WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 406: Wind from High Places (4)

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Major General Rogers' promotion was confirmed.

As Major General Kapralov had said, Gyeoul had plenty of people he could consult about this issue. Anyone who saw the numbers saved on Gyeoul's terminal would have struggled to hide their surprise. Most of the people Gyeoul had met had given him their contact information.

After thinking it over for half a day, Gyeoul asked the Intelligence Agency to handle it. He had decided it would be better to settle the matter as quietly as possible. The agency would have some burden to shoulder too, but since the goal was not personal gain, but improving the efficiency of military administration, there was little reason to feel guilty about it.

The result came back only a week later. Gyeoul took the call during a meal.

「The matter you requested has been resolved.」

The caller was an unfamiliar agent, but Gyeoul paid that no mind and spoke casually.

"Did you look into the other thing I asked about?"

「You mean the circumstances behind Major General Rogers being chosen as commander of the Ground Zero Joint Task Force?」

Gyeoul confirmed it.

"Yes. Start with that."

At first, he had thought his reunion with Rogers was just a strange coincidence. But after hearing what Rogers had said while drunk, his thinking had changed.

'It's unnatural.'

Unless they forced a connection through Rogers' history of being inserted into Olema by air, Rogers had no other experience commanding air assault operations. The division commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, whose subordinate regiment was scheduled to join this operation, would have been better suited for the joint commander position. That was the commander of the only unit in the United States specialized in parachute assaults. The rank happened to be the same too: major general.

The fact that the division was currently active in Central America did not matter much. Surely the Ground Zero Vacuum was worth that much. Likewise, one of the Patrick Henry-class airships, all of which had been deployed to Central and South America without exception, was scheduled to be pulled out and sent to the Tibetan Plateau.

Someone else who had served as an airborne division commander would have been fine too. If necessary, they could even have sent the Special Operations Commander in person. That person had also passed through an airborne division in the past. The rank was a little too high, but considering the value of the operation, not excessively so.

So Gyeoul had no choice but to find it unnatural. Once he realized it, the strange part was that he had not noticed sooner. He had been short on breathing room, between the sudden change of station, brutal training, and adjusting to the unit. Being completely absorbed in a new romance was probably part of it too, if he wanted to call that a reason.

Gyeoul felt the sudden urge to hear Anne's voice, then let out a small laugh that did not fit the situation.

The answer from the Intelligence Agency agent of unknown rank did not stray from his expectations.

「It is as you guessed. That personnel decision strongly reflected POTUS' wishes.」

POTUS was an acronym meaning the president.

「Major General Rogers is one of the key figures who brought about the Miracle of Olema, after all.」

"And the other one is me."

「That is correct.」

"To put it simply, it's a kind of dream team. Something good to show the citizens... The Miracle of Olema, one more time. I suppose that's the idea."

「Not only the citizens. POTUS himself sincerely expects it as well.」

Gyeoul felt like sighing. The agent's words brushed against the worst possibility Gyeoul had imagined when the 201st Independent Battalion was designated as a special forces unit. It was the belief that Gyeoul could accomplish anything, regardless of realistic limits.

Sometimes trust could be a source of fear too.

Gyeoul asked, "Does that mean they're optimistic? After handling things this haphazardly?"

「It is a little different.」

The agent denied it.

「The White House is exercising caution with this operation. At least in areas besides personnel composition. If you knew the volume of reports going up in a single day, you would be quite surprised. The amount of pizza ordered by the Department of Defense has increased greatly. Since they are trying to include every conceivable scenario, the operation plan is gaining pages by the minute and second. If this operation fails, the aftermath will be difficult to handle.」

"But isn't personnel composition the most important thing?"

「That is true, but... even the staff who opposed putting Major General Rogers in the joint commander position unanimously agreed to send you, Lieutenant Colonel Han. Our director was there too.」

"Unanimously? Even though I have no airborne experience at all?"

「That can be made up for with training. Since you have had enough access to operational information, you must know that one of the risk factors is confusion caused by commanders becoming isolated or going missing immediately after the drop. The scheduled drop zone has rough terrain, does it not?」

"..."

「Lieutenant Colonel, you have shown excellent situational judgment and response ability even against special mutants encountered for the first time. Starting with Grumble, then ghoul, Trickster, Deadler, and Melville Ray... On top of that, most of your career has consisted of operations where you had to endure poor conditions in isolated environments. Since that is who you are, you will likely show decent improvisation while dealing with the mutant variants spread across the Tibetan Plateau as well.」

Gyeoul had nothing to say. In the eyes of those involved, Lieutenant Colonel Han Gyeoul was a commander who would not die easily and would link back up even if variables appeared during the drop.

According to the training plan, the Independent Battalion would complete an airborne unit's yearly number of jumps over the next month. At this point, it was hard to argue over qualifications on that basis.

'Do they think that when it comes to fighting unfamiliar enemies, a storied elite division and a special forces unit in name only are about the same...?'

Unfamiliar terrain, unfamiliar climate, and unfamiliar forms of the plague. No matter which unit was sent into this operation, it was hard to expect them to perform at one hundred percent of their usual ability.

Or, a little oddly, there was also a chance that Kramer's military service experience had influenced the decision. The proud Marines tended to look down on other elite units.

Political calculation could not have been absent either. As he had worried before, the Independent Battalion was a convenient tool for moments like this.

「At any rate, that was the background behind Major General Rogers going there.」

"I see."

Once Gyeoul understood the situation, he changed the subject.

"Were there any issues on the refugee zone side?"

That was another piece of information he had asked the Intelligence Agency for.

'People wouldn't have changed already, but...'

After the new administration came in, the budget bill for the refugee leader support policy passed so smoothly it was hard to believe it had ever been adrift. Thanks to that, enormous funds had begun flowing into the Gyeoul Alliance too.

Min Wan-ki had a unique kind of desire, and Jang Yeon-cheol was a good person who had represented people in hardship even before the alliance was formed. Neither was the sort to fall easily to the temptation of money. Still, it could not hurt to stay alert in advance. For Gyeoul, who had unavoidably left his post at such an important time, it was the obvious choice.

「Do not worry.」

The agent gave him a good answer.

「It seems they experienced some confusion in managing the funds, but that was only due to inexperience. Any system goes through plenty of trial and error in its early stages. Aside from those mistakes, we did not find any attempt to privately embezzle money. The Gyeoul Alliance is clean.」

"That's a relief. Would it be too much to ask you to keep watching them?"

「That is fine. We have an automated surveillance program, so if abnormal withdrawals or transfers occur, we can check immediately. It is a little troublesome, but as an investment in maintaining our relationship with you, Lieutenant Colonel, it is within a tolerable range. However...」

"What is it?"

「While investigating the economic circumstances of alliance personnel, we discovered something new about a person called Mr. Baek.」

"Mr. Baek... You mean Mr. Baek San-ho."

「Correct.」

"Didn't you just say there was no corruption?"

Before leaving Fort Roberts, Gyeoul had received a proposal from Senator Brennan. Unable to find another suitable person, he had no choice but to put Baek San-ho in charge of that work. He still remembered how bright and light Baek San-ho's voice had sounded over the phone.

And now there was some new fact related to him.

"Is this personal misconduct unrelated to the alliance?"

「I am not sure. It is ambiguous whether this should be called misconduct.」

The Intelligence Agency agent said,

「It seems he was the manager of borrowed-name accounts.」

"Borrowed-name accounts?"

Bewilderment entered Gyeoul's voice as he asked back.

「Yes. There were accounts he tried and failed to access, so we investigated them. They contained a large amount of money of unknown origin, split up and transferred through tax havens. It is a method wealthy Asians often use to move illegal funds ahead of an investigation. They make close aides, acquaintances, or relatives whose legal weaknesses they hold open borrowed-name accounts in countries with extradition treaties. Before the plague, separate monitors were probably attached as well. I cannot be certain, but this time, the purpose of fleeing the plague must have been added too. They should have gotten their bodies out before their money.」

No wonder Baek San-ho had dragged around a suitcase stuffed with hundred-dollar bills like it was his lifeline.

After hearing the explanation, Gyeoul drew a line.

"If you plan to arrest him, you don't need to ask for my consent."

The refugee leader support policy had begun operating in earnest, so from now on, it would be easier to bring in professionals from outside. Baek San-ho could no longer become Gyeoul's weakness.

His guess missed the mark.

「That is not it.」

"If not, are you just telling me so I know?"

「To start with the conclusion, the Intelligence Agency has a proposal for you regarding this. Perhaps calling it a gift would be more appropriate.」

"...I'm listening."

「At this point, it is impossible to prove Mr. Baek's charges. There is only circumstantial evidence. His weakness vanished along with Korea's collapse. What remains are accounts that have become difficult to handle and funds that have nowhere to go. Money that will stay buried forever if left alone.」

"It must be a large enough sum for the Intelligence Agency to get greedy."

「Roughly five hundred million dollars.」

"..."

「The reason Mr. Baek failed to withdraw it was insufficient proof. I understand why. Usually, the true owner of such funds holds the authentication method. Even if the account holder arrives in person, withdrawals are impossible unless they follow the bank's unique authentication procedure. Banks that accept dirty money usually operate that way. But if our Intelligence Agency helps, while the full amount would be impossible, about thirty percent can be pulled out.」

"I doubt that's legal."

「It is not illegal either. On paper, it is nothing more than the account holder withdrawing his own money.」

"Then reach an agreement with the account holder. I don't see why I need to hear this."

「You are hasty.」

The agent laughed quietly.

「The gift we are trying to give you is Mr. Baek's fear of you.」

"I don't understand what you mean..."

「The Intelligence Agency will monopolize those funds. We plan to hand about one million dollars to Mr. Baek as hush money and compensation for his trouble. It was money he would not have found anyway, so even that much should make him grateful.」

"And?"

「In the process, however, we plan to mention your name lightly. After all, it is true that we investigated him at your request. Slightly inflating that part when we pass it on should be enough.」

Only now did he understand. They meant to lead Baek San-ho into believing that Gyeoul had a close relationship with the Intelligence Agency. To a degree, that was true. After experiencing something like this, would Baek San-ho ever dare to secretly pursue unfair profit behind Gyeoul's back? He would not even be able to think of revealing this matter. One million dollars whose source he could not reveal would become his new shackle. Money he would find hard to refuse.

"That's a very Intelligence Agency way of handling things."

The agent took Gyeoul's words as praise.

「It is know-how in handling people. There is no reason to miss out on incidental gains.」

Gyeoul understood why the agent was telling him all of this in advance. If they intimidated Baek San-ho that way, but Gyeoul knew nothing, would Baek San-ho not realize something was strange one day?

"A small question. Is the Intelligence Agency short on money? Enough to go this far?"

「That is a difficult question.」

The agent said it was difficult, but did not hide the truth.

「Let us say there were many operations and behind-the-scenes agreements involved in the process of persuading the Russians. Off the record.」

Why tell him this too? Before Gyeoul could think on it for long, the agent announced the end of the call.

「If you have no other business, we should hang up here for today.」

"I should say thank you... right?"

「Correct. And you are very welcome. Personally, I was glad to help someone I respect.」

"..."

「Please return safely from this mission. By then, Lieutenant Colonel, you will have become the god of those who follow you.」

With that, goodbye. After those final words, the connection with the agent was cut.

'The god of those who follow me.'

Gyeoul did not find that grand expression particularly welcome.

Nothing would change much later on. The wind from high places would still be blowing somewhere his hand could not reach.

Footnotes:

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