Shimano Ryousuke...
A Japanese foreign exchange student.
Entered the country on June 15, 1939.
Marseilles...
A one-year stay in France...
Don't try to force yourself to remember.
I think you have temporary amnesia.
You don't remember anything at all?
You made the ill-advised decision to defy a German soldier.
You don't remember the trouble we went through to save you?
Don't give the enemy any information.
I don't know.
I can't remember anything.
What was that?
Please, tell me what happened.
This is France, right?
Why are German soldiers here?
I wish I could forget, too,
that my motherland, France,
is now occupied by Germany.
As the embers of world war smoldered
Celebrating Going off to war
in autumn of 1937,
Hisanaga Yasutake
the Imperial Army
established a clandestine spy training agency.
Greater East Asia Cultural Society
The histories, names, and even ages
of the elite men who pass its rigorous application process
are all treated as top-secret information.
They easily complete training exercises that push them
to their physical and mental limits.
Under the command of founder Lieutenant Colonel Yuuki,
they operate worldwide, within the shadows.
And so a brand-new intelligence agency was created.
Its name is "D-Agency."
It was June 22, 1940.
Episode 3 - Miscalculation
With no answer to the advancing German forces, France was occupied,
and signed an armistice agreement.
This program is a work of fiction. The characters, organizations, locations, laws, names, etc. being portrayed are unrelated to actual events.
For a long time,
there were no big problems, even in our town.
Don't get too big for your britches!
But then...
You miserable Nazi scum!
It started when an old woman threw a rock
at a German squadron and started yelling at them.
The soldiers ignored her at first,
but things escalated, and eventually,
they couldn't let it continue any longer.
Just as she was about to be executed...
It was you who rescued her.
That's when we rushed the Germans to protect you, but...
One soldier was waving around a rifle,
and it hit you right in the temple.
What's this?
You look almost annoyed, all of a sudden.
Not at all!
At any rate, thanks for saving me.
Are you really Japanese?
Huh? Why do you ask?
Right now, you're speaking French in a Parisian dialect.
But while you were unconscious,
you were mumbling in Russian.
Huh? For some reason,
I feel like I've really screwed up...
That's not all.
These glasses are cosmetic.
Also, there was cotton stuffed in your mouth.
It got in the way when we tried to treat you, and removing it,
along with the glasses, changed your appearance.
There's something I thought was strange, too.
While we were carrying him back here,
he was mumbling numbers.
"Ninety to eight to two," I believe.
Ninety to eight to two?
What does that mean?
I don't know.
But I don't think I was supposed to tell anyone...
"A man like that for friends beloved,
or for his country fears not to perish."
The words of Horace, the ancient Roman poet.
When you regained consciousness in this room,
you read the words reflected in the mirror
while still in a daze, even though they were reversed.
Shimano...
You're a hero who saved an old Frenchwoman's life.
That's why we put ourselves in danger to save you.
But the things you do as if they're second nature,
they...
They make me doubt you're just another Japanese man.
Who are you, really?
I'm...
Don't talk.
Stop it...
Stop it.
Stop it!
Please, stop!
Don't...
Don't look at me!
Germans.
But why?
How did they find us?
We might've been tailed.
This is why I was against bringing him here!
We were very careful to avoid being followed.
There's no way we were tailed—
Wait, Shimano! Where are you going?
They came here for me, right?
I don't want to cause you any more trouble.
Thank you for helping me.
Break through.
Death is the worst choice you can make. Live.
Wait!
You're wrong, Shimano.
We're the ones who'll be in the most trouble if you leave.
What do you mean?
Stop, Alain!
Remember what the Japanese army is doing!
Shimano has nothing to do with their army.
Besides, it's not as if France and Japan are at war right now.
Marie, what do you think?
Shimano saved one of our people.
And his memory loss doesn't seem to be an act.
Shouldn't we at least fill him in?
I agree with Alain.
Then it's two to one.
We're
with the Résistance.
You're members of a secret
underground opposition to the German occupation, you mean?
Let's sneak out the back.
No.
There aren't enough soldiers outside to justify all those cars.
There are probably four... no, five more.
It's a trap. Their real plan is to catch
whoever tries to sneak out the back.
Why? How do I know that?
A trap? Then we have no way out.
We can break through.
What do you have here?
Any guns? You're Résistance fighters, right?
Our goal isn't to engage them in combat.
So there's...
Do you have any weapons or not?
One handgun.
Jean got it for us.
Give it to me, right now.
I think it's broken.
The trigger is jammed.
This is...
Yeah, something's stuck in there.
Anything else we could use as a weapon?
No, nothing else.
Nothing but kitchen utensils.
When the fighting starts, make sure you stock up on anything white.
That's an old French saying.
Flour, salt, sugar, and...
A bellows?
Huh?
Do you have a bellows?
I think there's an old foot bellows in the kitchen.
Bring it, along with the flour.
Okay!
Alain, you keep an eye on things through the crack in the door.
Jean, loosen the lightbulbs.
Come out!
We know you're in there!
Open the door!
Come out quietly, for your own sake.
Open up!
I fixed it.
Now we can fire it at any time.
Thank you...
What was wrong with it?
Not sure.
I took it apart, then put it back together, and it was fixed.
Maybe it just wasn't assembled properly.
It's an old gun.
Who's going to carry it?
I will.
No. I procured it, so I'll carry it.
Marie, can you take it?
Huh?
Of course, it's not to kill the enemy.
It's for your own protection.
Is that okay?
Yes.
Certainly.
You're responsible for protecting your own life.
What the hell is this?
What's going on?
Shit, I can't see anything!
Someone turn on the lights!
What the...
What is this?
What happened?!
Now, hurry!
Come on.
Shimano...
Just... Just who the hell are you?
There was nothing in that room you could've used to make a bomb.
I used the flour you'd stockpiled.
A dust explosion.
It's nothing special, really.
Fundamentally, it's not much different from the coal dust explosions
that sometimes happen in mines.
With the right amount of dust in the air,
balanced with the right density of oxygen,
anyone can cause one.
Jean, Marie, listen.
I'm sure we all want to know exactly who Shimano is,
but right now, we have more pressing issues.
Shimano has not only saved the life of our fellow countrywoman,
but now, he's also rescued us from a life-or-death situation.
A-Alain, wait... You can't mean...
Here's my proposal.
From now on, we consider Shimano an ally,
and formally ask for his help
in our upcoming operations.
Alain, have you lost your mind?!
Marie, what do you think?
I agree with you.
Damn it, you always take his side.
There you have it.
Shimano, will you lend us,
and our motherland, your aid?
Before I answer, let's get away from here.
The enemy's still nearby.
Where's your closest hideout?
Châtillon.
It'll take an hour to get there on foot.
Let's go.
Stop.
Marie?
What's wrong?
Why are you pointing the gun at us?
I'm sorry.
If only he hadn't shown up, this never would've...
I thought so.
I knew it was a possibility, but I see there was a mole after all.
You were the one who sabotaged that gun.
No... You're a collaborator?
A German spy sent to infiltrate the Résistance?
Are you?
Marie, why?
Why would you cooperate—
To survive!
So that my family and I could...
It was a month ago.
I was going to keep up the act to the end.
I did everything in my power not to put you all in danger.
But...
If this keeps up, my family will...
I'm truly sorry.
But I have to hand you over to the Germans.
Both of you, and the strange Japanese man.
Wha— Stop!
I'll shoot!
Please, stop!
Come any closer and...
Shoot, then.
What's wrong?
Don't die.
And...
Don't kill!
Jean, got anything to tie her up with?
Hey. Are you awake?
Yeah...
So Marie chose her family over her country,
and Jean chose the love of his life.
"A man like that for friends beloved,
or for his country fears not to perish."
It's easier said than done.
How did you know Marie was a collaborator?
She asked me what was wrong.
After I repaired the gun,
she was the only one who asked what was wrong with it.
She was trying to discern if I'd noticed that
it had been tampered with.
I wasn't 100% sure, though,
which is why I put a blank in it.
What I didn't predict was the shot Jean took.
But thanks to him,
I remembered who I am,
and what I have to do.
Are you leaving?
Yes.
I see.
Alain Lernier.
That's my name.
Shimano Ryousuke.
Cleaning's complete.
No witnesses, no listening devices.
Contact protocol number three.
Report.
Why is Lieutenant Colonel Yuuki here?
Ninety to eight to two.
That's the current ratio of bystanders,
to German collaborators,
to Résistance here in France.
The purpose of my mission was Alain's group from the start.
We knew from prior intel that Alain was a leader
within the Résistance movement.
In order to infiltrate their group,
I gave the old lady a suggestion
and sent her over to the Germans.
Alain and the others coming to my rescue was all according to plan.
Getting hit in the head during the confusion
and experiencing temporary amnesia was a blunder,
but it was a miscalculation within the realm of possibility,
and thus, something I planned for.
It should be easy for a spy to see that, in less than ideal situations,
the potential for confusion and memory loss can arise.
However, once you master the method of imprinting
your mission objective into your subconscious,
it won't cause any problems.
At present, the French Résistance is mostly
students causing occasional problems.
I see no evidence of an organized system supplying arms to them.
So, what next?
Shall I continue a bit longer?
Return home for now.
The next Hakusan Maru voyage will be the last one.
The last voyage?
It can't be...
Japan is allying with Germany?
I can't imagine Germany has a clear vision for how they'll control
the seas and the skies as they battle the British.
They just declared war on them the other day.
So why...
This was the
biggest miscalculation I made on this mission.
Mission complete.
I can't use the mask of Shimano Ryousuke, the exchange student, anymore.
Lieutenant Colonel Yuuki's presence here confirms that.
You're welcome to stay.
I'll go home.
But...
Next time, give me a mission that demands a little more mettle.
Preview
You've been really into gambling lately, haven't you?
Yeah.
Why?
To taste the thrill of victory,
Episode 4 - City of Temptation
and the agony of defeat.