A Dark Fantasy Spy

---

“In the beginning, the Great Father created the heavens and the earth, but the earth was formless and the heavens were shrouded in darkness.”

A dark warehouse.

A deep voice and heavy footsteps echoed through the silent space, reciting sacred verses.

“Yet by His gesture, the Spirit hovered over the abyss, and darkness fled before His path.”

-Thud!

Bright lights chased away the darkness, illuminating the inside of the warehouse.

An impeccably dressed orc spread his arms wide and raised them high.

“Behold, light has come forth!”

“……”

I stared at Viktor with a blank expression.

“…When did you convert to a cult?”

“Convert? Nah, that was my father. I’m a lifelong believer, Freddy.”

—

Episode 12 – The Strongest Magician in History

In the harbor area of the Kien Empire’s western region, the docks.

The deep blue sea stretched endlessly beyond the distant horizon. Even past midnight, the harbor shimmered brightly. Countless ships approached the coast, loading and unloading under the magician’s spell.

At the docks located in the western harbor of the Empire, I visited this place with Viktor.

The orc pointed at the neatly lined warehouses and opened his mouth.

“These warehouses have been maintained and passed down by my father, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather to our family. Haven’t you been here before?”

“Yeah.”

“It brings back memories.”

Viktor personally opened one of the warehouses, showing me the contents inside.

Food produced by shamans from the Lushan Federal Kingdom, winter supplies manufactured in factories supplying the Ratwan Principality’s army, pharmaceuticals taken from some production line in Patalia, and more.

The goods brought in through a ghost company managed by the Economic Management Department of the Magic Tower filled the warehouse. While I checked the charts, Viktor asked me.

“Everything matches, right?”

“Even the numbers are exactly right.”

“Whose craftsmanship? Of course, it should match.”

Sigh- Hah.

Viktor took a deep breath. The salty air of the sea filled his lungs and deflated in one cycle.

“It smells.”

“What smell?”

His white tusks gleamed as he spoke.

“What else would it be? The smell of money.”

—

A plan to pressure Hormoz had begun.

“Francesca! The goods have arrived.”

As soon as the cargo prepared by Viktor reached the Empire, Francesca sent someone to fetch it.

“Gentlemen, this is a special cargo, so please handle it with care. Watch out for delivery accidents.”

“Understood, Administrator.”

Francesca used her authority from the Economic Management Department of the Magic Tower to mobilize the magicians.

Though she had stepped down from her position as the administrator after being chosen to be a colleague of Camila, she still enjoyed de facto treatment and authority equivalent to a high-ranking executive.

As a high-ranking officer from the Secretariat, delivering the orders of the Tower Master and the Oracle, the magicians delivered the goods from various parts of the Empire without any suspicion.

“We have a snag, Colonel.”

“What snag?”

“The way to bring the cargo into the northern region. You haven’t told me yet.”

Whether it is goods or people, anything coming into the northern region must pass through customs.

Customs is conducted by the troops stationed at each checkpoint along the central-northern border, all under the command of the Military Government Headquarters.

Just as you must get permission from the martial law headquarters to bring something into a region where martial law has been declared, we must also have the military government’s approval to import goods for black market sales.

In most cases, that is.

“Don’t worry, Administrator. There’s always a way.”

I had the authority to allow special goods to be imported into the northern region.

This was a temporary authority granted to me because the military government couldn’t monitor every shipment we needed to bring in—items needed by Lucia and Francesca.

I used my powers to ensure the cargo could pass through the checkpoints under the pretense that Francesca was transporting pension supplies and materials needed for railway repairs. I even changed all the outer packaging and crafted plausible passing documents along with a few forged ones.

Even if smuggling was caught, it would let Francesca and Viktor escape safely. I made the hole for them. Both are clever enough to find their way out.

Of course, there are limitations to this method.

If it’s not something that Lucia and Francesca could use, it cannot be imported, and there might be a chance of post-incident surveillance, plus the magicians transporting the goods must still pass through customs, so we couldn’t completely avoid scrutiny.

But, can the affairs of the world fit together like a rigid math equation?

I solved the problem using the time-honored ways of the information officers.

“Ah, it’s you, Colonel. Are you going to Petrogard again today?”

“Yes. I have some business at the embassy. Any gifts on the way back?”

“You’ve improved your Kien language, huh? I’d like some alcohol.”

“Vodka? Gin? What was that… oh, the pronunciation…”

“How about honey?”

“Ah, yes. That one.”

“Honey sounds lovely. I would be grateful if you could bring it. Ayatollah! Open the door!”

After bribing a few people while going back and forth through the northern checkpoint for almost a month, passing a few cargo shipments was nothing at all.

Since they knew I was getting help from Senior Lyudmila, the interpreter officer, I had to speak in the most awkward Kien language possible in front of them.

Anyway, after many twists and turns, Francesca and I successfully moved the cargo safely into the north.

I had forged a path for the magicians to safely pass through the northern checkpoints, while Francesca discovered a stable smuggling route through the ghost company of the Economic Management Department and its ships.

Viktor also lent her a little help.

“You can continue to use my warehouse while you’re in the Empire, Lady Ranieri.”

“Really? Is that alright?”

“Of course! I just feel bad that I can’t help more. Unfortunately, I’m contracted with the Imperial Ministry of Defense. But I’ll see if I can find a route to supply goods to the north through some acquaintances.”

“I’m worried I might cause too much trouble.”

“It’s a favor from my friend, so that level of trouble is nothing.”

With a large quantity of goods secured, we finally set foot in the northern black market.

To yank out the embedded stone.

“Deploy people to dump supplies into the north. You can do that, right?”

“I know business better than you, Colonel.”

“Sure. Don’t worry about supply. I’ll unload a gift bundle from the homeland soon.”

No matter how rich a Dark Elf is, they can’t have more money than a nation.

A humanitarian aid bill signed by Prime Minister Abas will be enacted, and the Government of Abas will send donations and relief supplies to the Kien Empire on a ‘humanitarian’ basis.

Not all of it, just a portion. Even a little from that many supplies would chill Hormoz’s guts.

But as someone once said.

A square stone gets pelted, and before money, there are no parents or siblings.

The collision I feared came much sooner than expected.

—

“…I’m sorry, Administrator.”

“…….”

The robed magician bowed his head deeply. His shoulders drooped helplessly.

Francesca gazed at the head-down magician from the Magic Tower with an expressionless face. The usual bright smile was gone, replaced only by a cold aura.

We met in an alley in a northern city.

“…There’s no need to apologize to me.”

Francesca’s tone was no different from usual, but her face was so cold that her polite words felt terribly dry.

“Are you hurt?”

“I’m not seriously injured.”

The magician’s appearance as he spoke was terribly pathetic.

His hair was matted with blood, and his face was bruised from being beaten. With dirt and grime marking him in several places, it looked like he had been stomped on after being knocked down.

“What happened to the goods?”

“They were robbed.”

The low-ranking magician, who visited the black market to sell food, spoke of an assault.

Specifically, he had gone alone to the black market and ended up in trouble. Surrounded and attacked by multiple people, he was beaten before he could prepare to strike back.

“Were you alone?”

“There were many of them. They attacked me from all directions….”

“No, what I mean is, did you go to the black market alone?”

“…I have no excuse. Yes, I went alone.”

From the slight gap between his slightly parted lips, it seemed he had lost one of his front teeth, indicating he had been punched in the face.

With a tooth in that condition, his lips, along with the inside of his cheeks, must have been all busted up too. He wouldn’t be able to drink water properly for a while.

Francesca listened to the short report from the assaulted magician.

Meanwhile, I checked the scene for any clues left behind.

“Colonel.”

“Hm, are you finished?”

Francesca, draped in common winter attire worn by people across the Empire with a robe on top, called me softly.

“What did he say? Who attacked him?”

“The local minor criminal organization, it seems.”

The black market is mostly tied to criminal groups. The black market in the northern part of the Empire is no exception.

War is a nationwide mobilization of everything, including administrative power.

If you concentrate the administrative power exercised across the nation into one place, it will inevitably create a vacuum elsewhere.

Just like when the Magic Tower called in police forces to crack down on the three major factions of pseudo-Nazis, anarchists, and fusion communists only to leave the law enforcement in the slums utterly ruined. The northern part of the Empire has invested much in dispute with the demonic races at the borders, resulting in significant security losses.

As a consequence, countless criminal organizations proliferate in the north.

“It’s a bit harsh to call them a crime organization. More gently, a neighborhood watch? A union?”

“In the Empire, they all get lumped together as crime organizations. Any group formed without royal approval is illegal.”

I heard from Francesca about the details after she spoke with the magician.

As we had previously agreed, she selected individuals among those dispatches from the Magic Tower who were discreet, quick-witted, and good negotiators, sending them to the black market. As a precaution, she even sent some groups armed with force in case something happened.

However, the magician we just met had gone to the black market all alone and was assaulted.

The reason was trivial.

“He thought he could traverse the black market easily even if he was alone.”

“Such confidence.”

He simply had too much faith in himself.

“But why did they beat him and steal the goods then?”

“That’s what I’m curious about too.”

What was stolen was not a big deal. It’s not like it was jewelry; it was canned goods. How expensive could that be? You could load a cart full of that in a supermarket. They didn’t go so far as to kill a person to take the goods, so it could be considered a relief, really.

As I searched for a lighter to find a cigarette, I mumbled.

“They wouldn’t have attacked him without a word. Didn’t he say anything at all?”

“He asked who gave permission for them to sell freely here, and they attacked immediately after that.”

“…Huh.”

To be honest, the stolen goods aren’t the real issue. The fact that a magician was attacked and robbed is.

And this is not the first time.

“Didn’t a similar issue come up yesterday?”

“That’s right, Colonel.”

Some of the magicians operating in the black market are being threatened by local crime organizations. It’s only been three days, and the reactions are already coming.

From unexpected places.

“Has the Palm Tree Trade Guild responded yet?”

“Not a peep from them yet.”

Francesca let out a light sigh.

“It’s not a major problem yet, but if rumors spread, other magicians frequenting the black market could become targets. They might view us as prey.”

“I know.”

This is not just confined to the crime organizations holding sway over the black market. Ordinary citizens can also look down upon magicians entering the black market.

People living in a harsh environment, with unstable law and order, can turn into robbers at any moment.

Regardless of the outcome, this issue must be resolved quickly.

I sighed and turned my gaze to Francesca.

“Administrator.”

“Yes?”

“There’s a saying from a drug lord who was once the richest man in the world. Do you know what it is?”

“Well, I’m not sure. Could you tell me?”

It’s either money or death.

You either take the cash and bow down, or resist until your head gets smashed to pieces.

I stood up and dusted myself off.

“I’m going to step out for a moment.”

“Where are you going?”

If you want to catch a fox, you need to enter the tiger’s den.

“I’m going to the Military Government Headquarters.”