Chapter 754

Uesugi Muneyuki said something to Eirina and then stood up.

Minami wasn't there; she had gone to the National Police Agency for a meeting again, and she's been busy with this lately.

Although it's been two weeks since its establishment, the Special Mission Division still hasn't begun actual operations; Minami Ojou-sama is currently still constructing the entire Special Mission Division's rules and operational procedures, distinguishing between Criminal Investigation Divisions 1 and 2, and determining what the Public Security Division and Prosecutor's Liaison System should do and can do. So you can still see Date and Maeda arguing all day in the office—no way around it, practical duties haven't actually started yet!

No way around it, my little life has its national conditions here.

This phenomenon in Japan is called "Ri5 Shou Shou no Saku Datsu" (slow to start) or "Kenkou Sakugo no Choutai" (long trial-and-error period). Japanese government department decisions often need to go through a document called a "ringisho," circulated and stamped among relevant divisions and sections ("nemawashi," i. e., prior coordination), and only after everyone has expressed their opinion can a final decision be formed.

A new department being established means establishing a brand-new, cross-departmental decision-making process and interpersonal network. This process cannot be rushed, or else it will be seen as breaking the rules.

In Japan, a new department in its first few months or even a year will spend a large amount of time on internal meetings and informal gatherings, aiming to let personnel from different backgrounds get to know each other, forming a unified team consciousness and behavioral norms.

In the initial stage, a large amount of energy must be spent on countless coordination meetings with relevant provincial ministries, clearly drawing the boundary line of "this is my turf, that is yours."

This process is extremely time-consuming.

Minami Ojou-sama and Okada Masayoshi have recently been presiding over these tasks; looking at it, these tasks seem unrelated to concrete affairs, but this is actually the most time- and energy-consuming part, and for the department to truly operate, this part is the most important. Compared to Japan's sluggish efficiency, the Special Mission Division is already quite fast.

So everyone can understand why, out of the tens of thousands of police in the Metropolitan Police Department, only 40% are field units (referring to those involved in concrete police case-solving, patrol, and security duties), yet 60% are administrative units (referring to purely administrative affairs, not participating in frontline detection)?

Although this process is slow and full of internal drain, it also has its positive side: it ensures that any major change is not someone's sudden impulse, but the result of sufficient bargaining by all relevant parties, thus guaranteeing policy stability and executability.

This is Foucault's conservative theory: your individual whimsical idea cannot possibly surpass the existing system forged by tens of thousands of people through extensive bargaining over hundreds of years; your individual sense of fairness cannot possibly surpass the moral evaluation standard formed by tens of thousands of people in long-term social development.

Japan's civil service system deeply imbibes the three flavors of the British Empire.

The Personnel Division's office is on the fourth floor of the Metropolitan Police Department's main building, two floors above the Special Mission Division.

When Uesugi Muneyuki reached the corner of the third floor, he met someone face-on.

She was a young female police officer in her late twenties, wearing the standard internal affairs uniform: a navy blue suit skirt, white shirt, dark blue tie, and under the spring over-knee tube skirt, sheer flesh-colored pantyhose of the Atsugi style wrapped her delicate calves, a pair of stockinged feet curled in ordinary thick-heel black lacquer high heels.

Her features were soft, her eyes round, carrying a natural gentleness, but at this moment she stood in the hallway, her eye sockets slightly red, clutching a tissue in her hand, obviously having just cried.

Seeing Uesugi Muneyuki, she froze for a moment, quickly lowered her head, and wiped her eye corners with the tissue.

"Uesugi Chief..." her voice soft, with a hint of nasal tone: "Good afternoon."

Uesugi Muneyuki nodded: "Patrol Officer Yamada."

Yamada Nanase, twenty-seven years old, patrol officer of the Personnel Division's Third Section; her husband Yamada Yuki died in the Ikebukuro Phantom Guest case due to a bulletproof vest issue, and she entered the Metropolitan Police Department relying on this connection as a martyr's widow; thanks to her outstanding appearance and soft, cute charm, plus occasional hints of melancholy, she enjoys extreme popularity among the Metropolitan Police Department's young "hammer" group.

However, as previously stated, Yamada Nanase has no particular talent; usually she just does tea-pouring, water-fetching, photocopying, and document-delivery work; she can rely on the martyr's grace and the martyr's widow condolence payment status to earn over six million yen a year, but if she remarries, these benefits will all be lost, so instead no one dares to touch her, at least not let the Metropolitan Police Department know.

"Are you alright?" Uesugi Muneyuki asked.

Yamada Nanase shook her head, pulling out a faint smile at the corner of her mouth: "It's fine, it's fine, just... I just read a police file, and it mentioned that many pigeons died, fat pigeons, and I felt a bit moved."

She said this, then wiped her eye corners again with the tissue and sniffled.

Fat pigeons died?

Uesugi Muneyuki did not pursue the question.

Everyone in the Metropolitan Police Department has their own unspeakable story; this is normal.

"Section Chief Kashiwagi is waiting for me," he said: "I'll go ahead first."

"Ah, okay, okay!" Yamada Nanase quickly stepped aside, giving a slight bow: "Please go about your business, please go about your business."

As Uesugi Muneyuki walked past her, he heard a soft sniffle from behind.

He didn't turn back, thinking Date Nagamune should still go chase after the Second Young Lady—at least the Second Young Lady has a proper income.

The office door of the Personnel Division's Third Section was open, with only a desk lamp lit inside.

Kashiwagi Misa sat behind the desk, looking at some document.

She is thirty this year, her features deep and three-dimensional, with obvious mixed-race traits—internally at the Metropolitan Police Department, they privately call her "Ice Beauty," not just because of that cold, striking face, but more because of those eyes; when looking at people, they always seem to be behind a thin layer of ice.

The former face of the Metropolitan Police Department wore the standard internal affairs police uniform: a navy blue suit skirt tailored to perfection, outlining the smooth line from shoulder and neck to waist; the white shirt's collar fastened meticulously, the dark blue tie under the desk lamp emitting a soft sheen.

Below the tube skirt's hem were straight calves wrapped in dark gray stockings, lines even and tight, the sock tips faintly revealing the skin's moisture; on her feet were a pair of black mid-heel low-cut shoes, heels lightly touching the ground, the shoe surface reflecting a subdued luster under the light; another gray stockinged foot was slightly lifted, heel detached, toes lightly hooking the shoe toe, playing with the shoe, obviously her mood had changed.

Hearing the knocking sound, she raised her head; those cold eyes fell on Uesugi's face, and in those iceberg-like mixed-race pupils, a glint of brightness flashed. "Come in."

Uesugi Muneyuki walked in, and casually closed the door behind him.

Kashiwagi Misa stood up, walked around the desk, and approached him; her high heels tapped a crisp sound on the floor, step by step, carrying a certain rhythm.

"That... the Ōtaku Police Station matter," she began, her voice still that cold quality: "Is it Tanaka Naoki Police Inspector?" Uesugi Muneyuki nodded: "I just finished handling it."

"Right, he came to the Personnel Division before." Kashiwagi Misa said, her icy brows slightly furrowed: "He looked for me, said he knew you, I recall indeed there was such a thing; you once spent a period cooperating at Ōtaku Police Station?"

She paused, then added with slight emphasis: "I originally never liked to meddle in these matters, but hearing it was you... well, anyway, it's not a big deal, just passing a word to Section Chief Ibuki's side."

Uesugi Muneyuki looked at her, said nothing, only a hint of smile in his brows and eyes.

"I heard today he was being watched by the Supervision Officer?" Kashiwagi Misa's tone carried a hint of barely detectable tension: "What exactly happened? Are you alright?"

Uesugi Muneyuki was about to speak to explain that Tanaka Laodeng had been screwed over by his subordinates.

Kashiwagi Misa immediately raised her hand, stopping him.

She turned her head, glanced toward the door; the hallway was quiet, occasional footsteps echoing far away, then quickly fading into the distance. She seemed to have confirmed something, and softly exhaled.

Then she turned her head, looking at Uesugi.

Those eyes usually so cold now suddenly took on a layer of indescribable soft light; her cheeks visibly flushed with a crimson hue, spreading from cheekbones to ear roots.

"Come with me." She whispered: "Here is not suitable; Nanase will be back shortly."

The two walked one after the other, and soon arrived at the familiar confidential archives room in the Metropolitan Police Department's basement, familiar walls, familiar incandescent lamps, familiar sofa, familiar metal cabinet, familiar file boxes and office supplies.

Kashiwagi Misa stood before him, her back against the metal cabinet.

She raised her head, looking at him; the ice in those eyes had completely melted, replaced by a complex light mixed with shyness and longing.

"About the Ōtaku Police Station." Her voice dropped even lower than before, carrying a slight tremor: "Anyway, you must have already resolved it, right?" Uesugi Muneyuki looked at her, silent, only the smile in his eyes impossible to hide.

She waited two seconds, seeing he didn't respond, suddenly lowered her head, the corner of her mouth forming a somewhat helpless arc.

"I really... clearly it was me who came to ask you about things, yet the one who ended up worrying first was you."

The Ice Beauty police officer said this, lifted her head, and the light in those eyes brightened a few more degrees.

Then she made a motion: her hand lightly lifted, falling on the edge of her skirt—namely the navy blue suit skirt, which at the waist drew out a fine curve, the skirt hem just covering above the knee. Her fingers hooked the skirt's edge, slightly lifting it upward.

One inch.

Another inch.

The beautiful legs wrapped in stockings were revealed, glowing faintly in the dim light, the stockings being standard police issue, dark gray, opaque, yet perfectly outlining the leg's contours.

Her cheeks grew even redder, red as if about to drip blood.

"Anyway..." Her voice was light as a dream mutter, carrying a certain married woman's unique, bashful frankness: "You also want to do it, right? I heard you... every time after solving a case you have needs..."

She lifted her eyelids, looking at him, and smiled alluringly.

"No one will find out here."

When Yamada Nanase returned to the Personnel Division Third Section office, it was already nearly quitting time in the afternoon.

The desk duty officer is good at that—leaves on time, while overtime and overnight search shifts are mostly done by men; they usually leave beautifully on the dot.

She pushed open the office door, and inside the lights were off.

"Section Chief Kashiwagi?" she called weakly.

No one answered.

Yamada Nanase froze for a moment—Section Chief Kashiwagi had just been there, saying he had business to see the Uesugi Chief, so how is he gone now?

She reached out and pressed the wall switch.

The fluorescent lamp flickered twice, then lit up; the office remained as before—several desks pushed together, Kashiwagi Misa's desk neat and tidy, files stacked into right angles, pens in the holder arranged by color, her own desk slightly messier, piled with a few files awaiting sorting, while other desks had officers assigned by the section chief who were out on business.

She walked over and glanced at the section chief's desk.

Then she saw it—on Kashiwagi Misa's chair, a clump of dark gray material.

Yamada Nanase froze for a moment, leaned in to look.

It was stockings.

A pair of dark gray police-issue stockings, haphazardly balled up, just tossed onto her chair.

The section chief, just like me, doesn't like wearing stockings? Yamada Nanase secretly rejoiced—since joining the Metropolitan Police Department, she thought everything was fine, except that desk duty required wearing stockings, which was especially annoying; she preferred pantsuits, but that was the style of field officers, while desk duty women all liked wearing stockings, so she couldn't make an exception.

Section chief, truly a good person!

By the way, congratulations to her too!

Yamada Nanase revealed a bashful, soft smile.

The section chief's husband, Inspector Kashiwagi, is getting promoted!

As Yamada Nanase had thought, when Kashiwagi Jin left the Investigation Division 1 office, he felt so good he wanted to hum a tune.

Section Chief Sugishita Ukyo's encouragement still rang in his ears.

He is thirty-one this year, an elite in the career track, currently the Section Chief of Investigation Division 1 Third Section; just now, official notice came down—Section Chief of First Section, Inspector Kouka Shinichirou, was promoted to Management Officer of Investigation Division 1, vacating the position, which he, Kashiwagi Jin, would take over.

Investigation Division 1 First Section!

That is the ace among aces of the Metropolitan Police Department, the first line of defense in murder cases, responsible for core major violent crimes in the Central Six Wards, a department countless career-track elites dream of breaking into, and he, at thirty-one, has reached this position—his future is limitless.

He took out his phone and dialed his wife's number.

It rang a few times, then was answered.

"Misa, I have good news to tell you."

From the other end came Kashiwagi Misa's voice, slightly breathless, slightly floating, as if she were walking or doing something else: "Jin? Hmm... I'm listening...

"I'm being transferred to First Section Chief! Kouka got promoted, the position opened up, and above has decided it's me!" Kashiwagi Jin's voice couldn't conceal his pride: "How about it, happy?"

"Cong... congratulations..." Kashiwagi Misa's voice was somewhat broken, like her breathing was unsteady: "So great... Jin... really so great." Kashiwagi Jin slightly furrowed his brow.

"What's wrong with you? Breathing like that?"

"No, nothing..." The other end paused, took a deep breath, voice slightly steadier: "Just moving things earlier... a bit tired..."

Kashiwagi Jin's brows relaxed.

Moving files in the Personnel Division is routine; he didn't think much of it, and besides, he doesn't really care.

I have to tell Alice about this!

After work, I'll cook a few dishes, buy a few bottles of wine, and go to Alice's place!

She'll sincerely congratulate me!

"By the way, I'm not coming home for dinner tonight." He thus said offhand: "First Section here wants to gather, to celebrate my promotion. You rest early, no need to wait for me."

The other end fell silent for a second.

"Okay." Kashiwagi Misa said, her voice holding an indescribable mix of complexity and pleasure: "You... drink less."

"Got it, got it." Kashiwagi Jin hung up, slipped his phone into his pocket, and strode toward the elevator.

A legendary player is about to join Vitality... oh no, not that—it's a legendary career-track elite about to become the absolute ace of Investigation Division 1! I've always been climbing toward the peak! Kashiwagi Jin lightly pressed the floor button, head held high, face lit with joy.

From the Metropolitan Police Department's Star Inspector, to the police world's Absolute Dual Pride!

But once you feel you've reached the peak, you can always go further!

And now, it's time to lead Investigation Division 1 to new heights!

You wait and see, Uesugi—I'll prove my First Section is no worse than your Special Mission Division!

Kashiwagi Jin's eyes shone!