A Dark Fantasy Spy

---

I hadn’t had a sleepover in a while, but then people showed up. It was my colleagues.

Caught off guard by the sudden visit, I realized it wouldn’t be polite to leave my guests outside, so I let them in.

“Please, come in.”

Through my dazed mind, I could hear the sound of a suitcase being dragged along.

Numerous requests for handshakes followed suit.

Starting with Camila, then Lucia, and lastly Francesca. The guests who came to see Abas greeted me warmly, and I stood in front of the entrance feeling dizzy, shaking hands with them.

“It’s been a while. I was worried because I hadn’t heard from you in a week, but you seem to be alright.”

“I’ve been busy with official business… I apologize, Saint Lucia.”

“Are you doing well, Colonel?”

“Yes, no issues here, Administrator.”

My colleagues, whom I hadn’t seen in a week, welcomed me with cheerful expressions. Lucia and Francesca exchanged brief greetings while handing me gifts.

“I’m sorry for showing up unannounced. This is a tea made from herbs cultivated at the Cataline Monastery.”

“Oh my, what is all this….”

Herbal tea from a famous monastery, known to be cultivated with blessings from the priests. Wine made in the southern region of Patalia, famous for its unique color and high sweetness, artisan teapot set, and renowned Biskir honey, supposedly more expensive than an equal weight of gold, among others.

With the unexpected visit and a bundle of gifts in hand, I said I would bring out some tea and guided them to the reception room before rushing to the kitchen.

“…….”

What the heck is going on here?

—

Episode 8 – Say Hello To My Little Friend

—

When a person is extremely flustered, their mind can go blank, and that was precisely my state right now.

I woke up to find gentlemen that should be at the Magic Tower suddenly coming to see me at Abas. And not just dropping by— they had pinpointed my exact location. No notice was given, nor had I received any specific messages from the company.

I placed a kettle of water on the stove and picked up the phone in the kitchen, deep in thought. I wasn’t sure whom to contact.

I didn’t know who to call or how to explain this situation.

“Are you alright?”

“…Camila?”

—

“I came to see if I could help. Do you need anything?”

Camila blinked her bright blue eyes while asking. I lightly shook my head and pulled out some tea leaves from the cupboard.

Just as the adequately heated kettle began to whistle, I gathered my thoughts and added the tea leaves while opening my mouth.

“Um, but why are you here so suddenly? Weren’t you at the Magic Tower? I didn’t hear anything about your coming.”

“We were worried. It’s been over a week since someone said they returned to their country, and we hadn’t heard anything.”

Camila replied as if asking why I was asking something so obvious.

After thinking for a moment, I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t contacted anyone since my return. More accurately, due to the Military Intelligence Agency regulations, internal audit subjects could not contact anyone, so I hadn’t been able to send any updates.

So, they had come all the way to Abas after all.

I let out a sigh of relief and took out four tea cups.

“Oh, I was worried something had happened. I couldn’t contact anyone because I had to deal with something urgently, you see.”

“Oh, this is straight out of a movie. Can you tell me what happened?”

“It’s confidential.”

“Tsk.”

Camila clicked her tongue lightly, clearly unimpressed by my joke.

“As I’ve often said, it’s best not to get involved in matters over here, wouldn’t you agree? So many have had their lives ruined by unwarranted complications….”

“Seems a bit late for that, doesn’t it?”

“You act like a full-time employee when you’ve only been an intern. Enough with the jokes, come on, help us out a bit.”

I prepared tea snacks with Camila in the kitchen. True to her British nature, as soon as she opened the refrigerator and cupboard, she found a dessert that would go perfectly with the tea.

“Oh, these biscuits look like Digestives! My favorite!”

“Camila, is there any cookie you don’t like? You seem to eat sweets daily.”

“I don’t eat them every day!”

“Oh, well….”

If she says so, who am I to argue?

I shook my head and took out some milk to make milk tea while Camila, slightly sulking, pulled out a cookie from the cupboard.

“I’ll have this one.”

“What is that?”

“It’s a cookie I’ve never seen before, but it looks like a Scotch Finger. Do you know what that is? I ate them a lot when I went to Australia….”

“Australia? Camila, have you ever been there?”

“Yes.”

“Were you trying to revive it as a colony or something?”

-BAM!

The girl from the now not-so-great British Empire kicked me in the shins. I rubbed my slightly aching leg while Camila fumed like someone who had just been ambushed.

“What do you mean, colony! I went there for exchanges with Australian people during my internship! When do you think that happened?”

“Isn’t it strange for someone from the country with the most Independence Day celebrations to be talking like this….”

“Hey, seriously! Can you be quiet!?”

Either embarrassed by the legacy of the British Empire or just flustered, Camila’s face turned crimson. Being white, I mean, her face was really red.

By the way, she had visited Australia for exchanges during her SIS internship. I’d heard that Commonwealth intelligence agencies had active exchanges, so maybe that’s how she got the trip.

As I prepared the tea to take to the reception room, I went behind Camila, who was busy pretending to be angry, and got ready to leave.

But true to her chatterbox nature, Camila clung to me, endlessly talking about this and that.

“You know, the Magic Tower is quite different from what I imagined.”

“What did you think it would look like?”

“I thought it would look like Isengard, since it’s called a Magic ‘Tower’. Have you seen The Lord of the Rings?”

“An absolute classic. One of the movies I watched a lot when I had nothing to do overseas.”

“Honestly, I imagined it would be more like Hogwarts…. But, there wasn’t anything particularly special about it. There were hardly any fairies.”

Camila seemed to realize that the fantasy world she imagined diverged greatly from the one she was in now. She began comparing her fantasy worlds from movies to this place for a while.

The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Thor, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Witcher, and even Bright— it seemed she even mixed in some dramas.

“Oh, by the way, I saw someone who looked like Thanos on the way here.”

“Thanos…? That purple alien?”

“Well, his skin color wasn’t purple, but he looked somewhat like the actor.”

“Where did you see him?”

“At the airport? Wait, maybe I saw him earlier…?”

Camila furrowed her brow, mentioning she seemed to have run into someone similar nearby.

I quietly set down the kettle and moved to the window to look around the townhouse area.

It was well past working hours on a weekday. In this residential area, which lacked shops or offices, there weren’t many cars or pedestrians, making it easy for me to distinguish between civilians going about their business and handlers loitering nearby.

There were three of them. One in the driver’s seat of a car, another by a pay phone booth, and the last one standing on the sidewalk behind a parked vehicle.

As I examined the handlers, I recognized the last one’s face and understood why Camila had said ‘someone who looked like Thanos’.

He had a full head of hair but a similar face.

“…Camila. The car and cookies are on the tray, so please take them and go ahead first. I’ll just head upstairs to check on something.”

I discreetly sent Camila to the living room and pulled the curtains closed before heading to the upper floor.

—

As I came down, the fragrant aroma of black tea wafted in.

I tightened my outer garment’s buttons as I walked into the living room.

“I’m sorry for being late. I had a sudden matter to attend to.”

“No, it’s quite alright. We feel worse for showing up without notice.”

Lucia smiled gently, appearing somewhat kind, while waving her hand softly.

“I believe this is the first time we’ve met outside the Magic Tower. Is it your first time visiting Abas?”

“Yes, I think so. It’s been a week, but it feels like a while, Colonel.”

Francesca also responded lightly with a smile.

I exchanged greetings with the two of them and quietly closed the curtains before sitting down.

My eyes were immediately drawn to their outfits.

Lucia, who usually sticks to plain civilian clothes similar to priest robes to avoid political controversies, was wearing a rare turtleneck shirt that truly looked like casual wear. Meanwhile, Francesca, the magician, always donned a cape, but today she had left that off and was only in a white shirt with a cardigan.

“I feel like this is the first time I’ve seen both of you in casual wear.”

“I like this outfit; sadly, it’s a gift, so I can’t wear it too often.”

“It seems to be a precious gift. It suits you well, Saint Lucia.”

Looks like it was clothing gifted from Veronica.

Lucia pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and smiled. Francesca, who is also close to Veronica, nodded in agreement, while Camila…

“Nom nom.”

Was too lost in the tea and cookies.

I almost wanted to chide her about her weight control, but with everyone watching, I held my tongue. I decided to let her enjoy today.

“It’s nice to see you at Abas. I heard from Camila that you came because you hadn’t been able to reach me?”

“That’s right.”

“It’s a shame you couldn’t reach out; if you had contacted the representative office, I would have come out to greet you.”

—

I took a sip of the black tea while mulling it over in my mind.

It seemed the three had entered the country without a visa. Saints of the Cult can typically enter on a visa exemption, and Patalia is a friendly nation that doesn’t require a separate visa. Plus, Camila can go anywhere in the world with or without money.

“……”

Considering the situation now, I imagined that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must be in a frenzy by now. The entry of a saint and a hero without prior notice must have caused quite the stir. The intelligence agency would be just as agitated. Francesca, being a key observation target of the National Security Agency, must have prompted intelligence officers from both her home country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Patalian Embassy to get moving, which means Abas Information Agency would also be on high alert.

This is why high-ranking folks should always inform those around them before going anywhere. It seemed Camila, Lucia, and Francesca hadn’t thought it through to that extent.

Troublesome, indeed.

—

After piecing together the whole picture of the situation, I had a fairly good idea of how things were unfolding. It was as obvious as the sky.

Those who could be out are probably all out, team leaders are rushing to understand the situation, and office staff must be scrambling to find out what happened on the phone.

Of course, it’s not really my concern.

“I sincerely apologize for causing you any worry. But where is Saint Veronica at the moment…?”

“Oh, she’s here too.”

The 59th saint of the Cult, Lucia, mentioned the whereabouts of the former 58th saint, Veronica. It seemed she had kept the habit of speaking politely with those she had served, casually using honorifics in a relaxed setting.

“She’s at the embassy dealing with some matters and will be here shortly.”

I let out a brief sigh and nodded.

Since she had gone to the embassy, it seemed Veronica was handling their entry issues.

Can you believe— they all rushed here just days after receiving news? It’s like we’re not even part of the Umiguan group, what’s the deal?

“Anyway, I’m relieved to see there doesn’t seem to be any big problems, contrary to my concerns. I guess I was worrying for nothing.”

“Haha. Well, it’s my fault for not contacting you. By the way… what do you plan to do now?”

I glanced at the neatly arranged suitcases and travel bags in the corner of the living room and cautiously asked.

I didn’t know why they had brought so much luggage, and I felt a sense of uneasiness.

As I nervously looked around, sure enough, the next thunderous words came from Francesca’s mouth.

“We’re here for a vacation. None of us has had a break in months.”

“What?”

“When I heard that the Colonel was taking some leave, I thought it would be nice to all relax together… are you saying you haven’t taken leave yet?”

“No, that’s not it. Who said I was taking leave?”

“Of course, it was Saint Veronica who mentioned it….”

“…….”

“Is there a problem?”

“…No problems whatsoever.”

Probably.

“…….”

It was day one of my long-awaited leave after months.

And just like that, an unplanned trip came into existence.