A Dark Fantasy Spy

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It was a time of endurance.

The northern winds howled through the mist, mercilessly striking the snow-covered mountains, stained with blood.

The ground trampled by the cursed army of monsters.

Only after the storm of steel had calmed did peace finally arrive in that place where the living and the dead intertwined.

The darkest hour had passed.

As the fog began to lift,

the scarlet dawn rising in the east illuminated the ruins,

gently embracing the scars of war.

It was the end of a prolonged battle that felt like a midsummer night’s dream.

—

Episode 12 – The Strongest Magician of All Time

—

It was morning.

Not a single cloud, the usual grey covering the sky of the north, stained the world.

The rare clear sky of the north, which you might see only once in a few years. The warm sunlight tickled my skin like a child’s whisper.

The snow-capped mountains, covered in a thick layer of fresh snow from the night before, were breathtaking.

With a pristine mountain and an incredibly clear sky, gazing at the brightening dawn felt like sitting in a famous art museum, admiring a masterpiece.

I stepped between the tents, looking at the dawn brushing my face, and suddenly muttered,

“…It’s morning.”

My tone was far too monotonous to evaluate such a rare sight.

But just yesterday, I thought I would never see the rising sun again. So maybe even this mundane reflection was enough to convey meaning.

Sitting alone on a makeshift bed, lost in thought, a delicate white hand suddenly appeared and lifted the tent flap.

“…Ah.”

Lucia, having entered and momentarily widening her blue eyes in surprise, greeted me with a kind smile.

“You’re awake. When did you get up?”

“Just now.”

It was the beginning of a new morning.

—

*

The long night had passed, and morning had come.

Although it was only a single day, much had transpired. No, ‘events’ would be a more fitting term than ‘work.’

I sat with the early risers who had gathered from dawn, huddled together, chatting away.

“I thought I was really going to die yesterday…”

“Didn’t die, did you?”

“That’s true…”

The confession of the defeat of the armored troops against the monsters that attacked the Rift. We raided to capture those monsters with just over a dozen people, while the imperial army fought valiantly against the onslaught of corpse spiders.

Had the vanguard from the cult and the Magic Tower or the main forces from the Knights Order and the Magic Battalion not arrived in time, the Rift might have turned into a playground for the corpse spiders by now.

Fortunately, the person who dealt with the crisis so that such accidents did not occur was present.

“…Sigh.”

Francesca crossed her legs and let out a light sigh.

“I’m grateful everyone showed up, but wouldn’t it have been better if they arrived a bit sooner? Just thinking about how long we struggled to catch one spider is frustrating…”

“Showing up is what matters, though. By the way, where are the imperial army magicians?”

“Who knows. They might have lost their way…”

The Knights Order and the Magic Battalion, having received a call for support, rushed to the area where the Rift was located.

And the initial vanguard, Pereyti and Martinez, even led their forces to help capture the giant spider.

Particularly, Pereyti, with excellent skills, helped Francesca break the spider’s shell, allowing Camila’s attacks to land effectively.

Just after severing the giant spider’s neck, the main forces from the cult and the Magic Tower successfully ambushed the surrounding corpse spiders attacking the defense line, resulting in a complete victory over the monsters.

“I almost died there at the end when that damn spider was causing chaos… But anyway, it turned out well in the end. You two are okay, right?”

Francesca nodded instead of answering.

“Good to hear.”

I confirmed that neither Camila nor Francesca were injured, and neither Pereyti nor Martinez nor anyone else seemed harmed either, which I was relieved about.

If it weren’t for the next line that followed.

“What do you mean by ‘good to hear’?”

I felt my body stiffen at the voice that came from right beside me.

Turning my creaking head, I found Lucia staring at me with a cold face, her bloody bandages undone.

“Everyone else seems fine, but it looks like you’re the only one who got hurt.”

“…Um, well, that’s…”

“Let’s not talk about it.”

After undoing the bloody bandages, Lucia wrapped new ones around my forearm.

Then, tightening the bandages so that my hand trembled, she held them tightly

“Aow.”

“Stop pretending it hurts.”

“No, aren’t these a bit too tight?”

“It’s correctly tightened. Are you doubting my skills right now?”

“That’s not what I mean….”

“Then just stay quiet.”

Lucia cut me off with a firm tone that left no room for arguments.

The injury on my arm had been caused when I stuck my gun into the mouth of the rushing corpse spider, as it clawed me with its legs just before dying.

Fortunately, it was a smaller one, so there was no danger of its legs reaching my face, but my arm that held the gun was a different story.

Since it wasn’t a critical wound and many were injured, I had only wrapped a bandage and postponed treatment. It seemed that Lucia intended to treat it today.

Or perhaps she thought about twisting the bandage tight until it broke my wrist.

With every rough tug on the bandage, my forearm jostled, and my palm trembled, but Lucia didn’t care at all.

“Um… Saint Lucia. Why don’t you just heal it divinely instead of wrapping these bandages?”

“….”

Suddenly, her hand tying the bandage froze.

After a moment of silently staring at me, Lucia, with a blank expression, yanked the bandage hard, making me shut up.

—

*

Many overlook the fact that just because a battle has ended does not mean everything is resolved.

You must tend to the injured, reorganize troops, move new formations to the rear, and fill in the proper, vacant spots in a complicated, exhausting process before it can truly be concluded.

The imperial army, which defended the Rift, restructured its units.

“Take the injured to where the priests are!”

“All magicians, follow me. By the way, when’s the heavy machinery coming to clean up the debris?”

“Come on! Get to it!”

The imperial army was busy with reorganization throughout the night.

They sorted out the lightly and seriously injured, drawing troops from the somewhat intact regiments to fill the heavily damaged ones.

Due to the artillery fire from the brigade and division that altered the terrain, the tasks of the imperial army had become incredibly complicated. Trying to head down below the mountain was now blocked completely, and fixing that path would take quite a long time.

Additionally, the imperial army mobilized mages to clear the debris of the fallen fortifications and buildings.

As the mages turned the earth to clear the wreckage, the executives scavenged useful materials, desperately incinerating any confidential documents before anyone could pilfer what they hadn’t managed to destroy during their retreat yesterday.

I watched the smoke rising from all over the unit.

“What a waste.”

Since the task of defending the Rift is of utmost importance, there must have been quite a bit of valuable material here. Not only secrets from Abas but also from Patalia, the cult, Ratwan, Lushan Federal Kingdom, and even from distant Eastern nations.

And now those things were turning to ash in a drum.

Why didn’t I think to steal that yesterday? Regret washed over me, but it was too late now.

I turned my gaze away from the rising smoke, smacking my lips.

“Hey! Get out of the way!”

A sharp voice pierced through my eardrums.

Looking up, a golem was striding angrily towards me.

“This is the path for the golem! It’s dangerous, so please use another route!”

The magician riding atop the golem shouted as they hurried along the road. A cape with symbols of the sorcery school fluttered in the wild wind.

It was a magician from the Magic Tower’s Magic Battalion.

After receiving Francesca’s contact yesterday, both the Knights Order and the Magic Battalion had come here. The initial vanguard arrived first, followed by the main forces just as the giant spider was dying.

I quickly glanced at the combat magicians from the Magic Tower and then, among the crowd, I spotted someone familiar.

“Well, if it isn’t Sir Martinez?”

“Who… Oh, it’s you, Colonel.”

The head of the dispatched personnel from the Magic Tower Secretariat, Juan Pablo Martinez.

Since he was the gentleman who fought alongside me against the giant spider yesterday, I could approach him without formal introductions.

“What brings you here? You seem very busy this morning.”

“I’m on my way to hunt down the scattered remnants.”

“Remnants?”

“I meant the corpse spiders that fled yesterday.”

“Ah, the corpse spiders….”

Martinez was leading the combat magicians from the Magic Battalion to exterminate the corpse spiders.

Once the giant spider, which had been viciously attacking the corpse spiders, was slain, the swarm of corpse spiders scattered in every direction like cockroaches hiding from the light.

Those fleeing corpse spiders then spread throughout the entire mountain range surrounding the Rift.

Under normal circumstances, the imperial army defending the Rift and the divisions stationed below the mountains would deal with them….

“There seem to be a lot of gaps. It’s not easy to ask for help from the imperial side.”

“Ah… right.”

Those gentlemen had been dead for a long time.

I turned my gaze to an open area a distance away. In the empty parade ground, dozens of people lay covered in black cloth.

Though the armored troops existed, most of the forces stationed at the Rift were infantry. It was easier to send a single infantry company than to haul a tank up a rugged mountain peak.

Though I had roughly anticipated it, the imperial army suffered severe casualties. Together with the uncollected corpses, it was possible that hundreds had perished.

“The battle seems to have been fiercer than expected.”

“It certainly seems that way. When will the imperial army provide support?”

“I heard they’ll send a vanguard from below the mountain today. Artillery support is also planned.”

The Magic Battalion decided to exterminate the monsters scattered in the mountains on behalf of the imperial army. According to Martinez, they would receive assistance from the nearby imperial division.

Of course, the Knights Order would be an exception. The more fighters, the better.

However,

“I noticed yesterday that there are Inquisition Officers mixed in with the Knights Order’s main force.”

“Inquisition Officers? Are you saying there are Inquisition Officers here?”

“That’s correct, Colonel.”

In addition to the Knights Order that arrived at the Rift from the cult, there were also Inquisition Officers present.

And Inquisition Officers were among the races that sorcerers found most uncomfortable.

“I wonder why they’re here.”

“Probably for the safety of Saint Lucia. Being a saint, it makes sense to have protection.”

When Lucia visited Abas just after becoming a saint, Inquisition Officers followed her as well. To be precise, they contacted the Abas Information Agency and added their names to the visitor list.

It wasn’t unusual for information officers to accompany dignitaries on international visits, so it wasn’t my concern, but the mages from the Magic Tower, including Martinez, seemed quite unsettled by the presence of the Inquisition Officers. They were subtly revealing their discomfort.

After all, how cozy can a sorcerer and an Inquisition Officer be together? The church must have bothered them greatly.

Of course, it was no concern of mine.

Fortunately, it was good to have received this information. I cautioned Martinez to avoid unnecessary friction.

“You don’t need to worry too much.”

“The time has passed. I must take my leave. Please convey my regards to the Administrator.”

“Take care.”

With a brief nod, Martinez led the combat magicians into the forest.

As I walked in the direction of the unit, I mentally recorded everything I saw one by one. It wasn’t for work-related reasons; it was just a habit—a kind of occupational disease.

Monsters had attacked a military unit. Moreover, that unit was the one responsible for defending the state’s critical facility, the Rift.

Just that alone was sufficiently bizarre, but now, the combined presence of the imperial army, Knights Order, and the Magic Battalion in one place was alarming. What sort of chaos would arise when water and oil, people who absolutely cannot mix, gathered together?

I didn’t know yet, but it would not remain peaceful.

If three people join forces, a tiger that never existed could suddenly appear; if five people band together, there’s always one who’ll act foolishly.

“Senior Lyudmila?”

“Yes.”

“I’m really sorry to bother you during your busy time, but could you please send a message to the Military Government Headquarters?”

“Of course. I’ll relay it to the unit; go ahead.”

I communicated with the Military Government Headquarters using the imperial army’s communication network, saying that as soon as Camila, Lucia, and Francesca finished their tasks, we would leave the Rift.

No matter how imperial the army was, they had no authority to stop our group. Not when it included a saint, an alchemist, and a hero. The Military Government Headquarters returned a casual reply to go ahead as they pleased. After all, our vehicle had been smashed and was immobile.

I moved about freely, closely observing what events unfolded.

But as is often the case in life,

the situation arrived much quicker than I’d anticipated.

—

Deep in the night.

As the warm sunlight disappeared and darkness thickened, I was slowly organizing the content for my report in a temporary tent set up instead of the collapsed lodging.

It was around the time I had nearly finished the draft when someone came to my tent.

“Do you have a moment?”

“Who… Oh, it’s Saint Lucia.”

It was Lucia.

Having arrived at the tent, she was wearing her usual white robe and holding a lantern. Given the snow on her cloak, it seemed she’d been outside.

Perhaps due to the night, the wind was colder than I expected, so I quickly ushered her inside.

“Come in.”

“Yes.”

Lucia didn’t add any further words. Normally, given her nature, she would’ve had a slight flourish in her speech.

Something felt off.

I tilted my head in confusion, my eyes narrowing as I spoke first.

“Would you like some tea?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Lucia curtly declined. Without even shaking off the snow on her shoulders, she continued.

“I heard from Sir Pereyti yesterday. They’ve dispatched magicians from the imperial army.”

The sudden topic of conversation was alarming. I nodded, trying to hide my surprise.

“And if I recall correctly, we mentioned those people in our conversation this morning. Am I right?”

“Yes.”

Lucia silently looked at me.

Honestly, I hadn’t noticed earlier, but her expression held a certain darkness.

As the cold wind breezed through the gap, the lantern flickered. The wavering light cast shadows on Lucia’s face.

“…Saint?”

“……”

Lucia, who had been silent, closed her eyes for a moment.

Like she was lost in thought, Lucida slowly opened her eyelids and stared straight at me.

“…Actually, there was a report from the Knights Order just now. They were returning after exterminating some monsters, and it seems they were looking for people—those magicians, it seems.”

“Is that so? But why are you telling me….”

“Let’s go out.”

Lucia lifted the tent flap, revealing the place outside.

“I think it’s better for you to see it for yourself.”