Ch.558Side Episode – Another Peaceful Day in Ashtistan

# One Week Ago

In the dark shadows, the capital of the Kiyen Empire, Petrograd, shines brightly.

Inside a soundproofed security conference room, chairs arranged in long rows on both sides are partially empty, with cigarette smoke rising from the occupied seats.

And the person sitting at the head of the table.

The Director of the 1st Department of the Imperial Guard, Ilya Nikolayevich Kutuzov, addresses me with a dry voice.

‘Congratulations on your promotion to section chief in this latest personnel appointment.’

As his calm eyes scan through the documents, Director Ilya Nikolayevich begins to speak in a composed voice.

‘The Imperial family and the Guard highly value your contribution in protecting our military’s core tactical communication system from the Far Eastern intelligence department that sought to undermine the Empire. If you hadn’t discovered the communication vulnerability between the main node and auxiliary node, all major communication centers, including front and rear command posts, would have been completely compromised.’

‘The Prime Minister has ordered a comprehensive investigation into recent incidents and accidents in the military. This is to restore discipline that has been disrupted by the military’s lax command, and furthermore, to establish a starting point for devising rapid detection and countermeasures against attacks that could occur from both inside and outside our military’s communication and command systems.’

‘After discussion, the Imperial Palace and the Cabinet wish to specially appoint you as the section chief of the investigation department. As you demonstrated outstanding merit in the previous investigation, they hope you will restore discipline in the disorderly military.’

‘…However, I would personally like to suggest a different option.’

Click, the capped fountain pen is neatly placed in front of the head seat. Wisps of grayish smoke rise between the sparsely occupied chairs, followed by a faint sigh.

‘Section Chief Yekaterina Andreyevna.’

The Director, lifting his gaze from the documents, interlocks his fingers and suddenly raises his head.

‘Bring just one person from Shizya.’

# Side Episode – Another Peaceful Day in Ashtistan

If you exit from Gate 4 of Pazheski Station and walk straight ahead, you’ll encounter a square stretching east to west.

A palace exuding a majestic atmosphere, symbolizing imperial authority. In front of it stands the square Lobnoye, a perfect square guarding the palace.

Lobnoye Square, one of Petrograd’s landmarks, is a symbol of the thousand-year-old Kiyen Empire and a place where brilliant arts and culture thrive.

Travelers wandering aimlessly through the square, enchanted by its beauty, are often captivated by the melodies of artists and troubadours.

Simple yet soul-stirring melodies, narratives infused with joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure are tools that tune the machinery of the soul. Anyone who sets foot in this square easily understands why cultural artists are called ‘soul mechanics.’

However, if one strays just a little, just a tiny bit from Lobnoye Square.

Hearts once elevated by emotion would grow cold.

The moment one reaches the street where a jade statue stands tall, the world instantly divides into roads and small squares, creating a dichotomous atmosphere.

A department store attracting attention with various children’s products and dazzling lights for innocent children.

And across from it, an eight-story government building boasting a faded golden exterior.

This ordinary building might be dismissed as just another common structure by foreigners unaware of its true nature. But with a little effort to focus, peculiar details begin to catch the eye.

No sign can be found above what appears to be the main entrance.

Other entrances on all sides are firmly secured with double locks, and all windows have their curtains and blinds drawn.

The outer fence, armed with protruding bars, surrounds the entire property, and even if one approaches, dense shrubbery blocks the view, making it impossible to see into the courtyard.

Walking along the fence of this seemingly heavy and oppressive building, one would eventually discover an entrance at the right corner.

A narrow door barely wide enough for one person to enter.

This is the entrance prepared for outsiders who have business here.

Occasionally, tourists flowing in from Lobnoye Square would question this ‘building of unknown purpose.’

The curious ones would stop passing citizens and ask, “What is this place?” But even an old man who had lived on Dzerzhinsky Street for 60 years would firmly shake his head saying, “I don’t know,” without giving a clear answer.

Not knowing was normal.

More precisely, one shouldn’t know.

In Petrograd, there were many truths that didn’t need to be known and stories that shouldn’t be spoken aloud.

It was too well-known in the Empire that those who violated this trivial yet important rule all ended up entering that ‘narrow entrance.’ Just as well-known as the fact that some of them never returned to their families and friends.

Of course, no one in the Empire carelessly spoke about this fact.

Especially not in the middle of Dzerzhinsky Square, where watchful eyes lurked everywhere.

Therefore, only a few very brave subjects and those who had nothing to fear could openly speak about this government building of unknown purpose.

Its identity was the sword and shield protecting the Smirnov royal family.

The Imperial Guard.

*

If there’s a cardinal principle that intelligence agencies embrace as their destiny, it’s that “the end justifies the means.”

As revealed by a London intelligence officer who crossed the Iron Curtain, the right result justified everything. Even if that result stemmed from an improper process.

The Imperial Guard was a group that strictly adhered to this principle.

Whether illegal or unethical, it didn’t matter. As long as it met the performance and standards required from above, administrators didn’t hold staff accountable for anything.

The imperial judicial system also played along with the Guard’s sophistry. So did the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Even incorruptible officials with strong convictions had to accommodate them because, in the face of the justification of protecting the imperial family, they had no choice.

Therefore, for Imperial Guard employees, fear was directed solely inward.

Especially toward superiors in higher positions.

When summoned to the 6th floor conference room, tension preceded curiosity for this very reason. Generally, a meeting arranged by a director-level administrator calling a low-ranking employee meant either imposing heavy responsibility or commending achievements.

But there were also employees for whom curiosity preceded tension. People who had achieved such outstanding merits that they had nothing to fear.

Yekaterina Andreyevna was one such person.

“……”

The 6th floor conference room she visited after being summoned by the 1st Department Director.

While high-ranking superiors occupied sparsely filled seats, Yekaterina stood firmly on her two feet in front of them and opened her mouth.

“Are you saying I should rescue someone from Shizya?”

Ilya Nikolayevich Kutuzov, the 1st Department Director of the Imperial Guard overseeing counterintelligence, investigation, and security, nodded gently like an elderly doctor.

“Who should I bring back?”

“An informant.”

Director Ilya Nikolayevich added cautiously.

“A foreigner who was cooperating with the Counter-Espionage Department.”

Our embedded pipe.

The Director muttered this and then shifted his gaze to the side. An administrator sitting to the left of the head seat gently pushed a clipboard on the table toward the edge.

“This is the full text. Sit down and read it first.”

The document, sliding smoothly like a puck on ice, stopped right in front of Yekaterina. She carefully picked up the clipboard and silently read through the contents.

The edge of the paper lifted as it was pressed by her fingernail. Tap tap, the sound of someone tapping cigarette ash followed.

The administrator began to speak in an indifferent tone.

“This is a report that came up from Counter-Espionage Section 1 the day before yesterday. It reported that a contact who had infiltrated Abbas was arrested.”

As she continued turning the pages, background knowledge about the Counter-Espionage Department played like a panorama in her mind.

The Counter-Espionage Department, with its 20 subordinate divisions, is responsible for the Imperial Guard’s overseas counterintelligence.

There are sections that operate by continent and region, and others that exclusively handle religious organizations like churches or Al-Yabd. Among them, Section 1, which specializes in the Kingdom of Abbas, is considered a core department within Counter-Espionage.

As can be inferred from the term overseas counterintelligence, the main task of the Counter-Espionage Department is to deal with foreign intelligence agencies. They handle deception and counter-intelligence, track spies who have returned to their home countries after operating in the Empire, follow informants who make contact in third countries, and struggle against intelligence departments that approach embassy staff, delegations, or students.

These were the basic duties of the Counter-Espionage Department.

And recruiting foreign intelligence agency members to convert them into double agents was also part of the work overseen by the Counter-Espionage Department.

“By contact, you mean?”

“A middleman. Someone who connects double agents abroad with our administrators.”

“And such a person was arrested.”

The head of the Counter-Espionage Department glanced at the seat on the right. An administrator who moistened his parched lips with a teacup gently summarized the circumstances discovered by the Counter-Espionage Department’s subordinates.

“The contact’s identity was exposed purely due to his own fault. He inadequately handled wiretapping, allowing the Abbas intelligence department, which monitors subversive communications, to notice.”

From just the Counter-Espionage Department head and the report, Yekaterina sensed the mistake the contact had made.

In a situation where he couldn’t use encryption systems, the contact countered wiretapping by coordinating places and times. Public transportation that moves constantly, private cars traveling between exits and downtown, public phones in crowded streets, and so on.

He probably made brief calls at scheduled times from locations that were difficult to trace.

But the contact carelessly continued communication and was eventually arrested. He clearly had either an unfounded confidence that he would never be caught or had forgotten the rules due to complacency.

It was impossible not to know.

She had seen it all too often as an investigator who had directly arrested collaborators of foreign intelligence agencies, and they had paid the price here.

“Who is the collaborator?”

Yekaterina asked. An administrator from the analysis room sitting in the middle answered in a tired tone.

“Siegmund. His name is Siegmund. We call him ‘Domovoy.'”

“The spirit from mythology. The spirit that watches over whether a household is running properly.”

“A fitting nickname for a double agent. We’ve actually benefited a lot from him.”

The analysis room administrator opened a thick file with a brown cover.

After moistening his fingertip with water and flipping through the pages, he recounted past history.

“Siegmund is the chief of the Abbas Royal Intelligence Department. Born 46 years ago in an immigrant family in the south, he now holds a position overseeing Abbas intelligence’s overseas counter-intelligence operations. His area of responsibility is the East Moritania continent. He directed counter-intelligence operations against our company there.”

“East Moritania…”

The investigator nodded as if she understood.

“That’s where the Republic of Ashtistan is located.”

“That’s right. The Republic of Ashtistan is right there.”

The administrator, who had agreed with Yekaterina’s murmur, continued explaining about the collaborator.

Siegmund was one of many low-ranking intelligence officers in the Royal Intelligence Department about 20 years ago.

In an era when monarchy still existed, his first officially confirmed career was being dispatched to Shizya as a civilian company representative of the Abbas government to begin intelligence activities.

“Siegmund, who was in charge of operations against the Empire in Shizya, found himself in danger. His informants embedded in trade were exposed to us. Although Counter-Espionage Department staff responsible for the area at the time tried to arrest the Royal Intelligence Department’s pawns, Siegmund discarded his entire information network and fled. He reappeared two years later.”

The intelligence officer who had disappeared from Shizya reappeared there.

Ashtistan, where a revolution had erupted, had shed its monarchy label and transformed into a republic, and the pro-Abbas stance had somehow changed to an anti-Abbas stance.

The intelligence officer who had once attacked the Kiyen Empire alongside a friendly nation now began attacking both Ashtistan, which had turned into an enemy state, and the Kiyen Empire.

The nascent Ashtistan intelligence department was manipulated by him, and Kiyen Empire intelligence officers dispatched to Shizya to help their blood allies were also eliminated one by one by Siegmund’s hand.

“At that time, Siegmund obtained intelligence about our military’s technical information assets.”

An administrator sitting at the far end of the conference room suddenly joined the conversation.

The very tired-looking administrator paused briefly, as if reminiscing about past memories. Then, taking out a cigarette, he began to murmur softly.

“All the listening posts we had set up throughout the Moritania continent were exposed. Later investigation revealed that Siegmund’s acquaintances who had worked in the Ashtistan intelligence department during the monarchy remained in the republic’s intelligence agency. Unfortunately, our Defense Ministry intelligence officer, who was dispatched as a liaison, leaked information about the listening bases to those acquaintances.”

There was no need to inquire about what happened to those so-called acquaintances. The answer was obvious without asking.

What Yekaterina was curious about was something else.

“So he was the spy who shattered our intelligence network. I didn’t know because rumors of his death were rampant. But… why did such an intelligence officer defect to our side?”

The Counter-Espionage Department administrator chuckled.

“What else? Money, of course.”

“……”

After the collapse of the Kiyen Empire military intelligence agency’s listening bases in the Moritania region, a letter arrived at the lodgings of Imperial Guard executives who had come to Ashtistan for an investigation.

One letter with three names written on it, and a bank account number opened in a country known as a tax haven. The brief message read, ‘If you want more names, transfer 6 million shillings.’

Normally, they would have just taken the information and forgotten about the account. But at that moment, even the Imperial Guard staff couldn’t tear up the letter.

The three individuals mentioned in the letter were government officials recruited by the Kiyen Empire in East Moritania. And they were high-ranking officials from a potential enemy state that had friendly relations with an enemy state.

This was a red flag indicating that the golden tower the Imperial Guard had built over years could collapse. It was also a hint that the letter sender was an employee of an enemy intelligence agency.

After receiving the report, the Imperial Guard held internal discussions and then transferred 6 million shillings to the account. Shortly after, a fax arrived at the Empire’s embassy in Shizya.

The second list contained the names of other people. Figures from the host country who were acquainted with the high-ranking officials whose identities had been exposed. It didn’t take long to determine that they were the eyes and ears of the enemy intelligence agency.

After disposing of both the exposed informants and the enemy’s informants, the Imperial Guard immediately attempted to contact the letter’s author.

It was clearly a signal thrown by a defector.

And the moment they first made contact with the letter sender.

Even after decades, that moment still lingered in the administrator’s mind.

“Siegmund. It was him.”

“……”

“The spy who had troubled us the most appeared in Timarshak Park. Just like someone out for a casual stroll.”

It was at that very place that Siegmund approached the Imperial Guard with his intention to defect. The intelligence officer from an enemy state, who had been at his peak after making the entire Empire suffer, boldly extended his hand.

The administrator carefully recalled the intelligence officer he had met in the park that day.

“He suggested we take a walk. Said there were too many eyes at the embassy and suggested we look around the park. At first, I thought it might be a trap.”

The hesitation was great, but the deliberation was brief.

And the fruit was sweeter than any other fruit could be.

A civil servant from 9 Estarang Street in Shizya was found with his throat slit in his home. He was an official working at the Ministry of Agriculture in Ashtistan.

Two customs officials managing warehouses at Jasim Port were found dead with their heads smashed by blunt objects. Later police investigations revealed that the two had accepted bribes of unknown origin.

A member of a delegation on a business trip to the Principality of Latuan was shot dead. Someone fired a submachine gun as he was leaving a theater, and on the same day, a colleague of the delegation who was trying to cross into the Kingdom of Abbas through the southern border died in a traffic accident.

For decades, the Imperial Guard had effectively eliminated assets of enemy intelligence agencies.

Fatalia, the Rushan Federation, Abbas…

Each time they were eliminated, money was transferred to the account, and letters accumulated at the embassy.

Throughout this process, Siegmund never aroused any suspicion. Even when the Royal Intelligence Department’s inspection room ransacked colleagues’ offices, or when double agents planted by the Military Intelligence Bureau’s counterintelligence department stirred up trouble within the Empire, suspicion always bypassed him.

It wasn’t just because he was lucky. While it’s undeniable that Siegmund was fortunate, he was also a more meticulous man than he appeared.

“He avoided direct meetings that could leave traces and only transmitted information through contacts. When we designated a contact, he would leave files at agreed locations, and the contact would retrieve them and deliver them to us.”

“Did you always use the same person as the contact?”

“No. We replaced them periodically. Using just one person would leave too many traces.”

The Imperial Guard spared no expense for Siegmund. From the money he used to the contacts.

Replacing people like water was basic, and everything else was no different.

To protect his identity, the Guard controlled contacts so they wouldn’t know Siegmund’s identity, and Siegmund didn’t arrest Imperial Guard intelligence officers to conceal his activities.

While the fabricated reports created by Siegmund, who was in charge of counter-intelligence duties, exposed overseas operations led by the Royal Intelligence Department, they concealed operations conducted by the Imperial Guard beneath the surface.

The Imperial Guard had to strain every nerve to hide the grateful Siegmund.

Sometimes they even provided information that Abbas intelligence agencies wanted to know, and sometimes they even created imaginary double agents to deceive eyes and ears.

This honeymoon relationship continued for a full 16 years.

But now that relationship was showing signs of ending.

“What an embarrassment because of one contact. Damn…”

“The longer the tail, the easier it is to catch.”

“Quiet.”

As the administrators each took a cigarette and laughed dejectedly, the Director at the head seat raised his hand to stop the conversation.

It had been a long introduction.

Now it was time for the main point.

“Domovoy is a very important figure. The reason we’ve been able to stay one step ahead of Abbas intelligence for the past 16 years is not because Abbas intelligence officers are stupid, but because Domovoy sits above them.”

Although Abbas intelligence agencies and Kiyen intelligence agencies frequently inflicted fatal wounds on each other, they never managed to deliver the final blow.

Even though Siegmund concealed critical information, he was ultimately just one human being. In areas beyond his reach, the Imperial Guard had fiercely competed with the Royal Intelligence Department.

Of course, that’s now a thing of the past.

Siegmund’s achievements will remain legendary along with the Imperial Guard’s glorious past. Just as the name Domovoy can only be heard in mythology.

But there was still a final verse to be added before putting a period to that legend.

“Give it to her.”

At the 1st Department Director’s gesture, the Counter-Espionage Department administrator tore off a memo and handed it to Yekaterina.

“This is the last message Domovoy sent us just before escaping from Abbas.”

[Shizya. One week later. Planning to purchase a gift.]

Yekaterina’s gaze lifted from the memo. With her hands behind her back, she carefully opened her mouth to ask.

“What exactly does ‘planning to purchase a gift’ mean?”

“It means Siegmund has one last piece of information to extract from Abbas.”

The last piece of information.

The Imperial Guard investigator murmured softly, lost in thought.

Generally, a double agent’s escape process is urgent. Usually, a double agent needs to escape when their identity has been exposed, so they have no choice but to flee desperately as the enemy country will immediately give chase once they notice the presence of a mole.

But bringing one last piece of information?

“……”

Yekaterina alternately looked at the Counter-Espionage Department administrator and the Director at the head seat. The Director, who had been silently maintaining his position, stared intently at her eyes, and then sent the administrators out of the conference room with a “Please step outside for a moment.”

As the superiors rose from their seats and left the conference room one by one, and the door, insulated with sound-absorbing materials and rubber, was firmly locked.

Ilya Nikolayevich, who had maintained silence, answered softly.

“What we most want to obtain.”

“……”

“You’ll probably understand when you get there.”

Director Ilya Nikolayevich didn’t ask if she could take responsibility for bringing Siegmund back. The Yekaterina he knew would support this mission, putting everything else aside.

She was someone who could never resist curiosity. That’s why she had left the military uniform, and why he had brought her in.

Therefore, the Director didn’t ask for her opinion.

Instead, he offered advice.

“Section Chief Yekaterina Andreyevna. If Domovoy wants something, grant him whatever it is. I expect it will take some time, so keep that in mind as well.”

“……”

“If someone has tracked Domovoy, remember that you have the authority and duty to use all assets to ensure Domovoy’s safety.”

“……”

“And also that our top priority is to secure Domovoy.”

The Director asked.

“Do you understand my meaning?”

*

Her eyes opened to the soft feel of the bed.

Yekaterina, who had been lying on her side, sat on the edge of the bed and tidied her disheveled hair.

“…Any contact?”

Her colleague, who had been on standby for communication, answered.

“The intelligence officers have arrived at the nearby border. Some places haven’t finished their operations yet, so they can’t get out, but two teams are on standby.”

While munching on oatmeal soaked in milk from a bowl that still retained warmth, she continued.

“But will it be okay? Even though they’re allies, if armed conflict breaks out within Ashtistan, the people here won’t just stand by.”

“…They have to stand by. If they want to continue exporting magic stones to us next year.”

“What a warm alliance relationship.”

“What about Domovoy?”

“He’s cleaning up his original lodging and moving to another place. He says he’ll go to an Empire-affiliated hotel. He wants to check on his family’s news first before starting.”

“……”

Yekaterina brushed up her bangs and approached the window.

A gloomy, ash-gray sky full of clouds.

It looked like it could rain at any moment.

*

“How do you plan to catch the double agent bastard?”

Frederick asked Matt while lighting a cigarette.

“We need to use bait.”

“Bait?”

“The mother and daughter your colleague was chasing so diligently. They’re the bait.”

Matt walked to the terminal stored in the hardeck and returned with several sheets of paper.

“This is the data you asked Jake for.”

“Where did that come from? No, more importantly, are you confessing that you’ve been eavesdropping on me?”

“I wouldn’t call it surveillance. I had it prepared from the beginning. If it weren’t for you, I might not have found it.”

“Oh my… What are you talking about, being all sentimental?”

Frederick chuckled and took the documents.

He examined the papers for quite a while. For a very long time.

“……”

Taking his eyes off the documents, Frederick organized the papers and, returning them to Matt, asked.

“Siegmund. Is that the man who’s targeting me?”

“That’s right.”

“And the mother and daughter we caught are his family?”

“They’re also the women who ran away when you shot at the ground.”

“……”

Suddenly, a small laugh was heard.

Matt glanced at Frederick, who was snickering.

“What’s so funny? Is it absurd to take family hostage and threaten someone?”

“No. Have we ever whined about getting dirty while working?”

“So?”

“Just. This thought suddenly occurred to me.”

It’s not like he’s a walking corpse with a death date. What disease has struck this old man in his twilight years to prepare such a surprise event?

Did he suddenly want to destroy the country he built with his own hands?

Frederick muttered absently toward the Azadi Palace visible through the glass window.

By the way, in Persian, Azadi means peace.

“He sure loves peace.”

# Side Episode – Another Peaceful Day in Ashtistan – END –