Ch.192Episode 10 – Turn Your Course to the North-Northwest

The defection had failed.

I rushed to the embassy as soon as I received the call from the situation room. Camilla had decided to return to the hotel in the morning, and I left our quarters under the pretext of going to work early.

Upon arriving at the embassy, I entered the secure communications room with its impenetrable security and contacted the counselor.

Fortunately, he hadn’t been caught by the police. He answered the phone immediately.

“This is me, Mr. Vasily. I heard there was a problem. What happened?”

-‘We were turned away at the departure gate.’

“What?”

-‘They said we couldn’t leave the country.’

Episode 10 – Turn Your Course North-Northwest

The flustered counselor stammered incoherently. Even over the phone, I could clearly hear his voice trembling, and occasionally caught the anxious voices of his wife and daughter.

I tried to calm him down with a steady voice.

Eventually, after regaining his composure, he shared what had happened at the departure gate.

“…They say he can’t leave the country because of his daughter.”

The counselor’s daughter attends the Magic Department at the Imperial Academy. Being in her third year, she’s over 18, making her legally eligible for conscription.

However, the problem arose from a different issue.

“His daughter is currently enrolled in vacation classes at the Academy’s Magic Department. Even though it’s a break, according to education law, students attending supplementary or special classes cannot travel abroad without the dean’s permission.”

Under Imperial education law, students taking classes at the Academy during vacation periods cannot leave the country without permission, as they’re still considered to be in an academic term.

This defection operation had been planned around the premise of a family trip before the daughter’s graduation from the Academy, but neither the counselor, his wife, nor even the embassy knew about this regulation, so they hadn’t obtained permission.

“The immigration officer blocked them, saying they couldn’t leave without proper documentation.”

Leoni, who had been quietly listening to the report over the secure line, spoke up.

-‘Where is the dean now?’

“We’ve determined he’s away on official business in the provinces. According to regulations, the dean’s signature is absolutely required, so to get formal permission, they’d need to wait at least three days.”

-‘Is there a way to forge the documents?’

“We’ve tried, but we couldn’t find a technician capable of forging the anti-forgery magical patterns. There’s no one at the embassy, and I couldn’t reach any of the technicians I used to work with during my active service.”

Anti-forgery magical patterns are the cornerstone of document security in this region. They’re included in all identification cards and official documents, which is why intelligence agencies always strive to find ways to forge the anti-forgery magical patterns used by foreign governments.

The problem is that even the slightest error in forging the magic within the pattern will be detected.

Of course, for advanced intelligence agencies like the Imperial Guard, Royal Intelligence Service, or National Security Agency, breaking through these would be trivial, but obtaining the Imperial Academy’s magical patterns is impossible.

If we were caught using incorrect forms or forgeries, our operatives could be arrested by the Imperial police on the spot.

“I’ll look into whether we can obtain the Imperial Academy’s anti-forgery patterns. And I’ll secure alternative exit routes just in case.”

-‘Report every 30 minutes.’

“Yes.”

After finishing the urgent report to Leoni, I assessed the counselor’s family’s location and status.

The counselor, who had been turned away at immigration, was confirmed to be staying at his residence. I maintained the emergency communication line with him while trying to monitor the movements of Imperial intelligence agencies.

Next, I inquired about illegal border crossing routes.

If the defection operation hadn’t been discovered by the Imperial Guard, Counter-Intelligence Command, or Imperial Police, we could send them to Abas through illegal channels.

I pulled up a list of land and sea smugglers registered in the Military Intelligence Service database to find someone who could move three people immediately.

However,

The smuggling plan was thwarted by a report from an intelligence officer who had gone out.

-‘Sir? It’s me. I followed the counselor to the departure gate early this morning and noticed something unusual that I wanted to report.’

“Ah, yes. What is it?”

-‘I’m sending you a photo now. Please check it. I’ll return immediately after sending this.’

A photo appeared on the terminal connected to the Military Intelligence Service’s internal network.

I was speechless when I saw the image the officer had sent.

“Why the hell is this bastard here…?”

In the photo, a woman with black hair and red eyes was watching the counselor and his family as they exited the departure gate.

*

During my time working for the Church,

I experienced two assassination attempts.

They were orchestrated by Cardinal Raul (who’s now feeding microorganisms and crabs at the bottom of the sea), sixteen Imperial Guard reactionaries who were executed as black magicians, and the Imperial nobles who backed them.

At the scene of the first bombing attack, I encountered someone.

A woman with black hair and red eyes.

Yekaterina, a domestic intelligence officer from the First Bureau of Counter-Intelligence in the Imperial Guard.

She had been scouted by the Imperial Guard after working in the Counter-Intelligence Command, and had even accepted a dishonorable discharge to deceive a double agent.

However, after being repatriated to the Empire through a prisoner exchange, her whereabouts became mysterious, leading analysts to conclude she had been “discarded.”

They assumed she had retired and found another job or, at best, was working in some office position.

After all, her identity had been exposed, making field operations seem difficult.

They were wrong.

“Yekaterina Andreyevna Ivanova Екатерина Андреевна Иванова. A former Counter-Intelligence Command officer who became a domestic intelligence officer for the Imperial Guard.”

In the dimly lit conference room, the intelligence officer who had been in the field began speaking.

A screen hung on the wall, and when projected magic touched it, several photos floated up.

One showed the counselor and his family hurriedly leaving the departure gate while being watched. Another showed her looking around before entering the departure gate.

“This intelligence officer was first mentioned in reports from a low-level informant we had planted in the Imperial Ministry of Defense.”

Click. The officer pressed a button, and the image changed.

It was a photo of the Imperial Ministry of Defense’s internal network, showing Yekaterina’s personnel record card from when she served as a military officer.

“She received intelligence specialization due to her excellent academic performance since her military academy days, and was highly praised for her language skills. Our informant, who was her senior, found it strange that her duty station wasn’t recorded when searching for military academy graduates in the system, and reported it.”

The personnel record card clearly indicated a unit name as her duty station. However, searching for that unit name in the system yielded no results.

“She was reportedly involved in various incidents during her service, including conflicts with superiors, and received an unfavorable service evaluation leading to a dishonorable discharge.”

“……”

“A few months ago, Church branch employees detected her operating in a foreign country. There’s no information after that.”

The intelligence officer seemed to have only discovered that Yekaterina had been spotted by the Church. He apparently lacked clearance to access specific information about her.

For reference, all records of incidents I’ve been involved in were classified by Clevins, preventing anyone without high-level clearance from accessing them.

While I was feeling uneasy and brooding silently, the intelligence officer displayed photos taken at the departure gate on the screen.

“These were taken inside the departure gate. Here you can see the Imperial Guard intelligence officer contacting an immigration officer and the security bureau chief of the immigration office.”

“……”

“The immigration officer was the one who processed the counselor and his family. Also, by intercepting communications in the area, we learned that the immigration office informed someone that they had attempted to leave the country. They likely contacted an Imperial security or intelligence agency.”

“……”

“The one fortunate thing is that the defection targets weren’t arrested…”

The intelligence officer paused briefly and took a deep breath.

“But it seems the operation has already been exposed to counter-intelligence agencies, Director.”

The intelligence officers in the meeting looked at the Military Attaché Director.

The Director left to contact Leoni, and the other intelligence officers gradually returned to their posts.

And so.

In the darkened office with the lights turned off.

I sat alone in the abandoned chair and lit a cigarette.

*

The operation had been compromised.

It seems the Imperial Guard knew about the defection in advance.

After the meeting.

Leoni summoned me and issued new orders.

First, find a way for the counselor and his family to defect to a foreign country today.

Second, if the situation becomes unfavorable, clean up everything connected to this operation.

“Clean up” was just a euphemism—it meant silencing them permanently if they couldn’t escape today.

-‘Information is valuable, but nothing is more important than the operation.’

Leoni’s encrypted, curt voice echoed through the secure communications room.

“Do I need to do it myself?”

-‘No. I’ve sent technicians, so you can step back.’

The intelligence officers assigned to the assassination operation had been deployed to the Empire for a long time. They were reportedly newly assigned officers for northern operations, experienced in these kinds of missions.

“I object.”

I opposed Leoni’s order.

“If we assassinate the counselor now and get caught, plausible deniability won’t work. If it becomes public that we conducted this operation…”

-‘You think this is our first assassination?’

Leoni responded.

She was selected as an intelligence officer at the youngest age ever and had risen through positions as the Empire branch chief, Lushan Federal Kingdom branch director, Royal Intelligence Service director, to one of the highest positions in the Military Intelligence Service.

-‘There are many ways to kill someone without anyone knowing who did it. You know that.’

“……”

She was right.

There are various methods to kill someone secretly without identifying the assassin.

In poisoning assassinations, with a bit of scenario planning using existing grudges, the murder can be disguised as an ordinary homicide. Just find someone with a grudge against the counselor and use means they could easily obtain.

Or they could break into the apartment and force-feed drugs. While forensics might detect forced ingestion, the scene could be staged to look like a suicide by poison.

The crucial part is situational judgment.

Deciding what’s the right decision at this moment, who to employ, what scenario to create to make it look natural.

That’s the duty of an intelligence officer.

And simultaneously, it was both Leoni’s and my role.

-‘If you can’t extract them today, just handling it is faster. It’s better for you and for the informant. If we leave them be and they get arrested by the Imperial Guard, it won’t end well.’

“……”

-‘Make your judgment and decide.’

*

I returned to the office.

About 13 hours remained until midnight. If I couldn’t extract the counselor and his family within those 13 hours, the assassination operation would proceed.

I sat in my office trying to find a way to help them defect. But with the Imperial Guard aware of the defection, smuggling or any other method seemed futile.

From this moment, I had to assume the counselor’s apartment was under surveillance.

If the counselor, his wife, or daughter stepped outside, Imperial Guard intelligence officers would follow them.

The same applied to the embassy.

The moment any intelligence officer, including myself, moved from the embassy, the Imperial Guard would surely intervene and cause trouble.

Fortunately, the emergency communication line was still operational.

-‘The family is safe.’

“Good. Are you alright, Counselor?”

-‘Yes. We’re staying at home for now.’

The counselor and his family were fine. They were trying to contact the Academy to get permission for their daughter’s foreign travel.

The Imperial Guard was likely already tapping that phone. They might even have officers or investigators dispatched to the Academy. There was absolutely no chance of getting permission.

But if they acted suspiciously in any way, the Imperial Guard would notice and possibly arrest them. So I recited meaningless education law clauses and Imperial Academy regulations to them.

“……”

After hanging up, I sat in my chair smoking a cigarette.

The Imperial Guard would have blocked any possible smuggling routes. They might have distributed the family’s personal information to border guards to strengthen checkpoints, or threatened smugglers with police action if they cooperated with us.

Cost was also an issue.

The expense of smuggling is not insignificant.

Even if we paid, if the captain or crew reported us and the naval special forces conducted a boarding inspection, the family would certainly be arrested as caught in the act.

The closest option, the Grand Duchy of Latuan, could be reached by crossing a single bridge, which might offer a chance of survival.

But relations between the Grand Duchy of Latuan and the Kiyen Empire are poor.

Even if they broke through the checkpoint barricade and crossed the bridge, machine gun fire from the Latuan outpost would kill them all.

Seeking cooperation from Latuan intelligence agencies was also difficult. If information leaked, the Imperial Guard would immediately raid the apartment.

Even if the counselor and his family came to the Abas Embassy, there would be problems. There was no way to send them abroad from the heart of Petrograd, the capital of the Kiyen Empire.

If they entered the embassy, they could only be sent abroad if the Kiyen Empire issued an expulsion order. But if an arrest order came instead of an expulsion order, no one knew how long they would have to stay in the embassy.

Perhaps the information had already leaked.

It might not be that they couldn’t tell if it was just foreign travel or defection—they might have clearly recognized it as defection and set a trap.

“……”

There was no answer.

Holding the phone and pondering, I sighed deeply and leaned back in my chair.

“If only we could fly through the sky…”

As I closed my eyes to momentarily ease my headache.

A gentle knock echoed through the office.

“Come in.”

“Sir, I apologize for disturbing you during work. May I come in?”

“Oh, Second Secretary.”

I greeted the Second Secretary who had visited my office warmly.

He was the diplomat who had driven me to the diplomatic residence and helped with my luggage on my first day in the Empire.

The Second Secretary smiled awkwardly as he greeted me.

The sleeves of his shirt were severely wrinkled, and the hems of his suit pants were damp.

“My, what happened to get your clothes so wet?”

“Ah- I was washing cars. Car washing.”

“Car washing…?”

“Yes.”

The Second Secretary continued with a bright smile.

“We have so many embassy vehicles that have accumulated dust from lack of maintenance. So today I gave them a thorough washing. I came to ask if your vehicle needs washing too.”

“Ah… I’d be grateful, but it’s already clean enough, so I don’t think it needs washing.”

“Is that so? I apologize for the intrusion. You seem busy, so I’ll be going now. Please call if you need anything.”

The Second Secretary bowed slightly and was about to leave the office.

But after briefly pondering his words, I hastily stopped him.

“W-wait a moment, Secretary.”

“Yes?”

As the Secretary turned back, wondering if I had a task for him, I asked a question.

“What did you say earlier? About the embassy vehicles?”

“Oh, that? It’s nothing special…”

The Secretary scratched the back of his head.

“Actually, there are many idle vehicles at the embassy now. With the mass expulsion of not just diplomats but administrative and labor staff, there are fewer people using the vehicles…”

“Secretary. Do all the registered embassy vehicles have diplomatic license plates? Not just some of them?”

“Yes, they all do. Of course they would—they’re embassy vehicles, so they need diplomatic plates. It would be illegal without them.”

I didn’t hear the rest of what he said.

“……”

The first characteristic of diplomatic vehicles:

They are not subject to checkpoints.

“Thank you, Secretary.”

“Huh? Thank you too?”

I immediately took out my phone and contacted my associates.

A way to get the counselor and his family out of the country today.

I had finally found it.