Chapter Index





    As I was about to retrieve my social security card from the guard post to head to the train station, a sudden commotion erupted at the main gate.

    There were several black sedans with dark tinted windows clustered together.

    A man in a suit was leaning out of an open window shouting, while other suited men milled around nearby. Military Intelligence soldiers and officers in navy blue uniforms stood guard at the post.

    The man half-leaning out of the car pointed angrily at the guard commander.

    “What are you doing? Hey! Open the gate!”

    “I’m sorry, sir. Currently, no outsiders are allowed inside the building.”

    “What? What nonsense is that! Do you know who I am?! Check the vehicle registration!”

    “I’m sorry. We have orders not to let anyone in.”

    “Ah, you stubborn bastard!”

    The suited man and the soldier argued back and forth. The man in the suit screamed to open the gate, while the soldier with his rifle slung over his shoulder waved his hands in refusal, insisting it was absolutely not allowed.

    I asked Pippin and Jake.

    “Hey guys, who are those people?”

    “I don’t know.”

    “Government officials, maybe? Those definitely look like official vehicles.”

    We looked at each other with puzzled expressions, tilting our heads in confusion.

    Government officials wouldn’t come to Military Intelligence headquarters and make a scene. Military Intelligence is strictly a security agency, and therefore rigorously controls access to outsiders for security reasons. It would be impossible for mere civil servants to illegally park in front of Intelligence headquarters and shout demands. Besides, if they were here on official business, there would be no reason to block them.

    Could they be politicians? No, that’s not it either. Politicians are busy people. Unless it was a group of Intelligence Committee members visiting for a parliamentary inspection. Besides, it wasn’t inspection season, so there was no reason for politicians to visit.

    So who on earth was causing this commotion?

    The answer came from the suited man’s mouth.

    “Hey! We’re from the Royal Intelligence Agency, so open the gate!”

    So they were Royal Intelligence Agency employees. I snickered and muttered.

    “Ah, what? It’s them again?”

    “If it’s Royal Intelligence, that makes sense.”

    It seemed like employees from our competitor agency were being blocked at the entrance. Once again, they appeared to be making a scene, demanding entry without proper documentation or agreement.

    Since this was a common occurrence, I didn’t think much of it and tried to quietly go on my way.

    The problem was,

    “I’m sorry, but please turn back.”

    “Hey! Block it!”

    “Huh?”

    -Vrooom!

    “What? Hey, everyone get back!”

    The Royal Intelligence employee must have had a nasty temper because he blocked the main gate with his vehicle.

    Not content with just parking in front of the gate, he ordered his staff to ensure that no one could enter or leave the building, creating a complete mess.

    As a result, we were stopped by Royal Intelligence employees just as we were about to exit through the main gate, unable to reach the train station.

    We were trapped.

    Episode 4 – Why Are You Picking On Me?

    Thanks to one madman, the Military Intelligence building was sealed off. Both the main gate and the back gate were blocked.

    “Section Chief, is the main gate really blocked?”

    “What are you talking about? Are you lying because you don’t want to run errands?”

    “No, sir.”

    “Then go through the back gate.”

    “The back gate is blocked too? They say Royal Intelligence has blocked it.”

    The entire Military Intelligence agency fell into chaos.

    “Team Leader! Find out where our field agents are.”

    “Hey, it’s me. There seems to be a situation at headquarters, so come back a bit later.”

    “Director, we’re out of copy paper. We were supposed to get supplies today, but the road is blocked…”

    The return of staff who were out on field assignments became uncertain, and employees who had stepped out briefly to retrieve items couldn’t get back in. But that wasn’t the only problem.

    “What do you mean the main gate is blocked? It’s not April Fool’s Day.”

    “Sir, I need to pick up my child. When can we leave?”

    “I have a medical appointment at church today. Why can’t I leave? Huh?”

    It was now quitting time. Officers who needed to return home, non-commissioned officers who had to pick up their children, and civilian employees with medical appointments were all trapped in the building.

    This was because the main and back gates connecting to the outside were blocked. And the ones blocking them were our competitors’ employees.

    In this neighborhood, competitors causing trouble was as common an event as wild boars rummaging through garbage, so at first, no one took it seriously. But after 10 minutes, then 30 minutes, then an hour passed, everyone began to realize something was wrong.

    Eventually, employees gathered at the main gate to protest against the competitors.

    “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

    “Move your car, now.”

    “Let us go home, please. You’re always making a scene at our gate. If you have something to say, send an official document first.”

    But the competitors didn’t budge. The suited men from Royal Intelligence got out of their vehicles and looked around but took no particular action. As there was no sign of the blockade being lifted, tempers flared and the atmosphere grew hostile.

    I watched the whole scene through the main building’s glass windows. But unlike the other employees, I didn’t go outside to protest. I was too busy making phone calls.

    “Operations Officer? It’s me. There’s a situation in front of headquarters, so it might be difficult for you to come in. What? A terrorist attack? No, it’s not that…”

    “Hello, Team Leader. Have you arrived yet? Oh, you have? I’ll send you the address by text, so please rest at the hotel today. I’ve directed the others there too… You’re asking if the hotel is our operations base? No, it’s just that the building is currently sealed off…”

    There was no time to explain the situation. I apologized to the people I was supposed to meet at the train station and directed them to the hotel. Then I called the police officer in charge of hotel security, the hotel manager, and Bernard, the director of the Heresy Inquisition Office who was handling internal security, asking them to accommodate our people.

    Of course, I wasn’t the only one making frantic calls.

    “Where are you now? Uh-huh. At the lodging. And the others? Right. Got it. So you’re not at headquarters?”

    “Switchboard here. May I ask your current location? Oh, you’re out on field duty? I understand. You don’t need to return to headquarters today. There’s a situation here… We’ll reschedule and contact you later.”

    Pippin and Jake were also on their phones, just like me. From what I gathered, it seemed that besides us, no other staff involved in the operation were trapped. That was at least some good news.

    After that, I continued checking on others.

    “Veronica.”

    -“Yes~”

    “Is everything alright? Any new information or anything like that?”

    -“Nothing yet. The Empire’s in hot water, but for now the rumors are only circulating among the higher-ups. It’s not a major crisis yet. Except for intelligence agencies.”

    “How is it there?”

    -“Ugh… don’t even ask. Imperial Guard Bureaus 1 and 2 are blaming each other, and the Foreign Ministry wants economic sanctions against the Magic Tower. The doves say we can’t fight on two fronts so we should negotiate, while the hawks are saying to drop the defeatist nonsense and intervene immediately. It’s absolute chaos.”

    “You should probably lay low for a while. The atmosphere here isn’t good either.”

    It sounded like the Empire’s hardliners and moderates were at a standoff. The Imperial Guard seemed to be caught in internal fighting again. I wonder what the Emperor was doing.

    After warning Veronica to be careful, I immediately contacted the next person. The new Saint Lucia who had finished her official schedule early and was resting, Rebecca, the Heresy Inquisition agent disguised as a nun for the Saint’s close protection, and Clevins, the Military Intelligence counterintelligence chief who had been missing all day.

    Clevins didn’t answer his phone. Neither did his deputy who was filling in. Wondering if he might be in Room 503, I went up to check, but the door wasn’t locked. He must have left in a hurry.

    “…”

    I returned to the office and looked at the main gate through the glass window, but Royal Intelligence employees and Military Intelligence staff were still at a standoff. Just climb over the wall, you frustrating people.

    “Has the main gate opened yet?”

    “No, not yet.”

    “This is driving me crazy.”

    Jake sighed, running his fingers through his blond hair. I sat on the sofa, rubbing my tired eyes, and beckoned Pippin with a gesture.

    “Yes?”

    “Pippin, did you send the documents to the hotel?”

    “I encrypted them and sent them. Fortunately, the operations team had encryption equipment, so I matched it to that.”

    “…Good. Well done. You two go get some rest.”

    “Yes. What will you do, Major?”

    “I need to make more calls. What else can I do?”

    I gestured for them to leave the office. Then I picked up the receiver and asked the hotel staff to connect me to a room.

    “…”

    In the silent office, where not a sound could be heard, the monotonous connection tone continued.

    After a brief wait, the other party answered.

    -“…Hello?”

    “Miss Camilla Rowell, it’s me.”

    I had called Camilla Rowell.

    *

    ‘How was your day?’

    ‘It was good. I woke up in the morning and went for a walk with Lucia around the area, then read some books at the library. Around lunchtime, I met with Lucia and went outside. After practicing some magic, I’m now resting in my room.’

    ‘I’m glad to hear you had an uneventful day. What kind of books did you read?’

    ‘Hmm. Social science? Humanities? If I had to be specific, history and conflict-related books? Yes, that’s what I read.’

    ‘Why read those kinds of books? There are many other good books.’

    ‘Because that’s my major? It’s a field I’m interested in, so it caught my eye.’

    ‘…I see. Nothing else happened? With Lucia, perhaps?’

    ‘Nothing special. Just what I told you.’

    ‘What did you talk about?’

    ‘Stories about her time as a nun, taking care of patients at the church. Just life stories. It was nice, reminded me of old times.’

    ‘You’re not an old person to be talking about “life stories.” Doesn’t that sound too mature for your age?’

    ‘It’s accurate, isn’t it? Oh, right. We also talked about you, Major.’

    ‘…About me?’

    ‘Just what you’ve been up to lately. What kind of work you do. What your hobbies are. That sort of thing.’

    ‘…I don’t think it would have been a very interesting conversation, Miss Camilla Rowell.’

    ‘No, not at all. Oh, by the way, Major.’

    ‘Yes?’

    ‘Just call me Camilla. Using my last name makes it too long. It creates distance too.’

    ‘…I will do that.’

    ‘Then can I call you Frederick?’

    ‘…Yes. Whatever makes you comfortable.’

    ‘Really? Okay. Don’t change your mind later?’

    ‘…’

    ‘…Um, Frederick.’

    ‘Yes.’

    ‘When can we meet?’

    ‘…We should be able to meet soon.’

    *

    I finished my brief call with Camilla Rowell. Since she had no official schedule today, it seemed she had spent an uneventful day.

    Notable points were that she sought out books related to her major, and that she had less physical and psychological distance from Lucia than others.

    Now she was asking me to call her by her first name instead of her last, which probably meant she felt some closeness to me or wanted to form a more personal relationship. That was a good sign.

    I wrote down all the information I gathered from our conversation in my report. It was a habit. An occupational hazard, if you will.

    After creating a brief report, I called in Pippin and Jake to review the overall aspects of the operation again. I wanted to handle things more thoroughly, and since there still seemed to be some inadequacies, we took the opportunity to refine our work.

    In truth, we had nothing else to do since those Royal Intelligence bastards still hadn’t moved their cars.

    Just as I was about to lie down on the duty room sofa with a blanket after finishing a phone conference with the team leaders at the hotel…

    -Knock knock.

    Someone knocked on the duty room door. Pippin? Or Jake? Since I was the only one in the duty room, they must be looking for me.

    “Pippin? Jake?”

    There was no answer.

    I pushed aside the blanket and approached the door.

    Carefully turning the handle, I peered outside through the crack.

    “…”

    Some unfamiliar men in suits were standing in front of the duty room.

    “…Who are you?”

    In response to my question, one of the suited men took something out from inside his jacket.

    And held it out to me.

    It was a business card.

    “Mr. Frederick Nostrim. We’re from the Royal Intelligence Agency.”

    “…”

    “We need you to come with us.”


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