Paul was so shocked at the immediate reply that he almost fell back in his chair.

“Oh, my! But—”

“Then do I have to make up an excuse?”

“It’s not that, sir… but at least an additional explanation.”

“What kind of explanation?”

“Isn’t there a lot you haven’t told us, sir? About how Baroness Eleonora Asil evaporated out of the blue; about why the dragon’s master suddenly changed; about how this person named Noah suddenly popped up out of nowhere.  And about when you and her were in a relationship… Wait, you don’t even know if you really know her, sir!”

Minister Rossinell’s secret research lab was shocking enough, but the investigation had begun shortly after the Angelic incident broke out, so it was not surprising enough for him to faint. The problem was everything else outside of that.

There was a story circulating in the other ministries that Eleonora Asil was sick with a sudden chronic disease. But in reality, she had been reported missing by the Protection Bureau.

How could the dragon’s master be missing!? When everyone had bawled and said that they couldn’t escape the fate of working overtime for the next six months, Kyle had returned to the capital with the dragon in question. And next to the dragon was a woman he’d never seen before.

She was a brown-haired beauty with gentle and cute features. She had said a few words to Kyle with a face that would doze off any minute, and eventually, she had fallen asleep on him. As if he was used to this kind of thing, the General stroked her hair and carried her to the VIP room on the upper floor of the Protection Bureau.

His series of actions were so natural, the surrounding investigators didn’t think anything strange about it.

“I guess he’s got a girlfriend. They look good together. I am jealous.”

“…what did you say?”

“I said I am jealous. That the General has a girl… Hold on, what did I say just now?”

Kyle was the only one oblivious of the chaos in the office that day. From then, however, the woman named Noah was moved to the annex building of the Protection Bureau, and as she remained trapped in the room all day, those in the office rarely got to see her face. The investigators’ curiosity naturally amplified.

Who in the hell is that person who captivated the General!?

However, there wasn’t a brave soul who could grasp the cold and strict Kyle and inquire about the identity of his girlfriend. Therefore, the targets were Paul and Penelope.

The two deputies whom Kyle had worked alongside the longest. They each took on a huge sense of mission to answer the questions of the staff of the Protection Bureau.

Paul decided to start with forming intimacy.

“I haven’t been working with you for that long, sir.”

“Well. What’s it been, five years?”

“No! It’s already been six years since you were appointed as the General, and before that, we had been together since you were the branch manager of Edman, so I’ve already been with you seven years, sir.”

They were close enough to share this matter, right? Paul looked at Kyle with anticipation.

“So when did you first meet Noah, sir?”

Silence.

“It was Baroness Asil who caused the scandal, but how could you be in a relationship with Noah, General Leonard!? It was a smokescreen tactic, right? But where did you find the time to meet someone, sir…? No, that’s not important.”

More silence. 

“So when do we get the good news…?”

This persistence was uncanny. Kyle calmly listened in on the rain of questions and decided to accept only one question as he had initially thought.

“Soon, Eleonora Asil will be handed over to the Protection Bureau. Adrian Rossinell’s trial will end soon. As soon as she is arrested, she will also be sent to the defendant’s seat, so make sure to thoroughly prepare for her trial.”

“Wow, Baroness Asil is alive?”

“Probably.”

“I… I got it. Then now let me know about Noah—”

“Paul.”

“Yes, sir?”

Instead of solving his subordinates’ curiosities, Kyle hugged the mountain of papers on his desk that’d just been printed, disappearing from Paul’s field of vision.

“These are records of the Harrell incident investigation. All of the evidence, including pictures, audio recordings, and videos, are in these files. I wrote down the victims’ status and post-treatment plans, so share them with all branches of the Protection Bureau. And notify Tauren and Noviscosha that there will be a large-scale personnel movement.”

“General Leonard…”

Kyle neatly arranged the desk and kindly turned his back to the subordinate.

“And there are plans for a special interrogation for Adrian Rossinell tomorrow evening, so keep an eye out for that. I am the observer.”

“Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Understood. Uh, but…”

That’s not what I was curious about! As Paul barely poked his eyes over the mountain of documents, he faced firm purple eyes in an orthodox way.

Kyle smiled friendlyly.

“And Paul.”

“Yes, General Leonard?”

“Get rid of your interest in Noah.”

With that said, Paul was chased out of the office. With his back against the outside of the door, his head began to spin.

Wasn’t that actually what I really wanted to say…? he thought. But the investigators of the Protection Bureau were in fact not the only ones who Kyle had to be on the lookout for. Because there were so many more people monitoring Noah than he thought.