A Dark Fantasy Spy

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As soon as I received the call from Veronica, what came to mind was eavesdropping.

Eavesdropping is one thing, but there are just too many ears here.

I needed to get to a safe place.

“Let’s hang up. I’ll contact you again.”

I tried to press the end call button as I stepped out of the hotel room.

– ‘I don’t think that’s necessary.’

“Huh?”

I asked back with a dazed voice, but Veronica’s voice was no longer audible on the prepaid phone.

Instead, a vivid voice pierced my ears.

“Hi there.”

A woman wearing sunglasses popped her face into view.

It was a familiar voice.

I stood there speechless, staring at her face while she chuckled at me.

“What are you staring at? Like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

After a moment of laughter, she lowered her sunglasses and grinned.

“Want to go out for a bit?”

Episode 6 – The Revolutionary’s Betrayer

Out of the blue, I encountered Veronica at the Magic Tower.

This was definitely ‘that’ Veronica.

The 58th Saint of the Cult, politician and lobbyist, a tragic orphan from the Imperial Barony, a former information agent of the Imperial Guard HQ, a cunning person who outsmarted the royal family, a drinker and a smoker.

There are many titles for her, but I referred to her as this.

Crazy lady.

“…How on earth did you get here?”

“Um, Warp Gate?”

Veronica playfully patted her shoulders and chuckled. I couldn’t see the punchline.

“…sigh.”

Anyway, Veronica was a weirdo.

She was unpredictable and someone who had guts larger than life. Definitely a type of human who was impossible to put a finger on.

As a friend, she’d be hilarious and fun, but worst for being an information agent or operative—one of those kinds of people.

In short, she was someone difficult to manage.

“Is it something you learned at the Guard HQ to come unannounced like this?”

“No? I’ve always been like this.”

That was a brag.

How she managed to get to the Magic Tower was irrelevant. She was a woman who could handle her own affairs. What mattered was why she came and what her purpose was.

As I pondered those thoughts, a sudden exhaustion washed over me.

“……”

What kind of sin did I commit in my past life to be tangled up with a woman like this? All I ever did was brew a few red wines.

No matter how I thought about it, that was hardly a crime, but it seemed like some kind of god or whatever took offense at that.

“…Lord, do I truly need to perish to satisfy your whims?”

I lamented as I bumped my head against the car seat.

“Lord? What’s that? Did our Colonel take up a religion?”

“Must be because I’m riding in a car driven by a saint; I’m praying now. At this rate, I’ll start speaking in tongues.”

Indeed.

Right now, I was sitting in a vehicle driven by Veronica.

I had no clue where she picked it up, but it was quite the impressive ride. It looked like something a wealthy person would drive around in.

“You seem to have a lot of money, driving something like this. Did the cult gather quite a bit of donations lately?”

“Come on, this is all private property. It’s a legitimate reward for my labor.”

“Wait, does the cult give out cars like this?”

“I don’t know about the cult, but the Empire does.”

That meant it came from the Imperial Guard HQ.

A gift for an information agent. Something like that. Considering Veronica was a saint of the Cult, it made sense she’d get such gifts for the sake of ROI.

I thought these kinds of things were what kids at a cookie factory did, but apparently, the Empire had more money than I realized.

I surveyed the interior of the vehicle and nodded.

“The Ministry of Finance won’t be too happy about this.”

“When you see the Finance Ministry and the Guard HQ fighting over budgets, it’s quite a bloody scene. The Deputy Minister goes on and on about receipts not being processed…”

“Where in the world does an information agency create receipts? That’s all classified information! By the way, where did you get your passport? The cult wouldn’t have let you through with one at the Magic Tower, right?”

“Oh, I still have one I received from the Guard HQ long ago.”

A saint carrying a forged passport? What kind of fantasy is this?

I sat in the passenger seat, gazing out the window and exhaling deeply. Beyond the heavily tinted glass, the sparkling night sea reflected back.

“…So, where are we going now?”

“Um…?”

Veronica grinned playfully and trailed off.

“Honeymoon house?”

“Are you kidding me?”

We drove along a desolate mountain road heading toward a villa.

Though it was referred to as a villa, it was practically a mansion. Perched on the cliffs by the sea, the residence overlooked the shoreline with a dense forest behind it.

Hearing the distant sound of crashing waves, I questioned Veronica.

“Did you also buy this with the money from the Guard HQ?”

“I purchased it with money received from the Guard HQ.”

“That’s quite a boast.”

While I casually listened to Veronica’s words, I settled into the rocking chair.

Even so, Veronica continued to chatter nonstop.

“It’s a house contracted under a third party, so it’s not registered as an asset; the Magic Tower won’t know about it. The Guard HQ probably won’t either.”

“No wonder it didn’t appear in asset checks.”

“Oh my.”

Veronica covered her mouth in surprise.

“Did you investigate me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Digging up all the information on the target is the first step of recruitment. You must have something to threaten or negotiate with.

I had thoroughly investigated Veronica’s assets, relationships, and even her childhood, but I had no idea she owned such a house.

Veronica cried dramatically.

“How could you do this to me…”

“You think someone isn’t going to investigate you?”

“Oh, got caught.”

We both sat facing each other, engaging in light banter. She would throw out a line, and I’d respond, understanding this was just her way of interacting.

Veronica said to me.

“Don’t be too disheartened. I kept it well hidden.”

“No, is it really a brag to be hiding assets…”

“Well, I do pay taxes on everything!”

“How can you pay taxes on concealed assets? That’s tax evasion…”

“Ugh, come on, it’s just casual conversation! Anyway!”

Veronica kept defending her asset concealment (tax evasion) acts, explaining how pure a person she was. It was practically propaganda.

Still, compared to the cult members who pocketed money behind donations, this was nothing. It wasn’t even necessary to dig deep into the inner circle of the cult; the tax evasion practices of priests operating in the Abas district have already caught the attention of the Abas Inquisition and the Information Agency.

Seeing the National Tax Agency, an external office of the Ministry of Finance, the Cabinet Security Office, and the Special Investigation Bureau tracking down the cult members’ money is quite a show.

Due to these issues, the Inquisition frequently clashed with them, and even the Imperial Guard HQ or the Intelligence Agency had clashes with them over tax evasion, making corruption within the cult one of the hush-hush topics among diplomats and spies.

In this regard, the Saint, the power figure of the cult, passionately asserted.

“I’m clean compared to them. Did I dip into donations, or did I hide cult assets to evade taxes? What’s the fuss about a real estate contract under a third party…”

“You seem to be dragging out the whining. Feeling a bit guilty, are we?”

“Oh, seriously! That’s just how it is! Why do you keep poking into my business?”

Seems like there might be some truth to those guilty feelings.

Someone once said absolute power corrupts absolutely. Turns out Veronica was the very essence of corruption. I have no clue how much she pocketed, but if a knight makes a slight mistake, her political career could very well be over.

Of course, she was a saint of the cult and a lobbyist, once an information agent for the Guard HQ, so this was a topic everyone in the know kept quiet about.

But in the end, no one ever really knows what will happen in people’s lives.

…I might have to cut ties with her before things go south.

I snapped back to reality.

“Well, when you’re involved with dough, you’re bound to get a bit of dough dust on your fingertips. It’s understandable.”

A fancy car, an expensive mansion, forged passports, hidden assets, tax evasion.

None of that really mattered.

She was my information agent for now.

“What brings you here this time?”

Veronica sat in front of the magically fueled fireplace, brushing her hair back to begin speaking.

“Do we have to have an agenda to meet?”

“Just get to the point.”

“Tch.”

Veronica clicked her tongue briefly, pouting a bit as she prepared to drop the bomb.

After a moment of playfulness, she finally shifted to serious topic.

“I told you something interesting would happen at the Magic Tower, right?”

“Yeah. You mentioned it on the train.”

While bringing down Raul and sixteen other agents of the Imperial Guard HQ to the Cult, Veronica had called me to say something would happen at the Magic Tower.

I tilted my head and asked my information agent.

“But that’s already resolved, isn’t it? They made a fuss about independence and then it was quashed.”

“Hey, that wasn’t an interesting event; it was an unexpected accident. I didn’t see it coming either.”

Is that so?

“So, is there something else interesting then?”

“Exactly.”

Veronica nodded affirmatively.

Given the way she describes “interesting,” it was certainly not something trivial, but unfortunately for her, I had already been through a storm.

Just days ago, I had witnessed firsthand the diplomatic standoffs between allies that were brewing. I even saw the chaos of the independence movement at the Magic Tower crumble before it even started.

So if Veronica dropped a question about something interesting, I probably wouldn’t be too shocked.

I gently pressed my temples and replied.

“Just spill it already. You’re making a big deal about it, so it can’t be minor.”

“Wow, seems like you don’t care. I thought you’d have a variety of reactions since it’s a pretty fascinating subject.”

“Who has interest based just on a title? You at least need to see a trailer or something, or even the faces of the actors involved.”

“Now that you mention it, you have a point.”

“Ugh….”

As I pondered how to deal with this information agent, Veronica suddenly hunched forward.

The blanket she had draped over her fell to the floor, and the rocking chair leaned back precariously.

We found ourselves looking at each other in a rather absurd position, exchanging glances.

“……”

“……”

A silence ensued.

The magically powered fireplace crackled softly, distant sounds of waves crashing against the cliffs echoed, and then—

I caught the quiet sound of Veronica’s breath.

Veronica spoke.

“I did say something interesting would happen at the Magic Tower, right?”

“…That’s right.”

The Saint said.

“These days, the Magic Tower has been noisy. Bombs going off. Suspicious people coming and going…”

“I wouldn’t know much about that. The embassy isn’t involved with terror or intelligence operations.”

She leaned forward. The distance between us decreased, her hair scented with violets brushing my nose.

“Then how about this…?”

“Let’s hear it.”

A former information agent of the Imperial Guard HQ, the 58th Saint of the Cult.

A current politician and lobbyist.

And my information agent.

She told me.

“Coup d’état.”