Chapter 717: Sea and Land Discord!

Uesugi Era Year 4, mid-January, Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters, Sakuradamon, Special Mission Unit Temporary Office.

With the Special Mission Unit's promotion imminent, Uesugi Muneyuki happened to be busy with research and thesis experiments at Tokyo University, while Watanabe Minami and Okada Masayoshi had to prepare for the Police Superintendent and Police Inspector promotion exams; although both were Career Track elites, they gave it their all like a lion hunting a rabbit — if they failed this round, wouldn't that be embarrassing? So lately neither's attention was on the Special Mission Unit headquarters.

Therefore the Special Mission Unit had instead quieted down, with Nango Yui presiding over the relocation of all the Unit's files and various materials.

Since the new Special Mission Division office area was under renovation, the temporary office was arranged in three knocked-through rooms in the corner of the third floor of the Metropolitan Police Department main building. The air still carried the smell of renovation materials; document boxes were stacked against the walls, and a few desks barely cobbled together a workspace.

Kanjō Wataru from the Ministry of Justice had also been observing the Special Mission Unit's operating methods and the source of its superlative case-solving ability during this period, but with Uesugi Muneyuki himself absent and a new department being established, he couldn't make out much.

The Metropolitan Police Department wouldn't be afraid we from the Ministry of Justice and the District Public Prosecutors Office would steal their core technology, would they?

Hmm, no rush, in a little over a month the Special Mission Division will officially start operating…

Around 8:45 this morning, Kanjō Wataru in a crisp suit and badge had just stepped into the corridor where the Special Mission Unit was located when he saw his subordinate run out; the subordinate's eyes lit up upon seeing him and he hurried over: "Section Chief! It's bad!"

"What?" Kanjō had always been mature and steady; he gestured: what's with the fuss over nothing?

"Date and Maeda are fighting!" The Ministry of Justice bureaucrat wore a pained, sphincter-tightening expression.

"What?!" Kanjō Wataru's face changed abruptly.

At this juncture, absolutely nothing must go wrong!

Not a single thing must go wrong!

Several men in suits immediately sprinted toward the Special Mission Unit's temporary office.

Time rewinds five minutes.

Date Nagamune and Maeda Toshihide, those two guys, as always arrived at the office early today; Date, with nothing to do, started watching last night's recording of Akai Saka performance clips, while Maeda Toshihide habitually turned on the TV to watch the news.

These two guys originally got along extremely poorly; Date sneered at Maeda's behavior of coming to the office to watch news, especially after he discovered this kid had clearly been shoved in through family connections, and a cross-region secondment at that — he despised him even more.

There's a saying: the ones who hate new immigrants the most are the old immigrants who've already settled; the ones who shout "Soviet dogs" most fiercely are actually the previous generation of "Soviet dogs"; the ones who hate Mexicans the most are former Mexicans; the ones who dislike Black people the most are often Black people themselves.

The two quickly started quarreling because Date Nagamune's volume was too loud.

"That's why I say Moriya Akane's stage presence is the most underestimated in the group!" Date Nagamune's voice nearly lifted the temporary partitions; he stood before a laptop playing concert footage.

Maeda Toshihide leaned against the opposite desk, twirling a pen, sneering: "Just a consumable of the idol industry. Those with true artistic cultivation should go watch Takarazuka; Yuzukou Hikari's portrayal of Scarlett in 'Gone with the Wind' — that kind of presence is the real thing."

"Ha! 'Male roles' wearing wigs and duetting on stage?" Date Nagamune turned, arms crossed: "Maeda-kun, do you Navy types all like this kind of illusory male image?"

"Still better than you Army types liking commodities packaged by talent agencies as 'pure girlfriend vibes'!" Maeda straightened up and said rudely: "At least Takarazuka performances require ten years of honing!"

"Oh? 'Male roles' that need ten years of honing?" Date deliberately stressed the term, face full of contempt: "No wonder someone who passed the local civil service exam on the third try by the skin of his teeth would appreciate it — after all, you both excel at 'long-duration but low-efficiency' effort."

Maeda's face instantly flushed: "What did you say?!"

Barely scraping past on the third try at the lowest passing line and being forcibly shoved in through his grandfather's connections was the pain in Maeda's heart!

"I said—" Date Nagamune stepped forward: "Moriya Akane's performance in 'Dissonance', that kind of real, flawed yet vitality-filled stage charm, is a hundred times stronger than Takarazuka's formulaic perfection!"

Hearing this, Maeda Toshihide finally couldn't hold back and burst out laughing: "Chicken."

"?!" Date Nagamune froze, stopping the playback.

"Nothing but a lousy chicken selling smiles; I say, Date-san, you came to Edo for sankin-kōtai, how did the sankin-kōtai lead you into Yoshiwara?" Maeda Toshihide smiled.

The air froze.

Date Nagamune's expression shifted from anger to cold danger: "Say that again?"

"So-called Akimoto Yasushi's idols…" Maeda turned his head, pretending to organize documents: "Aren't they all essentially Yoshiwara products? Do you really need to take his words so seriously?" His words weren't finished, because Date had already grabbed his collar.

"Apologize."

"Apologize to Akane-chan! Right now! She's a good girl! Hardworking and sincere! I won't let you talk about her like that!"

"Let go, Army idiot!" Maeda Toshihide, unlike his ancestor Maeda Toshiie, stiffened his neck: "Are you really Peerage? Uwajima's Date?"

"You apologize first for insulting Akane-chan! Navy idiot!"

The two grappled, office chairs knocked over.

At this moment Kansei Watari arrived; he and three Ministry of Justice bureaucrats stared dumbfounded.

You call this the Metropolitan Police Department's ace department?

"Stop!"

The voice came from the other side; Police Sergeant Igarashi roared angrily, then sighed, as if this scene was already routine. "How are you two at it again?" Igarashi put documents on the nearest desk: "Last time it was over whether curry should have beef or pork, the time before that over whether Emperor Meiji favored the Navy or the Army, the time before that over the Satsuma-Chōshū domain cliques…"

Igarashi's words hadn't fallen when the small TV on the office wall, playing morning news, happened to switch to an interview of the Takarazuka Kagekidan New Year performance; Yuzukou Hikari in a suit, as a "Male Role", accepted the interview, graceful and dashing.

Maeda Toshihide was instantly drawn: "Look! This is a true artist! A man should marry someone like—"

"Chicken." Date Nagamune shook off Maeda Toshihide's collar: "Still just a lousy chicken selling smiles."

"???!!" Maeda whipped around: "You! You don't get to talk about her like that! Hikari-chan is a good girl!"

"Was I wrong? All entertainment industry, who's nobler than whom?"

"At least we Takarazuka have a hundred years of history! Your Akai Saka 46 has been around for how many years? Survive a hundred years then talk!"

"Long history makes you great? Then your Maeda Family has even longer history, how come you still didn't pass the Career Track?"

"You—!"

Just as the two were about to lunge at each other again, a cold female voice came from the corridor:

"No need to argue."

Everyone turned their heads.

At the doorway stood a woman of about twenty-five or six, in a tailored suit skirt, short hair sharp, briefcase in hand, eyes keen as a scalpel.

A brand-new Police Inspector badge hung at her chest.

"Ozawa Sumiko, future Special Mission Division Public Security Section One Section Chief Police Inspector." She walked in, gaze sweeping the chaotic office, finally landing on the TV screen, a trace of annoyance flashing across her face.

The corner of her mouth hooked into a near-cruel curve:

"In my view, both are lousy chickens."

Boom

Date and Maeda exploded simultaneously.

"What did you say?!"

"You dare say that again?!"

However, the two men didn't dare lay a hand on her, not only because she was Public Security, but also because Assistant Police Inspector Tsugawa Shouichi and two other Public Security officers stood behind her.

Ozawa Sumiko remained expressionless, not even bothering to look at them, and walked straight to the only tidy desk: "Just stating facts. The idol industry's essence is the commodification of emotion, and Takarazuka is merely a high-end version of gender-performance entertainment. Worth two civil servants brawling in the Metropolitan Police Department office?" Her tone was calm as stating the weather, but each word was like a needle.

Date Wa and Maeda stood on the same front line for the first time—glaring at Ozawa Sumiko.

"You don't understand art!"

"Just because you graduated from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) doesn't mean you're impressive?!"

"At least MIT taught me rational analysis," Ozawa Sumiko finally lifted her gaze, her eyes full of undisguised contempt: "Instead of fighting like primitives over entertainment products."

"I'll fight you to the end!" At this moment, the navy and army finally united, together beating the American foreigners (American female overseas students).

Eat my divine wind!

"Wait!" Kansei Watari finally intervened, spreading his arms to block the three.

His high-end suit was wrinkled from the shoving, and his glasses were askew.

"Everyone, calm down!" He struggled to maintain the dignity of a Ministry of Justice elite: "We are all colleagues at the Metropolitan Police Department, and we will work together in the future..." Date Nagamune fumed: "She insulted Akane-chan!"

Maeda Toshihide was even more furious: "She also insulted all of Takarazuka!"

Ozawa Sumiko, meanwhile, acted as if nothing had happened: "I'm merely stating facts."

Kansei Watari took a deep breath, deploying the bureaucratic art of muddying the waters he had honed in his career:

"I think..." he adjusted his glasses: "Ms. Moriya Akane and Ms. Yuzukou Hikari are both... very outstanding performers. They are both striving in their respective fields. They are both... good girls."

As soon as he said that, the office fell silent, everyone staring at Kanjō Wataru, struck dumb by his words.

"Pfft." Igarashi really couldn't hold it in, turned away, shoulders shaking.

Ozawa Sumiko rolled her eyes so hard they seemed to pop out, turned, opened her computer, and the sound of her typing was heavy, as if she were venting anger.

Kansei Watari could even "hear" the words she didn't say out loud—indeed, the non-career track are all eight-trigram fools.

Date Wa and Maeda exchanged glances, suddenly feeling it was a bit foolish to fight over this, but neither could back down and reconcile.

Kansei Watari straightened his suit, trying to regain dignity: "In short, the Special Mission Division is an important department of the Metropolitan Police Department, and before its formal upgrade, I hope everyone can maintain basic work order."

He thought it might not be enough, so he lowered his voice and intensified his tone, adding: "Especially, don't cause trouble for the Special Mission Unit's promotion... Ladies and gentlemen, I suppose none of you found it easy to get this job, right?"

Finally, this sentence took effect. Date and Maeda loosened their fists, and Ozawa Sumiko's typing force eased somewhat.

But iron curtains were falling between navy and army, career track and non-career track, idol otaku and opera fans, Ministry of Justice and Metropolitan Police Department. Igarashi, Police Sergeant of the Investigation Division, watched this delicate balance, then glanced at the clock on the wall, muttering to himself with hands on hips.

We Special Mission Unit... oh no, we Special Mission Division, are indeed a bunch of divine beings!

Could it be that only divine beings can enter our Special Mission Unit?