NOVEL WEB Chapter 543
Thunder flashes across the gray sky.
The ominous clouds that overshadowed the blazing midday sun dyed even the red desert gray. The sound of Azan prayers echoed behind the glass windows, and raindrops that fell from the murky sky began to traverse the heavens of Shizuya.
After the meeting was over,
we unpacked our things at the hotel arranged by the Ashtistan government.
I hadn’t heard anything about how much longer we’d have to stay here, but given the local situation, it seemed we weren’t going home anytime soon.
“……”
Standing at the window, I looked down at the city.
Smoke rising against the backdrop of Shizuya stuck to the ceiling, and the ash that precariously hung in the air gently settled next to my shoes.
The drizzling rain thickened.
As I gazed at the capital of Ashtistan becoming soaked by the rain, I took a drag from the cigarette held in my hand while clutching the security phone.
I softly closed my eyes, slipping into a moment of reminiscence.
—
Episode 20 – Who Threatened with a Sword?
When the word “Operative” slipped from her lips,
I wasn’t taken aback in the slightest.
Because in the information trade, there exists an undeniable hierarchy.
“An operative, huh…”
I muttered, raising an eyebrow briefly, conveying my bewilderment.
“I don’t quite understand the intent behind your words.”
Much like how one cannot compare an Olympic gold medalist with an amateur from a local gym.
There’s an insurmountable wall between companies of developed nations and those of underdeveloped ones.
To put it simply, it’s a gap—if I say it a bit harsher, one might call it a disparity.
In that regard, the evaluation of the Ashtistan Information Agency was dismal at best.
While they meddle in the conflicts of the Mauritania Continent, they lack the capability to perform high-difficulty intelligence operations in other continents.
Whether it’s gathering intelligence, analyzing it, or executing covert operations.
Once you start comparing them to the Inquisition, which acquires confidential information from other companies, or Abas’ Information Agency which implants undercover spies in foreign intelligence agencies, the disparity becomes stark.
Counterintelligence, at the very least, they do somewhat well. But compared to the Imperial Guard, it feels like a small dog wagging its tail on top of a large dog.
In summary, these were folks who could only play around within the Mauritania Continent. That’s the consensus among various companies regarding the Ashtistan Information Agency.
When compared with Iranian intelligence agencies that engage in brawl within the territories of Middle Eastern Sunni countries or pro-US foreign nations, even Israel—the Ashtistan Information Agency was nothing more than a restaurant with a “business as usual” sign hanging while it was collapsing.
(Of course, it was routine for the Israeli intelligence agency to mess up Iranian operations whenever they tried something since the Cold War era.)
To put it concisely,
they lack any capabilities that surpass the Abas Information Agencies.
“…You say you don’t understand intent?”
“Were you joking?”
I responded with a friendly smile, deflecting her words.
“If so, I apologize. It seems I’m just a plain person who cannot grasp the wit of your Holiness.”
While my surface smiled, my mind spun in circles. What could this old hag’s true intention be?
My personnel record managed by the Military Intelligence Agency wouldn’t have leaked to Shizuya. If my identity were to be exposed to all, the first ones to get their hands on it would be from Petrogard.
And the companies of the Kien Empire I know were definitely not the sort to share information with allies or friends.
“Could the Empire have informed them, perhaps?”
The leader of Ashtistan asked with a cigarette in his mouth.
“Could that be so?”
I dismissed it without much thought.
“In 1975, a cruiser undergoing an overhaul at the Herab Shipyard sank.”
The seven key engine components supporting the Goliath Crane housed a magic-detecting explosive that detected the magic emanating from the crane. A third-grade earth sorcery used on industrial sites exploded, causing the crane to collapse, and its debris rained down on the cruiser.
“The cruiser, which had been the pride of the Ashtistan Navy since the kingdom days, was crushed like a piece of gum stuck to the sole of a shoe. I still remember the article about that. The academy professor accidentally displayed the bodies crushed by the crane without any mosaics, resulting in complaints from parents leading him to apologize.”
“……”
“I heard that the Kien Empire was aware that the crane would collapse at that time.”
That was an understatement.
The Kien Military Reconnaissance Command had already bribed a general of the local defense department to obtain operational plans two months prior. The eavesdropping site established in the Mauritania Continent had been monitoring communications between the defense department and the information agency in real-time, while all reports sent from all channels were relayed to the Imperial Guard and the Foreign Affairs Office.
In other words,
“When the neighboring country collapsed the Herab Shipyard, did the Empire’s Foreign Affairs Department ever provide any notice to the Ashtistan government?”
The Empire screened all military operations happening across the sea yet didn’t inform the Ashtistan government.
The reason was simple.
The moment they passed that information to the Republic of Ashtistan, one of the foreign-based signal intelligence assets would surely become exposed.
A very fitting decision.
In the 70s, countless fleets moving in and out of the Red Desert strait had no clue that their communications were being monitored.
The Kien military’s eavesdropping site established in the 1960s monitored the communications of various navies for over 15 years, but intelligence agencies from 20 countries including Abas and Patalia were utterly oblivious to this fact.
It wasn’t until one of the information officers from a soft-hearted reconnaissance command delivered a report stating that “the fleet of the Lushan Federation would reach close to Ashtistan’s territorial waters” to the Ashtistan Information Agency that the report was detected by the Royal Intelligence Department, which was monitoring Shizuya.
The Military Intelligence Agency, along with numerous military intelligence agencies, officially began to raid the Empire’s Defense Department, and after a year of investigation, the eavesdropping sites set up in various places across the Mauritania Continent by the Reconnaissance Command were revealed to the world.
After that incident, the Empire’s intelligence agencies no longer trusted the Ashtistan Information Agency.
This event occurred less than 20 years ago.
New recruits might treat it as a thing of the past, but high-ranking intelligence officials who were serving back then still couldn’t forget it. The years spent cultivating intelligence networks costing billions were shattered in a year due to the Ashtistan Information Agency’s incompetent security.
What must those respected seniors have thought as they watched their necks flying in real-time?
It was quite known that high-ranking intelligence officials from the Kien Empire regarded the Ashtistan Information Agency as parasites and vermin.
“Right.”
Jainab Eskander replied in a nonchalant voice.
“It’s true that the Empire and we have a close relationship, but it’s not tight-knit enough that we share secrets like allies.”
What a refreshing acknowledgment.
Even she, who was closer to the Duke of the Empire than anyone, did not deny that there existed a subtle discord between the two nations. There was simply too deep a chasm to deny it.
Thus, the leader of Ashtistan responded in an indifferent tone.
“I was joking. Was it not amusing?”
“I thought the Security Committee was coming for me. I expected to be locked up for about one and a half years.”
“So it was dull, huh? I apologize. Sasha sometimes tells me not to make jokes. Apparently, she says I have no talent.”
Well, that’s quite a keen observation.
Watching the priestess tapping her pipe in a seemingly carefree manner, I was convinced that the sudden action shown by the Security Committee official had nothing to do with her.
Even with mentioning the name of the Security Committee, the priestess showed no unusual reaction. There was no sign of surprise, as if asking why that name had come up.
Did she hide her feelings well, or was she truly unaware of anything?
“…Cough!”
Suddenly, the priestess, who had been puffing her cigarette, burst into a fit of coughing. She quickly removed the pipe from her mouth, her expression twisted, and she shook with a rough cough, resembling a patient suffering from tuberculosis.
“Cough, cough…!”
“Are you okay?”
The duke, who had been attentive to his student, and even Camila, who was trying to escape from her master, rushed over with worried expressions.
But she merely waved her hand to stop them, assuring them she was fine.
“Hmm— I’m fine. It’s nothing, cough… it’s nothing at all.”
“That doesn’t seem fine, though.”
“No, Sasha, I’m fine now.”
“Spending all that time holed up will surely wear you down, no?”
Just go out for a change! The duke grumbled toward his long-time friend, while the priestess, seemingly unable to defy that, nodded reluctantly.
“It’s getting late anyway, so let’s wrap this up. Since we’ll be here for a while, we can slowly catch up later.”
“Sure, Sasha. But please wait a moment? There’s still something I want to talk about.”
Looking at her face, the demeanor seemed to suggest, “Shouldn’t it be better for you to rest right now?” but the one to yield first was surprisingly the duke.
“Do as you wish. Just don’t overdo it.”
“Thank you.”
Alexandra Petrovna reluctantly obliged her friend’s request. The archmage vanished with a blue flame, then appeared with a “Whirch~” of fire and snatched Camila away.
“Come along. You little rotten disciple!”
“Aaaah…! How is it fair to teleport to catch me?”
“You should have thought about running away if you saw my magic. Who told you to react slower than the master?”
As she loaded her disciple like a sack of potatoes and exited the room,
the priestess silently picked up the fallen pipe.
She conjured a spell to ignite the remnants of the tobacco, and although the embers were slowly burning down, she kept her mouth shut.
The silence lingered until just before the red-hot ash was blown away by her breath.
“…What I am about to say now is my personal joke, so you can take it lightly.”
I was making a joke, and this was my monologue. The priestess continued as if flowing with her voice.
“If you are not an operative of Abas, then there would be no reason for you to look for two ships, which might someday depart from some harbor at some hour.”
“……”
“Even if they are unflagged vessels sailing with concealed destinations. Even if a few weapons painted in desert colors are on board.”
Unflagged cargo ships are generally used for smuggling. Concealing one’s nationality is the first step in maritime smuggling. And the desert camouflage pattern is also introduced by the regular armies of numerous countries due to the geographical characteristics of the Mauritania Continent.
What matters is where those desert-patterned weapons—most utilized by one specific nation—are being exported from and through which route.
For reference, Ashtistan possesses the most smuggling vessels in the Mauritania Continent.
Moreover, the Republic of Ashtistan is the only country officially mass-producing weaponry in desert camouflage. To put it explicitly, the Kien Empire’s defense industry established a factory on this land, and the weapons released from that factory had been exported across the Mauritania Continent since the monarchy era.
And coincidentally, the location where this conversation was taking place was none other than the capital of Ashtistan, Shizuya.
“……”
I smiled.
“It seems my sense of humor is severely lacking.”
—
As the vehicle headed towards the hotel, a report was delivered to one of the numerous camouflage businesses owned by the Military Intelligence Agency.
Upon checking the memo, the headquarters dispatched orders to various departments.
In a coffee shop in Shizuya, a woman doing a crossword puzzle checked her mobile phone, while a man who had laid his chair back and was napping put on his headset, and sailors bouncing around the swaying cabin gathered around a PDA.
—
[ Two vessels flagged as Geared (crane, derrick used for port loading and unloading) MPV (Multi-Purpose Vessel) from Port Asalughi have been identified. Judged to operate under the Law Enforcement Corps as a smuggling vessel. *Additional details attached. ]
[ As a result of intercepted communications between Nizwa and Besher, the destination was confirmed from phone conversations between employees of an Ashtistan construction company and a port manager. The cargo is expected to arrive at an industrial port in a third country approximately 160 miles from Port Asalughi in three days. ]
[ Current location: North Latitude — / East Longitude —. The vessel is currently 14 miles from the MPV, approaching at a speed of 21 knots on the MPV’s port side. Contact expected in ○○ minutes. Boarding team with Captain □□□□□ and ○○ personnel on high-speed craft is dispatched. Agents on the starboard deployed. ]
[ Refusal to halt upon command. Three attempts to communicate via radio made with no response from the MPV. Attempts were made to signal with light but no response. Warning shots fired before VBSS carried out. 2900 automatic weapons, portable anti-tank weapons, components of the reconnaissance airborne magical tool “Oqab,” and various illegal weapons seized. *Serial numbers for weapons and magical tools attached. ]
—
Literally overnight, the country turned upside down.
The local government of the area where the smuggling vessel was supposed to arrive erupted in anger, claiming that external forces attempted to supply arms to the rebels and upon realizing that Ashtistan was behind it, a public protest statement was issued.
The Kien Empire was also in a quandary. The region where the weapons were produced was the Republic of Ashtistan, but they were the ones who established the arms factory there.
The Empire’s Foreign Affairs Office distanced themselves, stating, “This arms deal is unrelated to the Empire, nominally or practically,” but once the concern arose that “isn’t the Empire getting involved again in the civil war of the Mauritania Continent via the Republic of Ashtistan?” the spokesperson of the Foreign Affairs Office even became irritable with the reporters.
When criticism began to pour in, the Ashtistan government stated they hadn’t even attempted any arms deals.
Moreover, citing the fact that “the vessel was a foreign-flagged smuggling ship,” and “there were no Ashtistan nationals among the crew,” they tried to evade responsibility. However, they made no comments regarding the presence of the Ashtistani language found among the seized illegal weapons and magical tools.
Finally, the Abas government.
The Abas government, which inspected the arms smuggling vessel from Ashtistan, also issued a protest statement, similar to other governments. However, the anticipated sharp criticism did not emerge, and merely a statement of general protest ensued.
Numerous speculations arose from this.
Most of them inferred that the Abas government was gradually seeking to withdraw from the political scene in the Mauritania Continent, or perhaps moderating their stance to avoid friction with the Kien Empire.
The Abas Foreign Affairs Office repeatedly stated, “The peace of the Mauritania Continent must be maintained at all costs,” but did not express any stance regarding such speculations.
To be strict,
they were in fact too pressed to respond to those speculations.
-‘…What on earth is happening?’
—
When I received a call from Leoni, who seemed to be in disbelief, it had already been after I had spent a sleepless night.
I had been unable to sleep thinking about what had happened to the cargo ship that departed from Ashtistan yesterday and the true intent behind the priestess’s tip-off to me just before the ship’s departure.
Leoni’s questions were similar.
-‘Jainab Eskander provided you with information, knowing you were one of our company’s staff?’
“Apparently, that seems to be the case.”
I could hear the exasperation through the line as Leoni sighed. “Hah, is my brain withering away past 120 years? Why would the priestess do something so insane?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she’s gone mad, or maybe she’s just senile…”
No one could guess why the priestess had done such a thing.
Even the analysts gathered by the Royal Intelligence Department and the Military Intelligence Agency, high-ranking intelligence officials like Leoni and Clevenz, as well as the Prime Minister and the Foreign Affairs Minister were seriously beginning to doubt whether the priestess was suffering from a mental illness.
Of course, I was the one vigorously pushing the “Priestess is losing her mind” theory.
I pressed my throbbing forehead and continued to speak into the phone.
“What if she intentionally leaked information to confirm my identity? Assuming the priestess was suspecting me as a spy.”
-‘Are you starting to lose it too? Are you saying something like that after seeing the cargo that was on board?’
“I’m aware. Yes, I saw it…”
The MPV equipped with a crane for cargo loading was identified as a smuggling vessel owned by Ashtistan’s semi-military organization. They had something comparable to the IRGC known as the Law Enforcement Corps.
The problem was that it was presumed to be one of the weapons they intended to support rebels overseas.
“The components stored in the green container— were they truly Oqab?”
-‘Yes. The very pieces that the Ashtistani government downed our Griffin four years ago. The Advanced Military Magic Research Institute confirmed it as well.’
“Damn…”
I muttered under my breath.
Oqab, meaning “eagle,” is a weapon system similar to UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) in the global context. Of course, unlike actual drones flown by the US military like the MQ-1 in movies, it employed magical creatures flying through the sky for military purposes.
For reference, in the past, real living animals were trained to be used for reconnaissance or assault; in simple terms, a kind of “beast-version kamikaze.” I recall it being used until about five years ago.
Because the cost of training a beast and the time required for nurturing it is far from trivial, the current approach was to actually preserve a living creature and install the necessary parts and devices inside before sending it out…
A few years ago, an old Griffin (one that had merely had its body fixed with equipment) was shot down in Ashtistani territory.
“Are you saying they reverse-engineered that?”
-‘More accurately, just the parts. It was an old model, you see.’
These madmen had been chewing, biting, and relishing it, and now they were even selling it off to rebel scum for money.
The parts of the Oqab seized today were undeniable evidence of that.
-‘Rumors have been swirling since last year. Everyone had speculated whether the explosives used to attack hospitals were fired from rebel shells or from the Ashtistani army’s Oqab. Now, we’ve finally confirmed something’s real.’
“The key question is, why did the priestess leak such crucial items?”
To be brutally honest, I also found it impossible to fathom her intention.
If she had indeed leaked the information to confirm my identity, it would make sense but the Oqab was not the kind of item one could stake a bet on for a gamble like that.
With the revelation of Oqab’s existence, how badly did the Ashtistan government get screwed?
During a recent parade, revealing the new weapon system for the first time to supply it to rebels could easily be interpreted as an intention to overthrow foreign governments.
Actually, the government had made a threat, declaring they would “absolutely not let this slide,” so in the worst-case scenario, Ashtistan might have to prepare for a full-scale war.
The fact that this new weapon system called Oqab fell into enemy hands only compounded the issue.
Military equipment utilizing magic and sorcery becomes a basis for determining how far a country’s military technology has progressed. But the vessel that was raided was Ashtistan’s navy, and now, the Advanced Military Magic Research Institute was dismantling the Oqab piece by piece.
How sensitive an issue was this for the Ashtistan government?
That was something one could determine simply by watching the news.
—
[“Our Republic of Ashtistan is always prepared for war. However, we hold no intention of warring with any country.”]
[…The commander of the Ashtistan Law Enforcement Corps made a statement during today’s press conference, criticizing the arms deal found in international waters as an attempt by foreign forces to slander Ashtistan.]
[However, an unidentified government official from Abas stated that “we wish for the immediate return of the seized Oqab from the Ashtistan Republic government”… ]
“Are they really serious?”
I could only ask Leoni out of disbelief.
-‘Does that sound like a lie?’
“……”
-‘Contact was made through the Empire’s embassy. They demanded the return of their property immediately. The Kien Foreign Affairs Office also received a request, so they conveyed the message, but given the expression on the ambassador’s face, it seems they are having quite a dilemma as well.’
The world was indeed a strange place.
Regardless, I did not need to confirm how deeply the Ashtistan government was priced into this tragedy. The important point was that the one who had led them into this mess was none other than Ashtistan’s head of state.
If the priestess truly did have doubts about my identity, she wouldn’t have needed to resort to such an approach in the first place. Identifying a spy should have been the duty of intelligence and investigative agencies, not the head of state herself.
It was entirely possible to leak suitable false information without resorting to critical intelligence.
If that were the case, the remaining conclusion would imply that the priestess had deliberately leaked information from the start to blow the whistle on an arms deal…
But why?
“Director, is it even possible for a leader who toppled the monarchy to once again bring down the government he established with his own hands?”
-‘Does the priestess want to check the Law Enforcement Corps?’
“…That’s merely speculation. Just a personal guess.”
Who could tell?
Leoni began to trail off as if caught in a troublesome philosophical problem.
-‘Under normal circumstances, it would be utterly impossible for someone to go that mad. A dictator has no reason to check their private army— they’re loyal soldiers to him after all.’
“That’s true. There’s even less of a reason to eliminate them.”
-‘If she felt the need to check for a solitary grip of power, she might have bolstered the military or the intelligence department, or other organizations. After all, one of the reasons the Law Enforcement Corps was formed was to suppress any revolt by the Republican Army, right?’
It did cross my mind whether there was a minuscule chance that I was subject to her attempts of exile.
However, Leoni disregarded the thought as something not worth considering.
-‘You really think she’d create this mess just to capture you? Is the priestess so senile that she can’t even do arithmetic anymore?’
With comprehension that such intelligence ought to have wound up in a nursing home or a mental health facility, he also apportioned that.
However, it wasn’t merely baseless speculation.
“If she suspected me, the apprehension team would be waiting right at the cabin when the vessel was intercepted, right?”
-‘Did they catch you?’
“Not at all. Only room service has arrived.”
-‘So you can still manage to stuff food in your mouth during such conditions, huh? That’s some nerves of steel.’
No, I’d have to eat beforehand in case an escape became necessary.
To be fair, Grandma was the one who ordered room service. She consumed all the food herself.
But anyway, summarizing from that, the conclusions were:
Firstly, the priestess intentionally leaked classified information to me.
Secondly, she would undoubtedly have assumed that I would report to Abas, whether I was a spy or not, and that she could certainly fathom the embarrassment that faced the Ashtistan government if that information got out.
Thirdly, even with that in mind, Jainab Eskander leaked the information, fully aware of what might transpire thereafter.
No matter what her objective had been, among this turbulent tide, she had gained what she desired.
It could be that she was prepared to pay an immense price to catch a spy while flipping everyone’s expectations upside down, yet if the source of the information were to be revealed, the priestess’s authority would undoubtedly be somewhat shaken.
Historically, leaders who conspired with forces from outside generally end up losing their heads.
Given that she was failing miserably in her political judgment, someone in Ashtistan might soon make a move towards a “grand national decision.”
“……”
From Abas’ perspective, this outcome was optimal.
While still unknown who the next leader of Ashtistan would be, wouldn’t it be delightful if the new government that took over was led by someone who understood well? Abas could gently give that person a little nudge from behind.
Of course, I would be on the receiving end of every insult, but that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad outcome.
In a pinch, I could always hide behind Beatrice or Lucia. With a saint back-covering me, what crazy person would dares to stab me?
…Except Francesca, of course.
-‘Anyways, we need to find out what that old guy is thinking with all this nonsense. But don’t dig too deeply. There’s a branch in Shizuya.’
Why he wanted to trick a foreigner in looks likely was an enigma without an answer. Yet you and I shared opinions that we had to cater to him for now.
So, I chose to play my part in this farce.
“I’ll test the waters a little. Since they say we’ll meet again in three days, I’ll report to you after I leave Azadi Palace tomorrow.”
-‘Keep an eye on the locals, and take necessary actions before reporting.’
Do what you must to handle such issues was the gist of it.
-‘By the way, when I first arrived yesterday, I also visited Azadi Palace. Are you going again tomorrow?’
“Not a scheduled visit, but I got summoned through the duke. The priestess requested to see me.”
-‘Just you?’
“Not at all. I’m going with the duke. All three of us were summoned, so we decided to visit together.”
-‘Take care and go. If you do end up locked up somewhere, at least ensure your face gets in the media.’
I replied, a bit taken aback.
“Are you going to come and rescue me?”
-‘Nah.’
Damn.
I couldn’t help but feel strange.
The head of the Foreign Affairs Division of the Military Intelligence Agency murmured casually.
-‘If you were to be caught, we’d have to apprehend a few ourselves for a prisoner exchange. There are more than a few people I have my eyes on.’
—
A day had passed since the Ashtistan Republic’s smuggling vessel was detected in the open sea, and it was now the third day since we had entered Shizuya.
Returning to Azadi Palace for the second time, it held a calm atmosphere reminiscent of my previous visit.
Yet, the gazes directed towards me were anything but ordinary.
“The ambiance is astounding here.”
“It feels like lasers could shoot out of their eyes.”
Did the smuggling vessel incident stir up things in the local press? Several officials struggled to maintain their composure while glaring at me.
Rationally, they ought to know it was a diplomatic problem unrelated to me, yet how could one not feel a strange resentment given my nationality was from the Abas Kingdom?
Perhaps sensing that glance, Camila’s eyes filled with concern.
“Are you sure it’s okay? Maybe it’s best to keep a low profile right now…”
“Daah— it’s fine. This was daily life back in Africa. There were plenty of people looking down on me.”
“Why in Africa? You, being Asian?”
“Well, it’s just that at the time, I was carrying a Chinese passport…”
“……”
“Did you hear them telling me to get the hell out of their country? What could I say? After all, I wasn’t really even Chinese. To be frank, there were times it felt convenient to resemble one.”
“…So, did you go on an official trip to a friendly nation? Something like Myanmar?”
“Not even close. Whenever something went wrong abroad, I would impersonate a Chinese. Especially when I drove wrong-way without realizing it because I didn’t know they followed the left-side traffic rules.”
“……”
Camila looked at me as though she had just been hit by a hammer.
“What?”
“…I don’t know about anything else, but I think the way you think would make even the Chinese faint in disbelief.”
It was a weirdly offensive remark, yet I chose to take it as praise. It had to be praise, or she would probably crack her skull.
At any rate, turning my back on the officials who seemed visibly uncomfortable, I proceeded deeper into the Azadi Palace to a place known as the Citadel.
Now was the time to find out what the century-old elder was truly after in approaching me.
—
Exactly 18 minutes and 28 seconds later.
“I need you to take care of a certain someone for me.”
I couldn’t help but doubt my ears.
“…Who is it?”
“Commander Darius Ismailzahi.”
Darius, a very common name in the Persian cultural realm, occurs as Darius, Darius, Dariush, and sometimes with slightly different pronunciations.
However, the one most recognized as “Darius” here in Ashtistan was just one person.
“Are you referring to that Darius, the Supreme Commander of the Law Enforcement Corps?”
The priestess nodded with a smile, confirming my astonishment.
“Correct.”
“Holy crap!”