A Dark Fantasy Spy

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I’m quite perceptive.

On the surface, I might seem bold and indifferent, but inside, it was a completely different story.

This was a habit formed by my occupation. As an Information Officer, my job was to constantly observe others, guess their intentions, and do the mental math. Moreover, since my work involved interacting with many people, I had to be even more attentive.

My particularly mischievous junior took great delight in calling me a human lie detector.

Yet, for me, working at an information agency, being an Information Officer was always a headache.

Especially with my mother firmly advising me against it at all costs.

Maybe that’s why.

Since becoming an Information Officer, I’ve become quite the perceptive person.

“Ayla.”

I’ve also sharpened my observational skills a bit.

“What on earth are you doing?”

—

Episode 19 – HELLDIVERS

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Late afternoon.

The wind blew softly and monotonously. Gently brushing aside the layer of fallen leaves, the breeze carried away the tattered leaves from the grayish sky.

In an alley lined with compact buildings, the mournful cry of a cat echoed.

Beneath the dimly lit streetlight, a girl stood there.

—

“Why are you suddenly asking about my recent updates? Out of the blue.”

Ayla responded with a sulky face.

“…Just answer me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Be cooperative while I’m being nice. Just confess and find some light.”

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”

With raised eyebrows, she cast a disgruntled glance at her bag.

“I was already about to throw everything away. Why are you acting strange too, seriously?”

Perhaps because she was dragged out without even a moment to collect her things, Ayla looked as if she was questioning the current situation.

Jerry and Adela’s expressions were not much different. The two siblings followed without understanding, scanning their surroundings.

“What’s up? Why are you out?”

“Leave him be, Jerry. They’re probably about to argue over something weird again.”

“And you, Adela….”

The eldest son hesitated to scold his sister. The giggling of the eldest daughter came to an abrupt end.

The once-lively alley fell completely silent in an instant.

As if sensing the shift in the atmosphere, the youngest also became quiet. I didn’t turn my gaze to her but waited in silence.

The awkward silence was shattered by a single question.

“…What are you curious about?”

The breeze danced beneath the flickering light, and Ayla awkwardly scratched her neck before speaking.

“I asked what you’ve been up to lately.”

“Me? I’m working. I’m employed, you know.”

“What kind of job?”

“A trading company. I told you last time. You haven’t forgotten, have you?”

“What do you do there?”

Her eyelids opened and closed with a slow rhythm. After shutting her eyes briefly, she parted her lips slightly and pulled her lower lip inward.

“Sales. I’m in the overseas sales department, and I’m just a regular employee. Mostly dealing with import-export tasks, and recently, I’ve been on a business trip. Well…. That’s about it.”

“Import and export? Why not tell me more about that.”

“There’s nothing special about it.”

Ayla shoved her hands into her pockets as she continued explaining, implying that it wasn’t something to be overly concerned about.

“You know about the potion ingredients, right? We import raw materials, then manufacture potions domestically and distribute them overseas. That’s what our company does, and my job is the distribution part.”

“So your company handles both manufacturing and exporting? Oh, good. So you’re just a newcomer handling support tasks, right?”

“Learning as I go.”

I nodded, still staring at the ground.

“Administrative tasks, marketing, and market research are done in trading companies, so you’ve probably tried those before. Who do you usually contact?”

“I contact a range of people from suppliers to overseas buyers or sellers. They’re all foreigners, so when managing transactions, I handle those related to Kien.”

“What about the cargo owners?”

“…What do you mean by ‘owners’?”

While I was scratching the ground with my foot, I looked up at the distant sky.

“…Forget it if you don’t know.”

I waved my hand dismissively. Ayla looked at me with a puzzled expression as I continued with my questions.

“You mentioned you went on a business trip.”

“Yeah.”

“You went to a bunch of places, right? Where did you go?”

“Just a lot, really.”

Perhaps the overseas experience provided by her workplace wasn’t so bad after all, as her voice had a hint of liveliness.

Names like the Ratwan Principality, the Toltipoca Federation, Rifyo, and Enlwana rolled off her tongue—many of which were countries I had never set foot in.

“I was just trailing after the executives. I didn’t do anything substantial, but I did visit a few exhibitions and trade fairs. It was quite a sight.”

“Exhibitions and trade fairs.”

“Yeah.”

“How long did you stay?”

“Abroad? I don’t really know. I’ve never calculated it… but I think it was about three months.”

“Three months, huh.”

Three months.

I beckoned to the others with a wave of my hand. Jerry and Adela.

The two siblings stealthily moved between us.

“Jerry.”

“Yes…. What’s up?”

“Trading companies participate in a lot of consortiums, right?”

After a moment’s hesitation at the thrown question, the Treasury Department Official began to speak.

“Yes, that’s right. International fairs are practically stages for trading companies; an event can’t happen without the main players.”

“Where do they typically hold it? Those events.”

“The Ministry of Finance oversees commerce and industry, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handles the international aspects.”

I redirected my gaze to Adela. She met my gaze with an expression that seemed to ask, “What are you looking at?”

“Ah, why?”

“When exhibitions and fairs are held, how many days do they usually last?”

“Um… around five days? Sometimes they’re shorter, like two days, but in some cases, they might last longer, but I know they don’t go beyond five days.”

“No weekly events?”

“Do you think it’s a world expo? Where would there be time for weeks of events?”

The current diplomat added a grumbling yet friendly explanation.

“Did you hear that?”

As soon as the words finished, I turned my head to Ayla. She remained silent, still standing still.

“Five days. That’s the maximum duration for a consortium event.”

“……”

“If you multiply that by all the countries you’ve visited, it would barely add up to a month. But three months?”

What is this, a game of Go-Stop? The more you shake it, the more it multiplies.

“You’d better think before you tell lies. Have you thrown your arithmetic out the window?”

“Hey, why are you scolding the youngest?”

Sensing the strange atmosphere, Jerry intervened in the conversation.

The moment he grabbed my shoulder, I twisted my joint and brushed his hand away, easily dodging him.

Even without much effort, he stumbled back. The eldest daughter yelled, “Hey!” as she helped her swaying brother.

Then I tossed an envelope onto the ground in front of them.

“Huh?”

“What’s this?”

As Adela helped her brother up, she picked up the envelope lying on the floor. Inside the transparent envelope were small white granules.

“Is that… drugs?”

The two, taken aback by the unfamiliar object, shifted their gazes back and forth between me and Ayla. Confirming the envelope in hand, Ayla briefly licked her lips in a moment of realization.

With a tired expression, I sighed and pointed at the envelope.

“It’s drugs.”

“What did you say?”

“Methamphetamine.”

The diplomat raised his head in surprise. The Treasury Official, with a dazed expression, hesitated to touch the envelope, as if scalded by fire.

“What are you talking about? Drugs?”

“No, how would you know what that is? Do you recognize it just by looking at it…?”

For some time, Jerry and Adela mumbled in a daze. However, it didn’t take long for their murmuring to subside.

“Why wouldn’t we know?”

I’ve been making my living as a spy for several years now.

“If you separate ephedrine, iodine, and phenyl-2, it becomes meth. You know that, right?”

By the way, ephedrine is a common ingredient in cold medicine. The reason junkies look for someone to secretly buy them cold medicine is right here. Buying a lot of cold medicine puts them on the radar of investigative agencies.

I calmly began explaining, stroking my wrist.

“Usually, people mix ephedrine with other chemicals. They put that mixture into something like gasoline, crank up the heat, and crystallize it—that’s what’s inside that bag.”

“There are recipes that use Birch reduction to create hoses and straws, but that’s usually for the junkies making their own at home, and they’re low on funds, so they find whatever they can at the supermarket. With hygiene and quality well below standard, they usually blow things up and burn themselves during the process, not to mention….”

“It’s common for them to end up with rotten teeth and abscesses. Among those who make drugs, there are sometimes folks who mess up and inhale harmful fumes, wrecking their organs in the process. So there are standards, but for local operations, it’s ultimately at the level of boiling a pot.”

“But aside from these hack jobs, the real drug dealers are on a different level, right? They have brand names for their drugs. So they use good materials and equipment, have proper ventilation, and methods for managing the stench during production, and they set waste disposal procedures… Of course, they also use high-quality raw materials.”

“The products made by those dealers come out as transparent and neat crystals.”

Just like the drugs right there.

I closed my eyes for a moment and let out a long sigh.

“A trading company, huh? Nowadays, selling meth counts as trading too?”

“……”

“You decide.”

I spoke again.

“Will you confess the truth now, or should I call in some folks to raid your company?”