Chapter Index





    Clear sunlight streams in through the east-facing window.

    A woman lies on a cozy bed, slightly removed from the window that lets direct sunlight into the room. Today, too, she welcomes an old friend without fail.

    That friend is none other than reading.

    “……”

    The maxim to keep books close is well-known, but in reality, few people truly treat books as persons. She, like others, did not bestow life upon mere scraps of paper.

    However, old friends are not easily acquired.

    Between her and books, there were shared memories, hardships, reconciliations, and comfort. The depth of their relationship was no different from that of comrades who had shared life and death struggles.

    —Thud. Thud.

    Amid this, footsteps traversing the corridor could be heard in the silence.

    Someone announced their presence with a knock.

    “Excuse me.”

    The visitor was an elderly man with remarkably gentle features.

    His appearance suggested he must have been quite popular with women in his youth, and his subtle smile was so bright that even a child would have instinctively responded with a warm smile.

    However.

    His dark green uniform indicated he was an officer of the Law Enforcement Corps. The single golden arabesque insignia adorning his shoulder symbolized his rank as a general.

    No woman or child would find it easy to smile genuinely upon encountering him.

    “……”

    Despite being a general of the Law Enforcement Corps, one of the highest authorities in the Ashtistan Republic, the woman did not even spare him a glance.

    Her hand turning the pages showed indifference, and at a glance, there was even a sense of familiarity to it.

    “I understand this is your time for scripture reading. However, an urgent matter has arisen, forcing me to commit this discourtesy.”

    It was only natural.

    She was someone who could afford such behavior.

    “High Priestess.”

    —Rustle. Rustle.

    Only the sound of turning pages echoed in the silence.

    As heavy silence passed without a word, suddenly, Zeinab Eskanr, who had been reading the lines, spoke in a low voice.

    “It must be a significant matter.”

    Her gaze, which had been wandering aimlessly for a moment, stopped.

    As the Law Enforcement Corps general stood still, she murmured again in an indifferent voice.

    “There’s ink on the side of your hand. You didn’t notice.”

    “…Ah. I apologize.”

    The general, belatedly checking the side of his hand, began with a sigh and lowered his head. As if apologetic for coming to the audience in an improper state.

    He bowed so deeply his nose nearly touched the floor. However, the priestess’s attention seemed entirely focused on her reading.

    The general hurriedly stopped rubbing his stained hand and began reporting the more important matter.

    “A terrorist attack just occurred at Timarshakh Park. The military and the Corps have received reports from guidance patrol officers and initiated preliminary measures, but since the perpetrators and purpose of the attack remain unclear, the security of Azadi Palace…”

    “I know.”

    The priestess suddenly cut off the general’s words.

    “That someone fired a gun in the park. That they lost both the shooter and those fleeing. And that they failed to determine who carried out the attack—whether it was a simple crime or an attack against Ashtistan.”

    “……”

    Silence descended.

    The sound of fingers caressing paper continued uninterrupted. The general maintained his silence, and the priestess still did not even glance at him.

    She merely gazed at her old friend, and with an infinitely serene expression, issued a gentle dismissal.

    “Tell Commander Dariush to come in.”

    With fingers tracing the text, she turned the page with a rustle.

    After gently stroking one side, she smiled leisurely.

    “Things are about to get a bit noisy.”

    Episode 20 – Who Threatened You with a Knife?

    An unidentified woman, clearly Abbasian.

    It wasn’t difficult to discover that she had successfully escaped.

    “Did you catch her? What? You lost her? Damn…”

    The atmosphere among the Ashtistan religious police who responded initially, and the Ashtistan military and Law Enforcement Corps personnel who arrived later as reinforcements, clearly suggested they had utterly failed.

    After surveying the chaotic scene, I sensed that the woman had not been apprehended and quietly slipped away from the park.

    Although I hadn’t confirmed the woman’s identity or her purpose for entering the country,

    I could easily deduce that she was involved in international crime, terrorism, or some other major incident, given that she chose immediate escape as soon as she realized her identity was compromised.

    —’Yes. This is Jake, the Zamria Federation regional officer.’

    “It’s me. Pull up a list from headquarters database for me. Local female in her 50s. I’ll give you the characteristics.”

    I immediately began combing through the company’s data network.

    Abbasian national. Female over 50. Married with more than two children and fluent in Kiyen language.

    Applying just these conditions would yield hundreds of pages of names, but adding a few more criteria changed everything.

    First, anyone who had joined international criminal organizations or terrorist groups, or whose activities had been confirmed during investigation stages by investigative or law enforcement agencies.

    Second, anyone with ties to the Ashtistan Republic, either personally or through a spouse.

    Third, anyone who had worked directly in defense, security, or intelligence fields, or was connected to them in any way.

    Finally.

    Anyone with children named “Henya” and “Lucy” in their family relations.

    —’Henya and Lucy?’

    “Yes.”

    —’Those are some unique names. Henya and Lucy…’

    As far as unique names go, they don’t get much more distinctive than Pippin, but Henya was also one of the rare names in Abbas.

    Which naturally made it easier to find.

    “If there’s nothing in the search records, try changing the spelling first. It could be a nickname or childhood name, but since the child was about to enter middle school academy, let’s exclude childhood names for now.”

    —’Got it. But why do we need to change the spelling?’

    “Because we couldn’t verify her ID, of course.”

    I responded with irritation, as if he’d asked something obvious.

    Of course, not knowing the exact name because I couldn’t check her ID was one reason, but that wasn’t the only reason I instructed him to change the spelling.

    Why?

    “Also, this is one method civilians use to create forged passports. They slightly alter the spelling so it sounds similar when pronounced.”

    The method of altering identification by playing with names has long been a technique favored by civilians. They usually mess with the Roman alphabet transcription—if someone named “Minsu” originally had “MIN SU” on their passport, they might alter it to “MIN SUE.”

    This way, they’re classified as completely different people in the system, making it possible to pass immigration checks that they couldn’t pass using their real names.

    Of course, this method is blocked in the 21st century Earth where electronic passports have become commonplace, but this place doesn’t have electronic passports.

    What sophisticated security policies could you expect from a place that still stamps and seals ID photos onto identification cards like it’s the 1980s?

    Unless it’s a country like Abbas or Kiyen that carefully draws magical anti-forgery patterns, passports and driver’s licenses from countries with insufficient administrative capabilities are easy to forge, making it possible to create fake passports with such trivial methods.

    Anyway.

    “Send me whatever comes up right away. I don’t mind if there’s a lot of material.”

    —’How should I report this?’

    “I’ll handle that after I check it. Just keep a record for now. Just a record.”

    I left Jake to search for the information and immediately prepared for the next step.

    As a woman with children, she couldn’t run far even if she wanted to. Whether the Ashtistan government captured her or not, there were many ways to find her, and I had countless methods to catch the woman and the two girls.

    The issue was the reason.

    Why did the High Priestess arrange for me to meet that woman? Why did the woman come to the Ashtistan Republic?

    And most crucially,

    How did the High Priestess know that the woman would appear at Timarshakh Park, specifically at 1 PM?

    “Tsk…”

    The two clues the High Priestess had given me earlier: there was a connection between the corporation based in a tax haven and the rebel group I encountered on the train.

    The Law Enforcement Corps.

    Though I lacked concrete evidence, judging from the High Priestess’s behavior and statements so far, especially her desire to deal with Commander Dariush, it was highly likely that the two clues were related to the Law Enforcement Corps.

    The same might be true for the woman I encountered today.

    She could be someone connected to the Law Enforcement Corps, or perhaps directly related to Commander Dariush himself.

    “…Let’s see.”

    I returned to the hotel, humming and trailing off.

    Regardless of anything else, securing her person was the key, so I needed to find her before the Ashtistan people did.

    “Where has she gone now? I told her to come, but she’s nowhere to be seen.”

    I looked around for Camilla, who was nowhere to be found.

    To both scold the impertinent girl and get her help.

    —Ding~

    “Hey! Boss! When someone borrows money, they should pay it back on time. You’ve gone so far as to gut your phone’s circuit board, why do you keep ignoring my calls, hmm…?”

    Just as I was about to cause a commotion loud enough to echo through the corridor after taking a deep breath—

    As soon as the elevator doors opened, I made eye contact with some men with dark beards.

    “……”

    “……”

    “……”

    What the…

    *

    The residence specially arranged by the Kiyen Empire’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Grand Duchess. The Imperial hotel in Shizya had a total of three floors completely emptied, including the floors above and below the suite where the Grand Duchess was staying.

    Setting aside her status as an Archmage, Alexandra Petrovna was of imperial blood. Not just a branch of the Smirnov Imperial Family, but a direct line—she was Emperor Nicholas VI’s aunt, so naturally there were many security and protocol concerns.

    Moreover, there had been the wiretapping incident by the Ashtistan Security Committee yesterday.

    The floor where the Grand Duchess was staying was a private space that neither hotel staff nor Kiyen Embassy personnel could freely enter.

    The middle-aged Ashtistan man was someone I encountered right there.

    “I apologize for the sudden visit. You must have been startled?”

    The man who came down to the first-floor lobby offered a gentle smile along with his name tag.

    “I’m from the Public Safety Bureau. In Abbas’s bureaucratic system, you might call us the police.”

    I nodded gently.

    “I see. What brings you here?”

    “I’ve come to investigate the commotion that occurred here last night.”

    The middle-aged Ashtistan local began with a weary expression.

    “I heard our security officials were discourteous. Let me express my sincere apologies on their behalf.”

    “……”

    “Still, business is business… I won’t need to keep you unnecessarily long, but I would appreciate if you could spare a moment to provide testimony.”

    The middle-aged man requested my understanding in a very courteous yet firm tone.

    The composure evident in his voice and gentle smile enhanced both his courtesy and firmness, while simultaneously creating an impression that he was not entirely harmless.

    However, the man who introduced himself as a police officer was wearing a suit rather than a uniform, and his wallet contained a business card instead of an ID.

    Additionally, the fact that he was speaking fluent Abbasian rather than Kiyen, the first foreign language of Ashtistan.

    I couldn’t simply accept this man’s goodwill.

    “If it’s necessary, I should certainly help.”

    “You’re indeed accommodating.”

    The middle-aged police officer accepted my response with a quiet laugh.

    Shadows fell over the teacups in a secluded corner of the lobby. I took a sip of coffee.

    The man put down his teacup and joked.

    “By the way, were you on your way out? There was no response when I knocked.”

    “I was just returning from a short walk.”

    “I didn’t see the hero or the Grand Duchess. I need their testimony as well… Did they go for a walk too?”

    At this point, I realized he was investigating the whereabouts of the Grand Duchess and Camilla.

    Did he come while they were away because he couldn’t approach a foreign royal and my disciple freely? Or did he really visit to hear testimony?

    I stroked my chin and shrugged as if I didn’t know.

    “I haven’t been specifically informed about Camilla and Her Highness Alexandra Petrovna’s schedule, but that’s probably the case.”

    Of course, that’s a lie.

    While I might not know Camilla’s location, I do know that the Grand Duchess is currently at the Kiyen Embassy. Camilla is absent because she left after receiving my call, so I’m not completely ignorant of their schedules and whereabouts.

    I took a sip of coffee and pondered deeply.

    “……”

    I had anticipated that the Ashtistan intelligence agency would resume activities again soon.

    However, the timing was much faster than expected.

    Honestly, I thought they would lie low for at least a few days. I didn’t expect them to move this quickly.

    Perhaps the man before me really is just from the police, unrelated to intelligence agencies. But even considering that, there were many suspicious aspects.

    What investigative or law enforcement agency in the world would come directly to collect testimony? Inquiries are typically done during the preliminary investigation stage. In this case, where those involved were purged by the High Priestess’s authority, the proper procedure would be to skip the preliminary investigation and move directly to a formal investigation.

    Moreover, these police officers who claimed to be making official inquiries were wandering around the hotel’s restricted access area without even seeking permission from the Kiyen Empire’s embassy.

    Acting as if goodwill were a right—isn’t that clearly suspicious?

    “Hmm… I see.”

    The middle-aged man nodded with an expression that was neither clear understanding nor confusion.

    Then he naturally brought his interlocked hands to his mouth.

    “I heard the Security Committee wiretapped the rooms. It happens occasionally. Given that you came from an enemy country, the Security Committee probably deemed surveillance necessary.

    He spread his hands and asked me:

    “What do you think?”

    “Honestly, I’m not particularly pleased, but well, it’s not something I can’t understand.”

    “Even though your every move might have been under surveillance?”

    As if that’s a one-day affair.

    I jokingly replied:

    “As long as they didn’t peek into the bathroom, right?”

    It was a joke implying that surely they wouldn’t spy on a man washing up and using the toilet. Though in reality, listening devices were found even in the cabinet by my bathroom sink. Anyway.

    The middle-aged man nodded, laughing emptily as if he found it quite amusing that Ashtistan’s notorious security officials would monitor a foreigner’s bathroom visits.

    “That would indeed have been quite embarrassing.”

    The police officer leaned back comfortably in his chair.

    With his hands neatly folded on the armrest, he tapped the wood and spoke.

    “The Grand Duchess was the first to discover the listening devices, correct?”

    “Yes. I believe it was a bug found in Camilla’s clothes.”

    “Ah, so the hero was also wiretapped, I see.”

    The middle-aged Ashtistan local nodded repeatedly.

    “By the way, I’m curious about something. May I ask you one question?”

    “Go ahead.”

    “What do you think was the reason the Security Committee decided to wiretap you and the hero?”


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