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After searching all the parking lots near the townhouse, I finally found an old vehicle that matched the keys in a desolate alley.

I checked to ensure there was no one inside the vehicle, glanced around, and quickly hopped into the driver’s seat.

“Ugh….”

It’s cold. The weird cold wave must be making the weather unbearable, and the heavy white snow had buried the car solid as a rock. I used the provided key to start the engine and cranked the heater up full blast.

As warm air hit me, I felt myself thawing. I might just survive this.

I clasped my hands together and blew warm breath into them. For a few minutes, I stayed still, wriggling to maintain my body heat.

Just as my frozen hands and feet began to thaw, I pulled out a notebook wrapped in plastic from my coat.

“Let’s see….”

When I peeled off the plastic, the cold notebook fell into my palm. It was small enough to fit in one hand, and it was densely packed with unrecognizable numbers.

With familiar finesse, I pulled out a scrap of paper and a pencil wedged into the sun visor. It was a random number card.

It took me less than five minutes to compare the random number card with the notebook and crack the code. The back of the first page, filled with numbers, contained an address, a code word, and a few short sentences.

[Confirm the situation before arrival at destination.]

[Communication devices without encryption features are prohibited. In unavoidable circumstances, contact the designated number.]

[Check the leather case delivered before departure.]

It was all pretty standard. I memorized the address and number, wiped the snow off the windshield with the wipers, and opened the leather case.

A familiar weight of cold metal landed in my palm. I held up the item from the leather case, staring at it for a while, before tucking it into my waistband and muttering.

“…A Christmas gift?”

It was a new pistol.

—

**Episode 10 – Turn Northwest**

Despite its shabby appearance, the old vehicle was in good shape. The fuel was full to the brim.

I drove towards the specified address. Even while speeding down a road with hardly any traffic away from the capital, I kept checking again and again to see if anyone was tailing me.

After braving the howling blizzard, I arrived at a residential complex on the outskirts of Abas’s capital.

As I twisted and turned through the empty roads, I stopped in front of a man walking a dog while taking a drag from a cigarette.

“…”

Though an outsider had just stepped out of a vehicle he’d never seen, the man didn’t even glance my way.

He lit his cigarette, patted his dog a few times, tossed the half-finished cigarette into the alley, and quietly walked into his house.

I did one last check of my surroundings and followed him inside through the door he had opened.

“You’ve been scarce lately, huh?”

As I took off my coat to break the ice, the man spoke. A woman had taken the coat from me, but no matter how I looked at them, they didn’t seem like family.

“I was a bit hurt that you didn’t contact me much, but I’m glad you made it, even if late.”

“Shall we check the goods? I need something to give as a gift.”

“Sure.”

As the man gestured, those gathered around the kitchen table started to cluster. The woman who had taken my coat examined it for any hidden listening devices using radio detection equipment, while others approached me, armed with the same devices to scan my body. The man observed this scene as he pulled out a fresh cigarette.

Eventually, the people who had been frisking me nodded and signaled to one another. The man smoking understood and signaled the others to halt.

The woman returned my coat and extended her hand.

“Please, the car keys.”

After receiving the car keys, the woman handed them to the man who had come out of the kitchen. He was about my build and had black hair, so he was someone you might mistake for me from a distance. Especially in this stormy weather.

He made eye contact with me, gave a subtle nod, and stepped out through the door I had entered.

Vroom! The sound of a powerful engine echoed. I could see the vehicle I arrived in slipping out through the gap in the curtains.

The woman checked outside, locked the door, and the others returned to the kitchen to gather around the table. On the old stove, a cast-iron pan and kettle sat, incongruously alongside radio detection equipment and radios stacked neatly, items you wouldn’t ordinarily find in a home.

As I watched the information officers donning headsets scanning for listening devices, the man who had been smoking rose and gave my arm a light tap.

“Follow me.”

He opened a door leading to another alley.

We stepped into an alley surrounded by narrow and tall walls and the exterior of buildings. Upon stepping through just one door, the atmosphere felt drastically different.

We walked silently through the alley.

The red bricks vividly reminded me of how old the buildings in this street were. The windows were adorned with bars that are rare to see unless you’re in slums, and the wall plants were growing wildly as if trying to escape the alley, like the backyard of a townhouse. As a cat rummaged through a black trash bag, it seemed to sense our presence and let out a mournful meow before scurrying off into a corner. The cat hissed sharply at the man, but he just walked on with his hands stuffed into his pockets, not giving it a second glance.

Now that I think about it, his left coat was slightly drooping. Does he have a pistol or something?

I silently passed through the alley, my mind racing with thoughts.

As we neared the end of the maze-like alley, the man leading slowed down, surveyed the surroundings, and pointed to a door right next to us. Though he didn’t offer any further explanation, I got the gist.

I opened the back door of a house. There wasn’t even a knock, so it was no surprise there was no one waiting to greet me. I even wondered if anyone lived here.

“Is anyone home?”

There was no reply. I brushed off the snow from my shoulders and waited briefly, but again, there was no guide to be found.

The living room door was slightly ajar. I softly nudged it open with my finger.

It was dark inside. Despite the overcast weather, the white curtains were drawn so tightly that it felt even dimmer. However, a small stove was placed in the corner, and its burning logs were the sole source of light in the house.

Opposite that stove, where warmth gathered best, there was a sofa.

On the sofa, a head was poking up.

I quietly approached the sofa and greeted the person sitting there.

“I’m sorry for being late.”

“Why so late?”

“There was a lot of snow, so driving was tough.”

“…Tsk.”

The weary-looking information officer sitting on the sofa pointed to a recliner with his finger.

“Have a seat.”

It was Leoni.

—

On my vacation, while I was trying to relax, I got a call from the company. Using the keys I had left in the mailbox, I found the vehicle and used the notebook and one-time random number card left in it to decode the message. Thus, I confirmed the orders handed down by the Military Intelligence Agency.

Generally, we call the method of retrieving and using goods left in a predetermined location a ‘dead drop.’

Mailboxes, warehouses, subway lockers, within trash bins, under rocks, building exteriors, sewers, under park benches… Broadly speaking, even the famed ‘Dvoke,’ made famous by red South Korean spies, falls under the category of dead drops.

I tossed the notebook and random number card into the metal stove. They instantly caught fire, burning black. Apparently, the ink was quite flammable.

“You were dispatched to the Royal Intelligence Department and couldn’t contact me for a while; I hope you’re doing well.”

Leoni replied in a curt tone.

“Why, does it annoy you that I came back alive instead of dead?”

Her grumpy old-timer tone was infuriating, but I simply smiled in response, accustomed to it.

“Anyway, your attitude remains unchanged… I guess wearing the Major rank has really changed your perspective. Back in my day, I’d tremble at the sight of seniors, not even Colonels.”

“You called me here while I was on vacation. What’s this about?”

The old information officer leaned back against the sofa and replied.

“You always come out when summoned without reason, don’t you? I remember you being a bit of a quirky character.”

“Me? When?”

I’ve worked in intelligence for over ten years, yet no matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t recall any such instance. Who would leave their job for no reason? That would be insane.

“Right. Upon reflection, I suppose it wasn’t entirely without cause. Your sharp intellect always shone through when your colleagues couldn’t even finish their tasks, while you wrapped everything up and left early.”

“Haha….”

“When everyone else was fumbling about with recruiting informants and writing reports, didn’t you build a network all by yourself? It’s been less than a year since you shed your assistant label, hasn’t it? After a few years at headquarters, you seem to have gone soft.”

Leoni let slip a compliment that sounded indistinguishable from an insult while chuckling. Perhaps due to her age, she didn’t laugh as heartily as before, only emitting a wheezing sound from her lungs.

Nonetheless, her laughter still emanated a distinct aura—a sense of intimidation that couldn’t be ignored.

Had she retired and I been long past my prime, there wouldn’t have been a reason to feel intimidated, but unfortunately, I was still a fresh Major, just one year into my promotion, while her colleagues continued to wield influence in the military with their stars.

So, instead of pressing her for details, I just smiled quietly and remained silent. Ah, rank truly is a tyrant.

“So, how’s it been taking up field work again? Is it tough?”

“….”

As I kept my mouth shut and held my ground, Leoni seemed to grow bored talking to herself and let out a sigh.

Whatever it was that prompted Leoni to call me, I could guess it had to be something significant since she’d brought me all the way to a safe house, on a vacation no less.

…Although, I had a good hunch, I wouldn’t voice it out loud.

But Leoni was a step ahead. The glint in the old information officer’s shrewd eyes sparkled dimly from within the darkness.

“Yeah, you seem to have some sort of anticipation. What you’re thinking is probably correct.”

“….”

“I called you because of the work you’ll be handling going forward.”

She hit it. Rather than showing spirit, it seemed utterly limp and devoid of arrogance. With a tired glance, she continued to speak slowly.

“When I took charge of Lushan base, I thought I was done for after the big accident and being chased off to the Royal Intelligence Department, but here I am, living to see another day.”

“Ah, yes. Congratulations. What should I call you?”

“Titles and minor stuff can be brushed aside; it’s not important.”

So it goes. I thought maybe she’d mellowed out a bit after moving to the Royal Intelligence Department, but considering how she bluntly spat her words, she seemed as lively as ever.

I congratulated Leoni on her promotion and pondered for a moment.

Right. I understood Leoni’s return and her taking on international duties. Whatever the details, it was clearly a decision made from above, so I wouldn’t meddle.

But.

What happens to Clevenz now that Leoni is back? Wasn’t the position of Military Intelligence Agency Chief assigned to Clevenz?

Realizing I was about to say something we all found laughable, it seemed like the entire situation had tangled itself up. More precisely, the story itself.

I wanted to ask her what had happened, but considering her peculiar relationship with Clevenz, it didn’t seem like a question I could easily pose.

The competition between the domestic and international parts of the Military Intelligence Agency was intense. It’s true that every information agency has fierce competition for promotions, but here it felt like an entirely different dimension.

Cautiously, I asked, “So what happens to the Military Intelligence Agency now?”

But it wasn’t Leoni who answered my question.

“It changes completely.”

Clevenz appeared, opening the living room door. It felt like a chill swept through the air; he had just come in.

His sudden entrance caught me off guard, but I quickly steadied myself, recognizing the situation, and greeted him.

“Welcome.”

“Ah, it’s been a while. Did you get home alright yesterday?”

“Yes, I did.”

Clevenz stepped into the living room, shaking off the snow that had settled on his coat, removing his leather gloves, and wearing a friendly smile.

He then addressed Leoni, who was sitting on the sofa.

“Did you get home okay? I was worried we kept you too long, considering your age.”

“I hope that thought continues to bother you.”

“Haha, what a joke…”

It was hard to believe this was a conversation between two Brigadiers. I had heard from rumors that their relationship had always been rough, and I had a sense of it from Clevenz’s past reactions, but even so, this seemed unusual.

Clevenz seemed to greet me as if we were friendly, but then he mentioned age, which threw me off. Still, him acknowledging her without dismissiveness suggested their relationship wasn’t entirely bad, but Leoni’s response made me question that again.

Not knowing what might happen if I left it be, I decided to take the lead and shift the conversation.

“You mentioned a complete change; what does that mean?”

“It means the restructuring is happening,” Clevenz explained, raising two fingers as he began to elaborate.

As mentioned in the committee, the Abas Information Agency is undergoing a major restructuring operation.

And the Military Intelligence Agency has engaged in active discussions regarding two potential plans. It was puzzling they hadn’t solidified anything yet, but listening to Clevenz, I began to understand.

“The Prime Minister’s resolve is solid.”

“Ah.”

“It’s sudden, but given his stubbornness, what choice do we have? Under the Minister’s orders, we have established an Executive Committee.”

When a VIP gives orders, what can one do? In a democratic nation, elected officials truly are invincible gods.

The two options under review by the Military Intelligence Agency’s restructuring task force (Executive Committee) are as follows: one option involves expanding the Military Intelligence Agency into a “Military Intelligence General Agency,” while the other involves reconfiguring the internal organization of the Military Intelligence Agency.

“If it changes to the General Agency, existing departments will be promoted to agencies. You can think of it as increasing the scale while maintaining the existing structure of the departments.”

“So what about the other option?”

“Consolidation.”

“Ah.”

The first option is relatively moderate. Essentially, it just increases the scale of major departments under the Military Intelligence Agency Chief. Since the departments remain intact, the personnel working there would naturally stay, and their tasks wouldn’t significantly change.

If this option is adopted, the Military Intelligence Agency Chief becomes the “Military Intelligence General Agency Chief,” and department heads or deputy heads all become “Agency Chiefs.”

General Agency Chief? It evokes thoughts of the Reconnaissance and Intelligence Agencies; it sounds a tad too red for comfort.

On the other hand, the second option is quite drastic, and my reasoning for feeling this way is simple.

It involves consolidating the departments under the Military Intelligence Agency Chief and creating new ones. This method poses significant issues.

There could be offices that were functioning perfectly the day before that simply vanish overnight, and information officers who were overseeing different tasks might be crammed into the same office and forced to work as one team.

Of course, given that this restructuring is garnering the VIP’s attention, such haphazard administration wouldn’t occur, but the word “consolidation” carried a chilling weight that could make information officers shudder.

Creating new departments also poses a problem.

When practical staff gathers to establish a new department, they’re bound to bicker over which personnel to transfer from which departments and will inevitably end up squabbling, fighting over positions.

It’s a pitiful sight to behold, yet it’s unavoidable when one’s livelihood is at stake.

If someone secures a spot, someone else must vacate theirs. Thus, if the second option is adopted, a large-scale purge would be inevitable.

To strengthen the functionalities of the information agency through purges, the information officers lagging behind would likely be the first to go.

“Gee…”

I could almost hear the lamentation of employees who had already resigned. I dug my fingers into my ears, trying to shake off the phantom sounds.

“Of course, you won’t have to worry about purging. You’ll be working in a completely different environment.”

Clevenz added a half-joking remark.

“I’m just asking to be sure: have you had a change of heart? If you want to, you can work comfortably at the embassy right now.”

“No, I’m fine. My feelings remain the same.”

Clevenz nodded, then began to explain the department I would be working in.

“You’ll be part of a new organization that’s being established. This organization includes personnel with various experiences from the Intelligence Department and other organizations. One could also consider it a sort of deployment.”

My responsibilities there would revolve around intelligence gathering and information analysis.

Of course, it wouldn’t just be about collecting intelligence and analyzing it (the committee clearly labeled it as quasi-military work), but since the basic duties of an information officer involve gathering intelligence and analyzing information, I accepted that. After all, assassination operations don’t come up every day.

I nodded and then asked about the fate of Pippin and Jake.

“What about my subordinates?”

“They will naturally follow you.”

“Did you already consult them? I haven’t received any contact yet.”

“Was there really a need to ask?”

They were just told to come along without even being consulted. Why do we always lack a say in this? Is this democracy?

Suddenly, I felt an overwhelming wave of sadness. Should I consider forming a union at this rate?

“Your responsibilities won’t be limited to that. If necessary, you may also be involved in various black operations, including quasi-military missions.”

“Will I be going as support? Or directly involved?”

“That can’t be concluded right now. It will depend on the situation on the ground.”

In other words, it meant that if luck ran out, I could very well find myself on the frontline. I wondered if I would have to participate in assassination operations even here. Though I had tried it once already.

“The one to make those judgments and give you instructions won’t be me. Naturally, I may participate in decision-making, but you won’t be in the direct chain of command. You’ll have a separate superior.”

Clevenz pointed towards Leoni. It seemed I should be making a stern impression here, but in reality, she merely sat there with an indifferent expression, as if everything bored her.

“Counting on her?”

“Not at all. Hahaha…”

“Even if I say that, there won’t be too many quasi-military operations. It’s not like we’re going to be on the lookout for someone’s head anytime soon.”

Leoni added briefly.

“There will be specific tasks to assign.”

Suddenly, she sprang off the sofa and began explaining the missions I would be responsible for.

“You’ll have to handle several matters in the Empire, and do it as quietly as possible.”

While she issued a multitude of orders, here’s a brief summary:

1. Gather information on the ‘trader’ selling dark magic devices to the terrorists under investigation by the Joint Investigation Team.

2. Monitor the movements of Oracle members of the Magic Tower who are scheduled to stay or visit the Empire, particularly focusing on those approaching Francesca.

3. Establish relationships by contacting the Imperial Royal Family and government officials.

4. Gather all information related to the situation in the Northern conflict region.

Along with attending defense exhibitions, participating in events hosted by the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recording military parades, and recruiting junior information agents, among other small tasks.

Given that my next deployment is in the Empire, all operations would be basing themselves there.

“Considering the overall turmoil in the country regarding the Demon kind and whatnot, there’s no need to act up and add more woes. The North is so shut off that even their citizens can’t enter, foreign spies are getting the irksome treatment, and the Emperor is nowhere to be seen… Truly impressive, whatever the cause. Thanks to that, countless local officers have found themselves suffering.”

“Haha…”

“But someone has to fill the gap, right? Right?”

Since agencies were completely purged last time, the task of managing the situation was left to me, the one who was involved from the start.

Although it hasn’t been officially announced that Camila and her team are going to the Empire, it was already half-accepted in diplomatic circles, to be precise; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was already leaking it here and there. They urgently needed to put out their own fires, so they’d prefer to avoid unnecessary conflicts.

That said, what about Camila’s condition? I mean, what happened with her fainting spells while using magic?

The Advanced Military Magic Research Institute has resumed normal operations, and I’ve filtered and sent a few materials to the Magic Tower researchers, so hopefully, something has come out of that. I sincerely wish there haven’t been any serious issues.

Lost in such thoughts, Leoni’s voice pulled me out of my reverie.

“Of course, I’m not saying you have to do all that alone, but at the moment, there are still urgent tasks that need to be attended to.”

“What urgent task?”

“The orders are currently being drafted from below, so you’ll confirm the details before departure. To sum it up…”

Leoni was lost in thought, making a thoughtful sound as she pondered.

Finally, the seasoned information officer summarized the complicated operations in a single word.

“Defection.”

I need to bring someone over from the Empire.

 

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