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A silver light glimmered through the misty dawn, illuminating the research institute nestled in a mountain valley.

In a small secret room located hundreds of meters underground, hushed conversations took place.

“Long time no see, Saint Veronica.”

I began by expressing my gratitude to my information agent.

“I know you must be very busy with the election season. Thank you for making the time.”

-‘…Is this call okay right now?’

“It’s a secure line, so it’s fine.”

-‘…Then I’m relieved to hear that.’

I could hear Veronica’s weary voice over the phone. She complained softly.

-‘What kind of country makes calls to hand over work at dawn…?’

“Ah, I see you were about to go to bed? I truly apologize; the situation is quite pressing.”

I leaned back in my chair, chuckling as I continued.

“Well, it’s a bit disheartening when the person I saved last time pulls a stunt like this. We’ve already seen each other at our worst, haven’t we?”

-‘This is why you shouldn’t carelessly stamp on contracts…’

Veronica whined in a petulant tone. Honestly, calling in at midnight and asking for information would understandably be infuriating.

Yet, she owed me her life, so her complaints came out more as playful grumbling than genuine displeasure.

-‘Please be more considerate next time… Even the emperor doesn’t make calls at the crack of dawn.’

“I understand, I’ll be more careful next time. By the way, to where did you send the information?”

-‘As promised, I forwarded it to the embassy.’

Just then, the fax machine began to blare, spitting out the documents I had requested.

I smiled, watching the papers stack up neatly.

“Thank you for your hard work, Saint.”

-‘Buy me a meal next time… But can I ask you one question?’

“Go ahead.”

-‘Why do you need the list of audit students in the Magic Tower’s biology class?’

Episode 3 – A Fantastic Holiday

All things in the world have causes and effects, and everything people do has reasons and purposes.

The incident began with a sudden question that popped into my mind.

After finishing the meeting with my team leader, as I was walking down the corridor.

“Ugh… how do I find this….”

I sat down in a chair in the hallway, lost in thought.

There was certainly a spy in the midst, and there was physical evidence, but I had no leads to guess the identity of the spy.

This was, in fact, quite expected. I would know because I was a spy myself.

“It seems like they’re disguised as researchers…”

A spy isn’t foolish enough to walk around shouting, “I’m a spy!” They always carry forged passports and IDs, doing their best to appear ordinary.

Every information agency puts immense effort into concealing the identity of its agents. Even investigators aren’t sure who the spy is; they only make guesses.

I pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of my pocket. It was a memo containing a coded message sent out by the spy in the Magic Tower.

-Unauthorized access to classified materials. Failed to recruit Professor Fernan. Exploring other options. Hero arrival expected. Command to be issued…

While searching for any clues amidst it all, my eyes suddenly landed on a single word.

Fernan “Professor.”

Why did the communication report refer to him as a professor?

All suspicion begins with a trivial question.

Why did the spy use the term “professor” in the communication report?

At this moment, an inexplicable unease washed over me. Yes, perhaps “instinct” might be the right term.

The question “Why did the spy call him a professor in the communication report?” led me to suspect, “Could this word be an important clue connecting the spy and Fernan?”

“Hmm…”

It crossed my mind that Fernan might be in a mentor-disciple relationship with the spy.

Currently, Fernan was the chief researcher at the research institute, but he was once a renowned professor teaching biology between the Magic Tower and the university.

However, Fernan had long since retired from his professorship and was now the chief researcher at the Advanced Military Magic Research Institute.

Still, I couldn’t yet be sure. Even if it wasn’t a mentor-disciple relationship, it was possible that he referred to Fernan as “Professor” out of respect for his contributions to biological research.

But, since I was from the humanities, I couldn’t be sure if researchers genuinely referred to someone as “professor” as a mark of respect. This was a hypothesis that required verification.

As I pondered on who to consult, I noticed a group of researchers caught red-handed for illegal activities.

“…Would you prefer the prison or a warning?”

“Phew, I’d prefer a warning.”

“Is that so? Great. Then let’s have a quick chat.”

After rounding up the researchers and giving them a thorough interrogation, I found out that while the term “professor” is indeed used with respect, within the institute, one is always referred to as “chief”.

“Well, if it’s someone you’re close to or a mentor, you might call him ‘Professor’… in private.”

“Is that so? Are you certain?”

I’m not sure if it’s just in this Advanced Military Magic Research Institute. But it seems there wouldn’t be a particular need to call Fernan “professor” instead of “chief” in the communication report.

After all, he had long since retired.

“Are there many employees in the institute who studied at the Magic Tower?”

“Yes, because the Magic Tower is a gathering place for renowned magicians and scholars from across the continent.”

Is this the Isekai version of MIT?

I’m from the humanities, so I’m not very sure.

Anyway, I was told that many people in the institute have studied abroad at the Magic Tower.

At this point, suspicion began to turn into certainty, and I started noticing other circumstances.

First, the spy had failed to recruit Fernan.

Second, the spy was unable to access classified materials.

At first glance, the two incidents seemed unrelated, but I could see some inconsistencies.

First of all, the fact that they failed to recruit Fernan didn’t make sense.

In information agencies, people responsible for intelligence gathering are referred to as information officers.

There are many names like Intelligence Officer, Agent Handler, Controllers, etc., but those who are connected to information agencies commonly refer to them as I/Os.

The information officer discovers and recruits informants to collect intelligence. Recruitment procedures may vary by agency, but certain common practices always exist.

Reliability assessment, intelligence accessibility evaluation, and counter-intelligence potential analysis.

‘Can I get the information I want?,’ ‘Can I trust the information this person provides?,’ and ‘Is there a chance they’re a pawn for counter-intelligence operations?’

If it is determined that they are trustworthy, the recruitment motivation assessment begins based on the target’s personal information. It’s a sort of consulting on how they can be our intelligence asset.

During this stage, information officers thoroughly investigate everything about the target. Interpersonal relationships, family dynamics, work life, background, religious beliefs, political ideologies, and personal preferences including hobbies and pastimes. They even delve into affairs, debts, criminal history, and secret sexual preferences if needed.

Since they must pressure or threaten if persuasion fails.

“…Something seems off.”

Thus, I couldn’t help but feel puzzled about why a magical spy failed to recruit.

Of course, it’s not that spies never fail to recruit informants. The most common reason for failure is that careful investigation and analysis weren’t conducted.

In other words, it means the recruitment motivation was not properly understood.

However, the inconsistencies didn’t stop there. A spy trained in communication failed to understand the recruitment motivation? That too didn’t make sense.

“….”

It often happens that an information officer’s identity gets exposed during the recruitment process.

While it’s exceedingly rare for an information officer to outright declare, “Hey, I’m a spy! Would you like to collaborate with me?” – language has nuance and context, and people have auras and vibes.

Is it really possible for an ordinary person to claim they’ll pay a price to have you transfer information to them?

Thus, as I said before, information officers thoroughly investigate ‘everything’ about the target as comprehensively as possible.

At the very least, they need to ensure the person cannot expose them to the counterintelligence agency.

If Fernan was being blackmailed and didn’t report it, that would explain some things.

However, based on my experience as a spy, it was highly unlikely that Fernan was being blackmailed and coerced.

After all, he was already undergoing interrogations by the Counterintelligence Investigators. If he had asked for help or appealed for mercy, that would make sense, but his uncooperative demeanor seemed a bit strange.

Moreover, the event took place not abroad but within the country, and the Advanced Military Magic Research Institute was Fernan’s workplace.

Furthermore, the institute was a protected zone for numerous counterintelligence agencies, including the Military Intelligence Bureau. Since he was currently under the protective custody of investigators, there was even less reason not to report.

Unless Fernan was deliberately hiding the spy from me.

“….”

At that moment, I felt the circumstances were starting to align somewhat.

If the spy was his former disciple and he didn’t report out of old feelings.

If the spy attempted to recruit Fernan, knowing him well as his mentor, only to be rejected.

“…Now we’re making sense.”

A silver light glimmered through the misty dawn.

Based on circumstantial evidence, I established a hypothesis.

One, a hypothesis lacking sufficient evidence. I didn’t have the authority to pursue an investigation in this direction, nor did I have enough persuasive power.

I needed evidence to back up my claims.

“Um, hello?”

-‘…Colonel? What brings you here at this hour—’

“Do you happen to know anyone in the Magic Tower?”

-‘I do know someone.’

And so, I had a useful information agent at hand.

A useful piece of intelligence was relayed to me at that early dawn.

It helped in searching for a prime suspect.

 

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