In the secretary's office on the 3rd floor, Yukino Yukinoshita sat behind her desk, frowning as she looked at Ayame Jinguuji and Yomi Isayama before her. "External personnel of the Intelligence Department?"
"I'm surprised too, but that is indeed the case," Ayame Jinguuji said with a smile.
Seeing this, Yukino Yukinoshita lowered her gaze and said calmly, "Please wait a moment. I need to confirm your situation."
Although she said that, in truth, Yukino Yukinoshita had already learned some basic information about the two from the intelligent security machines on guard on the ground floor. She knew they were from a mystic side department under the Cabinet.
However, the development of events still exceeded Yukino Yukinoshita's expectations.
The Supernatural Disaster Office under the Ministry of Environment was actually a subordinate organisation of the Intelligence Department?
If Yukino Yukinoshita remembered correctly, Yomi Isayama was also a mole planted by the Director in the Ministry of Environment, wasn't she?
And Ayame Jinguuji was the direct person in charge of this department.
So, all in all, from the top brass to the front-line staff, everyone in the Countermeasures Office was one of their SDS people?
Didn't this mean that if the SDS announced a withdrawal of personnel from all departments, the entire Countermeasures Office would be completely emptied out?
Just how many times has headquarters infiltrated Japan?!
With this thought, Yukino Yukinoshita sent an inquiry through the Divine Pantheon's internal network to Meer, who was in charge of the Intelligence Department. After receiving an affirmative reply, she sighed. "Your identities have been verified."
Seeing Yukino Yukinoshita confirm their identities in just a few seconds while remaining seated, Ayame Jinguuji was somewhat surprised.
But she quickly associated it with some secret communication method within the SDS and swiftly curbed her curiosity.
However, no sooner had she curbed her curiosity than she was stunned by Yukino Yukinoshita's words. "Considering you two are affiliated with different departments, do I need to arrange for you to return to your respective units?"
"Affiliated with different departments?"
Ayame Jinguuji froze for a moment, then instantly thought of something. She turned her head to look at Yomi Isayama, whose face was filled with guilt.
Seeing this, Yomi Isayama lowered her head apologetically. "I'm sorry, Director."
"..."
Hearing this, a muscle in Ayame Jinguuji's cheek twitched. She couldn't help but ask, "When did this happen?"
Yomi Isayama heard the question and explained guiltily, "During the exploration of the Higurashi Shrine in Itō City."
"So it was then..." With those words, Ayame Jinguuji instantly understood something. Thinking about her subordinate's strange behaviour recently, she couldn't help but ask, "So, Noriyuki..."
Hearing this, the guilt in Yomi Isayama's tone instantly diminished by more than half. "He's just a puppet now."
If betraying Ayame Jinguuji to become a mole made Yomi Isayama feel guilty every night, then using the opportunity to be a mole to dispose of Noriyuki Izuna made Yomi Isayama wake up laughing every night.
Although Yomi Isayama didn't voice the difference, Ayame Jinguuji could more or less sense it. "I was wondering why your relationship with Noriyuki had improved so much recently. So, he's a puppet you control?"
A person she couldn't stand when he was alive was now a puppet she controlled after his death, and one used to take the blame at that. No wonder Yomi Isayama had been in a good mood recently.
'This girl probably gets a secret thrill every time she's deployed, controlling Noriyuki's corpse to take risks.'
Having figured this out, Ayame Jinguuji couldn't help but say helplessly, "I thought only the Jinguuji family had issues in the Countermeasures Office, but I never expected you to be one too."
Because of Kuesu Jingūji, many branch members within the Jinguuji family were indeed working for the SDS's Intelligence Department. This was also why Ayame Jinguuji dared to make a fuss about being external intelligence personnel.
But she had never imagined that Yomi Isayama, in whom she had placed high hopes to inherit the Countermeasures Office, had also become an SDS member.
This level of infiltration... In that instant, Ayame Jinguuji's thoughts aligned with Yukino Yukinoshita's.
If the SDS had announced a withdrawal of its intelligence personnel before, the Countermeasures Office would have probably gone out of business, right?
At this moment, Yukino Yukinoshita, having witnessed a great drama unfold, asked with great interest, "It seems neither of you knew the other's identity?"
"From the looks of it, that's the case," Ayame Jinguuji said with a helpless smile, then turned to Yukino Yukinoshita. "Miss Yukinoshita's meaning just now was that you can place Yomi and me in the same department, right?"
"That's right..."
Yukino Yukinoshita hadn't finished speaking when her expression changed slightly. She suddenly fell silent for a moment, then raised her eyebrows and glanced at the two in surprise. "It seems I won't need to make arrangements for you."
"Hm? Has something happened?"
Seeing the change in Yukino Yukinoshita's expression, Ayame Jinguuji realised that an unknown communication method was at work and asked curiously.
In response, Yukino Yukinoshita simply said calmly, "The Director wishes for you to continue maintaining the basic structure of the Countermeasures Office."
"As for the pressure from the Cabinet, it will be handled by our person in charge, who is placed within the Cabinet."
Hearing this, Ayame Jinguuji fell silent.
Whether it was handling the pressure from the Cabinet or the person in charge placed within the Cabinet, these were not simple words.
One had to know, the mess stirred up by the Countermeasures Office, or rather, the Anomalous Creature Containment Office, was a political crisis sufficient to make the entire Cabinet step down.
Under such circumstances, the SDS remained confident it could suppress the matter, which showed just how high the status of the person they had placed in the Cabinet was.
To placate the entire Cabinet and suppress such a major incident, the person the SDS placed in the Cabinet couldn't possibly be...
'No way, he's already the person with the highest status in all of Japan, how could he...'
Realising that possibility, Ayame Jinguuji was silent for a moment before asking, "May I meet with Director Luo Shu?"
Hearing this, Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at Ayame Jinguuji, then said politely, "I'm sorry, the Director's schedule has been completely full recently. If there is any free time, I will ask the Director, and if I receive permission, I will inform you of the meeting time."
"Is that so..." Ayame Jinguuji wasn't too surprised that she couldn't see Luo Shu.
He was, after all, a high-ranking executive of the SDS with real power. The possibility of him making time specifically for her request was slim to begin with, so Ayame Jinguuji wasn't overly surprised.
"Do you have any other questions?"
Yukino Yukinoshita asked deliberately. Seeing Ayame Jinguuji and Yomi Isayama shake their heads, she immediately spoke towards the doorway. "In that case, I'll leave these two newcomers to you, Miss Takatsuki."
Hearing this, Yomi Isayama turned to look and immediately saw Takatsuki Izumi, who had let her off the hook earlier, now leaning against the doorframe, scratching her dark green hair.
Hearing Yukino Yukinoshita's arrangement, Takatsuki Izumi couldn't help but scratch her head. "Honestly, I just slept for one night, and the little ones I was assigned to take care of have already shown up at the garrison?"
"Although it saved me a lot of trouble, I can't help but feel like I didn't do anything at all."
After muttering to herself, Takatsuki Izumi glanced at Yomi Isayama and Ayame Jinguuji, then narrowed her eyes and said, "Well then, you two newcomers, allow me to conduct your initiation~"