A Dark Fantasy Spy

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“Are you saying the Magic Tower is declaring independence?”

“Yes.”

“That… what the hell, does that even make sense?”

I couldn’t hide my astonishment. It felt as if all the blood had drained from my body.

Memories from long ago flashed before my eyes, like a slideshow just before death.

I wanted to deny the reality before me.

I wanted to run away.

But as always,

The world would crush my wishes beautifully.

The Saint of the Cult spoke.

“It’s already been agreed upon internally.”

“……”

“There will be an official announcement soon, so prepare yourself.”

I thought to myself.

Should I just give up right now?

—

Episode 4 – Why Is It Only Me

It took about three minutes for me to calm down.

I dashed to the bathroom, turned on the sink’s water forcefully, splashed my face, and only after wiping it dry with a tissue could I finally settle down.

“Huuh…”

“Are you okay? How about going home early today?”

“No, I’m fine.”

I wiped my face with the towel Veronica handed me while deep in thought.

First off, the Magic Tower is declaring independence.

“Uh, Saint. About the Magic Tower’s independence, wasn’t it all settled long ago?”

“What do you mean settled?”

Veronica pouted, then dramatically acted out a skit.

“Look, I was all fired up, thinking the Inquisition was crap, then suddenly, what the heck? They reached out a hand to reconcile, and it turns out that hand was poisoned? And meanwhile, those idiots around me were applauding while I was dying? The ones who helped me?”

“……”

“If it were you, Colonel, would you be furious or just go, ‘Oh, it’s all over now’?”

Her tone and gestures were ridiculous, but the meaning behind her words was far from it.

So, Veronica’s performance was a tragedy, not a comedy.

“The Magic Tower has never given up on independence. It just couldn’t voice it.”

“……”

When the Magic Tower rose against the Cult, the continent’s powers unofficially aided them with the help of intelligence agencies. The state intelligence agency provided critical documents to the Cult, while the military intelligence agency cleared out all kinds of military supplies and sent them to the Magic Tower.

When the Magic Tower achieved victory against the Cult and formed a small nation, all the intelligence agencies trembled in fear instead of applauding.

Naturally.

At that time, most countries were dictatorship states that practiced absolute monarchy.

They thought the Magic Tower would weaken the Cult and both would perish together, but the Cult remained intact, while the Magic Tower formed a quasi-state.

Even worse, a democracy.

The fact that the ‘people’ united and rose up against religion must have looked like a rebellion from the perspective of the dictators. Naturally, the sparks of revolution spreading across the continent were a terrifying prospect. In reality, after witnessing the Magic Tower’s victory over the Cult, a democratization movement broke out in Patalia, leading to a regime change, so it was no surprise that neighboring countries would panic.

Ultimately, the state decided to turn its hunting dogs on the Magic Tower, and the intelligence agencies that had supported the Magic Tower became desperate to take it down.

If the Cult hadn’t taken it upon themselves to mediate and brought forth the Nastasia Agreement, numerous assassination and subversion plots aimed at the Magic Tower would have been executed.

Of course, all of this was ancient history.

Most absolute monarchies had established constitutional monarchies, and the intelligence agents active back then had long since retired and been buried in the ground.

Thus, only historians, students of history, and newcomers educated in intelligence schools remembered these events. For them, it was just a distant tale that didn’t resonate too much.

Except for the Magic Tower.

“……”

Now, as the wishes of the wizards, carried on for a hundred years, began to resurface,

No one knew how the political landscape of the continent would change.

The Imperial Army could designate the Magic Tower as a rebel faction and launch military operations, or the Empire’s intelligence agencies, led by the Imperial Guard HQ, could assassinate the political leaders of the Magic Tower altogether.

Perhaps the Magic Tower wouldn’t declare independence, or the Empire might allow the Magic Tower to become independent.

After all, who could predict the workings of the world?

“……”

I kept trying to foresee the future events.

But as I wasn’t a shaman, I couldn’t see what would happen next.

So I thought.

That I must do what needs to be done.

I must do what needs to be done. I must do what I can.

What is that?

“……”

I am an Information Agent.

In the shadows where sunlight doesn’t reach, I am a person searching for a path.

I must find the path.

“…Saint.”

I asked Veronica.

“What else happened? There’s no reason for the Magic Tower to be in an uproar over declaring independence all of a sudden. There must have been internal circumstances.”

In response, she answered.

“There’s a lot. A ton. If I were to go into detail, it would take hours.”

“……”

“That’s why I told you to book a room, damn it….”

The Saint ruffled her hair in irritation. Then, after contemplating for a while, she slowly began to speak.

“I’ll start by telling you where all of this began.”

“Please do.”

“The first to approach was the Imperial Guard HQ.”

—

Veronica is the 58th Saint of the Cult.

Once a baroness, she became an orphan due to an unfortunate accident and went to the orphanage run by the Cult. During the process of measuring her divine power, it was revealed that she possessed an enormous amount of it, far exceeding others of her age.

This news caught the eye of the domestic intelligence officer of the Imperial Guard HQ. The officer reported it to their superior, and the information eventually reached the head of the Imperial Guard HQ.

The head ordered verification procedures, and, after years of information gathering and analysis, this information was confirmed to be true.

The Imperial Guard HQ reported to the Emperor, and from that day on, Veronica’s fate was sealed as the Saint.

The Empire’s intelligence agencies conducted secret operations in various fields, including assassination, destruction, politics, propaganda, economics, and ultimately succeeded in making Veronica a Saint. Thus, she became both the Saint of the Cult and a lobbyist for the Empire.

Though it’s called being a lobbyist, she was actually a high-level information agent under the control of the Imperial Guard HQ.

For some reason, she grew tired of that life and eventually managed to get out with a bang, giving the Imperial Guard HQ and the empire a big middle finger.

Not stopping there, she also took a foothold in both Military Intelligence Agency and the Inquisition, so it was undeniable she was someone who could navigate life well no matter what.

In my report, I noted that she was a “bat-like figure” and highly likely to betray if there’s no benefit.

In the end, she did betray.

“Are you going to betray them as soon as you can’t stand it anymore? Turns out it wasn’t a bat but a goldfish, damn it.”

“Ah, seriously! I didn’t betray them so shut up already!”

Veronica yelled loudly, and went on a passionate tirade, pounding her chest.

“They came to me first! On their own! With money!”

“Does that even make sense? Why would a betrayer come looking for you? Make some sense.”

“If I had betrayed them, would I be talking about it? Logically!”

Everything about being caught up in this world seemed out of logic.

“Hmmm….”

Yet, her words had a certain validity to them. Normally, a betrayer wouldn’t exhibit such a reaction.

So I decided to trust her.

“Alright. Please go on.”

I calmed her down, and thus began to listen to the detailed situation.

She remembered the events of five days ago while downing a glass of cold water.

“I was at my usual go-to place, smoking a water pipe when a tall guy came up and introduced himself as a diplomat.”

“…A water pipe?”

“That’s not the point! Anyway, this diplomat said he was from the Empire’s embassy and asked me for a favor.”

“What kind of favor?”

“He wanted me to inform him about what was happening in the Magic Tower. When I asked for specifics, he just wanted anything that looked useful.”

Useful information.

Politics, diplomacy, national defense, economy, society, culture, science, magic, technology. That’s roughly what came to mind. Since the Magic Tower didn’t have a military, its information collection on national defense would only pertain to military equipment orders placed by foreign troops to the Magic Tower. And that kind of information would be the domain of the Imperial Army’s Reconnaissance Command, not the Imperial Guard HQ.

In other words, it was asking for information collection across almost all fields except for national defense.

“…How could the Imperial Guard HQ have sent an intelligence officer to you when they’ve already infiltrated the Magic Tower?”

“God knows. I didn’t want to ask, even if I could. Anyway, I initially turned him down, but a few days later, he came back. Carrying a bag of money.”

Veronica calmly recalled the event.

The first person who approached must have been a low-level information agent from the Imperial Guard HQ’s branch in the Cult. Considering his age, he looked to be in his late twenties, so he was definitely not a team leader. However, not long after, she said a man in his forties showed up.

An intelligence officer. Probably at least at the manager level.

“He looked super desperate. The vague requests were much more specific now.”

“What kind of information was it that made him act like that?”

“Information about the Magic Tower’s Oracle.”

Oracle.

It’s the governing body that oversees everything about the Magic Tower. Like the Blue House in South Korea.

“They asked me to find out who the leading candidates would be for the position that will open up once the current Magic Tower leader steps down.”

“……”

The Oracle is comprised of multiple committee members like a Roman oligarchy.

Because having one leader as in the Cult is likely to lead to dictatorship, they rotate the committee members to take turns as the leader, and once they assume the position, they quietly retire to become elders.

Now that the term of the currently ruling Magic Tower leader is ending, a position will be opening up in the Oracle.

In other words, this was a critical time when the political landscape of the Magic Tower is about to shake up significantly.

I posed a question to Veronica.

“…If a new Oracle member is elected, they will surely be busy with adjustment processes for a while. What reason would there be for the Magic Tower to declare independence at this time? They wouldn’t have the luxury for that; moreover, the most eminent candidate among the contenders is from the Empire, right?”

The Magic Tower’s greatest strength was that people from across the continent flocked to it, and its biggest problem was that the same was true.

Since anyone could be elected as an Oracle member, it would be tough to prevent any nutjob from entering the Oracle and causing chaos. Right now, the member currently serving as the Magic Tower leader is reportedly in a close relationship with the Emperor.

A pro-Empire candidate would fill the vacancy of a pro-Empire member. This is obviously a stinking scheme by the intelligence agencies.

“The likelihood of a candidate supported by the Imperial Guard HQ, or rather, the Empire itself, being elected is very high. How could independence happen? Especially when there are two candidates?”

It doesn’t add up. Would a pro-Empire member just sit idly by while the Magic Tower declares independence? That’s the same as saying the President of China supports Hong Kong independence.

But Veronica’s reaction was strange.

She looked at me as if I was the one saying something absurd.

“Haven’t you heard the news yet?”

“What news? I heard about the Magic Tower’s independence right here.”

“The candidate is already out.”

“What?”

What kind of nonsense is this?

“The candidate from the Empire who is a sorcerer. You know he’s from an aristocratic background, right?”

“Ah, yes, I know that.”

Racking my brain, something clicked. I remembered he was from a prominent family running a trading company and had been expanding their business overseas. The intelligence report delivered that morning had said so.

But wait a minute.

Their family runs a trading company?

“……”

“That company got torn apart and went bankrupt. Their family went completely bust, so they obviously couldn’t hang around in the Magic Tower any longer and packed their bags to head back long ago. The other one was from a family that ran a business domestically, so they survived without major issues.”

Ah, life.

My legs felt weak, and I staggered, barely maintaining balance with Veronica’s support.

“Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

“…So who’s now the leading candidate among those remaining? For the next Oracle member?”

I turned to my information agent.

In response, she answered.

“One shaman from Lushan and an alchemist. You probably know him too.”

As she said that, a conversation I had on the train surfaced in my mind. The name she recited flowed from my mouth.

“…Francesca Ranieri.”

An alchemist.

“Right now, those two are the most likely candidates.”

So, to summarize…

Because of the stupid actions of the Imperial Guard HQ guys, I teamed up with Clevenz, and we knocked those idiots out. In the process, all the intelligence agencies swarmed in and gave the Imperial Guard HQ a beating, and now as a result, one of the candidates that the Empire sent to the Magic Tower for the Oracle has kicked the bucket, and the alchemist who was supposed to fall out of the succession framework is likely to become an Oracle member and eventually the Magic Tower leader. Moreover, since a pro-Empire jerk is gone just as their term is coming to a close, they declare independence.

That’s what it means, right?

“…Ah, life.”

I lay down on the hotel corridor floor, quietly closing my eyes. Whether it was tears or just moisture, my eyes were glistening.

Why does this kind of thing only happen to me?

This is really damn ridiculous…