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Sophia took a step forward and tried to grab the director by his collar when he thrust his palms out like a magician and stopped Sophia in her tracks.
“It wasn’t seized by anyone, Major Rundstadt.”
“Excuse me?”
The clownish man in front of her definitely had his own ideas and perhaps his own agenda.
“Think about it for a second, Major. On the outside of this facility we have your military security force. Inside, the most elite members of the Development Bureau’s team are spread throughout the facility. In any case, Wiltia’s ultra-top secret ‘gate’—”
“Director!”
Sophia raised her voice to try and cut him off.
“That information is not something to speak of so lightly!”
“Hmph … My apologies.”
While Sophia angrily faced the director, he momentarily hid his grin, and assumed an expression of seriousness.
Although the Great War had ended—or precisely because it had ended—and in order to prepare for the next war, the intelligence agencies of every country were trying to steal the secrets behind the Hunter Units, so vital to the strategy of the Principality of Wiltia.
The director had started to talk about the very core of those secrets, the most important classified information.
Even in a private office inside the Bureau itself, it wasn’t to be discussed casually.
“Without exaggeration, this facility is locked so tightly that not even an ant could slip through our security, and despite this, over a month passed before you became aware of this situation.”
“……………?!”
Sophia finally realized what the director was trying to say.
The security at the Development Bureau was even tighter than the security at the royal palace.
If someone was going to steal the top secret Hunter Unit prototype, it could only be achieved by taking control of several divisions of troops and capturing the facility.
This had not happened.
The daily logs kept by Sophia’s security forces reported nothing unusual.
“T-That would mean … it can’t be … it left on its own?”
“As expected, you’re very intelligent, Miss Sophia. That’s right. The prototype actually broke out and escaped the Bureau of its own volition. No matter how much you barricade the outside from invaders, you can’t do the same on the inside. Moreover, that was how she was built. It’s her specialty, after all.”
“I didn’t think … it could be true …”
Sophia put her hands on her forehead with a horrified expression, as if she was in a terrible nightmare.
And yet, looking at the situation from a purely results-based perspective, the new weapon—a project that had seemed to be the product of a wild fantasy—was successful.
“We have already sent out a search party. No matter how it happened, it appears that our prototype passed the activation tests. The follow-up testing is the Bureau’s job. Your job is just to keep the Development Bureau building secure, am I correct?”
A spiteful smile appeared on the director’s face.
Damn! thought Sophia.
Sophia’s expression revealed her extreme frustration.
The fact that an entirely separate security force had been deliberately stationed at the Development Bureau was just one sign of its importance. Despite the military’s attempts to cut postwar spending, the additional security force also displayed the increasing budget that was funneled into the Bureau year after year.
It was the same as the mice belling the cat.
Since Sophia’s security forces had no authority outside the Bureau’s grounds, there was no need for the Development Bureau to inform them that the prototype was gone.
“Please … excuse me.”
Sophia turned her back to exit the room.
“See you later, Miss Sophia! We should talk over lunch next time!”
“………!!”
Without glancing back at Daian Fortuner, the Bureau director, Sophia left the room and slammed the door behind her.