Chapter 258
The first to notice something was wrong was Staut's deputy.
After all, Stauté couldn't possibly handle all the smuggling-related work by himself; the sheer volume of orders was enough to overwhelm him, so he definitely needed a team.
His deputy had the most contact with him, contacting him frequently and even meeting to discuss matters.
After being unable to contact anyone for more than five hours outside of sleep, the deputy sensed something was wrong and started reporting it to his superiors.
Of course, the deputy didn't think of Stout as an undercover agent or a traitor. After all, he knew that Stout might be given an important position soon, and even if he were an undercover agent, why would he run away at such a crucial moment?
The deputy was worried that Stout might have encountered some danger; after all, in their line of work, danger was ever-present.
He reported the situation to Rum, Stout's direct superior, with a completely positive sense of concern.
Rum: "………………"
Unlike his clueless deputy, Rum immediately recalled Usaku Saiki's warning.
...No, no, it must be that Staut just ran into a little trouble. He'll be back once he's sorted it out...No, we can't just wait around. Let's send someone to look for him and investigate his last known whereabouts.
Rum acted swiftly, quickly arranging for people to investigate.
Unfortunately, after a whole day, they still knew nothing. There were no clues in Stout's house either. He seemed to have vanished into thin air—taking some important information with him.
After receiving these findings, Rum fell into a long silence.
He thought for half an hour, then called Bourbon, whom he often sent to deal with Usui Saiki: "Do you believe that anyone can tell who the undercover agent is just by looking at the written summary?"
Bourbon was terrified.
Rum, what's wrong with you? Rum, what's with that questioning tone... Wait, could it be that Bo Ye kid guessed right this time too?!
"...Look at how detailed the information is, what it records. But if you're referring to the information Pottnis saw about Stout, then I don't believe it." Bourbon maintained his composure, saying coldly, "What's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly asking this kind of question? You haven't actually fallen for Pottnis's nonsense, have you?"
Rum remained silent for a long time, seemingly struggling with whether or not to admit it: "...Stout is missing."
Bourbon, who already knew the answer, asked, "...How could he have disappeared?"
"I don't know." Rum, who had thought he was in his prime, suddenly felt twenty years older. "Go ask Potnis again and see if his story has changed... I'll go report to the Boss."
Even at this point, Rum still held onto hope.
Stout is just missing, isn't he? And he's only been missing for less than a day. If Usakabe Saiki hadn't complained to the Boss before, this wouldn't have even reached the point of alarming the Boss.
On the bright side, maybe Stout drowned while fishing in the river!
Rum racked his brains and wrote a report for the Boss about Stout's disappearance, trying to downplay the situation and suggesting that Stout might reappear in a couple of days, possibly alive or dead, and that it couldn't be concluded that Stout was definitely an undercover agent.
Potts only looked at the data; everything could be a coincidence. We shouldn't be too influenced by Potts. He will continue to send people to investigate.
Boss: "…………"
To be honest, the boss is now leaning towards Usaku Saiki.
On the one hand, Rum had just assured him that Stout was alright when he disappeared, which made Rum seem very unprofessional—even if Stout wasn't an undercover agent, his abilities probably weren't as impressive as Rum claimed.
On the other hand, the Boss couldn't help but recall the example of Shuichi Akai that Saiki Usaba had cited in his letter to him.
It was Usui Saiki who warned someone that they might be an undercover agent, and after the investigation, he said there was no problem, and then something went wrong...
This sense of déjà vu forced the boss to think the worst.
Moreover, Saiki Usaba's eye for people is indeed quite good. Cohen and Chianti, whom he recruited, are both very loyal and useful. Previously, it was thought that he was not good at identifying undercover agents, but Shuichi Akai's escape proved that Saiki Usaba can actually be quite good. Exhaustive search is fine, but the probability of guessing that the other party is from the FBI... does exist, but it is not very high.
It's just that Usaku Saiki himself couldn't give a reason, and when asked, it was all based on intuition, which made it difficult for people to trust his words too much.
...But now the Boss thinks that Usaku Saiki is a really honest kid, maybe he really is just relying on his intuition?
Otherwise, how can we explain that Shuichi Akai is actually an FBI agent, and this time he just looked at some information and thought the other party was an undercover agent?
—Although Stout is only missing, Boss already suspects he might be an undercover agent, but he doesn't say it out of respect for Rum.
Rum sensed Boss's attitude and gritted his teeth to continue searching for Stout, making threats to the British organization members: he wanted to see him alive or dead, and not to come back if he couldn't find him!
Then he started praying, hoping that Stout had been hit by a car, drowned in a river, or killed by something thrown from a high-rise building... please, please, don't be an undercover agent!
Even if you're an undercover agent, please don't be an MI6 agent, otherwise... otherwise...
He's the next Gin!
...No, no, it's not that bad yet. After all, he did have people investigate thoroughly several times... It can't really be like what Bo Yezaki said, that hard work and ability make someone an undercover agent, right? If that's the case, how can the organization possibly function?
Investigating the whereabouts of missing persons is a very time-consuming task.
The good news is that, less than a week later, although Stout's men were not found, his position was confirmed.
The bad news is that even if Stout wasn't an undercover agent, he definitely defected, because several of the organization's strongholds in the UK were exposed, and the source of the leak was clearly Stout.
Even the people who went to investigate Stout followed Rum's orders perfectly—they couldn't find him, so they didn't return; they were most likely captured.
Rum: "...Is Stout MI6?"
The British members of the organization who were lucky enough to escape capture didn't quite understand why Rum's focus was on this: "Our base..."
"Tell me first! Could Stout be MI6?!"
Organization member: "...Whether it's Stout or not is still unclear, but the ones who are besieging us should be MI6. People from other organizations wouldn't be so arrogant on British soil."
Rum closed his eyes in pain.
Ah, this cruel, heartless, and unreasonable world...
If I already exist, why do we need Usoppō Saiki?! Is it just so he can torment me, trip me up, and make me suffer?!
Without Bo Yezaki, even if Stout really was MI6, he would just be someone who misjudged people. It's understandable that he was fooled because he was an MI6 member, an elite among elites, with a sophisticated background disguised as such. But now…
Rum couldn't even imagine how the Boss would react to this.
[Something that Potts could discover with just a glance at some data, you can't?]
[Bottenis even reminded you, so why are you still going your own way?]
[I asked you to do a final confirmation, and you confidently told me you checked it several times and there was absolutely no problem. Is this your version of "no problem"?]
Rum could practically picture the disappointed and cold tone in Boss's voice when he said those words.
Originally, Gin was at the bottom in this regard because of Shuichi Akai's incident. Now, he's at the bottom. After all, it's understandable that Gin couldn't find the problem since he wasn't in the intelligence team. But since he was in the intelligence team, it's completely different that he couldn't find it either.
Usoya Saiki might start saying that he is unworthy of his position and should step down to a more worthy person!
How can we remedy this?
It seems like there's no way to salvage this situation. At times like this... shouldn't we start comparing how bad things are? If something bigger were to attract more hatred, would he feel better?
Coincidentally, vodka and rum share similar ideas.
He was very anxious because of Shirley's disappearance, and then he heard that Rum had misjudged him.
His first reaction was shock—that kid Usakabe Saiki had guessed right again?!
This is unbelievable!
Is this what they mean by God taking away Usaku Saiki's brain but gifting him useful intuition?
They were very lucky. After all these years, Rum finally managed to come up with one that could compete with Usaka Saiki, and then it was gone!
He had previously said that Bo Yezaki's methods of workplace infighting were too simplistic and naive, but now it seems that high-level workplace infighting is all this simple and straightforward; competitors simply disappear as they compete...
Because Vodka had been working overtime recently and was quite exhausted, and because he had subconsciously believed in the superstitions of Usoya Saiki, he was momentarily dazed, and his excitement was suppressed by his fatigue.
But he was still happy.
"Big brother! Rum's been having a run of bad luck lately!" Vodka said gleefully. "Potnis said Stout was an MI6 mole, and Rum didn't believe him, right? Well, Stout has disappeared too, and now it seems he really is an MI6 mole! Potnis really solved the case based on his resume!"
Last time, when Shuichi Akai was implicated by the FBI, Vodka got very excited because it involved him and Gin. This time, however, Rum is the one who's in trouble, so he's much calmer—although Saiki Usaba is going to be smug again, it's more important for Rum to be in trouble right now.
When you're having a bad time, seeing someone else who's having the same bad time, or even worse, can lift your spirits.
Vodka shared the news with Gin with the intention of sharing a joke to relieve his tense nerves.
Then he saw Gin's face visibly darken.
Vodka stammered in fright, "W-what's wrong?"
Stout is Rum's man, and his older brother has always been at odds with Rum. Even if he's not happy to hear that Rum is in trouble, he shouldn't look even worse!
Gin offered no explanation and turned to leave.
Vodka, who was working overtime to the point of mental exhaustion, was left to figure out the reason himself.
Bo Ye is a bit of a freak. Although it's a bit far-fetched to identify an undercover agent from information, and it feels like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse, after a while, it all feels a bit strange.
Last time it was Shuichi Akai, this time it's Stout, next time...
etc.
Vodka suddenly realized.
Here we go again! What if Usuo Saiki says he and his older brother are undercover agents next time?!
--------------------
Landmine clearing
.
Rum: Please, please, Stout must have died by accident and we can't contact him!
Bo Ye: Some competitors, they just disappear as they go on (laughs).
.
If it weren't for the thin leaves, Rum would have misjudged the situation.
Now Bo Ye has specifically pointed this out... and even looking at the data, she can tell something's wrong... emmm...
Undercover agent or lack of ability, choose one.
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