You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 526

“Thank you for coming all the way to Korea.”

“It’s no trouble at all. I had a comfortable trip thanks to you.”

“Would you like to rest and unpack before we talk? I thought you might be tired.”

“No, not at all. You booked me a business class flight, sent a nice car, and reserved such a great hotel. There’s no reason for me to be tired. We can talk right away. More than anything, I’m just too curious.”

Immediately after our agreement, Jonghyun Choi sent an email to reporter Kirihara.

I couldn’t tell her the truth, so I added a little spin.

It said that in the process of investigating corruption among Korean politicians, I discovered a connection to Japanese politicians, and I was wondering if she could help.

She replied to the email less than 10 minutes after receiving it, agreeing to meet.

I don’t know if it was because we belonged to the same organization and she didn’t feel any resistance, or if it was because she was hoping to get new information related to Japanese politicians, but she asked when and where we could meet more readily than I expected.

Whatever the reason, if there are no special disqualifications, she will be able to return with more sources than imagined.

“Ah, this person is…”

“You’re Attorney Juhan Cha, right?”

She pronounced my name awkwardly.

“Oh, how did you know?”

“I also looked into Reporter Choi before coming here. He’s done so many impressive things, and Attorney Cha, your name often came up in the search results along with his. Reporter Choi must have looked into me as well, so this isn’t rude, is it?”

“Ah, no. Not at all.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Sachiko Kirihara.”

“I’m Juhan Cha.”

“You’re much more handsome in person.”

After shaking hands with me, Kirihara turned her gaze to Suil Kang, who was standing next to me.

“This person is… Ah, he looks familiar. I’m sure I’ve seen him in a photo before.”

“I’m Suil Kang. I came as an interpreter in case you needed one.”

“I don’t think you’re just an interpreter, are you?”

“I’m just an interpreter.”

We had been conversing in English, but when Suil Kang suddenly replied in fluent Japanese, Kirihara chuckled.

“You both speak English so well, I just need to do well myself, right?”

She said it modestly, but Kirihara was also quite fluent in English.

Maybe Jonghyun Choi preparing for TOEFL [Test of English as a Foreign Language] when he joined ICIJ [International Consortium of Investigative Journalists] wasn’t an overreaction.

This is the first time I’ve met a reporter from a non-English speaking country who is a member of ICIJ, but seeing how well Kirihara speaks English, it makes sense.

If Jonghyun Choi hadn’t been good at English, his application might have been rejected.

I’m glad he’s good at English.

“Seeing that Attorney Cha came with you, the topic Reporter Choi wants to discuss with me must be a collaboration with Attorney Cha. You’ve done a lot of investigative reporting, especially about Wooshin.”

The world has become a better place.

If we didn’t have the function to translate internet pages, it would have been difficult for both us and her to find information.

“That’s right. I apologize for not asking for your consent in advance about Attorney Cha attending this first meeting with you. This is a matter of important security.”

“I understand. Hmm, so Reporter Choi and Attorney Cha don’t fully trust me yet, do you?”

Kirihara asked with a smile.

I wasn’t underestimating her, but she seems to be a very clever person.

“If I knew in advance that Attorney Cha was coming with you, you couldn’t have told me because you didn’t want the story to leak anywhere.”

“I apologize if you found this rude as well.”

“No, not at all. There’s no need to apologize. We’re both reporters. It’s only natural to be concerned about security. The issues you both handle always become big topics in Korean society. If you’ve contacted me, this issue must be huge. Am I right? I hope you like me enough to give me the information.”

Kirihara opened a bottle of water and moistened her throat.

Like a veteran reporter, she was full of composure.

She gives the impression that she is very interested in the topic, but she doesn’t make the other person feel burdened.

She’s quite good at continuing the conversation.

“I’m afraid I’m going to ask you a rude question, reporter. I apologize for this in advance.”

Jonghyun Choi glanced at me and added.

“Attorney Cha tends to be a bit direct.”

“That sounds scary already. But I usually get along well with direct people. I’m quite direct myself.”

[Truth]

Even though we’re talking in English, truth and lies are output in Korean.

I didn’t even need to use my ability for this kind of thing, but I was curious, so I tried it once.

“Do you support a particular political party?”

“In Japan?”

“Yes.”

“Well, personally, I do.”

This time, Suil Kang seemed quite surprised by Kirihara’s answer.

Was it because Suil Kang judged that she didn’t seem to support a specific politician?

“But as a reporter, I don’t. And the party I personally support is a minority party, and the number of seats is countable on one hand… No, even if you count with one hand, there are even some left over. I’ve hardly ever written articles about that party, and there’s no personal interaction at all.”

[Truth]

As soon as Kirihara answered, Suil Kang took out his cell phone and started searching.

He seemed to want to figure out what kind of party she was talking about.

He searched for a while, then lowered his head towards me and whispered quietly.

“If there are some left over even when counting on one hand, that means there are fewer than 5 seats, and there are several such parties. I can’t look into it in detail right now, but most of them have big differences in opinion with the ruling party. There are some parties that seem crazy, but given Kirihara’s tendencies, I don’t think she would support them.”

“You can ask me if you have any questions.”

Kirihara looked at Suil Kang and smiled slightly.

Then Suil Kang coughed awkwardly, as if he was embarrassed.

“Which parties would be disqualifying if Kirihara supports them? Please write them down in Japanese.”

I asked Suil Kang.

Then Suil Kang wrote the party names in a notebook and handed it to me.

“It doesn’t matter which party the reporter supports, but it’s okay as long as it’s not these two.”

When I showed the notebook to Kirihara as it was, she burst out laughing as soon as she received it.

“Ah, you’re really rude. This is really rude. I personally think that people who support these two have no brains.”

[Truth]

The party she supports is a minority party, and she hasn’t used her position as an influential reporter to push that party.

Since she says there’s no personal interaction, it seems she only supports them as a citizen.

“What do you think about the current ruling party?”

“As you may have investigated, Japan has had one party in control of the cabinet for a very long time. They’ve been in power for most of the time from when I was born until now. Also, Japan doesn’t have frequent changes between the ruling and opposition parties like Korea. So the most realistic best I can think of right now isn’t a change of the ruling party.”

Since she said the best at a realistic level, the worried words that others said when they first encountered Kirihara come to mind.

Including Jonghyun Choi, who is in this place right now, weren’t they worried that Kirihara wouldn’t be recognized by people because of her image as an idealist?

“Right now, Japan is facing the election of the president of the ruling party. Within Japan, Masao Onodera is seen as the most likely candidate, and I think the same. I’m really sorry about this. Masao Onodera is the head of a faction called the Kyungmin Association within the ruling party, but the current Kyungmin Association is quite bad. Masao Onodera himself is substandard, so that says it all.”

[Truth]

I heard that Onodera comes from a historically prestigious political family in Japan.

Family doesn’t tell the whole story, but I thought he would manage his image that much.

“What good is a good family or university? He’s someone who shouldn’t be a politician. But that man’s father was the prime minister, and at that time, things were right and Japan enjoyed a boom, so many people support Masao Onodera because of that. I think they think his son will do just as well.”

Kirihara seems to have a strong aversion to Onodera.

That’s a plus factor.

“Besides, there was an Onodera family scandal 15 years ago, and maybe because he’s conscious of that, he keeps appealing to a family-oriented image. It’s really disgusting to see him acting like a kind grandfather, even taking his cute grandson around with him.”

[Truth]

Moreover, the grandson she’s talking about seems to be the child who will receive a heart transplant this time, and the fact that she pointed this out is another plus factor.

“Ah, am I too excited? But he’s someone I really hate, so without realizing it…”

“Then, what if the information we give you works to Onodera’s advantage?”

Kirihara seemed to be troubled by my question.

Of course, what I have is information that would ruin Onodera, not benefit him, but it’s a good question to confirm how she will handle a matter that is on the opposite side of her personal ideology.

“I’m really worried. Actually, I’m someone who wants Masao Onodera to disappear from the political world, so if it’s information that’s favorable to him… Well, it won’t be a simple good deed of Onodera, it’s probably something unfavorable to his competitors or those related to them. So I think Onodera will see a rebound effect…”

Kirihara crossed her arms and leaned back on the sofa.

Then, after tilting her head back and thinking for a while, she straightened her posture as if bouncing and looked straight at me.

“I still have to put it out as it is.”

[Truth]

“I’m not going to bury other corruption because Onodera might see a rebound effect.”

[Truth]

It seems that she thinks that reporting as it is, regardless of personal opinions, is the basic attitude of a reporter.

“Then, I’ll ask you one last question. If you are threatened because of an article you wrote, or because information about an article you will write is leaked, what will you do?”

“What level of threat are we talking about? An attack?”

“Let’s assume that your life could be in danger. Maybe even your family’s.”

“First of all, I don’t have a family. My parents are gone, and I’m unmarried. I have an older sister, but she lives in Switzerland now. So I guess you only have to look at me.”

“Yes.”

“Um… Ah, there’s something I want to show you. Don’t be surprised.”

Kirihara got up from her seat as she was.

And she pulled the shirt she had tucked into her pants out.

She warned me, but Jonghyun Choi seemed quite surprised.

But Kirihara didn’t care and pulled her shirt up to above her navel.

“Can you see the scar here?”

She asked, pointing to her left side.

It had faded a lot, but there was a scar that had turned brown and was clearly different from her original skin color.

“10 years ago, a far-right group attacked the Kyokuto Shimbun [a fictional newspaper]. Actually, that was aimed at me. At that time, I was constantly investigating the relationship between far-right groups, Japanese conglomerates, and politicians. I was stabbed with a knife at that time, and ah… it really hurt. Fortunately, Kyokuto Shimbun tried to protect me and prevented my identity from leaking out, so many people don’t know that I was the victim.”

[Truth]

At this point, there seems to be no need to verify further.

She and I have similar experiences.

Having your stomach pierced is more painful than you think.

In fact, pain is a secondary issue.

Once you experience something like this, it’s a natural thought structure for humans to fear that they might get caught up in the same thing again in the future.

Like how I go everywhere with Taesik and wear a vest with bulletproof and stab-proof functions.

But Kirihara hasn’t given up and continues to work as a reporter.

Even if she’s in a situation of emergency, the possibility of her opening her mouth seems very low.

“You’ve had quite a difficult time. Were you seriously injured?”

Jonghyun Choi asked worriedly to Kirihara, who put her shirt back in her pants and sat down.

“I was at the time. That was 10 years ago. I’m fine now.”

“Didn’t you ever think about quitting this job?”

“It would be a lie if I said I didn’t. But I can’t live with my mouth shut. There are germs like existences of society everywhere, and I even know that so well, how can I stay still? If there are still people who don’t know, I have to let them know. I can’t stay quiet while in a burning building, can I? I have to shout to evacuate. Still, I was a little scared, so it’s true that I joined ICIJ. I was hoping I could get some help.”

[Truth]

That’s enough now.

“Reporter, take out your laptop. I’ll explain the case.”

I said to Jonghyun Choi in Korean.

Then Jonghyun Choi looked at me and smiled.

“Looks like you like her?”

“I like her quite a bit.”

“But can you believe everything that person says? What if it’s a lie?”

“It’s not a lie. That person is the victim of the Kyokuto Shimbun terrorist attack.”

In fact, I trusted her even more because all the other words were judged to be true, but I decided to only say things that could convince Jonghyun Choi.

“Not many people know about it, how did you know?”

“I asked Kim Mija to find out.”

For now, I’m the only one who directly contacts Kim Mija, so there’s no chance of getting caught right now.

If I get caught later, I’ll have to say I don’t remember.

Ah, that’s why criminals are so consistent in their ignorance.

Invincible.