A Dark Fantasy Spy

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As I reviewed the basic information downloaded from headquarters, dawn had already arrived. It was right after hearing the groggy words of Camila, who had just woken up.

“Not sleepy?”

Camila, lounging on the bed, rubbed her sleepy eyes while half-raising her upper body.

“Did I wake you?”

“Not really… Hah… It’s already been a few hours.”

“About 9 hours, I guess.”

“Don’t work too late… You’ll end up getting sick…”

Her mumbled response, as if talking to herself, made me pause my face-washing and close my eyes for a moment.

It had already been three days since I entered wireless silence to prevent eavesdropping.

I still hadn’t received any communication from Leoni.

In the meantime, I had reviewed various documents to grasp the priest’s intentions, but the priest’s true motives remained as elusive as ever.

Why had she made such a request of me? What was it that she truly desired? Questions endlessly spiraled into one another like a fractal, yet I couldn’t conjure a clear answer.

There was a way to get help from analysts at headquarters, but under Leoni’s orders, I was in wireless silence, so I couldn’t communicate with them. Similarly, consulting Veronica was also out of the question.

It would take her at least five days to arrive in Ashtistan.

So, I had no choice but to stay cooped up in the hotel room, wasting time.

“……”

After placing the terminal carefully into my bag, I was about to take a quick nap on the sofa when—

-Ding dong.

The doorbell echoed through the hotel room.

Episode 20 – Who Threatened with a Knife?

Everyone knows the importance of real estate. Even I, who make a living as a spy, am no exception.

Branch offices, offices, safe houses. Especially the significance of a safe house cannot be overstated, even if I said it a thousand times.

Of course, just because it’s a safe house doesn’t mean absolute safety is guaranteed.

Accidents always come in unexpected ways.

That’s why I didn’t look through the peephole when the doorbell rang.

“……”

It’s obvious that a visitor at this late hour would be none other than a single person. The hotel staff rarely moved at this hour.

A confused guest might have pressed the doorbell by mistake, but I discarded that hypothesis without a second thought. I knew that the Kien Empire’s Foreign Affairs Department had reserved all three floors of this hotel even before entering Ashtistan.

Which meant all rooms on the floor I was staying on, along with the ones above and below, were empty.

-Clatter…

Hiding my body against the concrete wall, I used a handheld mirror available in the room to reflect the peephole.

Standing outside was a single man.

As I expected, he was certainly not a guest or a hotel staff member.

The man, wearing rimless glasses and a neat suit, was more akin to an accountant than a hotel employee, and the luxurious watch on his wrist was something a mere tourist or hotel employee couldn’t afford.

“……”

“…Huh.”

I gestured to a tense Camila, who was frozen in place, and her hand dropped with a sigh of relief.

She waved away the smoke gathering at her fingertips, and I opened the door to face the uninvited guest.

The man with rimless glasses and an expressionless face, glanced at me while checking his wristwatch.

“Did you send the letter?”

Without even asking who he was, he jumped straight into the conversation, pulling out a familiar paper envelope and showing me his identification over it.

Under the dim light, the gleaming emblem of the Security Committee was enough to identify the man’s affiliation. I nodded, affirming that it was indeed the letter I sent.

Then, he spoke.

“You will need to accompany us.”

*

I had been approached by an official of the espionage agency at dawn.

So, I decided to comply without resistance.

The only person waiting outside the room was the Security Committee employee, resembling an accountant. I didn’t see a single investigator lurking in the hallway or by the elevator.

Typically, operations conducted by intelligence agencies require a minimum of five personnel for a capture operation, with many teams having up to 40 members assigned for safety reasons.

If capture was the goal, there should have been a brigade of intelligence investigators ready to greet me in the halls.

And above all.

“Can I come along too?”

“I don’t mind.”

The Security Committee employee did not stop Camila from joining. In fact, he granted her permission without a moment of hesitation.

Of course, from my perspective, it was absurd.

“Why are you coming along?”

It was clear nothing bad was happening—what was there to see? It didn’t make sense, yet her stubbornness was unyielding.

As she draped her coat over her arm, Camila replied.

“I thought they might take you somewhere cold.”

She seemed to think we were heading somewhere chilly for interrogation.

“Seobingo is indeed a bit cold.”

Unfortunately, her expectation was completely off the mark. Only one vehicle lay waiting in front of the hotel.

The driver who opened the door guided us to the back seat, while the Security Committee employee got in the front passenger seat, adjusting his rimless glasses and murmuring the destination.

*

The car cut through the darkness of Shizuya. During the ride down the desolate road, no one spoke. Neither us nor them.

Camila gazed endlessly out the window. Her expression was a peculiar mix of anxiety and odd excitement.

Following the Security Committee’s instructions, the driver kept steering the car, while I leaned my head against the seat and dozed off. After some time, I found the vehicle had finally reached its destination.

-Kurrrrr….

The cool air brushed against my ankles as the driver opened the door for us. Looking around, the barren landscape was all around.

It was an empty lot.

Considering the moon and constellations, the direction we came from the hotel’s nearby intersection, and the elapsed time, this place was somewhere in the south. The unfinished, abandoned buildings suggested we were on the outskirts of Shizuya.

“Yawn…”

As I yawned in this chilly dawn air, Camila crept closer, poking my side and scolding me.

“Are you yawning right now?”

“What’s wrong with that? Don’t embarrass me.”

“Look around.”

At her words, I slowly began to scrutinize my surroundings.

The once-abandoned construction site was dazzlingly illuminated by unexpected lights.

Cars with headlights on were strewn about, and I noticed suit guys, clearly local company staff, standing rigidly around.

The Security Committee official, having alighted from the passenger seat, signaled to the suited men.

As the two suited men guarding a van opened the door, a hand burst forth from inside, shoving someone out of the vehicle as if to toss them onto the ground.

A flicker of familiarity washed over me as I watched the figure being dragged down. It was a déjà vu feeling as if I’d seen them somewhere before.

The source of this strange familiarity soon revealed itself.

“Umm…”

As the figure dragged out from the van emerged into the light, Camila’s eyes widened in astonishment.

“Oh. Is that the guy from earlier…?”

“……”

The man seized by the suited guards was ‘that guy’ from the Security Committee. The audacious individual who had brazenly demanded a bribe from me and caused quite a ruckus.

I had been curious about when he’d get caught, and it seemed he had been apprehended by the Security Committee just hours after my tip had been submitted.

I shifted my gaze from this pathetic character to the glasses-wearing guy.

“I have a few questions.”

The Security Committee official, likely an inspector, adjusted his rimless glasses and began.

He held up the neatly folded letter—the tip letter he showed me earlier.

“On the day you entered Ashtistan, and yesterday. You mentioned you were asked for a bribe over two days. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Is this man the one?”

The Security Committee official, resembling an accountant, pointed to the man with the tip.

The guy, dragged out with an irritated expression, glared at me with wild eyes as if I were the reason for his troubles.

Honestly, I was amazed at how brazen someone could be, wondering what kind of drugs he might have taken to become so unflappable.

I looked the guy up and down a few times.

“Yes. That’s him.”

“Please summarize the circumstances.”

The Security Committee official inquired, and I began to recount the facts as concisely as I could.

By the manner in which he was speaking, it seemed they already had a rough understanding of the situation.

It meant they summoned me to ensure no facts were overlooked before administering punishment. The tone and gestures of the glasses-wearing man clearly hinted at this underlying motive.

So I briefly summarized. Whether they found the answer they sought or not, the man displayed no desire for further elaboration.

Once my brief explanation concluded, the man resembling an accountant, with an impassive expression, waved his hand towards the suited men. It was a gesture indicating that this was sufficient, and they should take him away.

“Hey, how long are you going to investigate….”

“Come along.”

The shameless fellow, who had tried to accept bribes but ended up in trouble, genuinely looked aggrieved, but the two suited men began hauling him away, leaving him no room for further excuses.

The man captured by the suited guys was forced into their car.

However, the vehicle he entered was not a van but a sedan—a very old and shabby 1960s clunker.

“……”

I monitored the whiny expression on the guy being dragged away along with the suited men and then softly whispered to Camila, who was watching the scene.

“Camila, want to take a look somewhere else for a moment?”

“Why?”

“I’ll tell you the reason later. Hurry.”

“…?”

What in the world was this about? Camila began to look at me as if I were spewing nonsense.

While her gaze lingered on me, the Security Committee staff exited the van along with the suited men.

Even from afar, it was evident he was grumbling about something as he burst into the passenger seat.

The two suited men who had dragged him in took positions in the driver’s and back seats.

As a shadow became visible in the back seat, something was drawn from the inner pocket.

-Attang.

In the pitch-black darkness, a bright flash sparkled.

Camila, who had diverted her gaze from me, witnessed the spectacle in its entirety. The slightly hunched shoulders attested to her surprise at the flash.

Truly, what bad luck.

I couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh.

“See, I told you not to look.”