GH | Chapter 1.8

While Robert and Ro were talking, Upsilon asked a question.

“Boss. You just said you don’t know the details. What did you mean by that?”

“The request in the Duke of Ashford’s letter was for us to uncover Ashburn Arlen’s corruption. But he said the details were too much to put on paper, so he wanted to explain them in person.”

“You’ll be meeting the Duke of Ashford himself?”

“No, that would be difficult. He’ll probably send a representative. The appointment is tonight. I’m planning to accompany you both to the meeting place. For now, let’s just say I’m going as your escort.”

Escort? Ro and Upsilon both looked at Robert, and under their gazes Robert looked back at the Duke of Ashford’s letter.

“Unlike the fame of the financial giant Ashburn Arlen, the Ashford ducal family is exceedingly closed off. That also means they are extremely reluctant to expose themselves to outsiders. Yet the head of that family personally placed a request with Amabile. As an internal whistleblower against Ashburn Arlen, which is nothing less than the core source of their family’s wealth.”

“I can’t tell what their intention is.”

“There’s that too, but given how closed off the family is, I expect they’ll be highly sensitive about security for this request. If, at tonight’s meeting, they decide they can’t trust Amabile…”

“You can’t know how they’ll react?”

At Ro’s words, Robert nodded easily.

“I haven’t said I’ll accept this request yet. They asked for the meeting first, and I’m simply responding to that request tonight. After we meet and hear the details, I’ll decide whether to take the job.”

From the Ashford side, Amabile had not even accepted the request yet, but they were already being asked to expose the shameful side of a company run by their own family. If Amabile accepted, that would be the best outcome. But if they refused, or if the Ashford side decided they could not trust Amabile, then there was no telling what they might do to Robert to make sure his information did not leak.

“The Ashford family is a ducal house with centuries of history. Even if the actual meeting is with a representative, the one they represent was born a noble, so they’ll likely be very sensitive to any attitude that smacks of staining their honor or challenging their authority. So tonight, both of you must be careful with your words and behavior.”

Having roughly understood how things were unfolding, Ro and Upsilon gave small nods at Robert’s warning. In the brief pause that followed, Ro asked a question he had been curious about during the explanation.

“But boss, this request obviously looks dangerous. How much did the Duke of Ashford offer that you’re going in person?”

“The amount they sent as an advance isn’t small.”

“That makes it even more suspicious.”

“Business is always high risk, high return. But honestly, what interests me more than the pay is why the Duke of Ashford is spending such a huge sum to dig into the corruption of Ashburn Arlen, a company he practically owns.”

And why, among so many legal routes, they had chosen Amabile of all things. Robert muttered the last part quietly to himself, then said he could not exactly deny being curious about the client, and smiled lazily as he said he would rely only on the two of them if anything happened at tonight’s meeting. Ro, hearing this, started objecting a beat later.

“Hold on, if the boss gets in trouble tonight, wouldn’t Amabile have to shut down too? No, not my workplace!”

“That is precisely why I’m taking you and Upsilon with me. I’m hoping nothing like that happens.”

“That’s a lot of pressure. Are you sure you picked the right agents? I’m not really the fighting type. For the record, I don’t have a superpower that bounces bullets either.”

“The place we’re meeting the Ashford representative tonight does not allow weapons to be carried in. So it’s lucky you don’t need bullet-bouncing superpowers, isn’t it?”

“I’m telling you the line-up is wrong, boss?”

“No, it’s perfectly fine. Don’t worry too much, Ro. Amabile did not raise you weakly.”

“Oof.”

Ro had been at Amabile for a long time, and Robert’s skill at handling him was no less seasoned. Watching Robert rebut every one of his points and insist there would be no agent change, Ro finally wiped his face in frustration. It seemed more realistic to just hope Robert’s worst-case scenario would not happen.

Meanwhile, Upsilon felt strangely stiff, not to mention awkward, because the atmosphere was nothing like the one when he received missions from Robert. Robert, the president of Amabile, was a man who belonged to the gray zone adjacent to the underworld, a man who wielded power ordinary people could hardly imagine. And yet in Upsilon’s eyes, who once belonged to the underworld, Robert had always been astonishingly rational and reasonable.

Since joining Amabile, Upsilon had never once thought Robert was overbearing or arbitrary, nor had he ever been treated unfairly by him, but the coldly rational and reasonable Robert had always been a difficult superior and employer for Upsilon. And now there was Ro, treating him with such familiarity, and Robert going along with it.

“Don’t get so stiff, Upsilon. It may be your first time joining a mission briefing with Ro, so it feels unfamiliar, but when Ro is around, the atmosphere is always like this.”

“…Yes.”

He had clearly shown nothing, and yet Robert still saw through his state. That razor-sharp insight was another reason Robert was difficult.

✿ • ✿ • ✿

At lunchtime in New York, where people were packed in everywhere, Ro let out a dry laugh as he set down the tray he had picked up from the counter in front of Upsilon. On the red tray sat two hamburgers, two colas, two orders of fries, and two packets of tomato ketchup, all neatly arranged…

“Wait, what is this? Déjà vu?”

He was sure he had experienced the exact same situation just a few days ago. Ro muttered with a serious face and sat down, and Upsilon, regardless, peeled open the hamburger wrapper while keeping his eyes fixed on the phone he had placed on the table. As the wrapper folded neatly and half the bun came into view, Ro marveled.

“Wow, how do you peel the wrapper like that without even looking?”

“There are so many things that surprise you.”

“Watch your mouth, I bought this again today.”

“Isn’t today a workday? Charge it to the boss as expenses.”

“……”

Ro, exercising restraint as hard as he could, swallowed a sigh with a businesslike smile and made the same promise again. With this guy, better not say it, just not say it. Being able to display that kind of attitude in front of someone he had secretly loved for years was, if nothing else, a talent.

Of course, if he imagined Upsilon getting shy and squirmy or blushing while eating a meal together… well, for one thing, he could not imagine that at all, but somehow it would probably make him feel violently ill. Ro nudged his own hamburger aside and bit into a fry.

“What are you looking up while eating lunch?”

“Information on that person.”

That person. He meant the Duke of Ashford.

“Do you really have to work while eating lunch? You’re seriously a workaholic.”

Ro looked fed up and sucked on his cola straw. Unlike before his vacation, they were currently waiting with time to spare before leaving for the meeting place Robert had mentioned. Upsilon, who had been searching various things on his phone while eating his hamburger, soon shut the screen off.

“Already done?”

“Most of it is just publicly known material like the family history and Ashburn Arlen’s history. It seems like a family that comes up every time people in Britain start talking about conspiracy theories. Probably because there’s so little known about them.”

“Where did you search to get that kind of stuff?”

“Web postings?”

“…I’m losing my mind, seriously. Just eat your burger.”

At Ro’s incredulous reaction, Upsilon seemed to realize that his answer might have been off and quietly started eating his hamburger.

“I’m planning to ask the boss for related materials later.”

“What kind of materials?”

Silently eating his hamburger as he thought, Upsilon set the empty wrapper on the tray and said,

“About the client. You said it earlier too. If something happens to the boss, this company might have to shut down…”

“Wait, wait. Upsilon, you didn’t actually take that seriously, did you? I was just joking.”

Ro answered with a grimace, and Upsilon, still expressionless, continued.

“I know. But the fact that the boss even brought up the escort idea makes me think there’s something there.”

“There isn’t. You’ve worked with him for five years and you still don’t know the boss?”

“……”

“If it were really dangerous, the boss wouldn’t have set the appointment with the client in the first place, escort or not. He agreed to the meeting because he judged the chance of that worst-case scenario to be almost nonexistent. Didn’t I just say it earlier? The line-up was wrong. If he truly thought it might be dangerous, then maybe not you, but at least I wouldn’t be the one.”

Upsilon might not, but Ro was not an agent specialized in combat. That did not mean Ro could not fight, but if one were to consider the worst-case scenario where combat broke out, there were plenty of agents better suited for it than Ro.

Even so, the fact that Robert had called Ro meant he was considering a role other than combat for him, and Ro, who had been in Amabile for a long time, had already understood Robert’s intention long ago.