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“Not long ago.”

Frederick’s eyes landed on three daughters as he strolled through Timarshak Park.

“…White people?”

One was an older woman, presumably the mother, and the other two were girls likely her children.

The girls looked so young, it was hard to believe they were even entering middle school.

If I were to pick a feature, it would be their clearly white skin that stood out sharply from the typical Ashtistan complexion. However, seeing the white mother and daughters at Timarshak Park didn’t raise any particular suspicions for Frederick.

Even if the Republic of Ashtistan had a somewhat closed-off demeanor, it was still a country engaged in foreign relations.

Shizuya was a bustling tourist destination frequented by countless visitors, as well as the site where diplomatic missions, branches of private enterprises, and press correspondents from various countries coexisted.

So running into white people in such a place wasn’t particularly unusual.

Still, his gaze was inexplicably drawn to them.

“……”

The woman continually glanced around while tightly holding the hands of her two daughters. She had been doing this for quite some time.

Her restlessness was palpable as she scanned the park with anxious eyes. After observing her for about ten minutes, Frederick noted that her vigilance showed no signs of easing.

As he fidgeted with a newspaper, Frederick contemplated.

“…Hmm.”

The first instinct of a person placed in a hostile environment?

To unconsciously scout for an escape route.

—

Episode 20 – Who Threatened with a Knife?

Upon receiving the notice of passing and getting assigned to a new battalion, the instructors I encountered as trainees always emphasized caution in “action.”

“……”

The gestures and glances that arise unconsciously are often a mirror reflecting human psychology.

Comfortable situations and uncomfortable situations. In these contexts, human instincts manifest through nonverbal communication, and sudden behavioral changes that deviate from the norm can gauge emotional responses.

Behavioral psychology isn’t just taught in investigation agencies but also in counter-intelligence institutions.

Simultaneously, the unofficial disguise agents dispatched abroad by information agencies dive deep into this field as well.

Thus, I kept a close watch on the behaviors of the three daughters.

“……”

The girls were laughing and playing like innocent little troublemakers.

Waving ice creams in their hands and frolicking was entirely appropriate for their age—so natural it was hard to find anything odd or distinctive about it.

In stark contrast, the mature woman appeared quite uncomfortable.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t scolding the children or looking at them anxiously. After all, any parent would naturally worry about their child getting hurt, fretting over it.

What seemed truly odd was how excessively she was protecting the two girls.

“Be careful! Don’t wander too far!”

Raising her voice in clear Kien, she kept one eye on the children and the other scanning her surroundings.

She was constantly on guard against citizens passing near the trio and even pedestrians moving from a significant distance away.

The woman’s behavior instinctively screamed something was off.

That woman.

She was currently assessing the overall layout of the park.

“Uhm….”

While the tendencies and characteristics of humans vary from person to person, nonverbal behaviors displaying emotions and instincts tend to have a certain degree of universality.

To put it simply, “the body does not lie.”

For example, behaviors like that woman looking around often manifest when a person finds themselves in unfamiliar or hostile surroundings.

Professionally, this is known as the Fight or Flight Response.

When exposed to powerful external stimuli like fear, anxiety, or stress, humans seek ways to cope with the situation. Just like choosing whether to “run away” or “fight” when facing a tiger.

During this process, the amygdala, a part of the limbic system, receives and integrates external stimuli (information) to produce emotions, becoming more active with immediate and intense stimuli.

At that moment, impulsivity and aggression dramatically increase.

That’s why even typically calm individuals show intense movements in a crisis.

In that context, the woman rolling her eyes with urgent gestures was incredibly suspicious.

It was hard to dismiss her as just “a married woman out on an outing with her daughters.”

“Camila? Could you come over here for a moment? There’s a handler showing up in a public place, and I feel like it’s not normal. …A terrorist? How should I know? I just saw the person myself.”

By the way, I was somewhat curious. What on earth was this woman’s identity?

A Kien citizen? Or a mixed national from the Mauritania continent?

She could even be a terrorist, a member of a major criminal organization, or a spy.

Could it be that the Priest of Al-Yabd had beckoned me here because of that woman? If that were the case, what connection did she have with the Priest of Al-Yabd, and what reason could there be for her to divulge the place and time to me?

I thought I might uncover something significant by keeping an eye on her.

Thus, I maintained a reasonable distance, attentively observing the woman.

“Mom! Look at this!”

While I had been circling around the three daughters in a natural gait, I suddenly stopped in my tracks.

The familiar language from the girl’s mouth echoed clearly in my ears. Although it wasn’t Ashtistani, there was no need for further interpretation.

Nobody makes a point of interpreting their native language while abroad.

“…Damn it.”

It was Abas language.

*

For those who have traveled abroad, it’s a refreshing experience to hear your mother tongue in a foreign land.

Whether the distance is far or close, whether the person is known or unknown.

Amid all the loud foreign languages, a sudden emergence of your mother tongue stands out, despite disregarding any sense of distance or camaraderie.

In that sense, a certain spy, who had traversed the world at the citizen’s expense (slander), could hardly suppress his astonishment.

“Wait. Why on earth did an Abas official come to the Republic of Ashtistan?”

Did he get caught because he came here on a wild jaunt funded by taxpayers? That wasn’t it.

Was he delighted to run into a fellow Abas in a distant land? That wasn’t it either.

So why on earth did an Abas official stop an Abas citizen right here on the streets of Ashtistan?

The reason was painfully simple.

The Republic of Ashtistan does not issue visas to Abas nationals.

“Surely you aren’t unaware this is a travel restriction country? If you were, they would’ve stopped you at the inspection counter when you showed your passport.”

The Kingdom of Abas and the Republic of Ashtistan maintained an antagonistic relationship.

Unlike the Kien Empire, the two countries did not maintain diplomatic relations, and naturally, they had not established an embassy in their capitals. In fact, both nations prohibited their citizens from entering the other’s territory, so entrance inspections couldn’t be cleared through normal means.

“What on earth…

“How did you get here?”

Though the question seemed absurd, Frederick had a faint inkling. It was the fact that the three daughters had entered Shizuya through illegal means.

Of course, there were possibilities for obtaining a visa even when applications were blocked, such as for government delegations, international competitions, economic cooperation, volunteer work, and event invitations. (For reference, Frederick’s case was one of those exceptions.)

However, the likelihood that the three daughters had entered the Republic of Ashtistan through such channels was as slim as a grain of dust.

This was evident as, despite thoroughly combing through the Ministry of Justice’s immigration database and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ systems, he found that the only Abas citizen residing in Shizuya was himself.

This information had come from Clevenz, who had connections within the Ministry of Justice and the Interior. Frederick had confirmed this fact multiple times while detouring to pick up his sister Adela, who had just wrapped up her day.

“You didn’t sneak in with a fake passport, did you?”

Frederick asked with a bright smile.

It was a question that wasn’t really a question.

“I heard that diplomats are having a tough time these days because of people sneaking into restricted travel countries pretending to do volunteer work.”

To be precise, it was Adela who had been quite troubled.

“I wondered if you happened to be one of those who came for missionary work.”

“……”

Frederick mumbled to himself, unintentionally frowning.

It wasn’t for any particular reason; it just reminded him of the past.

Back when he worked in the Middle East, weren’t there Protestant groups charging into war-torn countries under the guise of missionary work and pilgrimages?

Some had exploited visa-free agreements to conceal their exit statuses, and a few even crossed borders illegally by using brokers.

He could still vividly recall how his senior had clicked his tongue, contemplating whether these folks were spies or missionaries, wondering if they thought they were the National Intelligence Service.

Having witnessed that scene, he could easily guess that the three daughters had slipped into Shizuya through the help of smuggling brokers or fake passports.

With an exhausted look, Frederick rubbed the back of his neck.

“…Oh dear.”

“……”

“I’ll explain everything to the Ashtistan Republic police, so please just follow me for now. If you wait at the nearby embassy, some diplomats from other countries will come to escort you soon.”

Frederick, with a deflated tone, began searching for a friendly embassies that could protect the three daughters in Shizuya.

Of course, his intention wasn’t merely out of kindness. Although they were Abas citizens, there was no reason for Frederick to personally help them whether they ended up in an Ashtistani prison or not.

But there was a child involved, wasn’t there?

“What are you doing bringing kids along, seriously? Ugh… tsk.”

While the Ashtistan Republic government would be furious at the idea of returning citizens of a hostile nation who had illegally crossed the border, the Abas Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no other choices.

With the diplomatic obligation to protect its citizens, neglecting to act when two minors were detained in a hostile country would undoubtedly lead to outrage from the entire nation.

Of course, the Ashtistan Republic government was aware of this too.

They knew that if they didn’t rescue their citizens, the Abas government would face heavy backlash from its people.

It was highly likely that the safety of the three daughters would be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations.

For instance, they might push for lifting sanctions against the Republic of Ashtistan.

There was even a potential for releasing Abas intelligence agents captured by counterintelligence agencies and bringing the Abas Prime Minister or Foreign Minister to the negotiation table as a domestic propaganda move. Whatever the case, it was clear that it would create complications for the Abas government.

He could almost hear Adela’s wails already. Should he buy her a gift on his way back?

“Let’s see… Where is the nearest embassy?”

The suit man hummed a tune as he scouted for the shortest route to the various embassies.

A small hand trembled in a grasp beneath the larger one. The brown-eyed gaze that had been focused on the PDA shifted to follow the movements of the mother and daughters.

And at that moment—

“Run!”

The woman turned and quickly led her children to flee in the opposite direction.

*

Watching the sudden escape of the three daughters, Frederick let out a soft sigh.

He had felt they might run away any moment now. He had tried to stall for time until Camila arrived, but ultimately failed.

He lifted his head to look at the sun.

Even with sunglasses, he couldn’t escape the scorching heat and blinding brightness.

“Well, this vacation is turning out to be quite the spectacle.”

His hand, which had dug into his pocket, emerged back into the world. The slide that had been held back now snapped forward, and the hammer aimed directly at the primer of the chambered round.

Having chambered the weapon, Frederick gripped it with one hand and quickly pulled the trigger twice.

– ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ !! ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ !!

The sound of gunfire echoed wildly through the park.

“What?!”

“AAAAAAAAAH!”

The citizens, enjoying their peaceful day, were thrown into chaos. Dozens who had lingered around the fountain dropped to the ground simultaneously, and as the gunfire rang out again, a panicked crowd began to scatter in all directions.

It was utter bedlam in the park. The morality police, known for their sudden inspections, shouted into their radios as they rushed towards the fountain.

Frederick pulled the trigger again, as if he had no intention of caring about the police. In fact, he wore a grin as though he had been waiting for this moment.

In the center of the park, firing weapons without a care, Frederick casually raised the hand that had been hanging down. Concealing his hand and gun within the jacket he had previously discarded.

Then, pointing at the daughters who had collapsed on the ground, he shouted towards the approaching police.

“Kidnappers!”

“Hey! The woman with the gun is kidnapping the kids!”

The term ‘armed kidnapping’ made the eyes of the morality police go as wide as saucers.

The so-called kidnapper herself looked stunned.

“Uh…?”

“Stop right there!”

With their clubs drawn, the morality police charged forward, and in a mad scramble, the mother and daughters who had inadvertently been labeled as victims began to flee in confusion.

In the meantime, Frederick, as he casually kicked away abandoned clothes and bags, hoisted up bullets scattered on the ground and muttered in disbelief.

“Talk about a misleading situation.”

Was it a madman’s blabber, a terrorist making an unholy scene?

 

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