As Gabriel left the pavilion, he contacted his networks of local authorities who cooperated with Germany’s external protection branch. Every major nation had a joint safety bureau that specialized in assisting its own citizens abroad.
Japan had one. Germany had one. The United States had one. Their jobs overlapped in certain areas, especially when it came to syndicates that crossed borders and human trafficking networks that exploited tourists and migrants alike.
Gabriel coordinated with Japan’s metropolitan task force that handled foreign crime incidents, and through them, the German Overseas Safety Commission received updates in real time.
They were already aware of several missing German nationals who had vanished in the same region.
Meanwhile, Julius was standing in line with Anneliese at an anime convention, holding a bag filled with snacks shaped like cat paws and a plastic sword he never intended to buy.
Anneliese wore a ridiculous headband with light-up horns and kept swinging her fake sword around, shouting things she heard from other children. Julius could only sigh and follow along as she dragged him from booth to booth.
"Mister Schneider, look! That one breathes! It’s breathing!"
"Oh, it does."
A mascot wearing a massive helmet and glowing eyes walked past, waving at children. Anneliese waved back enthusiastically. Julius nodded once in greeting like he was being polite to a visiting diplomat. The mascot waved harder.
Julius acknowledged that he had a soft spot for this child. Anneliese’s excitement was infectious, and he couldn’t help but smile watching her enjoy the convention, pointing at every display as if each discovery was the greatest thing she had ever seen.
As they stopped by a hologram booth projecting animated weapons into the air, a memory surfaced.
——Mister, aren’t you eating?
’It’s fine. I’m not hungry.’
——This won’t do.
The older Anneliese had taken her lunch, split it cleanly in half, and held out the portion toward him with both hands. Julius remembered refusing.
——You always call me a free-loader and a leech, but it’s only because you spoil me too much, Mister.
’Next time, I’ll leave you to starve, then.’
——Hehe.
He blinked the memory away as the younger Anneliese tugged his sleeve again.
"Mister, look! Look, it shoots sparkles!" She pointed at a booth selling little wrist gadgets that fired holographic bursts of glitter into the air.
"Yes, it does."
Anneliese pressed the button again and again, giggling as the sparkles danced above them. Julius watched as the memory of that older girl lingered in his mind.
He gently placed a hand on Anneliese’s head, smoothing down her hair so the blinking headband would stop tilting.
"Careful," he said. "You’ll poke someone in the eye with that."
"Anne will be careful!" she promised, already aiming the sparkles at the ceiling.
Julius found himself chuckling, and once the little girl finally ran out of energy, he guided her toward a small eatery tucked into the corner of the convention hall.
The place was styled like an old-fashioned Japanese café, complete with wooden counters and tables shaped like retro arcade machines. Anneliese plopped into her.
Julius placed their bags under the table and took the seat across from her. She was still panting lightly with her cheeks flushed from excitement.
"Are you tired already?" he asked.
Anneliese shook her head with stubborn pride. "Anne is strong. Anne can walk more. After we eat."
Anneliese looked around the eatery with bright eyes, fascinated by everything from the holographic fish swimming under the glass tables to the animated mascot waving from the wall.
A server dressed in a maid’s uniform approached with a polite bow. She spoke in English the moment she noticed they were foreigners.
"Welcome. Would you like to try our limited collaboration meal? It comes with a collectible card."
Anneliese’s eyes widened in pure awe. She immediately fumbled for her little wallet Isolde had given her as an allowance. Before she could open it, Julius gently set it down on the table and spoke instead.
"Yes. Get three for the child, please."
The maid clasped her hands together, delighted. "Understood! Three limited sets coming right up!"
As she hurried off, Anneliese turned her head toward Julius with a sad face.
"But Mister... Mommy said Anne shouldn’t let Mister pay for everything."
A smile tugged at his lips, recalling the older Anneliese. "It’s okay. Mister owes Anneliese quite a lot."
"Really?"
"Mhm. So let Mister repay his debt, okay?"
"Debt? Is Mister sad? Mommy used to be sad whenever she mentioned debt. Anne doesn’t know what that is, though."
"...."
Julius’s expression froze for a moment. That was right. Only a few months ago, Isolde and Anneliese’s situation had been anything but pleasant.
They had been drowning in debt, scraping by on whatever Isolde could manage. But that was in the past now. With her earnings stabilized and the support he provided, Isolde had paid off every last cent. She didn’t owe anyone anything anymore.
Julius reached over to adjust the straw in Anneliese’s drink. "Debt can make people sad, yes. But your mommy isn’t sad anymore. She worked hard, and she’s free from that now."
Anneliese nodded slowly. "So... Mister is paying Mister’s debt? Not Mommy’s?"
"That’s right," Julius said. "Mister’s debt. Not Mommy’s."
"What did Mister do?"
Julius paused, then gave her a small, gentle smile. "I didn’t appreciate someone important to me enough before. So I’m making up for it."
"Oh..." Anneliese tapped her chin, then brightened. "Then Anne will help Mister pay Mister’s debt by eating a lot!"
Julius blinked. "That is... one way to interpret it."
"Mhm!" she said proudly. "Anne will eat everything so Mister won’t feel sad!’
A cheeky child. When he thought about it, there really wasn’t much difference between this Anneliese and the older Anneliese. Both versions of her had something he could never fully put into words.
"...."
No, he had been denying it all this time, pushing the truth somewhere far, far back in his mind. But when he thought deeply, it was painfully obvious when the cold mask of a Directorate officer had first begun to crack.
A mask formed by years of sanctioned killing, countless operations, and a lifetime of believing his hands were meant only for ruin.
It was the day he first met Anneliese.
That little girl who had looked at him, not as a threat, not as a monster, not as an entity to be feared, but as someone she trusted without question. Someone she approached with innocence and warmth he didn’t deserve, despite the world turning its back on her.
From that moment on, she had slowly, persistently influenced him in ways he never acknowledged. She had shown him, without ever intending to, that the world did not end with the Schneiders’ downfall.
That even a man with cold hands stained in blood could still be worthy of salvation. Of redemption. Of a second chance.
And when she died... that had been the final breaking point, after a lifetime of breaking points. The moment everything inside him finally collapsed. The moment he truly understood what he had lost.
He looked at the little girl in front of him now. The younger Anneliese.
This Anneliese... she should never experience what her older self had endured.
Julius reached out and fix the napkin in front of her. His voice softened without him meaning to.
"Eat a lot. We still have the whole afternoon. You mentioned you like Pokémon, right?"
"Yes!"
"Lucky you. Mister has connections all over the world."
That evening, Julius had even managed to secure Anneliese a front-row seat to meet several famous voice actors.