Ch.173Episode 10 – Turn Your Course to the North-Northwest

# Beast-kin are among the most well-known races aside from humans.

They’re numerous enough to be seen everywhere, and they generally have cute appearances.

Among beast-kin, dog and cat types are especially popular. This is because in every culture, dogs have been close companions to humans, and cats have often been objects of worship. Though the biggest reason is probably their appearance. Of course, I don’t particularly associate with beast-kin.

If you asked whether I dislike beast-kin, I could firmly say no. I’m not a racist, after all.

But if you asked whether I like them, well…

Setting aside my experience with that fox beast-kin terrorist, I have allergies. Fur allergies. And since beast-kin have mixed characteristics of humans and animals, they shed fur like crazy during molting season.

So my avoidance of beast-kin isn’t a matter of values but health. No matter how much I might like them, allergic reactions are painful.

Honestly, if not for that, I would have already been friendly with beast-kin.

But.

This.

Is somewhat…

“…What’s your name again?”

“Friend’s name is Karu, yes…”

“Kyaru?”

“I said Karu…! Not Kyaru…!”

“……”

I don’t think so.

## Episode 10 – Change Course to North-Northwest

“That’s right.”

In the silent hotel room where only the sound of turning pages could be heard, I broke the silence after examining the documents.

“Infrastructure Reconstruction Project for Magic Tower, Innovation Project for Public-Private Sector Labor Disputes, Joint Response Plan for Socially Vulnerable Groups and Different Species’ Livelihood Stabilization, Diplomatic Notes between Magic Tower-Kiyen Empire and Magic Tower-Lushan Federation…”

“Are these the items you were looking for…?”

“Yes, they are.”

Carelessly opened brown envelopes and bound documents lay on the table. All documents had interesting phrases on their covers: Diplomatic Confidential, State Secret, Restricted, and so on.

Vibrant magical anti-forgery patterns flowed across them. As I examined the Magic Tower’s documents, I organized the completed copies with my hands.

“My, they’re still warm from being freshly copied. Thank you for your hard work, Administrator.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Francesca smiled brightly. As a high-ranking official in the Magic Tower’s Secretariat, she had just sold confidential information.

To me.

“Strictly speaking, I didn’t sell anything. I merely kept approval documents from administrative departments in a hotel room.”

“And I just happened to pick up documents rolling around on the floor.”

“Exactly. Whatever the truth is, it doesn’t really matter.”

Francesca leaned back on the sofa with a beaming smile.

While she caught her breath, I pushed the documents to one side. This revealed the refreshments and snacks that had been hidden under the mountain of papers.

“Let’s eat.”

“Shall we?”

We sat around the table and began our tea time.

*

The core of human intelligence gathering is interpersonal relationships.

In the 21st century, with its remarkable advances in communication technology, intelligence activities can be conducted without constraints of time and place, but fundamentally, HUMINT involves information exchanged between people.

Of course, this has its problems.

The advantage of HUMINT is collecting information through people, and the disadvantage is that you must contact people to collect information.

For instance, if an intelligence officer can’t maintain a good relationship with an informant, or if the informant betrays the officer’s trust, or if the officer fails to keep the informant’s secrets, or if either party fails to fulfill their contract, the operation fails.

In other words, proficiency in HUMINT information gathering depends on how well the intelligence officer maintains relationships with their “assets.”

Whether feeding them money or granting favors, forming relationships in ways that don’t hurt either party’s feelings is the alpha and omega of all HUMINT.

“Hmm.”

That’s why I made time during my precious vacation to meet Francesca. More precisely, I made time to manage my informant.

If this were something like information analysis or investigation that could be delegated to someone else, that would be great, but unfortunately, informant management is something an intelligence officer must do alone.

“Is the coffee to your liking?”

In response to my question, Francesca smiled, holding up her elegant coffee cup.

“This is coffee grown on the Mladić family’s land. I like it.”

“You can tell just by tasting it. That’s impressive.”

“I’m quite fond of coffee.”

Francesca smiled gently with a satisfied expression. The beans from the Mladić family, major landowners and business operators in Fatalia, are considered among the finest in not just the continent but the entire world.

I nodded as if learning this for the first time.

“Ah, I see.”

Francesca loves coffee.

Her favorite brands are Mladić from her homeland Fatalia and coffee from Maiskar, an island nation in the Moritani continent. She’s familiar with Mladić because she grew up with it, and she fell in love with Maiskar coffee after trying it during a brief trip in college.

I know what coffee she likes, why she likes it, and how often she drinks it.

Her preferred consumable is coffee. Her hobbies include brewing coffee herself and mixing cocktails. She also enjoys board games like chess and card games, but apart from fencing practice, she neither likes nor engages in exercise.

The reason I know this is simple.

Francesca is my informant.

Of course, I don’t know everything about her, but that’s something I can learn going forward.

“Hmm…”

She gently stroked her coffee cup and broke the silence.

“Is it coincidence or intentional that you’ve given me coffee I like, Officer?”

A transparently probing question. I smiled slightly, half-closing my eyes as I answered.

“I’m not an astrologer—how would I know what you like without you telling me?”

“Hmm…”

Francesca made a casual sound and gave a slight eye-smile. It was the kind of expression that would make anyone who saw it start planning children.

There are several taboos when an intelligence officer deals with an informant.

First is calling the informant an “asset” rather than their designated title; second is making baseless reassurances when the informant feels anxious; and third is developing personal feelings for the informant.

The third is particularly dangerous. Pretending to have personal feelings is fine, but becoming too immersed and developing real feelings would be disastrous.

-Clank.

Francesca put down her coffee cup and leaned back on the sofa, resting her arm on it.

“……”

Arms opening and chest expanding during conversation is a positive signal that the other person feels comfortable.

“Thank you anyway. It’s become difficult to obtain due to recent natural disasters causing poor harvests. Thanks to you, I’ve had a good experience after a long time.”

Francesca supported her head with her hand, relaxing her shoulders. Like a cat dozing in warm sunlight, she continued speaking intermittently with a languid expression.

“A personal letter came down from the Oracle. It says I should prepare to go to the Empire soon.”

“Oh, a personal letter?”

“Yes.”

A personal letter is one type of diplomatic communication. Unlike regular communications that can be viewed by multiple authorized people, a personal letter is shown to only one permitted person.

Usually, only ambassadors receive such communications.

That’s how important this document is.

“Officer, you know what duties our Secretariat handles, right? I think your sister told you…”

“Well…”

I tilted my head with a puzzled expression.

“Are you referring to the multiple paper companies you maintain, or ships with different registered and actual owners changing documents at every port? Or perhaps meeting foreign businesspeople without informing the Foreign Ministry, or items in containers abandoned in storage yards for years?”

“Well, such trivial matters aren’t important.”

Francesca, who had been making a strange expression, smiled brightly.

“The Magic Tower unofficially asked me to meet with notable figures from the Empire. Since the communication bears the Oracle’s seal, it’s essentially an order.”

“And?”

“They told me to meet them with the Oracle committee members.”

Oracle committee members visiting the Empire. What was previously speculation based on conjecture is now official.

Who might these distinguished individuals be that the wizards are meeting?

“But what should I do? It seems I’ve lost an important paper. A document that must be destroyed after reading…”

I took the personal letter Francesca handed me and quietly copied it.

Then I brought a lighter flame close to it.

-Ting.

-Whoosh~!

The paper burned instantly. The elegant handwriting on it, the magical anti-forgery patterns, and the Oracle’s bright red seal—all gone.

“Interesting story.”

Rising from the sofa, Francesca waved her hand gently as if nothing had happened and left through the door.

“I enjoyed the coffee.”

I dropped the paper with only embers remaining into a teacup.

Considering neither teacup was emptied, it wasn’t a bad tea time.

*

I sent all collected intelligence to the Military Intelligence Agency.

I buried the documents in a shallow hole under a bench in a famous park with high foot traffic, then contacted the Military Intelligence Agency to retrieve them.

-‘Ah, got the package. What’s this now?’

“Magic Tower materials. I copied key documents submitted to the Secretariat from the Foreign Ministry, Finance Ministry, Industry Ministry, Environment Ministry, Land Ministry, and so on.”

-‘Hmm…’

Klevins made a strange groan over the public phone, lost in thought.

-‘This is all good, but… Moving an informant to collect intelligence outside the mission could easily get caught by counterintelligence agencies… You must have a plan?’

The core of human intelligence is maintaining good relationships with informants. And part of that “relationship” includes “can they promptly deliver requested information?”

Generally, as people age, they become less likely to try new things, and especially if they rise to higher positions, they tend to handle matters more conservatively. They feel anxious about deviating from the ordinary and familiar.

And espionage should never be ordinary or familiar.

So to properly handle an informant, you need to train them in advance.

“Don’t spies start by asking about small things? Phone directories, colleagues’ tendencies, relationships with superiors, grievances, and such.”

-‘That’s right.’

“You need to oil the machine so it works properly when you need it later. Even knives need to be sharpened before cooking, right?”

-‘This seems too big to call small. Aren’t you biting off more than you can chew?’

I wanted to say “What’s the worst that could happen? Death?” but Klevins’ rank was too high for such jokes. I can’t even joke comfortably anymore.

“I have a plan. I need to do some background checks before proceeding.”

-‘Oh… Do you need anything? I’ve already taken care of what you asked for last time.’

“Thanks, but I’m fine for now. I’ll contact you before returning if there’s anything unusual.”

With that, things were roughly sorted out.

For the time being, I plan to give Francesca small tasks while gathering information, and if there are any suitable individuals among her associates, I’ll try to recruit them. With continued training, perhaps Francesca will eventually become an informant like Veronica.

Then I’ll be able to operate two informants simultaneously.

I can develop double sources to cross-verify incoming intelligence, or even divide tasks for broader activities.

I left the phone booth and walked down the street. Despite the cold weather, perhaps because it was year-end, the streets were full of people. Families, friends, lovers, colleagues…

After putting out all the urgent fires, I found myself with nothing to do.

The family gathering is next week, so I just need to prepare to go home. It’s essentially just showing up, so there’s not much to prepare.

There’s no need to prepare for the dispatch either. Most materials will be provided by embassy staff, and details can be prepared when the operation order comes. I don’t know how much time they’ll give, but helping a few people defect isn’t that difficult. Of course, if the person is too important, it won’t be easy to extract them.

By the way, Pippin and Jake are on vacation.

I encouraged them to make the most of their rare vacation. So I treated them to a meal before they left.

“……”

But surely they’re not actually going together?

The Military Intelligence Agency isn’t so rigid as to forbid office romance, but thinking about those guys dating felt strange.

We always pooled our money to eat and hang out together as a trio. Before going home, I could meet them and… well, it would be awkward to join a couple…

The winter wind blew fiercely.

My side feels cold. I tightly fastened my coat and carefully made footprints in the snow, wondering who I could spend time with.

Veronica? She’s at the church. Francesca? Too frequent contact might raise suspicion. Lucia? She’s a kind person who treated my nerves, but we’re not close enough to hang out together.

“…Sigh.”

In the end, there was only one person I could meet.

*

“…So you came looking for me?”

“Yes.”

“……”

Camilla, woken from a sweet nap, squeezed her eyes shut.

Without even time to fix her disheveled hair, she smacked her forehead.

“Bloody hell…”

=

The 3D illustration of the beast of doom, ‘Karu,’ is now available!

It was drawn by artist Tungtungguugu, the original creator of the Special Forces Kyaru comics, in a small and adorable chibi style.