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“So what brings you here?”

Camila, who was tidying her messy hair, asked. She seemed to have just woken from a nap.

“I’m bored.”

“…Isn’t there anything an adult should be doing?”

“Yep.”

“…….”

Episode 10 – Head Northwest

“Camila, let’s go out for a bit.”

“Right now?”

Camila pulled back the meticulously drawn curtains. Snowflakes sparkled against the slightly dark navy sky, and the whole world was painted white.

She looked at the swirling snowflakes and then back at me repeatedly.

“Uh… are you really suggesting going out in this?”

“No. Just staying in a hotel has me itching for something to do. Now that it’s finally snowing, you’re suddenly acting like a baby? Right now?”

“Even so, this seems a bit too much.”

Camila pressed her palm against her head and opened the door. She then wrinkled her nose slightly.

“Oh my, why is it so cold here?”

“Um… because I just came back from outside?”

“Just come inside for now. It’s warm in here.”

She swung the door wide open, and I entered the hotel room, rubbing my frozen hands. I had forgotten to buy a new pair of winter gloves after my old ones ripped.

After turning on the lights, Camila flicked on the coffee pot, which bubbled and released white steam like it was alive with magic.

I hung my damp coat on the sofa and took a moment to sit while Camila retrieved two mugs and started brewing some black tea.

“Where on earth did you go in this weather? It looked freezing outside.”

“It’s for work.”

“Ah… the agency?”

“Yep.”

Camila, who was pouring tea, looked slightly surprised. It was clear she hadn’t expected that.

“Didn’t you say you took time off? Isn’t it against labor laws to make someone work while on leave…?”

“That’s technically true, legally speaking.”

But if something urgent comes up, the information agency doesn’t hesitate to reach out even at dawn on weekends. Trust me, I’ve even been summoned to the office after ten.

“How’s the magic studying going?”

Camila passed me a mug and replied.

“Pretty well. Thanks to Francesca’s help, I’m learning a lot. She explains things well and shows good demonstrations too.”

“Really? That’s great to hear. Any achievements?”

“Well, I’ve learned a few spells, but whether they’ll work in practice is still uncertain.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because I faint.”

“Ah.”

I gasped, holding my mug, as I thought of the top researchers from Abbas Advanced Military Magic Research Institute and the Royal Magic Society, along with the magic tower, trying to figure out the cause and solution to fainting spells, yet still unable to pinpoint the reason.

But Camila smiled brightly, putting me at ease.

“It’s okay. I’ve learned that if I adjust things just right while using magic, I don’t faint. I don’t seem to have any issues after I wake up.”

“How do you know that?”

“Instinct…?”

“Good grief….”

Despite my not-so-subtle jab, Camila just laughed. While she was away making tea, I blew on the freshly brewed tea she made.

Drinking the hot tea warmed my body up. I felt alive again.

“So, what did you come here for?”

“I came to see you.”

For a moment, Camila paused.

“…You came to see me because you were bored?”

“Just kidding. Who would wake someone up from their nap just because they’re bored, right?”

Actually, that was the truth. Of course, I didn’t come just to play with her.

As she hesitated, fiddling with some sugar cubes, Camila plopped a few into her tea and asked back.

“Then what did you really come for?”

Her tone was slightly grumpy.

“Camila.”

“What?”

“How long has it been since you trained? I believe you’ve skipped out on physical training for quite a while because of the snow.”

“…….”

I smiled brightly and said, “Oh come on. You’re joking, right…?”

“It’s exactly what you’re thinking. Get dressed right now.”

Camila’s face went pale.

I looked out at the blizzard whipping by the window as I got dressed.

*

A few hours later, we arrived not in the dazzling city center but in some industrial area.

I turned off the vehicle and said to Camila in the passenger seat, “Get out.”

Camila opened the passenger door and stepped out. I walked to the trunk to grab our things.

I saw a sign swaying in the harsh winter wind. It was faint but read, “Welcome to Blessed Land.”

As I stacked a large box onto a sled, Camila approached, looking around like a meerkat, and asked.

“Where is this place?”

After locking the trunk and putting the keys in my pocket, I answered her question.

“Anwortin.”

“Anwortin?”

“That’s the name of the area. Anwortin.”

I moved slowly away from the vehicle, and Camila adjusted her hat and tightened her coat as she followed after me.

Amidst the swirling snow, she gazed at Anwortin.

The wide-open road reminded me of La Défense in Paris, where I went with my parents during high school. Modern red bricks and ancient buildings visible far away created a strange contrast; the limited time seemed to have stopped in this city.

“Anwortin… what’s this place for?”

“Currently, it’s a ruined city. At its peak, it housed hundreds of thousands.”

A ruined city? Camila tilted her head.

“Why did it fail?”

“It survived on coal industry, you see.”

Coal was the lifeline of Anwortin’s economy. I pointed to a spot nearby.

“See that lake? Beyond it lies a mountain range filled with high-quality coal. That’s where it is.”

A picturesque lake had a small boat floating, and over the vast mountains lay what appeared to be peaks hiding behind the lake.

I casually kicked a railway track crossing the road and continued.

“I heard thousands of workers used to commute to the mines by tram and boat. This railway was the path for that tram. Oh, right, ‘tram’ was in Russian, right? In English, it’s called ‘tramway,’ I believe.”

“Yep.”

“I think it’s more like ‘elektrichka’ than tram (трамвай)… Though I’ve never seen it myself. Anyway, Anwortin used to be a place where you could become rich after just twenty years working in the mines.”

The small town, once home to thousands, flourished after the Royal Geological Society published a report declaring that ‘large quantities of high-quality coal are buried here.’

Hundreds of thousands of residents, thousands of miners, massive privately owned mines, factories lining the streets, and coal yielded in the millions of tons yearly—those were the glory days.

As a railway was built beside the old town, a bustling urban area cropped up across the tracks, and many came to live and sell there, transforming that small town into a dazzling spectacle.

The most beautiful time of one’s life.

Thus, Anwortin became a blessed land.

Until the discovery of magic stones, that is.

The great city that survived the emergence of the Renegades rapidly fell into decline after the discovery of magic stones. Now, all that remains are people unable to let go of their past glory and attachment, and those who have given up hope.

“Honestly, it’s completely fallen apart. This area used to have a shortage of livable land, making the property prices ridiculous. Now, there’s not even a single supermarket, and no one wants to come here. The crime rate is through the roof. It’s no wonder that people joke around saying Evenworth is land that even the kings have abandoned!”

“From what I hear, it sounds like Cleveland or Detroit.”

“It’s better there. In Evenworth, outside the old downtown, you wouldn’t even know who lives where.”

“Maybe it’s home to the homeless?”

“Honestly, that would be lucky. Sometimes monsters come out, and the army gets deployed.”

At the mention of monsters, Camila jumped in surprise and glared at me. Though she didn’t say anything, I could guess what she was thinking.

“Why are you only mentioning something so important now…?!”

“It’s fine. It’s okay. This industrial area is safe. There are still businesses running, and people live here. The government is doing its best to keep it alive by consistently sending the police. Of course, the place we’re going is safer.”

“Ugh! You really scared me!”

“Ah! Please don’t hit me!”

Camila punched my back with her fist, clearly annoyed.

She was huffing in anger, but if it weren’t for her gentle nature, I could imagine Adela would have probably laid me out in the snow.

I clicked my tongue softly.

“Can’t I make a joke?”

“Are you seriously calling that a joke?!”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’m sorry….”

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Camila exhaled, and her white breath mixed with the dark blue sky.

After a moment of calming down, she stuffed her hands into her pockets, muttering to herself before throwing a question at me.

“So, where are we going now?”

“Huh?”

“You’re not bringing me all the way here to show me a ruined city, are you?”

Camila urged me to answer quickly, but I just smiled mysteriously and chose not to respond.

“Are you not going to tell me?”

“Just see for yourself.”

“…Huh?”

Pointing my chin towards somewhere, I watched as her gaze followed my gesture.

At the end of her line of sight was…

“…a farm?”

It was indeed a farm.

*

In a place that could be better described as a gentle hill than a slope, there stood a quaint little house and a lone farm that looked like something out of a fairy tale.

We passed through the always-green coniferous forest to reach the farm. The narrow path, now covered in snow, made it impossible for vehicles to enter, so we left them behind.

Walking along the path through the evergreens, we soon encountered a fence, and beyond it, an open field awaited.

The serene farm covered in snow.

I pulled the sled and headed toward the farm with Camila.

“This will be your place to stay for a while.”

“Me?”

“Yup.”

After surveying the farm, Camila opened her mouth in a surprised manner, then nodded as if making a decision. I began to unload the boxes I brought from the vehicle.

“You’re not asking what this place does.”

“Um….”

After a short pause, Camila finally spoke.

“If there had been bags of fruit or grain inside the farm, I would’ve asked what this place is. But seeing those military cots lined up, wouldn’t anyone know what kind of place this is?”

I chuckled and nodded.

“This is a safe house. A residence operated by the Military Intelligence Agency.”

“Safe house? Like the ones that always show up in movies?”

“Exactly. And this is where you’ll stay for the time being.”

To be precise, I would also have to stay, but I didn’t intend to move in just yet. For now, Camila would have to stay here alone.

Of course, that wasn’t the main point right now.

“For a little more than a week from now, you’ll undergo several training sessions here, Camila. You’ll learn shooting skills, intelligence collection, and information analysis, among other general knowledge about intelligence.”

“Here?”

Camila’s face was filled with bewilderment as she looked around the farm.

“But there’s nothing here. What can I learn in this wide-open field?”

“Nothing? Why would you say that? I brought things.”

I opened the box to show her its contents: devices and communication equipment used by the Military Intelligence Agency, stamped documents, and strange equipment whose purposes were hard to guess.

Camila’s mouth dropped open.

I was worried she might drool, so I bent slightly to peek, but she seemed to snap back to reality and closed her mouth.

“Is all of this… equipment?”

“Right. There’s intelligence collection equipment as well as regular office supplies like computers… and there are documents I need to show you.”

“Documents?”

“Documents related to your next assignment. Oh, don’t worry. I’m showing you these because I got permission.”

These were documents produced by the embassy of Abas in the Empire. They were normally top-secret documents that were never meant to be shown to civilians.

“As long as I have permission, it’s fine. If I get the okay from the document officer and the director, I can show them to you.”

“Is that really possible?”

“It’s usually a bit tricky, but the document officer is my colleague.”

“Oh.”

The guy managing secret documents in the Empire is my colleague from the Military Intelligence Agency. The director is about to retire soon, but for now, he’s still active, and since I know him, getting approval wasn’t too hard.

Since the documents were not that sensitive and contained information regarding the current situation, there was virtually no reason for concern.

Camila gazed into the box again, her mouth gaping. She was squatting down so much, I worried she might end up sticking her nose in it.

“Okay!”

I clapped my hands to catch Camila’s attention.

“Let’s hurry and unpack before it gets dark. Let’s rest today, and training starts tomorrow.”

“…Huh?”

Camila blinked in confusion, still rummaging through the box.

“What do you mean by that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Aren’t I staying here alone?”

What in the world was she talking about?

“I’m supposed to be here too; what do you mean? Are you telling me to grab a hotel room and commute every day? Right now?”

“…Huh?”

“This safe house was assigned to me by the company for the next mission. So of course, I’ll be staying here until leave is over.”

“….”

“I need to head back to my hometown in two days. Other than that, I’ll be staying here on the farm. Since it’s cold, let’s get a fire going and get ready to stay.”

I closed the box and pushed it into the corner. Camila, who had been tracking my every movement, was staring blankly into space.

It was the strange beginning of an unusual cohabitation.

 

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