Chapter 41

Mission 41 (: 41) is the forty-first chapter of the SPY x FAMILY manga, written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo. It was released on February 22, 2021.

Summary
Yuri is surveilling a room thorugh a listening device as three men enter the room. He quickly assesses the position and skill of the men through their footsteps, determining that two of them are big and professional and that his target, Conrad, sits on the sofa. After Yuri announces that they've made the deal, the lieutenient tells him they're going in. The lieutenient and two members of SSS enter, arresting the men on suspicion of espionage. Conrad attempts to evade arrest through the window, only for Yuri who is waiting outside to quickly disable him.

Back at the SSS building, a superior praises Yuri for his work and give him another assignment to investigate Franklin Perkin, a journalist who writes several books and articles that slander Ostania, selling them to Ostanian black markets, and stop his work from influencing public opinion. The lieutenient expresses some concern for the amount of work Yuri's been doing lately but Yuri reassures him. Yuri is disgusted at Franklin for selling out his own country for money.

Yuri monitors Franklin, referring to him as Subject J-095, and carefully logs all his actions from waking up to sleeping, as well as the appearance of fellow passengers on the train and his conversations with his coworkers. The lieutenient is impressed at the amount of details but tries to persuade Yuri to let someone take over as he's pulled two all-nighters in a row. As the lieutenient reads out the report, Yuri twitches in response to some words that sound similar to Yor so he tells Yuri to rest.

At Franklin's apartment, the landlady loudly knocks on his door to demand he pay his back rent. Franklin tries to persuade her to give him a few more days and promises to pay up the day after tomorrow. After the landlady leaves, he prepares to leave, informing his father that he's going out for a bit. Yuri and the lieutenient nod at each other and follow Franklin outside. Franklin tries to find something to write about as he discreetly takes pictures with a camera hidden under his jacket. Several children run past him, playing with a Bondman replica pistol. Franklin walks up to them and snatches the replica pistol, throwing it into a nearby dumpster. The children quickly dig into the dumpster to find the pistol and Franklin takes a picture to show them as desperate and hungry street urchins. When the children threaten to report him to the SSS, Franklin intimidates them and angers Yuri.

Back at Franklin's apartment, Franklin is writing a new article. His father is concerned about his activities. Franklin says he just wants to make the country a better place for his family to live and they need money to live, wishing they had more money so his mother would still be alive. As Yuri listens in, Yuri wonders if Franklin is motivated by concern for his family on the report but rips it out and crumples it.

On the 11th, Yuri continues to monitor Franklin, noting there's no signs of attempted contact with his publishers. Franklin is working at the post office. After a load of mail has been cleared by the monitors, Franklin offers to handle the mail instead. He discreetly slips the manuscript into the mail.

On the 15th, Franklin prepares to leave but sees Yuri Briar and SSS officers waiting outside the apartment. Though shocked, he eventually closes his eyes in acceptance and tells his father he won't be back fo a while. When he walks outside, Yuri informs him that they've arrested the publishers. Franklin expressed appreciation for them waiting outside and Yuri tells him there was no reason for his family to witness his arrest and places handcuffs on him. As Franklin is escorted away, Yuri says he'll submit an application for his father to receive financial assistance and Franklin thanks him.

Yuri's boss pats him on the back, saying he's proud of Yuri. The boss promises to treat Yuri to a steak dinner. Yuri drops by the Forgers' home with Loid Forger, Yor Forger and Anya Forger at home. When Yor asks if something is wrong, Yuri says he just wanted to see his sister's face. Anya reads Yuri's minds and pats him. Yor pats Yuri on the head and makes some tea for them.

Trivia

 * This chapter shows an even greater similarity of the SSS to the Stasi of East Germany, as seen with their very detailed monitoring of the journalist's movements.
 * However, on page 2 of the chapter, one of the agents displays a badge that bears more resemblance to the Nazi eagle than the "Shield and Sword of the Party" insignia of the Stasi.
 * Yuri monitored Franklin from the 6th to the 15th.