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Francesca got into the passenger seat.

The diplomatic car owned by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Abas had a pleasantly smooth ride.

The foreign car, easily surpassing a salaryman’s annual income, felt invincible, and the diplomat-exclusive license plate devoured police checkpoints like they were nothing. There wasn’t a single thing to dislike.

Except for the fact that it’s not my car.

“Where to?”

Francesca in the passenger seat asked with tired eyes.

I placed my hands on the steering wheel and retorted, “Just say anywhere.”

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Episode 13 – There’s No Country for Wizards

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In the deep of the night.

I pierced through the dazzling cityscape of Petrogard, arriving at the place Francesca mentioned.

The place she wanted to go was the riverside.

The dark brown river cut through the city. The giant river, twisting like a scale-covered body, embraced the brilliant city lights, scattering a dizzying array of colors.

The icy river flowed south, drawing a line between the old town and the new.

The riverside I arrived at, at Francesca’s request, was a familiar spot. Just a month ago, it was exactly where Camila and I met while helping with the exile operation.

“……”

The riverside, visited after a long time, was just the same.

The lights of vehicles racing down the road, the brilliantly shining lights from various locations.

What illuminated the darkness were the lives of different people, each unique.

I leaned against the hood and spat out some words towards the city nightscape reflected on the river’s surface.

“It’s completely different. In the North, you can’t even light a candle carelessly. Here, it’s hard to tell if it’s day or night.”

Francesca, with her arms crossed beside me, responded.

“Because it’s the safest city in the Empire.”

“Well, lighting a fire in Petrogard won’t cause any disaster.”

“There are no robbers looting rationed food, and no soldiers shouting to put out fires. It’s pretty much heaven.”

Francesca still fixed her gaze on the river. Her silence and looking outside during the drive hadn’t changed at all.

As she stared at the lights reflecting on the river with a blank expression, she began to murmur in a melodious voice.

“Have you achieved everything you wanted?”

“……”

“I’m asking because it seems like there’s still something you need from me.”

In response to Francesca’s urging to get to the point, I spoke right away.

“Thank you for your cooperation in the operation, Francesca. Thanks to you, I could wrap things up smoothly.”

The operation was a success.

No matter how the process went, that was the most important fact. I continued the conversation in a calm tone.

“Did you handle everything cleanly? How was the public’s reaction?”

“They all seemed oblivious.”

Francesca began to relay news of foreign investigative agencies.

“It’s uncertain how the Military Government Headquarters will act since they have no connections to the military and filed a report, but it seems the Imperial Ministry of Magic and the Imperial Police are clueless.”

“What about the Inquisition?”

“Business as usual for them. For those folks, serving Saint Lucia and managing the demon situation is their top priority.”

“What about the Magic Tower?”

“The Magic Tower….”

With a look lost in thought, Francesca paused her words and stared at the river, taking a light breath.

“It seems they don’t know either.”

The intelligence matched exactly what I had seen.

The information officers stationed in the Magic Tower and Kien Empire, acting under Leoni’s orders, monitored and intercepted communications from various governments. This involved not only senior officials of the government but also employees in information agencies, officials from investigative bodies, and even the families of civilians.

The surveillance revealed that neither the Kien Empire, the Magic Tower, nor the Cult had made any moves yet. This indicated my cleanup was thorough and that the operation had succeeded ‘perfectly.’

But one problem remained.

“The people from the Magic Tower seem to be preparing to return. How long do you think it will take for the Oracle to notice the disappearance of the five secretariat staff?”

“……”

This operation was not a capture mission but an assassination. A type of covert operation involving semi-military tactics. Given that force was involved, it was the most dangerous and challenging operation.

In other words, the likelihood of a plausible denial holding up was very low.

Although the death of Jean Marbo had already been reported to the Oracle, the deaths of Karim Boumediene, Gabi Schneider, Ahmad bin Rabaani, and Juan Pablo Martinez had yet to be reported. All four were eliminated by the Abas Information Agency. To be precise, only Gabi Schneider’s head exploded during interrogation.

All five were employees from the Magic Tower Secretariat who were simultaneously dispatched personnel within the Magic Tower delegation.

And Francesca was a high-ranking civil servant from the Magic Tower Secretariat and also the leader commanding the Magic Tower delegation.

So, naturally, the Oracle would hold Francesca accountable. They would question her about where, why, and how the five secretariat staff went missing. Additionally, they would investigate why no report was made.

As I gazed at the city lights, I took a moment to ponder before speaking earnestly.

“They’re looking for someone to take responsibility from above.”

“…Responsibility?”

“Yes.”

Leoni had entrusted me with wrapping up the operation.

To avoid any backlash. To prevent any responsibility from falling on the company.

At first glance, it might sound like a self-serving excuse, but in reality, it meant not to create a situation where the Abas government would be suspected as the mastermind behind the assassination operation. No matter how powerful the adversary was, once gunfire erupted in a foreign territory under martial law, the Imperial government would have no choice but to hold the Abas government accountable in some form.

And information agencies are precisely the institutions that prevent such situations from arising.

It seemed she was not unaware of this.

“…You’re saying to pin the blame on me.”

“You were filmed handling Martinez. What exactly was the reason you went that far?”

The response did not come immediately.

After a brief pause, Francesca raised her head slightly and replied.

“I saw Ahmad hastily leaving the hotel and chased after him. I saw him join Martinez, I witnessed the undead attacking people, and I saw Martinez fleeing alone. So, I followed.”

“Were you trying to stop him?”

“Yes… maybe.”

That was a deflating reaction. Francesca, speaking weakly with an unclear voice, didn’t provide a proper explanation for why she pursued Martinez.

Perhaps she didn’t even know why she chased him.

Just as that thought crossed my mind.

Francesca spoke up.

“But that might not be the important part.”

Francesca, still with her arms crossed, leaned against the car and gazed at the river. Despite the crazy situation, she was murmuring in an infinitely calm manner.

Like a worker swamped with tasks, her eyes drooped, and her hair looked frazzled. With a tired gaze fixed on the city lights, Francesca’s voice had a hint of exhaustion.

“What can I do for you, Colonel?”

“Would that be alright?”

I quietly observed her side profile.

“This could very well put your life at risk. Even aside from that, you could be facing decades in prison.”

“Prison. Prison…”

Repeating the word ‘prison,’ Francesca lowered her gaze. As her fallen hair covered her face, all of a sudden, amidst the strands…

Her lips began to curve into a line.

“Wouldn’t it be better to be in prison than to live in constant fear of being watched by someone, somewhere for a lifetime?”

Francesca murmured, her tone bitter, like it was the most mundane statement. She added,

“I’ve got evidence on video. There are also a few suspicious items that Martinez, Ahmad, and Karim kept in my room. Forbidden books designated by the Oracle, illegal research records, dark magic artifacts….”

“…….”

“With this evidence, I might not even go to prison. There’s a bounty on the necromancer’s head. But I’ll still have to go through inquiries for months, and I won’t be able to set foot on Empire soil for the rest of my life.”

Francesca spoke as if it were someone else’s problem. She had a mindset that it didn’t matter how it turned out.

As I stared blankly at her, I suddenly posed a question.

“This is your first time killing someone, isn’t it?”

The smile vanished from Francesca’s face. The face that bore a bitter smile noticeably sank, and in the place where the crafted smile had been was an unmistakable feeling of complexity.

Now that I thought about it, she oddly smelled of alcohol. Had she been drinking heavily before meeting me? Her eyes looked strangely unfocused.

“When I get back to the lodging, I wash up, eat, and then drink until my head feels like it’s going to explode the next morning. I could take sleeping pills, but I find alcohol works better.”

“…Does it help at all?”

“No.”

How could anything be okay after killing someone? All it does is make my head hurt from the hangover.

“Then why do you drink?”

“Because you get used to it.”

“…….”

“I can’t forget painful memories, but I can get used to them. It might be unbearable, but if you get used to it, you’ll eventually learn how to live with it.”

I put my hands in my pockets and looked up at the night sky. The stars hidden by the pollution had long vanished into the darkness.

But one star shone the brightest.

That single star was twinkling in the dim night sky.

Staring at the twinkling star, I spoke to Francesca.

“You might have to enter a detention center during the inquiry. Have you ever experienced life in a detention center?”

“No. I’m more diligent than I look.”

“It’s not a nice place.”

“You talk as if you’ve been there.”

“I have.”

“When?”

“Just for work, briefly.”

It’s not exactly a good memory. Not something I’d brag about to others.

Pulling my hand out from my pocket, I revealed a shiny crystal ball resting in my grasp.

I placed it on the hood and slid it toward Francesca.

Francesca stared at it blankly.

“What is this?”

“It’s the video I mentioned earlier.”

“…Huh?”

Her gaze, previously fixed on the night view, turned to me. For the first time since she got in the passenger seat, she met my eyes.

“I’ll handle the missing documents on my end, so don’t worry about it. This is yours now. You can destroy it or use it however you want. Do as you please.”

“Why are you giving this to me…?”

“Take it.”

I extended the crystal ball toward her and continued in a nonchalant tone.

“Anyway, the operation is over, and everything’s been wrapped up, so it’s no longer needed. It’ll just rot in the company’s archives for about 50 years before getting destroyed. Who’s going to use a video of a necromancer dying? I found it didn’t contain much content either. Just take it.”

Since the operation was over, what was there to discuss about responsibilities? The concern that this assassination operation might be discovered by the Empire’s information agency must’ve arisen from the very beginning of planning.

In fact, most intelligence operations are like that. There’s hardly a lack of counterintelligence agencies eager to catch spies. It’s something every information officer has in mind that people can die or operations can fail at any moment.

What if the Empire figures it out?

Both the Empire and Abas have been caught a few times assassinating people in their own territories. Adding one more wouldn’t change a thing.

Even if the Imperial Guard HQ or the counterintelligence headquarters caught wind of it, the dead necromancer wouldn’t be coming back.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Francesca, fiddling with the crystal ball, threw a question at me.

“If they find out, the Colonel will surely be held responsible.”

“I’ll just take the punishment.”

If they’re mad, let them cut me off and hire someone new.

I leaned against the hood, gazing up at the night sky. That one bright star was shining faintly against the darkness.

Francesca let her shoulders droop and began looking at me with a strange gaze. It was an uncommonly lifeless look, distinctly different from her usual self.

She asked me,

“…Why are you doing this?”

Francesca spoke.

“Wouldn’t it have been better to just pretend it didn’t happen? Didn’t we meet from the beginning with the intention of using each other when needed?”

She smiled lightly, a laugh that seemed mocking.

I couldn’t tell who she was mocking. Was it me, or herself? It was unclear.

“I would have done that.”

“…….”

“It’s an opportunity, isn’t it?”

Yeah, it is an opportunity.

Death and responsibility eventually become opportunities for someone. Many will try to squeeze in and take up the vacant spot to rise higher, no matter what it takes.

“Going against orders and taking risks. I don’t understand why anyone would take the long way around instead of following an easier path.”

With that, Francesca gave me a sideways smile and pressed me for an answer.

“Is there a reason for going this far, Colonel?”

Without much deliberation, I answered.

“I told you before, didn’t I? It’s my job to take responsibility for your safety.”

“…….”

“And no matter how many orders I receive, I can’t spend my entire life just following them, can I? I’m not some mere follower.”

Francesca looked at me with a peculiar gaze, saying nothing.

“Is that even an answer?”

“I’m a salaryman. In the end, a company is just a workplace.”

So what special reason could there be?

“I could just quit and find a different job if I wanted.”

“…….”

“That’s just how company life goes.”

*

After keeping silent for a while, Francesca disappeared into Petrogard’s streets, which were glowing in blue light as dawn broke.

That morning.

I received news from the Magic Tower branch of the Military Intelligence Agency that Francesca had gone to the Magic Tower’s public security.

The sins of the five who had made contracts with demons had been revealed to the world.

She turned herself in.

The charge was murder.

Episode 13 – A Kingdom for Magicians – END –

 

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