Ch.72Episode 5 – Journalist, Diplomat, Soldier, Spy

# [The Magic Tower has approved Saint Lucia’s entry. They’ve granted permission for her to enter as a priest rather than a saint. When asked if Saint Lucia was a diplomatic envoy, the Magic Tower spokesperson refrained from commenting…]

# [Saint Lucia expressed gratitude for the Magic Tower’s decision. She also stated her position that, as a priest, she would first go where help is needed. Some are saying this signals warming relations between the Church and the Magic Tower…]

# [The Imperial Ministry of Justice has expressed its intention to fully cooperate with the entry of Saint Lucia and Major Frederick Nostrum. Meanwhile, the Magic Tower representative office has reversed its previous position regarding the agrément for the Deputy Defense Attaché…]

## Episode 5 – Journalist, Diplomat, Soldier, Spy

*Click.*

The TV broadcasting the news suddenly turned off.

“…What a commotion.”

Clebins tossed the remote control aside.

“I hear you caused trouble at the Prime Minister’s residence?”

“I apologize. The situation was extremely urgent…”

“Well… I’m not going to scold you. The Prime Minister and the Director have decided to overlook the matter. Just be more careful in the future.”

Clebins sighed deeply and leaned back in his office chair. With an exhausted face, he muttered:

“…So. This is all the Inquisition’s doing?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“I didn’t expect them to exploit the canonization ceremony like this… By the way, did she cooperate? Or was it a solo operation?”

Though the question was somewhat vague, everyone present understood its meaning. He was asking me how deeply Lucia was involved in this situation.

“I believe Saint Lucia’s actions were pre-arranged. However, it appears she first approached the Church with the intention of entering as a priest, and the Church used her intentions to steer the political situation in their favor.”

In other words, Lucia’s press conference was her own sincere statement.

More precisely, as a saint-to-be, she had consulted with the Church, but this didn’t mean she was complicit in the Inquisition’s schemes. Well, something like that.

To put it bluntly, she was simply being used by the Inquisition. Whether she was used unknowingly or knowingly, I couldn’t tell. Either way, Lucia wasn’t an informant or operative under the Inquisition’s control. This was reliable intelligence revealed by Veronica when she mentioned the public opinion battle, so it didn’t require separate verification.

Although she wasn’t an intelligence agent, she seemed to have her own unique standards for viewing the world as a lobbyist.

After hearing my report, Clebins rubbed his forehead.

“What’s the source-. No, never mind. What’s important now isn’t the source…”

“……”

What mattered now wasn’t where the intelligence came from, but what would happen next.

The milk was already spilled. And it was too large to clean up. If we didn’t want to be dragged along by the machinations of the Church and the Empire’s Magic Tower, we needed to stay sharp from now on.

I continued my report.

“According to our current understanding, all attendants accompanying Saint Lucia to the Magic Tower will be agents from the Inquisition.”

“…You mean those nuns? The ones included in her entourage?”

“Yes.”

“They’re absolutely determined to start a war.”

Lucia’s visit was an official visit arranged through negotiations between the Abas government and the Church’s State Council. Therefore, the Abas government was aware of who would be coming as part of the entourage and which organizations they belonged to.

It’s common for intelligence agents to participate in a head of state’s overseas visits. So the Abas government didn’t raise this as an issue. They were somewhat wary because of the large number, but since they weren’t bringing weapons, they didn’t challenge it. There wasn’t much ground to do so anyway.

Clebins stroked his patchy beard and blurted out:

“Have we figured out what they’re plotting?”

“No. We haven’t confirmed that far. However…”

“Speak.”

“We’ve confirmed that the Inquisitor General’s secretary is disguised as a nun.”

“……”

“Given the involvement of someone of that caliber, it seems their purpose might be to establish an intelligence network, but we don’t have concrete evidence yet. It’s just speculation.”

“…I see.”

The current Inquisitor General, Pedro, is an agent of the Military Intelligence Service. Specifically, a deep-cover spy. I don’t know his exact affiliation. Even Clebins doesn’t know. He only knows that Pedro is an overseas agent with a background as an instructor.

The Church’s political operation targeting the Magic Tower. Inquisition agents infiltrating the Magic Tower using Lucia as their vessel. And in the middle of it all, a mole recruited by a deep-cover spy.

It seemed too good to be true, with something not quite right.

Sure enough, Clebins, the Director of Counterintelligence at the Military Intelligence Service, gave me an order.

“…I’m sure you’ve heard from the Director, but the Prime Minister has a great interest in this operation. So it must proceed without any hitches. The same goes for variables.”

“……”

He was telling me to ensure success by any means necessary since a high-ranking official was keeping an eye on the operation.

By whatever means necessary.

“For now, pretend you don’t know anything. Watch the situation and report what the Inquisition is up to. Understood?”

“Yes, understood.”

“…Good. The other staff entered the Magic Tower the day before yesterday, so don’t worry about that part.”

“I’ll assess the local situation upon arrival and contact you.”

“Have a good assignment.”

*

After Lucia made her statement of conviction in front of reporters, everything proceeded at lightning speed.

The Church and the Empire elevated Lucia to a “true saint” through impressive propaganda, and the Magic Tower, after some negotiation with the Empire, permitted Lucia’s entry and approved my agrément. I understand the Abas government also cooperated slightly by influencing the media. Very subtly, just enough not to be noticed.

In other words, from a civilian perspective, the series of events was entirely a diplomatic variable caused by the impulsive action of a saint-to-be.

That was actually true, but the fact that intelligence agencies had rolled up their sleeves behind the scenes was kept strictly confidential. Including the fact that the nuns accompanying Lucia to the Magic Tower were from the Inquisition.

So everyone remained unaware, except those who needed to know. In truth, even those who needed to know were few.

Some appeared on broadcasts expressing suspicions about the saint, but due to the lack of evidence, such views were dismissed as conspiracy theories.

Why would anyone doubt a beautiful young woman appearing on television asking to be allowed entry for volunteer work? Especially when she wasn’t an ordinary civilian but a saint-to-be who had saved multiple lives on the battlefield.

Anyway.

Thanks to Lucia’s efforts, the complex diplomatic dispute was resolved in an instant, and…

“Please show your passport.”

“I’m a diplomat.”

I was able to proudly set foot on Imperial soil with my diplomatic passport.

“Yes, confirmed. Welcome to the country.”

The Imperial immigration officer let me through immediately upon seeing my diplomatic passport. My luggage, sent as diplomatic pouch, was also delivered to me without undergoing any kind of inspection.

Why was I in the Empire rather than the Magic Tower? That’s because the Magic Tower is located in a city called Nastasiya in the southern part of the Empire.

For that reason, to reach the Magic Tower from abroad, one either had to use a direct warp gate or transit through the Empire first.

As I lifted my heavy bag, I spoke to Camilla, who was hunched over:

“Are you feeling alright? Still queasy?”

“Yes… Bleeeurgh-!”

“Oh dear.”

Camilla was clutching a bag and emptying her stomach. Beside her, an Imperial official holding paper bags (for warp gate users) was anxiously shifting from foot to foot.

“Motion sickness sometimes happens when using warp gates. It’s a side effect, so don’t take it too seriously.”

“Th-thank you…”

“Let’s move over here for a moment. Ah, please give me that bag.”

I took the paper bag from the official and led Camilla to a secluded bench away from prying eyes.

Camilla’s face was pale as she experienced the side effects of magic firsthand. She reminded me of myself when I got diarrhea from drinking bad water in Southeast Asia years ago.

“Oh my…”

I patted Camilla’s back to comfort her.

“A magician getting motion sick from a warp gate… tsk tsk.”

“D-don’t tease me…”

“We’ll need to use it once more to enter the Magic Tower. Will you be okay?”

“Can’t we just… walk in…?”

“There’s no way to enter on foot.”

You can’t enter the Magic Tower on foot. Because the Inquisition used land routes so frequently during the war with the Church, the Grand Magicians simply lifted the entire Tower into the air.

Since magicians have no problem moving around using magic, and warp gates have become commercialized enough for ordinary people to use, the Magic Tower will likely never return to the ground.

I smiled at Camilla and said:

“It’s easier if you just give up.”

“…Urgh-!”

In the end, she only stopped feeling sick after taking medicine bought from a nearby pharmacy.

I guess this is why the world needs more science majors than humanities majors.

*

After spending a brief time in Imperial territory, we headed straight for the Magic Tower.

Since our purpose was transit rather than a stay, we didn’t need formal entry procedures. So the Imperial officials expedited the entry procedures for the Church people as well, providing maximum convenience.

The Magic Tower did the same.

Although a major diplomatic issue had recently erupted, the Oracle eventually permitted Lucia’s entry after much difficulty. And following talks with the Empire, the Magic Tower announced the unprecedented measure of simplifying procedures for guests from the Church.

This was remarkable progress considering they used to detain priests visiting the Magic Tower for hours.

The problem was that Camilla complained of dizziness due to motion sickness. This improved after giving her medicine bought from below. By the time the entry procedures were completed, she was feeling well enough to joke:

“In movies, they teleport with just a pinch of powder. I guess they don’t have that here.”

“If they had such things, everyone would have used them long ago.”

“And they don’t need to recite spells when using magic.”

“Reciting spells is what sorcerers do. Sometimes clergy do it too.”

From what I could gather, she seemed to be talking about Harry Potter. Honestly, it was such an old memory that I could barely understand what she was saying. Am I getting dementia?

I calmly considered whether this was due to dementia or if I had simply forgotten over time. Maybe it was just forgetfulness.

Anyway.

After completing our entry, we went straight to the foreign hotel provided by the Magic Tower to unpack. Since the Magic Tower was famous for tourism, the hotel was quite luxurious. Seeing such treatment made me wonder if the Magic Tower had some ulterior motive.

“Thank you for making the long journey. You must be tired, so please rest well today. Hero, and companions. On behalf of the Magic Tower, I once again express gratitude to our distinguished guests for visiting.”

The guide assigned by the Magic Tower politely encouraged us to recover from our travel fatigue.

The Magic Tower representative gave a brief introduction to the hotel, along with some precautions, and asked us to stay at the hotel for the time being. They also mentioned that the Magic Tower would cover all expenses, so we shouldn’t hesitate to use the hotel’s services freely.

It felt less like confinement and more like a strangely hospitable gesture.

After the guide left, Camilla, unpacking in the hotel suite, said:

“Is this because I’m a magician?”

“Well, that could be part of it.”

While the fact that Camilla’s colleague came from the Magic Tower played a significant role, her own identity as a magician surely contributed as well.

“They said to rest comfortably today, so go ahead and get some rest first. They mentioned you can practice magic on the rooftop if you’d like.”

“Rather than practice, I want to visit the library first. From what the guide said, there are many magic books that could be helpful to read, right?”

“That’s what they’re made for, of course. Anyway, you can rest easy for the next few days. I’ll be heading to my room now.”

“Okay. You rest too, Frederick.”

I sent Camilla in first, then met with Lucia and the Inquisition people who would be staying at the hotel with us before entering my assigned room.

*Click.*

I locked the door.

Then I drew all the curtains, turned up the TV volume, and tossed my diplomatic pouch onto the bed.

I pulled the zipper to open the bag.

Inside the diplomatic pouch, which had undergone no inspection at either the Imperial or Magic Tower immigration, were all the equipment I would be using.

“……”

I took out the secure terminal from the bag and activated it.

“…Hello?”

-“We’ve been waiting for your contact, Section Chief.”

Time to get to work.