Ch.650Episode 23 – The Spy Who Returned from the Cold Country (完)

The wind blows.

A fierce wind, comparable to a typhoon, whips through her hair, and her clothes flap mercilessly as if keeping pace with the surging flow of magical energy.

Yet Camilla, perched on the rooftop railing, shows not the slightest hint of tension or anxiety.

“…Is the professor safe?”

-‘He’s alive, at least.’

“That’s good enough.”

The command facility, converted from a resort, looks no different from an ordinary commercial building from the outside. However, the figures occasionally glimpsed through windows are clearly naval infantry soldiers, and the structures hidden behind landscaping are unmistakably military communication antennas.

The rebels seem unaware of anything unusual, busily moving about without once looking up. Camilla watches the scene below intently, then briefly presses the call end button before standing firmly on the railing with a hardened expression.

Her usual smile is nowhere to be seen.

There is only the straight line of her tightly closed lips, her taut jawline, and eyes that reflect an unwavering determination to keep her target firmly in sight.

With a resolute expression, Camilla calmly reaches into the empty air.

And then—

“…Folgor.”

Fire descends to the ground with lightning.

Episode 23 – The Spy Who Returned from the Cold Country

When she opened her eyes, everything was pitch black.

An unfamiliar space, location unknown. She rolled her eyes toward a faint sliver of light.

Her body felt powerless. Her limbs hung limply like a puppet with cut strings, and her chest pounded fiercely like a warhorse galloping across a plain. The headache and dizziness were so painful she could barely gather her thoughts.

As her vision gradually brightened, she finally noticed the wall right in front of her face.

“…Ah.”

A small sigh escaped Yelizaveta’s lips as she finally regained her senses. Now she could see that what was in front of her wasn’t a wall but a ceiling—a ceiling that had collapsed on one side, stopping just short of crushing a person.

Why had the ceiling come down like this? She tried to recall, but nothing came to mind. Her head felt completely empty.

After lying still like a corpse for a moment to steady her breathing, Yelizaveta suddenly lifted her head and returned to reality.

“…Lightning. Yes, it was lightning.”

She remembered now.

Her eyes had met with the hero on the opposite rooftop, and before she could call for her guards, purple lightning had surged toward her.

As soon as she recovered her memories that had momentarily been lost due to the shock, Yelizaveta quickly made her way out of the room, avoiding the collapsed ceiling and debris.

Whether climbing over a wall that had crumbled to waist height to connect the corridor and room could be considered an escape was questionable. But there was no time to worry about appearances.

The magic that had brought down the ceiling in one strike.

Even to Yelizaveta, this building seemed like it could collapse at any moment.

If she were to take a direct hit from the hero’s second spell, it would definitely crumble.

-Ratatatatatatata!

-To position!

-Aaaagh-!

As soon as she climbed over the wall, chaos erupted all around. Whether it had been chaotic all along and she hadn’t noticed in her confusion, or whether the battle had begun at just that moment, she couldn’t tell.

Who could be engaging in a firefight with the naval infantry? Had Valery already sent troops here? How did the hero find this place?

In the spinning world around her, Yelizaveta staggered and steadied herself against a wall as she tried to think.

But no matter how much she thought, nothing came to mind, and instead, she belatedly noticed the warm stream flowing down the bridge of her nose.

“…Oh dear.”

She wiped away the blood as if it were merely a nuisance and slowly began to walk down the corridor.

Though she hadn’t yet fully grasped the situation, fortunately, she encountered people who could explain it to her.

“Your Highness, are you alright?!”

“…I am fine. Please explain what is happening.”

“We’re under attack. One person. The hero has attacked this location, and the base defense unit is currently engaged in combat with her.”

A naval infantry officer whom she had seen in passing a few times hurriedly explained the situation.

“The troops stationed at the main gate checkpoint have been wiped out, and most of our communication equipment has been disabled, cutting off contact with the front lines. The enemy has already infiltrated the premises and is engaging our forces. Though the resort building is quite large, since the enemy is a mage, we don’t know when she might reach Your Highness.”

“I find it puzzling. The commander said the security forces were sufficient. Why is the communication equipment disabled?”

“The hero has been firing wide-area lightning magic from high ground… Our forces and equipment were one-sidedly…”

Yelizaveta couldn’t help but clench her teeth.

One person? This disaster was caused by just one person?

She didn’t want to accept it. Her pride wouldn’t allow her to acknowledge that her grand plan had been disrupted by a single mage, but the scene before her was undeniable reality.

“Indeed, it’s just as I’ve heard… She’s a formidable opponent.”

The naval infantry officer bowed his head apologetically, but the princess waved her hand dismissively, saying it wasn’t his fault.

She already knew the hero was powerful. The hero’s feats in the North had long been known worldwide, and the princess was in a position to access various undisclosed information.

She had heard that the hero had dropped a fireball as large as the sun on the head of a giant monster.

She hadn’t doubted the rumors might be exaggerated. The eyes watching the North, the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, had never once submitted a false report to her.

So she had wondered if that power might be of help,

If having the girl with a reputation beyond her young age by her side might be of great political or military assistance.

“If she was such an excellent talent, I should have insisted on bringing her to our side.”

But she had suffered an unexpected setback.

It was regrettable but unavoidable. If the hero had remained an ally, or even a neutral party, they might have maintained a good relationship. But since the hero had decisively become an enemy, there was no time to be choosy about methods.

Wiping away the blood that had caked on her torn forehead, ignoring the throbbing pain, Yelizaveta issued orders in a cold voice.

“Regrettably, we must kill her here. I will take all responsibility, so use every method at your disposal to bring me the hero’s head.”

“Yes, I will follow your orders.”

The communications officer gave instructions over the radio, and the officer directed the surrounding troops to form a protective formation around the princess before asking her a question.

“The commander has instructed us to prepare for evacuation with the vehicle you arrived in, just in case. What would Your Highness like to do?”

“……”

Yelizaveta silently raised her head to look out the window.

A strange light gleamed in her blood-red eyes.

“…Wait. Which direction is the avenue closest to the hero?”

*

Suddenly, she was reminded of the past.

The dazzling action sequences performed by CIA paramilitary operatives with flashy equipment or MI6 agents in tailored suits with PPK pistols.

The gunfights depicted in movies at the Curzon Soho cinema or on OTT platforms she used to watch on her laptop in bed seemed so clean and refined.

That impression was shattered during her second trip to the Middle East.

Syria, where rebels, government forces, Kurdish fighters, and foreign troops were all entangled in combat. The battlefield of Doctors Without Borders, which she had joined on an impulse after being tricked by her older sister.

Syria was literally a hellish region. Sometimes when it appeared in her dreams, she would wake up with her sheets soaked in cold sweat. Particularly, the 11-minute experience of being exposed to crossfire from military units in the middle of an intersection with the medical team felt like 11 hours spent on a battlefield.

What had she been thinking back then, lying flat in a drainage ditch with her sister? She seemed to remember clearly seeing bullets flying overhead.

Ah, yes. It was this.

“I’m really going to die here!”

Camilla let out a shrill scream as she crouched down to avoid bullets violently embedding themselves in the corner and floor.

It was already her umpteenth bitter regret.

Damn John Wick, damn Sicario, damn 007. They all ran around regardless of flying bullets—it was all lies!

“Go in! Keep going!”

“Mages, deploy protective barriers at the front, and the rest provide cover!”

Camilla caught her breath and quickly sent a fireball toward the opposite corridor, then almost prostrated herself as she hid behind cover.

And just a split second later, bullets began to hit—pak, papak—the spot where she had been.

“Eek…!”

Whether it was because she had hastily squeezed out magical power or because she had aimed at the wrong place, the enemy’s attack showed no signs of subsiding.

No, rather, as if they had become even more agitated, the enemies intensified their gunfire.

Amidst the relentless storm of bullets, Camilla suddenly stood up and charged toward the window, launching herself into the void.

The sensation of floating enveloped her entire body for a moment.

-Whoosh~

As her body, transformed into ash, disappeared from view, and the rebels gathered in the corridor hurriedly watched out the window.

A sphere of flame, tracing an arc like a curveball, came around the corner and swelled behind the rebels.

Explosion, flames voraciously devouring objects, agonizing screams.

Having successfully created a diversion by throwing herself into the void, Camilla completed her teleportation to a safe place and was finally able to catch her ragged breath.

“…Huff, huff…!”

Her heart refused to calm down. Whether it was the excitement of battle or the manifestation of fear, she wasn’t sure.

Camilla continued to breathe deeply, hunched forward, and after a while, calmly looked around.

The massive resort, converted into a military facility, was large and magnificent.

The contrast between the command systems installed inside the facility and the cozy interior was quite unnatural, and the traces of gunfire and soot everywhere created an indescribable sense of dissonance with the lavish decorative elements.

And.

The mountain of corpses filling her field of vision and the flames consuming the bodies of the dead were also red.

The shadows reflecting on her blood-spattered face also rippled with a bright red hue.

“……”

As the traces of flame wavered precariously, Camilla, gazing at the battlefield with a subdued look, took out her mobile phone.

“I’ve arrived at the coordinates you provided. There was a battle with the rebels, and there are far more troops gathered here than expected.”

-‘What do you think? Is it definitely the command headquarters?’

“Wouldn’t Frederick know that better than I would? You’re still eavesdropping on the rebels’ radio communications, aren’t you?”

Frederick laughed at her somewhat curt response.

-‘Yes. You found the right place. The rebels’ radio network is on fire.’

“That’s to be expected since the coordinates you gave me were accurate.”

-‘It’s thanks to you. If you hadn’t destroyed their relay and seized their CEOI from the radio, neither I nor the embassy would have known.’

Frederick calmly gave credit where it was due. Thanks to Camilla and Alexandra Petrova destroying the communication relay, he was able to determine the coordinates of Yelizaveta’s location. It was a compliment Camilla was happy to hear.

While frantically destroying communication relays, she had somehow managed to seize a radio used by the naval infantry.

And as a bonus, their self-created CEOI (Communications-Electronics Operating Instructions, a secret document listing code words and communication frequencies).

To be honest, Camilla had no idea what kind of item it was, but considering that Frederick had exclaimed “Jackpot!” with joy when he received the document, it was clearly something important.

In any case.

After receiving the document, Frederick had narrowed down possible locations for the command headquarters based on the rebels’ wireless communications. He mentioned that the Abbas embassy had also provided considerable help.

Of course, she had also gleaned some information by eavesdropping on communications with the seized radio, such as which units were where, but it was Frederick, not herself, who had provided the exact coordinates of the resort where Yelizaveta was hiding.

While remaining vigilant of her surroundings, Camilla couldn’t contain her curiosity.

“How exactly did you figure out that Yelizaveta was here?”

-‘The princess contacted the Grand Duke directly. Using a communication crystal.’

“Ah.”

-‘She seemed quite desperate after the relays kept getting destroyed, but hadn’t you already eliminated most of the relays that could hide the point of origin? When she attempted direct communication from there… tracking the location was child’s play.’

Strictly speaking, she hadn’t eliminated all the relays.

Of course, it might be technically possible to conceal the point of origin even with a few relays.

But Frederick explained that once direct communication was established on a channel that could be tracked, it would be easy to find the transmission point given a little time.

-‘To begin with, Yelizaveta dragged out the conversation too long. If she had just said what she needed to say and hung up quickly, we would have only been able to determine the approximate location of the intermediate node, not the original transmission point.’

“It’s similar to a kidnapper making a brief call to avoid being traced by the police?”

-‘Almost identical. The only slight difference is that the princess’s goal was to track and eliminate the Grand Duke rather than negotiate.’

“Where is the professor now?”

-‘The High Priest brought him to the hospital a little while ago, and he’s resting now. It seems the impact of pushing himself for nearly two weeks, on top of his injuries, took a toll. But he insists there’s no need to worry about him and is being stubborn.’

“The professor is always like that…”

A bitter smile appeared on Camilla’s face. Who did he inherit such stubbornness from?

With a smile that was half relieved and half complicated, Camilla adjusted her phone and continued in a serious voice.

“I’ve taken care of most of the forces inside and outside the resort. But I don’t think I can find Yelizaveta on my own. The resort is quite large.”

-‘It’s the largest resort in Petrograd, so that’s to be expected.’

With 1,000 guest rooms, how could she search them all? Searching the rooms alone would take ages, and if you added all the external facilities like the casino, spa, golf course, and swimming pool, it could take hours.

Plus, it was now dawn.

Even for Camilla, playing hide-and-seek in a massive building with no power or magic was challenging. Frederick seemed to be at a loss for a better solution as well.

-‘I’m also waiting for Yelizaveta to appear on the communication network, so in the meantime, please search as many places as possible. If I catch anything, I’ll let you know immediately.’

“Alright. Then I’ll start searching from the top floors down to the lower floors from the air…”

-Vrrrrrrrm…!

Camilla, who had been speaking clearly, suddenly fell silent.

“…Did you hear that?”

-‘Hear what?’

“Engine sounds!”

Quickly moving to the window and peering out, scanning in all directions, she soon spotted vehicles entering the resort’s driveway far below.

Luxury sedans. Very familiar designs. Thinking about where she had seen them before, she realized they were the same cars she had seen on TV.

The ceremonial vehicles used by the imperial family when heading to the Imperial Diet.

And there was only one member of the imperial family at this resort who could summon those vehicles.

“…Yelizaveta is trying to escape by car—”

-Ratatatatata! Tatang!

“Gyaaaaaaah!!”

While a frantic voice asking “What’s happening?!” came through the phone, a group of men in suits and soldiers who had appeared on the lower floor began firing at Camilla’s position on the upper floor.

After being showered with glass fragments from the shattered window, Camilla crawled along the floor for a moment before reporting the situation on her phone.

“Ceremonial vehicles have stopped at the driveway entrance to the lobby! They’re the same cars Yelizaveta used when going to the Diet, and people who look like bodyguards and rebels are shooting at me right now!”

-‘I’m glad you don’t seem to be injured. Can you see Yelizaveta?!’

Just a moment!

While running down the corridor away from the gunfire, Camilla raised her upper body to quickly check the situation below.

…There she is. A blonde woman boarding a vehicle under the escort of bodyguards, passing through the flames.

Camilla managed to retreat from the window just before being shot. With bullets fiercely embedding behind her, she breathed heavily and brought the phone she had been tightly gripping to her ear.

“A blonde woman! She boarded the rear seat of the second vehicle! I couldn’t see her face, but I think it’s Yelizaveta!”

-‘Are you sure? It wasn’t a body double or something?’

Camilla firmly gripped the connected phone and quickly descended to the lower floor through a window on the opposite side, away from the rebels’ line of sight.

With her red hair flying wildly and her left eye tightly shut, her voice remained remarkably clear as she continued speaking.

“She was being escorted by bodyguards, but hearing what Frederick said, I’m starting to think it might be a decoy!”

There was no longer a safe place for the princess in Petrograd.

Once a location has been discovered, there’s no guarantee it won’t be discovered a second or third time.

Above all, there was no place in Petrograd more secure than this.

There must have been a reason why the rebels chose this place as their headquarters first and brought Yelizaveta here. It was probably because the resort was a facility suitable for defense and concealment.

A vast property, numerous compartments, open spaces advantageous for defense and easy storage of supplies, a concrete-reinforced structure safe even from bombardment, and so on.

If they succeeded in stationing many troops and fortifying it, there would be no safer place. Even if the rebels were pushed back by suppression forces and the headquarters came under attack, they could attempt to hold out.

In Camilla’s view, this place was a perfect fortress.

“If I hadn’t been able to drop ancient magic on them by surprise, I would have been defeated by the rebels here long ago! The defenses are so solid, and if she abandons this place, there’s no way she could find another fortress like it!”

-‘…Considering the situation at the front, it wouldn’t be easy to relocate the naval infantry headquarters either.’

“Exactly! And even if she tries to escape by car, there’s no guarantee I won’t catch up!”

Hadn’t Frederick said it himself?

There had been no radio intercepts indicating where Yelizaveta would be moving. If those vehicles had been prepared for her escape, someone would have announced it over the radio.

The rebels wouldn’t know their entire radio network was being tapped. For operational security, important information like the princess’s escape should have been shared with the units.

So the conclusion was clear.

From what Camilla had seen, Yelizaveta was a person with tremendous pride.

Meaning she disliked yielding to others.

Considering she was willing to risk civil war to eliminate the Crown Prince, she had a gambling spirit as strong as her pride, and she also had the ability to succeed at it.

If I were the princess, what would I do?

Would I tuck my tail and run from an enemy who’s just one person? Or would I kill the intruder, or lure them outside to regroup at the resort?

Though it was only circumstantial evidence, Camilla had a gut feeling.

It was almost instinctive.

“Yelizaveta is definitely still here! I’m certain of it!”

Camilla leaped into the air, kicking off the wall with a thud, and exclaimed as sparks flew around her.

“I’ll go find her right now!”

*

At that moment.

– ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ !!!

Yelizaveta, who had barely managed to escape under the guidance of the naval infantry and bodyguards, clearly witnessed the sparks rising from the main building of the resort.

“It seems the hero has noticed. Even though I sent a maid who resembles me and a considerable number of troops to the ceremonial vehicles. As soon as she realized it was a decoy, she started moving in another direction.”

“…Perhaps the disguise was inadequate.”

“No. Even in my opinion, the preparation was not lacking. If there was a variable, it must have been elsewhere.”

Seeing the bodyguard who couldn’t hide his dismay, Yelizaveta firmly shook her head.

“We need to relocate. The commanders should move to the temporary headquarters immediately, and I will move separately.”

“Will you be alright? If Your Highness were to be captured…”

“Would I just be captured along with all of you? There is no greater calamity than the disappearance of all commanders. Remember that the fate of the empire and the soldiers fulfilling their duty at the front lines rests on your shoulders.”

After instructing the naval infantry commanders to evacuate, Yelizaveta, wearing an outer garment, issued new orders with a sharp gaze.

“It’s my suspicion, but I think information is leaking from somewhere. It seems they are eavesdropping on our radio communications, so I urge you to refrain from contact until we are certain it’s safe.”

“…! I’ll check immediately!”

“I trust the commanders.”

At the same time.

Frederick, who had been monitoring the radio network, received one piece of intelligence from the embassy.

“…The rebels have gone into radio silence?”

-‘Yes. Judging by the sharp decrease in communications, it seems orders have been issued at the command level. They’re probably aware of the communications interception.’

“They’re quite perceptive.”

The intelligence confirmed by the Abbas embassy was relayed through Frederick to Camilla. Upon receiving the message that “it seems they’ve noticed,” Camilla bit her lip and had to swallow her dismay.

“Did the information leak from our side? How did they notice already?!”

-‘Not already—they’ve only just noticed. At the point where communication relays were destroyed and the headquarters was attacked, they should have naturally suspected that much.’

“Things never go according to plan, never!”

No sooner had the advice to retreat because rebels might swarm in at any moment been given than a fierce pursuit began to rain down on Camilla.

As if determined not to let the attacker of their headquarters go unpunished, the naval infantry brought in numerous infantry and armored vehicles, and—

– ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ~~~ !!!

“What is that! Where did they get a rocket launcher from?!”

-‘It looks like a 24-tube 132mm high-speed rocket launcher battery assigned to naval infantry and airborne units. It’s a battalion-level common weapon mounted on truck beds, often used to suppress bunkers.’

“No, how does one even come up with the idea of firing something like that at a bunker?!”

-‘The Abbas army bunkers are surprisingly sturdy. About 30 years ago? It’s apparently the result of lessons learned from struggling to break bunkers in a border dispute.’

“They’re firing that rocket launcher at me, and you’re pretending to be concerned—I’d really appreciate it if you showed some actual worry!”

Though she said that, Camilla hadn’t actually suffered any damage.

While she might struggle in other areas, evading fast-moving projectiles was her specialty. Unless the rockets could fly faster and more accurately than the disciplinary magic fired by an angry archmage, Camilla could dodge them with her eyes closed.

The problem wasn’t the rockets but the infantry.

“Go up! Quickly! Quickly!”

“3rd Company, quickly secure the 9th floor and split left and right to enter the 10th floor via the stairs. The magic team will flank to the upper floors and attack the enemy from behind!”

“Keep firing! Keep firing so they can’t get out!”

Camilla, who had been searching from top to bottom, encountered the naval infantry who had entered the resort.

The infantry, who had driven her upward by firing bullets like they were herding a rabbit, quickly climbed the stairs.

With their overwhelming numbers and the distinctive pattern of their dark blue camouflage uniforms, the sight felt like a wave crashing into the building.

While fleeing upward to avoid gunfire, she also engaged in combat with a group of combat mages who had broken through the windows.

– Whooosh ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ !!

With flames around her feet, Camilla grabbed the arm of one mage and launched herself into the air, throwing the mages who had just entered and hadn’t yet regained their bearings out the window.

Then, using her rotating leg to kick off the wall and soar upward, she used all her strength to snap the neck of the mage whose arm she had grabbed with a “crack!”

“Haa, haa…”

She had been fleeing while engaging in countless battles, but it was becoming too much.

She had consumed too much energy and magic. Breaking relays, launching a surprise attack on the headquarters, and now facing the counterattacking rebels.

It would have been perfect if a breakthrough had been made before her strength was depleted, but the rebels were still numerous.

They were now forming an encirclement on the 9th and 11th floors, preparing for a final counterattack.

“Ssip, hoo-“

Camilla leaned against the wall and barely managed to gather her wits. She was surrounded by the enemy and encircled by armored vehicles watching the outer walls with vigilant eyes, but she still had to find a way out.

As grenades thrown from below were sent back down the stairs.

As machine gun fire rained down, tracking shadows illuminated by searchlights.

As colorful spells pierced through the outer walls and debris scattered into the air.

“……”

As Yelizaveta watched the battle, the thought “beautiful” suddenly crossed her mind.

Was it simply because the trajectories drawn by the hero’s flames and the navy’s magic were dazzling?

Or did she feel awe at seeing an individual facing overwhelming odds, displaying martial prowess against an army of hundreds?

Perhaps it was both.

“…Overwhelming. Indeed, the title of ‘Savior of the North’ is well-deserved.”

But that legend would end today.

“How far has the Reyevsky River defense line been breached?”

“The lead units have seized the bridge and are engaging with units on the outskirts of the urban area beyond the defense line. Only a few platoons have successfully crossed the river, so not many in number, but the crossing itself has been successful.”

“The efforts of the soldiers who fought against forces more than three times their size are remarkable. If they had shared my vision, they wouldn’t have lost their precious lives.”

Yelizaveta’s expression as she muttered this was more impassive than ever.

After giving instructions to quickly finish off the hero and concentrate the remaining forces on the front line, Yelizaveta went down with her bodyguards. To board the ceremonial car prepared on the ground for escape.

The image of the resort with flames and smoke rising is reflected in the window.

The light that seeped in dyed the profile of the princess sitting by the window red, and her ruby-like eyes also rippled with a brilliant red color.

“…It ends now.”

The Crown Prince who dreamed of power beyond his station,

The Grand Duke who couldn’t fulfill his duty to punish the traitor,

The hero who chose to stand against her rather than by her side,

The officer who deceived her with wordplay until the end,

All would now disappear—

*

How long had she been resisting by picking up a rifle to replace her depleted magic?

Camilla instinctively sensed that the end was approaching.

“……”

Though she wasn’t injured, she was scratched and scraped all over, with hardly a spot left unharmed. Her magic, which had been both a reliable weapon and a source of confidence, had been depleted long ago, and fatigue and exhaustion weighed heavily on her limbs.

Fortunately, if one could call it that, the call connected to Frederick was still maintained.

“I never imagined I’d die like this…”

-‘Why are you suddenly saying such ominous things?’

“No, just thinking.”

Because I might die soon.

Even facing death, Camilla was remarkably calm. Leaning against the wall, barely supporting her weight with the empty rifle as a crutch. There was no trace of fear or terror in her demeanor.

Someone once said that when death approaches, humans tend to become honest. She believed it was a quote from Bismarck. It might not be the exact wording, but the meaning was close enough.

So Camilla could finally be honest.

In the center of a corridor lined with corpses.

With the rifle placed neatly on her knee,

She exhaled a faint sigh and spoke honestly.

“…You know what, Frederick?”

-‘What is it?’

“I’ve always thought that if there’s one thing I could do right before dying, I’d most want to experience romance.”

-‘…….’

“Well… it’s a joke, so don’t take it seriously. Don’t dwell on it.”

How could she bear it if Frederick were to grieve after hearing her last words? A life spent mourning the dead didn’t suit him at all.

Camilla quickly counted the ammunition left in the magazine and gathered all the bullet clips from nearby corpses.

Though she couldn’t fight like in the movies,

She wanted her final moments to be as dramatic as those of movie protagonists.

“I should go now. I need to hang up.”

Just as she was about to say a final, calm goodbye to Frederick,

Frederick, who had been silently listening on the other end of the call, began to throw out a response that sounded like “what nonsense.”

-‘…I’ve been wanting to ask, why are you talking such nonsense? Do you want to imitate the Terminator before passing out? ‘I’ll be back’?’

“Hmm…?”

-‘Why would you die?’

330. 2 o’clock direction from the main gate.

With that, Frederick ended the call.

It seemed like he was telling her to look somewhere, but what exactly…

Camilla peered through the gap in the collapsed ruins toward the 2 o’clock direction.

Pitch-black darkness where nothing could be seen. Only the soldiers’ flashlights, the few remaining searchlights, and unextinguished flames illuminated the darkness.

In the distance,

Something that felt familiar yet strangely threatening appeared in the middle of the road,

– ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ .

The darkness retreated.

It was an intense flame and a thunderous sound.

*

How should one describe it?

The sight of an armored sedan bursting like a toy and soaring into the air.

-Boom.

An SUV that seemed to be trying to escape by slightly turning its front wheels is engulfed in flames with an explosion.

The rebels spread widely around the sedan and SUV scatter in panic, and a crew member who had peeked out from the hatch of an armored vehicle screams.

When something rushing at high speed hits the rear of the armored vehicle, a large explosion occurs, and a massive pillar of fire surges up from inside the vehicle.

“……”

While blankly staring into the void, a pair of lights resembling eyes turn on, revealing the outline of something in the darkness.

Something very angular, massive, and heavy,

“…A tank?”

The lights’ contours revealed not just objects but also figures.

People crouching along the road in the undergrowth on both sides, approaching with quick steps.

“Teams 1 and 2! Secure the parking lot and entrance road and guard the perimeter. Teams 3 and 4, the west annex! Teams 4 and 5, the fitness center and swimming pool! The rest, suppress the rebels inside the main building!”

“Enemy amphibious armored vehicle at 200 meters ahead!”

Two people carrying long objects on their shoulders run forward and kneel on one knee. A blast wave sweeps the area, raising dust, and the rebel armored vehicle that had been emitting engine noise suddenly falls silent.

People coming over the embankment by the stream fire long bursts to the left and right. As the naval infantry trying to enter the building turn around and fall in succession, the people advance over the bodies under the cover of those behind them.

Bullets rain down on rebels crouching behind debris, and shells surge toward the rooms on the upper floors where magic had been fired.

Amid the loud gunfire echoing through the building.

And Camilla, who was coming down the stairs with a dazed expression, finally encountered the intruders coming up from below.

“Oh. It’s the hero.”

“…?”

“Are you perhaps Ms. Camilla Rowell?”

“…Yes, that’s me.”

Do you know me?

Unlike Camilla, who was tense while holding her rifle, the other person was speaking to her in a very relaxed manner.

No, it was more than relaxed—it even had a welcoming nuance.

As Camilla blinked in confusion at meeting someone who claimed to know her, the person in an unfamiliar military uniform pulled down the bandana covering their nose bridge and gave her a bright smile.

And then.

“…Huh, what?”

“You recognize me!”

Camilla couldn’t help but be surprised.

“Y-you’re that interpreter…!”

The interpreter assigned by the Kiyen Ministry of Defense when she first arrived in the empire to go north.

And the person who had handled almost all official interpretation and translation in the north.

Lyudmila Sang-wi.

Camilla pointed at the other person with her finger, then finally managed to ask a question through her fluttering lips.

“…It’s nice to see you again, but how did you get here…?”

To which Lyudmila Sang-wi replied with a bright smile.

“General Mikhail ordered us to suppress the rebels! Since I happened to be in the capital, and the unit had also been waiting in the capital for a long time. Yes. That’s how it happened.”

“…Is your unit possibly the 35th Independent Regiment…?”

“You even knew that? Did the Crown Prince tell you…?”

As Lyudmila Sang-wi tilted her head in confusion, Camilla couldn’t hide her bewilderment and asked again.

Where had they been all this time? What had they been doing before appearing now?

The answer was incredibly calm.

Of course, the content was the opposite.

“Ah- We’ve been hiding in the underground sewers all this time!”

“…W-why were you in the sewers…?”

“Because there’s less chance of being detected from above, so we were told to go in and hide there!”

“……”

“……”

It was a secret she neither wanted to know nor imagine.

*

The forces that had gathered in the main building to capture the hero were swept away by the special operations unit’s surprise attack from the rear.

Along with the mechanized units from the Central Command that had arrived from outside Petrograd.

The naval infantry, already reduced by successive battles, seemed to have been easy prey for the suppression forces.

Despite the clear sounds of gunfire, Lyudmila Sang-wi was casually walking while supporting Camilla.

“Headquarters received intelligence that Princess Yelizaveta was hiding here. We were lucky. Reinforcements arrived just before the Reyevsky defense line was about to fall, and the princess’s location was identified.”

“…Yes.”

“We almost had to hide without getting to fight and wait for the battle to end! We came to the capital to suppress the rebellion, and it would have been embarrassing not to fire a single shot. Hiding in a smelly sewer for a surprise attack, eating nothing but tasteless combat rations the whole time.”

Lyudmila Sang-wi’s attitude suggested she was quite angry.

This wasn’t because she was a battle maniac who almost missed out on combat, but because she had spent nearly 12—no, 15 hours crouched in a smelly sewer, dissolving compressed combat rations with saliva.

Particularly when she complained about “not understanding how they expect people to eat compressed rations that can’t even be broken with a large knife,” Camilla could sense Lyudmila’s considerable anger.

Was the problem the tasteless and inadequate combat rations? Or was it being on standby in a smelly sewer for over 15 hours?

In fact, there was no need to choose between the two. It was truly a combination that would make one’s heart shrink.

“Let’s go. I’ll guide the way.”

“You, hero? You could go to a safe place and rest…”

At Lyudmila Sang-wi’s voice urging her to rest rather than push through her injuries, Camilla firmly shook her head.

“I’m a mage, and I can track the flow of magic to find out where Yelizaveta is. It would be impossible if the distance were too great, but…”

“We have many mages in the special forces too.”

“If there’s someone more skilled than me, I’ll go rest as Lyudmila Sang-wi suggested.”

Of course, no such mage existed in this world.

Even for a mage, surviving while isolated among hundreds of enemy troops was difficult. Especially considering that the opponents were elite troops and battle mages who had been through multiple battlefields.

Therefore, Camilla was able to guide Lyudmila Sang-wi and the other special forces members without further objection.

And, not long after,

“Found her here!”

“Where? Where!”

“This way, under the debris…!”

The long-awaited meeting finally took place.

*

She had thought about it.

What if the disadvantaged princess had swallowed her pride and already fled far away?

Fortunately, or as expected.

Yelizaveta remained here.

More precisely, under the debris.

“……”

The staircase on one side of the building had collapsed, possibly hit by a tank shell, and Yelizaveta’s legs were trapped under concrete debris.

It wasn’t an injury she could escape from on her own.

Even if she had managed to get out, with her bodyguards wiped out and her knees blown apart, she wouldn’t have been able to move a step.

Interesting, or perhaps strange.

The expression of the princess, surrounded by suppression forces, was infinitely calm.

Averting her gaze from the completely crushed legs, Yelizaveta raised her blood-red eyes to look up at Camilla, as if asking a question.

What will you do now?

“……”

Under Yelizaveta’s detached gaze, Camilla briefly met her eyes and fell into thought.

Had she anticipated such an outcome?

Even if she had, could a person who witnessed the failure of their plans remain so detached?

Perhaps that expressionless face wasn’t born of detachment or transcendence.

Maybe it was the face of someone who had let go of everything and finally realized the transience of life.

Camilla wondered.

What exactly is power? Is it something worth shedding so much blood and betting everything to grasp?

If one can remain so detached even as the power they’ve dreamed of, perhaps for a lifetime, crumbles like a sand castle.

Then power is nothing but a futile mirage—

– ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ !

A single gunshot rings out.

Crimson liquid paints over the concrete pile, and the brilliant blonde hair falls into a dusty pit.

The life drains from the jewel-like eyes, and as if symbolizing this, a pool of blood flowing from the back of her head is still warm.

“……”

The gun barrel with smoke still rising. Lyudmila Captain, who put the pistol back in its holster, brought her hand to her neck microphone in the midst of the silence.

“Partisan is dead. I repeat, Partisan is dead.”

Current time 04:56.

Confirming the death of Yelizaveta Nikolayevna and preparing for extraction. Over.

Lyudmila Sang-wi, who had taken the princess’s life, turned away without even a glance. Special forces members gathered around the body to take photographs and request vehicles to transport the corpse.

And Camilla watched all of this.

Even when Lyudmila Sang-wi, aware of her, and several soldiers approached to ask if she was alright.

Even when Yelizaveta’s body was placed on a stretcher and moved outside, and the soldiers who had remained by Camilla’s side hesitantly departed.

She simply watched silently.

As if she would never take her eyes off this moment,

As if she wanted to remember this moment that would be etched in her mind forever.

*

How much time had passed, she wasn’t sure.

She couldn’t even remember how she had returned from the resort to the hospital.

After Yelizaveta’s empty death, all thought seemed to have stopped.

Nevertheless.

There was one thing she remembered clearly.

The first words from Frederick when they met again,

“Your eyes finally look better now.”

The smile the intelligence officer gave her as he looked at her.

“Welcome back.”

That was probably,

A scene she would never forget.

Episode 23 – The Spy Who Returned from the Cold Country

– END –