A Dark Fantasy Spy

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On a dark night, I found myself facing Camila in a dimly lit hotel room illuminated by faint moonlight.

Camila was looking down at me.

Her face, illuminated by the moonlight, was extremely pale, and at a glance, she appeared almost like a sickly patient.

She stood there, staring at me with cold eyes.

As I gazed into those cold, sunken eyes, an unsettling thought crossed my mind.

It could be intuition or instinct. An indescribable sensation brushed by my consciousness.

Yes. Perhaps this is a type of psychic ability. Or maybe it’s a habit honed from over a decade of espionage.

Thus, I stared into Camila’s moonlit eyes and thought this.

She must know something.

—

Side Episode – Spy Game

It was dawn. Only the sound of the air conditioning echoed in the silent room. The relentless rain had cooled down the Magic Tower, and the humidity had peaked, making it hard to breathe even while standing still.

I took a deep breath, inhaling the progressively drying, musty air. Breathing almost felt like being submerged in water.

The stifling atmosphere began to make me feel odd, and with that discomfort, I asked Camila with confusion and frustration weighing down my voice.

“What do you mean?”

Camila looked at me with a bright smile.

“Are you hiding something from me?”

“…”

Her smile became subtly mysterious.

It looked like she was laughing. It seemed sarcastic. Upon closer inspection, it almost appeared mocking, yet at first glance, it could also look like she was angry.

Usually, Camila’s smile radiated warmth, like her scarlet hair, but the moonlit pallor of her face made it difficult to find any warmth in her expression.

Feeling frustrated, I sat on the one-person sofa and tried to retrace my memories, thinking about what she might know. Where had I gone wrong?

“…”

To be honest, I had not always told Camila the truth. Thus, the things I was hiding from her were countless.

For instance, the truths surrounding the past bomb bombings and assassination attempts or the true identity of Cardinal Raul.

All those incidents were pieces of a fierce intelligence war tangled around the Information Agency, but Camila was an unwitting participant. She had experienced a bombing shortly after she arrived here and even witnessed me getting poisoned and collapsing right before her eyes.

Of course, those were details she didn’t need to know. At the same time, they were details she shouldn’t know.

They were classified.

Everything related to the cult had been thoroughly kept secret by those involved, and all documents, notes, recordings, videos, and photographs created during that timeframe were classified. The ones who knew the truth had signed non-disclosure agreements. I knew well that the first thing I did upon returning to the Military Intelligence Agency was to write up an NDA. Naturally, the operations that followed the capture of spies at the Advanced Military Magic Research Institute and the covert operations at the Magic Tower were the same.

I wasn’t sure of the exact classification, but they were all classified as military secrets of at least level 2. They could even be top-secret. Sparking level 1 secrets was the job of the Information Agency, of which the Military Intelligence Agency was distinctly a military intelligence entity.

So this was not something for Camila to be concerned about. Originally, she had no interest in such matters.

But what I was hiding from her was not limited to those points. I had many secrets from Camila aside from that.

The fact that I wasn’t just an ordinary army major or a Defense Attaché, but actually an operative belonging to military intelligence.

That the members of the cult she greeted every morning were actually information agents from the Inquisition.

That the police seated at the same spot on the first floor of the hotel were not ordinary police but police intelligence officers.

That Veronica, who had saved my life and had several conversations with her, was not only a saint but also a collaborator helping the Information Agency.

That Francesca Ranieri, whom I had just met at the Magic Tower, was in fact a rebel and an anti-establishment figure.

That I was not even from here.

There was information that I could share but chose to hide, and there were things I had to keep hidden. Perhaps ignorance was a blessing. I had seen many people get sucked into the quagmire after foolishly getting involved in such matters.

I had hidden countless pieces of information or truths, and Camila remained unaware of them all.

So, I uttered these words.

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about. Hiding something? What would I be hiding?”

Even in that moment, I was spinning lies, but unfortunately, that was part of my job.

I lied as if it were second nature, manipulated people to control them as I wished, and flashed a counterfeit passport stolen from China and Japan instead of my legitimate South Korean passport with my real name.

Deceiving and swindling people was what I did regularly. In fact, I was doing just that even now.

As I confidently spun a plausible excuse, Camila softly smiled and lowered her head. Although she had bowed her head, she still looked down at me.

She opened her mouth.

“People have characteristics. Not just in looks, but in words and actions too. Both I and Lucia, for instance…”

“…”

“It’s the same for you, Colonel.”

Camila gently fiddled with the hand she held. My hand.

It was a little strange for a woman to touch the hand of a strange man whether in this realm or on Earth. But upon closer inspection, it wasn’t merely my hand she was holding; she was gently caressing my wrist with her index and middle fingers.

“Your characteristic is that you always provide examples to make things easier for others to understand when you explain things.”

She continued talking slowly.

“For instance, when someone tries to ride a broom for the first time, they should wear protective gear so they don’t scrape their knees like when riding a bicycle, and they should practice in a safe area.”

I waited for her to finish. After a brief pause, I spoke calmly.

“Isn’t that obvious? When doing something for the first time, you should do it in a safe space. When you ride a bike for the first time, it’s not easy to balance when sitting on a two-wheeled contraption.”

“Why is that obvious?”

“Well, aside from safety, is there something more important? If you rush too much, you risk getting injured—”

“No, that’s not it.”

Camila interjected.

“Why do you take it for granted that a bicycle has two wheels? It could have three wheels or four.”

She spoke in an odd tone. Her voice was calm, but instinctively, I sensed something thick and sticky underlying her words.

“…”

But I didn’t know exactly what that was. I couldn’t pinpoint where she had noticed something odd. After all, the very question was too obvious to pose it in such an odd tone.

So, I found it better to brush it off rather than awkwardly stall for time. I quickly spoke.

“That question is strange. What difference does it make whether a bicycle has multiple wheels? A bicycle is ultimately a mode of transportation that moves when a person pedals.”

“Do you have a reason for thinking of a bicycle as a wheel-based mode of transportation?”

“Because you see people riding bicycles on the street; is there any real need to think about it?”

Camila replied.

“That relates to here.”

The university student from England spoke up.

“In the place I come from, a bicycle might not be a wheel-based mode of transportation at all.”

—

At that moment, I felt as if I’d been struck on the head with a hammer.

My mind blurred, and finally, all the puzzle pieces began to align into a complete picture. I realized where I had gone wrong. I understood what she had grasped.

Having completed that thought as naturally as I breathed, I instinctively felt that I was in deep trouble.

Yet, even amidst that, my mouth acted on its own.

“There’s nothing more to say. That’s purely paranoid delusion.”

I instinctively summoned a tactic I had frequently relied upon before. To put it positively, it was the devil’s advocate verifying the analyst’s judgment, and in less flattering terms, it was the typical approach of a nitpicking jerk.

“It’s an example, but claiming a bicycle isn’t a wheel-based vehicle is a jump to conclusions. Of course, a bicycle might not be a wheel-based item in the neighborhood you come from. However, I, who live here, consider a bicycle a vehicle with wheels.”

“…”

“The same goes for all other things. My explanations are based on this place. Indeed, the differences between where Camila lived and where I am now might be immense. However, if my explanations to aid understanding remind you of something from where you lived, that’s purely coincidental.”

“…”

“Right now, Camila, you are in a psychologically unstable state. I understand. Falling into another world suddenly can cause that.”

I tried to find logical flaws in her reasoning and flip the core judgment.

But Camila just stood there quietly, still bowing her head. The smile on her lips remained unchanged.

“So, you perceive my thoughts as delusions? An exaggerated delusion fueled by psychological factors.”

“Delusion feels too negative, so let’s call it a fancy.”

Without uttering a word, she quietly drew a line around her lips. Her demeanor, different from usual, felt strangely inappropriate and ominous. It wasn’t merely because of her fingers on my wrist.

The musty air had grown dry, and a cool breeze whistled in, yet I still felt the stifling sensation of being underwater.

“…”

Suddenly, I recalled the psychological warfare training I had received earlier.

Voice reflects human psychology. When stating exact facts and firm opinions, a stable voice is used with minimal frequency changes. But when uncertain or lying, the frequency becomes unstable and shaky. Along with that, speech speeds up, breaths shorten, and tone shifts slightly.

Blood pressure and heartbeat accelerate. Breathing and skin conductivity are connected too. Even one’s nose starts to flare.

Thus, to slip past a lie detector or deceive an investigator, maintaining maximum steadiness is crucial. Thoughts must be coherent too.

Lie detectors assess breathing, skin conductivity, blood pressure, and pulse, analyzing them comprehensively to determine the presence of deceit.

And all four elements were intrinsically linked to heartbeats.

Camila’s voice cut through my musings.

“I have one more question.”

She slightly bent her knees and crouched down in front of me, looking up.

Our gazes met, and within hers, I sensed a peculiar emotion.

“Last time, you said elves love nature immensely, right? Remember?”

“…Yes.”

Her two eyes,

“In that case, you must remember this.”

She was filled with certainty.

“How did you know what Greenpeace does?”