Ch.110Episode 6 – The Omniscient Spy’s Perspective

# The Magic Tower’s Political Situation Was Highly Unstable

The media was fanning flames using the anxiety created by successive bombing attacks and the security vacuum caused by the failure to suppress anti-Church demonstrations.

Typically, when media outlets report on an incident, it’s called an article. When multiple media outlets report simultaneously, it becomes an issue. And when an issue spreads like wildfire, it’s called public opinion.

Public opinion was burning.

The protests that had initially shown anti-Church tendencies gradually shifted toward anti-government sentiment, and violent demonstrations showed signs of escalating into riots amid the absence of security.

Additionally, hostility toward foreign powers and dissatisfaction from minor schools regarding the dominance of the three major schools were intensifying. Incidentally, government approval ratings were also dropping.

That was the conclusion drawn by the Information Analysis Team.

“…Therefore, as I mentioned earlier, these factors are expected to act as various variables in the selection of the next Oracle committee member.”

Pippin concluded his neat briefing.

“Who do you think will be selected?”

“Well, since this is a selection rather than an election, it’s not something we can easily conclude. Public opinion may have some influence, but…”

“So if the Oracle ignores public opinion, they can do whatever the hell they want?”

“That’s a crude way of putting it, but essentially correct.”

I carefully reviewed the analysis report Pippin handed me. Histograms, bar charts, pie charts, and line charts filled my vision.

A red line trending upward crossed with a blue line trending downward. A golden cross. Government positive and negative evaluations were showing a reversal pattern.

“Negative evaluations have exceeded the majority at 58.3%. Positive evaluations are at 26.6%. Don’t know or no response is at 15.1%.”

The approval rating and undecided voters were surprisingly high, but considering that the three major schools accounted for the majority of the Magic Tower’s population, it wasn’t exactly a positive indicator.

Normally when the ruling party is pushed back, the opposition rises to take its place, but…

“The three major schools are united, right?”

“Yes.”

This was a situation where major parties had formed an alliance among themselves. The two schools that could be rivals were bound in an alliance, and other schools lacked the ability to counter the Trinity.

A situation with no alternatives.

Perfect conditions for a coup.

“Who’s the candidate the Oracle is backing right now?”

“That’s something we can’t determine from our position.”

The analyst said.

That they couldn’t analyze it.

“The Oracle is an organization where the Counter-Intelligence capabilities of the Public Order Protection Bureau are concentrated, making it impossible to approach. There’s virtually no intelligence collected by our information officers. However…”

“It’s okay. Go ahead.”

“Considering the international situation and the candidates’ influence within their schools, Francesca Ranieri is unlikely to be selected.”

“Specifically, what are the odds?”

“We estimate between 50 and 75 percent.”

That’s what they said.

I signed the signature line and closed the report.

“For the time being, collect and analyze all incoming intelligence related to the current situation.”

“We’re not election consultants.”

“You’re the Information Analysis Team. And if a soldier doesn’t follow orders, is he still a soldier?”

“……”

I smirked as I handed the report to Pippin, who was glaring at me.

“Is there a problem?”

## Episode 6 – Betrayer of the Revolution

“The country seems to have quite a lot of problems.”

A well-dressed man in a neat suit smiled amiably as he gripped his cue.

With a crisp sound, the billiard ball was shot forcefully.

The ball rolled chaotically across the blue table.

“Problems? What country doesn’t have problems these days? Haha.”

The suit-wearing man who had taken the first shot spoke softly as he set down his cue. A middle-aged man who had hung his suit jacket on a coat rack responded while rubbing chalk on the tip of his cue.

“One’s own splinter is always more painful than someone else’s wound.”

“What kind of splinter is causing you such pain?”

“Many. Refugees, elves, goblins, orcs… Monsters have been pushed to uninhabited areas, so they’re not an issue for now, but problems are arising elsewhere.”

“That must be quite a headache. I’m worried about my promotion. Heh.”

“Ah, you’re going into the first colonel review this time, right?”

As the colonel wearing only his dress shirt spoke, the lieutenant colonel smiled awkwardly and removed his jacket.

Another colonel who had been listening to their conversation quietly smiled while lighting a magic cigarette, and a lieutenant colonel who had been taking a light drink laughed heartily.

“How is Yulya doing these days? I heard she went home on leave recently.”

“How do you know about that?”

“You brought back gifts, didn’t you?”

“Ah, right! Magic cigarettes, correct? I received them as a gift from an acquaintance in the east. They smell so good that I smoke them often! Haha!”

“What are you doing smoking magic cigarettes when you can’t even use magic? You’ll ruin your lungs.”

“I might quit gambling, but I can’t quit magic cigarettes!”

The men in their 40s and 50s gathered around the billiard table, laughing amicably. They were all defense attachés working at diplomatic missions in the Magic Tower.

There were no officers below field grade in this billiard club. Most of the resident military attachés dispatched to the Magic Tower from notable countries were gathered here.

Diplomacy is an extension of politics, and the foundation of diplomacy is socializing. The reason these defense attachés gathered at the billiard club was to build relationships. Diplomacy is an extension of politics. And war is ultimately a continuation of politics.

Therefore, the attachés gathered at this club were all from countries that wielded considerable power in the international community.

Whether it was war, diplomacy, or politics, one only dealt with opponents of equal standing.

In refined terms, this was an unofficial meeting place for diplomats from major powers; in cruder terms, it was a place where nobodies couldn’t join.

I picked up the chalk with a light smile.

“You seem to have something on your mind. When people are troubled, they usually turn to cigarettes or alcohol.”

“Who says you have to choose just one! I do both!”

“My goodness… You need to stay healthy.”

The attaché laughed heartily as he responded. The old man might have been offended by a young guy talking about health, but at least outwardly, his reaction was quite cheerful.

It probably wasn’t because I was holding a cue stick.

We were attachés representing our respective countries, after all.

“Are you good at billiards?”

“I can play a little.”

Of course, the people gathered here were nominally attachés from their embassies, but that was just a respectable cover.

In reality, they were intelligence officers from military intelligence agencies. In other words, official covers, intelligence officers, whites, spies.

Of course, on the surface, they appeared to be ordinary diplomats dispatched from their defense ministries. But the orders for resident military attachés came not from the embassy but from military intelligence agencies. In South Korea’s case, the Defense Intelligence Command manages resident military attachés, while for the communists, it’s the External Affairs Bureau of the People’s Armed Forces Ministry or the Reconnaissance General Bureau.

Of course, while nominally under the Defense Intelligence Command, South Korean military intelligence activities are essentially directed by the National Intelligence Service. That’s what the law states, and since the NIS handles audit rights and budget allocation, it’s unavoidable. The communist bastards barely have a central command, so each agency manages things as they please.

Anyway.

Everyone gathered here was a defense attaché. In other words, they weren’t diplomats gathered for diplomacy, but spies gathered to probe each other and collect information.

Of course, that included me.

“This is my first time at the Magic Tower. It’s more chaotic here than I expected.”

I casually aimed at the ball as I opened the conversation.

With a crisp sound, the ball moved.

“Haha, it wouldn’t be the Magic Tower if it were quiet. It’s just a temporary disturbance.”

“Is that so? I was needlessly worried then. I was concerned about a civil war breaking out like in Mauritania.”

Given the setting and our positions, the attachés’ conversation remained superficial.

By defense ministry standards, at least.

“Ah, the bombing attacks. Do you have any information? I heard it was a new type of bomb.”

The first topic was, of course, the bombing attacks.

In response to the question from the Rushan Federation attaché, the Kashuvian attaché answered.

“Nothing yet. I met with the director of the Public Order Protection Bureau’s 3rd Department recently, and they don’t know how the bomb was made either.”

“What about the Inquisition?”

“The Public Order Protection Bureau and the Inquisition don’t communicate with each other. They’re equally in the dark.”

The two men with impressively healthy, tanned skin exchanged information amicably. Rushan and Kashuvia were allies, after all.

But neither of them knew anything about the bombs or the terrorism. There was some information exchanged from their contacts in counter-intelligence agencies, but it wasn’t particularly nutritious conversation.

“……”

Of course, I knew where those bombs had come from, but I chose not to speak up.

*Tap!*

With a crisp sound, the ball rolled, and the topic of conversation changed.

The second topic was civil war.

The attaché from Fatalia casually opened the conversation while arranging his cue.

“I’ve heard there’s a lot of talk about Mauritania. Is everything alright there?”

“That place has always been tumultuous.”

Mauritania was the region most similar to the Middle East if compared to Earth. In fact, since the continent was so vast, the Rushan Federation and Kashuvia were also similar to the Middle East.

To be specific, Rushan and Kashuvia were similar to West Asia (Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran-Saudi Arabia-Turkey, etc.), while Mauritania across the sea was similar to North Africa (Algeria-Sudan-Libya-Ethiopia-Eritrea, etc.).

I know Pakistan and Turkey well since I’ve been there on business trips several times. But I don’t know much about Africa. I briefly visited the Democratic Republic of Congo and Eritrea, but my time in that region was too short.

The Middle East and Africa are regions plagued by civil wars and terrorism. Similarly, Mauritania and the southernmost part of the continent were essentially in chaos with civil wars, terrorism, epidemics, and coups.

And the biggest problem in that region was—

“What about drugs?”

—drugs.

In response to the Fatalian attaché’s question, the Rushan Federation attaché made a troubled expression.

“Well, there have been some issues related to drugs. The Green Skin guys have been causing trouble with some strange ideology called Maoism or whatever…”

Literally, drugs manufactured in the lawless Mauritania region were flowing into the continent.

Since drugs are profitable, most criminal organizations had a hand in the drug trade. Eventually, drugs that flowed into the continent spread throughout the region via the vein-like network of railways and canals.

“The drug issue is a matter of concern for our Foreign Ministry, but the Fatalian Defense Ministry is also keeping a close eye on it.”

“Yes, I understand. I fully understand Fatalia’s position. However, I want to make it clear that our federation is not sitting idle on drug eradication.”

Of course, the Rushan Federation does try to manage the situation. The problem is that new organizations are born faster than they can eliminate existing drug organizations.

The issue is that the Rushan Federation isn’t the only one suffering the consequences. Fatalia is currently conducting boarding inspections on all ships coming from the Rushan Federation using their Defense Ministry and intelligence agencies, and Abas and other countries are taking similar measures.

Nevertheless, problems caused by drugs continue unabated.

“I understand the federation’s circumstances. In fact, drugs coming from the Magic Tower are a bigger problem for us than those from the federation. I didn’t mean anything by it, haha.”

“Do they grow drugs in the Magic Tower too? Wouldn’t they get caught by police surveillance?”

“Financially struggling magicians do get involved in drug manufacturing. They make small quantities, but there are so many of them, and they make them directly in residential areas or workshops, making intelligence gathering difficult. Workshops are like personal vaults for magicians. …Oh, by the way, the Hero was a magician too, right?”

An attaché asked me from a distance as I was playing billiards.

Abas had the most information about Camilla. And I was the person within Abas who knew the most accurate and extensive information.

That was why the attachés specifically invited me to the club. It was also why a mere major could join the adults’ gathering.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Last time, during the Wasteland Operation. I saw you handling fire. Is that elemental magic?”

“A proper investigation would be needed for certainty, but based on the circumstances, that’s our assessment.”

The attachés asked me about Camilla. Persistently, in fact.

“What does the Hero like?”

“I understand she likes foods with high sugar content. And she’s very interested in magic.”

“Has she adapted to the local culture?”

“Yes. She’s interested in various fields beyond magic—art, architecture, music, scholarship. Probably because everything is so novel to her.”

“What about sorcery?”

One of the attachés asked a question.

It was the Rushan Federation attaché who had been conversing with the Kashuvian attaché earlier.

“…Hmm.”

I pretended to rub chalk on my cue while quickly thinking.

The Rushan Federation is a country in the southern part of the continent, close to the Mauritania region.

The reason the Church exerts influence in continental politics is because it can mobilize a vast number of believers. However, this influence doesn’t work well in the south.

Why? Because the south is influenced by the Mauritania region, where polytheism and various indigenous religions have taken root throughout the area.

Therefore, in the southern part of the continent, like in Arab regions, political leaders and religious leaders jointly run state affairs.

The Rushan Federation has a president (who is actually a king in disguise) who is the head of the local states, and a priest who is the leader of the regional polytheistic religion. These religious differences have led to several conflicts between the Pope and the priest.

And Camilla’s colleague Lucia is a saint of the Church, while the newly joined alchemist Francesca Ranieri is from an orthodox magic lineage and a candidate for the next Oracle committee. Her competitor is a sorcerer from the Rushan Federation.

Conclusion: This bastard is trying to fish for information.

I put down the chalk and cleared my throat.

“Of course, since sorcery is classified as primitive magic, she would be interested. However, my concern is that sorcery has aspects that conflict with divinity…”

Unlike conventional magic, sorcery involves receiving power by offering sacrifices and prayers to gods, which makes Lucia uncomfortable. More precisely, the Church. Even more precisely, the Inquisition.

—I deliberately didn’t add that part.

Anyone who has risen to field grade in an intelligence agency and been sent abroad should be able to read the atmosphere.

Sure enough, the Rushan Federation attaché responded with a friendly smile. His bright white teeth stood out against his tanned skin.

“Haha! Religion is such a complicated thing. I completely understand.”

“Not at all. I was worried my words might have sounded aggressive, and I regret having to phrase it this way. Those people can be quite zealous…”

It meant don’t take it personally since it’s not Abas’s position. It also meant if you have complaints, take them directly to the Church.

Of course, those fanatics wouldn’t play along with his games.

I made an expression of regret as I positioned the cue between my fingers.

“By the way… Do you have any information about the Oracle selection?”

*Tap!*

#

“…The Rushan Federation is showing interest in Camilla. Judging by their questions about her hobbies, interests, and mention of sorcery, it seems they hope she’ll be more interested in sorcery than divinity, alchemy, or elemental magic.”

“Thank you, Major.”

The Inquisition agent disguised as Lucia’s attendant expressed gratitude with a light bow.

“I don’t understand why the Rushan Federation is interested in Camilla.”

“There’s no company on the continent that isn’t interested in the Hero.”

“That aside. Why is this issue being discussed with Abas rather than the Church? You must know the Church will strongly oppose it. Isn’t that right, Priestess Rebecca?”

Priestess Rebecca spoke while carefully folding a pile of laundry. The clothes had been washed by hotel staff.

“That’s precisely why they did it. They’d find it awkward to clash directly with the Church.”

Her matter-of-fact tone drew an involuntary exclamation from me.

“Goddamn sand niggers. Can’t even grab them and split their heads in half.”

Getting involved with black-skinned foreigners always leads to trouble. It happened with the Pakistanis, and in Syria too. Africa goes without saying. It’s been over 20 years, but I still wake up in the middle of the night thinking about the $3,000 that interpreter bastard stole from me.

I grumbled racially discriminatory remarks while cooling my anger with sparkling water.

Priestess Rebecca looked at me and bluntly said:

“You have a violent temperament. I didn’t realize.”

“Try rolling around in Africa and the Middle East for about three years, Priestess. See what happens to you. The water is teeming with parasites and germs. If you get hurt, you need to go to a hospital, but the roads are terrible. When you finally find a hospital, the hygiene is abysmal. Diarrhea is a given, and if you catch a local disease, it’s a disaster. Even with thirty or forty vaccinations, it’s still hell.”

“I don’t know where that is, but it sounds like a very harsh region.”

Priestess Rebecca, who had been folding laundry, silently nodded.

“The Rushan Federation probably mentioned this to you because of their foreign debt issue.”

“Foreign debt?”

“Recently, the Rushan Federation’s foreign debt to the Church amounts to about 14 billion shillings.”

Shilling. Abas’s currency unit. In this region, along with the Kyen Empire’s takron and the Church’s denarius, it has a status almost equivalent to the dollar or euro.

It’s not an exact comparison, but 14 billion shillings would be roughly equivalent to 20 trillion won in Korean currency.

“……”

That level of debt was certainly a reason not to antagonize the Church. Debtors don’t provoke their creditors.

However, the important thing is:

That’s none of my business.

“How much money those bastards borrowed from the Church is not my concern. Let the Church handle this issue. This isn’t something we can resolve at our level.”

“If you’re concerned about relations with the Rushan Federation, we’ll take care of it. That would look better, after all. We also have justification.”

The Church agreed to block the sorcerers’ nonsense.

Of course, this won’t be immediately reflected in policies and external stances. It needs to go through reporting and internal meetings, and receive approval from the policy maker (the Pope) before it can be implemented.

But since it’s an issue related to another religion, and involves Saint Lucia and Camilla, I think it will be reflected much faster than other matters.

I exchanged a few pieces of information with Priestess Rebecca, then pulled up a chair and sat down heavily.

“Oh my…”

I haven’t been able to rest comfortably lately.

Veronica suddenly visited the Magic Tower and dragged me to a villa, saying a coup was about to happen. Then I gathered intelligence and handed it to the Information Analysis Team, only to deal with issues involving Camilla and Lucia. And just when I tried to rest after resolving that, I suddenly had a meeting scheduled with military attachés from other countries.

No matter how I look at it, this is all because of Veronica. If she was going to tell me, she should have done it properly. What’s with her timing? She’s not a fisherman.

Without information, I feel lost. I’m building from the ground up, but after hearing the Information Analysis Team’s report, I’m a bit troubled because a coup could break out at any moment.

“……”

“You look tired.”

“Well, if a diplomat isn’t tired, that’s a problem in itself.”

“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”

I exchanged small talk with Priestess Rebecca.

“How far along is your intelligence network construction?”

“We’re in the conditioning stage. Once the grooming process is complete, we plan to move to stage 4.”

“You’re working quite quickly.”

The Inquisition’s intelligence network construction within the Magic Tower had passed through three stages (identification-evaluation-conditioning-recruitment) and was about to enter the fourth stage.

The speed was much faster than expected. Almost too rushed, I thought.

“What will you do? You can manage them after recruitment, but you can’t stay in the Magic Tower forever.”

“There’s a consulate nearby. We’ll dismiss those who need to be dismissed and transfer those who need to be transferred.”

She meant to entrust the intelligence network management to intelligence officers. Since the Magic Tower is in the southern part of the Empire, the intelligence network built in the Magic Tower would be incorporated into the Empire’s intelligence network.

It seems they were drawing their own big picture.

As I remained silent, Priestess Rebecca, who was arranging her robe, suddenly asked me:

“Major, have you heard any news about Saint Veronica?”

“…Has something happened?”

“She disappeared suddenly without a word. She’s known for being like the wind, disliking staying in one place, but…”

“……”

That Veronica is currently in the Magic Tower, but I gritted my teeth and pretended not to know.

Veronica wanted to hide her whereabouts. Something about having to pay taxes if the villa contracted under an alias became known. She insisted that while she might inform Lucia, the Inquisition was absolutely off-limits, so I had no choice.

Therefore, I didn’t answer Priestess Rebecca’s question.

“It’s getting late. Oh, and starting tomorrow, the Magic Tower will be increasing security personnel.”

“Has there been intelligence related to terrorism?”

“No counter-terrorism intelligence yet, but given the current situation…”

“It never hurts to be careful. So what will you do, Major?”

“I plan to accompany them in the afternoon. I have too much work in the morning.”

Tomorrow is the day I officially report the coup issue to my superiors. Even though intelligence is lacking, it’s right to at least make a report.

I gathered my belongings and bowed slightly to Priestess Rebecca.

“I’ll be going now.”

“Take care on your way back.”