Chapter 62
“Have you heard the news?”
It was a colleague’s question. As I was tearing open a packet of Maxim Whitegold coffee mix, I shot back at him.
“What news?”
“About Senior Kim who resigned a few years ago. Our executive just came back from Headquarters and apparently ran into him there?”
“Captain Kim? What business would someone who’s already washed his hands of it have there?”
He tilted his upper body slightly with a sly grin.
“He’s switched jobs.”
“Switched jobs?”
“Yep. I asked a senior over there, and he’s doing well. In London.”
“But he was originally in charge of Eurasia. Now he’s in London?”
“Yeah. According to the executive, he’s apparently getting cozy with the newest team member over there. What was the name… something like Sejin, I think.”
Under the scorching summer sun, in the smoking area behind the barracks, I tapped the ash from my cigarette into the tray while my colleague tried to recall a name.
“Don’t sweat it. He’s not even one of us anymore.”
“Hey. Still, he was once a senior officer in the military and a colleague. How could you just brush it off like that?”
“We’re not talking about that right now, you idiot. Let’s just chat about games like we usually do. What’s with all this gossip about other people? Don’t you remember how tiring it gets to get involved with them?”
“Honestly, that idiot with the yo-yo brain…”
My colleague chuckled, tipping his paper cup. Just then, the window in the hallway suddenly flung open.
A sharp voice from our executive rang in my ears.
“Hey, you guys! If you’ve finished your coffee, why don’t you come in and sit down? And what’s with the hats? Did you forget the regulations? Do I need to remind you?”
“We’re sorry!”
“We’ll correct it.”
My colleague tossed his cigarette into the paper cup and quickly adjusted his beret, hurrying back into the building.
The executive turned to me and said,
“You should go in too. Executive Jeong is looking for you.”
“Yes, understood.”
I adjusted my beret and stepped into the building. My vision started to blur. The hallway. The stairs. Everything was flipping rapidly.
Finally, darkness.
It was pitch black.
—
Episode 4 – “Why is it Always Me?”
Just as I was about to doze off in the night watch room, I received a request to accompany some Royal Intelligence Department employees who came looking for me.
I was not particularly curious about why they were visiting from a competing agency.
Based on experience, entangling with people from other intelligence agencies always led to tiring situations. Whether it was a joint operation or information sharing, getting involved with competitors never yielded good results. My decade-long career had taught me that much.
And since I was already tired, have been tired, and was going to be tired, I circumspectly declined the request to accompany the Royal Intelligence Department.
However, the employees from the Royal Intelligence Department were more tenacious and obsessive than I’d anticipated, barging into the watchroom and persistently trying to convince me to go somewhere with them.
They didn’t tell me the reason, the purpose, or the destination.
Not a single piece of information was shared. Even when I asked, they didn’t answer. What followed was an exhausting exchange that felt more like emotional warfare, and in the end, I reluctantly decided to follow them after hearing they’d wrap things up in an hour.
And now, that promised hour had passed.
“You said one hour would be enough. Why are you still dragging me along? Huh?”
“We’re not dragging you; we’re escorting you.”
I felt betrayed. The promise of finishing in an hour was obviously a lie.
I expected it, but experiencing it felt gut-wrenching.
The procession of dark-colored sedans, tinted windows, sped smoothly along the winding road, maintaining their speed and distance.
I was currently on an unnamed mountain road. I could tell from the stars that we were moving east, but that was all. There was no map, no signposts. I had never been to this place before. So, it was no wonder I had no idea where I was.
What I did know for certain was that we were heading east. And the driving skills of those at the wheel were exceptional.
“Where are we going?”
I asked the Royal Intelligence Department person sitting in the passenger seat. The suit man who had handed me his business card.
“…….”
“Not going to answer?”
But the suit man remained silent, taking no action and simply maintaining his quietude. I had never seen anyone so infuriating in my life. Even the necktie-wearing elite from Maegok-dong were never that rude to industry insiders.
“…sigh.”
I wasn’t unaware that raising my temper here would only wear me out more.
So, letting out a deep sigh, I leaned back against the seat. There was no point in jumping out of a moving car, so I might as well get some sleep.
I sent some silent protests for a while as I dozed off in the back seat.
Suddenly, I heard fragmented radio chatter from the passenger seat.
“…3 minutes remaining. Open the main gate.”
On a moonlit night veiled by clouds, the convoy arrived at its destination, cutting through the hilly terrain.
It was the Royal Intelligence Department Headquarters.
—
Unlike the Military Intelligence Agency Headquarters, which was situated right in the capital’s center, the Royal Intelligence Department Headquarters was far off in the outskirts.
Real estate prices had surged, and due to the influx of population into the capital, the Ministry of Land and Ministry of Finance, along with real estate tycoons, were ramming through re-development. Unlike the Military Intelligence Agency, which stubbornly ignored their sharp criticism, the Royal Intelligence Department quietly sold their properties and relocated to a better and more spacious site.
The residing population of suit-wearing professionals in the capital was in uproar over the accessibility issue, but they too were government employees and couldn’t oppose the governmental policies. Eventually, the suit men either became goose fathers or endured long-distance commuting to report to headquarters…
That was a rumor I had heard in my time as the advisor to the Military Intelligence Agency Counterintelligence Chief.
And now, on my very first visit to the Royal Intelligence Department, I realized that the rumor was, in fact, true.
“Please come in.”
The Royal Intelligence Department employee guided me deeper into the building.
I left my belongings at the desk, passed through the security checkpoint, and only after a simple identity verification process was I permitted entry.
I walked down a straight corridor, following the suit man, and asked,
“So, why am I here? I think it’s about time for you to tell me.”
“We don’t know either. We’re just following orders.”
They didn’t even know why they’d brought me here. I couldn’t tell if they genuinely didn’t know, or if they were simply hiding the truth, but it was certain that someone higher up had set this in motion.
The lead employee walked on in silence, and I maintained my silence as well. We continued on in that quiet manner for a while.
Suddenly, he spoke to me.
“Do you know what this place is for?”
“I heard it’s for pulling out fingernails.”
I didn’t say that out of genuine ignorance.
The Royal Intelligence Department is a national intelligence agency. Equivalent to the National Intelligence Service of South Korea and the CIA of the USA. Considering that the Royal Intelligence Department itself is both a national and foreign intelligence agency, its nature and status are more akin to the CIA than to the National Intelligence Service.
The “fingernail pulling place” was half a joke. But given the circumstances, I couldn’t express it any other way.
However, putting that aside, saying it was half a joke was akin to saying it was half true.
“You know quite a bit.”
The Royal Intelligence Department employee responded with a self-deprecating chuckle.
As the flow of conversation died out, an uncomfortable silence fell over us again. We hastened our steps in that uneasy quiet, and before long, we arrived at our destination. The Royal Intelligence Department employee politely held the door open for me, gesturing for me to enter.
“Please go in.”
I nodded at him and stepped inside.
It was a conference room.
—
The Royal Intelligence Department conference room was more modest than I had expected. If the small meeting room at the Military Intelligence Agency Headquarters had the vibe of a military command bunker, the Royal Intelligence Department conference room resembled something more akin to a government office or a private enterprise.
It implied a more casual atmosphere.
However, the flags representing the national emblem and the Royal Intelligence Department and Military Intelligence Agency signified that this was indeed a state facility, verified by the presence of attendees in formal suits and military uniforms who represented the seriousness of the occasion.
I stood at the entrance of the conference room, scanning the faces of those seated.
“……”
First, the prominent seats were empty.
On the left side near the entrance, military personnel were seated. I recognized their faces, so there was no need to identify anyone.
They were commanders from the Military Intelligence Agency.
The suited individuals sitting across from them were likely from the Royal Intelligence Department.
“Why are you here?”
“What business does that guy have here?”
The key figures from the Military Intelligence Agency, including the Director and Chief Staff Officer, were all gathered in the Royal Intelligence Department conference room. Clevenz, who had been out of reach, was also present.
It was clear enough. They were attending a joint meeting with relevant agencies. Given that even the heads of departments were present, it was evident that this wasn’t a political meeting but rather a working level meeting.
However, it was strange that both the domestic security officers and intelligence heads were all gathered together.
I saluted the Military Intelligence Agency commanders.
“Thank you for your hard work until late at night.”
The Director acknowledged my salute on behalf of all the commanders, and Clevenz, representing all military intelligence policy-makers, turned to me.
As a brigadier-general candidate and a likely next director, it made perfect sense for him to ask.
“Frederick, why are you here?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
I couldn’t say I was dragged here by Royal Intelligence Department employees in front of the major officials of the Royal Intelligence Department, so I offered a vague excuse.
In truth, I didn’t know the reason either, so I had nothing more to say. What could I even say after being pulled from sleep?
Clevenz asked what I meant by that. But the answer didn’t come from me; it came from opposite side.
“Ah, our staff brought him here.”
A Royal Intelligence Department employee, whose name I didn’t know, answered like that, gesturing towards an empty chair positioned behind the conference room.
“Take a seat. It must have been tiring to come all this way at this hour.”
If they knew that, they shouldn’t have dragged me here.
Of course, I couldn’t speak rudely to someone old enough to be my father, so I quietly kept my mouth shut.
I also couldn’t sit down.
“By what authority does your staff summon someone from the Royal Intelligence Department?”
“Our staff requested for his company.”
“Voluntary accompaniment? Why is the Royal Intelligence Department exercising authority not outlined in any legal statute?”
“We merely asked to have some tea together. Is that considered voluntary accompaniment…”
Military Intelligence Agency personnel and Royal Intelligence Department personnel began a standoff.
“Then what is the reason?”
“I asked what the reason was for having tea?”
This individual right now…
“Calm down, everyone. We have a young man here. What kind of scene is this?”
“Is this really the time for jokes? Who is it that’s behaving so immaturely?”
The atmosphere felt tense and ominous. The back-and-forth was so cordial it almost felt like a fight happened even before I entered.
I quietly tried to slip back the way I came, but finding Royal Intelligence Department employees waiting outside the door made me close it again.
The air in the conference room was like a cold flame, showing no signs of calming down.
Eventually, someone had to step in like a hero on a white horse to settle the chaos. That hero emerged from the seat closest to the prominent guest position.
It was the Royal Intelligence Department.
“Enough.”
An old man with grizzled hair intervened. His voice, while not commanding, was sufficient to cool down the boiling atmosphere.
The old man scanned the quieted crowd and listened intently, continuing,
“The Major called for me.”
A stranger to me has summoned me.
And there was no point in guessing who that person was. After all, they were seated closest to the head of the table, right across from the Director of the Military Intelligence Agency.
Only one person could hold a position worthy of such a seat.
The Chief of the Royal Intelligence Department.
He spoke to me.
“You must be tired from your long journey. Please, take a seat.”
“……”
Yet, I didn’t take a seat and instead gazed at the Military Intelligence Agency commanders. My affiliation wasn’t with the Royal Intelligence Department but the Military Intelligence Agency.
In the end, I was only able to sit on a folding chair at the back of the table after the Director’s signaled approval. After all, as a military officer, it was only natural.
However, that annoyed the Royal Intelligence Department people (since the head of the department was present) and the atmosphere in the conference room felt like Bitcoin prices sinking through the basement.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
As dozens of personnel from the Royal Intelligence Department and Military Intelligence Agency exchanged looks without so much as a whisper, one of them finally broke the silence.
“Haha!”
The Chief of the Royal Intelligence Department chuckled, a rare laugh for an elder.
“Seeing the Major reminds me of the first time I met our Director. Doesn’t it, Director Leoni?”
The middle-aged woman sitting on the side of the Royal Intelligence Department glanced at the Chief and slowly turned her gaze towards me.
Only then did I take note of her appearance.
Hair cut into a jagged bob rather than being bought and styled.
A slender physique that seemed frail compared to others.
Sunken eyelids and gaunt cheeks, with jutting cheekbones.
But those shortcomings were overshadowed by piercing eyes filled with determination.
“Yes, it’s eerily similar. Does Kelsir train them that way?”
“I can’t say for sure. Anyway, I’ll take it as a compliment, Director.”
The top graduate of the 145th Kelsir Royal Military Academy.
The first female intelligence officer in military history.
The youngest intelligence agent at the Military Intelligence Agency.
The first female operative to pass the selection process.
An elite among elites who has served as the head of operations in the Kien Empire and Lushan Federation branches of the Military Intelligence Agency’s Overseas Operations.
A seasoned handler managing over hundreds of operatives on the frontlines of fierce spy battles.
A grand master of espionage, who managed to evade tight investigative nets, assassinating countless counterintelligence agents and successfully executing many covert missions.
A living legend.
A true 007.
And….
“It’s been a while. Team Leader.”
My former superior.
“No, I guess since you are now a Major, you should be addressed as Team Leader.”
“……”
“It’s good to see you after so long.”
A reunion with an old superior.
