Hero’s Downfall Report

6 – The Woman Without Eyes That Men See (1)

9:30 AM.

Tick. Tick. The leaf-shaped clock is ticking, square. Square. The pen glides on the parchment. The mechanical sounds are regular, but the sound of writing is intermittent.

An office without windows and spring. Cain is in the midst of copying the oath form. It is a sworn statement that he will not disclose any information learned during mission execution until death.

The major procedures are completed by submitting the handwritten sworn statement, confidential handling authorization, and the seal and badge indicating being a Security Bureau agent.

As with all legal documents, a single sentence exceeded six lines. The ceremony of articles, adverbs, conjunctions, compound sentences, and complex sentences was at an unbearable level.

The argument for introducing a printing machine into the Security Bureau continued vehemently, but Director Bernice had declared that they would not bring in a printing machine even if they brought in a grape-squeezing machine for wine production. Naturally, it was due to security issues.

Designing typesetting implies distributing a lot of specific information, and widely distributed information naturally loses its value. If the grades of information are clearly distinguished between valuable and not, how delighted would a virtual attacker be.

Bernice adhered to the position that ‘concealment is not burying something in the ground but making it indistinguishable from other things.’ It sounded reasonable, but it was also annoying to middle managers. Those who had to deal with practical work and document tasks were at the level of directors like Cain.

“Sigh.”

As expected, Cain couldn’t concentrate. Half was because of his own troubled mind, and the other half was because of Lily.

While Cain was writing, Lily stopped her hand and peeked at Cain.

It was easy to tell since she stared so openly. So when Cain lifted his head, Lily lowered hers and continued writing the report.

It was impossible not to be concerned when a child with such big eyes was making a crying face.

Cain made a decision. Pay a little attention. After all, he’s the one who will leave anyway, but Lily isn’t. After all, an agent must do their job in any situation.

“Kum. Is it going well?”

“Yes.”

“Does it really take you five minutes to write a single sentence?”

“But Supervisor, you pause every thirty seconds.”

Cain stared blankly at Lily, his face filled with resentment.

“Do you think I’m just going out for a walk?”

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“I made up my mind to go because of what you just said. Aren’t you disappointed? Am I not disappointed?”

“I apologize!”

With a swoosh, Cain stood up. That way, he could hide his smiling face a little. He dragged a chair over to Lily’s desk and sat down.

“So, what’s the problem? Where are you stuck?”

“Uh…” Lily, who was fumbling with her words, suddenly regained her composure. “I’m in the middle of writing an information analysis report, and there are some unclear parts. It’s about the Taranto Kingdom.”

The Empire is divided into direct rule by the emperor and territories governed by kings and nobles delegated by the emperor. The Taranto Kingdom is located in the southeastern region of the Empire and is where Cain and Lily’s mission takes place.

The document Lily was looking at was a report on the strange events happening in the Taranto Kingdom.

Taxes.

Reporting to the emperor on how much tax the king has collected in his territory is a basic requirement. In that regard, King Bomong I’s report was strange.

The total amount of taxes was similar to the average of the past five years. The portion that should naturally be given to the emperor did not decrease significantly. The problem was the income and expenditure items. They didn’t add up.

“We spent a lot of money on recruiting new soldiers and purchasing weapons, but we reduced the maintenance costs of the troops. Isn’t it a declaration that we will lower the quality of the army by not providing training and management for conscripted soldiers?”

“What did King Bomong I say? He must have sent a query to the Ministry of Finance. There’s no way those bean counters would just overlook it.”

It’s common sense for your limbs to be tied to a chair when meeting with people from the Ministry of Finance. Even just talking for three minutes would make your blood pressure skyrocket. If you need treatment for low blood pressure, five minutes is enough. Of course, the Ministry of Finance will demand a consulting fee in the meantime.

“There were too many bandits, so we had to increase the patrol guards. They prioritized quantity over quality, it seems. They said they deployed more personnel for shift work and expanded the area they surveilled. It sounds plausible, but there aren’t many bandits in Taranto, to begin with.”

“Because of the aggressive knights, right?”

“Yes. People like Gotsu have been recruiting bandits to their side, so it’s becoming more frequent for bandits to join the regular army or become knights.”

People like Gotsu are shady characters. They know they’re being watched by the Empire and the Kingdom. They may manipulate the law, but they never commit illegal acts.

If you give money to a robber, you become the victim. But these bandit knights don’t do that.

“It’s like trying to pluck chicken feathers, investing about half of your annual income.”

In cases like this, it transforms into a “legitimate investment,” making it difficult for the Empire to intervene.

Naturally, the Kingdom under the Emperor’s rule won’t be happy either. If investments like this continue, the Kingdom’s revenue will suffer. But Bomon was the opposite.

“All the nobles who submitted the petition are under the jurisdiction of the Taranto Kingdom.”

“That’s right.”

It’s a situation where bandit knights are shaking up a Kingdom. If you think about it, Seonjehu, who has the authority to be elected as the Emperor or to elect the Emperor, is a more serious matter.

But why? How is this possible? That was Lily’s concern.

“I don’t know the reason. Perhaps, Director…”

“I don’t know either.”

Lily’s eyes widened. Cain calmly met her gaze.

“Isn’t it strange to say you don’t know something you don’t know?”

“Oh, no.”

“So, what I mean is, what’s the problem?”

“Yes?” Lily blinked her eyes. She looked just like a rabbit. “As I mentioned before, why is King Taranto behaving like this…”

“No. That’s not what I mean.” Cain scratched the back of his head. Cain was an agent, not an Academy instructor, so teaching someone was always a difficult task.

“I understand that you don’t know why King Taranto is doing this. So the next question would be ‘where do we find the answers?’ If you knew where to find the answers, if you knew who to ask, you would have done so. Your real stumbling block is here. You don’t know where to find the answers, how to solve this problem. Right?”

Slowly, a little late, Lily nodded her head.

“Yes. That’s correct. I don’t know where to find the answer to this problem.”

“Well, there. Soondol, no. Lily.”

Surprisingly, Lily hesitated for a moment, as if the code name Lily had become awkward.

“Yes, Captain.”

“You weren’t stuck thinking, ‘What am I missing?’ and couldn’t make progress, were you?”

“How did you know?”

Seeing her cover her mouth with her hand, she sighed again. Lily was too honest about her emotions. Excessively, dangerously so. It might be fine for a journalist, but it’s disqualifying for an agent.

“You’ve been rereading the stack of documents from the beginning every five minutes. Isn’t that weirder if you don’t know?”

Lily hesitated. She cleared her throat and turned her head. But with her small hands, she couldn’t completely hide her bright smile.

“…You’ve been watching me.”

“No. It’s not that, it’s because you saw me.” He swallowed the words. Now, as Lily avoided his gaze and brushed her hair that was flowing down her ear, it was even more so.

“You took the test and got in here. That means your abilities are sufficient. You’re smart. You couldn’t come to a conclusion because there wasn’t enough evidence, not because you’re stupid. Understand?”

“Yes.”

A small, pointed tongue peeked out between Lily’s lips and then retracted. It was like she had candy in her mouth. Cain sighed.

“Gather more information. Meet with people from other departments, or maybe go to the records room with the identification card.”

“Teach me, Captain.”

Suddenly, Lily grabbed Cain’s arm. She was so strong that he couldn’t twist it away.

“Teach me, please. I want to know. I want to learn more.”

“Well, Soondol…”

“Just for one day.” Lily seemed determined.

“Can’t it be just for one day? If not a day, then at least half a day. If not half a day, then just one hour.”

Lily swallowed dry saliva. Her cheeks were flushed, and it seemed like her lips were slightly tingling.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

A loud sound echoed – the signal for 10 o’clock. Lily’s hand, taken aback, loosened a bit. Cain gently but firmly pushed her hand away.

“Even if I want to, I can’t. You need a secret access card to enter the record room. And right now, I have to go to my apple orchard. I need to return the access card, security pledge, agent ID, and badge.”

Lily lowered her head. She considered asking him to loosen up a bit, maybe share his burdens, but decided against it.

“Ask Vom and Bom. They’ll help you understand.”

“…Then.”

“Yeah?”

“Just accompanying me to my apple orchard…”

“Hey, how far do you think this goes?”

Lily raised her head, trying to keep her composure.

“I… I want to know the way to my apple orchard.”

“You already know.”

“I forgot. I don’t remember. No, I haven’t been there before. I don’t even know what it is. So, please teach me.”

Her face was brazen, but her eyes were watery.

“Fine. Fine, let’s go. Come on.”

* * * * *

Cain was in the main building, and Lily’s apple orchard was in the annex. To reach the annex, they had to cross the park.

Originally, Cain’s plan was to leisurely spend time somewhere in the park and then finish writing the pledge. But with Lily sticking close by, that plan was no longer feasible.

‘I haven’t written everything. About a quarter left? I’ll finish writing it inside my apple.’

The early summer day was sunny. The flowers in the park were bright, and the gardeners busily roamed around with their pruning shears. As the park was open to the public, it was filled with people out for picnics.

There were people laying out and enjoying wine and cheese, students from the music school playing a makeshift serenade with an instrument to earn some lunch money, children running around to avoid getting stung by bees, and women chatting away while keeping an eye on them.

Cain and Lily walked along the path. There were quite a few people, so there were some small collisions, and each time Lily leaned a little closer to Cain. It went beyond their hands bumping into each other to now their shoulders and arms touching.

Pretending not to notice, Cain subtly moved away. Each time, Lily insisted on sticking close.

“May I carry your briefcase?”

“No.”

“I am empty-handed. Sir, you have a briefcase on your left arm and a cane on your right. You seem burdened, let me help.”

“Are you trying to carry it and run away?”

It was a joke, but Lily flinched.

“I-I-I wouldn’t do that, would I? I am not a thief.”

“Ah. Then were you planning to move the bag to a different position for a moment?”

Seeing no response, it seemed that was indeed the plan. Cain chuckled and looked ahead.

Then he frowned. There were the second section guys and their leader, Agent Godfrey. He was the eldest son of the Hohenburg Duke.

“Oh. Our esteemed Cain. What brings you to such a noble place? The air is already becoming ‘commoner-like.'”

The second section guys burst into laughter. Lily stiffened.