A Dark Fantasy Spy

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After punishing the criminal who pulled off the bizarre trick of double charging with a third-party confrontation and snatching Kamila’s wallet containing the ill-gotten gains, we held a small party.

“Wow! Steak!”

“Eat slowly.”

The moment a perfectly cooked piece of meat was served, a smile spread across Kamila’s face. The dazed look she had while stomping her feet in realization that she was missing out was nowhere to be seen.

After tasting the big chunk of meat, Kamila could only beam as if nothing had ever happened.

“…It’s delicious!”

Did she even have a dish that wasn’t delicious?

While I shook my head at the beaming Kamila, she suddenly started questioning me with a worried expression as she cut the meat.

“But is it really okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“That scammer earlier. Not only did he mess us up, but he also stole our money. Won’t the police come after us later?”

It was a very rational and reasonable question.

However, there was a common misconception among people.

The belief that a high-quality police force would be maintained even in a neighborhood with a shattered crime rate.

“There wasn’t a single police station within a 10-kilometer radius where I took care of that guy.”

“Ah.”

“So don’t worry. Robbery is a common crime in this country. Even if we do this, they won’t catch us.”

—

Episode 20 – Who Threatened with a Knife?

Even though we were wandering around as drifters, my party and I kept in touch with each other. Given the circumstances, we had frequent simple communications even if we couldn’t all gather in one place.

The company didn’t touch on this part either. It’d be weirder to go missing without any clear reason.

Still, I was glad that it had been peaceful for a while. Ever since the crime organizations and coup forces of the Jamria Federation had been wiped out by our hands, all sorts of organizations on the Mauritania Continent had been lying low.

I, too, could wander around comfortably.

…Or not.

“Kamila, what brings you here?”

“Of course, I came to see Frederick!”

Just after the modest celebration party ended, while I was cleaning up the scattered dishes and food with bleary eyes, Kamila, leaning against the sofa, suddenly looked flustered and opened her mouth.

“I’m serious…!”

Having stuffed herself, she was even resting her hand over her belly, all the while grinning. But then, as if remembering something, she hurriedly added an excuse, which was the cherry on top.

I narrowed my eyes and smirked.

“Anyone can see you came to eat.”

“N-no! What do you take me for…?”

“Then who pushed me to let you touch my pizza box?”

“Stop talking about that!”

Whether it was post-meal exercise or something, Kamila flailed her arms and legs and started playfully hitting me. Of course, I felt no pain whatsoever.

“Fine, fine. Now that we’ve established that, stop kicking up dust and let’s unravel some stories.”

Due to adult circumstances, I rarely had the chance to face my companions. Nevertheless, Kamila often visited me when she had some free time.

In a way, she was like a messenger, a courier, if you will.

Of course, as one might guess given the nature of her visits, 80% of the time, she came to play. Thanks to this short yet long peace, our conversations had been limited to trivial updates, and once I entered the field or Kamila began to ramp up her activities, the exchanges ended.

For some reason, the Royal Intelligence Department employees, who had been sticking to their strict stance of ‘minimize unnecessary contact with colleagues,’ had stopped saying a word about Kamila’s unauthorized visits at some point.

Did they all eat something wrong?

How ridiculous…

Anyway, due to the passive oversight from the head of the Royal Intelligence Department, our meetings became fairly frequent, and today, she had come to see me again.

“The Duke says you shouldn’t just sit in your room, but go out and make some friends?”

“What a boring joke… The professor would probably say to broaden your horizons.”

“Seems like he really did say that.”

With the refreshing wind and the sweet scent of dessert, for the past 20 minutes, I had been watching Kamila, who was noisily devouring food like a black hole.

As I lay on the sofa with nothing much to do, she suddenly shared an interesting story with me.

“Well, I came partially to hang out, but actually, I came because the professor asked me to.”

“What did he ask?”

“He said to prepare for a trip we’ll be taking soon. I couldn’t hear the details, but judging by the atmosphere, it seemed like quite an important occasion.”

“Formal dress?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of nonsense is this…”

I made a pillow with my arms and grumpily mumbled for a moment.

And then a sudden thought struck me.

If this goes well, could it be a chance to get out of the dispatch location?

“…When exactly are we supposed to leave?”

—

“What do you mean by that?”

The head of the Royal Intelligence Department looked perplexed, as if wondering if I had misunderstood something.

Though I was constantly having new and thrilling experiences, somehow, a rare cigarette butt seemed to survive. Then I suddenly show up saying out of the blue that I would be taking ‘vacation’? What the hell have I been doing here?

Maybe I was finally losing my mind, or perhaps I had always been a bit off in the head; one could hardly be sure.

But when additional explanations followed, the chief finally sighed as if he understood.

“There was a notice from Duke Alexandra Petrovna that we should prepare in advance as we have somewhere to go.”

“The Duke? Oh dear, this is getting difficult…”

Alexandra Petrovna’s personality is renowned—especially in a negative light.

For example, she’s been known to abduct civil servants from embassies of other countries or to forcibly push through the presidency’s palace of the Jamria Federation.

If the dispatched individual constantly tires everyone out with day-to-day outings contrary to previous evaluations, the Duke was someone known for committing acts of a mind-boggling character with her exceptional magic.

“Got it. If it’s the Duke, then there’s nothing we can do about it. Will other members accompany us?”

“Details are still unclear, but that seems highly likely. I’ll report as soon as I confirm.”

“Okay, I’ll take care of the report to headquarters, so you take care. Have a good vacation.”

“Yes. I’ll be on my way…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Could you possibly process this as an official leave instead of vacation?”

“…….”

There was a brief communication issue, but anyway, I successfully managed to hold on to my vacation leave. The civil servant, who received the leave as desired (actually, more like half-stealing), was joyfully hopping around.

“What’s going on? Where did the dispatch officer go?”

“What’s that? I just saw him come out of the chief’s office, and then he went on vacation.”

“Oh really? Was that guy who jumped in the hallway him?”

“Probably.”

“Wait a minute. Did he properly hand over his duties before leaving?”

“…Huh?”

At long last, the Royal Intelligence Department employees found their peace of mind and sighed in relief, while the chief hurriedly began looking for any vacant positions in other branches. He had a heavy sense of duty to send off the dispatched officer somewhere else before his vacation ended, no matter what method he had to use.

In any case, while one person was enjoying their much-needed freedom on vacation, others were relieved to see that guy finally gone.

It was a day of joy for everyone.

Except for the junior employees who were now buried under mountains of paperwork, attempting to find the handover documents for quantum mechanics that hadn’t even been accounted for.

—

“While Frederick was away, there were no major issues. The professor continued to be present as well. Also, the governments have been cooperating with the peacekeeping forces without any complaints.”

“No way. The royal family doesn’t even provide a caretaker for the elderly? Why is he always alone? He’s well over a hundred, you know.”

“The professor says he doesn’t want anyone taking care of him. He claims he’s not even that old. Anyway, back to the main topic.”

As Kamila, who had taken a bite of a chocolate bar filled with caramel, redirected the erratically flowing conversation back on track, she continued.

“Governments that previously insisted on being uncooperative have recently started to change their approach. This is likely due to the security issues related to the new religion triggered by the terrorist incident in Nabuktu Province, which has impacted society across the board, regardless of the nation.”

“I heard about it. Those cults have been acting up a lot lately, right?”

“There are ordinary humans who keep believers as slaves on farms. Then there was a lunatic cult leader who was using some strange fungus as the key to everlasting life, parasitizing people.”

“Oh, that guy who grew mushrooms on himself? I heard he caused havoc in several towns. Some small cities and villages don’t exist anymore because of him.”

“Those areas lack medical facilities. They were also the first regions where the infected from the cult fled and came into contact.”

“It’s like 28 Days Later all over again.”

I tilted my head.

“Or was it 28 Days Later…?”

“They’re both similar movies, but… Anyway, thanks to Lucia and Saint Veronica taking only essential personnel to that country, it wrapped up without major damage. I heard they purified the 18th infection site just a few days ago, so it should be almost over.”

“Are they all safe?”

“They’re saints. One prayer, and that pestilence would vanish.”

“I’m relieved to hear that. And what else?”

“The angels report that the northern regions of the Mauritania Continent are now clean. No demons. Though they couldn’t find traces of other angels either. Other than that, not much… Oh! Come to think of it, was it last week? When Charnoy said he wanted a hamburger set, the angels said they’d take care of it.”

“…And?”

“At dawn, a mysterious thug in armor with a greatsword burst into the store, which led to a police report….”

“Oh crap!”

“-Though it was reported, don’t worry! It could’ve blown up, but I calmed down the store owner and the police nicely. So the CCTV and the report records were surely cleared right in front of me!”

On our way to meet the party.

In this long journey, stories always blossom.

Kamila, who had come carrying tales I hadn’t been paying attention to, began to unpack them beside me one by one.

Some stories I knew, and some were completely new. But in the end, it wasn’t just about whether I knew them or not.

“Thank you. It could’ve been a big deal while I wasn’t around….”

“What are you talking about! It was such a sudden incident that even Frederick might have found it hard to prevent it if he were there. How could anyone stop something like that when they teleport just to buy a hamburger?

As I lay down with a fatigued expression, a soft chuckle began to poke at my ears. It was Kamila’s quiet laugh.

Her gaze held between boredom and slight excitement lingered in the clouds. With her chin resting on the windowsill, she drew a line across the white cloud. The moment her slender fingers pressed against the glass, the gray clouds receded, revealing the hidden tracks.

And when a moment of miracle echoed across the fields, Kamila, who had been touching the window, smiled softly and asked me,

“Sounds fun, right?”

“Yeah. I’m already excited.”

The train began to depart, heralding the start of a six-night, seven-day journey.