Ch.30Episode 2 – Heroes of the Continent

Every action has a cause and effect.

There are established laws in this world.

There are no problems without answers, and no paths without a way forward.

You just need to search.

While everyone wanders through thick fog,

I am finding my way.

Episode 2 – Heroes of the Continent

Military Intelligence Bureau, Communications Interception Office.

A man and woman sat facing each other on folding chairs.

“You seem to know something interesting. Please share.”

The soldier asked, and the civilian answered.

“Will you grant me asylum?”

“I’ll decide after hearing what you have to say.”

“No.”

The agent spoke, and the saint replied.

“The asylum process is complicated. It requires approval from parliament and cabinet, and ultimately royal authorization.”

“At least promise me verbally.”

“I don’t have that authority.”

“Oh, really.”

Veronica scratched her head in irritation.

“Why are you being like this?”

“I am a soldier.”

“Ha.”

“If you provide information, I’ll persuade my superiors.”

Veronica stood up from her chair and paced around the office.

She’s biting her nails—clearly anxious.

This woman is calculating right now. I offered a deal to help her calculations.

“Just give me the information. Then I promise you minimal protection.”

“Really?”

She finished her calculations.

“Yes.”

“Fine. Then how will you protect me?”

“I’ll decide after hearing what you have to say.”

“Ha.”

Veronica let out a hollow laugh and sat back down.

She squinted her eyes and fell into thought for a few minutes.

“What information do you want to know?”

“Why Raoul joined hands with Department 2. And why Department 2 is causing trouble.”

She pondered.

But not for long. Veronica slumped in her chair and put a cigarette in her mouth.

“The story is a bit complicated.”

“That’s fine.”

“Well, let’s start with the story of the Imperial Guard.”

Finally, the path is beginning to appear.

*

The predecessor of the Kiyen Empire’s Imperial Guard was a counterintelligence agency.

Criminals with subversive ideologies.

Political prisoners challenging imperial authority.

Spies undermining national interests.

The Imperial Guard grew by feeding on their blood.

Now there are numerous departments, including overseas operations. Nevertheless, the Imperial Guard was an institution that existed for the Emperor.

The name itself says it all—Imperial Guard.

The Imperial Guard is broadly divided into Department 1 (counterintelligence-security) handling domestic affairs, and Department 2 (overseas operations) handling foreign affairs.

Department 1 is what people typically think of as public security.

Department 2 is what people typically think of as spies.

But Department 2 of the Imperial Guard has a fatal problem.

“The Overseas Operations Department doesn’t exist solely for the Emperor. It exists for the Empire.”

“Please elaborate.”

“Department 2 is a department divided between the Imperial family and the nobles.”

A department shared between the Imperial family and nobles. In other words, two powers simultaneously exert influence over a single department.

Anyone who has experienced modern bureaucratic systems would understand how absurd this sounds.

It’s like saying the president and political-business leaders jointly manage an intelligence agency.

How is this possible? It’s because noble influence was incorporated when the Imperial Guard was expanded and reorganized.

“It was almost a hundred years ago, so I don’t know the details, but when Department 2 was created, the nobles’ intentions were heavily reflected.”

“What intentions?”

“You know how intelligence agencies support businesses, right? What do you think?”

“Are you saying nobles use the intelligence agency to make money?”

“Yes.”

Veronica took a deep breath and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

“For a long time, the Empire’s merchants have served as quasi-diplomats.”

She continued explaining in a calm tone.

“When the Imperial Guard was reorganized, the Emperor borrowed money from them. Intelligence agencies require substantial funding, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“It was too much to cover with the Emperor’s private funds. It was also a period when imperial power was weakened, so he couldn’t freely use the budget.”

“So the nobles provided massive capital. And since it’s impossible to keep quiet after taking money, they got a piece of the cake?”

“Yes.”

This is insane.

The Overseas Operations Department being used for nobles’ profit-making.

No matter how fantastical, this doesn’t make sense. Was the Emperor crazy?

“Couldn’t he just take their money and then crush the nobles with public security forces?”

“That would dry up the Empire’s money supply. I told you, they were merchants.”

Now I understand.

Even in modern society, while corporate executives can be arrested, it’s impossible to completely destroy major corporations. That would devastate the national economy.

When a president ruins the economy, they lose power and go to prison, but when an emperor ruins the economy, they go to the guillotine.

“Still, the Imperial family wasn’t stupid, so they installed a few safeguards.”

“What are they?”

“The Counterintelligence Department and the military.”

The Counterintelligence Department operating overseas.

Special Activities Division handling covert operations, especially those involving force.

They created watchdogs and kept the knife handle.

It seems the Counterintelligence Department was using the deceased operative Yuri as their pawn. This makes more sense now.

It appears the Emperor is using the Counterintelligence Department to monitor the Overseas Operations Department.

“And they placed imperial people in the most valuable positions within Department 2.”

“So what do the nobles do with Department 2?”

“The obvious things. Stealing technology, securing contracts, lobbying, recruiting people.”

“Anything that makes money.”

“Still, they faithfully performed their overseas operations duties. It was a contract, after all.”

Department 2 was jointly managed by the Imperial family and nobles, each pursuing their own interests.

The nobles aimed for money, while the Imperial family aimed for information, sharing Department 2 between them.

All of this was information unknown to us. It means the Imperial family and nobles maintained strict security. It also means there was no betrayal.

But now someone within Department 2 has betrayed them.

Veronica referred to this someone as a “subversive element”—meaning a force opposing the Imperial family.

“Why did Department 2’s internal faction join hands with Raoul?”

“Because it’s profitable. And it also forms a good relationship.”

Money. Good relationship.

“So the faction uses the church to conduct business, and Raoul becomes Pope. Their interests align.”

Religion is profitable.

Especially in a chaotic world.

And Raoul is a power-hungry person. According to Veronica, Raoul initiated contact with the internal faction.

Such detailed backstory doesn’t appear in the game. Perhaps I just didn’t play the game to the end.

Others caused the accident, yet somehow I feel like I’m the one suffering.

So now I ask Veronica:

“Department 2’s operative delivered the bomb, and someone from the church received it. If Raoul set off the bomb to kill me, why did he do it?”

“The nobles’ and Raoul’s interests align.”

The saint created by the Empire began explaining the complex web of interests.

“Everyone in the church knows I became a saint with the Empire’s backing, right?”

“Yes.”

“An orphan from a baronial family became a saint through good connections. What do you think that power-hungry old man thought?”

Raoul is power-hungry.

But he has no political foundation and has a fatal weakness that Rafael knows about.

Then he watched a girl backed by the Empire become a saint.

What would he think?

“So Raoul is borrowing Department 2’s power to become Pope.”

“Bingo.”

“But is there a need to create a Pope? From the Empire’s perspective, whether they have a lobbyist or a pro-imperial Pope shouldn’t matter when there’s already a saint.”

“Dealing directly without an intermediary is certainly attractive, but the nobles are making Raoul Pope because of my situation.”

Veronica.

An orphan chosen by the Emperor.

A saint created by the entire Imperial Guard.

Veronica is the Empire’s lobbyist. In other words, she simultaneously satisfies the needs of both the Imperial family and the nobles.

This means that if the interests of the Imperial family and nobles don’t align, she cannot satisfy both their needs.

“I’m supposed to look after both Imperial and noble interests. If their interests conflict, whose side would I take?”

“You’d side with the Imperial family. Since you were personally chosen by the Emperor.”

“Then would the nobles be dissatisfied or not?”

Of course they would be.

“The Emperor has been using me thoroughly. After getting along well for nearly a hundred years, suddenly eating the whole cake—wouldn’t that make them angry?”

“So the nobles are rebelling? Setting up a Pope with both pro-imperial and pro-noble leanings would open an exclusive channel.”

“That’s right.”

Now it makes sense.

The Imperial family and nobles are in conflict over Department 2.

They had been getting along well, but the Emperor disrupted the balance by establishing a saint. It’s a breach of contract—the thing merchants hate most.

So they’re trying to create their own new lobbyist.

“So that’s why they attacked Lucia? The message wasn’t for the church but for the imperial nobles—’If you can’t protect one child, how can you keep your promises?'”

“Wow, Major, you’re smart.”

Veronica’s actions make sense now.

She is the Empire’s lobbyist. But recently, she’s been pushing herself too hard to serve the Emperor’s interests.

“You overextended yourself sending people to the border region, right?”

“Yes.”

“Now it all makes sense.”

What happens if a Pope with both pro-imperial and pro-noble leanings appears? The Emperor won’t sit idle while the nobles feast.

Naturally, the Emperor will establish connections with Raoul once he becomes Pope, and she will lose her backing.

In other words, she’ll be distanced from power. Power is like the sun—too close and you burn, too far and you freeze.

Currently, she’s in danger of burning, but if Raoul becomes Pope, she’ll freeze.

“If Raoul becomes Pope, will he abandon Lucia?”

“No, he’ll make her a saint somehow. After all that effort? He needs to recover his investment.”

If Raoul becomes Pope and Lucia becomes a saint, Veronica dies.

Literally dies. She knows too much and is the Empire’s weakness.

She wasn’t wary of Lucia. She was wary of her approaching death. Forced into an unwanted gambling table, she must bite others to survive.

By any means necessary.

I’ve learned almost everything I was curious about. Just one thing remains.

“One last question.”

“Yes.”

“Why does Raoul want to kill me?”

Veronica smirked.

With a cigarette in her mouth, she gently closed her eyes while puffing smoke.

“Is there anyone who doesn’t know that the Kingdom of Abas is using you to control the Hero?”

“…”

“If he becomes Pope, he could manipulate the Hero through Lucia. But someone has already planted their flag first? And as the first companion, no less.”

All questions are answered.

The strange atmosphere between Raoul and Lucia.

Why Raoul didn’t actively protect Lucia.

Why Raoul stayed in the kingdom for a week.

Why Raoul wants to kill me.

“What would you do if you were in my position, Major?”

“…”

“If it were me, I’d kill you.”

Major of the Abas Kingdom Army.

Operative of the Abas Kingdom Military Intelligence Bureau.

The Hero’s first companion who shouldn’t exist.

In the end, I was the cause of all incidents.

*

-“…Good work, Frederick.”

“Yes.”

I finished my report in front of the burning flames outside the cover office.

The Colonel let out a faint sigh as I threw Veronica’s cards into the flames—cards that could be traced for funds.

-“A big shot from the Empire came as an envoy, and the envoy’s information matches the saint’s.”

“Is that so.”

-“What will you do now, Major?”

“You know, so why ask?”

I threw her entire wallet in and dusted off my hands. I brought a gun just in case, but it seems I won’t need it today.

-“Right. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Please open the cabinet for me once.”

-“Will do.”

That morning.

News broke that a large amount of explosives was found in the basement of a church official’s residence.

But it disappeared, buried under other breaking news.