Episode 13 – Intelligence Department
13. Ministry of Intelligence
A call from the intelligence department to the academy.
Probably to ask in detail about what happened yesterday.
Leon and Carotene came out into the hallway.
Celia was walking, frowning and stretching her arms.
“Ugh, I’m so sleepy…”
She also came out after receiving her call.
When we went to the central stairs with Celia, Liana greeted them with a graceful gesture from the opposite hallway.
“Oh my, you weren’t the only one who called me?”
It seems like he has forgotten the frivolous appearance he showed yesterday.
She has regained her appearance as a proud and haughty young lady.
“······.”
“······.”
“······.”
When Leon, Carotene, and Celia, who sensed her strangeness, gave her strange looks, she blushed and screamed.
“What, what!”
······Well, that’s right.
They shook their heads and headed upstairs.
* · * *
As they entered the reception room on the third floor, a man wearing a neat black uniform greeted them.
“Nice to meet you, Prince and princesses. “This is Daniel Heclemin, the second team leader of the Imperial Intelligence Department.”
He lowered his head, his glasses falling slightly from the bridge of his nose.
The intelligence department team leader was a fairly high rank.
Of course, it was right to be polite to the sons of the Four Great Dukes.
After saying hello, they sat down with the coffee table in the middle.
Soon, a woman wearing the same uniform as Daniel Earle approached and let go of her car.
It seemed like he was probably a team member who followed Daniel as an assistant.
After taking a sip of tea, Daniel began speaking.
It was brave of them to face the gangsters, they were the stars that will shine the empire, etc., He said for a moment with nice words, and then asked for detailed information about what happened yesterday.
But.
For some reason, the three are looking at Leon blankly.
“······Do you want me to explain?”
Nod.
The response was, “Then who will do it?”
Naturally, Leon started explaining as the representative, and Carotene occasionally stepped in to add some seasoning.
Leon, who had nothing to hide, told it like it was.
Daniel slightly tilted his eyebrows at the part where he felt a bad ‘feeling’ and followed Billy.
However, when I heard that Leon had subdued two people, my eyes widened.
“Um…”
Crunchy. Widely.
After Leon’s explanation was finished, Daniel put down the pen after finishing writing the document he had been writing while listening.
Whoa.
Soon he took a deep breath, put his fingers together and leaned his upper body closer.
The feeling of trying to say something very important.
“In fact… The identity of the gunmen we encountered yesterday are agents of the Republic’s Reconnaissance Bureau.”
“······.”
“······.”
“······.”
Contrary to Daniel’s expectations, the reaction was very cool.
Leon, who already knew, was upset, Carotene nodded her head as if she knew that, and Celia looked at her as if asking what to do.
Actually, I experienced the agents’ extraordinary skills by directly clashing swords with them.
Carotene and Celia had guessed that these guys were not ordinary monsters.
“Yes?!?!”
From Noble mtl dot com
Finally, Liana, who was making a fuss alone again, seemed to have realized something and blurted out.
“Ah! Then, what happened at the entrance ceremony…”
“Yes. “It is presumed that he is probably related to them.”
Daniel Earl nodded to Liana, thanking her for reacting without embarrassment.
“Thankfully, everyone was captured alive rather than killed, so they are currently being interrogated…”
Leon, who was twirling an empty teacup in his hand, tried to predict what would come next.
“But.”
“······Yes. However, the problem is that it is already on fire, so it is difficult to catch her tail.”
“Why? There are five open mouths? “Can they withstand torture well?”
“The mental barrier is so carefully constructed that if you touch it incorrectly, you will die immediately…”
“Hmm.”
As Leon smiled as if having fun, Daniel gently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
They went as far as capturing spies and handing them over to them, but isn’t being unable to dig up even a single piece of information proving their incompetence?
In fact, they were having difficulty understanding the mental barrier hanging over the spies’ heads.
It seems clear that the capabilities of the Imperial Intelligence Department are inferior to those of the Republic’s Reconnaissance Bureau.
Seeing the sorrow mixed in Leon’s eye smile, Daniel hurriedly changed the topic.
“Recently, hardliners in the Republic have been gaining ground.”
It seems like he wants to hear what he has to say.
Leon buried his back on the sofa and crossed his long legs.
Actually, I had a rough guess.
“Meanwhile, the Great Demon Territory was opened in the northern part of the Republic, and the Republic is in a state of heightened stress.”
Great Demon Sutra (大魔境).
It refers to a passage connecting the demon world where devils and demons live, and occurs when the crack between dimensions is greatly distorted.
If it is not just a demonic sutra, but a great demonic sutra, then it can be seen as being screwed up.
The land is eroded and desolated, and monsters, beasts, and demons crawl out when they are bored and repeatedly invade.
What if a devil with an itchy body comes out?
An astronomical amount of money and manpower had to be used for subjugation.
Leon continued as if the rest was obvious.
“The imperial family has no intention of helping at all, so the Republic bastards may target us for negotiations?”
“Uh…”
As Leon realized exactly what he was going to say, Daniel Earl’s mouth fell open.
It was a simple guess for Leon, who had read the original work and had some information.
Only the empire on the continent has the ‘means’ to close the Great Demon Mirror.
But who would the Empire lend it to the Republic, which has always been a poor and poor land?
All we had to do was watch the republic burn brightly.
Probably several rounds of negotiations would have failed, and the Republic would have been in good turmoil.
People are dying, territory is shrinking, and troops continue to be wasted pointlessly, like pouring water into a bottomless pot.
This is a situation where a solution needs to be found as soon as possible.
As a result, the hardliners of the Republic who took their place began to use ignorant methods.
In their minds, the threat of hostages or terrorism was not a bad idea.
There is a high probability of targeting academies where high-ranking nobles are concentrated.
In particular, the children of the four dukes, Leon, Carotene, Celia, and Liana, will be even more valuable.
It goes without saying about the princess Esabel.
“That’s right, Young master. How do you do that…?”
The people around us looked at Leon even more differently.
Of course, it is something that they can reach if they put their minds to it.
It was surprising to be able to deduce that right away upon hearing it.
Leon shrugged his shoulders, looked away, and waved his hand at Daniel Earl, telling him to finish speaking.
After getting over his embarrassment, Daniel received a long box from the female team member next to him.
He placed the seemingly luxurious wooden box on the table and opened the entrance towards the other side.
Dalkak.
Inside, there were five golden brooches with ornate decorations lined up.
“Is this…An artifact?”
Liana, who sensed the unusual flow of mana, was the first to show interest.
“Yes. “I want you to carry each of these with you.”
Daniel handed the brooches to each of the cadets.
“Of course I hope it doesn’t happen, but I prepared just in case. “No matter where you are or what time it is, as soon as you break that brooch, one of the Imperial Knights on standby will arrive through the warp.”
The cadets who received the brooch nodded as one.
If it is a knight belonging to the imperial family, its skills have been clearly proven.
It is safe to say that if an entire group of knights were to come over, most situations could be overcome by force.
And it is not easy to pack large-scale warp magic into such a small object.
It must be a work created by at least an archmage.
I could clearly feel that the imperial family put a lot of care into it.
Due to the nature of Elprime Academy cadets who are still young and frequently engage in external activities, they are often exposed to danger, so they seem to have prepared for this.
“Security inside the Academy and Elaim City will also be significantly strengthened for a while. “We plan to carry out detailed searches inside the city several times, so it is unlikely that any untoward incident like before will occur.”
Well?
Leon smiled slightly after hearing Daniel’s shouting.
I knew that the enemies of this world were not so gentle.
Leon cut off Daniel, who was bragging about how hard they worked.
“But team leader.”
“Yes?”
“I caught five spies, but aren’t you giving me any reward?”
“······Well, um. “I’m prepared, but…”
Denial hurriedly gestured to his female teammate.
In fact, a reward was prepared.
That’s an amount that would be embarrassing to hand over to someone of that status.
‘Why does a person with a lot of money…?’
Aren’t nobles very concerned with money in the first place?
I place more importance on upholding my duty and honor as a noble.
What about the descendants of the Archduke?
It was rude to hand over money for doing a good job.
I never imagined that Daniel would demand a reward so openly.
* · * *
“Hmm hmm~ hmm~!”
Leon twirled his heavy bag and hummed.
You’re embarrassed that it’s not much, 10 gold coins per person?
I couldn’t help but think that Daniel didn’t bring this up just to get away with it.
What’s even funnier is that his friends gave all the reward money they received to Leon.
– I haven’t done much, so it’s yours to keep!
– Leon, your father doesn’t give you pocket money…?
– Well, I didn’t do my job properly…
“These hungry bastards.”
Perhaps because we all grew up in noble families, our sense of money seemed a little strange.
10 Gold was never a small amount of money.
It was ridiculous for Leon to refuse the free money in the first place.
“Anyway.”
Leon was fiddling with the gold brooch he had received from Daniel.
“You mean I can command a group of knights with this?”
I gave it to you to use in times of danger…
“No matter what I do, I can get away with it at least once?”
A sinister smile appeared on Leon’s lips.