“Lieutenant Colonel, I’d rather you didn’t scowl at Anton like that,” I scolded. “A mere lieutenant would have no knowledge of anything to do with polonium. I’m sure that such an operation would be handled by much higher-ranking people. To tell you the truth, I’m surprised that a lieutenant colonel even knows anything about it. You must have access to some fairly sensitive information.”
“Ugh!! Yes, I’m an exceptional case. I have more authority than an ordinary lieutenant colonel...”
Seriously?! He must be really agitated if he’s admitting that so easily. I was mostly bluffing just now. Judging by what he just said, his true rank is something higher than lieutenant colonel. I just wanted to put him in a bad mood, but now I’ve put myself in a better position. With the current mood, I should be able to take the lead if I go back to negotiating.
“Let’s forget about this polonium business,” I said coolly. “As I was saying... If the individual in question was found to be innocent and accepted my invitation, I was considering inviting all of their subordinates, not just the one individual.”
“...All of them?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Naturally, I wouldn’t take away such talented personnel without offering your nation something of equal value.”
It wasn’t what I’d originally intended, but the waiter was probably one of the captain’s subordinates, and I wanted to save him, too. Mostly I felt that way because having someone ask me for help directly for the first time was satisfying, but that was my secret.
If things went well, we could be lucky enough to gain some highly skilled agents. I’d already seen what they were capable of. I could have just ignored them, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up.
“Indeed, it would be a great blow to our nation if we lost such a great number of talented individuals,” the lieutenant colonel said. “We also need to consider that this creates a small chance of military secrets leaking out. But if you are able to provide us with information in return, there is the possibility of a special exception being made.”
“If you’re able to take special measures in this case, I’d be most grateful.”
I stopped talking for a moment so I could try the ukha soup while it was still hot. Despite my expectations, it lacked the unpleasant smell that’s characteristic of seafood, and it was clear, beautifully colored, and delicious. Most importantly, it was rich with nourishing ingredients that my growing body needed.
As I was biting into a piece of fish from my soup, the lieutenant colonel stared at me with obvious impatience. It looked like he was just barely stopping himself from asking what I was going to offer them.
Relax a little. If my mom were sitting here right now, she wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of you. I’m still thinking about it, so you’ll have to wait a little longer.
“What was it you intended to offer us in return?” the lieutenant colonel burst out.
I swallowed the fish and then moved on to my glass of water. Now we start the real battle. I’ll have to be very careful what I say here.
“71° 39' north latitude, 111° 11' east longitude....” I said smugly.
“I’m sorry?”
“There is a large area that can be mined for diamonds within your country’s territory. It’s located at 71° 39' north latitude, 111° 11' east longitude. I can’t give you any diamonds to inspect, but the diamonds you’ll find there are almost twice as hard as ordinary diamonds, and I expect they’ll be ideal as engineering materials.”
“Mr. Arakawa, you can’t possibly be claiming to know the location of undiscovered diamond deposits!” he exploded.
“The documents are on this memory chip. A few hours ago, a friend used a surveillance satellite to survey the area. A spectral analysis suggests that there’s a 99.89% probability of diamonds being present relatively close to the surface. It should be possible to extract them by open air mining.”
The lieutenant colonel grabbed the micro memory chip that I held out to him and hastily inserted it into his own terminal. Beside him, Yuri had lost every trace of his relaxed composure, and was leaning toward the lieutenant colonel to get a better look at his terminal.
The document they were looking at contained a basic survey of an area that was known as the Popigai crater in the world of my previous life. In that world, it was said to be the largest crater in Eurasia, but the impact appeared to have been smaller in this world. There was no massive crater, and its existence wasn’t clear from satellite images. As a result, the area had never been surveyed, and the crater had never been discovered.
Just to be sure, I’d asked Ageha if there was some way she could survey the area. Her answer? “It’s possible if it’s okay for me to do something slightly illegal.”
I’d given her the go-ahead. As predicted, she’d identified diamond deposits.
Given the strangeness of this world I’d been reincarnated into, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that the diamonds had been “created” in order to make this world more consistent with other worlds despite no impact ever occurring.
I think I’ll leave all that complicated theoretical stuff to my mom, I concluded.
Meanwhile, Yuri regained his composure surprisingly quickly. “Even if this information is accurate, we would have discovered this ourselves eventually because the deposits are in our own territory. We have little to gain by accepting this offer.”
I know that. I’ve suddenly got a bunch of people asking me for asylum, and surveying another country’s land without permission was the best option I had. I know I’m walking a fine line here.
My offer had only been intended to be enough to trade for two people, with a bonus of unsettling the country’s top brass. Now it was time to make my real offer.
“You’re right, of course. Think of that data as an appetizer. Now for the main course. What I’m offering are the rights to distribute Noa’s TV broadcasts for free within Russian territory.”
This time the lieutenant colonel and Yuri were left with their mouths wide open.
I picked up my glass with a broad smile on my face.