Chapter 461

"Back then, I had just passed the Career Track exam not long ago, and after a period of advanced training at the Police Academy, I entered Investigation Division 1. It just so happened that our unit was handling a serial convenience store robbery-murder case in Hachioji City. As the first case I handled, I, as a Career Track elite, was under immense pressure, and I also wasn't used to such exhausting, busy police work. I hadn't slept well for several days."

Uesugi Muneyuki nodded.

The Career Track is not unique to the police organization; those who pass the National Public Service Grade 1 Examination and enter the bureaucratic system to work are all called "Career Track." And just as Superintendent Higurashi said earlier, although Career Track corresponds to Non-Career Track and they are all superiors among men, coming to work at the Metropolitan Police Department or National Police Agency is actually not very welcomed by Career Track people.

Because the police profession has considerable job capability requirements and KPI pressure; that is to say, they truly need a certain amount of talent and must bear the responsibility of solving cases.

On the contrary, the most popular posts are the Imperial Household, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

These ministries have no KPI pressure to speak of, nor do they require much real talent; they are very typical bureaucratic system departments that can "idle," promoting step by step according to routine, and they still have good power and perks.

Everyone wants to sit in an office with air conditioning reading reports, carving A4 paper, and playing Genshin Impact; who wants to chase criminals under the scorching sun on the open road, investigate everywhere, solve cases, and still have to constantly bear the pressure of never-ending new cases? The pay is the same, but the latter's physical and mental wear and tear is at least three times that of the former, right?

Uesugi Muneyuki expressed that he could understand.

And seeing that Uesugi Muneyuki could understand, Okada Masayoshi's gaze drifted far away, sinking into memory:

"That night, the investigation made no progress for a long time. As a rookie, I bore enormous pressure, exhausted and hungry, I walked into a 24-hour supermarket wanting to buy something to eat. Standing behind the register was her — Miki."

The corner of Okada's mouth twisted into a curve bitter to the extreme: "She wore an ordinary supermarket uniform, her hair simply tied behind her head, her face showing a hint of fatigue, but when she raised her head and smiled at me, saying 'Welcome, you've worked hard, Officer' — I — I felt like I'd been struck by something."

"You should be able to understand, right? After all, you're a descendant of Lord Kenshin." Okada Masayoshi looked at Uesugi, his eyes full of self-mockery and a deep sorrow: "What kind of environment did I grow up in? My father, Okada Masahide; before, my father was the Director-General of the Minister's Secretariat at the Ministry of Finance, and later he was promoted to Director General of the Financial Services Agency. Our Okada family rules are stricter than the law."

"Every move, every word and deed, must conform to the requirements of the 'House.' Eating without making a sound, sitting posture must be upright, emotions must not be shown, hobbies must not be 'vulgar' — even laughter cannot be too loud. My childhood, my youth, were like living inside a cold glass dome rimmed with gold; every step was calculated, every sentence weighed. 'Responsibility,' 'Honor,' 'Family' — these words pressed down like a mountain, suffocating me."

Uesugi Muneyuki fell silent; he thought that his family didn't demand that much of him, because he was the second son.

Grandfather and Father hoped it would be "best if so," but not "must be so," so the family pressure Uesugi Muneyuki bore might not even be one-tenth of his older brother Uesugi Teisen's.

The family didn't need him to inherit the family business.

"But Miki was different." Okada's voice carried a trace of distant, illusory warmth, immediately covered by deeper coldness: "Her smile, so natural, so — without burden. When I bought instant noodles late at night, she would secretly slip me a hot rice ball, saying 'Officer, eating only instant noodles is bad for your stomach.'"

"When I was at a loss because of a case, she would clumsily comfort me with a few words; although they might be disjointed, that care — utterly without calculation — to me was like a person who had walked too long in the desert suddenly seeing a clear spring."

"She looked — really like a young Noriko Sakai, pure, sweet."

Uesugi Muneyuki suddenly said after hearing this: "You must have seen that commercial as a kid, right? The one where Noriko Sakai keeps changing costumes and singing."

"Ah right, ah right right right! Uesugi-san saw it too?" Okada's eyes lit up.

Finishing speaking, the two almost sang in unison:

"Mat-su-shi-ta Den-ki"

"Hahahahaha ah hahahahahahahaha!"

Inside the abandoned water purification plant was nothing but cheerful laughter.

【So this is what a noble political clan scion is like? Really?】 Hironaka Mariko retorted: 【There's already a sad thick wall separating us.】

【Uuu, Noriko, take me with you! Noriko! My dream goddess, when I was alone in my rental apartment practicing manzai, the whole wall was covered in Noriko posters!】 Miyahara Toru was overwhelmed with emotion.

【Humans really are a species that likes listening to stories.】 Arimura Hana said coldly; she signaled Uesugi Muneyuki to hurry up and move, let Okada continue speaking!

After laughing enough, Okada closed his eyes, as if he could still see that profile smiling at him under the supermarket lights: "That was the only 'unrealistic' dream I secretly treasured in my youth. So when this dream appeared before me in such an 'ordinary, warm' posture, I — I fell completely. I thought I had found the only exit against that cold gilded cage, the only real sense of being alive."

Once the floodgates of confession opened, they could never be closed again. Okada Masayoshi's voice grew more and more agitated, carrying years of accumulated pain and grievance: "Father — how could he possibly agree? A supermarket cashier? In his eyes, it was simply disgracing the Okada family name! He flew into a rage, threatened, froze my accounts, used all his connections to try to transfer me to the most remote police station, even — even declared he would sever our father-son relationship! Mother — could only cry in secret, unable to do anything."

Okada's fists clenched, knuckles turning white: "Why would I, a proud Career Track, go be the Superintendent General's driver (i. e., dedicated chauffeur), if not for this!"

"But at that time — I was like a man possessed! I felt my first half of life had all been lived for others, for the family, for responsibility! Only this once! I wanted to live for myself once! For this 'purity' and 'warmth' I believed in! I waged an unprecedented war with my father! Quarrel after quarrel, confrontation after confrontation — I nearly exhausted all my energy and the last shred of father-son affection."

"The wedding —" Okada let out a short, bleak, miserable laugh — "Can you imagine? The wedding of the only son of Financial Services Agency Director General Okada Masahide! Not a single Okada family relative attended! The groom's family and friends' seats were empty! Only a few of my Tokyo University deadbeat friends held down the fort. Miki's relatives' eyes were full of incomprehension and a hint of contempt? Probably thought I was some fallen scion abandoned by his family." He shook his head, tears silently sliding down again, "But I didn't care then! I felt I had won! I had broken out of the cage! I had protected my love! I even felt a kind of tragic pride —"

"The price —" Okada's voice lowered, filled with endless exhaustion and regret — "The price was an almost total break with Father. For years, except for official occasions that couldn't be avoided, we barely spoke. He regarded me as the family's traitor and disgrace. And I — I thought I had gained compensation, gained Miki's love and that warm home — result?" He suddenly lifted his head, bloodshot eyes staring dead at the void, as if wanting to pierce the wall and see that already dead wife.

"The result was a thorough, complete scam! A glittering phantom dream exchanged for my future, my family ties, my entire trust and devotion!" His voice suddenly rose, filled with the anger of being fooled and bone-deep sorrow: "When I returned home, I saw the Okamoto on the table — I, I"

"Because she married you, it wasn't for you as a person at all! It was for the 'Okada' surname behind which she fantasized about glory and wealth! It was to get close to what she thought was the core of the financial empire! When she discovered your father didn't acknowledge her as a daughter-in-law at all,

and your income as a mere 'Police Inspector' couldn't satisfy her greedy desire for luxury goods, her true colors showed!

Complaints, mockery, coldness, even cursing you to die! For that bit of survivor's pension!"

Uesugi Muneyuki said lightly, also with some sorrow: "I think you're mistaken about one thing. Her attitude being so good to you at the start was purely professional instinct; it's just that you had little contact with that sort of thing, so you mistook it for special favor toward you personally."

This is also a common failing of many men: taking the friendliness the other party displays professionally as preferential treatment toward themselves.

For instance, the maid cafes that otaku like to go to; for instance, the flight attendants many ordinary workers face; for instance, the club hostesses many small bosses face.

Okada Miki wanted to become the Director General of the Financial Services Agency's daughter-in-law; as for who the Director General was, that didn't matter.

She must have gradually discovered the other party's identity while Okada was courting her, so at least at the start she still pretended very well, but after marriage, discovering she hadn't gotten to live the high-society life she wished for, she naturally gradually reverted to form.

She thought she would become an upper-class noblewoman; never expected she'd just be an ordinary petit-bourgeois wife. Under the huge gap, Okada Miki naturally felt unbalanced; who to blame?

Could she blame herself???

"Perhaps it really is as Uesugi says, and I — I was like a fool!" Okada Masayoshi fiercely pounded his own chest, making a dull thud: "Still trying to maintain it! Still blaming myself for not doing enough! For being too busy with work and neglecting her! I even — even when she was besieged by media, disgraced, I still dragged this injured body, thinking to come back and 'protect' her! What did I see when I opened the door?! Okamoto 001! Okamoto Wolf Thorn! Okamoto Ribbed Studded! Her and her lover! Lying in a pool of blood! And I — became the prime murder suspect!"

"What did I do wrong?! Uesugi-san! You tell me! What exactly did I do wrong?!" Okada Masayoshi, like a lost child, desperately sought an answer from Uesugi Muneyuki, though he knew there was no answer, he almost wailed: "I followed the rules, I performed my duties faithfully, I was even willing to sacrifice myself for my child! I just — just wanted to grasp a bit of the warmth and reality I desired! I paid every price I could pay! Why — why did it become like this?! Why does sincerity exchange for the most vicious betrayal and most cruel frame-up in this world?!"

He broke down again, choking on sobs, body curling up, trembling violently. This crying was no longer simple fear and grievance, but the utter despair after faith collapsed and life's pillars shattered. That young Police Inspector who for true love didn't hesitate to break with his family, full of spirit, that "Young Lion" who threw himself to save a child at the nursery gate — after experiencing marital disillusionment, betrayal and framing, fleeing for his life, and faith collapsing — had already completely died.

Uesugi Muneyuki silently watched the collapsed middle-aged man before him.

He did not answer Okada Masayoshi's question about "right and wrong," because there never was a standard answer. He just listened quietly, like the most faithful recorder, recording this tragedy brewed by human greed, family strife, and fate's trickery.

After a long time, when Okada Masayoshi's crying turned again into stifled sobs, Uesugi Muneyuki finally spoke slowly, voice low and carrying a sorrow that seemed to see through worldly affairs: "Okada-san, I know, that former Okada Masayoshi, the Okada Masayoshi who gave everything for that phantom under the supermarket lights — has indeed 'died.' Died of betrayal, died of framing, and also died of — the truth you finally saw clearly."

"But at least, you still have us, don't you?"

"The past's rights and wrongs can no longer be changed. What's important is that you're still alive, and the truth is also surfacing."

Uesugi Muneyuki reached out his hand: "We, all care about you, are waiting for you!"

"Even your father has specifically inquired about this matter."

Just as Uesugi Muneyuki was speaking, outside, Date Nagamune, Kai Toru, Ikeda Erena and the others from the Special Mission Unit had already entered; among them Erena remained silent throughout, while Date Nagamune and Kai Toru were already streaming with tears.

Too tragic, Okada-san!

Okada Masayoshi blankly looked at Uesugi's outstretched hand, then lowered his head to look at his own hands covered in mud and tear stains, trembling slightly. A ray of starlight struggled through the gap of the ventilation shaft that had never been sealed, happening to fall on that hand — warm, yet carrying a heavy sense of reality.

Yeah, I still have you guys, I still have everyone!

I'm not walking alone!