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Once I finished my meditation in the temple, I stepped outside only to discover that the nation had collapsed.

And it was quite the spectacle.

A captain led a coup d’état and seized power, while the president fled overseas like a coward.

All the ministers were captured and locked away in military bases, and in the parliament, armed rebels were clashing with armed lawmakers, leaving us feeling like the biggest fools in the world.

The amazing part is…

All this chaos unfolded in just one week.

“……”

I closed my device and stared blankly at the sky.

Is this really a country, damn it?

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**Episode 19 – HELLDIVERS**

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The military coup that occurred seven days ago sent shockwaves everywhere.

Especially when you see headlines like ‘Impact of the Jamria Federation Coup on the Global Stage’ flooding the esteemed foreign news outlets.

The Jamria Federation was one of the few nations on the Mauritania Continent that formally upheld democracy. Its collapse meant the stability of the entire Mauritania Continent was at stake.

“The military is getting restless,” Leoni said.

“It seems the guys in the federal military are all interested in this coup business. Now even the most absurd of them think they can take over the country,” she continued.

A map of the Mauritania Continent was displayed on the situation board.

Next to it were potential risk factors. Armed factions like the military, rebels, tribes, and terrorist organizations were densely listed, having been compiled over the decades.

Clevens studied the map marked with red dots and then parted his lips, which rarely opened.

“What about the missing officer?”

“Still nothing. The local staff are continuing their checks, but it’s not easy.”

Meaning the counterintelligence operations in the Jamria Federation were struggling.

“We’ve mobilized branches from neighboring countries, but with non-essential personnel evacuated from the embassy, we’re out of options.”

Soon after the coup erupted, a fear spread that the dreaded ‘civil war’ might erupt once again.

Governments withdrew all but the minimum necessary staff needed to maintain their embassies, evacuating both the expatriates and administrative personnel, which temporarily weakened local intelligence networks.

Of course, whether in the homeland or the branches in nearby countries, intelligence officers were expected to arrive quickly to fill the vacancies. But what mattered now wasn’t when the intelligence networks would be back online.

Inside the underground operations room of the Military Intelligence Agency.

As Clevens gazed at the situation board, he casually remarked, “Is there any way to confirm whether Frederick is dead or alive?”

Silence fell.

In the situation room, designed to prevent wiretapping, you could hear the sound of a hair falling; it was so silent that the stillness became unnaturally eerie.

“……”

As the gazes of the commanders converged in one direction.

Leoni, the overseas department head, who was staring far at the situation board, let out a deep sigh.

“If we get a communication through the emergency contact, we’ll get a location. It won’t even take five minutes to confirm the officer’s whereabouts, and the rescue team should go get him.”

“I know that. But if the emergency line isn’t functioning, or if there’s no way to contact the officer, that’s useless. If that happens…”

“They’ll be treated as missing in action.”

“……”

“Or worse, they’ll be considered to have died in the line of duty.”

“What will we tell their families?”

The information officer gave a brief response.

“By convention.”

The investigator sighed deeply.

Some let out a frustrated sigh, while others merely shrugged off the discomfort.

Leoni feigned a nonchalant expression as she watched the situation board. Tapping her fingers on the table, the information officer returned to the crux of the matter.

“…For now, we should search every possible location. We sent out a Gryphon across the border 13 hours ago, so it should soon reach the target area. I hope something comes up in the communications from the federal military.”

As they waited for reports from the signals intelligence team, the overseas department head reviewed reports submitted by the agents still in the Jamria Federation. Clevens and the other commanders also flipped through documents.

Flap, flap.

Among the bustling sounds of papers turning, the counter-terrorism commander with the colonel rank wore a look of confusion.

“Um… I understand there have been instances of military coups led by junior officers in the Mauritania Continent. There have been successful rebellions incited by superiors, too. But I find this coup a bit puzzling.”

“What’s puzzling you?”

“It’s this Captain Kasim. The commander leading this rebellion. According to the data, he worked under the president and even comes from the same tribal background. Why did he instigate a coup?”

The counter-terrorism commander pointed to the report documenting the identities of the key players behind the Jamria Federation coup.

Hearing this, the colonel sitting across adjusted his glasses and replied in a soft tone.

“Captain Kasim is from the Haranan Tribe, and President Ayad was born into the Archini Tribe. Like you mentioned, Haranan and Archini were close allies geographically, socially, and politically.”

At least, that was the case until a few months ago.

“After President Ayad revised the election laws aiming for re-election this year and purged Haranan-affiliated personnel, the relationship between the two tribes soured. The management of the Nabuktu Disaster and the hasty law changes required opposition consent. Hence, President Ayad found himself needing to compromise with many tribes.”

He was trying to share the pie to secure another term as president, but cutting ties with his own tribe would bring backlash, thus he targeted the allied tribe instead.

Ultimately, the outraged allied tribe rebelled against the president, saying, “Damn it! This is bullsh*t!”

“Was there no option to cater to the opposition?”

“No. Just look at what happened in the parliament when legislators from both sides armed themselves to protest; most of those older legislators used to be warlord executives.”

It was a situation where if you didn’t give them a seat, you’d be shot.

This was truly a country where only real men could survive (and if you didn’t act like a man, well, you were better off dead). The ecosystem of the mysterious Jamria Federation was something the fragile ecosystem of Abas could never hope to compete with.

While listening to their conversation, one of the commanders pulled out a document obtained from the open intelligence collection group.

“So what’s this claim about collusion with foreign powers? Our staff, along with the saint, the magic tower’s representative, a hero, and a warrior supposedly conspired with the president…”

The commander asked with a serious expression, but the colonel waved his hand dismissively, as if it were nothing. He stated that it was merely propaganda the rebels commonly propagated.

“That’s just a pretext for the coup.”

“A pretext?”

“The ambition of foreign governments coveting our sacred land and resources, the immoral rulers blinded by greed… For warlords or rebels, that’s an easy justification to use. President Ayad became notorious for corruption among his inner circle, making it an easily accepted incitement.”

“…With things like this, the repercussions are going to be catastrophic.”

What were they thinking by touching ministers, priests, representatives, heroes, and warriors all at once?

The cult and Al-Yabd wouldn’t let such things slide. Moreover, touching the defense attaché from another country guaranteed diplomatic friction couldn’t be avoided.

Of course, that was the case for people with ‘common sense.’

The heartless men of the Mauritania Continent, however, didn’t fear such trivial issues.

He possessed a mindset that couldn’t even be compared to those of mere men.

“Well, they probably aren’t even thinking about managing the aftermath. The Haranan Tribe has had a close relationship with the Kien Empire since the past.”

It was as if they were coolly ditching the old junk (Abas) for a shiny new model (Kien).

What an astonishing idea it was. You couldn’t get any dumber than this.

The commanders of the Military Intelligence Agency listened with expressions that screamed, “Is this really happening?” and then tilted their heads as they directed a question at the Colonel.

“You seem quite familiar with the local situation?”

The Colonel, explaining the ridiculous thoughts of the coup forces, shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m not in charge of the Mauritania Continent. A long time ago, I worked briefly under Director Leoni in that region.”

“Director? Ah… Director Leoni.”

Turns out, she was a pro at making a mess.

The fact that Leoni stirred up the Mauritania Continent in a convoluted scheme for the great empire had recently become somewhat well-known.

Now we finally understood where her outrageous personality came from; it was one of the long-standing mysteries of the Military Intelligence Agency.

“The impact of the coup by the Jamria military on neighboring countries will be immense.”

“As soon as we wrap up the rescue of the missing officer, we need to intervene in the situation of the Jamria Federation as soon as possible…”

Is it a characteristic of pale-skinned folks to mess things up in the dark-skinned neighborhoods? The commanders of the Military Intelligence Agency were already preparing to stage a counter-coup in the Jamria Federation.

The justification was that we had to prevent the entire Mauritania Continent from turning into a dictator’s party (though it was already somewhat of a dictator convention).

Yet, nobody knew why words like ‘assassination,’ ‘sabotage,’ ‘bribery,’ ‘surveillance,’ and ‘war’ popped up in the process of handing democracy as a gift.

(If the Russian neo-tsar had ordered the American president who enjoys smashing and breaking things to wreck Africa and the Middle East like a stew, he wouldn’t have known the answer. Nor would the French president be able to explain after having a fit over the Niger coup.)

In the middle of all this…

“Director.”

An audacious executive barged in without knocking and dashed over to Leoni.

Then, wanting to share some secret as if trying to start a clandestine friendship, he began to whisper mysterious words.

Just when the 4050 commanders were peeking in, thinking, “What’s going on? What’s going on?”

“…What? Is that for real?”

Suddenly, Leoni’s brow furrowed, and her glare shifted sharply to the executive.

“Indeed, it is. It’s a recently intercepted communication.”

“Damn…”

Leoni muttered a curse under her breath. Colonel Clevenz, reviewing the documents, sensed something was amiss.

“What’s going on?”

“The officer’s location has been revealed.”

It was news that they had found Schrödinger’s missing son (or not).

Leoni stormed out of the situation room. Contrary to the content of the news, she wore an extremely furious expression.

With her outrageous attitude, Clevenz rushed out after her, and with the two superiors leaving, the commanders followed suit, streaming out after them.

Before long, the commanders of the Military Intelligence Agency discovered the truth: Schrödinger’s Major (life or death indeterminate until observed) was indeed alive.

The problem was…

“……”

“……”

“……”

“……”

“…Why is that guy charging into the capital?”

This lunatic was sneaking into the main base occupied by the coup forces.

“Goddammit…”

That day, the Medical Unit of the Military Intelligence Agency received a fainting patient (two Directors).

*

When I finished my session and stepped out, the world had turned upside down.

“There’s been a coup. A captain led his unit and took the capital in just four hours.”

“……”

“The president fled abroad, and it seems the ministers are all detained. As for the congress, the members and rebels got into a scuffle, being from warlord backgrounds, they’re probably trying to resist before it’s too late.”

“……”

“By the way, all five of us are under a manhunt. They ordered us to leave the country within 24 hours, but since we ignored it… we’ve been charged with treason, espionage, assault, intimidation, and so on. But don’t worry too much; if we’re found guilty of even one count of treason, it’s death.”

“…Does that mean there’s nothing to worry about?!”

Camila screamed as if in the throes of death.

Oh no, we’re all going to die! This is all the professor’s fault! I’m a criminal now!

It was a comedy in itself that a serial arsonist was charged with crimes, but the severity of the situation was very real.

Why the hell are those bastards charging a diplomat with treason! No matter how baseless the rebels were, this was just too much, wasn’t it?

The five wanted criminals plus one useless old fogey gathered together and started a marathon meeting.

There was only one topic.

What do we do now?

“How about seeking help from the embassy?”

The first suggestion was a perfectly reasonable choice. Just run to the embassy.

“Embassies are extraterritorial zones. If we can make it there, we might escape.”

“I agree too.”

However, this was way too reasonable of a suggestion.

The Mauritania Continent was the wild itself where common sense didn’t apply at all.

“Do you think the ones placing bounties on diplomats wouldn’t storm the embassy?”

Exactly.

If they were the kind of law-abiding citizens that had any sense of common decency, they would never have started a military coup in the first place.

To those who boiled their conscience for a meal, any place that didn’t sit right with them was a target for attack, and that included the embassy!

“Let’s escape across the border.”

The next suggestion was the historical and traditional method.

Fleeing from abroad, favored by everyone from criminals to exiles!

But this too was dismissed.

“Another country? Are you suggesting we cross the border without passports while we’re on the wanted list?”

Just crossing the border without permission was a severe offense, and a wanted criminal trying to cross the border without a passport was practically asking to get shot. No joke.

Let’s go see the angels! Let’s run to the Ivory Tower! Let’s ask Al-Yabd for help, they all shouted, and various suggestions flew about.

At that moment, while Camila was teary-eyed, ready to burst out, “Let the professor handle that!” at the Duke’s ramblings, the spy who had mastered the third-world chaos began to create a breakthrough with his experience and wisdom!

“Given the situation, let’s charge into the Presidential Palace.”

What a nonsensical thought that would make even the Americans, who are crazy about the free (forced) distribution of democracy, jump!

 

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