Episode 2 - Heroes of the Continent
There is a cause and effect to everything. The world has its promised laws. There are no unsolvable problems, no paths without a way forward. You just have to find it. While everyone wanders lost in thick fog, I am finding the way.
Military Intelligence Agency's signals interception office. Two men and women sat facing each other on folding chairs.
"You seem to know something interesting. Tell me about it."
The soldier asked, and the civilian replied.
"Will you grant me asylum?"
"I'll decide after I hear it."
"No thanks."
The agent said, and the Saintess replied.
"The asylum process is complicated. It requires approval from Parliament and the Cabinet, and ultimately royal assent."
"At least promise me verbally."
"I don't have the authority."
"Ah, for real."
Veronica scratched her head in irritation.
"What's the problem, exactly?"
"I'm a soldier."
"Ha."
"If you give me the intel, I'll persuade the higher-ups."
Veronica stood from her chair and paced the office. She gnawed at her nails—she was clearly anxious. Right now, that woman was running calculations in her head. To help with her math, I threw out a deal.
"Just give me the information. In return, I promise minimum protective measures."
"For real?"
She finished her calculations.
"Yes."
"Fine. So how exactly are you going to protect me?"
"I'll decide after I hear it."
"Ha."
Veronica let out a hollow laugh and sat back down. She squinted her eyes and sank into thought for a few minutes.
"What information do you want right now?"
"Why Raoul joined forces with the Second Bureau. And why the Second Bureau is flipping out."
She fell deep into thought. But it didn't last long. Veronica slumped in her chair and lit a cigarette.
"The story's a bit complicated."
"That's fine."
"Alright, let's start with the Imperial Guard."
Finally, the path was coming into view.
The predecessor of the Kien Empire's Imperial Guard was a counterintelligence agency. It grew fat on the blood of those with impure ideologies—anti-state criminals, political offenders challenging imperial authority, spies undermining national interests. Sure, now it has departments like overseas operations, but at its core, the Imperial Guard exists to serve the emperor. The name says it all: Imperial Guard.
It's divided mainly into the First Bureau for domestic affairs (counterintelligence, security) and the Second Bureau for overseas operations. The First is your typical public security; the Second is the classic spies. But the Second Bureau has a fatal flaw.
"The overseas operations department doesn't exist just for the emperor. It exists for the empire."
"Tell me more."
"The Second Bureau is split between the imperial family and the nobles—they carved it up."
A department where the imperial family and nobles share the pie. In other words, two factions wielding influence over one organization. Anyone who's dealt with modern bureaucratic systems knows what a clusterfuck that is. It's like the president and politico-corporate cronies divvying up an intelligence agency.
How the hell is that possible? It happened during the Imperial Guard's expansion and reorganization, when noble influence seeped in.
"It's been nearly a century, so details are fuzzy, but when the Second Bureau was created, noble interests were heavily reflected."
"What interests?"
"You know intelligence agencies support corporations, right? What do you think?"
"The nobles are using the intel agency to make money?"
"Yes."
Veronica took a deep drag and exhaled a plume of smoke.
"For a long time, the empire's traders have done half-diplomat work."
She continued in a matter-of-fact tone.
"When the Imperial Guard was reorganized, the emperor borrowed money from them. Intel agencies guzzle funds, right?"
"True."
"It wasn't enough to cover it as imperial slush funds. Imperial authority was weak then; they couldn't freely allocate budgets."
"So the nobles fronted massive capital, and since you can't just take the money and shut up, they gave them a slice of the cake?"
"Exactly."
Insane. The overseas ops department used for noble profiteering? Even in fantasy, this doesn't make sense. Is the emperor nuts?
"Couldn't they just take the money and use public security to crush the nobles?"
"That would dry up the empire's cash flow. I told you—they're the traders."
It started to make sense. In the modern world, you can jail a chaebol heir, but wiping out all the conglomerates? Economy tanks. Presidents lose power and go to prison for tanking the economy; emperors get the guillotine.
"Still, the imperial family isn't stupid—they added safeguards."
"Like what?"
"Counterintelligence Bureau and the military."
Counterintel operating overseas. Covert ops, including the special activities unit handling force. Watchers on the knife-holders. Probably the counterintel guys who used the dead ops officer Yuri as bait. It was starting to click. The emperor uses counterintel to monitor overseas ops.
"And they slotted imperial loyalists into plum Second Bureau positions."
"So what do the nobles do with the Second Bureau?"
"Obvious: steal tech, seal deals, lobby, poach talent."
"Anything that makes money."
"But they still diligently handle overseas ops. It's the contract."
The Second Bureau was jointly managed by the imperial family and nobles, each securing their interests. Nobles for profit, imperials for intel. All this was classified info we didn't know. Meaning ironclad security from both sides. No betrayals.
Until someone in the Second Bureau betrayed them now. Veronica called them "disloyal elements." Anti-imperial faction.
"Why did the Second Bureau faction ally with Raoul?"
"It's profitable. And builds good relations as a bonus."
Money. Good relations.
"The faction uses the Church for business; Raoul becomes pope. Perfect alignment of interests."
Religion makes bank. Especially in chaotic times. And Raoul's power-hungry. According to Veronica, he approached the faction first. The game never delved into these details. Maybe I never finished it.
Someone else fucked up, but I'm taking the heat. So I ask Veronica now.
"A Second Bureau ops officer delivered a bomb, and a Church insider received it. So Raoul tried to kill me with it. Why?"
"Nobles and Raoul's interests align."
The empire-made Saintess began explaining the tangled web.
"Everyone in the Church knows I became Saintess with empire backing, right?"
"Yes."
"An orphan from a baron's family grabs the right strings and becomes Saintess. What do you think that power-hungry old fart thought?"
Raoul's power-hungry. But no political base, and Raphael has him by the balls. Then he watches an empire-backed girl become Saintess. What would he think?
"Raoul's borrowing Second Bureau power to become pope."
"Bingo."
"But why bother making a pope? With a Saintess already in place, the empire doesn't care if it's a lobbyist or a pro-empire pope."
"Direct deals without middlemen are appealing enough. But my situation is why the nobles want Raoul as pope."
Veronica. Emperor-picked orphan. Imperial Guard-manufactured Saintess. She's the empire's lobbyist. Satisfies both imperial family and nobles. But when their interests clash, she can't satisfy both.
"I have to look out for imperial and noble interests. When they conflict, whose side do I take?"
"The imperial side. Emperor picked you personally."
"So the nobles would be pissed, right? Or not?"
Obviously.
"The emperor used me freely for nearly a century. Then suddenly hogs the whole cake. Wouldn't you be mad?"
"So the nobles rebelled? Installing a pro-empire, pro-noble pope opens an exclusive channel."
"Exactly."
Now it made sense. Imperial family vs. nobles over the Second Bureau. They got along fine until the emperor installed a Saintess and broke the deal. Breach of contract—the thing merchants hate most. So they're making their own lobbyist.
"That's why they targeted Lucia? 'A guy who can't protect one kid won't keep promises.' Not a message to the Church, but to the empire's nobles?"
"Wow, Captain, you're sharp."
Veronica's actions clicked. She's the empire's lobbyist. Lately, she's overextended favoring the emperor.
"Pushed too hard sending border folk?"
"Yes."
"Now it adds up."
What if a pro-empire, pro-noble pope appears? Nobles feast; emperor won't sit idle. He'll link up with Pope Raoul, and she loses her backer. Pushed out of power.
Power is the sun. Too close, you burn; too far, you freeze. She's burning now. If Raoul becomes pope, she freezes.
"If Raoul becomes pope, will you abandon Lucia?"
"No, she'll make her Saintess somehow. Can't waste the investment."
Raoul pope, Lucia Saintess, Veronica dies. For real. She's the empire's weak point—knows too much.
She wasn't wary of Lucia. She feared her own impending death. Forced into an unwanted gamble, she had to bite others to survive. By any means.
I'd pieced together most of it. One question left.
"Last question."
"Yes."
"Why is Raoul trying to kill me?"
Veronica smirked. She lit another cigarette, exhaled leisurely, and closed her eyes softly.
"Does anyone not know Abbas Kingdom is using you, Captain, to leash the Hero?"
"…."
"If he becomes pope, he can control the Hero through Lucia. But someone's already staked their claim first."
Everything cleared up. The odd tension between Raoul and Lucia. Why Raoul didn't protect her aggressively. Why he stayed in the kingdom a week. Why he wants me dead.
"What would you do, Captain?"
"…."
"I'd kill you."
Abbas Kingdom Army Captain. Military Intelligence operative. The Hero's companion who shouldn't exist.
In the end, the root of all this mess was me.
*
"…Good work, Frederic."
"Yes, sir."
I finished my report in front of the blazing fire outside the disguised office. The colonel let out a faint sigh as I fed Veronica's cards into the flames—ones that could trace her funding.
"A big shot from the empire sent as envoy, and the intel from the envoy and Saintess matches up."
"Is that so."
"What now, Captain?"
"You know why you're asking."
I tossed my entire wallet into the fire and brushed off my hands. Brought my pistol just in case, but looks like no action today.
"Fine. Tell me if you need anything."
"Just open the cabinet once."
"Will do."
That morning, a story broke about a massive cache of explosives found in a Church official's home basement. But it got buried under other breaking news.