered readily.
"Yes. At least within the reach of my power, I will not tolerate that sort of thing. On the quarantine front, anyone who fights beside you is a comrade."
Gyeoul had no intention of only being used forever. Since they had laid out the board for him, he would take what he could get. He simply would not deceive the other side.
「You speak well. I can see the makings of a playboy.」
Kowalski's praise carried a hint of mischief.
"May I accept what you just said as a promise to the citizens who believe in you?"
When the Representative pressed further, Gyeoul nodded again.
"Of course. It is so obvious that there should be no need to promise it."
The way he did not hesitate or get flustered in an unexpected meeting must have added weight to his sincerity. After a little more conversation, Representative Khalsa asked the queen and the reporters for a moment, then said this once alone with Gyeoul.
"There is a common belief that many Sikhs are wealthy."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. And in reality, there is some truth to it. They possess great wealth relative to their population."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I understand that there will be many things for you to lead going forward. If you do not break the promise you made a moment ago, in other words, on the premise that we help each other over the long term, Lieutenant Colonel, you will be able to receive full financial support from Sikh communities in the United States."
In the end, this Representative was also placing calculated expectations on Gyeoul's future.
After the conversation moved on, Kowalski supplied the background.
「What Representative Khalsa said is true.」
"..."
「Even if you count only Sikhs with assets of over one billion dollars, there are more than ten. And that is only among U.S. citizens. If we widen the scope to Canada, there will be even more. The funding they used to provide to the Khalistan independence movement in India has also lost its destination. Naturally, a lot of groups will want that money. The British government is one of them.」
Gyeoul felt puzzled. If the Representative's support base was that solid, was there any need to go through the British queen just to meet him?
Insight reacted. In the current political climate, a politician who directly represented minority interests could attract hostile attention simply by spending that much money. The nature of the funds may also have been too obvious to handle carelessly. There would certainly be people who hated it.
Kowalski assessed it this way.
「Representative Khalsa probably intends to side with you too, as long as it does not cost too much politically. The person who gained the most from this meeting may actually be you, Lieutenant Colonel.」
To put it roughly, it meant he could expect financial support worth dozens of Ju Weis. Though supporters who spared nothing they had, like Ju Wei, were rare.
Because he spent time in a private conversation with Representative Khalsa, the British queen, who was supposed to be the host of this event, did not get to spend very long with Gyeoul. The queen, however, had also gained everything she had been aiming for. So she did not ask anything more of Gyeoul. They shared a short chat, she encouraged him, and they took a few photos. The queen smiled the whole time, but Gyeoul saw through the fatigue she was trying to hide.
In an era like this, the shoulders of leaders trying to fulfill their roles were bound to be heavy.
After returning from the audience, Gyeoul left Xcel with Manuel for a while so the horse could eat, then sighed in front of Anne and the agents.
"Phew. I am tired before it has even started."
Talbot joked,
"You are still lucky."
"Lucky?"
"The balance between the Republican Party and Democratic Party was matched unintentionally, was it not? Candidate Kramer and Representative Khalsa. Two separate coincidences with nothing to do with each other. If you had met only one side, voices from the opposing camp would likely have said they felt slighted. And neither side came to you with business that would harm you."
"That is true, but..."
"In this field, luck is also skill. Considering your future, you will need to get used to things like this."
"I hate that."
Gyeoul frowned as if joking, but Anne was the only one who looked sorry for him. Still, if he wanted to enjoy a span of time that counted as a person's lifetime in this world, and if he wanted to prepare for those years, this was a necessary process even for Gyeoul himself. After smiling at Anne to tell her not to worry, Gyeoul looked at Kowalski's tablet.
"You will delete what was recorded this morning, of course, right?"
"Oh my, you leave no openings."
"I would rather not get dragged into pointless gossip."
The conversation with Kramer in particular had room to become controversial in ways he had not expected. Kowalski shrugged, tapped the tablet screen a few times, then opened the delete menu and held it out to Gyeoul.
"I have original sin here, so I cannot ask you to trust me. Press it yourself. I do not want to make my savior's life difficult either."
"Thank you."
"It is only natural."
After deleting the file, Gyeoul decided not to think about the possibility that a separate backup existed. This was different from vague trust. If she made up her mind to deceive him, there was no way for Gyeoul to know.
Tucker smiled.
"Please hold out just a little longer. If you steadily rack up mileage at every opportunity like this, it will help you a lot later."
"Mileage?"
"It is not as though all we do is take pizza orders."
Gyeoul could only smile weakly back. Anne, who had never received any exact hint about the true nature of the pizza franchise, seemed to understand the general situation too. The Bureau was the Intelligence Agency's check.
Tucker turned toward the outdoor dining area laid out by the luxury hotel's catering service.
"Let us eat first. Once your stomach is full, you may find some motivation."
Gyeoul was hungry too. But Tucker's suggestion was not entirely welcome, because lately, even during meals, there were various people he had to deal with. If he had been alive, or if there had been no correction, it would have been the perfect setup for indigestion.
And one more thing.
After Cheon Jong-hun's suicide, Gyeoul read the messages left by the audience in the outside world whenever he had some breathing room. Meal times were the same if there was an opening. The outside world was still cruel and bleak, full of people who did not even know they were miserable.
He did wonder whether he was in any position to pity them, but compared to most of them, who lived without a single consoling starlight, he was probably much better off.
'I cannot do anything for them, though.'
Because of the hope he was slowly regaining, he had enough room to look straight at them.
Cheon Jong-hun's request had only been for Gyeoul to remember the name.
If he discovered a second KILL, he could at least remember that such a person had existed.
Compared to Gyeoul, who had lost many things but had begun dreaming of hope little by little each day, the outside world was still cruel and bleak, full of people who did not even know they were miserable.
Clearing unread messages in this state of mind took quite a lot of time. Even so, after reading diligently, by this point he had digested most of the accumulated curses, desires, and vulgar sneers. Sometimes there were words that hurt him, but the stone no longer rolled as violently as before.
Gyeoul thought it was thanks to Star Child. Thanks to Anne too, and thanks to his sister, who had returned to him. Little by little, he was finding hope.
Now that Gyeoul had reached the end of the logs that had been piled up for so long, he felt heavy bewilderment at a record from only a few minutes ago.
'Seventeen million five hundred thousand...'
An enormous number of stars, gifted by a Russian named Владимир. This was even more than what Gyeoul had received through his deal with the tyrant. Converted into money, it came to about 1.7 billion.
No matter how much he thought about it, it was not a normal donation, but the sender claimed it had not been a mistake. Curious about the reason, Gyeoul sent a secured message asking.
The reply came back quickly.
「Do you truly not know the reason? I assumed you would, of course.」
What on earth was that supposed to mean?
「If you do not know, that is enough for now.」
The reply ended there. Even when Gyeoul asked again, the Russian on the other side maintained silence.
He could not understand it, but Gyeoul was in no position to think about it at length right now.
Footnotes:
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