A Dark Fantasy Spy

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Rain poured from the gray sky.

Spring had suddenly passed, it seemed, as the summer monsoon had arrived.

I had been cooped up in my lodging for the past week. I pulled away the damp blankets and shook off the thoughts cluttering my mind. I felt a bit dazed, perhaps from lack of sleep.

Dressing for work, I tidied up the scattered papers on the floor, stacking them neatly into the cabinet. I had reorganized the plans I’d spent 28 years preparing, completely flipping them over and starting anew. It felt as if 28 years of effort had been disregarded within a span of seven days, but an agent with n years of experience in the Information Agency was used to such things.

The world, tinged in gray, was filled with moisture. The sticky air clung to my skin, and the scent of dampness filled my nostrils. Even in a city protected by ancient magic, it seemed nothing could stop the rain.

Thanks to the cool wind, my head, now much clearer, began to function properly. As always, my thoughts were swift, and my judgments were cautious. I combined the gathered information to predict what might happen next. And as I calculated my benefits, I devised my future plans.

Having been thrown onto an unwelcome gambling table, if I wanted to survive, I had to work harder than ever.

Just then, beyond the murky fog, the gray city came into view.

“Sigh… I don’t want to go to work.”

As always, lamenting wouldn’t change anything.

A man with an umbrella pushed through the cold rain and wind, and a gray man seeped into the gray city.

Episode 1 – Gray Man

“Well, how’s the body? Feeling better?”

“Thanks to your concern, I’m okay now. Thank you, Colonel.”

“Good, good. Health is important. Seeing your face, it seems you’ve had quite a mental struggle these past week.”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Colonel Clevenz smiled as he handed me a paper cup. The fragrant aroma of instant coffee made by alchemists wafted upwards. He took a sip, his face relaxing before getting to the point.

“I’ve handled the urgent matters for the week. I won’t particularly make an issue of your military status.”

“Thank you, Colonel.”

“Let’s skip the formalities. What’s so special about taking care of a subordinate? Just focus on your duties without worrying about anything else.”

The colonel spoke in a flat tone.

For now, the only one who could give me orders was Colonel Clevenz, my superior. Although I had become an honorary companion to the so-called world’s savior, the Hero, my status was still afloat; he was still my superior in terms of affiliation. Even that was uncertain now.

As is often the case in politics, there were too many politicians in this world who couldn’t stand seeing someone else’s success.

Why? Because if I, a soldier in the kingdom’s army, gained fame alongside the Hero, the kingdom would find political stability. This didn’t mean I’d done something extraordinary. Colonel Clevenz would make it happen through the mouths of the political birds.

Anyway, no politician in the entire continent would think it a good idea for any nation to monopolize during a chaotic time.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Don’t be so stiff; try to relax a bit. You’ll be dealing with people more often now. If you keep frowning, it’ll be troublesome.”

A companion of the Hero, purely by luck. Someone with less presence compared to the other companions.

I wasn’t sure how often I’d be dealing with people, but if the Colonel said so, there must be some thought behind it.

“I’ve babbled on long enough. It’s been a while since you’ve come out, I’m sure you have plenty to discuss with acquaintances, so I won’t keep you too long.”

The Colonel crossed his legs.

“First off, you’ve been promoted to Major. Congratulations, Frederick. If it had been just a few years earlier, it would’ve been a record, but that’s unfortunate.”

“Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me. Anyway, you’ll soon be announced as a companion of the Hero along with your Major promotion.”

The Hero had apparently finished a quest. Announcing the first companion to have been promoted to Major indicated the Hero had performed well.

For main quests that occur in the royal palace, success was important, but completion also mattered. If you cleared the quest without achieving additional goals like clearing it within a time limit or defeating a certain number of monsters, your favor would slightly decrease. If this quest went horribly awry? Both the Hero and I would be in trouble.

Thinking about that suddenly sent chills down my spine.

“…Are you unwell? Your complexion suddenly changed.”

“Oh, no, Colonel.”

“Well, alright. Just remember you’ll be announced as a Major and a companion to the Hero. Details will come later.”

The Colonel calmly sipped from his paper cup and handed me a page of documents.

“There’s a bit of a problem with your affiliation… officially, you’re no longer part of the Information Agency.”

“Oh, I see…”

I pretended to look dejected.

The reason I wore a sad face I didn’t truly feel was that I’d been ‘officially’ dismissed from the Information Agency.

Colonel Clevenz had a habit of always speaking in circles, typical of a veteran in the Agency, and I wasn’t the kind to take everything at face value. Many under-the-table dealings must have taken place to conceal the status of a single soldier. But that wasn’t my concern. The Colonel had the authority and capability to handle such matters effortlessly.

The next Director of the Military Intelligence Agency, Colonel Clevenz Hendrick.

A soldier from a prestigious family. Someone with connections to politicians. An expert in rooting out spies and an elite in the Information Agency, recognized both by himself and others.

Though he appeared gruff, he was surprisingly warm-hearted and had a good character.

At first glance, he might seem like just an accomplished, kind soldier, but the important thing was that he was part of the Information Agency. And the Agency was a group that practiced a different kind of ‘patriotism.’

In short, if I were to break down what he said, it would become overly complicated and profound. I lacked the knack for summarizing arguments and stringing together nice-sounding phrases.

So if I were to summarize the Colonel’s order in my own way, it’d be like this:

“Don’t be too disheartened, Major. Isn’t it true that serving in the Information Agency isn’t the only way to be a patriot?”

He was essentially telling me to go out and be patriotic.

*

Just because it’s the Information Agency, not every day is filled with special events.

The development of mass media and the cultural industry has portrayed the Information Agency as a secretive and nefarious organization, but contrary to the sensational fantasies, the actual appearance of the Agency is bland. Like everyone else, we write reports, get approvals, hold meetings, eat, and slack off in the break room. When the superior has a dinner event in the evening, we come up with every excuse in the book to avoid it—this is the daily life of information officers.

Excluding the fact that the contents of our work concern national and military secrets, we’re just ordinary civil servants receiving a salary from our country.

“Did you get this month’s allowance?”

“Maybe it’s because I worked a lot of overtime; it seems to be more than usual. I’ll check at the bank tomorrow.”

At a restaurant near the Information Agency, office workers gathered around a table during lunch hour, the place buzzing with employees mingling. The topic of discussion today was the allowance that came in this month. It was a universal truth that civil servants’ salaries were notoriously low, so without allowances and performance bonuses, it was tough to cover living expenses.

“Hey, why are you talking about money in a place where we eat?”

“Oh, come on, Captain! You know how little a Lieutenant gets.”

One guy with a bleached, tanned look began to lament his life. Jake, a foreign mixed-race person, could be described as having an exotic appearance at best, and as a punk at worst. Next to him, a short girl with a bob hairstyle munched on a paper cup.

“Pippin, you’re not a herbivore, so why are you eating paper?”

“It’s a habit, okay?”

“What the heck?”

Pippin and Jake, two information agency agents, began bickering. Both were Lieutenants, relatively new recruits, pathetic souls handling a bunch of menial tasks while awaiting the arrival of an uncertain junior. Like all agents, they were smart and quick to catch on.

“Hey, I’ll pay for lunch today, so both of you shut up.”

“Captain, loyalty!”

“Jake, quit whining and go fetch some water.”

Jake hurriedly ran off to get three cups of water. If his hair had been black, they might have called him Hassan. What a pity. While lost in such thoughts, Pippin began sipping the water Jake brought.

“Captain, you haven’t taken a vacation for a week. Were you sick or something?”

“It’s not that I was sick; just had a lot on my mind.”

“Is there something bad going on?”

Well, it’s pretty damn bad.

I was selected as a companion to the Hero, which meant I had to head to the battlefield; that’s definitely not a good thing. It’s only a good development for a mortician collecting corpses. Furthermore, discussions about the Hero were still under wraps, so I couldn’t let them in on it.

Come to think of it, there were countless inconveniences associated with becoming a companion of the Hero.

First off, housing and sustenance. The adage that leaving home leads to hardship is a universal truth across the ages. Since I was chosen as a companion, it was only natural that I wouldn’t have a stable place to stay. Likewise, I’d have plenty of times where I’d hastily grab a bite to eat.

It felt like only yesterday I was sleeping on the streets while getting bitten by mosquitoes in Africa. And now, it looked like I’d be doing it again.

On top of that, I wasn’t just going on an adventure. I was joining a monumental journey to save the world. Clearly, even a hundred lives wouldn’t be enough—I hadn’t even completed a single game.

With that in mind, the thought of genuinely being a ‘patriot’ filled me with dread.

It would be mentally and physically exhausting. Even though an adventure was inherently life-threatening, information operations—let’s exaggerate a bit—would involve not just my life being at stake but possibly the nation’s fate, too. It could take years, for all I knew. If it all succeeded, I could retire right afterward and write a memoir, living off it for the rest of my days. I’d surely churn out a few espionage novels.

The Colonel probably knew, right? I thought I could sweet-talk a few people into helping me by showing them the plan.

So, while the fighting is best left to the Hero and his companions, I’d need a few people to support me from my side…

“Captain?”

“Huh? Oh, why did you call?”

“I’ve been calling you for a while, but you weren’t answering. Are you still feeling unwell?”

“Captain, if you need anything, just say so. I can bring you medicine or something.”

“…No, I don’t think I need any medicine.”

Just then, the youngsters were right in front of me.

“Do you guys want to go on an overseas trip?”