Ch.2Episode 1 – The Gray Man

I blinked like the president who heard the news of the twin towers collapsing while reading a book in kindergarten.

It was because I felt utterly screwed.

It had been a week since the hero was summoned, and I thought it was strange that nothing had happened, when suddenly:

“Captain Frederick Nostrum, you have been chosen as a companion of the hero.”

This kind of shit happened.

Episode 1 – The Gray Man

As soon as I arrived at work, I was summoned by the colonel and called to the conference room, where I heard the terrible news that I had been chosen as the hero’s companion.

“First of all, this may be hard to believe, but you’ve been chosen as a companion of the hero.”

This can’t be reality…

Trying desperately to deny reality, I opened my mouth.

“I-Is that so? But why me of all people…?”

“That, I don’t know either. It’s the Church that knows the content of the oracle, not our Intelligence Bureau.”

Ah, damn it. That’s right.

Clearly, after starting the game and completing the quest at the royal palace, a letter from the Cardinal arrives saying that an oracle about the hero has been delivered. It was the very first event, so I had completely forgotten about it, and I mistakenly assumed that the Intelligence Bureau would know its contents. It would have been difficult to verify the contents of a letter delivered directly by the Cardinal himself.

The Cardinal probably omitted the important details and only revealed information about the four individuals designated as the hero’s companions. The priestess candidate from the Papal Territory, the alchemist who is the successor to the Magic Tower, the barbarian warrior from the plains, and the elf archer guardian of the World Tree. Yes, now I remember.

I nodded frantically.

Mentioning those companions here and asking why I was included would be suicidal. I had just learned that I was chosen as a hero’s companion. If I spouted such nonsense, Colonel Clevins, a specialist in identifying spies, would certainly suspect me.

“I understand it’s hard to accept. Until just now, you were an ordinary soldier in the Intelligence Bureau.”

The emphasis on “until just now” suggests that’s no longer the case?

That was probably it. If a hero’s companion belonged to a specific country or organization, it might be different, but a soldier—especially an intelligence agent—would cause numerous politicians to foam at the mouth and convulse.

Of course, in international society, where power allows you to get away with all kinds of bullshit, they could gloss over controversies through name games like “candidate” for sainthood. But that was possible because it involved a saint of a religion believed by many on the continent, and it wouldn’t work for an intelligence agent.

The reason I was concerned about international society and diplomatic relations, even with the world facing destruction, was simple. This shitty game’s dark fantasy world was full of idiots who would start civil wars over crowns even as their countries were falling apart. And if I left the Intelligence Bureau, I had nowhere to go. That was the most important thing.

A soldier must belong somewhere. Whether it’s a unit, a command, or as an instructor at some school. Without affiliation, you can’t get promoted and must leave the service. Especially if you leave before completing 20 years, you lose your pension. No unit would accept someone from the Intelligence Bureau, and as the hero’s companion, I would have to go abroad—who would handle the work that would pile up in my absence?

Still, I don’t know yet. An elite intelligence operative’s mind might come up with a plausible solution.

“What will happen to me? Do I have to leave the Intelligence Bureau?”

“You’ll probably have to leave the Intelligence Bureau. In the worst case, you might have to take off your uniform.”

Colonel Clevins smiled and continued.

“But don’t worry too much. Creating a new identity is easy.”

“Thank you, Colonel.”

“You’ll have a lot to do soon, but you can go home for today.”

I closed the conference room door and walked out.

I already felt drained, my shoulders slumping. My plan to enjoy an easy life in the safe capital of the kingdom while the hero saved the world had been shattered. More than that, the thought of possibly losing my job made me fear the future ahead.

Thud. Thud.

The silent corridor, echoing only with the sound of military boots, was the perfect space for sinking into contemplation. Walking down the quiet, empty corridor, I became lost in thought. Of course, with my experience in the Intelligence Bureau, my thinking was swift.

I had become the hero’s fifth companion, who shouldn’t exist.

I don’t know how this relates to my reincarnation into this game world, but I instinctively sensed that I was in a situation I couldn’t refuse.

Now I don’t know what the future holds. My becoming the hero’s companion could completely change the course of events, or things might flow naturally as in the original story. Perhaps the hero is a complete troll, and I’ll have to drag them along by the hair. I let my imagination run wild, but ultimately it was all pointless. It was just speculation about a future that might never happen. Moreover, there was no evidence. Usually, imagination without evidence is called brain-fiction or delusion.

I stopped my delusional circuit and started thinking. What’s important now is that my situation has completely changed. I’ve gone from praying for the hero to save the world to being right beside them in the struggle. That was the most important thing.

I might not be able to maintain my soldier status in the future. I might have to take off my uniform or leave the Intelligence Bureau to avoid political problems. But if Colonel Clevins said not to worry, I should just believe him. The Colonel is an elite who has been in this field longer than I have.

After careful consideration, I made my decision.

I quickly left the Intelligence Bureau building and headed to my quarters. I climbed the stairs, entered my home, and opened a locked cabinet. Inside were stacks of documents filling the entire cabinet. It was information about the heroes of the Dark World that I had organized over 28 years.

Rummaging through it, I pulled out information about the very early royal palace part, about a hand span in size.

What’s important to me now was the fact that the hero was staying at the royal palace, and that there was still some time left before the world was destroyed.

Although my 28-year plan had been shattered,

“Haah…”

It was still worth a try.

*

“…Done.”

Finally.

Finally finished.

I threw away the used-up pen and looked out the window. Twinkling starlight was seeping into the pitch-black darkness.

Stretching out, I lay down on the floor. The rustling sound of paper colliding could be heard with every movement. The floor was now so covered with papers that there was barely room to step. These were contents close to prophecies that I had organized over the past few days without going outside.

I haven’t just been sitting around praying for 28 years. I’ve gathered as much information as possible about the characters, surrounding countries, and organizations. Clipping newspaper articles, organizing rumors I’ve heard, collecting information from books and interviews.

Although the information I gathered during my years at the Intelligence Bureau was more abundant and reliable than what I collected over 20 years, that’s what I joined for in the first place. It was natural that the materials collected from an intelligence agency would be greater in quantity, and the quality was undoubtedly superior.

I reached out and pulled in a stack of documents gathered on one side. The papers, with photos attached and names, birth dates, residences, and recent activities listed, contained information about the hero’s companions. I slowly flipped through them.

I had looked at them so many times that the papers were almost rotting, and just hearing their names would automatically bring up who they were and what they were doing, but there was no harm in making sure.

With each turn of the page, information about familiar people appeared.

The priestess who serves the saint, the alchemist who was pushed out of the succession line at the Magic Tower, the barbarian warrior wandering the desert to avenge his murdered father, the elf guarding the World Tree.

I filled in information about places beyond the kingdom’s intelligence network with settings I remembered, and updated it as much as possible as new information came in. I wasn’t sure if my memory was correct or if there were any mistakes. I scanned through them, contemplating how to lead these blockheads to save the world.

And then my gaze fell on one person’s file.

“…Lucia.”

The priestess candidate from the Papal Territory.

She was called a saint candidate, but in reality, she was essentially the saint’s handmaiden. Being a saint wasn’t a job determined by God but a kind of position. In this world, to become a saint, one needed the Cardinal’s recommendation and had to receive a certain percentage of votes through the bishops’ election. And this girl, chosen as the hero’s companion, would soon receive the Cardinal’s recommendation and become a saint candidate.

Of course, actually becoming a saint was a different matter entirely from the Cardinal’s recommendation. One needed to gain the support of more bishops than there were cardinals. And in a dark fantasy world where most clergy were corrupt, elections typically involved money politics, smear campaigns, ghost voting, and even government interference.

This poor girl who appears in the game suffers from smear campaigns and ultimately fails to be elected as a saint, joining the hero’s journey with the status of a saint candidate.

That caused numerous events. In the game, events related to the hero’s companions involving this girl and the alchemist accounted for well over half. The people of the Church were not the type to leave a new saint candidate alone, and the alchemist, pushed out of the fierce succession battle, was a political enemy of the new Magic Tower Master.

That’s why the priestess and the alchemist were nicknamed walking time bombs. For this reason, many strategy guides posted in the community involved completing the game after abandoning the priestess and the alchemist. There was no option to reject them, but there was no requirement to keep them alive either.

Following such strategies would lead to miserable ends for the priestess and alchemist, but from a player’s perspective, it was just the death of a character they had already decided to discard, so it wasn’t particularly burdensome.

But in this world, death is real.

Before coming to the rear command, I was on the front lines and had seen countless corpses. And the feel of those corpses, the smell of decay, and the emotions felt by those around them could never be reproduced by any program. I could confidently say that not even Skynet, let alone AlphaGo, could create such things.

Should I take the risk and accept those two? Or should I abandon them, even if it means living with guilt?

I gazed at the stars pouring through the window, lost in worry.

“…Sigh.”

My thinking was swift, and my decision was careful.

On the 13th day since the hero was summoned, and the 5th day since I became the hero’s companion.

After five days of contemplation, I decided.

I’ll just give it a try.