Ch.125Side Episode – Spy Game (Complete)

# “Greenpeace is an environmental protection organization. But the key point is that Greenpeace isn’t just an ordinary environmental group, but rather an organization that pursues its ideals through somewhat extreme methods. They ram ships to stop fishing, break into French nuclear power plants…”

Camilla said.

“And Major, when I mentioned Greenpeace while burning the forest, you said the elves would protest. You also clearly mentioned that elves have extreme tendencies. But I only said that an organization called Greenpeace exists. I never said it was an environmental group or that it had extreme tendencies.”

The university student from England laid out her reasoning.

“So there are two possible answers.”

Two snow-white fingers extended.

“First, detailed information about Greenpeace is also known here.”

“Second, there’s no information about Greenpeace here, but you, Major, know a lot about Greenpeace.”

“Which do you think is the correct answer?”

She put the final punctuation mark on her deduction.

“It seems to me it’s definitely the latter.”

She was right.

## Side Episode – Spy Game

Even after Camilla finished speaking, I remained silent for quite some time.

While the black-haired foreigner kept silent, the blue-eyed Brit simply watched me without a word.

After a long silence, I decided to calmly accept reality.

“…Since when did you know?”

Camilla replied. Her answer was immediate.

“Since the research institute.”

It had been going on longer than I thought.

“The researchers always asked each other if they knew the same things when dealing with me, but you never did that. When I thought about it carefully, something seemed off.”

“……”

“Of course, I didn’t realize it at first.”

Camilla explained that she had detected something strange at the research institute. Based on that, she formed various hypotheses and began verifying them as soon as she left the institute.

“At first, I wasn’t sure if I was right. So I searched for every possible book and article in the library.”

“Articles?”

“You know, libraries that keep old newspapers.”

She looked up articles, borrowed books, and searched for papers and academic journals.

After weeks of research, Camilla had obtained most of the information about Earth that she could find in this town.

“There was a lot of incorrect information, and sometimes stories from World War II or the Cold War were mixed in, but one thing was clear: most of the materials weren’t from systematic macro-level research, but rather micro-level, peripheral data compiled from individual testimonies.”

“……”

“In fact, rather than credible newspapers or wikis created by many people, most were the kind of stories you’d find in gossip magazines. For example, instead of discussing the origins of labor movements in European society or social transformation, they were just complaints about unions in their countries without any background explanation. With such materials being used for research and investigation, most of the information here was bound to be inaccurate. That’s my personal opinion.”

I sat silently, evaluating the university student from the foggy country.

Strong mental fortitude. Calm demeanor. Cold judgment. Concise reasoning. High concentration.

Camilla had a more serious personality than others her age and a mind that worked suspiciously quickly.

“What about Greenpeace?”

“There was no mention of it at all. I might have missed it, or there might not have been any materials about Greenpeace in that library.”

She was saying she had taken a gamble.

Regardless of whether information about Greenpeace existed in this town or not, most Earth-related information circulating here was inaccurate, so she just took a shot.

If I hadn’t known about Greenpeace, it wouldn’t have mattered much, and if I did know, she could have changed the subject to probe further. Of course, the reverse was also possible. Whether it was the UN, the dollar as a reserve currency, the Cold War, or anything else, the means to prove her hypothesis were endless. If I didn’t know about Greenpeace, she could have thrown out another bait.

But I had responded by considering the tendencies of an organization she hadn’t even mentioned.

I had taken the bait.

“……”

At this point, I decided to acknowledge my mistake. Being away from the field for over 20 years had made me completely rusty.

At the same time, regardless of Camilla Lowell’s background or character, I recognized her ability. Though she was 2% short of perfect, she was definitely not an ordinary person.

However, Camilla still seemed to have a hidden card up her sleeve.

“Of course, there was a decisive moment elsewhere.”

“What was that?”

She produced an item she had been concealing since entering the room.

It was something very familiar to me.

“…A plastic bottle. A beverage bottle.”

“Not just any beverage.”

The university student from England smiled lightly and pointed to the bottle.

“Hydrogen peroxide and silver nitrate are key ingredients in making homemade explosives. The large syringe was probably used to extract the contents of the bottle. The silver nitrate was likely removed because it’s easily detected in searches. What remains is acetic acid, powdered juice, and a magic conversion battery… According to the instructions I read, the battery converts magic into a substance similar to electricity. Like a battery.”

Camilla recited the ingredients and manufacturing method for the bottle.

Some of it was information I knew, some differed from what I knew, and some was much more detailed than what I knew. Her explanation was quite different from what I knew, but the main outline was similar.

A homemade bomb recipe. A method for making explosives that I had learned long ago during special demolition training at the Special Warfare Command.

Incidentally, the homemade explosive I had learned to make and was holding was one found in England.

And Camilla happened to be from England.

“Where did you learn this?”

The university student smiled brightly.

“I caught a glimpse when Jake was buying supplies. It wasn’t intentional.”

“Did you learn how to make it at university?”

“My professor didn’t teach it, but my department is a bit special. I saw it in materials a senior gave me when I was preparing an essay.”

“What kind of essay?”

“The topic was the possibility of airport terrorism by non-state actors.”

“……”

“I told you.”

That her department was special.

“……”

I pondered her words carefully.

Materials given by a graduate…

Camilla had attended university in England. Cambridge University. Department of Conflict Studies.

Being a world-renowned prestigious university, Cambridge graduates are all considered elite. In fact, such prestigious universities are all well-known just by name. Tokyo University, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Princeton, Cambridge, Oxford, Stanford, Harvard, Yale.

Generally, people who graduate from such universities are labeled as elites, and most people who enter intelligence agencies belong to this category. This is clearly a fact. Americans even mock the CIA by saying it’s “a place only for white people from Harvard and Yale.”

South Korea is no different.

Those who most often enter the National Intelligence Service aren’t from regional universities but from Seoul universities. Not lower-tier Seoul universities but top-tier ones. Not just any Seoul university, but specifically SKY universities.

Some might criticize this as the harmful effects of academic elitism, but the NIS has no reason to accept applicants who didn’t study hard and just played around. Of course, even a Seoul National University graduate with a 3.2 GPA and no certifications or second language skills would be rejected. Regardless of whether they’re from Seoul National University, those who aren’t prepared don’t deserve to enter.

In that sense, Britain isn’t much different.

Indeed, it really wasn’t. According to my Langley friends and my colleagues dispatched to England, the dominant forces within British intelligence agencies were precisely Oxford and Cambridge graduates.

And coincidentally, a Cambridge graduate was standing right in front of me.

She says:

“An ordinary army major or resident officer wouldn’t buy these kinds of chemicals or medical supplies in bulk, right?”

“That’s right.”

Camilla smiled broadly, narrowing her eyes.

“Were you in intelligence?”

“Hmm… not a full-time employee, just a brief internship during a break? About 12 weeks.”

“A university student recruitment-linked internship?”

“Oh, you know about that?”

“There were people going around introducing that program.”

I leaned back comfortably on the sofa, recalling the NIS people who had been circulating around universities.

Camilla smiled cheerfully, put down my hand, and sat on the bed.

“So, what’s your answer?”

I deliberately remained silent instead of answering. The silence was affirmation.

Camilla wasn’t dull enough not to understand that, so for once, she could smile.

“Well, I don’t know where you’re from, but at least we can communicate!”

“What would you have done if your guess was wrong?”

“Even if you just know what kind of organization Greenpeace is, I wouldn’t be bored being surrounded by people who can’t communicate, right?”

“I see.”

Camilla extended her hand with a bright smile, and as I looked at her gently folded eyes, I quietly thought:

That I couldn’t completely trust her.

That she didn’t completely trust me.

With that in mind, I took her outstretched hand. I felt a cool sensation distinctly different from the warm crimson.

“I won’t be bored either.”

Whether I could trust her or not.

Whether she could trust me or not.

“Let me introduce myself properly. I’m Camilla Lowell from England.”

The rule in this field is to never trust people easily.

## Side Episode – Spy Game – START –

=

British intelligence agencies MI5 (Security Service) and MI6 (Secret Intelligence Service) actually operate internship programs for university students.

Additionally, the National Intelligence Service, referencing systems from foreign intelligence agencies (such as the British/American CIA systems mentioned above), has been operating a recruitment-linked internship program centered on domestic universities since around 2019.

According to an NIS employee interviewed by a reporter, they spent a really long time preparing for this program.