Ch.68Episode 5 – Journalist, Diplomat, Soldier, Spy

The Royal Intelligence Agency’s proposal was simple.

Full support in exchange for a job transfer.

Director Leoni mentioned it somewhat vaguely, but the suit-wearing man accompanying her brought me a concrete proposal. For reference, he is indeed the Royal Intelligence Agency employee who gave me his business card.

“……”

Sitting on the sofa in the Military Intelligence Bureau office, I reviewed the proposal presented by the Royal Intelligence Agency.

A promotion to a Grade 4 section chief position, equivalent to two ranks above my current major rank which corresponds to Grade 6. Physical and non-physical support commensurate with the position. Increased operational funds. Access to the Royal Intelligence Agency’s overseas intelligence database. Authorization for secret operations from the director. Company welfare benefits equivalent to director-level. Security guarantees for family members, and so on.

Though lengthy in details, it can be summarized in one sentence:

They’re offering to let me work under much better conditions than what I currently receive at the Military Intelligence Bureau.

Each item is not just exceptional but revolutionary. What particularly caught my attention was the support section.

Typically, a section chief in an intelligence agency refers to a Grade 4 civil servant. Although the size of teams led by section chiefs varies by department, in operations, a section chief is a middle manager. Positioned somewhere between a unit commander and a team leader. It’s a position where you can give orders to well over twenty people.

A very attractive proposal.

Especially considering that currently, I can only directly command Pippin and Jake.

Special Activities Division operative, Counterintelligence Division investigator, Technical Intelligence Department technician, Overseas Intelligence Office analyst.

The people participating in this operation aren’t my subordinates. They should be viewed as partners cooperating to ensure the success of a single operation. Moreover, since the team was scheduled to disband after the operation, it was fair to consider them as merely passing acquaintances.

But if I transfer to the Royal Intelligence Agency, I could command the same number of agents. And not just a temporarily assembled team like now, but a permanent one. This means that as long as I stay with the Royal Intelligence Agency, I could mobilize a team of the same size at any time.

This alone makes the proposal worth serious consideration.

However,

“…Hmm.”

According to the game story, it was clear that Clevins would soon rise to become the next Military Intelligence Bureau Director, which weighed on my mind.

Although the Military Intelligence Bureau Director is an appointed position with a three-year term, a director is still a director. At the very least, as long as Clevins remains in the Military Intelligence Bureau, the support coming to me won’t diminish.

The problem is what comes after.

What should I do if Clevins completes his term as director and retires?

Would I be able to focus on operations with the same level of full support in a Military Intelligence Bureau without Clevins?

If not.

Wouldn’t it be wise to transfer to the Royal Intelligence Agency now and establish myself quickly?

“……”

I was lost in thought.

Changing jobs to another intelligence agency was a path I had never taken in my life, making it difficult to step forward readily.

But all of this was an uncertain future, and since I’m neither a shaman nor an astrologer, I couldn’t peek behind the curtain to glimpse what lies ahead.

In the end, this is a battle of probabilities. In other words, a gamble.

They asked me to contact the number on the business card once I made up my mind, but I simply couldn’t reach a decision.

“…Damn it.”

While I was sitting on the sofa wracking my brain, the door suddenly burst open.

It was Jake.

“Maj— I mean, Section Chief.”

“Oh, what’s up?”

“Time to eat, sir.”

Episode 5 – Journalist, Diplomat, Soldier, Spy

Although the Military Intelligence Bureau is an intelligence agency, it’s fundamentally a command under the Ministry of Defense.

Like all military units, the Military Intelligence Bureau provides meals to officers, non-commissioned officers, civilian employees, and enlisted personnel at set times. If you’re late for mealtime, you might miss out on food. Especially on days when popular menu items are served, it’s not uncommon to find the food depleted if you arrive even a little late.

However, the Military Intelligence Bureau is not just an ordinary military unit.

It’s a military intelligence agency, an information unit.

A place where overtime is routine and night shifts are considered rest. A place where you should be prepared to lose all your hair in your 30s due to work stress.

Because of the heavy workload, not all personnel can eat meals on time, and the cafeteria doesn’t provide food for those working overtime. That’s because civilian cooks from outsourced companies would need additional compensation for night shifts. And all of that would come out of the Military Intelligence Bureau’s budget.

Consequently, employees working overtime had to go outside for dinner. But that wasn’t as easy as it sounds.

Finding restaurants open late in the evening was a problem to begin with. Moreover, everyone needed to finish their work quickly and return home, but eating out delayed that time. So whenever a team dinner was scheduled, people would make up excuses about having nightmares or bad luck and try to escape.

Anyway.

So when working overtime, people usually either got takeout or had food delivered to the main gate and ate in the office.

We were no exception.

“Late-night food has arrived.”

Jake returned to the office with bags full of food, emitting a fragrant oily aroma. Pippin poured drinks into mugs (Military Intelligence Bureau office supplies, lowest bid) and passed them around.

“Where should I put this?”

“Just set it down here. Clear all the documents to the floor.”

While my subordinates were setting up the food, I stacked the documents scattered across the desk neatly on the floor. I moved the piles of Grade 2 and Grade 3 military secrets far enough away to avoid any oil splatters.

And so, three soldiers gathered around the desk and began devouring the late-night meal. I pulled up a chair, sat down, and questioned Jake.

“Hey. Didn’t you say you were tired of chicken? Why did you buy fried chicken?”

“At this hour, that was the only place still open, sir.”

“Jake, put the pasta aside and the fried chicken in the middle. I’m not eating it.”

“Allergic?”

“No. Weight control.”

“But why are you eating fried chick— Ah, ouch, don’t hit me.”

“You’re raising dust. Stop it.”

Leaving the bickering subordinates behind, I turned on the TV and searched for a news channel.

The news was covering the operation in the barren no-man’s land that had taken place this morning.

Jake, scooping up a spoonful of mashed potatoes, looked at the TV and blurted out:

“I heard the Hero participated today too? The Wasteland operation.”

“Yeah. There she is.”

Footage of Camilla, filmed by the Ministry of Defense’s Public Affairs Department, began to appear. Scenes of massive flames burning through forests and dog-like monsters screaming and writhing were broadcast without any filtering.

While I was wondering if it was okay to show such content on official news, Pippin exclaimed in admiration:

“Wow. Shouldn’t that be handled with artillery? She’s just burning it all…”

I remember the military attaché from the Imperial Embassy also came to watch this. His reaction was incredible. I muttered nonchalantly:

“The Imperial attaché’s eyes were popping out when he saw that.”

“Really?”

Before I could answer Pippin’s question, Jake suddenly murmured:

“She’s beautiful.”

“Ah, this kid is ruining the mood…”

Pippin and Jake started bickering again.

With their squabbling and the anchor’s intermittent voice as background, I tore off a piece of batter and popped it into my mouth.

Licking the grease from my fingers, I said to Pippin and Jake:

“Did all the staff infiltrate? I heard they departed this morning.”

Jake stopped bickering to answer my question:

“Yes. I heard they entered the southern part of the Empire through a warp gate. And they received two weeks’ worth of operational funds and Magic Tower ID cards from the information officers at the local consulate general.”

“So they’ll enter the Magic Tower in two days. What about the equipment?”

“It’s currently stored in the customs warehouse. They plan to disguise it as office supplies and send it to the Magic Tower once the office is established.”

It’s remarkable how we can talk about work even while eating.

Anyone else would be appalled by this scene, but for us, it was routine. So we all continued discussing work while eating our late-night meal as usual.

Pippin, bringing his mug to his lips, said:

“The operational funds are scheduled to be disbursed through the Foreign Ministry line. They mentioned some company…”

“That’s a shell company. There’s no company that matches our cover identities, so we’re using Foreign Ministry assets. Anyway, no issues?”

“We’ve contacted the Foreign Ministry’s information manager at the Magic Tower and arranged to avoid audits or security checks.”

Seems like the talks with the Foreign Ministry went well.

I spoke while poking at my pasta:

“Right. As I mentioned before, Pippin, you just handle support duties at the representative office.”

“Yes.”

“If you get arrested for snooping around the field, it’ll be an international embarrassment. Understand?”

Pippin nodded while drinking his beverage.

Since Pippin would be collecting information from open sources and analyzing it with the analysts, he wouldn’t be in any particular danger. The problem was Jake and me.

Jake was scheduled to control the intelligence agents from the Overseas Intelligence Department waiting at the Magic Tower and operate the information collection team. Therefore, among the three of us, Jake had the highest chance of being detected by the Magic Tower’s counterintelligence agency.

“You should be as cautious as possible. No one knows how field operations will turn out, but if it seems dangerous, just skip the report and pull out immediately. We can hand it over to the Special Division.”

“Yes, sir. What will you do, Section Chief?”

“Me? Well… I’ll do what I usually do.”

I pondered while chewing on my pasta.

Just considering the personnel, equipment, and operational funds involved, it was incomparable to my time at the Order. Moreover, this operation involved Military Intelligence Bureau agents who had already infiltrated the Empire and the Magic Tower. We were scheduled to receive real-time intelligence collected by these agents every morning and evening, and we were already receiving some of it.

Although there was interference from the Royal Intelligence Agency, it was still worth pursuing to this extent. We just needed to resolve the agrément issue somehow.

While thinking about this and stealing the chicken leg Jake was about to eat,

Pippin, who had emptied a can of drink, suddenly started grumbling:

“Do we always talk about work when we eat? Can’t we have normal conversations like other people?”

“Isn’t this normal enough?”

“Well, our workplace isn’t normal to begin with…”

It wasn’t the kind of conversation intelligence agency agents would typically have. But what else could we talk about? It’s not like I had a network of connections, nor was I particularly close with my family. I didn’t even carry a phone, so I had no idea what my family was up to these days.

“Then shall I tell some stories from training days? Oh right, Pippin, when you were doing maritime training, the instructor’s hair—”

“Shut your mouth.”

“Okay.”

Pippin and Jake chattered about topics only they understood, while I turned the TV to see what was on other channels.

As I was flipping through channels with the remote control:

Click.

-‘…Breaking news.’

Breaking news appeared.

-‘The Imperial Foreign Ministry of Kiyen has announced measures to freeze the Magic Tower’s public assets within the Empire and nationalize the Magic Tower’s investments. Some analysts suggest this could lead to the Empire declaring default against the Magic Tower…’

The Emperor has drawn his sword.

-‘Additionally, the Imperial Police announced plans to conduct extensive preventive detentions to stabilize the unstable southern regions.’

The all-out war between the Empire and the Magic Tower has begun.