Sato Miwako sighed. "Taking down criminal organizations and all that as a side job... You're probably the only one who treats something like that as easily as drinking cold water."
"Not exactly..." Fujino chimed in, then cut himself off. "If you're really thirsty, then something like that definitely isn't as hard as drinking cold water. After all, if you don't drink, you'll die. This was just something I did along the way."
Sato Miwako: "..."
What kind of ridiculous comparison was that? Never mind.
Sato Miwako sighed inwardly. She had to admit that when it came to racking up merits, Fujino was in a class of his own... Forget murder cases; just the criminal organizations he had taken down were enough to get him recognized at an awards ceremony.
"Too bad he's only a consultant right now, not a civil servant."
Sato Miwako thought about it, but then reconsidered. Even if Fujino were a civil servant, he probably would not get promoted very far, would he?
The Metropolitan Police Department's bureaucratic system was deeply entrenched, and Sato Miwako understood that all too well.
They screened your education, your background, and your age. If there was anything they could use to hold you back, they would, and once you got stuck, your future was basically over.
That was how Japan's system worked. There was nothing much to say about it—the people at the top had never changed. If they did not block people here and there, where would all those promotion slots come from?
Promotion slots also depended on personal ability—background, that was. Take Shiratori, for example. Aside from his own achievements, there was also the Shiratori family.
After all, there were only so many police inspectors, while countless people were waiting for promotion opportunities. How could you compete with others