A Dark Fantasy Spy

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The entire incident originated from the Research Institute.

Unapproved communications occurred at the Advanced Military Magic Research Institute, which were detected by the Military Intelligence Agency’s Signals Intelligence Unit.

And there were the dispatched Military Intelligence Agency Counterintelligence Investigators, along with myself.

We uncovered the nature of the communication there. And we even discovered that the report was not sent by a petty industrial spy but by a full-fledged spy.

The problem was,

“Th-that student I met before… Giada Bianchi.”

“……”

“Where is she now?”

A person had vanished.

—

Episode 5 – Journalist, Diplomat, Soldier, Spy

I sat at the interrogation room desk, throwing questions at Fabio Verati.

“I see that you and Giada Bianchi had a little something going on… What on earth is a family man like yourself doing rolling around with a girl young enough to be your daughter?”

My first question: Why did you meet Giada Bianchi?

“Well, honey trap. The classic method of using a beautiful woman. When you get close, bonds can form… If you can’t have intercourse, creating a scandal works well… If you refuse, you can push it to sexual assault or harassment for pressure…”

“……”

“But I have a question. Why go to the trouble of recruiting her and even getting a shaman involved to change her face? Seems complicated.”

Second question: Where did you bring the shaman from?

“To be fair, the role of an Information Officer and an Operative isn’t all that different; they’re just in different positions. Is there even a reason to complicate things like this? Honestly, you know the violation of the Nastasiya Treaty yourself, right?”

“……”

“Shamans are everywhere in the Magic Tower, so we can let that slide. They’re everywhere in Mauritania too; I assume you managed to get one through those connections. But I wonder where they were trained. It’s typical for spies to be taken back to their homeland for training, so where did that happen? Patalia?”

Third question: Where did they receive their training?

I pointed to a part of the National Security Agency personnel documents.

Retired nine years ago.

“This place doesn’t have that kind of culture, so they wouldn’t have worked as a freelancer after retirement. And National Security Agency personnel wouldn’t touch this. If the treaty is violated, the Cult would incite heresy and rebellion, leading to a governmental overthrow. Therefore, we usually keep magicians in administrative positions or within the country, right? So, it can’t be from Patalia….”

“……”

“In the end, there can only be one answer.”

The Magic Tower.

To be precise, the Resource Development Institute under the Magic Tower.

“Am I right?”

I asked, but there was no reply.

Fabio Verati remained resolutely silent.

“Ugh…”

I licked my lips and stood up from the chair. I then pulled out an envelope I had prepared in advance from my bag.

“I thought it wouldn’t be easy, but I didn’t think you’d stay completely mum. Do I really have to resort to this…?”

I tore open the document envelope and dumped the contents onto the desk, flinging the envelope aside.

The scattered items on the desk were photographs.

—

“Here.”

I gathered up the fallen photos and neatly arranged them in front of Fabio Verati. Alongside the National Security Agency’s evaluation documents was a family photo of him.

“These are photos taken by our staff for you. They really went through a lot to take this… You wouldn’t be able to hold back tears once you know all the trouble.”

These were photos taken directly by the Patalia branch’s operatives. I heard that the surveillance was so intense that they had to camp on the street just to get one picture and couldn’t even go to the bathroom while waiting in a van—truly a tear-jerking story.

It’s hilarious.

To be honest, 70% of it is funny, and 30% is sad, but seeing my colleagues struggle inevitably made me smile because it reminded me of the old days. I’m not like that anymore.

I kindly unfolded one photo at a time, pointing out specific details.

“This is your wife shopping. This one is the kids coming back home from school. This is the second child’s college graduation photo taken by your wife. And this one… What? Your house has a swimming pool?”

I gazed in amazement at one of the photos. There’s a pool attached to the house. In these days where property values skyrocketed, I wondered where they even found such a place.

“Were you well compensated upon retirement? But airport retirement pays don’t pour in endlessly. How did you manage to afford a house with a pool? Do you have a lamp that spits out blue fairies when you rub it?”

“……”

“Well, we can talk about that later.”

I stepped away from the photos, clasped my hands together, and placed them on the desk.

And I turned to Fabio Verati.

“…Sigh. Let’s not keep doing this. Living as a goose father must be hard enough without being investigated for aiding spies? After all, Patalia and Abas are supposed allies.”

“These days, it seems like even allies engage in covert operations, huh?”

“Haha.”

I smiled.

I was delighted that Fabio Verati finally spoke, but more in a way of relief.

I never thought I would ever say something like this in my life.

“This is all for the sake of the homeland and our people, isn’t it?”

With the standard line of the Central Intelligence Agency, I smiled widely.

At that moment, the one who had been silent finally posed a question to me.

“Youngest.”

“……”

“Is this your doing?”

I kept my smile intact and tilted my head.

“Why are you looking for a missing child with me? You should go to the police.”

“……”

“Well, anyway. Where were we… Ah, right.”

Ignoring Fabio Verati’s question, I resumed my prior train of thought.

“Allies aren’t from another country? We’re practically strangers at the end of the day. Sending spies and scattering industrial spies is something everyone does, right? Am I wrong? In my 28 years of living, I’ve never heard of the intelligence agency targeting public servants in allied nations, but surely, this is just playful banter.”

“……”

“That’s fine then.”

Unclasping my hands, I pushed the photographs aside.

“In reality, even this level of confrontation can be somewhat resolved if allies engage in negotiations. It’s likely a traffic accident caused by poor retirement management. Who would have thought a retiree from the National Security Agency would start selling information against allies? That’s unexpected.”

I opened my bag.

“Let’s assume it was the Abas government’s fault. Whether it’s the intelligence or foreign affairs department, both sides can communicate. That’s how I see it.”

I pulled out a thick stack of other documents from my bag.

I slammed the stack down noisily on the metal desk and slowly began to untie the knot.

“But, you know… since I’m not a fortune-teller, I don’t know if others think the same way as I do.”

“……”

“I thought this was the first time this was happening….”

Thud.

A brown-covered document was dropped in front of Fabio Verati.

I personally opened that first document and showed it to him.

“There’s not just one?”

—

“A woman suddenly jumped off a bridge while on her way home after a business trip, carrying a gift.”

A corpse soaked in water. Twisted limbs in the opposite direction and a strange pattern rising over her neck. A baby magic toy left in a vehicle.

[Investigation report on the death of the scientist affiliated with the Ministry of Defense by sorcery – Kien Empire Intelligence Headquarters, March 15, 1991]

—

“A once-successful businessman who went mad and burned his house down, killing his whole family.”

A burned house. A blackened imprint by the door. Handprints left on the door. Burned documents. A photo of him smiling and shaking hands with a general. A man surrounded by employees popping champagne.

[Military intelligence leakage incident regarding the introduction of a great magic protection system – Lushan Federal Kingdom, November 9, 1993]

—

“A graduate student who received many love calls due to a promising business suddenly vanished without a trace.”

A photo of someone borrowing a graduation cap, smiling brightly. A cape adorned with campus emblems. Presentation materials in front of businessmen. Optical communications and magic engineering technologies. Luggage left at his lodging. Missing person posters.

[Final report on the missing graduate student – Kashubia Police, July 23, 1996]

—

I nudged the documents beside me, causing the papers to spill in front of me. Intelligence agency documents, investigative papers from the police, diplomatic reports, Ministry of Defense communications records, Ministry of Finance documents, and congressional records filled the space.

Each unfortunate individual had their own personal tragedies, yet the underlying reasons for their misfortunes were similar.

Disappearance. Death. Imprisonment.

“Wow… What on earth is all this?”

I genuinely marveled.

Having worked in intelligence for over ten years, I pride myself on having seen every dirty deed imaginable, but this felt like it crossed the line.

It looked like the Magic Tower was behind this. Yet there wasn’t solid evidence. No one uses sorcery or magic to kill people, not even the Imperial Guard HQ. They experienced a crackdown once before when an Inquisition Officer stormed the Imperial Guard HQ. Ever since that incident, intelligence agencies have refrained from using magic to harm others.

So, who could it be?

“I’ve come a long way without looking too far. I wonder why this madness erupted?”

“……”

“Well, it appears that the cover operation has succeeded, and they haven’t been discovered yet.”

It was undoubtedly the work of the Magic Tower.

I grumbled, shoving the documents aside.

“Where did I even find all this?”

Among the many documents, I fished out the thinnest one at the bottom.

The file was composed of just three pages, inscribed with unique symbols for anti-counterfeiting, unlike the others.

Neither magic nor science, but a totally different marking.

Divine.

“Inquisition.”

What lay on the desk was the comprehensive report compiled by the Inquisition from documents retrieved from various government agencies. It was created based on internal materials held by government departments and intelligence agencies, with some even attached as appendices, including several documents from Abas and Patalia.

“They’re entertaining quite a variety of spy games. There are plenty of religious zealots planting their operatives. Is this what you call sowing seeds?”

Honestly, I wasn’t too shocked.

The person who supplied me with this information was a planted spy from the Military Intelligence Agency within the Inquisition. A high-ranking one too.

Of course, the delivery was made by a low-ranking employee. Since Petrus couldn’t act directly, Priest Rebecca stepped in as a substitute.

In my view, the one who leaked all this information was undoubtedly a believer, a fervently faithful fanatic.

Typically, those who engage in such audacious acts often operate according to their convictions. This method is frequently used by Israel’s Mossad in building overseas intelligence networks and by the Chinese Ministry of State Security in their home turf.

Finding such people is a challenge. The risks of backlash from religious persecution would be high.

Nonetheless, the person who handed over the Inquisition’s internal documents was a dedicated spy.

Only the Military Intelligence Agency knew about this.

I pondered this point while idly poking at the Inquisition’s materials.

“I’m not sure about other organizations, but the Inquisition has already caught a glimpse of the outlines.”

Here lay heaps of evidence. Most of the documents were hastily copied versions, and there was no way to check the magic embedded in the anti-counterfeiting seals, but the Inquisition’s documents were officially produced copies.

Meaning, it was possible to confirm the divinity inscribed in the anti-counterfeiting seals.

Someone like Fabio Verati would surely recognize it.

“Honestly… from what I’ve heard, you don’t seem to know much. But.”

I pointed my finger at him, sitting across.

“I have someone in front of me who’s likely to know? A civil servant from the Magic Tower.”

“……”

“Not to mention a former intelligence officer now working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So, yes.”

A person the Inquisition would certainly have taken an interest in.

The problem was that this interest was not the kind that would earn you medals for improving diplomatic relations; it was more the kind that would land you in an interrogation room for a beatdown.

Fabio Verati finally spoke.

“I don’t know anything.”

“Oh, of course, you wouldn’t. But the Inquisition might not feel the same way.”

Whether the aforementioned incidents were indeed orchestrated by the Magic Tower or if Fabio Verati was aware of the details did not matter to the Inquisition.

Would they use foreign nationals for similar acts, fearing that their organization’s reputation might suffer from the exposure of their own people being tortured into becoming dark magicians? They were likely to escalate the situation rather than hold back.

“We’re not the only ones pursuing your upper echelons. Other organizations are doing the same.”

“……”

“Oh man… At this rate, who knows if you’ll even be able to take a family trip let alone immigrate? Your records will pop up immediately when you cross the border.”

Is it possible they haven’t digitized their immigration records here?

I placed the family photo in front of Fabio Verati and stood up, moving behind him.

And I said,

“Even if your children grew up, are you really going to raise your youngest daughter without her father? Your wife can’t manage to feed four kids on her own.”

It’s time to give up.

“Your family is waiting for you.”

“……”

“Let’s turn ourselves in quickly and seek redemption.”

I smiled brightly and gently patted Fabio Verati on the shoulder.

Leaving behind the photo, I grabbed the documents and exited the interrogation room, and he didn’t utter a single word.

—

That dawn, upon returning to the hotel,

communication came in via a device connected to the secure line.

It was a report confirming the backers who sent a spy to the Advanced Military Magic Research Institute and the whereabouts of Giada Bianchi.