December 23, 2103
Embassy of the Japanese Empire
The next day, Maebayashi also took steps to contact the girl. He went to the security office of the embassy, opened the door, and entered a dimly lit room. The interior of the room is unoccupied, and the images from the surveillance cameras installed throughout the embassy are shown on an array of displays. Security inside the embassy was managed by an AI and a security android, and in the event of an emergency requiring human assistance, it would be outsourced to a local security company.
Maebayashi sat down in front of the operating PC and has the reader read the vein and fingerprint of his index finger. Then the operating software of the embassy's security office starts up. He then recalled the time he saw the suspicious girl and picked up the camera image in front of the embassy's main gate.
"...!"
The girl was still glaring at the embassy. Maebayashi then had the AI analyze the girl's face, height, and other data. He then searched for the girl's image in the images recorded by each surveillance camera. The results showed that the girl was hanging around the vicinity of the embassy at a fixed time, although the dates were irregular.
"........."
Maebayashi grinned, exited the software, and left his seat. The image in front of the embassy's main gate at the current time showed the girl approaching the embassy from the city at this very moment.
Embassy Front Gate
During the day, when the sun was high in the sky, the girl was once again in front of the embassy. She hid herself, listening to what was going on inside. She was biting her lower lip, clenching her fists and looking frustrated.
"Sister..." the girl whispered.
But she was so preoccupied with what was going on inside that she did not notice the footsteps of a man approaching from behind. Maebayashi, who had come out of another doorway of the embassy, approached behind her step by step, making sure that the girl's attention was not on him.
"...Hello there, you come here often, what can the Japanese Embassy do for you?"
"!!"
The girl who was suddenly spoken to by a Japanese looked as if she were at the end of the world. She then tried to slip by Maebayashi, who extended his hand. But Maebayashi, reading her movements, followed the girl's every move, cutting off her retreat.
"This is an overseas diplomatic mission. You understand that this is not a place that outsiders should go near, right? So, what on earth are you doing here?"
Maebayashi asked the girl with a witty remark. The girl, thinking she was in a tight spot, kicked Maebayashi in the groin.
"Whoops!!"
Maebayashi, who could read the girl's mind, naturally avoided her kick. But the girl took advantage of the opportunity and bolted away.
"...Move!!"
The girl shoved the people on the street and disappeared into a shady alley, trying to confuse Maebayashi. But he could read the girl's actions as long as he had her in his sights, where she intended to go from the beginning, so he calmly followed her without any particular haste.
After more than ten minutes of chasing, the girl reached a certain square. It is still daytime and the sun has not yet set, but there are a few drunken people here and there in the vicinity. The girl put her hands on her knees to catch her breath, took a deep breath, and looked up at a large building standing in the middle of the square.
"........."
The building was once, and still is, the pride of the people of Barcelona. However, since its renovation in 2024, the collapse of the world economy has made it impossible to raise enough money to maintain the building, and now it continues to operate in a half-deserted state. The girl gazed at the dilapidated symbol with an indescribable emotion. But at that moment, the man who was supposed to be left behind was approaching her from behind.
"...Oho, so this is the Camp Nou we've heard so much about. It's dirtier than I imagined."
"!!"
The man's words were blunt as he described the Camp Nou, the football stadium that is the pride of the people of Barcelona. The girl turned around to see Maebayashi.
"...You!? You came all the way here!? How!? How could a stranger come here!?"
"How, you say? It was you who taught me the way to the Camp Nou with your heart."
"Huh!?"
The girl is shocked with widened eyes. Then, with a look of horror on her face, she backed away. Maebayashi slowly, but surely, closed the distance in time with the girl's trembling steps.
'Impossible, how could he...!? He can read people's minds!?'
"Yeah, of course. It's because I am not human."
'Not human!? Then, he can really read—'
"What are you thinking, yes."
'He knows everything!?'
"I can see it all like an open book."
Maebayashi, with a cocky grin on his face, guessed and shook the girl's mind. He was just like the Satori, the mind-reading simian yōkai from Japanese folklore.
"...Whoa, I'm not going to kidnap you or something. I just want to ask you something."
"Ask me something?"
"That's right, first, I want to know why you are so hostile to the embassy, and second, I want to know what the people at the embassy are doing."
A Japanese wants to know about the Japanese embassy. The girl tilted her head in confusion. Maebayashi explained to the perplexed girl that he was an inspector sent by the Japanese Empire's government and that the embassy was now under inspection.
After that, when the girl lowered her guard a little, Maebayashi bought her a bocadillo, a sandwich, a specialty of Barcelona, at a food stall near the stadium. Maebayashi smiled at the girl as she savored the hot bocadillo.
"T-thank you. You're a Japanese, and yet you are so kind..."
"There are one hundred million people in Japan. Of course there are good and bad people."
When he looked at the girl, he saw that her clothes were dirty and her arms and legs were thin, making it obvious from her appearance alone that she was from a poor family. After finishing her bocadillo, the girl took a breath and slowly spoke up.
"I am Octavia Duran. My sister, Agustina, works there."
Octavia began to tell the reason for her hatred toward the embassy. The story goes back two years.
It was 20 years ago that the Embassy of the Japanese Empire was established in the Republic of Catalonia. The current Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Takatora Mashiba, took up his post two years ago. The previous ambassadors had not employed local residents, but since Mashiba's arrival, they have begun employing the locals.
"They said they were open to people of all ages, genders, and origins, so a huge number of people rushed in. However, when I looked at the results, I saw that only young women were hired, and at first, everyone was suspicious. But the people who were hired came in with salaries like I've never seen before, and everyone was surprised."
Except for the cook, Mashiba hired only poor young women with no clerical experience or satisfactory education. The families of the hired women had a hunch that this was the case, and they feared that they would be turned into comfort women under the disguise of clerical work, which was a very physical pretext. However, all such feelings were wiped away when they later saw the amount of salary they were offered.
"...But... I... I'm watching. I see my sister coming home from the embassy, sometimes crying by herself. That's why I couldn't forgive the Japanese people there. And yet, the police...!"
After two years, the women who work at the embassy and their families are becoming dimly aware of what is going on inside the embassy and what those from faraway Japan are being forced to do. However, blinded by the paychecks from the embassy, they continued to force their deteriorating daughters and wives to work at the embassy.
Some of them became so enraged that they filed lawsuits, but the local police, prosecutors, and courts did not listen to the complaints of the poor. In fact, they were told that if they were being paid so much money, it was only natural that they would have to endure such a level of unreasonableness.
"And that man, too...!"
The mother of Agustina and Octavia was a lovesick woman living in a poor neighborhood. She is not a prostitute, but all of her children, including these sisters, had different fathers. And their father was a terrible man. Dazzled by the salary from the embassy, the father abused her sister Agustina, who begged to quit her job, and violently refused to allow her to leave the embassy. Her mother, who is supposedly related to her by blood, said she simply stood by and watched her husband do and say such things.
"...I see. So that's how it is."
Octavia had been frantically checking from outside the main gate to see if her sister Agustina was being treated badly inside the embassy. Of course, she couldn't see what was going on inside the building from such a place, but she couldn't stop, even if it was futile.
"Do you want to help your sister?"
"...Um."
At Maebayashi's blunt question, Octavia nodded. She said that her parents had taken all the money her sister had earned from her work at the embassy and were spending it without a plan. Octavia despised her parents, who had become money-blinded bootlickers at the expense of her sister.
"Then I need your help. Do you understand?"
"...Yes!"
Maebayashi asked Octavia to cooperate. She nodded more strongly. Maebayashi asked her questions to gather further information.
"Then I'm going straight to the point. We believe that the embassy is running a prostitution business using women in its clerical staff. Do you know where it is?"
"...The place? Wait a moment..."
After reading the minds of the local residents who work for the embassy, he knows that the diplomatic staff, led by Mashiba, rent a tenant somewhere in Barcelona and use it as an 'inn' for the wealthy. However, the exact location is still unknown. In order to narrow the physical evidence, it was necessary to find out the scene at all costs.
"...I don't know for sure, but... several times a week, a truck leaves the embassy. At first I thought they were just moving their stuff, but when those trucks leave, my sister comes back the next morning looking very worn out, so... maybe..."
"...Truck!?"
Maebayashi's eyes widened. After all, this girl had information that went to the heart of the matter. There was no solid proof yet, but it was likely that the women were being taken to the inn by that truck.
"...We are actually going back to Japan in four days. And the people at the embassy seem to have sensed that we are on to something. So I have a favor to ask you. In four days, we will pretend to go back to Japan as planned. After that, I need you to continue to monitor the embassy as usual."
"Huh?"
Octavia was puzzled, but Maebayashi pulled out a tool from his pocket and continued his explanation.
"I'm going to give you this radio in case something goes wrong. We will detect them when they let their guard down and resume 'business.' We will continue to monitor the embassy under the guise of returning home, but you will be the observer with the closest physical access to the embassy. So, if you see any activity when we are not looking, please use this to contact us."
"...!"
Maebayashi told Octavia to play the role of a spy. Octavia understood his words instantly and put the hearing aid radio in her pocket.
"...I'll take care of it!"
Octavia smiled with determination.
After that, Maebayashi left her and reported to Tokusa, who was waiting in the guest room of the official residence, that he had obtained testimonies from the families of local employees and that some of them had already filed complaints with the local police. They were moving steadily toward exposing the embassy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tokyo, Japanese Empire
A few hours later, at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, several bureaucrats were gathered in a conference room where they were examining a report from Tokusa, one of the inspectors. They were from the International Security Division of the Consular Affairs Bureau. The International Security Division, the Foreign Ministry's investigative body, had been informed of the allegations against the Japanese Embassy in Catalonia by the Inspection Office attached to the Minister's Secretariat, to which Tokusa belongs.
"The Republic of Catalonia is a member of the International Federation. In exchange for the loss of its unilateral customs autonomy and the donation of its leased land, it has entrusted its national defense and security to the IF Security Forces. As a member of the Federation, and as a contributor of troops to its security forces, our country has the authority to enforce security measures on their territory."
One of the bureaucrats is making a statement. It included the international situation in the 22nd century.
The International Federation (IF), an international organization of this era, has an organization called the "Security Forces," organized by each of the leading countries, which contributed funds and military power. It is a military organization that takes a position and form somewhere between the forced action kind of United Nations Forces, which was never formed in the preceding UN, and the peacekeeping force, the PKF.
The IF was originally established with the goal of restoring security around the world by deploying these security forces appropriately in conflict zones. Any member country can receive unconditional military support from the security forces. However, this is only the case if they pay the stipulated operating dues and contribute to military forces without delay. Many of the member countries have not escaped the effects of the global economic collapse and are still economically impoverished. If such countries want to benefit from a security force, they must submit compensation to the IF in place of their unpaid dues and military strength.
"This is a matter of honor of the Japanese Empire. Although there is still no solid evidence, we have obtained testimonies from the relatives of the staff members, and the local police agency has actually confirmed that they have a record of the complaints against the embassy. Prosecutor Satori seems to be convinced. But we don't want to involve the local police or the security forces of other countries in our investigation."
Kanehiko Higashisuzu, head of the International Security Division, wanted to keep this matter under wraps without any details leaking out to other countries. Hopefully, no such thing would ever happen, but he was no longer in a position to count on that.
"The Administrative Vice-Minister has already been informed. You are requested to contact the International Crime Prevention and Control Division of the National Police Agency's Security Bureau and request that they be dispatched to the area. We will arrange a route for them to enter the area via France as soon as possible."
The International Crime Prevention and Control Division was established in the National Police Agency's Security Bureau to conduct de facto police activities overseas. Originally named the Counter International Terrorism Division, it was reorganized as an overseas paramilitary unit with expanded personnel and equipment to deal with not only terrorism but also various crimes at the individual level. The mission of the division is to conduct intelligence operations overseas, ensure the safety of Japanese nationals, and, in the event of an emergency, deploy to the region as a paramilitary force to provide relief to Japanese nationals in cooperation with local security agencies. However, it was quite unusual for them to be deployed to uncover Japanese citizens' offenses overseas, as they did this time.
"When this case is exposed, our country will be revoking the credentials of its diplomats in the middle of their terms of office. If this were to be exposed to other countries, our country's reputation would be damaged. This matter must be kept private!"
"Yes, definitely...!"
The bureaucrats of the International Security Division who were attending the meeting nodded deeply at their boss's order. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also steadily making preparations to expose the embassy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 23, Night
Barcelona, Republic of Catalonia
On the same day, Catalonia welcomes the night. With the Holy Night approaching, Barcelona was in the midst of a Christmas market. Even though most of the city of Barcelona has a rough atmosphere, the streets where the Christmas market is held are full of life. However, once you step into an unpopular area, the city changes drastically. The house in which Octavia and her family live is located in a slightly secluded residential area to the south of the Japanese Embassy's district.
Octavia's house is on the first floor of an old apartment complex. She had come back to the house after parting ways with Maebayashi at the Camp Nou, killing time.
"........."
Octavia entered the building and stood in front of the door. From inside she could hear the angry voice of her father, who was not related to her by blood. She opened the door soundlessly.
"Medicine!! Go buy some medicine! You! You're still hiding the money!!"
The angry shouts became louder than ever. The man, a drug addict, often lost control of his emotions in this way. The target of his violence was Octavia's sister, Agustina, the sole breadwinner in the family. Her mother simply watched her while she blew smoke, and her sister did not put up any particular resistance, waiting in fear for the unjust violence to cease.
"...Sister!? Wait, please stop!"
Octavia quickly grabbed onto the right arm raised by her stepfather, Vasco Alfonso.
"Ha!? Damn it, stay back, you brat!!"
"Aaah!!"
Vasco swung his right arm as hard as he could to shake Octavia off, the 15-year-old girl was no match for the strength of a man whose restraints had been removed, and Octavia was thrown aside. Luckily, she was thrown onto an old sofa and was not injured, but her older sister Agustina was shocked to see her.
"...Bah! If you want to help her, go find some money! Like her!"
"...!!"
Vasco dismissed her and disappeared into a back room. Octavia glared at his back defiantly. She then turned her gaze to her mother, Carmela Duran. Carmela then looked away quickly in discomfort and disappeared into the same room as Vasco.
"...Octavia! Are you hurt?"
Agustina rushed to her sister's side and worried for her. Agustina's body was covered in painful bruises. Seeing her sister in such a state, Agustina's anger welled up inside her.
"Sister! Why are you giving them the money!? Why don't you just run away!? They've done terrible things to you, and almost all of the money you've earned from enduring them is being eaten up by drugs and gambling!"
Octavia had long felt resentment toward her adoptive father and mother for their inability to manage money, and toward her sister for entrusting her earnings to them.
"...Sister. Quit the embassy already, and run away."
"!?"
Octavia suggested that her sister run away. Agustina's eyes widened when she heard her words.
"If I quit the embassy, what will happen to your life? How will you live as two poor women if you run away? I don't want you to have to go through the same hardships as I did."
"...!"
Agustina put her hands on Octavia's cheeks and gently scolded her. Octavia looked distraught, but Agustina kept smiling.
"I'll be fine. So you don't have to worry about anything."
"Sister..."
Agustina wished that her only sister Octavia would not have to go through such hardships. She told her thoughts and went into the sisters' room, leaving Octavia alone in the living room, stunned for a moment.
"........."
Then, she thought of something and took something out of her pocket. It was the radio that Maebayashi had given her. Octavia pressed the button to start communication. Then she heard a man's voice on the other end of the radio.
"This is Satoru Maebayashi. What's up?"
"Hey? Satoru... can we meet tomorrow? I have a personal business."
Octavia asked the man on the other end of the radio in a thin, listless voice.