A Dark Fantasy Spy

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Just like that techie who got stranded on Mars.

It seems like I’m totally screwed.

Without much contemplation, it’s just a conclusion that feels natural.

I’m so screwed.

—

Episode 6 – Omniscient Spy Perspective

—

On my way back to the hotel. I was passing by a spot just a few hundred meters from my destination.

Suddenly, a bright light burst from a dark alley.

“…?”

As I squinted and turned my gaze, I saw a parked vehicle in the alley revving its engine with headlights on.

A four-seater sedan. I had seen that model several times in the Empire, and considering that the Magic Tower is an autonomous region of the Empire, it was quite a common sight.

Up to this point, it wasn’t alarming.

That was until the vehicle started speeding.

-Vroooom!

Maybe the driver pressed the accelerator too hard, as the vehicle began to roar and charge towards me.

“…Uh, uhh?”

There wasn’t even time to dodge or react.

The car rushed towards me in the blink of an eye, skidding to a halt, and for a brief moment, our eyes met before a man kicked the backseat door open.

The man then roughly grabbed me and shoved me into the vehicle.

—

“Hey, Jake, have you seen the Manager?”

Jake shook his head, brushing his hair back at the sudden question from his colleague.

“No? I didn’t see him; I was in the shower. Isn’t he in his room?”

“He wasn’t in his room.”

Then perhaps he went to the Hero’s or Saint’s room.

As I said that, Pippin sighed deeply and plopped down on the sofa.

“Do you really not know where he is?”

“How would I know, Pippin?”

“Ugh… Then where on earth could he be?”

Jake draped the towel hanging around his neck over a chair and said, “What’s going on?”

“Well, the Hero and the Saint also said they hadn’t seen him. I called the embassy security, and they said he already clocked out. So he should be at the hotel, right? He didn’t even pick up the phone.”

“He could be walking here. It might take him a while, and he clocked out a few minutes ago, right?”

“About 50 minutes…?”

“50 minutes?”

“Yeah.”

Jake tilted his head and looked at his watch, which now read 23:58.

—

“…36. …37. …38. …39. …40.”

Humans rely on their vision more than they probably realize.

The human brain processes all external sensory inputs, with the highest dependency on vision. Second is hearing.

The most significant issue when sight and hearing are blocked is that one’s sense of time and space diminishes.

“…41. …42. …43. …44. …45. …46. Right. …48. …49. …50.”

So, when sight and hearing are cut off, the cognition of space-time drastically drops. Since there are no incoming stimuli, proper situational judgment becomes impossible.

If such a situation occurs, the human brain begins to create new stimuli, activating on its own to maintain some sense of perception—even if it’s false.

Usually, we refer to such stimuli as auditory hallucinations or illusions.

In psychology, this phenomenon is known as the Ganzfeld effect.

“…51. …52. …Hill. …54. …55. …56. …57. …58. …Left. …60.”

According to what I was trained, and based on my experience, information agencies are the ones that actively utilize such psychological phenomena.

No need to overthink it. The type of candidates that companies favor the most when hiring newcomers are psychology majors.

Even if you’re not specifically a psychology major, anyone hired will get some training in basic psychological knowledge. I know that well from personal experience.

With my hands neatly restrained behind my back, I pondered my current situation.

“……”

I am now in a car I’ve never ridden before. Lying on the mat between the front and back seats. Basically, I am jammed in there.

My wrists are tied behind me. My ankles can move freely, but there are feet—one on my stomach and the other on my legs. They’re not stomping on me, but if I try to move even a little, I get poked by shoe heels.

And there’s a smelly piece of black cloth over my face, with no holes for breathing whatsoever.

This is basically what a kidnapping victim looks like on the 9 o’clock news in Central and South America.

“……”

Well, there’s no need to think too deeply about this.

I have been kidnapped.

—

“Yes, Operation Officer. Yes. I understand. Please go in.”

Jake hesitated for a moment before hanging up his mobile phone. Pippin, watching from the side, asked him, “…What did they say? Did you find out where the Manager is?”

“No. Everyone doesn’t know either. He hasn’t shown up, and they said there haven’t been any phone calls.”

“Sigh…”

Pippin flopped down on the hotel lobby sofa.

“Does it really make sense that no one knows where the Manager is?”

“If we don’t know, then we don’t know. He vanished without saying anything, how could we know…?”

“At the very least, he should have left some message about where he was going. Where on earth did he go…?”

Could it be that he was kidnapped—

This thought crossed my mind for a moment, but there couldn’t possibly be a bold group that would kidnap a diplomat at the Magic Tower.

Just as expected, Jake dismissed Pippin’s thoughts.

“Kidnapping a diplomat here would be insane, Pippin. Number 51 managed to deal with it somehow, but the Manager’s situation is totally different.”

“…But couldn’t it be possible if it was the Reconnaissance Command? The Manager had a conflict with them recently.”

“Even for the Empire, kidnapping a diplomat carries significant risks. If caught, war erupts immediately. Remember when there was an assassination at the Cult? The Ministry of Defense was debating whether the Empire should go to war or not.”

That did make a fair point.

“Then could he have had an accident?”

“That’s also possible. I’ll call the nearby hospital to check; Pippin, can you find out if the Manager is at the local police station?”

“What if he isn’t at the hospital or the police station?”

“…Then.”

We’ll have no choice.

“……”

“Then we’ll have to report. Whether to the Information Agency or the Representative Office.”

—

As time passed and I calmed down, my mind began to clear up.

I began to fidget uncomfortably, trying to puzzle things out.

Who kidnapped me? Why did they do it?

For now, I don’t know who kidnapped me, but it seems they don’t intend to kill me. That makes sense. If they wanted to kill me, they wouldn’t bother dragging me around like this. They could just shoot me, ram me with a car, or stab me with a knife.

Realizing this, I naturally concluded that their intention was not assassination but kidnapping.

But the question still lingers.

“…9. …10. …11.”

A sane person wouldn’t kidnap or kill a diplomat.

If a diplomat receiving the protection of international law were to be kidnapped or killed, they would surely face international condemnation. Most nations avoided such a dangerous gamble.

Groups that would take such a reckless gamble are primarily terrorist organizations. But as far as the information from the Magic Tower’s police and the Abas representative police was concerned, there were no terrorist groups bold enough to attempt this.

At the very least, it’s clear that they’re not terrorists.

That said, there’s not enough evidence to suggest that a government body or an information agency is behind my kidnapping.

The Inquisition or the National Security Agency would cooperate with the Military Intelligence Agency for their reasons, but they had no reason to harm me. The same goes for other nations’ intelligence agencies; some cooperate with the Military Intelligence Agency, while others may be hostile, but none of them had a specific reason to target me.

To put it bluntly, I worked in a headquarters office until three months ago. Why would they target someone like me, who hasn’t been active lately? Might as well target an information officer or operative at an overseas branch. Furthermore, if the facade of kidnapping were revealed, it would lead to war.

The only two groups that might have a reason to kidnap me are the Imperial Guard HQ or the Reconnaissance Command, but both of these organizations had no need to take such a risk.

The Imperial Guard HQ already suffered a significant blow from not being able to control its operatives. With the international intelligence network compromised, there was no reason to poke the hornet’s nest again before fixing the current situation. The same goes for the Reconnaissance Command; they likely face similar diplomatic risks.

Terrorist organizations lack the capability to pull off such an act, while intelligence agencies either can’t bear the repercussions or don’t have a reason to engage in such actions.

So, who on earth kidnapped me?

“…57. …58. …59. …60. …1.”

As I lay silently, I continued my judgment. As I formulated hypotheses and lined up circumstances, the vehicle kept moving.

I had no idea how much time had passed.

It felt like I had been in here for roughly 40 minutes. That’s about how long it’s been since I was kidnapped.

I clocked out and left the representative office at 23:12. On foot, it would take about 20 minutes to walk from the representative office to the hotel, so it must be past midnight by now.

During that time, I kept counting numbers in my head, trying to remember how the vehicle has been moving. Estimating my speed based on the vehicle’s vibrations and the noise of the engine. Trying to gauge where I was heading based on the direction my body leaned each time the car turned.

All of that was in vain.

It was impossible to identify my location because I couldn’t see outside, and I couldn’t even accurately calculate my speed.

At least, it was a relief that I hadn’t switched vehicles in between. If I had changed modes of transportation, tracking me would become even more difficult.

“…47. …48. …49. …50. …51. …52.”

While I mechanically counted numbers, suddenly—

-Bump!

The vehicle slowly changed direction and began to decelerate.

“…Left turn. 48 minutes 52 seconds.”

Vroom.

With the sound of the engine shutting off, the vehicle came to a stop.

“……”

The thugs had halted their movements.

We had reached our destination.