A Dark Fantasy Spy

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Priest Rebecca introduced several Inquisition Officers. They were Inquisition Officers dispatched to the Northern Regions of the Kien Empire, and they were also Information Officers joining this operation.

“Is everyone ready?”

“Yes.”

I pushed open the small door of the Cathedral that led to the dark alley and spoke to the Inquisition Officers.

“Let’s head to the village.”

—

Episode 12 – The Strongest Magician

We set off with the Inquisition Officers to the village where a child had been caught using sorcery. It was located far from the city in a remote area, so a specialized mail courier had to go there directly to send even a single letter.

“How did that kid even get close to the city?”

“I heard he used to travel with his parents to shop often. Since there are few young people in the village, they have been alternating trips to the city for a long time.”

“What do his parents do?”

“His mother is an ordinary housewife, and his father has been confirmed dead since he was conscripted. He was recruited by an officer who came to the village during the early stages of the conflict.”

“What about the Inquisitor?”

“Apparently, they started visiting the village a few months ago. The food supply was quite low, and since mostly old people and children remained, there were many illnesses, but things have improved since the Inquisitor arrived.”

The Inquisitor, who taught the sorcery, seemed like a typical heretic at first glance, but considering the situation in the North, the timing of the Inquisitor’s arrival was quite exquisite.

A priest from the Cult had been identified as a suspect in the killings of magicians and soldiers, causing a stir in the Northern Regions, which was already on edge.

While the results of the investigation had not been announced, rumors of the priest being suspicious were openly circulating among people from the Empire and the Magic Tower.

Nobody, regardless of their nationality, was walking on eggshells, and suddenly a monk popped up, teaching sorcery to a kid. This was in a village where no priest had been dispatched from the diocese.

I was dubious about the identity of the Inquisitor given the circumstances.

What was their intention in spreading sorcery, and what was their purpose in wandering around the remote villages in the North?

While walking toward the town identified by the Inquisition Officers, I posed a question to Priest Rebecca.

“Could that Inquisitor really be a heretic?”

“Since he shared sorcery with civilians without permission, it’s quite possible. To be precise, he is likely more of a heretic than an apostate.”

The active Inquisition Officer, Priest Rebecca, suspected the Inquisitor who taught the sorcery was a heretic.

Heretics and apostates.

I sort of knew what they meant, but I wasn’t clear on the exact difference between heresy and apostasy.

“Is heresy common?”

“More than you’d think.”

“So, what’s the difference between heresy and apostasy?”

“If a heretic denies or doubts the teachings of the Cult after receiving baptism, apostasy means abandoning the faith itself. It’s subtle, but there is a distinction.”

Priest Rebecca, carefully walking on the icy path, asserted, “So the monk who taught the child sorcery is likely a heretic. If he were really a forsaken apostate, he wouldn’t be seen wearing the Cult’s garments.”

Hmm. If an active Inquisition Officer says so, I guess I have to believe it.

“…Well, I guess we’ll find out when we meet this Inquisitor. Watch your step on the ice ahead.”

—

*

Priest Rebecca, the Inquisition Officers, and I slipped out of the city, avoiding checkpoints. It wasn’t hard to bypass the inspection posts since we were moving with trained individuals.

“Keep going straight ahead to the main road; there’s a checkpoint.”

“I saw a river nearby on the way here. We can go through the sewer.”

“Let’s ford the river. Everyone, get ready to ford.”

I led the Inquisition Officers to the riverbank. True to their priestly nature, the Inquisition Officers quickly recited their prayers and jumped into the river.

“May you receive blessings.”

“Oh, yes.”

“When Simon saw someone warming himself by the fire, he said, ‘You are with the Lord.'”

The winter river was colder than ice, but the cold didn’t seem to bother the Inquisition Officers. As soon as the priest laid a prayer on me, I felt a warmth; it seemed to be a prayer for withstanding the cold and maintaining body heat.

I crossed the river and moved into the thicket where the eyes of the checkpoint soldiers couldn’t reach us. There, we regrouped with Priest Rebecca and the Inquisition Officers and started moving on foot outside the city.

“Checkpoints in the North are generally concentrated around the cities and major routes. There probably aren’t other checkpoints in the direction we’re heading. Even if there are, there are plenty of ways to go around them.”

“Are you sure, Colonel?”

“I’ve been roaming around the North daily, so I have a rough idea of where checkpoints may be. I might not know the exact location, but as long as we avoid the paved roads, we should have no problems.”

“Understood. Let’s move.”

After that, nothing happened. We just walked, walked, and walked again.

As there are checkpoints along the paved roads at regular intervals, we mostly used the unpaved roads.

The Kien Empire has vast territories that rival Russia, and the North has a much lower population density than other regions, making unpaved roads much more abundant.

However, because the territory is so large and due to the state of emergency being announced, government-level management has rarely been enforced, making it very challenging to move along the unpaved roads.

“I see an uphill ahead. The ground is frozen solid; should we go around?”

“It’s not a mountain; let’s just break through. Why go around?”

“The ice-covered path will be slippery if we fall. If we get hurt, our speed will slow down.”

“It’s harder to go around. It’s so dark with no moonlight that we can barely see in front of us.”

“The snow has piled up to my thighs. Are we really going to proceed like this even with the risk of frostbite?”

“We’ll rest and move on. We don’t know what might happen, so everyone conserve your divine power.”

Frozen ground, clothing covered in icicles, and no moonlight. Each of these was a challenge and an obstacle.

At least this area wasn’t too far from the Na-roda Mountain Range, so it was mostly flat land and had no checkpoints; otherwise, if it were the Gangwon Province, I would have been in huge trouble.

“The effects of the prayer are fading. The cold is stronger than expected.”

“Let’s rest for 10 minutes. We’ll recite new prayers and then move.”

Priest Rebecca directed the Inquisition Officers, adjusting our marching speed. In the meantime, I took out a map and compass, surveyed the map, measured the azimuth, and calculated the distance to our base point.

Without moonlight and with the surroundings mostly flat, finding our location was not easy, but compared to wandering aimlessly in the desert where GPS wasn’t working, this was a walk in the park.

“The distance has considerably narrowed. If we keep going like this, we should arrive before dawn, Priest Rebecca.”

“That’s a relief. Is there anyone suffering from frostbite?”

“No, there isn’t.”

“Let’s move. Everyone, onward.”

I continually checked the map while guiding Priest Rebecca and the Inquisition Officers to the target location. Whenever we spotted a checkpoint, we would go around, and whenever vehicles passed, we would hide in the bushes and then come back onto the road.

While it was called moving, it was actually more like infiltration, so everyone remained silent. It would be a lie to say it wasn’t boring not to have anyone to talk to, but since this area was well-preserved, looking up slightly revealed a brilliance of twinkling stars, so at least it wasn’t too dull.

After several hours of trudging through snow and mud, we arrived at our destination before dawn.

—

“…I see it.”

An Inquisition Officer walking in front muttered. Priest Rebecca made a signal to stop the Inquisition Officers. I approached Priest Rebecca, who was crouching behind a bush, mimicking a duck walk.

“Have we reached the village?”

“Yes. Do you see that light over there?”

There was no need to ask which one she meant. Even a single lighter can be seen from afar at night, so it was impossible not to see the light spilling out from the buildings. The surroundings were dark due to the absence of moonlight, making the distant artificial lights very vivid.

Leaning against a snow-covered, bulging hill, I unfolded the map and scrutinized the village through binoculars.

“I can see well.”

“Is it certain this is our destination?”

“The terrain matches the map. We should be around here.”

It’s certain that we’ve arrived at the destination. That means this is the village where the child who got caught using sorcery lives.

Hearing my answer, Priest Rebecca immediately gathered the Inquisition Officers. The Inquisition Officers, who crawled through the snow, knelt on one knee and gathered around to listen to Priest Rebecca’s instructions.

“We’ve arrived at the target location. We don’t know where the heretics are hiding, so everyone scatter and search. Report anything suspicious immediately. We don’t know what dangerous factors may lie ahead, so be cautious…”

“Wait a second, Priest Rebecca.”

I stopped Priest Rebecca, who was about to send the Inquisition Officers out.

“I understand you’re anxious, but we can’t just rush into the village without a plan.”

“What do you mean?”

“Can’t you see?”

I gestured toward the village.

“This is a remote village.”

It was hard to gauge the exact size at night, but from what I had seen, the size of the village didn’t seem very large. Probably only a few hundred people lived there at most.

One characteristic of such villages is that residents typically know their neighbors’ faces well.

“If a foreigner enters a place like that, the villagers will notice right away.”

Residents living in areas where visitors are rare easily recognize the presence of outsiders. So, we had several close calls while sneaking into border villages in Southeast Asia like Laos or Myanmar with the team. The same went for the Middle East.

Of course, the different ethnicities in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East might have played a role in that. Yet, having worked in information services for over a decade and meeting numerous foreign intelligence officers, I found the situation to be quite similar across the board. Middle Eastern intelligence officers have also had many unpleasant experiences when poking their heads into remote villages.

Feeling like she hadn’t thought of that part, Priest Rebecca nodded. Quickly grasping, she posed a more productive question to me.

“Then how should we get in?”

“First, we need a purpose for our visit. Also, some identification.”

I sat on the hill, avoiding the cold wind as I continued speaking.

“The kid mentioned that the Inquisitor had been frequently visiting the village for the past few months, right? If that guy isn’t staying in the village, the odds of running into him now are slim.”

“Then we might have to monitor the village for a few days.”

“If we’re unlucky, it could take several weeks.”

So, we need a purpose for frequently visiting the village and staying for a while, ensuring that the residents find it plausible. We need to be able to stroll around the village without raising suspicion.

While I was sharing this perspective, Priest Rebecca fell into thought for a moment.

“It seems we need to create some identification. I didn’t expect this…”

“Not a problem. I just had a good idea pop into my head.”

“…?”

Hmm.

I stood up and scanned the village’s landscape with my binoculars before questioning the Inquisition Officers.

“Have any of you ever impersonated a civil servant?”

“An overseas civil servant, yes.”

“How well can you speak Kien?”

“We can all manage ordinary conversation. Some can conduct business-level conversations as well.”

“That should be enough.”

I took my eyes off the binoculars and folded up the map.

Remote village.

Small population.

Lack of food.

Barely any medical facilities.

The village was overall underdeveloped, and due to the conflict, most adult males had been conscripted, leaving only the elderly, women, and children behind.

As I checked the belongings I brought from Dvork, I found a few decent clothing items. Talk about luck.

Not much to work with, and the intelligence is nothing more than superficial, but now I had a rough idea of what needed to be done.

“Let’s go play civil servants.”

It’s time to bamboozle the folks around here.