A Dark Fantasy Spy

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There’s a saying that whenever incidents occur around the globe, the culprit is always the UK.

The land where the sun never sets.

A country known globally as the “Great British Museum,” a self-proclaimed largest storeroom of stolen artifacts, that makes Egypt wail, India sob, and leaves countries across the African continent in shock.

There’s a saying that if something bizarre comes to existence, it probably originated from England.

It’s an internet meme, but it does align with reality to some extent.

Having wandered through Afghanistan, Syria, India, Pakistan, Iran, Russia, and countless other African nations that are exhausting to even name, I think of England as a country that would make any formidable nation bow down.

While it’s undeniable that England is a developed nation and its intelligence agencies are top-notch, in my mind, it ranks among the absurd countries alongside the USA, Russia, China, France, and Israel.

Just to clarify, the absurd number one spot is taken by our friends up north, beyond the ceasefire line.

Anyway.

When any event occurs in world history, you can point a finger at England as the cause, and any strange occurrence can be suspiciously traced back to them.

Even now.

Whatever proposal the Duke makes holds little significance for Camila.

Whether Alexandra Petrovna is the Duke of the Kien Empire or the Archmage of the Magic Tower, she was someone raised in a world devoid of magic.

In other words, Camila is someone who doesn’t conform to the common sense of this region.

And she’s an absurd person from one of the most absurd countries on Earth.

The Duke was unaware of this.

“Oh, child. What do you mean by that…?”

“Honestly, aside from anything else, if I’m not learning transformation magic, there’s no reason for me to study magic at all.”

Episode 14 – One Religion, One Faith, Two Saints

Camila’s response to the Duke’s shocking proposal was beyond imagination.

“Thank you for the offer, but I’m not planning to learn magic. I have no reason to.”

A clear rejection.

The first to be surprised by Camila’s outright refusal was Francesca.

“What is happening…?”

For a magician, receiving teachings from an Archmage is an incredible opportunity. Just as entrepreneurs pay hefty sums to have lunch with billionaires, magicians might stake their lives for a chat with an Archmage.

Francesca was well aware of this. Countless magicians were clamoring to be around her, eager to quench their thirst for knowledge.

Some wished to read ancient texts left by the founding ancestors of the Raineiri family, while others eyed the artifacts unearthed by their scholars. Among them were those who wanted to research alongside Francesca.

The name of an Archmage carried immense weight in the magical community.

The influence that mere descendants of an Archmage wield is due to the legacy left behind, and every magician battles for a piece of that heritage.

Yet here was someone turning down the chance to learn directly from the Archmage, not even related to the legacy she left behind.

For Francesca, this situation was utterly perplexing.

However, at this moment, someone else was even more shocked.

“What…?”

Alexandra Petrovna stared blankly into space.

Her pupils were dilated, and her lips parted slightly.

In that moment, she seemed ready to drool, making it hard to find any semblance of a noble’s demeanor or the dignity of an Archmage.

The shock seemed quite profound.

Bringing herself back together, the Duke hurriedly stuttered out.

“W-what do you mean you don’t want to learn magic…?”

“But you said you can’t teach transformation magic, right?”

“Well, that’s true. But, dear child, there are countless types of magic in the world that you don’t yet know.”

“But what I want to learn is transformation magic!”

With a pout, Camila retorted.

“I wanted to learn that, but if there’s no way to do so, I don’t see the point in wasting time learning other magic.”

The Duke was left speechless.

A surly girl, a flabbergasted old man, and a girl who was startled into silence as they exchanged utterly unproductive dialogue.

While this absurd discussion continued, I watched with keen interest, noting the changing expressions of Camila and the Duke.

What the Duke saw in Camila was a mystery to me, but the situation was immensely entertaining.

A legendary sage revered by all magicians was clashing with a girl from another world. Such a scene is not something you can easily witness, even for a price.

Putting aside my role as an information officer for Abas, I personally didn’t care if Camila became the Duke’s apprentice or not; I just found it incredibly fascinating.

So, I settled down on a sofa, snacking on the refreshments placed on the table.

At that moment, the Duke spoke again.

“Are you really refusing to learn magic all because of a single transformation spell…?”

With a pained expression, she murmured those words, and a dark cloud started to loom over her face. The Duke was glancing at Camila with a look that conveyed utter confusion.

Yet Camila remained unyielding.

“Yes!”

“……”

With that short and resolute response, the Duke seemed ready to lose her mind.

“Ugh…”

Her eyes darted around, her lips trembled, and she looked as if she were on the verge of bursting with emotions but ended up sighing and turning her gaze away like a kindergarten teacher trying to discipline a truly stubborn child.

It was as if she was about to go off the deep end.

“Child, why would you say something like that? You have the potential to bloom beautifully. Isn’t that talent precious to you?”

“I’m not sure about the talent part, but I do want to learn magic. Especially transformation magic!”

“Every person has their own desired talents. However, not everyone can realize their dreams. Furthermore, you are a fire magician, are you not?”

While any magician has fields they wish to study, not all can achieve those dreams. Each possesses different areas where they excel.

Like those who wished to study literature yet ended up fishing in the sea, the majority of magicians flourish in areas distinct from their wishes.

A student dreaming of elemental magic might practice sorcery, while one studying astrology at the academy may find themselves entangled in a discipline of necromancy.

Thus, countless academy teachers struggle during career counseling, trying to convince magical students who are pursuing paths misaligned with their interests. This holds true for other standard academic disciplines as well.

However, among that sea of students, some fools stubbornly refuse to yield even to earnest persuasion.

And Camila was the most notable fool among the people I knew.

“But I’m a magician. And transformation magic is still magic.”

Camila held her ground, refusing to compromise.

It would have been understandable if she simply didn’t want to learn magic at all. But she wasn’t about to squander her time on studies that she had no interest in.

After all, who could sway someone who, even when their parents tried to persuade them to graduate from the London School of Economics and become an ordinary person like their siblings, stubbornly entered Cambridge and even interned at an intelligence agency?

If her parents couldn’t budge her determination, it was absurd to think that an old man she had just met today could succeed.

“Child, just think it over once more. There are thousands of types of magic in the world. Have you ever been to the royal archives? Or the Imperial Ministry of Magic? Or perhaps the grand library of the Ivory Tower?”

“I haven’t been to any of those.”

“A friend of mine oversees the great library of the Ivory Tower. In that wondrous place, filled with ancient sorcery and Eastern magic, I’m certain you’ll find magic that interests you…”

“Oh, I won’t learn it.”

Camila pushed the Duke away as if dismissing a street vendor.

With Camila shutting her ears and steadfastly holding her ground, Francesca turned her head in disbelief.

“Is this how she usually is?”

“A little? She’s always had an interest in young children.”

“Why? Does she have a unique preference or something?”

“Not really; she just genuinely likes children.”

Francesca shrugged as she added, “You know, the grandmother has no blood relatives.”

The Duke had no bloodline. To be precise, she had relatives but no children.

Alexandra Petrovna is unmarried.

From the beginning, there were only a handful of nobles eligible to associate with her bloodline of the imperial family, and since becoming an Archmage, no one dared approach the Duke except the Emperor.

Not being married, it goes without saying that she had no children.

“Typically, who inherits the legacies of magicians? Ah, not the wealth, but knowledge or research materials and such.”

“Usually, they pass it down to their children or spouses. If there are none, it goes to their disciples.”

“What if they have no disciples either?”

“Well, in such cases, it would be one of three things: it would be donated to the relevant scholarly society, passed to distant relatives, or returned to the state. Since the grandmother is a Duke, it’s likely to be inherited by the imperial family or the Ministry of Magic. Though ultimately, it amounts to the same thing.”

I pondered over this while stroking my chin.

If Alexandra Petrovna were to die like this, her legacy would pass on to the imperial family or the Ministry of Magic. She is a Duke and a member of the Smirnov royal family after all.

Considering that essentially everything in the empire belongs to the Emperor, if the Duke’s legacy goes to the Ministry of Magic, it is, in effect, being passed down to the imperial family as well. Thus, if the Duke dies without a successor or a disciple, it only benefits the imperial family.

As a true information officer, what choice must I make here?

The secondary option would be to block the Duke’s legacy from passing to the imperial family. The optimal scenario would be to set the stage for Abas to snatch it up.

Given the scale of such an undertaking, both the Military Intelligence Agency and the Royal Intelligence Department, as well as the Ministry of Defense, would likely become actively involved. The Abas government would benefit from swallowing the Archmage’s legacy, and I would benefit from showing results. Everyone wins!

But is this really the best option?

“…Hmm.”

At this juncture, I leaned in to whisper something into Francesca’s ear. The moment she nodded, I called Camila aside.

Still fixated on transformation magic, she was adamant that she wouldn’t study magic unless it involved that. I entrusted the Duke to Francesca and quietly pulled Camila away.

“Camila, can I have a moment of your time?”

“Why? I told you I’m not planning on learning magic!”

“No, just calm down a bit.”

I glimpsed over at Francesca, who was trying to pacify the Duke from a distance before leaning in to whisper softly in Camila’s ear.

“I’ve thought of a good idea.”

Camila asked in return, “What idea?”

“Camila, do you know what the British excel at more than anything else?”

“I don’t know. Making world classics or plays?”

I shook my head.

“Nope.”

“Then what is it? Did the British develop some long-lost strength I didn’t know about?”

“Plunder.”

The British secret—plunder.

Whether it’s cultural artifacts, wealth, or resources, when it goes through British hands, they mysteriously vanish in the blink of an eye.

Magic is no exception.

I turned back to the Duke and made a suggestion.

“Camila, let’s team up for one job.”