A Dark Fantasy Spy

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“Not really? Seriously? You really have no abilities at all?”

My head was spinning. My fatigue-soaked brain couldn’t keep up with the flow of the conversation.

“Uh, well, you see…”

“Camila Lowell, just be honest. You really don’t have any abilities?”

“It seems like I don’t….”

No way.

If you don’t, then you don’t. If you do, then you do. What kind of nonsense is ‘it seems like’?

I was starting to get angry. If this woman were a soldier instead of a hero, I would have knocked some sense into her already. In fact, even now, I wanted to grab those indecisive lips of hers and pull them apart.

Camila Lowell stared at the floor while twisting her crimson hair.

“Ac-actually….”

She glanced between the teacup and me repeatedly, then lowered her head as she spoke in a crawling voice.

“I can’t remember….”

What kind of crap is this?

—

Episode 1 – The Gray Man

—

Amnesia.

In medical terms, it’s referred to as Amnesia, a mental disorder characterized by loss of memory. It is typically called amnesia or forgetfulness, with notable symptoms including temporary or long-term memory loss.

Commonly, it occurs when lying to your parents, during conversations with friends or teachers. For socially prominent individuals, it’s often seen during congressional hearings or prosecutor interrogations.

Camila Lowell’s case is similar.

She explained to me that she has no memory of the quest conducted in the royal palace. To be precise, she has a vague recollection of the start and end, but claims to have no memory of the middle part—what happened during the quest. Of course, Camila Lowell isn’t lying; she genuinely seems to have no recollection.

“This is pretty ridiculous.”

“I’m sorry….”

“What are you apologizing for? Who knows? You might have bumped your head and lost your memory. I’ve seen plenty of people like that when I was on the frontline.”

“Ah….”

Camila Lowell continued to fidget with her fingers, keeping her head down. She looked genuinely pitiful. What’s more, she resembled the protagonist from a loser webcomic I had seen online. Hair tied up in a ponytail or a bun, it was exactly the same.

Anyway, that’s not the point right now.

Camila Lowell is supposed to be the hero responsible for my life, and if she’s hurt in the head, that’s a huge problem. She looks fine now, but it better be true that she’s not.

“Um. Have you had a health checkup? You seem like you’ve experienced something traumatic.”

“Cardinal Raul had a look at me.”

“Cardinal Raul? You mean the cardinal from the cult?”

“You know Cardinal Raul?”

“How do you know him, Camila Lowell?”

“Oh, he delivered a letter to me.”

A letter? Could it possibly be that Cardinal Raul delivered it himself?

Cardinal Raul is a friendly NPC from ‘Heroes of the Dark World.’ To sum him up in one word, he’s truly a ‘true’ religious person.

He is divinely powerful, has a clean private life, with no government ties or illegitimate children; basically, he’s a decent guy. He does have a bit of fanaticism, but considering he’s a true religious person living in this dark age, that’s understandable. In fact, other than that, he’s a fairly unproblematic fellow.

And the most important point is that he’s a supporter of the candidate saint, Lucia.

But why is Cardinal Raul here? Wasn’t he supposed to be focusing on elevating Lucia to candidate saint status and summoning the bishops by now?

“Of course, I know. Isn’t he quite famous? But why is he at the royal palace?”

“Initially, after meeting Cardinal Raul back then, he’s been staying here ever since.”

I see.

“Do you know when Cardinal Raul will return?”

“I’ve heard he’s supposed to head back to the cult on the day I’m announced as the hero.”

That’s strange.

Cardinal Raul must have appeared with the priest he brought along from the cult. Camila Lowell just finished her quest at the royal palace, meaning the official announcement of her summoning as a hero should happen soon. Right after my promotion ceremony, she and I were supposed to head to the cult to recruit Lucia.

But Cardinal Raul, who should be making Lucia a candidate saint, is here at the royal palace?

…This doesn’t feel right.

Something is going wrong.

—

In ‘Heroes of the Dark World’, saints from the cult are described as being elected through a kind of selection process.

When a believer is recommended by the cardinal to become a saint candidate, bishops gather at the headquarters of the cult to verify the candidate, and decide through voting whether to elevate them to saint status. If the selected candidate is male, he becomes a saint; if female, she becomes a saintess.

On the surface, it sounds like a remarkably democratic system, but this is a world mixed with dark fantasy and apocalypse. Of course, blatant electoral fraud, on par with the most dictatorial regimes, abounds.

During the verification period, unfounded slanders and smear campaigns arise.

During elections, bribed votes, ghost voting, ballot tampering, show-of-hands votes, and even foreign intervention make for a chaotic electoral process.

However, no matter how chaotic the world is, the fact remains that the companion of the hero is validated by prophecy, yet they cannot escape the thorny path of election.

Why? Because the current saint comes from the most powerful empire on the continent.

Just like there cannot be two suns under the sky, since the founding of the cult, there has never been more than one saint existing. Unsurprisingly, the current saint, not wanting to be the first to break that record, will employ any means to bury Lucia.

In the end, Lucia finds herself battered by slanders and smear campaigns without even being able to hold an election because she’s essentially fled with her tail between her legs.

What follows is predictable. Fearing Lucia’s return as a successful companion of the hero, the saint sends assassins, has bombs delivered, and poisons her food. If the player sets their mind to it, all assassination attempts will fail, but if one of them lands, Lucia will die.

And the strategy to remove the priest-alchemist duo essentially involves utilizing these events to separate the two characters. It’s a cruel strategy, but it’s effective. By keeping them apart, the attempts on both characters’ lives dramatically decrease into the mid-game.

I digress, but to put it simply, the life of Lucia, the candidate saint priest, is very unfortunate.

However, the reason she was able to endure is because of the support from Cardinal Raul and a handful of bishops. It was often mentioned that without them, she wouldn’t have been able to withstand the pressure.

So, if Cardinal Raul, who should originally be overseeing Lucia at the cult, is in the royal palace, it means that Lucia is shouldering all the burdens alone.

“…It’s more serious than I thought.”

“Is that so…?”

Colonel Clevenz set down his paper cup and slowly turned the pages of the document.

“It’s a widely known fact that the cult is corrupt, but I didn’t expect them to push a girl this far.”

“What specifically are they saying?”

“Just common conspiracy theories. They focus mainly on her being an orphan.”

The colonel set the documents down on the desk and explained as he flipped through each page. The contents were so low-brow that even merely looking at them made his expression sour.

“…They say she’s a harlot, but what do they mean by ‘daughter of a witch’? The chosen companion of the hero is the child of a witch?”

“You’re more naïve than I thought. Whether the companion of the hero is Valid or not, do you really need evidence for a conspiracy theory?”

“Ah.”

“Sometimes a sharp mind can let the oddest nonsense escape out of it.”

With each emergence of conspiracy theories, slanders, and smear campaigns, I felt my head spinning.

…These are the so-called religious folks? Now I finally understand the reason for the world’s decline.

“Speaking of which, this is strange.”

Colonel Clevenz, who was carefully examining the documents, took a fountain pen and started drawing lines. He connected several lines together into one large cluster.

“Do you know what the task of Frederick’s Information Agency is?”

Caught off-guard by the sudden question, I hesitated for a moment, but eventually started reciting what I had memorized while getting scolded by my seniors.

“Intelligence gathering and information writing, security, and counterintelligence, right?”

“And foreign operations as well. There are multiple kinds of operations happening overseas, one of which is election interference.”

Colonel Clevenz pulled out a file from the cabinet and spread it out.

“Take a good look. What do these two documents have in common?”

As I examined the documents closely, I found one commonality.

“The handwriting is exactly the same.”

“Well observed. You know that different printers have different fonts. So, doesn’t it make sense to think that these two documents came from the same printer?”

“That seems a bit….”

Isn’t that too much of a leap?

“You’re still lacking in the basics, Frederick. You have to suspect everything and dig persistently. Even something as simple as handwriting can become a clue.”

Colonel Clevenz smiled, clearly pleased to have caught someone. The cover read ‘Overseas Operation Cases of the Imperial Guard HQ of the Kien Empire.’

Now that I think about it, this guy was an expert at sniffing out imperial spies, numbering in the hundreds. It also struck me that the current saint was from the empire, and there was someone who truly disliked the idea of Lucia becoming the new saint. Wait a minute, hold on.

Suddenly, I felt chills. How did Clevenz figure this out?

“Interesting how there’s suddenly an interest in the saint candidate. You’ve provided some rather good information.”

“…No, how did you figure this out?”

“Just a hunch.”

He got this just by guessing?

“I’ve been in this line of work for quite a while. You start to develop a sense for these things. When something feels off, there’s always something hidden underneath if you dig deep enough.”

“…That’s impressive. So you believe that the empire’s information agency is overseeing the saint candidate?”

“From the circumstances, it seems so. Given that the current saint, Saint Veronica, is from a baron family of the empire, I think the empire is worried about the influence they would lose over the cult through Saint Veronica, so they’re pulling these kinds of tricks. Of course, that’s just a guess.”

That seemed plausible. Since there isn’t much information about Saint Veronica in the game, I couldn’t confirm whether the colonel’s guess is right or wrong, but ultimately, words come from people, and Colonel Clevenz Hendrick is the best information agency agent in the kingdom, so his assumption should be correct.

However, the important part is not the fact that the empire’s information agency is backing Saint Veronica, but that Lucia is enduring all these attacks by herself.

“Ha….”

The story is starting to diverge from the game’s plot. I have no idea where it all started going wrong.

Was it from the moment I got sucked into the game? Or the moment the hero appeared? Could it be that my becoming a soldier is the issue? Or transitioning to the information agency? Is it my actions that caused this whole scenario, inducing such chaos?

What will happen next? Is the hero in any trouble? Can Lucia hold out alone? How much more will the story deviate? Will I be able to survive?

My head feels filled with a foggy mist. As my certainty about the future dissipates, anxiety crashes over me like waves. It’s just a mess. My head began to throb. Perhaps I should visit a hospital soon.

“Are you alright?”

Colonel Clevenz asked while sipping his coffee. His expression clearly showed he was worried. Unable to manage a voice in response, I could only nod my head in answer. Observing me, he chuckled lightly as if he were witnessing a child’s antics, then offered me a cup of coffee.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“Excuse me?”

Colonel Clevenz smiled as he brought the paper cup to his lips, clearly amused.

“Sometimes I see you thinking too much about things, it’s a problem.”

“…What do you mean?”

“When I look at you, it reminds me of myself in the past. Always weighing this and that, wondering if this would work, or that would work….”

The colonel began speaking out of the blue. It was hard to understand his words due to my headache.

“I wonder what would’ve happened if I’d done it differently back then. Was it right to do that? What will happen to me in the future? Aren’t you thinking things like that now?”

“…How did you know?”

“As I said, it’s just a hunch.”

He spoke as if recalling fond memories.

“Sometimes, you know, it’s a good idea to stop thinking about all the painful things and instead focus on what you want to do or what you must do. Holding onto past events or future things that haven’t even happened only gives you a headache, right?”

The middle-aged man pointed to a document with his finger. It was another report made by other agents about the selection of the saint of the cult.

“You showing up suddenly talking about Lucia’s saint candidate is similar, isn’t it? Since you became the hero’s companion, you seem to have been fully invested in that business, without living your daily life properly.”

That hit the nail on the head.

I felt like I was left exposed, stripped bare. Colonel Clevenz seemed to understand my psyche as if it were printed in his palm. It seems that seniority is not to be underestimated. I chuckled at the ridiculousness, and he silently smiled, leaning back into the sofa.

“Don’t live your life too obsessed with work. I’m telling you to take it easy. You look like someone constantly chased by something.”

“Is that so?”

“It’s hard to say what burden you’re shouldering, but if it’s too much to bear alone, share it with someone. That’s why you have two valuable agents assigned to you.”

“…Isn’t it because you want me to serve my country?”

Wasn’t it that I was sent abroad to play the part of a spy and keep an eye on the hero? Of course, I wasn’t actually expecting an answer, and he refrained from responding. It was just a matter of saying whatever comes to mind.

“Patriotism won’t get you far; sometimes, you have to just charge ahead without worrying about the results.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Calculating the possibilities, pondering over decisions is commendable, but if you focus solely on calculations, life can become awfully tiresome.”

I could finally understand what the colonel was trying to say.

Aside from being an information agent and a soldier, he was giving me life advice as a senior. That’s why he hadn’t answered the question I asked earlier.

“…So, you mean to say, don’t worry about this matter; just go relax. I’ll handle it from here.”

Colonel Clevenz wrapped up the documents and wrapped things up.

—

Looking up at the starry skies of early summer.

I was sitting on a bench in front of my lodging, gazing at the sky.

Just now, Colonel Clevenz informed me that Cardinal Raul has returned to the cult. While I was in a panic trying to figure out how to send Raul back, the colonel managed to do so with just a few sheets of paper and some words. Truly, rank does have its perks.

Eventually, the story was gradually returning to its original course.

I sat aimlessly on the bench, slowly digesting the words left by the colonel.

The plans I had drawn up over 28 years were already shattered. The hastily devised plan over the past week was already on shaky ground. I had no idea whether the papers in the cabinet would be of any use. I was feeling lost.

I tried using my calculator to evaluate all possibilities, but in the end, I couldn’t find a solid answer.

Could it be that, just like the colonel said, I think too much? Would it be easier to simply charge ahead without overthinking everything? As I thought about it, the world began to seem incredibly easy.

What if the hero has no abilities? So what? Having been summoned as a hero, Camila Lowell is destined to become a strong force on this continent anyway. I could just grab her by the collar and make sure she gets her rewards, and she can grow strong enough.

Lucia, no matter how hard she struggles, won’t become a saint. But she’s still the hero’s companion and a priest. With a bit of effort, she can grow into a good healer. Likewise, she can also grow stronger if I push her from behind. The position of a saint wouldn’t help her growth; she wouldn’t face any problems as long as she continues developing. The only inconvenience would be preventing her from getting assassinated.

If the future doesn’t follow the script, I’ll just put a leash on them and drag them along.

Suddenly, it all seemed useless to worry about all of this, and life began to look incredibly simple.

In a world where the dichotomy of good and evil doesn’t apply, and where the black-and-white logic doesn’t hold, everything merely shines with shades of gray. And just like all worlds, the people living here aren’t superhumans on white horses but a collection of misplaced ordinary individuals.

In the end, I’m just one of those countless ordinary people.

“…This late-night sentiment is incredible.”

I no longer wandered aimlessly.

The colonel was right. In the end, all that matters are the results.

Nothing can be achieved by mere thoughts, and sometimes, intuition can be more accurate than calculations.

So for now, I decided to charge ahead and see what happens.

On a night where the brilliantly shining stars illuminated the world, I finally organized my thoughts while gazing at the gray city beneath the night sky.

—

Episode 1 – The Gray Man – END –