Chapter 18
The agent began the report in a hurried voice.
“A shootout has occurred. The first report came in at 07:16, and confirmed gunfire was heard dozens of times in the southern outskirts slum. There were traces of blood and uncollected corpses at the scene.”
The slum, huh.
In this day and age, weapons capable of killing are as common as dirt.
Illegal possession of arms is a serious crime, but who cares? This is a world overrun by monsters wearing human skin.
If you have a little money and connections, you can easily get your hands on weapons to protect yourself and those around you. Especially in slums where various organizations are battling over interests.
However, if a shootout erupted in the heart of the cult, things become extremely serious.
So I asked the agent.
“…Who reported it?”
“The agents who were preparing the eavesdropping facility on site.”
The southern outskirts of the cult.
Eavesdropping facility.
It was an office set up a few days ago by the Imperial Guard HQ counterintelligence agents to listen in.
Who was involved in the shootout?
I have no idea who started shooting, but one thing is for sure: the cult will be turned upside down by the end of today.
“First, cancel all official schedules. Who was involved in the shootout? Was it the Imperial Guard HQ?”
“Uh, well, we don’t know. The agents took photos of the scene…”
“They took photos?”
“Y-yes?”
“I mean, did they take pictures of the corpses’ faces?”
“Y-yes! They did! They’re currently sending them back to HQ to compare with the database!”
They must have used a secure line for communication.
It would take at least an hour to identify the victims.
“How far is it from there to here?”
“It’ll arrive within an hour. And the scene is still uncontained.”
I turned and headed towards the entrance.
“…Let’s go quickly.”
—
Episode 2 – Heroes of the Continent
I hurriedly stomped my way to the scene.
The police had already arrived. Maintaining order within the cult is currently the responsibility of the Inquisition. So, those officers are affiliated with the Inquisition.
I took long strides towards the police line and stepped into the scene. Naturally, several police officers approached to block us. I checked their insignia; they were the scene commander.
“Who are you! This is a restricted area…”
“Oh, yes. Thanks for your hard work.”
“…Um, you, um, hero colleague….”
“Yes. That’s right. Can we take a look at the scene?”
With a bright smile, I shook hands with the bewildered officer. He glanced at my badge and cleared his throat a few times before stepping aside.
Pippin and Jake looked confused, so I shook my empty wallet once.
“Did you just give him a bribe while shaking hands?”
“Doesn’t it feel natural? You guys should learn some tricks too.”
With a smirk, I walked into the scene.
The two followed behind me, starting their search.
The shootout took place in an alley in the slum.
It seemed the police were far away, leading to a delayed response. Or maybe they avoided coming because they were scared.
Anyway, that’s not what matters right now.
“Anyone here had experience shooting guns?”
Jake raised his hand with a blank expression.
“What did you do before joining the Information Agency?”
“I was drafted from the Special Forces.”
“Great. Pippin, what about you?”
“I’m from the Intelligence Unit. I worked in the analysis team.”
A combat expert and an analysis expert.
I gestured for them to follow me into the alley.
The scene was chaotic.
There were numerous bullet marks on the walls, and bloodstains were scattered across the ground.
I surveyed the area, opening my mouth.
“Conduct a scene analysis. You have 5 minutes. Identify who shot from what angle, and how many casualties occurred.”
Pippin and Jake dispersed to carry out the search.
As I watched them, I began my own analysis of the scene.
“…”
There were unusually many bullet marks on a specific wall. At least over 15 shots had hit that wall.
Why was that?
I suspected that someone used this wall for cover.
Peering over the wall, I saw a space just big enough for a person to crouch. It seemed the area had not been cleaned up yet, as used shell casings were still lying around.
…There are no bloodstains.
I picked up a few shell casings and stuffed them into my pocket, then slowly examined the other wall.
The bullet marks were concentrated on the wall opposite the one I had just checked.
Meaning that there was a shootout using these two walls as cover at least once.
“…”
Jake rushed over, pointing at the opposite wall.
“There are a total of 8 bullet marks on that wall.”
“This wall has at least over 15.”
The difference in bullet marks is clear.
There was a fierce exchange of fire, and the person hiding behind this wall took heavy fire.
It seems the person behind this wall was at a numerical disadvantage.
While receiving concentrated fire, there was apparently no one to cover him.
“It seems he was under suppressive fire. The bullet marks over there show a high level of spread. It’s likely they only showed their gun and fired back.”
“How about the bloodstains?”
“There’s a long trail of blood from that wall to the opposite exit. Someone who was shot might have been dragged along.”
Pippin came over, holding a phone in one hand.
“It looks like the initial gunfire broke out in the center of the alley. There are bloodstains everywhere.”
When I arrived at the alley center, as Pippin said, there were bloodstains everywhere.
There were puddles, long trails, and handprints smeared with blood on the ground.
“…At least three people died here.”
“How do you know that?”
I tapped the ground with my military boots.
It was the spot where a handprint and a blood puddle were located.
“It looks like the guy crawling here got shot in the lower half.”
I pointed to the bloodstains on the opposite side.
“Two people died over there. One likely died instantly while the other bled out while crawling.”
The rest were minor bloodstains. They seemed to have fled after only sustaining gunshots.
Jake dashed over to that area, starting his search, while Pippin hurriedly lifted her phone and started chatting with someone for a long while, then opened her mouth.
“Our agents have three bodies in custody.”
That’s right.
“Colonel!”
Jake ran over, holding a pistol in his hand.
A familiar item.
“I found this.”
“…”
I silently accepted the gun, removed the remaining bullets, and compared them with the shell casings I had in my pocket.
They were the same size.
They shot each other with the same bullets.
In this world, the caliber of bullets varies from country to country; it’s not like modern times where everything is standardized at 9mm, 45 caliber, or 22 caliber.
In other words, both sides were using the same type of bullet.
Pippin spoke up.
“If we analyze this bullet and shell casing, we might determine the nationality, right?”
“No.”
“Excuse me?”
I handed the bullet and casing to Pippin.
She rolled them slowly in her palm and nodded as if she understood.
“They are the same bullet.”
“…That means everyone who was here belongs to the same affiliation?”
“That would be the case. It’s rare for the Information Agency to mimic the firearms used locally.”
Pippin returned the bullet and casing to me, and Jake, watching the whole thing, opened his mouth.
“You know what affiliation they belong to, right?”
“…I do. I can’t forget what these guys’ guns look like.”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
“Wow… these guys are really messed up…”
I stared blankly at the pistol in my hand.
The Imperial Army standard issue pistol.
The guys here belong to the Imperial Guard HQ.
—
We mobilized our agents to search all the hospitals surrounding the slums, but we couldn’t find any emergency patients with gunshot wounds.
It seemed the Imperial Guard HQ agents had already fled far away and gone into hiding.
Since we had no leads, there was no need to continue searching. We returned to the embassy and locked the door to the conference room.
We checked the breaking news on the TV mounted on the wall of the conference room.
As I expected, the cult had already turned upside down.
‘…At around 9 a.m. this morning, a shooting incident occurred in the outskirts of the cult. Investigative results indicate that dozens of bullets were fired…’
‘The Inquisition spokesperson only responded that they are currently identifying the perpetrators behind the shooting…’
‘There are concerns that this could be the precursor to another terrorism incident…’
I carefully scanned for any crucial information, but all that came out was a jumbled mix of fragmented news and speculation.
It seems no one has grasped the truth yet.
Slowly, I pieced together the situation unfolding. The news currently being aired isn’t particularly trustworthy.
After signaling to lower the volume, I manipulated the communication device placed in the center of the conference room.
I needed genuine, essential information.
So I contacted someone who was likely to have such information.
“Colonel Clevenz? Can you hear me?”
‘…I checked the report this morning. A shootout occurred.’
“Yes. Looking at the bullet casings and pistol left on the scene, it looks like the Imperial guys were involved. Both sides used the same type of bullet.”
‘Looks like the Imperial Guard HQ has finally lost it. Shooting at one another…’
A deep sigh was audible over the line.
“At this point, isn’t it an internal division? I see agents from Sector 1 operating within the cult; it seems like that caused a conflict with Sector 2.”
I proposed the theory of an armed confrontation due to territorial invasion.
Whether or not this theory is right, I don’t know. But it was the only reasonable explanation I had.
The principle of not invading each other’s territory is crucial in this line of work, yet the counterintelligence agents broke that rule.
Naturally, a conflict would arise. However, I’m not sure if it was serious enough to warrant pulling guns on one another.
But one thing is certain: the current terrorism and shootouts surrounding the cult are linked to the Imperial Guard HQ.
‘Internal division… I’ve heard the internal power struggles within the Imperial Guard HQ are severe, but could it really be because of that…’
“Has there been any intel from the Imperial division?”
‘We receive too much intel, which is a problem.’
Having too much intel is a quandary in analysis.
Since analysis is ultimately a human endeavor, there’s a limit to workload.
When an overwhelming amount of intel comes in, the accuracy of the analysis drops considerably. Otherwise, the analysts become worn out and fail to analyze altogether.
It’s akin to a person experiencing discomfort after overeating.
The problem is, while mere stomach discomfort can be fixed with a single pill, a wrong intel analysis can get agents killed.
For these reasons, intel analysis requires time.
But right now, there’s no time to wait for the analysis results. To ensure the hero’s safety, I need to quickly ascertain what’s happening.
“For safety reasons, all schedules have been canceled. Have the identities of the corpses been confirmed? I heard the agents sent photos.”
‘It turns out they’re all Imperial Guard HQ agents.’
Caught them, those bastards.
I clapped my hands, smiling brightly.
“They shot up a foreign country, and their corpses are lying with us? With decisive evidence in our hands, we certainly have the upper hand, right?”
Whatever those bastards are plotting here, I intend to extract every bit of information from them.
I need to catch whoever set off the bomb.
‘…Uh. Seems that way.’
But the response wasn’t as enthusiastic as I had hoped.
What’s going on? I’ve never heard this tone from the Colonel before.
Pippin and Jake exchanged puzzled glances as they listened in on the conversation.
Only the sound of the Colonel’s ‘tch-’ echoed throughout the conference room.
“What’s wrong?”
‘Well… the bodies from the Imperial Guard HQ are indeed their agents…’
Something didn’t feel right.
‘It’s true, but… huff…’
I caught the Colonel mumbling, “how do I explain this?”
Upon listening closely, I could also hear the sound of papers being thrown.
“What’s the issue? You just confirmed they were Imperial Guard HQ agents.”
‘…They don’t belong to the same division.’
“Excuse me?”
‘The corpses belong to entirely different divisions.’
What in the world does that mean?
“We already knew that. The counterintelligence division and the overseas operations division must have fought, right?”
‘No, um… huff, damn it.’
The Colonel muttered a curse along with a sigh, then began to explain.
‘The dead individuals belonged to the counterintelligence, anti-intelligence, and overseas operations divisions. In other words…’
It implies that agents from three different divisions gathered together and shot one another.
—
Across the world, the work of intelligence agencies is somewhat uniform.
Collecting intelligence – writing reports.
Security – counterintelligence.
Overseas – domestic operations.
Additionally, identifying industrial spies, supporting companies in foreign activities, dividing diplomatic tasks, managing security for vital state facilities, assisting decision-makers, and investigating public officials’ backgrounds, among many other tasks.
While each division has its operational scope divided, in reality, there usually isn’t a sharp line drawn with clear distinctions.
Spies are not only found domestically, but also overseas.
A domestic spy may suddenly vanish abroad. The same is true for industrial spies.
Hence, to effectively deal with such infiltrators, the divisions under intelligence agencies maintain close cooperative relationships and strive to fulfill their duties.
But the current situation is amusingly absurd.
‘…The Imperial Guard HQ has three divisions under Sector 1. The anti-intelligence division that collaborates with Sector 2 for overseas counterintelligence operations, the counterintelligence division that seeks out spies, and the security division that manages international criminals, dissenters, and political prisoners. Those are the three divisions.’
The Colonel calmly continued his explanation.
‘Under Sector 2, there are various divisions responsible for intelligence operations by country. The person who just got shot was likely the one in charge of the cult.’
This is similar to what we have.
The Military Intelligence Agency also has several overseas operational divisions responsible for different countries. Among them, the one with the most intense workload is the division responsible for the Kien Empire.
‘The problem is, the agents found dead alongside him belong to both the anti-intelligence and counterintelligence divisions. It’s suspicious that the counterintelligence division has come overseas, but the anti-intelligence division is supposed to collaborate closely with Sector 2, right?’
Yet these guys opened fire on one another.
‘The anti-intelligence and overseas operations divisions, which had been getting along just fine, ended up shooting each other. The counterintelligence division and overseas operations division, which should have no overlapping duties, killed each other.’
It’s a complete mess.
I have no idea what’s going on.
“…Don’t tell me it’s an internal power struggle.”
‘Even the most reckless of people wouldn’t engage in gunfights with each other.’
The future head of the Information Agency, Colonel Clevenz, said.
He was the victor of the power struggle, having eliminated his competitors with brilliant accomplishments and exceptional political maneuvers.
‘That’s strange.’
“Excuse me?”
‘If this was about territorial disputes, then the upper command should be fighting it out. There’s no reason for field agents to have a shootout on site, is there?’
A peculiar silence descended over the conference room.
No one made a sound, only rolling their eyes while imagining endless possibilities. Suddenly, the worst scenario flashed in my mind. It was almost instinctual deducing.
“…No, if it’s not a power struggle, and if they’re not fighting over territory—”
‘…’
“Then if the counterintelligence agents are dealing with overseas operatives, that would imply a purge, right?”
The Colonel fell silent.
The anti-intelligence and counterintelligence divisions have a simple task.
To catch spies.
“…You don’t think Sector 2 has, maybe, defected, do you?”
‘…’
The Colonel stayed silent.
Silence confirmed my fears.
