A Dark Fantasy Spy

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I sat in the office of the Overseas Director, engulfed in silence.

Leoni, sitting opposite me, stared at me with an expressionless face. The awkward silence coiled around us endlessly, yet her expression remained unmoved.

“What do you mean I can’t go on a business trip?”

“I’m saying it literally; I can’t give you permission.”

Leoni let out a weary sigh as she set down her documents.

“Do you think this company is some neighborhood corner shop that fulfills every request for a business trip?”

“I’m not going for leisure.”

“I’m not joking, either.”

The Major of the Military Intelligence Agency scratched her prominent cheekbone in a nonchalant manner.

“You want to be sent overseas to establish an information network? In a conflict area? Are you seriously saying that?”

“It’s not like sending people to conflict areas is a new occurrence.”

“Then why do you need to go there personally? It’s not like there isn’t anyone else in the company who can go.”

“You don’t just delegate my work to someone else.”

“You’re a Defense Attaché.”

Leoni cut me off.

Ignoring the scrutiny directed at her with an indifferent face, she adjusted her glasses and continued.

“You’re aware that the four areas detailed in the documents you submitted for the business trip are all conflict areas, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then you know very well that it’s those imperial folks and cult members running rampant there.”

“…….”

“Do you have any idea what would happen if you, Abas, a recognized Defense Attaché, were caught working there as a civilian?”

She meant I should behave like a proper officer. It was a warning not to stick my nose into things unnecessarily.

“You know I’m not clueless about this.”

Leoni picked the documents back up with an air of annoyance.

“Let’s not waste our energy on trivial matters when we both know the stakes.”

“…….”

“Get back to work. I’ll leave the task of finding a hero colleague to another department.”

In retrospect, she wasn’t entirely wrong. There were valid grounds to reject my request, and there were enough people available to send in my place.

Thus, it was a decision I could wholly understand.

“…Understood.”

Only in my head.

—

Episode 15 – Life is Beautiful

After my business trip request was rejected, I returned to my office.

The Military Intelligence Agency rarely forced weekend shifts unless it was a particularly urgent matter, especially for information officers masquerading as defense attachés.

Yet, even after taking on the role of a Defense Attaché, I often came into the office on weekends, claiming I had work to catch up on.

“Hey, guys.”

“Yes, Manager.”

“What do I need to do to go on an overseas business trip?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m asking if there’s a way to go overseas when the higher-ups refuse to send me.”

“Excuse me?”

“What? Why?”

“Uh, it’s nothing….”

The subordinates peeking from behind the partition looked at me as if they had seen a ghost.

Jake, who had been munching on a nutritional supplement, widened his eyes, and Charnoy’s hand froze mid-stack of cube chocolates.

Not even noticing the towering chocolate structure threatened by her stillness, Pippin’s not-really-a-question pierced my ears.

“Why are you suddenly bringing this up?”

“Oh, just came to me out of nowhere.”

Pippin, loaded with documents, tilted her head in confusion.

“Manager, you aren’t feeling unwell, are you? Or did you eat something you shouldn’t have?”

“Hey, I’m not some lunatic chewing on world tree leaves…”

“You’re saying weird things out of the blue. Usually, you complain about not wanting to work, so when you suddenly say this….”

She set the papers she held back down, and I pulled some from the desk to hold up.

The documents on the desk contained an overview report of international conditions surrounding the Mauritania Continent, along with analysis data concerning local civil war trends.

Despite the grandiose title, these documents weren’t worth coming into the office on a weekend to review.

“….”

With a disinterested expression, I began to read through the papers.

“There aren’t many safe areas in the Mauritania Continent. With dozens of countries, how is it that they’re all entangled in conflict?”

“It’s about interest disputes.”

Jake, the former Special Forces team leader, answered in a calm tone.

“Even with such a vast territory, the empire has daily incidents. And since various ethnic groups are cramped into a small area just trying to survive in a monster-infested desert, there’s no way it would be peaceful.”

Jake chuckled, adding, “If languages at least were unified, it would be one thing. But with a population of only a few million, there are over a dozen tribes and countries with three or four official languages. It’s surprising that no problems arise.”

“Oh, you must know a lot from experience.”

“Eh… I’ve only been deployed once, you know.”

He scratched his head sheepishly.

I knocked the ash from my cigarette into the ashtray and slowly reviewed the documents once again. One was now two, three. By the time the empty ashtray morphed into a mini-cactus, Pippin, who had opened the window for ventilation, shot me a worried look.

“Manager, is something wrong?”

“Why do you ask that suddenly?”

“Well, you’ve been smoking while staring at documents for hours now. I thought maybe something was bothering you.”

“…….”

Charnoy, who was assisting Pippin in opening the window, chimed in.

“What Pippin said is true! Smoking over a pack in two hours isn’t normal, even from my perspective…!”

My eyes caught the cigarette pack on the desk. The wastebasket was littered with crumpled packs, tangled with scraps of paper.

Staring at the trash filled with cigarette butts, I checked the time. The Kien Empire should be at dinner by now.

I stubbed out the last remains of my cigarette, grabbed my personal phone, and stood up.

“It’s nothing serious. No need to worry.”

—

“Is everything alright, Senpai?”

Clink. The sound of a teacup being set down echoed through the silent office.

Debates over whether it’s polite to set down a teacup loudly are common in high society, but fortunately, this level of noise wasn’t inappropriate in the realm of nobility and dining etiquette.

However, etiquette is inherently relative. Normally, I wouldn’t have cared, but my current company made it an issue.

By both military academy class and commissioning batch comparison, Leoni was certainly my superior by a few years.

However, when an underling much younger than her holds the same rank and even a star, no matter how much of a superior they are, one cannot treat them entirely as a subordinate.

“There wasn’t a problem just a moment ago, but it came up the moment you arrived.”

“Geez, you’re picky.”

Colonel Clevenz, the Director of the Domestic Division of the Military Intelligence Agency, feigned a hurt tone.

“Come on, even if you’re busy, you shouldn’t hurt your underling’s feelings.”

“Get to the point.”

“I heard they rejected your overseas deployment?”

Leoni’s sideways glance landed on Clevenz.

“Where’d you hear that?”

Clevenz grinned, his face becoming smug.

“Have you ever seen people keep their mouths shut in this place?”

“Damn them.”

It seemed the underlings couldn’t wait to spill the beans.

Of course, the specifics were unimportant; the rumors merely mentioned, ‘The Major walked into the Director’s office looking like he swallowed a lemon and walked back out.’

What mattered was that news had spread, regardless of the content.

A younger colleague who graduated from the same university laughed and offered some fake cheer.

“Senpai, although overseas projects are nice, you should keep your underlings in check. Things are tense over at the Inspection Office.”

“Yeah.”

It might sound like casual banter, but the underlying meaning was far more serious.

‘So, you got your overseas request pushed back, huh?’

Initially, Clevenz brought up the rejection of the overseas deployment request.

‘How did you know about that? Are you spying on me?’

Leoni inquired about the source of the information.

‘Snooping? No way. Your adjutant was blabbering away.’

‘Oh, crap.’

‘Get your team together. You don’t want trouble when the Inspection shows up.’

‘That’s my problem to handle; why’re you concerned? It’s bad form for different branches to meddle in each other’s affairs. Since when has the Domestic Branch cared about Overseas Branch issues?’

The words were spun around but ultimately accused the Overseas Director of lacking proper ethics.

Nevertheless, Clevenz remained unfazed.

“Well, since you were my assistant until last year, I thought I should come by when I heard odd rumors at the office.”

“I wondered why you stopped by so suddenly… Why do you care about a Major’s deployment issue?”

“Oh, I worked with you for over three years. If there’s a problem, I might be able to help.”

“Didn’t that consultation serve to solve all issues?”

Clevenz’s weighty comment struck a nerve with Leoni.

“Really? How’d you know that?”

“I wouldn’t know if you hadn’t been blabbing on the phone.”

That meant eavesdropping.

While the domestic part responsible for military security and counterintelligence usually conducted wiretaps as a routine, eavesdropping on military bases within the country isn’t typically within the Overseas Branch’s scope. Especially not on a domestic director’s conversations.

However, Leoni remained unfazed.

That’s because the target wasn’t Clevenz but Frederick.

“The audit associated with the Major is part of Overseas Branch duties; the audit team is checking who he’s in contact with. Is there a problem with that?”

The audit team monitoring communications among the department staff is an open secret within the Military Intelligence Agency. Behind-the-scenes checks for maintaining security are standard practice for any intelligence agency.

While it made complete sense, it was still unsettling when someone was under observation. Clevenz, looking worried, glared at Leoni.

“Man… I wouldn’t expect someone who used to complain about surprise audits to be eavesdropping on their junior’s calls.”

“It’s charming when I do it, but a scandal if others do.”

“Wow.”

Of course, Frederick knew this as well.

That’s why he always used unreported methods of communication when talking to Camila or other acquaintances.

In other words, he typically used company-acknowledged lines only when discussing matters they wouldn’t mind the company knowing.

So, Clevenz vaguely knew that Frederick had unreported communication lines and understood it; he’d been there when he was younger.

Leoni was irked precisely about that point.

“Honestly, these kids treat regulations like guidelines.”

“That’s the problem, Senpai. The company isn’t a machine factory; it’s people working together.”

“Rules exist to be followed.”

At this, Clevenz shook his head as if resigned.

Leoni’s tone was not particularly solemn. The listener received it lightly, and the speaker meant it that way.

Despite not having the best relationship, we’ve worked in the same company for two decades. We had gone from outmaneuvering each other during our cadet days to shoulder epaulets at last.

Thus, even with ancient sentiments, light-hearted banter could pass between us.

“Did someone like you ever go overseas following the rules? Oh, dear…”

Nevertheless, isn’t the situation funny?

It’s humorous that someone responsible for security and counterintelligence gets scolded for not following the rules, and that it’s Leoni, who has made a habit of breaking them overseas, creates a double irony.

Thus, Clevenz could only smile a sighed grin reminiscent of an old man reflecting on bygone years.

“I think you picked the wrong department, Senpai. You should have gone into counterintelligence instead of me taking your place for overseas duty.”

Seated around the office, the two exchanged light-hearted jests.

“Do the imperial types still cause trouble domestically?”

“Not since they got slammed near the Nostrim estate. The only thing that changed was filling that void with the other countries.”

“The consulate in the Northeast Confederation sent a dispatch yesterday. Their information agent said they succeeded in getting close to Charles Nostrim.”

“The director of the Ministry of Finance? Hm, the Ministry is definitely more vulnerable than the royal family in terms of security.”

“Maybe if we exclude the father, the security isn’t too bad?”

“The royal family is protected by the Internal and Intelligence Departments, so spies hardly get a chance to infiltrate. If one had to find a vulnerable spot, it would be the elder brother and sister, but they both conduct themselves well enough… .”

Of course, this was merely chat as per company standards.

“How’s the atmosphere on the Mauritania Continent these days?”

“Pretty much the same.”

“Meaning it’s a mess.”

The Domestic Director mumbled, and the Overseas Director spoke up.

“With military personnel using magic to bombard the Presidential Palace to overthrow an incompetent government, and the war government established through a coup being overthrown by tribal warlords launching a counter-coup.”

“What about the armed groups?”

“Militia, obviously. Goblins parading around in the countryside with red flags, orcs cultivating opium using tree spirit sap from the jungles, and dwarves looting homes under the pretext of ethnic liberation and storming the Ivory Tower….”

Clevenz closed his eyes with a blank expression.

“It’s a complete riot even without humans involved.”

“Tribal conflicts, independence movements, social revolutions, religious strife. When you add in criminal organizations and terrorist groups, it’s an endless mess.”

“You must have quite the headache, Senpai.”

“Isn’t it just you? Compared to counterterrorism, Overseas Intelligence is a paradise.”

“Damn. I can’t argue with that.”

Clevenz pressed his forehead, honestly feeling a headache.

“Senpai, are you not considering coming back domestically? There are plenty of vacancies in counter-terrorism.”

“Let’s stop these ridiculous exchanges here.”

Leoni outright interrupted the lighthearted banter.

“What do you want?”

At last, Clevenz lowered his hand from his forehead.

Throwing the playful tone aside, he spoke in a surprisingly serious voice.

“I came to ask for approval of Colonel Frederick’s overseas deployment request.”