Ch.236Episode 12 – The Strongest Mage in History

# Francesca selected reliable talents from among the magicians dispatched from the Magic Tower, and I wrote up operation plans and submitted reports through the embassy’s surveillance security room.

Leoni contacted me about six hours after I submitted my report.

-“Your application has been approved.”

“Thank you, Director Leoni.”

## Episode 12 – The Strongest Magician in History

Leoni was appointed as the Director of Foreign Intelligence Operations during the reorganization of the Military Intelligence Agency.

As the name suggests, the Director of Foreign Intelligence Operations commands all overseas intelligence networks and operation networks, including the Military Intelligence Agency’s Foreign Operations Department, Special Operations Department, the overseas division of the Technical Intelligence Department, and the Intelligence Analysis Division.

For reference, Clebins is the Director of Domestic Security. It’s a position responsible for military counterintelligence, military security, domestic security information, and counter-terrorism—Clebins’ areas of expertise.

With this, Leoni gained control of the overseas division while Clebins took charge of the domestic division.

-“I’ve approved all your projects using my authority. Intelligence gathering on the black magic used in the Frigia Street department store terror attack, and the operation to track down the church’s apostate. I’ve approved them all.”

Although the Chief of Staff and the Director of Military Intelligence are above them, no one else in the Military Intelligence Agency can give orders to Clebins and Leoni except those two.

But well, that’s not my concern right now.

What matters is that the project has been approved.

-“You’re a sharp one, so I’m not worried, but if you stir up trouble in the north and get caught by the military government command, it won’t end well. What’s your plan now?”

“I’ll have to put Ranieri at the forefront.”

I sat in the surveillance security room talking with Leoni through encrypted communications that couldn’t be intercepted by imperial intelligence agencies, including the Imperial Guard.

“Of course, if things go wrong, I’ll have to step in directly or indirectly, but for now I’m planning to observe the situation.”

-“Using her as a bullet shield?”

“‘Front man’ would be a more appropriate term.”

Francesca is too valuable an informant to let go. From the Military Intelligence Agency’s perspective, my life is naturally more important than hers, but that’s for the company to worry about.

I plan to do my best to ensure Francesca can operate safely.

If problems arise while raiding the black market and dealing with Hormoz, I’ll have to step in before Francesca gets hurt.

-“Good. And?”

“As soon as the Humanitarian Aid Act is implemented, ships carrying relief supplies will move from our country to the Kien Empire. Not all of them, just some. I’ll only take a small portion.”

-“The Empire will be suspicious if supplies are missing. We’ll prepare the paperwork on our end. In return, make sure there’s no gossip from the senators during the parliamentary audit. Understood?”

“Yes. I’ll submit the detailed requests when I provide the interim report after the operation begins.”

Leoni accepted both of my operation plans.

Normally, while the black market operation might have been approved, tracking down apostates would not have been,

“Have you checked the list of apostates and missing persons?”

-“I’m looking at it now.”

Thanks to securing the list of apostates and missing persons managed by the Inquisition, the project was quickly approved.

Rustle. Rustle. The sound of papers being turned came through the communication line. After focusing on checking the documents for a while, Leoni sighed and muttered.

-“Murder, looting, unauthorized inquisition, conversion…. There’s a filthy lot of them. Most names I don’t recognize. The domestic division is going to be busy. Poor Clebins.”

“Do you think there are apostates domestically too? Honestly, if it were me, I would have fled abroad.”

-“We’ll have to wait and see.”

“I plan to coordinate with the priests of the Inquisition to track down apostates. Of course, officially, nothing will happen.”

Using Francesca for intelligence gathering and tracking apostates with Priestess Rebecca.

None of these will be easy tasks.

But they’re necessary, so there’s no choice.

-“The budget for the project will be allocated soon. Additional instructions will also be issued.”

“Yes.”

-“I hope you don’t make any mistakes.”

Ding!

A notification appeared.

After checking the message on the burner phone’s screen, I stubbed out my cigarette in the ashtray and ended the communication.

“I’ll contact you again later, Director.”

-“Give my regards to Clebins.”

*

Lucia didn’t forget her promise.

She sent Priestess Rebecca to investigate the “suspect wielding a blade, presumed to be using divine power” who had killed combat magicians, investigators, and soldiers.

“You’re here.”

“It’s been a while, Priestess Rebecca.”

I met with Priestess Rebecca at a quiet location.

Under a small stone bridge crossing a small river in the village where the commotion involving sorcery and inquisition had occurred before.

We faced each other in that place shrouded in deep shadows.

“I heard the situation from the Saint. I also heard from the Director. Did you receive my contact?”

“Yes.”

“Give me the burner phone.”

Priestess Rebecca burned the burner phone used for the meeting right in front of me. As soon as oil was poured and a match was thrown, the burner phone turned into an unsightly kindling.

After staring blankly at the melting exterior and circuit board in the intense heat, I looked around once and spoke.

“I’m thinking of catching the church’s apostate, but we’re not enough on our own. I need your cooperation.”

“Unofficially?”

“Yes, unofficially.”

Priestess Rebecca readily accepted my proposal.

Rebecca, who was recruited by Pedro, is one of the intelligence assets managed by the Military Intelligence Agency, just like Francesca or Veronica. While Pedro is managing her for now, there shouldn’t be any problem with me borrowing her temporarily.

I took out the list of apostates and missing persons that I had received from Pedro and waved it.

“Since we have nothing to hide from each other, I’ll get straight to the point. Someone on this list is causing trouble in the north. If we don’t catch them quickly, it’s clear that bigger problems will arise.”

Priestess Rebecca said:

“How can I help you, Major?”

“I understand that the Inquisition forces, including the Order of St. Andrea, have spent quite some time in the north. You’ve established an intelligence network there, right?”

Priestess Rebecca nodded. Her mint-colored bob hair swayed with her movement.

“Can you contact that intelligence network?”

“Yes, I can.”

“Good. Then please compile all the intelligence that has come in so far.”

All the church’s military forces are monopolized by the Inquisition.

From inquisitors to holy knights, combat priests, and exorcist priests—all are personnel managed and operated by the Inquisition, and it’s the Inquisition that controls the church forces dispatched to the northern empire.

And the Inquisition is an intelligence agency with a much longer history than the Imperial Guard or the Royal Intelligence Department. They must have an intelligence network in the northern empire where skirmishes are occurring. The holy knights themselves are affiliated with the Inquisition.

Of course, the imperial intelligence agencies would have noticed this fact long ago. With such a large force being dispatched, not having intelligence officers accompany them would be as problematic as ordering a collaboration event menu and not receiving the promotional item.

“The Inquisition’s local intelligence network is under surveillance by the military police and internal troops under the military government command, as well as the Imperial Guard, the Counter-Intelligence Command, and the imperial police. Especially in the current situation, even the Inquisition cannot easily operate an intelligence network.”

“I know. But that’s not something we need to worry about, is it? At least not for you, Priestess Rebecca, me, and Director Pedro.”

I asked Priestess Rebecca to gather information for me. Among other things, I requested many things.

Intelligence networks, safe houses, meeting places…

“I also need personnel and equipment. Specifically, means to identify the apostate’s identity and to subdue them if necessary.”

“I can mobilize that immediately. What about personnel?”

“Please select people who are as tight-lipped as possible.”

The fact that the Inquisition and the Military Intelligence Agency are cooperating is information that must never leak out.

Also, other inquisitors must not notice if Rebecca or Pedro are doing something suspicious.

I wanted to ask for people who were oblivious, but since intelligence officers dispatched overseas are invariably selected from among the most perceptive individuals, I needed to find people who were tight-lipped and easy to silence.

Fortunately, this was Priestess Rebecca’s area of expertise.

Having served as the secretary to the Director of the Inquisition, she inevitably came to know about employees she had never even met.

She might know the inquisitors better than their own parents.

After scanning through the list of apostates and missing persons, she pointed out several names with her finger.

“It would be best to exclude all apostates who were former inquisitors, healing priests, exorcist priests, or ordinary priests from the list of suspects. Similarly, exclude inquisitors, healing priests, exorcist priests, and ordinary priests from the list of missing persons suspected of apostasy without evidence.”

“May I ask why, Priestess?”

“They don’t know how to handle swords.”

Priestess Rebecca began to recite specific information about the Inquisition.

“The wounds left on the bodies of the magicians and soldiers were from a cutting sword, Major. Damage typical of conventional blades like longswords, falchions, hunting swords, sabres, or military swords.”

“And?”

“These people are far from such things.”

According to Priestess Rebecca, most inquisitors, healing priests, exorcist priests, and ordinary priests have never even properly held a sword, let alone know how to use one.

Ordinary priests and healing priests, well, that’s understandable. Inquisitors and exorcist priests were a bit surprising, but after hearing the explanation that followed, it all made sense.

“Exorcist priests have to deal with ghosts and demons, so there’s no need to use a sword. It’s obvious that unless you sprinkle holy water on the blade, it would just pass through without even grazing them.”

“Ah.”

“Inquisitors are similar. A hundred years ago, inquisitors might have wielded swords, but now there’s no need to carry them around. They’re heavier than guns, and the training time is so long. Of course, if you look, you might find some, but it’s unlikely that there are any who handle swords more skillfully than knights.”

In this way, Priestess Rebecca greatly reduced the number of suspects.

Instead, she added new names to the list of suspects.

“If we’re investigating clerics who are skilled with blades, combat priests would be the most likely suspects.”

“Combat priests?”

“They are clerics trained specifically for combat. They are trained to protect inquisitors and exorcist priests who are dispatched to dangerous areas, ensuring their safety.”

“Even inquisitors need bodyguards?”

“They do. Even we can’t handle all threats on our own.”

Of course, combat priests don’t just serve as bodyguards. Priestess Rebecca’s explanation continued.

“Combat priests also perform the role of assistant priests who assist in inquisition and solemn exorcism. That’s why they are widely selected from among priests, monks, and nuns.”

“That’s quite a number of people to investigate.”

“But it’s much fewer than before, isn’t it?”

We crossed out individuals who weren’t suspects from the list one by one.

No matter how much I had researched the Inquisition, I didn’t have more information than a current inquisitor, so Priestess Rebecca’s cooperation was a great help.

“We’ve crossed out half of them.”

I separated the now useless part of the list and burned it right away. Since I had already sent the original to the Military Intelligence Agency, it didn’t matter if I burned it.

After successfully destroying the evidence, I handed over a few items to Priestess Rebecca.

“This is a shortwave radio. It doesn’t have encryption capabilities, so never send transmissions in plain text. Keep this as a backup line and use other communication methods as much as possible.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Apart from identifying the apostate, I’ve prepared supplementary equipment for the operation. If you go to the location marked on this map, Dvorak will be there.”

Priestess Rebecca tucked the items I handed her into her bosom before anyone could see.

After checking that there was no one watching, she brought up the most important topic.

“How do you plan to store the list?”

The method of storing the list of apostates and missing persons. This is the most important topic of our conversation today.

“As you know, everyone on that list is either an apostate cleric or a missing cleric. This is information that the Inquisition manages carefully.”

“I’m aware of that.”

The identities of most inquisitors are classified. Since they could become targets of groups with awkward relationships with the church if their identities were revealed, inquisitors’ personal information is kept confidential.

Holy knights, combat priests, and exorcist priests are no exception. Like inquisitors, they know confidential information of the Inquisition, and since that information could leak through them in an emergency, the Inquisition does its best to track down apostates or missing persons among its staff.

To this, Priestess Rebecca, a current inquisitor, said:

“Imagine the information in the apostates’ heads falling into the hands of demons. That’s not just a problem for the Inquisition.”

I nodded to express my agreement.

“I agree with Priestess Rebecca’s thought that the list should be kept safe. In that sense, would it be appropriate for you to keep this list?”

“I cannot.”

Priestess Rebecca shook her head.

“Not just me, but no cleric of the church can possess that list. We are currently under surveillance by the public security authorities. You should keep it, Major.”

“Do you think my name isn’t on that surveillance list?”

We pushed the responsibility of keeping the list onto each other. More precisely, neither of us was confident in keeping it safe.

I’m in a position where imperial intelligence agents could search my room if necessary, and Priestess Rebecca is a suspect due to the murder case. It can’t be helped.

While we were struggling over who should keep the list, time passed relentlessly, and it was soon dusk. After checking the setting sun in the west, Priestess Rebecca looked at me and suggested:

“How about leaving it at the embassy? When we need to check it, we can request it via communication…”

I shook my head before Priestess Rebecca could finish.

“Whether it’s interference waves or mana released from the rift, the communication state is not very good. Communications within the north are fine, but there are many problems when trying to communicate with the central region.”

“Then there’s no point in keeping the list at the embassy. We won’t be able to receive the information when we actually need it.”

“That’s right. Although it’s hard to call it a temporary measure, we could use long-distance communication equipment, but…”

“It’s high-output equipment, so it’s difficult to operate. The counter-intelligence unit would be suspicious if signals kept occurring, even if it’s just once or twice.”

“Exactly, Priestess Rebecca.”

Gathered under the bridge, we put our heads together to think.

But no matter how much we racked our brains, there was no sign of a clear solution.

Rebecca can’t do it, and neither can I. Pippin, Jake, and Charnoi, like me, could be searched by counter-intelligence agencies at any time.

The Magic Tower? I didn’t even consider it. For the same reason, Francesca, who is affiliated with the Magic Tower, was excluded from the discussion.

There’s no one to trust in this world.

“Haah…”

Just as I was about to light a cigarette out of frustration, an idea suddenly struck me like lightning.

After taking a deep drag of my cigarette, I exhaled the smoke and began.

“There is one person. Someone who can keep the list safe.”

Priestess Rebecca tilted her head slightly and asked.

“Who would that be?”

*

“So… I’m currently investigating in the north to catch a person suspected of being the culprit in a murder case.”

“Yes.”

“There’s a list of people suspected to be the culprit, but there’s no proper way to store it because counter-intelligence agencies could search my room at any time.”

“Yes.”

“And it’s cumbersome to carry it around, and I can’t keep guarding the room all the time.”

“Right.”

“In the end, someone who won’t be unexpectedly searched, whether it’s their room or body, needs to keep the list. Is that right? Did I understand correctly?”

“And it has to be someone trustworthy.”

“Ah, yes. That too.”

Camilla nodded in agreement. Having spent another day vigorously dealing with the northern coniferous forest and monsters, she pointed at herself with a tired look.

More precisely, she pointed at her chest. But that’s not important, so let’s move on.

“Anyway, that person is me, right?”

I nodded.

“That’s right. I’d like you to keep this list. Nothing more, nothing less, just keep it.”

“…You’re entrusting something so important to me. Why?”

“Because the imperial guys won’t search your room or body, Camilla.”

Camilla tilted her head as if she didn’t understand.

“The people who torture and kill dissidents?”

“They’re imperial, but you’re a foreigner. You’re a guest of the Empire!”

“……”

“What host in the world would search their guest’s luggage? Even if you took a confidential document from the Ministry of Defense building right now and hid it under your skirt, people here wouldn’t suspect you.”

“…Uh, I think they would definitely suspect that.”

Camilla muttered as if she really couldn’t believe it, but I shrugged it off.

As I tapped my palm with the rolled-up list, Camilla asked. Her voice was strangely excited and full of anticipation.

“Okay. I get what you mean. You’re trying to catch a murderer, right? And that list is essential for catching the murderer.”

“That’s right. More or less.”

“It’s like Sherlock Holmes. So, how should I keep it?”

Camilla pointed around. In front of us was a burned coniferous forest, and behind us were imperial soldiers cleaning up the scene.

With many eyes watching, I answered with actions instead of words. I used the paper to point to where Camilla should hide the list.

At the end of the direction pointed by the rolled-up list was Camilla’s lower body.

“Put it inside your skirt.”

“…Wait. What did you say?”

“I said put the document inside your skirt. If you walk around waving this in your hand, all the imperial people will stare at you. Do you want to advertise it?”

Camilla, startled for a moment, jumped up. She protested vehemently, saying not to joke around, but I was in a completely serious state without adding a single lie.

“You must be joking. Right?”

“I’m not joking, so quickly put it inside your skirt, Camilla. I used to carry documents in my pants too, so don’t be embarrassed. I’ll turn around, so handle it quickly.”

“……”

In the end, Camilla reluctantly stuffed the list into her skirt.

Thus, the list was stored in the safest place in the world, a place no one would dare to expect.

“Oh right. When I used to carry papers in my pants, I found out that if you keep them there for too long, they get damp and soggy. So you should quickly go to your quarters and store it in a safe place…”

“Ah, suddenly I feel like burning this paper…”

“I’m sorry. I’ll apologize, so please calm down.”

I comforted Camilla, who was standing there with a blank expression. If I left her alone, she might really burn the list.

-Ding.

A familiar ringtone. I took out a Military Intelligence Agency employee phone with encryption capabilities from my pocket. It’s a brick-like long-distance communication model.

Camilla turned her drooping head to look at me as the ringtone pierced her ears.

“What is it…?”

“A call from a friend.”

How does this one get a signal in one go? Lucky.

I pressed the call button and put the phone to my ear. It wasn’t a long call, but one I had been waiting for with bated breath.

Victor’s boisterous voice came through the encrypted communication.

-“Ready to receive the goods, Freddy?”

As if responding to that familiar answer, I smiled.

“Of course, Victor.”