A Dark Fantasy Spy

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Just as I was about to retrieve my social security card left at the guard post to head to the train station, a loud commotion suddenly erupted at the main gate.

There, a cluster of dark-tinted black sedans was gathered together.

A Suit Man leaned out of the open window, shouting, surrounded by other Suit Men, along with soldiers and executives from the Intelligence Agency in navy military uniforms guarding the post.

The Suit Man, half-bent out of the vehicle, was pointing angrily at the guard.

“What the hell are you doing right now! Hey! Open the door!”

“I’m sorry. Currently, no outsiders are allowed inside the building.”

“What? What do you mean by that! Do you have any idea who I am?! Check the vehicle registration!”

“I’m sorry. There was an order not to let anyone in.”

“Oh, you idiot!”

The Suit Man and the soldier squabbled back and forth, the Suit Man yelling to open the door, while the soldier, rifle slung across his shoulder, waved him off.

I turned to Pippin and Jake and asked, “Hey, what’s going on with those people?”

“I don’t know.”

“Aren’t they government employees? Looks like an official car to me.”

We exchanged confused looks, tilting our heads in disbelief.

It’s not every day you see a government employee barking orders at a military intelligence agency headquarters. The Military Intelligence Agency is an actual intelligence agency, which means they control access strictly to maintain security. So, it was impossible for a government employee to park illegally in front of the agency and shout like that. If he was visiting on business, there wouldn’t be a reason to stop him in the first place.

Could he be a politician? Not likely. Politicians are busy people. It’s one thing if members of the Intelligence Committee came for a surprise inspection, but it wasn’t even inspection season, so there was no reason for politicians to show up here.

So who on earth is causing all this ruckus?

The answer came from the Suit Man’s own mouth.

“Hey! I came from the Royal Intelligence Department, so open the door!”

Turns out, he was an employee of the Royal Intelligence Department. I couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

“Oh, what’s this? It’s those guys again?”

“Well, it’s perfectly reasonable for them to act like that.”

It appeared that an employee from a competing agency was trying to get in but was blocked at the entrance. It looked like he was making a fuss again without any formal documentation or agreement.

I thought it was just a typical occurrence and resolved to simply carry on with my day.

The problem was,

“I’m sorry. Please turn back.”

“Hey! Stop them!”

“Huh?”

-Vroooom!

“Whoa? Everyone, get back!”

The employee from the Royal Intelligence Department turned out to be a rather hot-headed fellow, who had blocked the main gate with his vehicle.

Not only did he park right at the entrance, but he also began to cause a scene, shouting that no one could enter or exit the building.

As a result, just before we could step out the front door, we were blocked by the employees of the Royal Intelligence Department and could not make it to the train station.

We were trapped.

—

Episode 4 – Why Am I the Only One Going Through This?

Thanks to a madman, the Military Intelligence Agency building was locked down. Both the front and back gates were blocked.

“Manager, you mean the front gate is shut?”

“What do you mean? Are you lying because you don’t want to run errands?”

“I’m not.”

“Then go through the back.”

“The back gate is blocked too! It’s the Royal Intelligence Department that’s doing it!”

The entire Military Intelligence Agency fell into chaos.

“Chief! Find out where the folks who are out on duty are.”

“Section Chief here. It looks like there’s an issue at the headquarters’ front gate, so take your time coming back.”

“Director, we’ve run out of copy paper. We were supposed to restock today, but the road’s blocked…”

The immediate return of employees out on duty became a problem, and even staff who had briefly stepped outside couldn’t re-enter the headquarters. That wasn’t the only issue.

“What do you mean the front gate’s blocked? It’s not April Fool’s Day or anything, right?”

“Officer, I need to pick up my kid. When can I leave?”

“I have an appointment at church today. Why can’t I go out? Excuse me?”

It was now quitting time. Officers needing to return home, non-commissioned officers needing to pick up their kids, and civilian workers with doctor appointments were all stuck inside the building.

This was all due to the front and back gates being blocked. And the culprits for this blockade? Employees from the competing agency.

In this area, it was so ordinary for competing agency employees to cause a fuss like boars rummaging through trash cans that nobody initially took it seriously. However, ten minutes passed, then thirty, and after an hour, everyone began to feel that something was off.

Ultimately, the employees gathered at the front gate to protest against the rival agency employees.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

“Move your car, hurry.”

“Let us go home already. You’re always causing ruckus out here. If you have something to say, send a formal letter first.”

But the rival agency employees didn’t budge an inch. The Suit Men from the Royal Intelligence Department got out of their cars and merely surveyed the area, taking no action, and as the blockade continued with no signs of lifting, tensions began to rise.

I watched the whole spectacle from behind the glass of the main building. However, unlike the employees outside, I didn’t go out to complain; I was too busy making calls.

“Operative? It’s me. I just wanted to let you know that it looks like there’s an issue in front of the headquarters. Yes? Terrorism? No, that’s not it…”

“Nice to meet you, Team Leader. Did you just arrive? Oh, you did. I’ll send the address via text, so you should rest at the hotel today. Other people have been directed there…. You thought the hotel was the operations base? That’s not it, but the building has been locked down…”

There was no time to explain the situation. I asked for understanding from the people I planned to meet at the train station and directed them to the hotel. Then I called the police in charge of the outer security of the hotel, the hotel manager, and the head of the Inquisition, Director Bernard, asking them to ensure the guests had a comfortable stay.

Of course, I wasn’t the only one frantically making calls.

“Where are you? Uh-huh. At the accommodations. What about the others? Yeah, understood. So they’re not at the headquarters, right?”

“This is the exchange office. May I ask your current location? Oh, you’re out on duty. Got it. You don’t need to return today. There’s an issue at headquarters… I’ll get back to you shortly to reschedule.”

Pippin and Jake, just like me, were glued to their phones. According to them, it seemed that aside from our group, no one else involved in the operation was trapped. Thankfully.

After that, I continued to check on others.

“Veronica.”

-‘Yes-.’

“Everything alright? Any new developments or anything?”

-‘Not yet. The Empire is indeed in a tight spot, but gossip is only circulating from the upper echelons. It’s not a particularly chaotic situation—at least not within the intelligence agencies.’

“What about you?”

-‘Oh, don’t even get me started. The Imperial Guard’s factions are all pushing blame onto each other, while the Foreign Ministry is pushing for economic sanctions against the Magic Tower. Pigeons are saying we can’t expand to two fronts without negotiating, but the hawks are proposing defeatism and saying we should intervene immediately. It’s total chaos, I tell you.’

“It sounds better for you to keep your head down for a while. The atmosphere here isn’t exactly stable either.”

Those were the tensions between the hardliners and moderates in the Imperial Army. It sounded like the Imperial Guard had fallen back into infighting. I had no idea what the Emperor was doing.

I passed on the warning to Veronica and then immediately contacted my next target. That being the newly appointed Saint Lucia who had just wrapped up her official schedule, Priest Rebecca from the Inquisition who had disguised herself as a nun for Lucia’s close security, and Colonel Clevenz from the Military Intelligence Agency, who hasn’t been seen for a while.

Clevenz didn’t answer the phone. His advisor who took the call had the same response. I even considered checking room 503, but when I went upstairs, the door wasn’t locked. He must have had to leave urgently.

“…….”

Returning to my office, I peeked through the glass at the front gate, but the employees from the Royal Intelligence Department and Military Intelligence Agency were still standing their ground, facing off. Just climb over the wall already! Seriously, these stubborn people.

“Is the front door open yet?”

“No, not yet.”

“This is driving me crazy.”

Jake raked his fingers through his blonde hair with a sigh. I flopped down on the sofa, rubbed my tired eyes, and summoned Pippin with a gesture.

“Yes?”

“Pippin, did you send the documents to the hotel?”

“I encrypted them. The operations team had encryption equipment, so I matched it up.”

“…Got it. Good work. You two should go rest.”

“Yes. What will you do, Colonel?”

“I still have calls to make. What else can I do?”

I waved them out of the office. Then, I picked up the phone and asked the hotel staff to connect me to my room.

“…….”

In the quiet office, not a sound echoed within the barren walls, as the monotonous ringing tone continued.

After a brief wait, the other side finally picked up the phone.

-‘…Hello?’

“Camila Lowell speaking.”

I dialed Camila Lowell.

—

‘How was your day?’

‘It was good. I woke up in the morning, took a walk with Lucia, read some books at the library, and met Lucia again around lunchtime to go out. I did a bit of magic practice, and now I’m just resting in my room.’

‘I’m glad to hear that. What book did you read?’

‘Umm, social sciences? Humanities? If I had to categorize it, it was mostly about history and conflicts. I suppose that’s what I read.’

‘Why did you choose that kind of book? There are many other good ones out there.’

‘Because it’s related to my major? I just naturally gravitated towards it, I guess.’

‘…I see. Was there anything else? How about Lucia?’

‘Nothing special really. Just what we already talked about.’

‘What did you talk about?’

‘Stories from my nun days and taking care of patients at church. Just life’s stories, I suppose. But it brought back good memories.’

‘You’re not an old man or anything, yet here you are using “life” as if it’s something heavy. Doesn’t that sound too aging?’

‘Well, isn’t that right? Oh, right, the Colonel also came up in our conversation.’

‘…Me?’

‘Yeah, just talking about what you’ve been up to lately, what work you’re doing, and what your hobbies are.’

‘…I doubt that’s very exciting conversation. Camila Lowell.’

‘No, not at all. Also, there’s something I wanted to mention.’

‘Yes?’

‘Please just call me Camila. Adding the last name makes it too formal and distant.’

‘…Understood.’

‘Then can I just call you Frederick?’

‘…Yes, as you wish.’

‘Really? Great. Don’t take it back, okay?’

‘…….’

‘…Um, Frederick.’

‘Yes?’

‘When can we meet?’

‘…We should be able to meet soon.’

—

After wrapping up the short conversation with Camila Lowell, it seemed she had a fairly uneventful day without any official schedule.

A noteworthy point was that she seemed to have been looking for books related to her major. She also felt a lot closer to Lucia than most.

Now she wanted me to call her by her first name. It seemed she wanted to feel some camaraderie or establish a personal connection with me. That was a good sign.

I jotted down all the information I gathered during my call with her in my report. It was a habit. If this was a job-related condition then so be it.

After creating a brief report, I called Pippin and Jake back in to review the overall situation of the operation. I wanted to ensure things were done a bit more securely, and it seemed there were still some insufficiencies present, so I took the chance to polish out the details.

In reality, there wasn’t much I could do since those Royal Intelligence Department idiots still hadn’t moved their cars.

After finishing up a phone conference with the team leaders who were staying at the hotel, just as I was about to lay down on the sofa in the duty room and cover myself up with a blanket to sleep,

-Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the duty room door. Was it Pippin? Or Jake? Since I was the only one in the duty room, it seemed someone was looking for me.

“Pippin? Jake?”

There was no answer.

I threw off the blanket and approached the door.

Cautiously, I turned the doorknob and peered out through the gap.

“…….”

A group of unfamiliar Suit Men stood in front of the duty room.

“…Who are you?”

In response to my question, one of the Suit Men pulled something out from his pocket.

Then he held it out to me.

It was a business card.

“Frederick Nostrim. I’m with the Royal Intelligence Department.”

“…….”

“You’ll need to accompany us for a moment.”