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“Raniere works in the Economic Management Department of the Secretariat. The department is nominally responsible for the Magic Tower’s international trade and exports, but in reality, it’s a department that raises and manages slush funds by earning foreign currencies like Tacron, Shilling, and Ducat.”

“Slush fund? Are you talking about funds for governance?”

“Yep.”

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Episode 6 – All-Seeing Spy Perspective

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“We’re currently viewing that as Oracle’s governance fund. The Magic Tower circulates that money both inside and outside the Tower, influencing political parties, civic organizations, associations, public enterprises, private enterprises, public institutions, and the military. Furthermore, it’s assumed that some of that money secretly flows into the expenses of the Talent Development Institute.”

Sofia, an investigator from the National Security Agency, continued speaking with a calm expression. At first glance, she seemed to be explaining something trivial, just like usual.

But the reality was different.

“So far, it appears they’ve been collecting funds legally. It’s possible they may have collected them illegally. But that money is clearly being used as Oracle’s governance funds.”

“…….”

The investigator from the National Security Agency declared that the Magic Tower had crossed a line.

“From the Magic Tower’s perspective, that may seem like legitimate lobbying, but from the standpoint of a third country, that’s political manipulation.”

What the Magic Tower was doing could be politely called lobbying, or negatively called political manipulation.

Engaging political parties and civic organizations with money, co-opting politicians and bureaucrats. Such established relationships could be utilized anywhere. The methods were endless.

For example, they could steer a foreign government to promote policies favorable to the Magic Tower, loosen import-export regulations to monopolize the market, or even siphon off classified information that was only handled within foreign governments.

The issue was,

“I haven’t heard that news.”

“What news?”

“That Raniere works in such a place?”

That’s exactly the kind of shady business that information agencies detest.

Didn’t South Korea also have drama during the fourth republic when they used Korean Americans to lobby the U.S. Congress, causing diplomatic issues? That fiasco led to hearings in the U.S., pressuring troop withdrawals and cuts in grants, with the CIA tapping the Blue House office, and the intelligence agency assassinating a former chief, completely wrecking Korea-U.S. relations.

And now, that was happening in the Magic Tower.

After a moment of thought, I asked what would be done about it.

“It’s already beyond what can be resolved at the company level.”

It’s not something the information agency could handle.

Narrowly, it meant that discussions needed to be held with other government departments. Broadly speaking, it would require orders from the legislature, judiciary, or the president.

Sofia tried to smile, or at least her expression suggested that.

“Sorry, Merlo. I have no solutions. Just informing you like this is the best I can do.”

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*

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The walk back to the Magic Tower felt unbearably heavy.

It wasn’t just fatigue weighing me down.

I already knew that the new colleague, the alchemist, was a civil servant in the Magic Tower. However, I hadn’t anticipated that the alchemist managed the Oracle’s and Talent Development Institute’s secret funds.

I had also known that the National Security Agency had been monitoring her for over 20 years, but today was the first time I realized they held crucial information about the Magic Tower.

What should I do?

“…….”

It’s been said that the Magic Tower earns foreign currency and creates slush funds.

This wasn’t particularly shocking information. It was common for government departments in countries with rampant dictatorship, like certain places in Africa or the Middle East, to prepare slush funds for the elite. Southeast Asia was no different.

Right now, the commies were also collecting foreign currency through Room 39, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and information agencies. It was an open secret that North Korea’s information agencies and special departments were using all sorts of methods to amass Kim Jong-un’s slush funds. Joint ventures with foreign companies, operating overseas restaurants, exporting local specialties and minerals, arms parts exports, drug smuggling, hacking cryptocurrency exchanges, insurance fraud, and so on.

Since Kim Jong-un came to power, Room 39 and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially earned money, but the Reconnaissance General Bureau and the Ministry of State Security still dabbled in illegal activities like drug smuggling, arms trading, and hacking.

Because of that, the Chinese Ministry of State Security captured a Ministry of State Security agent smuggling drugs across the North-China border, causing diplomatic issues. In 2010, the National Intelligence Service even collaborated with the CIA and MI6 to track down and freeze Kim Yong-chul, the head of the Reconnaissance General Bureau’s overseas hidden accounts.

So it wasn’t surprising that the Magic Tower Oracle was gathering foreign currency and building slush funds abroad. I’ve seen worse. It was a common occurrence in this line of work.

“…….”

If I were a journalist, I could write an article and reveal this to the world right away. The right to know. Freedom of the press. Something like that.

If I were a politician, I could use this information for national interests. Or perhaps expose the Magic Tower’s corruption and wrongdoing to change the world. Maybe I could use it for the next election or to line my own pockets. Elected politicians in a democratic society had the power to do so.

But I was neither a journalist nor a politician.

I was a soldier. An information agent.

The only thing I had to do, the only thing I could do, was one.

I organized all the intelligence I obtained and sent it to the Military Intelligence Agency.

Encrypted the provided report so no one could read it, and the encrypted report flew to the headquarters’ communication room via magic waves.

And then a reply came.

[Report received.]

Read it.

Any orders or…

The instructions were omitted, and the report that the transformation entity unraveled was all there was.

“…Is this it? Was there nothing else?”

“There is no record, Colonel.”

“…Understood.”

The transformation entity bowed its head and closed the door to the area assembly room. As per regulations, the paper containing the report was sent to the shredder, and I trudged down the hallway. I exited the representative office building.

Today was my day off, so I had no work to attend to.

People seemed puzzled when someone on a day off suddenly returned to draft a report, but no one particularly cared. The Defense Attaché Office wasn’t a place anyone could enter casually, and those working inside paid no mind to me either. It was due to the principle of containment.

People from the Information Agency had no idea what was happening in adjacent departments. No one informed them, nor did they seek to know. So when the next office became noisy, most just figured something must’ve happened and tuned it out.

Therefore, no one found it strange that I had visited the representative office. After all, it was someone else’s business, and if they worried about it unnecessarily, it would only cause them headaches.

I wandered the streets of the Magic Tower, my headache weighing me down.

“…….”

A wizard riding a broom flew overhead, throwing trash that landed with a thunk inside a can presented by a goblin.

The homeless goblin stared at the can in silence for a long while, only spitting out a curse after the wizard disappeared. Its green arm protruding from under a rag was covered in syringe marks.

In a back alley there was a beastman ripping open a garbage bag. Its triangular ears perked up, but it seemed to be missing a tail, likely cut off.

Across the road, a wizard wearing a cape was nervously presenting a bag, while an orc officer patrolling in pairs began a search. The other stood back, hand resting on their pistol, keeping a watchful eye on the wizard.

Perhaps to save on taxes, the night scene in the Magic Tower city had seen better days. Even though it was early evening, the shopping streets were cloaked in darkness as merchants began closing shop and heading home one by one. The faces of merchants tidying up their stalls looked gloomier than expected. Perhaps it was due to the recession… or maybe it was the protests that had escalated to riot levels.

I wandered the streets, taking in each scene.

Due to heightened patrols, not even a single robber was in sight as I passed near the slums. Instead, police were thick everywhere, stopping and checking people they encountered.

Of course, I was not among them. The police, brandishing their clubs, respectfully let me pass when I presented my diplomatic passport.

Thanks to that, I could continue my wandering thoughts without interruption.

“…….”

People were getting by, but the world was not.

The Magic Tower faced an unprecedented political crisis. Protests were growing more intense day by day, and the international community’s sentiment was hardly sympathetic.

The Empire seemed poised to do something. Operatives from the Reconnaissance Command had been dispatched in droves, and classified communications poured into diplomatic missions in the Magic Tower. Clearly, something was amiss, but I had no idea what it was.

The National Security Agency was grappling with how to handle the Magic Tower’s situation. They were at a loss over how to deal with the Oracle’s slush fund issues and the upper echelon of the Magic Tower. They claimed these matters were beyond the Information Department’s scope and required agreements with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, as well as approval from the President and Congress, yet they didn’t disclose what that involved.

Prime Minister Abas was equally in the dark. He too was contemplating the Magic Tower’s predicament. But like the others, he offered no clear answers.

The Royal Intelligence Department was inscrutable, while the Military Intelligence Agency had reviewed the report but issued no orders.

Saint Veronica, who had predicted enjoyable events would unfold in the Magic Tower, remained silent. She promised to introduce someone but gave no details on who or when.

I continued to ponder. The unreliable psychology and interests, international relations and foreign policy trends, defense and security, economy and diplomacy, the upcoming election, committee elections, slush funds, alchemists, Lucia, Camila….

“…….”

It felt like pieces might come together gradually, yet the connections were frustratingly elusive. I couldn’t find a single thing I was sure about.

Well, when has anything ever been certain anyway?

There was a sea of unknowns, but I could learn more over time, and when the answers didn’t appear, I just had to seek them out.

Just as I thought that, trudging back toward the hotel…

“Frederick…?”

“…Camila?”

At the sound calling my name, I turned my head instinctively. Standing in the direction of that familiar voice was someone I recognized.

Camila.

“…….”

“…….”

“…Why do you stare like that? Hehe.”

“…W-What on earth have you been doing to turn from white to black?”

She stood there, covered in black soot, in an awkward pose facing me.

 

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