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“…I see. So it is the Talent Development Institute, right? …Yes, got it. I will contact you after the report is done and the orders come down.”

I placed the terminal, which had lost connection, on my desk.

The fifth floor of the building housing the Defense Attaché Office at the Magic Tower.

An office where nobody could enter except for authorized personnel, and even commands from the ambassadorial representative were not accepted.

Reports created by analysts hung on one wall, with documents stacked on desks separated by cubicles.

I gazed at the photographs hanging on the wall.

There was a photo over a photo, and a photo beside another photo. The pictures intertwined with red lines looked like a large spider web.

“…Alright.”

With one hand holding a pistol and the other resting on my hip, I muttered.

“Who should I deal with first?”

Episode 5 – Journalist, Diplomat, Soldier, Spy

Fabio Verati revealed three pieces of information.

The handler of the spy who infiltrated the Advanced Military Magic Research Institute.

The organization the handler belonged to.

The current location of Giada Bianchi, who went missing several years ago.

As expected, the first was Fabio Verati himself, and the second was the Talent Development Institute at the Magic Tower.

“I honestly didn’t expect the last one.”

-‘But I think you had some inkling about it, didn’t you?’

“I had a hunch. Where do you think all that money came from? I just didn’t have the certainty—only circumstantial evidence.”

As soon as I received the report from the Counterintelligence Team of Division 73, I contacted Clevenz.

I never expected it, but as the pursuit concluded faster than anticipated, the Military Intelligence Agency popped the champagne.

-‘The overseas department is making a fuss about giving you a medal. There were rumors about assigning such a difficult task to a Major, but now no one is suspicious anymore.’

“What have I done to deserve that? I haven’t done anything. The Attaché Office and the division employees did far more work.”

-‘So you’re saying you won’t accept the medal?’

“Haha, just give the medal to the employees, and I’ll only take the bonus.”

I exchanged jokes with Clevenz and got straight to the point.

The job wasn’t finished yet.

“The investigation team has drafted the organizational chart for the Talent Development Institute. I cross-verified the data created by the analysts, and the accuracy rate is quite high.”

Through the collaboration of the Counterintelligence Department’s investigation team and the Attaché Office’s intelligence analysis team, they succeeded in identifying the organizational structure and key personnel’s information of the Magic Tower’s information agency.

I also borrowed Dmitri’s network of journalists from time to time. Thanks to the exceptional capabilities of the political and international departments’ journalists, the accuracy of the information was generally very high.

Testimonies gathered through interrogation, open-source information, and human intelligence from reporters, along with supplemental data from the Royal Intelligence Department.

Since we collected and verified intel from more than two sources, the information about the Talent Development Institute was beyond doubt.

“I didn’t think the Royal Intelligence Department would be involved here. What happened?”

-‘It seems they were also investigating in their own way. Since it’s inconvenient to discuss details over the air, just think of it as cooperation between companies.’

I had met Director Leoni on the day of the shooting, but I only heard vague details. While Clevenz seemed to know something, he refrained from elaborating for security reasons.

Anyhow, I moved forward thinking that good is good.

“Then can I safely interpret this to mean that we should capture the Talent Development Institute first as per orders?”

-‘Yes. This morning, the Prime Minister directly explained the situation to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Since the issue regarding the missing citizens is supposed to be resolved in a meeting, for now, we should tackle the issues of the Magic Tower first.’

They want to deal with the bastards who sent the spies first.

If I had known this, I would have just kidnapped their representatives.

“Somehow, I can’t shake the feeling that we took the longer route when we could have found a quicker way.”

-‘You know well that the Intelligence Agency can’t act without certainty. They need some form of information to make a decision, don’t you think?’

What that meant was, now that we had certainty, it was time to act.

Knock! Knock!

“Oh, they’re here. I need to hang up.”

-‘Contact me again later.’

“Yes, please go ahead.”

As soon as Clevenz ended the call, I rushed to open the door. There stood an orc with sharp fangs protruding from its lower jaw, holding a box.

An orc?

I tilted my head in confusion, wondering why an orc, likely used to construction sites or coal mines, would be in a representative office, when a few workers in uniforms rushed in through the gap.

“I brought the supplies.”

“Oh, you’re back?”

“Please place that box over here.”

“Yes—ah.”

The orc set down a pile of boxes near the entrance of the office, bowed slightly, and then disappeared towards the stairs. Looks like it was just a delivery person.

I held the door for Pippin, Jake, and the analysts who were running errands.

“Did anything happen on the way? Why are you so late?”

“They said the Hero and the Saint needed something, so we stopped by the hotel. The Hero took a while picking out a drink, so….”

“You took longer because you had to buy it again?”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

“That’s not a problem, but you weren’t caught by the police, were you?”

“Of course not. Other than the two of them, no one saw us.”

Since Camila and Lucia were doing fine, I didn’t think too much about it. If they needed something, then they should buy it.

Anyway.

“Pippin, did you get everything I told you to buy?”

“Um… hydrogen peroxide, a large syringe, acetic acid, bottled drink, a magic converter, and powdered juice, right? I got everything as you listed.”

“Good job.”

I was worried about what if I couldn’t find some of the items, but they collected them faster than expected. It seems there weren’t any legal purchase restrictions.

I hummed a tune as I placed the items taken from the boxes on the meeting table.

Then, I gestured for Pippin, Jake, and the analysts to come over and distributed the paper with the recipe written on it.

“Alright, this is the item you need to make from now on. I emphasize, you must make it according to the exact quantities and order written in red here.”

“We have to do it?”

“Of course you are.”

Me? Do it myself? In this dessert duty?

I shot a look implying that sentiment, causing Pippin to tremble. Just then, Jake, who was examining the recipe nearby, raised his hand.

“Manager, but what kind of recipe is this? I’ve never seen this before.”

I smiled brightly at Jake and pointed to the photos on the wall with my finger.

“It’s a present for those people.”

“Did you throw it on my broom?”

Broom storage.

A parcel from an unknown sender, an item brought without anyone knowing who, a delivery that was never ordered. Suddenly, suspicious objects with no traceable origin were delivered all over the Magic Tower.

It was a bomb.

[There have been numerous fires of varying magnitudes across the area.]

[Flames roared terrifyingly out of the windows. The sound of breaking glass could be heard. Cries of people echoed everywhere, and thick smoke could be seen rising continuously even from hundreds of meters away from the fire sites…]

[At 0:30 AM today, a fire in a detached house resulted in a 45-year-old man suffering third-degree burns all over his body. He was transported to the hospital but ultimately succumbed…]

[The police and fire authorities have formed a joint investigation team to determine the cause of the recurring fires. Will the cause be revealed in the police’s interim investigation report in four days…?]

Everyone’s attention was focused on the police’s announcement.

However,

[The investigation results confirmed that the recent series of fire incidents were caused by explosions. The police are currently considering various possibilities such as gas leaks, short circuits, experimental accidents, and terrorism…]

The police explained in their interim investigation report that the fires were caused by explosions.

But they did not clarify whether the explosion was natural or man-made. If it was natural, what was the cause and why did it happen? If it was man-made, who initiated it?

In fact, when a journalist questioned the connection of the incidents, the police adopted a vague stance that neither confirmed nor denied any links.

The media started to ignite.

All media outlets were eagerly awaiting the police’s announcement, but it was hardly surprising that the conclusion they provided was ‘We don’t know either.’

After a barrage of criticism, the police hurriedly announced, “The first explosion occurred from a beverage bottle,” yet they were met with disbelief about a bottle bursting. They had determined ‘where’ it burst but couldn’t explain ‘why’ it happened.

Of course.

I knew ‘why’ the explosion happened.

“Wow… these things are wickedly powerful.”

Because I made them.

*

Seventeen bombs were delivered to houses, apartments, vehicles, broom storage, offices, and public agencies.

These weren’t the typical bombs used by terrorists you’d see in movies or news; they were liquid bombs contained in clear beverage bottles, so the targets had no suspicion whatsoever. Not even the police or counterintelligence agencies.

In fact, it was a carefully prepared gift aimed at that very outcome.

“…Did you see the news?”

-‘I’m watching it now. I don’t think I sent any explosives to you, where did you get them?’

“I just made them myself. Using military-grade explosives would get me caught.”

The gifts I sent were homemade bombs. I learned how to make them from training courses.

To be precise, they were the same kind of bombs that a Middle Eastern terrorist organization, which had established a base in the UK, prepared to blow up dozens of American planes in the Atlantic sky, but they were intercepted and confiscated by MI5 and the London police before they could be used.

The British intelligence authorities only realized those bottles were bombs after they installed cameras in the suspects’ hideouts, proving the disguise’s effectiveness was already well-established.

Probably, no one else in this town knows how to make them except me.

Anyway.

The reason I sent the bombs was simple.

Revenge.

-‘I know it’s inappropriate to say this as a spectator, but is everything going well?’

“Of course everything’s going smoothly.”

Sending a spy to an allied country? That’s well within the realm of possibility. In intelligence warfare, there are no friends or foes.

But sending a spy to gather information and abducting civilians are entirely different matters.

No matter how much the international community is driven by the logic of power, kidnapping civilians is terrorism no matter what justification you use.

If Giada Bianchi were a terrorist, a crime syndicate member, or a public security offender, the Abas government would certainly understand the situation at the Magic Tower.

But Giada Bianchi is just a civilian. In fact, she’s a government-funded student sent to study at the Magic Tower to enhance diplomatic relations and technological cooperation.

During the investigation period, a lack of information had prevented decisive actions, but now enough information was available.

In the end, the Prime Minister made a resolution.

-‘Everyone seems satisfied with the results. The same goes for the Prime Minister.’

“I have yet to submit a report since confirmation hasn’t been made.”

-‘Isn’t it working out well, though?’

The Prime Minister left a remark that ‘While war is out of the question, preventive measures are necessary.’

The Military Intelligence Agency interpreted that as ‘Make sure they can’t pull this nonsense again.’ It was a very emotional and strong conclusion, but no one dared to oppose it since the Prime Minister himself signed off on it.

Initially, upon hearing the full story, the Ministry of Defense was in an uproar over stolen military secrets, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was gritting its teeth, feeling blindsided, so it was rather mild. At least, it didn’t escalate to economic sanctions or a declaration of war. At least on the surface.

I have no idea what the Royal Intelligence Department is thinking.

Anyway, the Prime Minister summoned the Military Intelligence Agency Chief and the Royal Information Department Chief to his office.

And this is the result.

-‘How many did we eliminate?’

“Fifteen in total.”

While the exact number of intelligence agency employees remains classified, according to Fabio Verati’s testimony, the Magic Tower’s talent development center isn’t all that large.

I targeted individuals working in specific departments to maximize damage with the minimum number.

Administration, planning, general affairs, operations, communications, analysis, auditing.

This should sufficiently bruise the Magic Tower’s intelligence agency. With their personnel in mourning, they’ll likely spend quite some time in a somber mood. It will also take a considerable while to normalize operations.

“I sent 17 boxes, but we couldn’t verify since two were transported to the hospital alive. I heard they’re in critical condition, but the hospital hasn’t provided any explanation.”

-‘From this side, things are looking risky. What do you plan to do? Just leave them be?’

“I still have plenty of time. Let’s send someone to the hospital first.”

-‘Prepare 51 and their acquaintances for repatriation and set up for the next operation.’

“Yes, understood.”

The photos that filled one side of the wall had gradually disappeared one by one, and now only a few remained.

“Hmm.”

This seems sufficient for revenge. I put down the disconnected terminal and called for Jake.

“Jake! Dispense all the remaining gifts. Have 51 and their acquaintances treated and kept on standby. Spread the word.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m going out for a bit, so don’t leave a record of my outing. I could get caught later.”

“Understood. But where are you going?”

As I changed into a suit, I concealed my pistol that was holstered under my jacket.

“I’m going to find someone.”

 

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