Ch.116Episode 6 – The Omniscient Spy’s Perspective

“Very well, so where are we going first?”

I asked while sitting in the passenger seat, chewing on the edge of my glasses.

“Is there anywhere you’d like to go?”

“Home.”

When I expressed the deepest wish from my heart, Veronica snickered and started the engine.

It was clearly mockery, but I didn’t have the energy to respond. I tossed the cheap sunglasses I’d bought just to cover my eyes into the glove compartment and asked Veronica as she gently pressed the accelerator.

“So, where are these items you wanted to show me?”

“What?”

“You called a busy person out here. You don’t expect me to search through all these containers, do you?”

At that, Veronica looked at me with a mischievous smile.

“You don’t really think that, do you?”

“Ah, no way.”

“I can see exactly what you’re thinking, Major, and you’re probably right.”

“……”

The lobbyist pointed to the mountain of containers and smiled brightly.

“We’re going to see all of these today.”

Episode 6 – The Omniscient Spy’s Perspective

Her claim about seeing all the containers today wasn’t an empty threat. Veronica truly seemed determined to open every container in the tower.

“These are cigars made from tobacco grown in Kamatra. Kamatra cigars are famous for their deep brown color and subtle flavor. And this… probably leaves grown in Bonnet. Old-timers say they’re good, but they don’t suit my taste.”

Cigars, tobacco leaves, smoking products.

“Verdin chocolate! My favorite item. The ones made with cocoa butter mixed with milk are the most delicious! They can’t make them now because cattle plague swept across the continent and all the cows died.”

Chocolate, confectionery.

“Wine from Fatalia. The most expensive wine sold in the world. Avas wine is good too, but this region has more distinctive wines than Avas. However, with the recent poor grape harvest, prices have skyrocketed. I ordered some two months ago, but there’s still no stock. Even wealthy people can’t easily get their hands on it these days.”

Wine, whiskey, and other famous liquors from various countries.

“Here we have lots of clothes and shoes? They’re all factory-made items… but they sell well thanks to the brand names.”

“……”

“Oh, this is a limited edition! I tried to find one of these by deploying investigators to search the entire church, but they were all sold out.”

Veronica hugged what looked like an expensive pair of shoes and smiled brightly.

Then she boldly blurted out:

“Should I take one?”

“…Are you really a clergy member? This is clearly theft.”

“So what? I can just go to confession and it’s fine.”

This is driving me crazy.

“…Holy Maiden, please stop this nonsense.”

“I’m joking, just joking. Can’t I make jokes…? Why are you so uptight…?”

“……”

I covered my face with my hands and hung my head.

The Holy Maiden’s audacious attitude made me unable to look up.

Clearly, Veronica was the one doing something shameful, yet somehow I was the one feeling embarrassed.

“Veronica, do you have no conscience?”

“My goodness. I’m still officially God’s representative. Can you say such things to a Holy Maiden? This is worthy of an inquisition.”

“…You bought your way into becoming a Holy Maiden.”

“Whether it was money politics or vote rigging, once you’ve secured a position, that’s all that matters!”

Regardless, Veronica continued diligently searching through containers for a while.

Some containers held products with fixed prices, while others contained artwork or crafts that were difficult to price.

Veronica wandered around like someone at an exhibition, appreciating the items.

But this wasn’t a sophisticated museum—it was a pile of containers stacked like mountains, and because of that, I had to follow her around without a moment’s rest.

By the time Veronica was wearing an expensive watch she’d found in one of the containers and swinging a golf club pretending to be an amateur golfer, I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Veronica.”

“Yes?”

“Are you playing games with me? You said you’d show me something, but you’re just showing me all these random things. Did we come here to shop? Huh?”

To be honest, I was irritated.

Even if Veronica was a Holy Maiden, I was a diplomat and not someone with enough free time to indulge her antics.

But Veronica looked at me with a bright smile, as if nothing was wrong.

“I’ve already shown you everything.”

“Shown me what?”

“What else?”

She tapped the watch on her wrist and said:

“Smuggled goods.”

*

“So you’re saying all of these are smuggled goods?”

“Yep.”

“……”

I looked at Veronica nodding her head, then at the dozens of containers piled up like mountains before me.

“……”

She says all of these are smuggled goods.

“There are some counterfeits mixed in, but most are normally manufactured products.”

“……”

“With a bit of trickery involved.”

I forced myself to nod and looked at Veronica.

“…They’re factory clearance items, right? Leftovers that workers diverted and put on the market.”

“Oh, how did you know that, Major?”

“How wouldn’t I know?”

It was impossible not to know.

“Well, I once sent cigars as a bribe to grease the palms of the security police. They were very expensive items at retail price…”

“And?”

“But since it was a socialist country where workers only receive fixed wages no matter how hard they work, the laborers diverted goods for extra income. I bought them in bulk at much lower than retail price and slipped them to the security police.”

“Ah, so you’ve used the black market. Which country was that?”

Cuba.

“You wouldn’t know even if I told you, Holy Maiden.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? How boring.”

Veronica puffed her cheeks, apparently trying to show she was offended, and spouted some nonsense.

I tried to calm down the mentally exhausting Veronica and refocused on our conversation.

“Fine. I understand these are all smuggled goods, but why show them to me?”

“You’re from intelligence, aren’t you? Isn’t tracking these things what intelligence agencies do?”

“That’s for the Royal Intelligence Bureau or Imperial Guard. Why would the military monitor smuggled goods?”

Tracking smuggled goods certainly fell under international crime investigation, which was a task for intelligence agencies. However, international crime investigation was handled by national intelligence agencies, not military intelligence.

Honestly, why would the military care about crime? Military intelligence only concerns itself with military-related matters.

Both the Royal Intelligence Bureau and Military Intelligence Bureau might keep tabs on criminal organizations, but when they obtain information about smuggled goods like these, they transfer it to the Cabinet Security Office or Special Investigation Bureau.

It’s the same in South Korea.

The National Intelligence Service works with the police to track smuggled goods, while the Defense Security Command or Defense Intelligence Agency wouldn’t bother unless the items originated from North Korea.

In short, this wasn’t something I needed to concern myself with.

“You’ve got the wrong address. The military doesn’t handle smuggled goods or drugs.”

“I know that much.”

“Then why show this to me? And how did you even know these were smuggled goods in the first place?”

How did the Holy Maiden know about the smuggled goods here?

Let’s say she somehow knew where smuggled goods were located. But knowing not just the general area but the exact location, and precisely which containers held the smuggled goods—that seemed unnatural.

As if someone had specifically pointed it out to her.

Wondering what she was up to, I looked at her questioningly, and Veronica smiled lightly.

“Am I not allowed to know these things?”

“Who owns these shipments?”

“They all belong to private companies. Paper companies, to be precise. It’s difficult to pinpoint a single one since there are multiple companies involved, but the one that owns the most cargo is a company called La Cardenal, registered in Alandirous.”

“La Cardenal?”

“It was originally registered in Fatalia but moved to Alandirous midway. Well, after their business failed, only the name remained.”

So the cargo is owned by shell companies.

“Holy Maiden, I’m asking this seriously—do you have connections to criminal organizations?”

“No, Major, what exactly do you take me for? Do I look like someone who would associate with such people?”

Yes.

“…You don’t seem like that kind of per-son. No.”

“…You just stuttered.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Look me in the eye and tell me. Did you stutter or not?”

“Ah, that’s not what’s important right now.”

I pushed away Veronica’s face as she glared at me.

That wasn’t what mattered right now.

“Where is this person you said you’d introduce me to?”

Veronica was someone who gathered information through her connections.

If a contact of Veronica the lobbyist was in the tower, they might have leaked information about the smuggled goods to her. And from what I’d heard, the person she was going to introduce seemed to be that contact.

“From what you’ve said, it sounds like the person you’re introducing is your informant.”

“Calling them an informant would be too formal for our close relationship…”

“Then what are they?”

“Hmm, like a close younger sibling…? Anyway, they seem busy right now.”

“What kind of job keeps them so busy they can’t even show their face when their close ‘sister’ calls?”

“They’re a civil servant.”

“Ah.”

If they’re a civil servant, that makes sense.

“The tower is quite chaotic these days. I understand. Civil servants can’t even leave work properly because of the current situation…”

“I’ll make sure to set a proper time for our next meeting. I’m sorry.”

“If you know that, please restrain your calls. And don’t just apologize with words—try to look sorry too.”

Looking up at the sky, I noticed the sun was already disappearing beyond the horizon. Today had been largely unproductive except for finding smuggled goods owned by shell companies.

If I returned to the hotel now, I could just barely make it in time for dinner.

“Well, have we seen everything for today? I’ll be going now.”

I stretched my stiff body, preparing to return to the hotel.

“Ah, wait a moment…!”

But Veronica grabbed me.

She urgently held my hand and said:

“What is it? Don’t tell me there’s still more to see?”

“Yes.”

“……”

“I know you’re tired, Major, but there’s really just a little bit left…”

“…I really want to rest now.”

“I know…. Just this, just this one thing and then you can go…!”

*

Veronica led me to a container. It was a bright red container with rust spots here and there.

As I stood there dazed with fatigue, Veronica placed her hand on the thick iron door.

“Here we are.”

When she swung open the container’s characteristic iron door, a cloud of grayish dust billowed out.

That was the difference between this rusty red container and the ones we’d seen earlier. It had been so poorly maintained that dust had accumulated thickly on the wooden crates inside and all over the container. It clearly hadn’t been maintained for at least several years.

But Veronica didn’t seem to mind as she whistled and entered the container.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming in?”

“…Do you want me to breathe in this dust pit?”

“Lungs can be fixed with one healing spell! Come on, hurry up. Before someone sees us.”

Following Veronica, I covered my mouth and nose with my sleeve and waved my hand as I entered the container.

While Veronica looked around carefully and closed the door, I crouched down to examine the wooden crates stacked inside the container.

Judging by the size of the boxes, they didn’t seem to contain any large cargo. The quantity was small too.

However, the boxes had no markings or patterns, so it was impossible to tell who owned the cargo or what was inside.

“What is all this?”

“Want to guess?”

Here we go again.

As I was inwardly sighing deeply, afraid of inhaling dust, Veronica grinned as usual and opened a wooden crate. Then she began earnestly touching something inside the box.

“What are you doing?”

“Just a moment… Ah, found it!”

Veronica exclaimed something, then quickly raised her upper body and thrust her finger in front of my eyes.

“Lick it!”

I stared blankly at the extended finger.

“…You want me to lick your finger?”

“Yep.”

“……”

She really is crazy, no matter when I see her.

I could have just taken out whatever was in the box and tasted it directly, but breathing in this stuffy dust pit made everything feel bothersome. I just wanted to get out of here quickly.

Finally, with the mindset of a president eating Fukushima cucumbers, I grabbed Veronica’s wrist. Then I closed my eyes tightly and licked her finger.

“……”

The first sensation was saltiness, the staleness of dust, followed by an intense bitterness and sourness.

With a frown, I rolled my tongue, savoring the unique bitter and sour taste filling my mouth. The bitter and sour taste seemed familiar, as if I’d tasted it somewhere before. Enduring the stinging sensation, I slowly traced through old memories to identify this taste.

And finally, as I realized what it was from deep in my memory.

“…Holy shit!”

I spat out the remaining powder in my mouth in shock.

“This is meth!”

It was drugs.