TCWGRF 8

The same was true for rescue attempts. The rooms of the same size were densely packed in the center, with the corridor wrapping around the outside, and there were not even room numbers, so it was completely impossible to find who was where without a floor plan or accurate information.

Of course, no such thing as a floor plan or structural diagram existed anywhere. The data inside the Public Security Bureau was mostly like that. It was known to exist on the outside, but in reality, it was only in the minds of a few people.

There were few people who knew this place like the back of their hand. Currently, it was only a few high-ranking party officials, the Chief of Public Security, and his brilliant adjutant.

There were high-ranking officials and workers of the Public Security Bureau who frequented the basement for the interrogation of prisoners and the disposal of corpses, but it was common for them to complain about the difficult security procedures that changed every time, or to have difficulty remembering the order of the rooms.

Samuel had spent about two to three hours a day here since his junior days. The rooms were filled with a variety of people, from rebel spies who had successfully infiltrated the city, to citizens who had been arrested on some charge, and sometimes even high-ranking officials who had to be disposed of unpleasantly.

“Your friend was telling me an interesting story.”

Swoosh. Samuel, who was washing his hands at the small sink in each room, casually dropped the news that the prisoner in the next room, who had become a corpse as of yesterday, had left as his last words to a man who was becoming a corpse himself.

“They say your leader has someone he particularly cherishes in this city, right?”

“…?”

“They say that person acts as the leader in the city.”

“…!”

“Oh my, do you guys call him the ‘Head’?”

Dangle, dangle. The man, who had been letting his head hang limply, barely managed to steady his shaking head and glared at the back of Samuel’s head, but he did not even show the courtesy of turning around and was instead engrossed in washing his hands.

“Ah, no, that, uh…”

The man muttered something in a dying voice, but it was drowned out by the sound of the water stream that he had turned on more forcefully with a creak, so nothing was properly conveyed.

Looking at the small mirror on the wall to check if there was any blood splattered on his face, it was more accurate to say that he had no intention of listening at all.

That much of a reaction was enough. He had known about the existence of the ‘Head’ that the rebels had planted in the city for a long time, and he had more than enough collected information. All that was left was cross-verification.

There had always been such a suspicion. That there might be one person through whom all the rebels and spies in the city commonly passed.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the rebels to infiltrate even the heavily guarded Public Security Bureau organization. There had to be an accomplice who knew the situation inside out, or someone with the authority to issue additional instructions and make judgments from within.

Not long ago, a spy who had infiltrated as a Public Security Bureau officer in this very room spilled everything he knew.

He begged pathetically to be spared, no, to at least spare his wife and children who knew nothing, and confirmed with his own body that Samuel’s hypothesis was correct.

At the same time, he handed over the personal details of his rebel comrades who were now filling this room and other rooms to the brim. After catching them, it turned out that they were all greenhorns who had only heard about the ‘Head’ but had never actually met him.

“Hngh, hoo, ugh…”

“Ahaha. What a shame.”

The young man, who was heavy-lipped and would never have dreamed that the comrade he believed in had sold him out, was desperately trying to deny Samuel’s words.

The rebel leadership, in a safe place far from the city, listened to the news someone had risked their life to bring, spoke of recapture, distribution and fairness, and the great cause, and drank the food and alcohol they had stolen from the city while setting up what they called an operation, clearly believing that they had done their part. The rulers of the city were no different.

Even if they died here in such a miserable state, protecting the secrets of comrades whose faces they barely knew and carrying out their mission, no one on the outside would grieve or take responsibility. Young people, newly indoctrinated with the ideals and values of the rebels and granted the qualification of ‘comrade,’ would simply take their place.

“…Still, it’s quite a noble thing to die to keep one’s loyalty, isn’t it?”

Haaak, haaak. Not even a short answer could escape from the man’s mouth, who was gasping for breath. He seemed to barely raise his eyes and move his lips slightly, but his head soon dropped down.

Was there even a glimmer of hope? Did they expect that the people they called their leader or comrades would come to rescue them? It would not be a bad idea to just spit out everything they knew and beg for mercy, without a care for the situation outside.

Even though the only person who could save them was Samuel, the rebel underlings who were captured here maintained a strange silence in the face of overwhelming despair and, literally, flesh-tearing fear. They seemed to be under the grand illusion that the more they kept their mouths shut, the safer their comrades elsewhere would be.

“How foolish.”

Who could it be? The person whom the noble leader of the rebels had left in the city. The great man who had planted countless spies in all walks of life, yet had kept his own identity tightly hidden.

The flickering light in the room made a chzhzhk sound and went out completely. Samuel did not panic even in the pitch-black darkness and put on gloves on his clean hands. Then, leaving his tangled thoughts behind, he opened the door and went out.

The light from the corridor that entered through the crack in the door briefly touched the cooling body of the young man before being pushed back by the deep darkness and disappearing forever.

*

The former unemployed and the poorest citizens of the past became today’s patrol unit members, held their heads high, and carried out the tasks they were instructed to do with excessive diligence.

At first, everyone seemed disbelieving. But, as citizens of the city trained not to complain to their superiors, they patrolled the designated areas every day and tried to promote how good the Public Security Bureau was in their capacity as the patrol unit.

Some thought of the patrol unit members as freeloaders who gnawed away at the city’s resources without doing any work, while others thought it was much better than encountering the officers who carried out random checks and violence on the streets.

He did not know how much the new Chief had expected, but seeing that there were many who viewed it positively like the latter, the performance of the patrol unit could be said to be quite successful.

‘It’s already been a week…’

In the midst of all this, Isaac did not forget the purpose for which he had joined the patrol unit. He diligently searched for Asel with his eyes wide open.

Although the city center and the surrounding districts 1 to 4 were excluded from the patrol, he was able to look around districts 5 to 28 under the pretext of patrolling, so he thought he would be able to meet at least once someone with a similar body shape or back view. But the face he had been expecting was nowhere to be found.

“…shua.”

“……”

“Joshua!”

“Yes?”

“Let’s rest for a bit.”

“Ah! I’m sorry.”

His impatient heart had quickened his pace, so Isaac did not realize that his partner, who was well over fifty, was calling his fake name, nor the fact that he was falling further and further behind.

“Oh, I can finally breathe.”

In a deserted alley where the officers’ gazes did not reach. Vincent, who had sat down with his back against the wall, tapped his right knee and let out a refreshing exclamation.

Even though the patrol unit’s work was easier than other jobs, he had to walk for several hours a day, so it was overwhelming for Vincent, who limped slightly due to arthritis pain.

Nevertheless, he never passed his work on to his partner or expressed any complaints, no matter how long it took. When he was really struggling, all he did was suggest taking a short break like now.

“It’s a great thing to be young. When I was your age, I used to fly around.”

In the short week, Isaac had learned a lot about Vincent.

That the situation in District 26 was no different from that of District 28, that he was desperately looking for a job to take his sick wife to a skilled doctor, that he too did not know how he had been chosen, and that he had fought tooth and nail to not lose his wife because he had to let go of his only son at a young age without being able to do anything.

Such circumstances were enough to evoke sympathy and affection for the stranger named Vincent.

It might have been because he was the first person he had been this close to since coming to the city, or it might have been because he had had no one to rely on all this time. Isaac also felt at ease in front of him and would chat a little.

“…There doesn’t seem to be anyone suspicious.”

“Haha, that’s true. Who would openly wander around asking to be caught?”

“From the outside…”

“Outside? Outside the city?”

He had almost let his words slip out while lost in other thoughts. That he did not know where to start or how to find the person who came from the outside. That there was someone he was looking for. That was why he was walking around so diligently.

“Ah, it’s just that this is my first time doing this kind of work. I don’t know how to recognize someone from the ‘outside.’”

Isaac decided that it would be better to wrap up the conversation well to cover up his slip of the tongue. So, he squeezed out a question that appropriately asked for advice so that the other person could show off his experience and seniority to his heart’s content.

“Ah, that’s not difficult. Think of it as finding the different picture. You just look for the person who feels awkward in the gray background of the city.”

“Can you see them, Vincent?”

“I’ve lived here for over 50 years, of course I can. I can recognize someone from the outside at a glance. Heh heh.”

Vincent pounded his chest and let out a good-natured laugh. The sight of him confidently boasting, without even knowing that there was a ‘suspicious person’ from the outside right next to him, felt rather pleasant.

It was clear that even his partner, who was well-versed in city life, did not harbor a speck of suspicion towards Isaac. As he became convinced that he was perfectly disguised as one of the citizens, another question that he had been keeping inside popped out of his mouth.

“…Is there any way to find a missing person?”

“Missing? Ah, is there someone in your family who is missing?”

Isaac nodded his head unconsciously at the question. It was not wrong. Asel was family, and he had come this far to find him.

“Aah, so that’s why you applied for the patrol unit…”

As soon as he learned of his partner’s pitiful story, a look of bitterness immediately appeared on Vincent’s face.

“Well, there’s no way to find them here.”

In the city, people disappeared every day for various reasons.

There were those who were taken somewhere and never returned, there were those who, although rare, left the city, and there were those who sold their identities and chose to disappear themselves.

So, missing persons were treated the same as the deceased. Whether it was a real death or a fake death. It was all the same in that they had left for a place where they could not be found. The city would not waste its administrative power on finding a single person.

“…Ahem. That’s a shame. It would be nice to know at least if they are alive or dead.”

“Yes. That’s right…”

What the people who had missing family and friends wanted was nothing else. At the very least, they wanted to know if they were alive or dead. Vincent would not have been unaware of that either, but for a common citizen who was struggling just to get through the day, there would be no clever solution.

As he gently closed his eyes and stroked his chin, a monologue unconsciously slipped out of his mouth.

“It would be great if I could at least check the list of the deceased in the records archive on the third floor of the Public Security Bureau…”

It was a passing remark made out of regret, but Isaac did not miss Vincent’s words.

“The list of the deceased?”

“Aah, when a body is found, the Public Security Bureau handles it. Whether the identity is known or not. In any case, they manage all the death records in the city.”

Vincent, who had suddenly shut his mouth and was rolling his eyes left and right, lost in dangerous thoughts, groaned and laboriously raised his body, then gave a stern warning to his partner.

“Don’t even think about it. I was just talking to myself.”

“……”

“If you don’t want to die, never have any foolish thoughts. That is a place you cannot and should not enter recklessly.”