His Cute Wife is a Little Crazy

Chapter 531 - THE INSENSITIVE MAN

Minister Shimada looked at Akira. 

"I am counting on you. Once this crisis is over, we can conclude the issue we were discussing earlier." She hinted with delicate subtlety. 

Akira knew that the minister was implying that she would not make things difficult for her if she helped her overcome the crisis. She kept her face neutral and nodded at the older woman. She already planned to do her best, but she would not say no to being owed. 

"I will deal with other issues for now. If you have any problems, reach out to me. For now, I cannot deal with your clearance level." Minister Shimada added as she put a card with her private number in Akira's hand. 

Akira felt like the woman was worrying too much. "Go ahead and deal with your business." 

She turned to the head of the department who was looking at the scene with increasing dissatisfaction. If he could describe the situation, he would say it was a mother worried about leaving her child in school alone for the first time.

Minister Shimada took another look at Akira before leaving with Suzuki Taira. The crisis did not only need practical solutions. She needed to make sure that the flow of information was tight and discuss potential management of the aftermath if the worst came to pass. 

Her current greatest fear was the leakage of information to the media before the Central Antiterrorism Bureau could understand the specificity of the threat. As it stood, the evidence pointed towards the bomb threat being real. 

If the media sniffed out this beat, the city would fall into complete chaos. She needed to get ahead of the crisis before anything serious happened. 

"Minister Shimada…" Aide Suzuki started talking, hoping to address the earlier awkwardness. 

"It is not time to talk about your insubordination. You have become less and less sensible in the past few months." Minister Shimada felt rising annoyance. 

She did not want to address minor problems while thinking about issues of national importance, but she could not help chiding her personal assistant a little as they entered the elevator. 

"I made a few mistakes, but I am always acting in your best interest." Aide Suzuki said softly with a hint of being wronged. 

Minister Shimada sighed. "My best interest is for you to follow my instructions to the letter." 

"But…" Suzuki started. 

"Enough. We will discuss your future after this matter is over." The minister ended the conversation. 

Aide Suzuki tightened her fingers around the organiser in her hand. She felt a surge of hatred towards Akira. If it were not for her, things would not have progressed to this point. It was obvious that the discussion about her future would not work in her favour. 

If it was not for Akira, the minister would not have made a big deal of her small mistakes. The fury in her heart built up and settled in her chest like a hot burning coal. Unfortunately, she had no method for venting that wrath. 

In the CAB room, Akira faced the head of the department with an even look on her face. She did not show any fluctuations in emotions, even though she could see that the tough man before her was looking down on her. 

Her current priority was finding out if the bomb threat was real. 

"Have you prepared a file on the situation?" She asked. "I can see that you are busy, so I will not trouble you to brief me personally." 

The head of the department felt his lips twitch at the casual manner the small woman standing before him spoke. It was as if she did not realise that she was in one of the most important departments of the ministry of defence. 

Still, she had the appropriate clearance for the request she made. He snapped a finger at one of the technical staff, and someone appeared with a file in hand. Akira took it from the nervous young woman and flipped through it. 

Akira did not consider herself a super special genius, but she had honed skills for speed reading. If she could not do it, she would have wasted a lot of time on meaningless paperwork. Moreover, it was a crucial skill for hackers.

Her eyes scanned through the pages. She flipped through the file without pausing. Her expression changed as she learned the information about the two potential criminals who were planning to detonate a bomb. 

The more she read, the more she was convinced that the threat was real. 

As an agent of the Immortal Sword Brigade, she did not only have hard skills like fighting and hacking. She was trained in looking at subtle hints, especially in communication to determine intent beyond the obvious.

After looking at the posts made by the user bonnie&clyde, she was certain about the reality of the threat. 

Unfortunately, the information that the CAB had gathered on Bonnie and Clyde was flimsy at best and consisted of theories as opposed to actionable details. Everything they could gather was just a reiteration of the glory days of Bonnie and Clyde. 

"Where is my workstation?" Akira closed the file and looked up. 

Actually, she was a little tired from walking and standing for a long time. She could already feel her feet swelling up due to the constant movement. Luckily, she had eaten, or she would be feeling dizzy and in danger of collapsing. 

"Ms Yamazaki, there is no need to rush. Have you read and understood everything?" The head asked with uncertainty and a bit of contempt. He did not believe she had gone through the document that fast. 

"It is not like there is anything much to see here in this excuse of a file," Akira said irritably. "A workstation now. Please and thank you." 

The head wanted to quibble some more because he was displeased with being saddled with a liability during an important moment. Other heads were probably hitting the ground running with the best agents from the defence ministry. 

"Director Yojima, let me show Ms Yamazaki to the desk. She can continue studying the details while at the workstation." The nervous technician spoke up before the head could say anything else. 

The man looked at the mousy woman and realised that the technical staff member had a meaningful look in her eyes. He looked at the rest of the office and saw that his subordinates were acting suspiciously as if they were judging him. 

After a few moments, he realised that he did not look good in the current situation, regardless of his dissatisfaction with Akira. To an outsider, he was a hulking man who was looming and intimidating a small, pregnant woman. 

Well, it was not only to outsiders because he knew that he was trying to make her understand that the CAB was not a place to play around. Unfortunately, he failed to consider the other aspects of his plan. He could feel his image declining by the second. 

"Yes, go ahead, go ahead." He said while backing away. "Make sure that Ms Yamazaki has everything she needs." 

He turned away and rushed to his office, no longer caring if this Akira was coming to play around during a crisis. As long as she did not affect the work, he could leave her to her own devices. In any case, it was not like her presence would affect others. 

The staff was the same, and they had enough computing power to go around. He cursed at the director in the human resources director for giving him a half-hearted explanation. If it were not for him, Director Yojima would have treated Akira like another technician. 

However, after processing the clearance badge, his friend called to tell him that Ms Yamazaki was a second-generation who was coming to play around because she knew the minister. Because of the bad impression, he acted a little badly. 

His staff probably looked at him like someone who was insensitive to other people's needs. His good image as a boss was gone. Humph! Once the crisis was over, he would get back his friend for all the trouble he caused. 

"Do not mind Director Kojima a lot. He is a little insensitive, but he is a good boss mostly. He is just a little bit straightforward. Well, a lot. He speaks and acts without thinking in social situations. But otherwise, he is good at his job." The nervous technician spoke while ushering Akira to a desk in a corner.

Akira acknowledged the words with a nod. She did not care too much about the Director's behaviour. She did not expect everyone to like her. Plus, it was likely that someone had talked badly about her behind her back. 

"What else can you tell me about the case apart from what is in the file?" Akira asked as she sat down. 

The woman looked at the badge a little nervously before telling Akira about the things the technicians in the CAB had found. Most things were not written because all information had to be verified severally before approval for a report. 

But that did not mean that no one had found anything about the case. 

"What is the theory about the disappearance period?" Akira asked as she started logged into the computer. 

She did not use the normal channels that were open through the CAB system. Instead, she opened a backdoor and left their network covertly. She instead accessed the Immortal Sword Brigade platform before beginning her search. 

However, the technical staff member did not notice anything unusual. By habit, she did not stare at people's computers while they were working. It was taboo in the CAB because one might see classified information accidentally. 

"Most people think that it was a sabbatical or a holiday for Bonnie and Clyde. Some assume that the two left the country or ended up in prison for other crimes. There is no consensus at the moment." The woman responded. 

Akira's lips stretched into a smile.