20 Chapter 18
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It had been seven months since Leon had started living in the other world. In that seemingly short time, more events had happened to him than an ordinary person would have in a lifetime. From a failed teleportation experiment to becoming a colonel in the Imperial Army, as well as the deputy director of the Secret Imperial Police.
Even before the Secret Imperial Police began their operations, Anna had compiled a list of people in her personal "death notebook". She understood: in order for the people to support and not obstruct Imperpol's actions, you had to earn the public's trust, and she knew how to achieve that.
Once Imperpol got to work, Operation Purge began. The result was a clean-up of gangs and guards accused of abuse of power, bribery, and the most common crimes like rape. And, importantly, some of the rotten nobles (whom Onesta didn't feel sorry for) who had previously bribed the guards to ignore their illegal activities were arrested. The arrest and subsequent public execution of these people was enough reason for the Secret Police to gain the necessary trust of ordinary people.
But naturally, there were some people that Imperpol couldn't just arrest. These were mostly personalities close to Onest, his personal pawns, puppets and "friends". They were under what was called "unofficial immunity" and it was simply not possible to detain them.
From all these arrests Leon realised one interesting fact about all those people that Imperpol arrested - "If you break the law and are not punished accordingly, can you be said to have broken something?". That's roughly how it worked: if a guard commits a rape and doesn't get punished for it, he won't think about the consequences, because he thinks he'll get away with it. And this applied to everyone - bandits, aristocrats, merchants and even ordinary citizens.
***
In his office at Imperpol's headquarters, Leon found himself thinking that things were going too well for him. To rise to the rank of colonel in four months and to become the deputy head of the Imperial Secret Police... To Leon, it sounded like a bad joke. But, apparently, this world favoured him by laying a carpet in his path... the only question was, when would it end?
Leon was interrupted in his musings by a knock at the door.
- Mr Colonel, may I come in? - came a man's voice from behind the door.
- Permission granted.
Imperpol's junior lieutenant entered. The soldier walked in a special armour and held an MPM in his hands. After saluting, he began to report:
- Mr Colonel. The General summons you and other high-ranking officers to the conference room.
- Anything else?
- Negative!
- Dismissed.
Saluting again, the soldier left the office, and Leon put on his cap and headed for the conference room. Walking along the corridors of the headquarters, he observed the work of the staff. Everything was like one well-coordinated mechanism, everyone was busy with their work: from security to studying the murder case.
***
The structure of the Secret Imperial Police consisted of four departments:
Main Directorate - completely controlled and managed Imperpol and its structures.
Heads of the Directorate: General Anna Volkova / Colonel Leon Könich.
Investigative Directorate - deals with the investigation of crimes. It consists of investigators and criminalists.
Head of the department: Lieutenant Colonel Alec Mitzert.
Force Department - carries out detection and direct suppression of terrorist activities and organised crime.
Under the control of the directorate, in addition to the soldiers transferred to them, there are also special military-operational units formed on the basis of the Omega Group. They include:
Operational Unit "Alpha-Omega" under the command of Captain Alex Fischer;
Operational Unit Nine-Tailed Foxes under the command of Captain Nero Crowf;
Task Force Hunting Falcons, under the command of Captain Mia Osmond;
Head of Directorate: Lieutenant Colonel Hector Drausing.
Intelligence Directorate - performs reconnaissance and information gathering. It also has a special unit for this purpose - "Dead Spirits".
Head of Directorate: """"""""""""""""".
***
As Leon entered the conference room, the gazes of all the officers present that sat around the oval table focused on him. Nodding respectfully to them as a greeting, Leon sat down across from Anna. After a short wait, the rest of the officers entered the room, and when all the seats were taken, Anna began to speak:
- I think we can begin. - The girl stood up to her full height and continued. - Gentlemen officers, I am sure that everyone who is here now is well aware of the situation in the country. At the moment, the revolutionary movement has begun to gain momentum. If here, in the capital of the Empire, it is not so well felt, then on its outskirts the turmoil is perfectly felt. As it happens, the Empire is now closer than ever to the very edge. And now it needs only one strong push to fall and collapse, and the revolution will do it. - Anna paused for a moment to gather air and continue her speech. At this moment, no one present even dared to make a noise. - Imperpol was specifically designed to counteract anti-government organisations such as the Revolutionary Army. However, destroying their small bases and camps would not win the war. The situation in the state resembles a game of chess, where there are black and white pieces. And to win this game, we must destroy not the "King" as the main chess piece, but the "Chess Player" himself, who makes moves while remaining clean. Simply put, if we want to get rid of the rebels, we must eliminate those who support the revolution with finance, arms and equipment. These are the people who are leading the revolution, though many mistakenly think they are former generals. - Anna sat back in her chair and shifted her gaze to the head of the Investigation Department, Alec. - You have my word, Lieutenant Colonel.
- Thank you, General. - Alec rose from his seat and, coughing a little, began to speak. - Despite the rather small amount of information related to the "Chessmen", we can already guess who they are. First of all, they might be nobles who do not support the current power of the Empire. With their wealth, they are quite capable of financing the Revolutionary Army, and their influence is enough to draw suspicion away from them. But the second option, to me, sounds much more convincing: the Revolutionary Army can be assisted by neighbouring countries, which have been dreaming of leaving the Empire's influence for centuries. They also support the revolution with money and arms.
- There is also a third option that combines the previous two. Both nobles and neighbouring countries support the revolutionary movement. - Anna added.
- Exactly so, General. - Alec said, sitting back down.
- Does anyone have any questions? - Anna asked the officers.
- I do. - Raised a hand from one of those seated. - How are we going to counter and catch these... 'Chessmen'?
- Although the "Chessmen" play cleverly and carefully, as in real chess, their move is quite possible to calculate. One mistake will cost them victory. After all, chess is a game of two strategists. And if they are masters, we are grandmasters.
- So you're suggesting we wait for them to reveal themselves?
- You see. You answered your own question. If they even drop a shadow, we'll pick it up and find out who's casting it.
- I have a question too, General. - Another officer raised his hand. - What about the Night Raid?
- Thank you for reminding me. Eliminating the Night Raid is now a priority for all government agencies, from the regular guards to the elite Imperial assassins. We'll be tracking them down too, and in my personal opinion, it'll be a lot easier than finding our Chessmen. Since Reid leaves a lot of traces behind.
All the officers nodded at that remark.
- Any other questions? - Anna looked around the room. - Anybody? Then the questions were over. This meeting has come to an end, please ask all officers to return to their duties.
Standing at attention, the officers saluted and then began to leave the room.
- Leon. - Anna turned to the deputy, who stood near the exit, already holding the door handle. - Stay for a while.
Letting go of the handle, he stood in front of the girl, who continued to sit on the chair.
- Is there something you wanted to talk about?
- Yes. Despite all of the above, there is one thing. The Night Raid. He should be last on the list of those we have to get rid of.
- General.
- Just "Anna."
- Anna, maybe you can finally tell me... What game are you playing? Or don't you trust me?
- Just the opposite, Leon. You're the second person I can trust, but I can't explain everything right now. But just trust me. You'll find out soon enough.
- Suppose I cross paths with them. What then?
- There are two ways to get rid of a teigu owner. The first is to kill him. The second.
- Disarm. - Leon finished it.
- That's right. As long as the members of the Night Raid are attracting mass attention and eliminating those nobles we can't arrest because of their position in society, they're useful. But when they're no longer needed, the Raid has only two choices.
- Surrender or die.
- It's good that you understand. - Anna said and got up from her chair. - Colonel Leon, you are dismissed.
After saluting, Leon left the room, leaving the girl alone in the hall. She took out a pack from her inside pocket and sat down in her chair again and lit a cigarette.
"Pretty soon, Leon... Pretty soon..."
