Ch.17Episode 2 – Heroes of the Continent

My eyes opened.

The cold air filling the bedroom tickles the tip of my nose.

“…Sniff.”

I shouldn’t have slept with the window open. I opened it because I felt hot, and now I think I’ve caught a cold.

Fumbling around, I pick up the clock next to my fountain pen and check the time—6 AM. The world has already been dyed in a dim indigo hue.

Slowly raising my body, I lean against the leather chair. The cool touch of leather makes my body shiver and jolts me fully awake.

I shake my head to clear my foggy mind and turn on the TV to see what’s happening in the world.

-Click.

‘There was an armed conflict at the northern border region of the Kiyen Empire early yesterday morning. This is the fourth armed conflict this month. Some are concerned that this might be the beginning of a full-scale war. Meanwhile, the Kiyen Imperial Army High Command states that the possibility of a full-scale war is unlikely…’

‘No! Are you joking with me right now? You don’t even know how infection occurs. You just say praying is enough! I simply cannot understand how you can shamelessly perform medical procedures as a so-called healing priest while taking money…!’

‘Look at this situation! Is this a world fit for humans? Looting and arson never stop! What is the government doing that they still haven’t recovered from the typhoon damage?! There’s a newborn baby who has been living in a tent for five years…’

‘Regarding the recent bombing, the Inquisition maintains that it was the work of black mages. However, according to one official’s testimony, there are claims that black mages were not behind the terror attack…’

‘How can a witch’s child become a hero of the continent… Who are you?! What are you doing here…!’

“…Hmm.”

I watch as a priest charges with a knife, then turn off the TV.

Judging by the quiet news, it seems there’s nothing special happening today either.

Episode 2 – Heroes of the Continent

Just as all civil servants love meetings, mornings at the embassy also begin with meetings.

Our intelligence agency is no exception.

“Anything unusual?”

“According to our wiretapping results, the communication transmission locations have expanded further. Communication volume has increased exactly 3.2 times.”

The Imperial Guard guys are running around.

“What about the tail we put on them?”

“We followed them and extracted everything—their range of movement, residence, and the personal information of everyone they contacted. Most of them were agents from Bureau 1.”

The investigation into the attackers is progressing steadily.

“Any information on the bombing?”

“The Inquisition is rounding up smugglers, but they don’t seem to be making progress. Our diplomatic investigation shows that all countries except the Kiyen Empire are clean.”

“If we can just find the explosives’ entry route, we can tie it all together. Focus on that.”

We seem to be halfway to finding that bastard.

“Today’s official schedule starts at 11, so let’s take a short break before heading out.”

“Yes, sir.”

We replaced the rest of the minor reports with documents and sat around the room munching on snacks.

On TV, the priest and professor I saw this morning were engaged in a heated debate.

‘…To fundamentally solve the epidemic, we need prevention, not treatment. We need to keep our bodies clean and block contact with the infected to prevent the disease from spreading further.’

‘I completely agree with that. However, I don’t understand why the medical practices of priests who care for patients on the front lines are considered illegal medical procedures…’

The debate about epidemic countermeasures suddenly turned into a turf war.

“Wow. It’s my first time seeing a medical school professor fighting with a bishop.”

Jake laughed as he watched the debate while organizing documents.

It’s certainly an unusual sight. Healing priests from the church and doctors educated at universities were different breeds with different approaches.

“They’re arguing like this just because the Hero shook hands with some healing priests, right?”

“How would I know? Doctors and priests fighting isn’t anything new.”

“I’ve never seen military doctors and army chaplains fight though.”

“Why would they bother getting red-faced on the battlefield? They just do their own jobs.”

While chatting and watching TV, Pippin returned from putting papers in the shredder.

But his expression was unusual. With deeply furrowed brows, Pippin strode over and hit Jake on the head with a document.

“Jake! I told you to classify things properly! I asked you to separate only the disposal materials, but you included classified documents too! What were you thinking?”

Looks like Jake messed up again.

If you accidentally shred classified documents, you have to have a 1-on-2 interview with counterintelligence agents in the interrogation room. For reference, Jake once made a mistake and was hounded by counterintelligence agents for over two weeks.

“Oh shit!”

“Let it go. Just be careful next time.”

I made a gesture to mediate the fight.

It’s fortunate nothing bad happened. Pippin sat down with a huff, issuing a grim warning that “if you make one more mistake, I’ll put you in the shredder.”

The bickering between the two is as normal as ever.

“Is Camilla Rowell up by now?”

“The Hero is having breakfast. She looked quite tired from what I saw.”

“You guys look the same. You’re all walking corpses.”

“You know you look the worst, Major?”

At Pippin’s words, I turned my head, and Jake held up a mirror.

I leaned forward to look. There was some zombie in the mirror.

“Son of a…”

I was startled enough to blurt out a curse. Jake put away the mirror and spoke.

“Why don’t you take the whole day off and rest? Today’s schedule doesn’t seem that important anyway.”

“I just need to follow Camilla Rowell around. No need to rest.”

“You’re going around greasing up church people with bribes. Aren’t you stressed from dealing with people?”

“…Tch.”

I could only click my tongue, having nothing to say.

It’s true I’m running around with money to build an intelligence network. And it’s true I’m tired from meeting those pigs. Honestly, my stress levels are through the roof these days.

I need to think about the Hero’s safety. Find the terrorists. Monitor the Imperial Guard. Manage the Hero’s schedule and the image of those around her.

These are just the major tasks. Right now, even ten bodies wouldn’t be enough.

According to regulations, they don’t even pay overtime after 10 PM. If I weren’t a civil servant, I would have reported this to the labor board already.

“I’m not the only one suffering. You guys, the agents, the embassy staff—everyone’s struggling, so what can we do?”

“But other people get at least 7 hours of rest. You and us don’t even get 6 hours.”

“You think it’s easy to cancel appointments?”

I let out a deep sigh.

Although I have the authority to adjust the schedule, if I back out without a valid reason, the embassy receives not just requests for countless handshakes, but countless letters of protest.

Last time, when I tried to cancel an appointment for the Hero’s health, the ambassador grabbed my pants leg and begged. How could I refuse a man nearly 50 years old pleading like that?

Anyway, unless it’s a safety issue, I can’t cancel appointments. The colonel told me to adjust the schedule for safety, not that we could skip events because we’re tired.

“Not only is your health an issue, Major, but our operational funds are draining fast. How much bribery are you spreading around…?”

“Hey, hey. That operational money is all counterfeit.”

“What?”

“It’s counterfeit money that the intelligence agency asked the mint to print. If we gave out real money for all of that, the national treasury would go bankrupt. It’s all fake.”

Pippin and Jake’s jaws dropped at my explanation that the country directly prints counterfeit money to form intelligence networks.

In modern terms, it’s what we call a supernote. The reason a country would print counterfeit money is for very shady purposes.

Increasing the money supply to destroy an economy, forcing the detection of counterfeit bills to waste administrative resources, or giving bribes in foreign currency that’s actually fake, and so on.

In fact, during World War II, the Nazis mass-produced counterfeit money to cause inflation in the British economy. Was it Operation Bernhard? I learned about it in college in my past life, but it’s been too long to remember the exact name.

Needless to say, if you get caught, you’re screwed. Moreover, this is illegal activity conducted at the state level.

“Wow, so we’re committing crimes.”

“Aren’t wiretapping and surveillance illegal too? Of course it’s illegal to wiretap and follow people in another country without a warrant.”

“If we get caught, we’re all going to jail.”

Well…

“Diplomatic status might shield us and end with just expulsion. But if we’re unlucky, we might go to prison. Or get shot on the street.”

We calmly discussed the worst-case scenario.

In this field, it’s either success or death. If our country makes a big effort for a prisoner exchange, we might return home, but if diplomatic relations freeze, even that becomes impossible.

A heavy silence fell. It wasn’t something to laugh and joke about.

Even Pippin and Jake have seen colleagues from intelligence get caught during operations.

…Me too.

“Hey. Stop looking so grim and let’s go get something to eat.”

I clapped twice to get their attention and left the conference room.

The two followed me like ducklings following their mother duck.

“Where shall we eat, sir?”

“The economy’s tough these days, so let’s just eat at the cafeteria.”

“Come on! Major, treat us to a meal!”

“What the hell? I know you guys get allowances and make several times your salary, and you’re asking me to buy you food?”

“Please~ treat us~”

“Get lost, you disgusting bastards.”

With the two flanking me, I turned to head out of the embassy.

You need to eat well to do hard work.

“Choose what you want.”

“Meat!”

“Do you always eat meat? Try something else for once.”

While Pippin and Jake were busy considering the menu, we arrived at the embassy entrance.

Just as I was about to write my name on the paper for going out…

“W-wait! Stop! Stooop!”

An agent came running from a distance, waving his arms.

“What’s wrong?”

“O-operative, sir!”

“Ah- what operative? I’m just an ordinary major.”

“Major! Intelligence just came in…!”

Intelligence?

I haven’t received any reports.

The trembling agent pointed inside the embassy. Looking in, I could see agents frantically running through the corridors.

What the hell?

“There’s a gunfight happening right now!”