A Dark Fantasy Spy

---

Sometimes I wish reality flowed like a movie.

Accurate intelligence gathered by someone, neat and straightforward analysis, solid backup support, and competent agents, etc.

I often think it would be fantastic if the thrilling operations depicted in movies unfolded one after another.

But this is not a movie; it’s reality.

Lacking evidence and riddled with errors, the intelligence comes in bits and pieces. Occasional counterintelligence, contaminated and reverse information. There are always too few team members and insufficient backup support.

Worldly affairs are always unpredictable, just as they always have been.

“Are you saying there are two spies?”

—”Under the circumstances, yes.”

The world is beautifully setting my expectations ablaze.

—

Episode 3 – Fantastic Holiday

—

The site was thrown into chaos with newly acquired intelligence.

Initially, the investigators deemed there to be one spy. So, the news of two spies crashing into the scene was unexpected—who wouldn’t be shocked?

As predicted, the team leader entered with a baffled expression.

“Good to see you, Colonel. I received word on my way here. If there are not one but two spies, what on earth is going on?”

How am I supposed to know since I’m not even an investigator, you fool?

I nearly said that but silently handed the team leader a document instead.

“This is a document from headquarters. It contains the list of personal information of the Research Institute’s staff that was leaked.”

“Have you figured out who leaked it?”

“No, we haven’t traced it back that far.”

I have no idea what Clevenz’s informants do, but I could tell they are quite competent. After all, they managed to sneak a document out that was presumably obtained by an organization thought to be a private intelligence department of the Magic Tower.

As the team leader skimmed through the document, I pulled out another report from the file.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a report compiled by the analysts.”

Thanks to the analysts examining various factors, they could deduce the approximate time frame when the list was created.

I don’t know how they managed to analyze just one list, but they must indeed be clever people.

Of course, I did hear that the credibility of their claims was somewhat lacking due to insufficient intelligence supporting them.

But now was not a time to be picky about food—cold rice or hot rice, it didn’t matter.

“The list appears to have been created this past spring. All the researchers on the list have been confirmed to belong to the Biological Analysis lab.”

“So you’re saying the secret documents the Magic Tower is after were the results from the Biological Analysis lab?”

“That seems to be the case.”

Though this assertion was also weak due to lack of evidence.

“Due to the insufficient intel, several cognitive biases, including confirmation bias, may have affected the analysis, meaning the judgment could be reversed later on.”

“So we can’t be sure what materials the Magic Tower seeks.”

One could question how an agency funded by taxpayer money could handle matters in such a haphazard manner.

But at the end of the day, analysts are human too, and without concrete evidence, they can only spout their own theories.

So, if the intelligence is lacking, analysts propose various hypotheses, seek assistance from other analysts to eliminate logical fallacies, and find the hypothesis with the least risk. In this process, various analytical methods such as ‘Devil’s Advocate’, ‘Red Team’, ‘High-risk Low-probability Analysis’, ‘Brainstorming’, ‘A/B Team Analysis’, ‘Alternative Future Analysis’, ‘Wild Card Scenarios’, and ‘Worst-case Scenarios’ are utilized.

All of this was just something I’d picked up from listening to Pippin talk with the intelligence analysts stationed at the embassy.

Of course, the military intelligence analysts who provided this information had likely undergone the same validation process.

So this was, for now, the most plausible hypothesis we had.

“Let’s trust the analysts’ judgments for the time being. Has there been any specific directives from headquarters?”

“Other than the command to gain cooperation from Fernand? No.”

The team leader sighed and told me to wait a moment. A brief sigh slipped through his hand-covered mouth.

“Huuh….”

“Is Fernand still being uncooperative?”

“Yes. He isn’t even eating right now.”

The team leader mentioned he could extract a confession by the end of the day, but it didn’t seem like it would be as easy as it sounded.

I wanted to ask if we could just hang him up by the pipes and rip off his fingernails. However, even I realized that wasn’t exactly ethical, so it didn’t leave my lips.

Though determining responsibility was an issue, confessions extracted through torture aren’t upheld in court anyway.

Right now, we needed to catch the spy and turn him over for prosecution; if we resorted to torture, there would be too much to worry about later on.

Legal liability and the evidential value of proof aside, considering the institution’s image and the uncertainty of information obtained through torture, I too believed that torture was hardly an attractive option.

I figured the team leader might have been thinking similarly.

“What do you think about trying a plea deal? I saw on his personal card that he has family; if he gets indicted, he’ll be branded as a spy, right?”

“For now, we’re trying to pursue that.”

“Do you have any other good ideas?”

“Yes, I have a method in mind.”

Since I wasn’t an investigator, I had no authority to order them around. It was a problem for the investigators to solve.

I let the cumbersome topic slide and brought up a more troubling one.

“How are you going to find the person who leaked the personal information?”

*

*

*

“How are we supposed to do this?”

“Well, it seems like it just happens, you know?”

Camila Lowell asked back in a bewildered voice after the researcher’s brief explanation.

“How am I supposed to ride a broom and fly in the sky?”

“Uhm, well….”

The researcher mumbled ‘it just works that way…’, and Camila Lowell stared blankly at the broom.

Though she had recklessly suggested trying to ride the broom at the mention of flying, hearing the researchers explain how to do it left her utterly confused.

She absentmindedly twirled her hair and muttered nonchalantly.

“Is it similar to riding a bicycle or something….”

Suddenly, memories of falling over while trying to balance for the first time as a child on a bike began to flood back.

What if I lost my balance in midair and fell, becoming crippled? That’s what crossed my mind.

“Uh…. If that bicycle is indeed the two-wheeled contraption I envision, then yes. A little practice and you should get accustomed to it quickly.”

“…Huh?”

“If you lose your balance or missteer, you could crash into something and end up in the hospital. Still, if you learn slowly in a safe space, you should be fine.”

As Camila Lowell blinked in disbelief at the researcher, he glanced around at his colleagues, wondering if he had told something amiss.

Was it a slip of the tongue that made things awkward? I debated whether to apologize and clarify when Camila Lowell asked the researcher.

“What did you say just now?”

“Y-Yes? Wh-What did you mean…?”

“About the bicycle….”

“Camila Lowell.”

Just as I thought I missed something important and was about to ask, a familiar voice interrupted from behind me.

A colonel appeared suddenly, holding a briefcase.

“Colonel? What brings you here?”

“I happened to pass by and thought I’d stop in. I heard you were practicing magic?”

The researchers, startled by the sudden appearance of a soldier, hurriedly concealed the broom behind them. Getting caught teaching someone without a license how to ride a broom would mean punishment.

Accidents while riding brooms were not uncommon, so the law forbade teaching anyone without a license after it was enacted.

As for Camila Lowell, considering her background, she might just get off easy, but for the rest of them, it was clear they wouldn’t be dealt with leniently.

If lucky, they might just pay a fine, but if unfortunate, jail time awaited them. And as public servants, they would face the jeopardy of their entire careers.

Thus, the researchers rolled their eyes nervously, watching the soldier, who seemed preoccupied with chatting with Camila Lowell.

“Can you handle anything other than fire? Like lightning or ice spears…?”

“I don’t think I’m at that level yet. Maybe later when I learn?”

“Well, I’m not a magician, so I can’t say for sure.”

As colleagues pushed the broom far out of sight, the researcher instructing broom-riding jumped into the conversation.

“Hero, you have a high compatibility with magic, so you should learn quickly!”

“Is that so? Is magic compatibility related to learning magic?”

In response to the sudden question, the researcher recalled his paper that had been scooped by others many years ago.

He cast aside memories of the funeral-parlor-like atmosphere in the lab and began explaining.

“Of course! Generally, magic compatibility helps in learning various types of magic like elemental, visionary, sorcery, and spirit-based magic….”

The long explanation continued, and the soldier simply nodded in silence. After quite some time of listening, the soldier finally spoke up.

“Camila Lowell, your magic compatibility reading seems quite high, so you should pick up other magic disciplines quickly.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s good news; congratulations, Camila Lowell!”

“Eh heh heh….”

After chatting briefly with the hero, the soldier sent her away and approached the researcher.

In a hushed tone, he said, “I noticed you were teaching someone how to ride a broom. You do know it’s illegal to teach someone without a license, right?”

“….”

“Given the strict monitoring period, if you get caught now, it could go to trial. Do you prefer prison or just a slap on the wrist?”

“…A slap on the wrist, please.”

“Is that so?”

Then let’s talk for a bit.

*

*

Finally, I returned to the office after an interminable meeting.

On my way back, I gathered the investigation reports, probed the illegal researchers, and even made sure to check on how Camila Lowell settled in for the night.

By the time I returned to the office, made several calls, and finished writing reports, it was well past midnight.

The cloudy mist gleamed silvery in the dawn.

I sat awkwardly in the office, organizing documents.

-Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

“Your duty, I bring the report, Colonel.”

“Yes, just put it there. Thank you for your hard work.”

“I’ll take my leave now, rest well.”

An unknown investigator placed the documents down and departed from the room.

Once the sound of footsteps faded, silence settled over the office. The researchers and Camila Lowell had gone to bed, leaving only the alternating staff of guards and investigators quietly awake.

I stared blankly at the documents for a while, then closed their cover and rubbed my face.

“….”

There was no gain.

Investigators were probing Fernand, but he remained obstinately uncooperative. Even interrogating the researchers yielded no valuable information, and no peculiar points stood out in the paperwork.

Right now, three thoughts swirled in my mind.

First. How did the Magic Tower infiltrate a spy into the Research Institute?

Second. How did the Magic Tower obtain the personal information of the research staff?

Third. What materials is the tower’s spy after?

No matter how I thought about it, the answers eluded me.

I leaned back in my chair and recalled the conversation I had with the team leader.

“How do you plan to find the individual who leaked the personal information?”

“According to the investigation results, the departments handling the personnel records for the researchers are the HR and internal investigation departments, the only two.”

“HR makes sense, but why does the internal investigation department have personnel records?”

“They say it’s for regular audits and internal investigations. Personally, I believe the information likely leaked from either HR or internal investigations.”

“…Then.”

“Now the internal investigation department is also a target for the investigation.”

It was a total mess.

There was a traitor within the Research Institute, and that traitor was aiding a spy.

One might speculate that the traitor likely helped the spy gain entry into the research institute. Otherwise, it would mean the spy got into the institute, avoiding a background check from the Military Intelligence Agency, and later recruited someone as an accomplice for cooperation.

From a personal judgment, the former seems the more likely scenario; however, the latter isn’t entirely impossible either.

After all, it would make sense for a spy to find access any way possible.

“….”

Clevenz had dispatched me to the Advanced Military Magic Research Institute under the pretext of conducting an on-site inspection. And he tasked me with investigating support operations.

Given my role in supporting the investigation, what I had to do was clear.

Find the traces of the spy to the best of my ability.

So the team leader entrusted me, and I diligently honored his request.

Now, I just had to wait.

“….”

I quietly closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair.

The foggy mist shimmered silver in the dawn, and the sound of the boiler turning on drifted in from a distance.

-Dring, dring! Dring, dring!

Just then, someone called me.

“…Hello?”

—”It’s me, Colonel. I found the documents you mentioned.”

It was the call I’d been waiting for.

“Go ahead.”

Saint Veronica.