Chapter 531 - THE INSENSITIVE MAN (1/2)

Minister Shimada looked at Akira.

”I am counting on you. Once this crisis is over, we can conclude the issue we were discussing earlier.” She hinted with delicate subtlety.

Akira knew that the minister was implying that she would not make things difficult for her if she helped her overcome the crisis. She kept her face neutral and nodded at the older woman. She already planned to do her best, but she would not say no to being owed.

”I will deal with other issues for now. If you have any problems, reach out to me. For now, I cannot deal with your clearance level.” Minister Shimada added as she put a card with her private number in Akira's hand.  .

Akira felt like the woman was worrying too much. ”Go ahead and deal with your business.”

She turned to the head of the department who was looking at the scene with increasing dissatisfaction. If he could describe the situation, he would say it was a mother worried about leaving her child in school alone for the first time.

Minister Shimada took another look at Akira before leaving with Suzuki Taira. The crisis did not only need practical solutions. She needed to make sure that the flow of information was tight and discuss potential management of the aftermath if the worst came to pass.

Her current greatest fear was the leakage of information to the media before the Central Antiterrorism Bureau could understand the specificity of the threat. As it stood, the evidence pointed towards the bomb threat being real.

If the media sniffed out this beat, the city would fall into complete chaos. She needed to get ahead of the crisis before anything serious happened.

”Minister Shimada…” Aide Suzuki started talking, hoping to address the earlier awkwardness.

”It is not time to talk about your insubordination. You have become less and less sensible in the past few months.” Minister Shimada felt rising annoyance.

She did not want to address minor problems while thinking about issues of national importance, but she could not help chiding her personal ȧssistant a little as they entered the elevator.

”I made a few mistakes, but I am always acting in your best interest.” Aide Suzuki said softly with a hint of being wronged.

Minister Shimada sighed. ”My best interest is for you to follow my instructions to the letter.”

”But…” Suzuki started.

”Enough. We will discuss your future after this matter is over.” The minister ended the conversation.

Aide Suzuki tightened her fingers around the organiser in her hand. She felt a surge of hatred towards Akira. If it were not for her, things would not have progressed to this point. It was obvious that the discussion about her future would not work in her favour.

If it was not for Akira, the minister would not have made a big deal of her small mistakes. The fury in her heart built up and settled in her ċhėst like a hot burning coal. Unfortunately, she had no method for venting that wrath.

Her current priority was finding out if the bomb threat was real.

”Have you prepared a file on the situation?” She asked. ”I can see that you are busy, so I will not trouble you to brief me personally.”

The head of the department felt his lips twitch at the casual manner the small woman standing before him spoke. It was as if she did not realise that she was in one of the most important departments of the ministry of defence.

Still, she had the appropriate clearance for the request she made. He snapped a finger at one of the technical staff, and someone appeared with a file in hand. Akira took it from the nervous young woman and flipped through it.

Akira did not consider herself a super special genius, but she had honed skills for speed reading. If she could not do it, she would have wasted a lot of time on meaningless paperwork. Moreover, it was a crucial skill for hackers.

Her eyes scanned through the pages. She flipped through the file without pausing. Her expression changed as she learned the information about the two potential criminals who were planning to detonate a bomb.

The more she read, the more she was convinced that the threat was real.

As an agent of the Immortal Sword Brigade, she did not only have hard skills like fighting and hacking. She was trained in looking at subtle hints, especially in communication to determine intent beyond the obvious.