The situation was changing too fast.
Of course, the surface was calm as ever, but below, a desperate fight for survival was in full swing.
The Asylum’s faction was gathering their forces.
The Imperial Intelligence Agency was struggling hard to take them down.
And caught in between, the Intelligence Agency was trying to keep a low profile.
In the underground world, a suffocating three-way battle was taking place.
But the information about this was, quite frankly, alarmingly scarce.
I had Hertlocker under my thumb, but unless that guy cooperated with me, there were limitations to the information I could extract.
So, Erwin was practically my only way to peek beneath the surface.
However, even Erwin was just a low-ranking member of Asylum, so he hadn’t achieved any significant results yet.
I was still as blind as a bat when it came to the underground world.
The only way to break this situation was to cooperate with the Intelligence Agency.
Currently, Imperial agents were scattered all over, fervently working to root out Asylum, so it would be suicidal for the Intelligence Agency to operate actively at this time.
The spies from the kingdom, who hated the Empire more than anyone, were now in a position where they had to live in silence, maintaining neutrality in the heart of the Empire.
If I was going to make contact with the Intelligence Agency, it had to be right now.
At a time when revealing everything wouldn’t lead them to strike me easily.
“Hey, I like you.”
At that exact moment, Emilia confessed her feelings.
Did she think that if things went on like this, she’d slowly get caught and perish under the Empire’s intelligence agency?
Quite the hasty move on her part.
But this also presented me with a good opportunity.
A chance to clear the air with Emilia, who was the closest to me yet only deceived each other.
“Emilia. I know everything. I know you are an agent of the Intelligence Agency.”
“······.”
A long silence ensued.
Was she taken aback and responding slowly?
But true to her training as a spy, she wasn’t shaking or trembling.
Instead, Emilia bit her lip and glared at me.
“About that list… I heard you burned it without even looking.”
It seemed she decided not to deny it.
Did she think it was pointless already?
A wise judgment.
Emilia, who’d seen me up close, must know that I hardly ever hint at anything.
“How did you find out?”
“That’s not important. What matters is why I let you guys be despite knowing.”
Emilia’s piercing gaze looked up at me.
It felt like she could pull out a dagger and stab it into my eyes at any moment, yet Emilia remained perfectly still.
As expected.
I needed to connect with the Intelligence Agency, but I had to think long about who that would be.
First off, Hertlocker was out of the question.
The moment he realized he’d been deceived, he’d surely lose it and attack immediately.
Of course, Eric and the other agents were also at risk.
They wouldn’t recognize my sincere wish to cooperate and would be watching for an opportunity to betray me.
So, the best move was to speak to Emilia.
If I revealed everything to Emilia, who knew me well, I could convey my intentions to the Intelligence Agency without misunderstandings in between.
“The reason is…”
*Boom!*
At that moment, a loud sound exploded along with the sound of the ground shaking.
I instinctively pulled back and took a combat stance, but—
“Ah.”
Emilia had already escaped through the front door.
I rushed to try accessing the observation spell but found it utterly shattered.
“Ugh… damn it… this is bad…”
Why were all the women around me so keen on not listening to me until the end?
Another misunderstanding was about to be added to the mix.
But if it were just like Erika, who would only despise and loathe me on her own, that’d be somewhat cute, but this was a matter involving my life.
“Emilia. Not you too…”
I found myself sitting down with a deep sigh, feeling dark about the future.
*
-Closed.
The café door was tightly shut with a sign hanging on it.
Inside the Recognition Interference Barrier, a meeting was in full swing.
Hertlocker had spread a map across the table and was marking everywhere with a pen.
“This is where our bases were ambushed in the last week.”
“The siege is tightening.”
Eric examined the direction indicated by the marks and let out a low murmur.
It was getting closer to the institution.
At this rate, the institution’s bases seemed destined for attack soon.
“Tch. I thought we might have gone undetected for a while.”
Recently, we had been quietly avoiding becoming targets.
So, the frequency of detection should have decreased, but instead, it had increased.
This meant there was a mole inside.
“However, for the three bases that were ambushed this time, there were no survivors at all.”
“No survivors? Not a single one returned?”
“Yes. All are missing.”
“Hmm…”
Hertlocker’s report made Eric’s mind swirl.
This wasn’t the typical method of the Empire’s intelligence agency.
Even when they attacked the Intelligence Agency’s bases, they usually left one or two alive.
It was a cunning plan to create double agents to extract information from the main body.
But this time, no double agent had come at all.
There was something suspicious about that.
“Is this the work of Asylum?”
“Excuse me? You think we have a zealot’s spy among us?”
“There was already a spy inside the Imperial University. There’s no guarantee there isn’t one in the Intelligence Agency.”
While Asylum had an incredibly foolish ideology, its influence was surprisingly vast.
They might be using some kind of mind-controlling magic that dazzles people.
If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be surprising if a believer of Asylum hid in any organization.
“What reason would they have to attack us? Aren’t they hostile towards the Empire? Then they have no reason to strike us.”
“They’re cornering us. It’s a warning to not keep quiet any longer. They expect that we, when finally down, will attack the Empire… that’s when the war will break out.”
If the widely known objectives of Asylum were true, and if they really aimed for humanity to succumb to Majins, it meant they were hostile not just towards the Empire but all of humanity.
In that case, it was exactly what Asylum desired for human nations to splinter and fight wars among themselves, depleting their national power.
“So, what do we do?”
“For now, we focus all our efforts on eliminating the mole.”
“And if we fail?”
“Then we turn to the Empire.”
“·····?!”
Hertlocker’s eyes widened.
In a moment of rage, he grabbed Eric by the collar.
“Are you out of your mind? You want to team up with the Empire?”
“There’s no other way to survive. Otherwise, we’d have to forsake all our bases and flee from Empire territory.”
“What do you mean by that? Even if we’re cornered, even if it leads to war, isn’t our role to strike back at the Empire? Isn’t the point of the Intelligence Agency to stick a knife into the heart of the Empire with our very lives on the line?”
“The situation has changed, Hertlocker. Look at the bigger picture. Asylum isn’t just an issue for the Empire. It’s a threat lurking in the kingdoms too. If we don’t root it out early, it’ll become a significant threat down the line. So, this time—while looking to survive—we need to team up with the Empire—”
“I’m disappointed, Director. How much of a threat can those zealots become, anyway? Teaming up with the Empire is out of the question.”
After releasing Eric’s collar, Hertlocker turned his back.
He never expected to hear such words from Eric.
No matter how he thought, it sounded like an excuse, and he just wanted to submit to the Empire.
Doubt even crossed his mind about whether Eric had betrayed them.
*Ding…!*
“We are closed!”
“It’s an emergency! Emergency!”
“Emilia?!”
The door burst open, and a girl in maid clothes rushed in.
For a moment, Hertlocker felt a rush of relief upon seeing her familiar and pleasant face, but his expression quickly hardened.
The fact that Emilia had come alone was definitely not good news.
“What? What’s going on?”
“Schlus Hainkel… he knows everything…”
Hertlocker clenched his eyes shut.
That guy had started to move.
I thought he was content just using me, and wouldn’t touch the Intelligence Agency.
But it was clear he decided I was no longer of any use and was about to wipe out the Intelligence Agency entirely.
“More importantly, Emilia! What about the spell on your heart?”
“What? A spell on my heart?”
“Damn it! Let’s dismantle that first!”
“What kind of nonsense is that?!”
“You don’t understand! If Schlus finds out you’ve escaped, he could blow up the spell!”
“What are you even talking about?!”
As Hertlocker rushed over in a panic, Emilia kicked him back in the face.
Watching this unfold, Eric slowly sipped his coffee, expressionless.
With the zealots’ ambush, and now Schlus Hainkel drawing his sword, it seemed today was likely to be the last day for the Intelligence Agency.
With Hertlocker’s strong opposition, the idea of siding with the Empire was completely off the table.
Now, I really had no choice but to flee and get thrown out of Empire territory.
“Wait! I’m an expert in dismantling spells!”
“What? How do you even get a spell into your heart?!”
“How do you think? By splitting open your chest, obviously!”
“I’ve never had a scar on my chest! What are you talking about?!”
“Huh…? Really?!”
When Hertlocker tried to pin Emilia down, he was taken aback.
Although he felt somewhat hurt by the look of disdain in Emilia’s eyes, a wave of relief washed over him.
All along, he had feared Emilia’s heart might explode, following Schlus’ words helplessly…
“You bastard…!”
You little shit.
So you’ve been treating me like a slave with a spell that doesn’t even exist.
Hertlocker, deep in thought, felt the heat rising to his head in no time.
The very moment he raised his head in frustration—
“Whoa!”
Hertlocker felt a powerful mana ripple resonating in his head.
It was a wave that could only be received through a special spell he had implanted when he joined the Crow.
Decoding the code indicated by the wave spelled out the message.
-All crows gather in the institution.
