Chapter 517

After interrogating for a while longer, seeing that nothing new could be elicited, several senior officials also prepared to rest.

"Watanabe Director, please stay a moment." Cabinet Secretary Onoda Kimiaki, as Watanabe Eiji was about to leave, gestured for him to stay.

Onoda Kimiaki saw his elder brother's behavior, a flash of disappointment crossed his eyes, but he said nothing, for he also had nothing to say; were it not for the Special Mission Unit, this time would have meant the Cabinet's collective resignation!

Watanabe Eiji and Onoda Kimiaki came to a special reception room in the Imperial Household Agency; the Cabinet Secretary first gestured for the Police Commissioner General to sit down, then produced a cigar from his person: "Care for a smoke?"

"No, sir."

"In that case, drinking would be inappropriate, so let me pour you a cup of tea." Onoda Kimiaki smiled, loosened his tie, and on his face appeared a weariness from lifting a burden and sincere gratitude: "Please do not refuse!"

"Yes——" Watanabe Eiji, somewhat flattered, dared only to sit on half of his buttocks.

The man before him was none other than Japan's second or third most powerful figure, known as the "Vice Premier"!

In his presence, I am merely a "senior official"!

Onoda Kimiaki personally poured a cup of tea for Watanabe Eiji, then again spoke very earnestly in honorifics:

"Watanabe-kun, this time it truly was—too close. Without you, without Chief Uesugi and your daughter's decisive action, we would not now be sitting here drinking tea, but preparing a public apology press conference before the entire nation. This concerns the 'national polity'; this favor, the entire Cabinet, especially the Prime Minister and I, keep it in our hearts!"

"No, this is merely my duty, relying on the Cabinet's swift response and the Secretary's guidance." Watanabe Eiji felt his chest tighten, his eyes gleaming.

Cabinet Secretary Onoda, this is expressing the highest gratitude in a humble posture!

Shifting from "Director" to "Watanabe-kun" instantly closed the distance, indicating "one of our own" conversation.

The term "apology press conference" spelled out the event's most dreadful consequence, showing he fully understood how great a disaster the Special Mission Unit had averted.

Mentioning "national polity," this is one of the heaviest terms in Japanese political context, directly pointing to the fundamental state system, indicating the Secretary elevated this matter to the highest political level.

"Favor" and "keep in heart" are weighty terms; in Japan's political culture, especially at the top, "favor" requires repayment!

The Cabinet Secretary, speaking for the Cabinet, personally acknowledged this "favor," equivalent to issuing a political check with no upper limit!

Indeed, Cabinet Secretary Onoda immediately named his price.

"Next year's Police Commissioner General's budget, especially regarding special equipment and personnel expansion, the Cabinet will fully support."

"Watanabe-kun, we believe your future extends beyond the Police Commissioner General's office; in the next personnel change, we will seriously consider your wishes."

"Chief Uesugi truly is a national treasure. His professional ability has repeatedly saved us; please be sure to convey my and Prime Minister Yamada's personal thanks to him. If he has any needs requiring governmental support, do not hesitate to speak up."

"As for Tokyo University, we will also extend our greetings there; such a capable person, upon reaching the required years, should at least be given an associate professor title!"

"I must admit, Watanabe Management Official's leadership skills left a deep impression on me; she managed to extract Uesugi-kun, such a super-system forensic pathologist, from among so many, and even coaxed him into becoming her fiancé—I even feel a twinge of envy, Watanabe-kun; unfortunately, your beloved is still in the promotion freeze period, is she not?" Onoda Kimiaki said with a hint of teasing.

"Yes——" Watanabe Eiji quickly lowered his head.

"Then hurry up and prepare." Onoda Kimiaki said meaningfully: "Regarding the promotion of the Special Mission Unit to Special Mission Division, once the promotion freeze ends, we will immediately promote the Special Mission Unit to Special Mission Division!"

"Yes!" Watanabe Eiji could not help but feel excited, and promptly accepted the order.

"You handle affairs, I am at ease." Onoda Kimiaki patted Watanabe Eiji's shoulder, his expression gradually calming: "Only two matters, Watanabe-kun, you should pay slight attention to."

"First, your prospective son-in-law, Uesugi-kun, is indeed somewhat unruly; young people, having a temper is understandable; disciplining him falls to you, as long as it does not involve principle issues, you may relax somewhat; geniuses are always special."

"Second, regarding Kimiaki's matter, after your term ends———"

The confidential discussion in the sealed room continued for a good while.

That night, the storm within the Imperial Palace had already subsided, but its ripples spread outward in the highest manner.

All members of the Special Mission Unit, including Kai Toru with his arm in a bandage, were "strongly advised" to stay overnight at the Akasaka Rikyū, nominally "to facilitate subsequent matters communication and rest," but in reality, this was the highest-level gratitude and demeanor the Imperial Household, Cabinet, and Imperial Household Agency could express without ostentation.

The banquet was held in a not-large but extremely luxurious Japanese-style banquet hall.

No reporters, no idle onlookers, only Special Mission Unit members, the Cabinet Secretary, the Imperial Household Agency Director Maeda, the Police Commissioner General Tamaru Juzaburo, Police Commissioner General Watanabe Eiji, Cabinet Secretary Onoda Kimiaki, and a dozen or so others.

The meal was not a Western-style state banquet, but a true "imperial meal" prepared by the Imperial Household Agency's Great Meal Section; each dish was exquisite as artwork, using the finest seasonal ingredients: thinly sliced young sea bream, Matsusaka beef grilled on ceramic plates, Tanba chestnut sweet dumplings, and salt-grilled sweetfish freshly caught from the Imperial Palace pond's pool—even seemingly ordinary white rice exuded an indescribable sweet fragrance. The sake was specially provided by the Imperial Household's designated cellar master as a cellar-aged fine brew.

During the meal, the atmosphere was solemn yet warm; the magnates repeatedly rose to toast the Special Mission Unit members, especially Kai Toru, their words filled with unreserved praise and gratitude.

Kai Toru appeared somewhat flustered, while Watanabe Minami and Uesugi Muneyuki responded with composure, their conduct proper.

The most inexplicable guest present was none other than the Vice-Minister of Justice, Kai Toru's father, Kai Toru.

Heaven knows what actually happened; he was forcibly "kidnapped" here by several Public Security Police from the Ministry of Justice!

Upon hearing it might concern Kai Toru, Kai Toru had already despaired, thinking this son was done for! He hastily performed a "justice cut," claiming he was adopted!

But when he finally learned the truth, Kai Toru froze; in the blink of an eye, for no known reason, he found himself at the Akasaka Rikyū banquet venue.

He maintained, as always, the poise and solemnity of an elite from Tokyo University's Faculty of Law.

At this moment, the Cabinet Secretary smiled and approached, deliberately stopping before Kai Toru, and the gazes of several nearby dignitaries likewise focused on him.

The Cabinet Secretary's voice was neither loud nor soft, just right for everyone in this small banquet to hear:

"Kai-san, truly enviable. I hear the young talent who achieved great merit for the Police Commissioner General's office this time is your son?"

Instantly, Kai Toru's body stiffened almost imperceptibly. He nearly reflexively assumed that well-known stern father face for a disappointing son, brows tightly knotted, accompanied by an exaggerated hand-wave gesture full of deep helplessness and apology:

"Oh dear, sir, please do not say such things!"

He spoke faster, his tone full of standard "humility" and "self-deprecation": "This useless son of mine merely got lucky, happened to be present. Entirely due to the proper guidance of the Police Commissioner General's superiors and the joint efforts of colleagues. He himself merely fulfilled a policeman's most basic duty, possibly even causing others some trouble. Truly unworthy of your such praise, really making me sweat!"

His wording was seamless, completely fitting the posture a high-ranking bureaucrat should assume when praised by superiors for his children—even deliberately diluting his son's merit into the collective, placing himself in the position of "apologizing for an unworthy son."

Yet, the corner of this old fellow's mouth could not be fully suppressed; at the edge of his mouth, as he strained downward to assume a stern and displeased expression, a bit of muscle seemed uncontrollably inclined to twitch upward, forming an extremely brief and minute arc of smugness, though he quickly masked it with a cough.

His spine was straighter than usual, his chin unconsciously lifted a few millimeters. This was a subconscious pride and gratification, forming a subtle contrast with his words of "losing face."

And when Tamaru Juzaburo, Watanabe Eiji, Maeda Toshisuke, Onoda Kimiaki, and even Watanabe Minami all cast teasing and sincere congratulatory glances—"Truly a tiger father has no dog son!" "Kai-san, you hid it well!"—Kai Toru's originally stern gaze would flash a fleeting brilliance, that irrepressible joy and satisfaction of "having saved face."

He hastily put on a pained face and said: "Nowhere, nowhere, you overpraised him; he still falls far short!"

But that moment's spirit cannot be hidden from the perceptive.

This "unfilial son" who had caused him to lose face for years this time genuinely gave his old father a golden face, allowing him to obtain supreme honor before the Cabinet's highest echelon and his peers.

He simply reveled in it!

The contradiction between this father and son was visible to all present; they had not exchanged a single word from beginning to end.

However, in the spot where Kai Toru was inattentive, Kai Toru alone hid in a corner, glared askance at his son, lowered his head and muttered to himself, full of grievances.

"Hmph! This brat scared the hell out of me!"

"He actually didn't cause any trouble — truly, finally, he's learned a thing or two, the Special Mission Unit — it still had some effect after all!"

"Too reckless, doesn't understand caution in the slightest, truly worried me and his mother to death."

"This guy still needs more training!"

"Just follow Uesugi Chief and Watanabe Management Official properly and learn from them!"