Chapter 113 - Scout
Once the storm-like onslaught of media coverage had subsided, the time was approaching two in the afternoon.
My stomach was constantly growling, protesting its hunger, but unfortunately, it didn't look like I'd be given any food just yet.
Because this time, a police interrogation was waiting for me.
The officers stared at me with stern expressions.
It was fine that they had chased away those reporters, but what they were about to do shouldn't be much different from them.
They would surround me and pry every single detail out of me. That much was certain.
As I let out a sigh, wondering when I'd finally be able to eat lunch, an older officer stepped forward in front of me.
He looked to be in his mid-fifties. The hair visible beneath his cap was a well-groomed romance gray. He was only slightly taller than me, with broad, sturdy shoulders.
He had a rugged, seasoned appearance, the kind you'd see in a detective drama.
Judging by his bearing, this man was likely the one commanding the scene.
"Nakamoto-san, was it?"
The older officer spoke in a calm voice. His tone was a sweet baritone, yet there was an underlying intensity to his speech that suggested he had survived countless life-and-death situations.
A veteran's history, desperately concealed behind gentlemanly behavior.
I had felt a similar impression when facing a battle-hardened old soldier in the other world.
Come to think of it, the most combat-experienced armed group in modern Japan isn't the Self-Defense Forces, but the police.
And when it comes to veterans in the field rather than those in suits, they are a breed of people not much different from soldiers who have continued to command on the front lines.
Feeling a certain sense of awe toward the officer before me, I replied, "Yes."
Perhaps because I had many opportunities to act alongside military personnel in that other world, I naturally found myself acting formally in front of people who exuded a similar atmosphere.
I straightened my posture and looked the officer straight in the eye.
"You used some kind of means to sever and kill that giant creature. Is there no mistake?"
"That is correct."
"Do you have any idea regarding the true identity of that creature?"
"...I have no proof, but I have a general idea."
"Hmm."
The officer placed a hand on his chin, looking thoughtful.
"There are several things I wish to ask, but do you have the time?"
"...It's my day off today, so I'll stick with you."
Grumble, my stomach growled. No matter how much of a strongest Hero I might be, I am no match for hunger.
"By the way, I haven't had lunch yet. Would it be alright if I ate first?"
"Ah. My apologies."
As soon as he said that, the older officer turned around and shouted, "Get something for Nakamoto-san to eat!"
Immediately, a young officer who had been waiting closest to them started running in a great hurry.
It seemed he intended to go out and buy something. Since there was a patrol car in the direction he was heading, I wondered if he was going to jump in that?
"Go buy something one rank higher than what you ate today! Got it!"
When I shrank back, thinking, No, please, you don't need to go to such trouble, he shot back, "Younger guys don't have any initiative unless you tell them like that."
A police officer buying food for me.
This response was somehow throwing me off.
I had braced myself, thinking they would simply escort me to the station while hungry and try to extract all the information I knew.
"...Is this really okay?"
"You are the one responsible for defeating the monstrous bird. Please, do not hesitate to accept it."
"Responsible? ...Me? Wait, monstrous bird?"
The older officer watched my confusion in silence.
"A single monstrous bird escaped from a certain laboratory. It was an individual in which the characteristics of its ancestor, the dinosaur, had been resurrected through genetic modification experiments. You are the hero who used piano wire to sever and defeat that monstrous bird. ...It has been decided that it will be reported as such starting tomorrow."
"It has been decided... that it will be reported?"
"Those reporters surrounding you will not be able to write articles freely."
Our country has surprisingly strong public authority, the officer declared.
"When a situation concerns the survival of the nation, there are times when the control of information takes precedence over the freedom of the press. This is one such time."
"...Is that how it works?"
"Normally, we would let them write as they please. Even if it were a scandal within the police organization. It has been several years since we last imposed news restrictions."
The officer spoke without even blinking.
"Despite the capital being attacked by a mysterious giant creature, neither the police, whose role is to protect the safety of citizens, nor the Self-Defense Forces, who handle national defense, could match it. Yet you, a self-proclaimed magician who appeared from out of nowhere, managed to cleave it in two with such ease using an invisible blade. It would not be an exaggeration to call this a major incident that shakes the nation."
"...I do feel bad about stealing their jobs."
"The green-skinned—monster—as the media is calling that thing that caused the kidnapping incident recently—was also killed by sharp blades. And the cuts were cauterized with high heat. Just like this monstrous bird."
I was certain.
This officer had long since seen through the fact that this series of incidents were all connected to me.
"I am extremely curious as to who Nakamoto-san really is."
What is going to happen to me from here on?
Do they think I'm the one who summoned the Goblins or the Dragons?
Or will I be pressured to provide the technology used to defeat those monsters?
Perhaps an ordeal so terrible it's hard to even speak of awaits me.
Depending on the circumstances, I might have to fight against the state itself.
While hardening my grim resolve, I locked eyes with the officer.
"Your eyes look like those of someone who has seen true hell. I am becoming increasingly curious about what Nakamoto-san has experienced."
"Can you tell just by looking at my eyes?"
"Because we are the final line that protects the public order of Japan. We haven't survived countless battlefields for nothing."
"I didn't think a police officer's professional pride was that high."
"Strictly speaking, I am not a police officer."
Saying that, the older officer pulled a worn-out notebook from his breast pocket.
It looked like a police notebook, but was it a bit different?
The characters written there were...
"A Public Security Intelligence Agent...?"
"I neglected to introduce myself; my name is Sugitani, a Supervising Investigator."
Sugitani smiled with one cheek twitching. "Please, keep this between us."
Perhaps the reason he sent that young officer running to buy food was to clear the area.
"I don't really understand the difference between a Public Security Intelligence Agent and a regular police officer."
"Public Security is about protecting order from the gray zones where the police cannot operate. They are called analysts or case officers, but to put it simply, we are spies."
"...Were there spies in Japan all along?"
"Our primary targets for infiltration are domestic extremist organizations—gangs, far-right, far-left, and religious groups. The image might be a bit different from the spies you see in Hollywood movies. But we exist in reality. And we prevent various organized crimes before they happen."
It was as if he were implicitly saying that the good public order of our country was thanks to us.
"In other words, you aren't a police officer?"
"I am not. I belong to the Public Intelligence Agency, not the National Police Agency. I do not even have the power of arrest."
"...Then why are you wearing a police uniform?"
"To tell you the truth, I am currently infiltrating the police. Therefore, I am a mole within the lion's den. If my identity were discovered by the surrounding officers, they would certainly not be pleased."
He said it quite casually.
Is it really okay to reveal that?
"I happened to overhear that some officers are colluding with gangs and threatening the lives of citizens."
"...Well, there are people like that, I suppose."
Especially the police in the town where I live. It seems they have a mutually beneficial relationship with Gondo.
"Attempting sexual violence against innocent high school girls, trying to purchase identification for young girls from abroad, or harassing people in the parking lots of innocent restaurants. Gang members who act with total impunity are fraternizing with police officers. We cannot leave such a state of affairs unaddressed."
"Y-Yeah. I really think so too. I can't forgive people like that."
"That is why it became necessary to borrow the identity of an officer and monitor them from the inside."
As someone who had far too many relevant experiences, this was a conversation that made me feel like I was barely alive.
"Infiltrating an organization secretly and changing it from within. There is no method more effective. In any form of sabotage."
"I suppose so."
I was thinking of the method of possessing a prisoner with a spirit body and sending them back into an enemy castle to perform sabotage.
It was a method that had yielded great results during my time in the other world.
"If an external enemy were to slip into the core of the state or a corporation, it would be over in an instant. Don't you think so?"
"If foreign spies were to slip in, it would be quite troublesome."
"It would be better if they were people from another country. But if they are creatures from another world, operating with a completely different set of ethics, they become unmanageable. Especially if they possess combat abilities that transcend human knowledge, like that monster."
"...Does that mean..."
"As far as we have gathered, non-human monsters from 'other worlds' are still lurking, borrowing human forms. And Nakamoto-san, you have visited another world as well. Is that correct?"
Why not make that power useful for the sake of the country, Sugitani said.