Infiltrating the Superhuman Training Girls’ School of the Republic of China!

As soon as Zhou Lizhi left, Rebecca Katerfeld took her place. At Katerfeld’s request, all the military police soldiers were withdrawn, and only she and I remained in the prison. When I grunted, feeling uncomfortable with her inside, Katerfeld smiled at me and said:

“Well done.”

“Well done? What do you mean?”

“Lying to Zhou Lizhi. As I told you to. You were quite skillful.”

“Was it really you who spoke to me? I did as you said for now, but I don’t understand what you’re thinking at all. The murder wasn’t my doing. But lying to avoid a crisis is another matter. Even though I thought you might be trying to get me into trouble, I went along with it for now… But what was your intention? How?”

“Churchill is a Maestro. Her songs have the power to separate souls.”

“So?”

“It means that on the night you took notes, it wasn’t just Churchill’s inner self that I could infiltrate. A gap opened up for me to dig into yours too. Naturally, much deeper.”

I felt goosebumps all over my body as I heard her words. I was tricked. It was a deception I should have seen through, but I fell for it too easily. Am I not fit to be an agent?

“Don’t look at me like that. You fell for it embarrassingly easily this time, but you wouldn’t have lasted long against my eyes anyway, so it’s not bad to have revealed everything cleanly at a time like this, Yoon Jae-won.”

“What exactly do you know? About me.”

“Know? I came to know… First, that you’re not the culprit in this case. And that you’re not an ordinary exchange student. That you weren’t even originally a female student. And…”

“That’s enough.”

I sighed in a frustrated voice.

“I don’t know what you intend to do with that information. Yes, everything you saw is true. I’m finished. The mission is a failure. It’s not even about the mission, but whether I can survive…”

“I don’t intend to do anything with it?”

I raised my head at Rebecca’s words. I couldn’t believe what she said.

“You clearly say you don’t intend to do anything, but aren’t you planning to use my secret as leverage to blackmail or trick me?”

“Doubting is your job. I understand that well.”

She might be the second most chilling person in this school after Catherine Duey. At least by my personal standards.

“But many people here live with one or two major secrets hidden in their hearts. A male agent who turned into a woman by taking drugs? It’s impressive, but not a unique secret. I’ve secured some ability to infiltrate your and Churchill’s minds. Of course, yours was so solid that I only found a gap after Zhou Lizhi persistently dug into it with her mental ability. So, I’ve secured one way to get through this difficult situation. The first is for Churchill to give a favorable testimony about you, the second is for me to testify that you’re not lying. The last is for you to follow your desires.”

“Why are you trying to create such a debt for me?”

“Because I’m also interested in Chen Yayuan’s identity.”

Come to think of it, when Chen Yayuan died, she came to the scene muttering things like ‘a very strong soul has died’. As a spiritualist, if such a powerful soul has died, is it impossible not to care about its identity?

“Sometimes I’ve received requests for séances. Among them were powerful kings, emperors, and various generals. I couldn’t find souls that had been dead for too long as they had dissipated, but even among the souls I sometimes summoned… such strong ones are rare. It’s a concept related to the power of the human itself.”

“I’m not a spiritualist. Please explain simply.”

“Whatever Chen Yayuan’s intentions were, she wasn’t the caliber of person to make trivial threats. Her words might be lies. But a person with that much power hides truth even within lies. She said that? To recapture Nanjing and save China?”

“It could have been meaningless last words.”

“I don’t think so.”

Katerfeld’s attitude was firm. I asked:

“Then what do you think the meaning might be?”

“I don’t know. If I knew, I wouldn’t give a favorable testimony for you. But it’s worth finding out. There might be a huge secret hidden in Huangpu, or it might be about uncovering a secret hidden in Nanjing, not Huangpu. But from a German perspective, I can’t help but consider a connection with the CIA in dealing with such a huge issue. The relationship between Germany and the United States is absolute, after all.”

“…So you want to communicate with the CIA through me, and use the CIA to uncover what’s happening in China?”

“That’s the idea. The current situation isn’t about who killed Chen Yayuan. If we find out why she was killed, who killed her will naturally follow. China’s internal investigation won’t reveal that. It’s a problem that you and I need to uncover.”

…There’s no reason to refuse.

More than anything else, if cooperating with Katerfeld is the only hope to get through this moment, there’s no way I can refuse her words.

I don’t know what kind of butterfly effect this debt I’m creating will have later. Nevertheless, I must get out of this situation now.

“I’m sorry, but it’s difficult for me to communicate with headquarters as well.”

“I’ll help you.”

The spiritualist’s black eyes blinked as she stared at me.

“Communication with CIA headquarters. What can you do about that?”

“If I contact Berlin, U.S. intelligence will naturally obtain that information. You’re in the position of a Korean exchange student, so isn’t it unnatural for you to contact anywhere other than Korea? Korea is the turf of the National Intelligence Service and the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, so it’s too dangerous to send confidential reports to Korea to contact the CIA.”

That’s exactly right. It’s the biggest reason why I’ve lived for a month without contacting people from headquarters, including Jefferson.

“I took a peek at your initial mission. It seemed like a mission given on the premise that Chen Yayuan was alive. Am I right? I couldn’t read it all in detail.”

“Don’t casually pry into other people’s thoughts. Yes, but it’s true.”

“You’ll need my help to receive a new mission. Trust me. I’m Olaf Katerfeld’s daughter, and I know about 200 ways to contact Berlin while avoiding China’s surveillance. And Berlin is under U.S. influence, so the Chinese can’t exert power there. In this situation, you’ll need my cooperation to receive instructions from headquarters.”

“Are you also affiliated with an intelligence agency?”

“I receive requests occasionally.”

“So you’re not directly affiliated?”

“The CIA recruited you because you were powerless. In the midst of a fire, terrorism. You, who lost your entire family in an instant. A frightened young man who was able to survive because he awakened his superpower alone in a crisis situation. From the perspective of such a closed organization, you were the perfect talent to draw in. Because you were so weak that they could manipulate you as they pleased.”

“What are you trying to do by stimulating my emotions?”

“I’ve never been defeated to that extent even for a moment. My father is a successful politician, and I cut down one by one those political opponents who tried to attack me to bring down my father on his behalf. There’s no one without dirt, and I specialize in digging that up. Intelligence agencies can’t trust people like me. Because they have no way to eliminate or remove me in dangerous situations, they can’t trust me. A state is designed to only trust beings it can kill at any time. The German intelligence agencies are the same.”

“As someone who would have a lot come out if you start digging, hearing such things makes me uncomfortable.”

“Cooperate. If you cooperate with me, I won’t dig up anything from you. This is a global issue, and I want your help too. No, in a way, you’re in a position to request my help. To help solve the Chen Yayuan problem.”

I swallowed hard.

I’m caught. I tried to gain even a little initiative, but there’s no way. The situation is like that, and so is the ability. And so am I, who was too careless against her. What can a mere operative like me do against a woman who can see through my mind?

Damn it, Jefferson. You should have prepared or investigated and informed me about things like this in advance. Someone like Rebecca Katerfeld is quite a famous topic of conversation, why couldn’t you notice even this?

“Because I’ve never cooperated with the CIA. Very intentionally.”

Rebecca answered as if reading my thoughts. Seeing me startled, she grinned and shook her head.

“Just now, I didn’t read your thoughts but your expression. You, maybe because your superpower is recovery-type, your mental recovery is also incredibly fast. The wound that the major dug into has already been filled, so I can’t see any hole to dig into now. Anyway, it’s really like that. The Americans are unpleasant fellows trying to use Germany and Poland as Europe’s shield against the Soviet Union. I thought it would be troublesome if they discovered my ability, so I’ve never shown my ability to the CIA yet. So it’s not surprising that you were careless in guarding against me.”

“I accept.”

I said, resigned.

“I can’t win. I’ll do everything you say, so please tell me specifically what you want from me.”

“When Zhou Lizhi returns after securing testimony from Churchill and talks with me, she’ll decide to release you.”

Katerfeld said calmly.

“Do as she wants. There’s nothing bad about get

ting close to Zhou Lizhi.”