Ch.44Episode 3 – Fantastic Vacation

The core of all intelligence agency activities lies in security.

Whether intelligence is grade A or B, how high the analysis accuracy is, or whether the captured spy is a big fish or a small fry—these are all important. But even more important is security.

One wrong move could lead to staff being imprisoned or killed in the line of duty, so regardless of their department, all employees are trained to treat security as their lifeline.

Therefore, intelligence agencies do not disclose their operations to other agencies, and even employees within the same agency never share information about their work with each other.

This sometimes leads to overlapping operations between intelligence agencies, and when incidents occur in the field, headquarters often experiences delays in understanding the situation.

Of course, all kinds of safeguards based on laws and systems are in place to prevent such mishaps. But since intelligence agencies are ultimately run by people, unexpected accidents occasionally happen, and mistakes are made.

No matter how smart an analyst is, analyses can be wrong, and no matter how meticulous an investigator is, suspects can slip away.

And.

No matter how thorough a spy is, they will eventually make a mistake.

Eventually.

Without fail.

Episode 3 – Fantastic Vacation

“I’m hungry.”

“What?”

Camilla Lowell grumbled. Slumped over her desk, she spoke in an uncharacteristically weak voice.

“Didn’t you just eat?”

“That was like two hours ago…”

“And you’re already hungry?”

“That’s what I’m saying…”

She muttered flatly with a dejected expression. She didn’t look particularly happy.

“Strangely, whenever I use magic, my stomach empties out. I wonder if I’ll end up getting so fat I’ll roll around sideways.”

Listening to her whining, I suddenly realized that Camilla Lowell’s food intake seemed to be gradually increasing.

To be precise, she was snacking more. But since there didn’t seem to be any health issues, it probably wasn’t something to worry about.

I opened a sweet snack I had picked up from the supply room that morning and handed it to her. She automatically opened her mouth, and I habitually placed the snack in her mouth and pushed her jaw closed.

“Is it good?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good then.”

Camilla Lowell smiled slightly, and I turned to speak to the researcher standing nearby.

“When does the next examination start?”

“In 15 minutes.”

So they say.

As time went on, Camilla Lowell’s schedule became more complicated. They needed to extract as much research data as possible before we left the research facility the day after tomorrow.

If not for the spy issue, this would have been a three-day job, but with all the senior personnel detained, there was no helping it.

Not just her, but the researchers and agents alike were all having a busy week.

“Well, that’s what they say. Now get up.”

“…Sigh.”

“This time, try not to melt the building, okay? Take it easy.”

“I’ll try…”

I got up from my seat with a bright smile.

Then I casually made my way through the crowd to find a researcher.

“Senior Researcher Bianchi?”

“Yes? Did you call for me?”

The reason I stayed by Camilla Lowell’s side despite my busy schedule wasn’t for any special reason.

It was because my job was to monitor people.

“Is your work going well?”

A government-sponsored student who majored in magic at a domestic university before studying abroad at the Magic Tower.

A talented individual who joined the Advanced Military Magic Research Institute with support from the Magic Tower.

Senior Researcher at the Biological Analysis Lab of the Advanced Military Magic Research Institute.

Giada Bianchi.

*

The incident began yesterday at dawn.

I went to the investigation team with the list I had obtained from Veronica, and the team leader sent the list to the Intelligence Bureau for verification and requested necessary information.

After a brief wait, the printer noisily churned out documents.

A meeting was then convened.

“Name, Giada Bianchi. 36-year-old female. She majored in magic at a domestic university, earned her bachelor’s degree, and then went to the Magic Tower as a government-sponsored student. Her majors are biology and magic studies. Minor in summoning. Currently, she is a senior researcher in the biological analysis lab in charge of the ‘Next Generation Field Medical System’ project.”

The investigator holding the microphone continued his explanation in a calm voice.

The mechanical device projected a dim light onto the screen, and several large résumés unfolded before our eyes.

The résumés soon changed to photographs.

“These photos were taken during her time studying at the Magic Tower. Giada Bianchi studied abroad at the Magic Tower for 2 years and 6 months, and it has been confirmed that she attended several academic conferences and seminars during that time.”

“Academic conferences and seminars?”

“Yes.”

The team leader tilted his head with a puzzled expression and looked at me.

I took the microphone and added an explanation.

“Academic conferences and seminars are good places to scout for informants.”

Events like academic conferences, seminars, and international business meetings are perfect places to scout for informants.

Not only can you contact many people in a short time, but there’s also a low probability of being caught even with minimal disguise, and everyone you encounter is high-quality personnel.

From an intelligence officer’s perspective, there’s no reason not to go to such places flowing with milk and honey.

“They allow for contact with as many people as possible in a short time, and due to the networking nature of these gatherings, it’s easy to arrange secondary contacts and private meetings.”

The team leader turned his gaze to the investigator.

“So she was recruited by the Magic Tower through academic conferences and seminars?”

“We can’t be certain, but it’s a possibility.”

“Is there anyone she frequently contacted at the Magic Tower?”

“There is one person. A man named Fabio Verati, who worked as a representative handling diplomatic affairs for various countries. He had frequent private meetings with Giada Bianchi and even attended her farewell party.”

As the screen changed, several photos appeared on the wall. The man and woman weren’t exactly all over each other, but the most noticeable photo showed them intertwined like snakes.

It seemed they had that kind of relationship.

“These are materials forwarded to us from a related agency. As you can see from the photos, they are presumed to have been in a romantic relationship. This is supported by testimonies from acquaintances, posts on Magic Tower community boards, and records of international mail and phone calls.”

I took my eyes off the photos and turned my attention to the stack of documents.

Some might think it’s no big deal for a man and woman to fall for each other in a foreign country, but to my eyes, it looked like nothing but a blatant recruitment attempt.

Typically, the process of recruiting an informant goes through four stages: identification, evaluation, conditioning, and recruitment.

If there are 100 people, an intelligence officer will narrow it down to about 10 prime candidates.

Then the officer makes contact, evaluates them, creates favorable conditions, and attempts recruitment. In urgent situations, some middle steps might be skipped, but following standard procedure, the focus during the conditioning phase is on establishing an intimate relationship.

If Giada Bianchi had continued private meetings with a Magic Tower official and fallen in love, that would mean the conditioning phase was already complete.

“There seems to be plenty of circumstantial evidence, but is there any physical evidence?”

“Her overseas travel records are a bit unusual, but we couldn’t find anything suspicious in her financial transactions or currency exchange records.”

“What about international calls or mail?”

“All outgoing international calls and mail are screened by the relevant agencies. We requested the related materials, but they also couldn’t find anything suspicious.”

It’s a difficult situation.

We can’t arrest someone for espionage based on suspicion without physical evidence.

Of course, if we searched her quarters right now and found a one-time pad or communication equipment, we could arrest her immediately on espionage charges, but conducting a search without a warrant would cause problems in court.

“Hmm…”

Until we could obtain a warrant, someone needed to monitor Giada Bianchi, the prime spy suspect.

Whether to find evidence or prevent any suspicious activities, someone had to keep an eye on her.

However, many investigators were tied up with Fernand’s interrogation, and approaching the suspect without a cover identity was too risky.

Just then, the deputy team leader asked the team leader:

“Who would be best to monitor Giada Bianchi?”

“Well…”

“In a situation where external communications and access are controlled, if someone with an unclear identity approaches, it would raise suspicion…”

“Exactly.”

It seemed the investigators were having similar concerns.

“Wouldn’t it be best if someone with a confirmed identity approached her?”

“Do we have someone like that?”

“No, we don’t.”

“Right…”

But somehow,

“Ideally, someone familiar to the researchers…”

“Someone whose face is well-known would be good…”

Everyone was looking at me.

“…”

The team leader and deputy team leader who were conversing, the investigator holding the microphone, even the rookie coloring the edge of a paper with a pen in the corner of the meeting room.

They were all glancing at me.

No one was saying it out loud, but I had a pretty good idea of what they wanted to say.

“…”

Someone with a confirmed identity and a well-known face who wouldn’t raise suspicion.

Someone who knows the investigation’s progress and can be trusted to maintain security.

An employee from the same agency but not affiliated with the research institute.

Preferably an agent with some field experience.

“…”

No matter how I thought about it, there was only one person in this room who fit that description.

“…Major? Are you good at fighting by any chance?”

“I’ve had training, but…”

“…”

“Maybe?”

That person was me.