Came to Make a Deal (4)
"The Evil God Cult?"
The words snapped me wide awake.
"Did you just say the Evil God Cult?"
Hearing my question, she fired one right back at me.
"Who on earth did you meet to come back reeking of such a hideous aura?"
A hideous aura. I took a single deliberate step closer.
"Would you happen to know what color this aura is?"
Erzena recoiled a full step back, her expression screaming revulsion, and answered only reluctantly.
"A dark crimson, like dried blood. That's a power only those Evil God Cult fiends use—"
She pinpointed even the color of the magic circle in a single stroke. That was something no coincidence could ever explain.
If the force behind this is the Evil God Cult, then everything fits.
They were a cult that had once flaunted an enormous following and stood in open opposition to the Holy Church—rumored, these days, to have gone into hiding after their defeat in the Crusade. The grudge between them was beyond question, and their motive for abducting a saintess was crystal clear. Add to that their savage, merciless methods, and even if the Holy Church had enemies aplenty in this world, no feud burned hotter than theirs.
Why didn't I think of this— wait. Hold on.
In the same breath, I realized what I'd been doing until just now. Like an idiot, I had fixated obsessively on this 'Hatensil' the changeling mentioned and missed the forest for the trees. An employer meant a backing organization. It had been the very first thing out of her mouth during interrogation, and only now did I remember the words she'd been muttering right before the curse activated.
— The Evil Go—
God help me. I pressed a hand to my forehead.
The answer had been handed to me from the start, practically spelled out in glowing letters.
"What an absolute fool..."
Because someone had died right in front of me—because it was so obviously an act of terror—my mind had spun off its axis, and I'd failed to grasp information that was placed directly in my palm.
Even granting a hundred concessions that I couldn't hear it, I didn't need to go digging through records at the Immigration Office. All I had to do from the beginning was ask Erzena herself—the person who was actually kidnapped.
What had I even been doing?
Learning that I'd spent six whole hours flailing in completely the wrong direction drained every ounce of strength from me. And thinking it over again—this was no longer an issue I could clock out on.
"Erzena."
I took a deep breath, then reached out and took her hand.
"E-Er, um, yes?"
Watching her go thoroughly flustered, I said,
"I must ask you to accompany me for a while."
And with that, I kicked the door open and strode out.
Roughly thirty minutes later, the conference room of the Southern Border Immigration Office.
All five of the Five Senses Officers, who had barely made it home, received the emergency summons and trudged back in. Every last one of them shuffled into the conference room wearing faces full of grievance, tossing out complaints as they came.
"Seriously? You call us back right after telling us to go home? That's just cruel."
"Haaaaaam. I was literally on the verge of falling asleep."
"This one crossed the line. Genuinely."
"I told you to take the day off, didn't I?"
But the moment they spotted Erzena sitting beside me, their expressions turned to puzzled disbelief.
"Huh? Miss Erzena? What brings you here?"
"Ah, hello. I was summoned rather suddenly myself, so..."
As she returned their awkward greetings, the Five Senses Officers hastily straightened themselves and took their seats.
The Smell Officer studied her for a moment before speaking up.
"Central Officer. Something's come to you, hasn't it?"
"Yes. I believe I've found a prime suspect for the party behind all this."
The Touch Officer's face turned grave.
"Is that truly the case?"
"It is. It's only circumstantial so far, but the chain of cause and effect fits remarkably well. This terrorist attack—"
The instant I moved to continue, the Taste Officer shot her hand into the air.
"Um, excuse me... would it be possible not to tell us whose backers they are?"
"..."
Silence.
What is this one even saying.
But the Taste Officer, looking genuinely baffled, pressed on as if she truly couldn't understand.
"Also, what's this about a terrorist attack? Wasn't that changeling already caught?"
"Taste Officer. Are you unaware of how the current situation has unfolded?"
"Yes."
I was floored.
"Did this officer not explain to you what had happened?"
"The moment you arrived at the Immigration Office, you just—like something had possessed you—asked for some books and left..."
Oh no. Racking my memory, I recalled that I had said exactly one sentence to her:
— Give me the departure records from there and any books on changelings.
That was it. End of conversation.
The Hearing Officer added a word of his own.
"We did think you were acting a bit strange ever since you came back from the changeling settlement, but since you never said anything, we had no way of knowing."
"Ah."
I let out a long, heavy sigh.
The Hearing Officer and Taste Officer had been summoned here without even a basic grasp of the situation. I really had been out of my mind.
"My apologies. I should have briefed all of you as well."
I laid out everything that had happened, briefly but completely. And at the end—the fact that Erzena had sensed that aura at my home, and who we believed the force behind it all to be.
Having heard it all, the Five Senses Officers stared at one another in stunned disbelief.
"Is this true? Truly?"
Erzena nodded.
"Even now, the same aura hangs on the Smell Officer and the Touch Officer. A repulsive, dark-crimson miasma."
"Damn it. Is that right? Uuugh."
The two of them shook their shoulders violently, as if trying to fling the feeling off. Not that I expected the aura to come loose from a little shimmying.
"B-but didn't those people vanish after being defeated at the Grand Cathedral fifteen years ago?"
"No. They lost the war, and only a tiny handful survived to flee north. In truth, the Crusade's ultimate objective was the total eradication of the Evil God Cult in the north."
"So the remnants who survived did this, then."
Finally, the pieces fit. From the abduction of the saintess all the way to this attack—thanks to Erzena's testimony, we now had not just circumstantial evidence but hard corroboration.
"Which brings us to the real question: the 'Hatensil' the changeling spoke of..."
She had clearly said it like this:
— My employer's name is Hatensil—
At that moment, the Taste Officer spoke up again.
"Do we know it's even a person?"
"...I beg your pardon?"
She tilted her head.
"She only said it was a name. She never said it belonged to a person. So... couldn't it be a title, or a place name, or something like that?"
A razor-sharp observation that fit none of the Taste Officer's usual habits. Her words left me staring at her blankly for a moment.
Why had I only been searching for a person's name?
She was right. The changeling had never once said person. What organization did that creature even belong to, that it would join hands with the Evil God Cult? Was Hatensil a title? Or had she been about to say more before being cut off?
"...Excellent point, Taste Officer. A direction I never even considered."
We all put our heads together.
"It could very well be... the name of a sub-faction within the Evil God Cult."
"It might be an alias. The Cult could never use real names—they'd be identified instantly."
"Or maybe they're banking on that assumption and it's their real name after all. Classic psychological misdirection."
"The problem is we have no way to verify any of it on this end. We have fifteen name matches alone, all from wildly different origins."
Too many possibilities. And if an alias had been used, the entry and exit records would be worthless besides.
Just then, Erzena raised her hand.
"I have... a few connections with the Church's Heresy Inquisition. Shall I contact them?"
"...I'm sorry?"
"Among the records kept there, there should be a registry of heretics' names. We might just be able to find the name 'Hatensil' in it."
Every gaze in the room swung toward her.
"Wait—you used to be the saintess. Why on earth would you have ties to the Heresy Inquisition of all places...?"
The Inquisition was a place only the most fervent of the Church's faithful could even enter. The final destination of the zealots, the very tip of the Crusade's spear—what were you doing there?
At my question, Erzena fidgeted and squirmed, looking terribly embarrassed.
"Well... I was, um, a zealot... myself, once upon a time."
"Ah."
I remembered. The image of her with 'Lord God's Heaven, Unbelievers' Hell' scrawled across her forehead, wailing about heretics. She hadn't always been such a dignified, composed lady.
Then, as if struck by a sudden realization, she lowered her hand.
"Ah... but I'm currently stripped of my position, aren't I. And I'm under temporary asylum, so..."
I picked up where she left off.
"It is an excellent suggestion—but as an asylee, you must not make contact with the Church."
The first restriction of a temporary asylee: an asylee may take no political action whatsoever. Contact with political organizations, factions, or cliques is strictly forbidden. And the Church, at present, was both a religious body and an organization harboring clear political aims.
Erzena murmured, disappointment written across her face.
"I'm sorry. I thought I could help..."
"You have helped more than anyone. Take heart."
If not for you, we wouldn't have so much as a thread to pull on.
I met her eyes and said,
"In return, this officer intends to make one rather considerable request of you."
The sudden plea made her startle violently.
"Al-already? Something like that should come after we've gotten to know each other a bit better..."
"Not that."
Severing that train of thought with a single stroke, I asked,
"Would you consent to come work at the Immigration Office for the time being?"
"...What?"
"You are the only person alive who can sense that cult's aura right now. Which means you could also detect any future infiltration attempts—and it would allow us to keep a far closer watch on your safety besides."
Now that we knew we were dealing with the Evil God Cult, Erzena could no longer go anywhere in safety. If even a whisper reached them that she remained in the Crossline Kingdom as an asylee, they would most certainly move again. Which meant she needed to stay as close to us as possible.
Merely keeping her in my house isn't enough.
This called for round-the-clock close protection—and having her assistance on top of it would be icing on the cake.
"Compensation will be paid, guaranteed."
She considered it for a moment, then nodded.
"...All right. This may well be the path the Lord God is guiding me down. And you can keep the compensation."
"But—"
"If it's you protecting me, Central Officer, that's more than enough."
"..."
At this sudden, shamelessly sweet remark, the Five Senses Officers narrowed their eyes.
"If she can say that in the middle of a situation like this, then really..."
"Just make the announcement already, Chief."
I ignored them cleanly.
Well then—at the very least, our defensive preparations were in place. What remained was the situation of our own Immigration Office.
"Everyone, effective immediately, this office's operational status is raised to a state of alert."
"..."
"We have confirmed the existence of a terrorist organization. The alert will remain in effect until their identities are fully uncovered. Any objections?"
There were none.
"One more thing—how do you intend to investigate the Evil God Cult?"
"The Immigration Office's intelligence capabilities are insufficient. However..."
As my composure returned, the memories surfaced.
"The Intelligence Department can manage it."
I remembered the very first time—the moment the Foreign Affairs Minister had told me a pilgrimage was on its way.
— The Intelligence Department is running a covert operation in the north right now, and Foreign Affairs has every last man tied up negotiating with the eastern nomads. That leaves your Immigration Office and no one else.
And his testimony at the trial in the Royal Castle:
— Shortly after the pilgrimage departed, an urgent report came in from the Intelligence Department. Signs of the Evil God Cult's revival, and indications that war materiel was being amassed in the continent's north.
In other words, the Intelligence Department—a subsidiary organ of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—had already been investigating the Evil God Cult.
Every piece was already in my hands.
Failing to notice it until now was my own blunder. What mattered was exploiting it to the fullest from this moment on.
"I intend to contact the Director of the Immigration Office and the Director of the Intelligence Department at once."
There was no room left to hesitate.
"That concludes this meeting. It's already morning, I see. My thanks to you all for your hard work."
"Huh? Did you say morning?"
Dawn's first light was already rising beyond the window. The meeting had begun late at night, and I'd had no idea the conversation would eat up so much time.
The clock pointed to eight in the morning. Precisely the start of the workday.
Anxious glances flew back and forth across the room.
"S-so... we can clock out now, right? I only set foot in my house today before coming back here..."
The Taste Officer asked, clutching at the faintest thread of hope.
What kind of leisurely fantasy is that.
"It's the start of the workday, so you may simply carry on into your shift."
What part of a state of alert leaves room for clocking out?
The reaction was explosive.
"UAAAAAH, this is genuinely not okay!!!"
"Overtime, extended duty, and then walking straight from an unfinished shift into a new one?!"
"I'm going to die... I've got chronic fatigue, and now headaches, toothaches, backaches..."
The Five Senses Officers began their rampage, exactly as they had during the last overtime negotiation.
And then it happened.
"Ah, everyone. One moment, please."
Erzena pressed her palms together, closed her eyes, and murmured quietly.
"In His name, I shall cleanse the taint of evil."
— Whooooosh.
The divine holy power that had been drifting faintly through the air blazed to life and wrapped itself around the Five Senses Officers and me alike.
"Huh?"
"Hm?"
"Oh?"
A warm golden glow washed over us, and the Five Senses Officers suddenly began moving their bodies this way and that with bewildered eyes.
"...Why am I not tired?"
"Something feels off. Like I just slept seventeen hours."
"My hangover... it's gone?"
For the first time, color returned to the Hearing Officer's face, pale all this time from his constant drinking. The Taste Officer's cheeks were so plump they practically gleamed.
Erzena smiled brightly.
"I drove off the Evil God Cult's aura and cast a little restoration on all of you. How does it feel?"
"So this is the 'peak condition' the Chief kept going on about..."
At the sight of it, I narrowed my eyes and asked,
"Hm. Could you use that regularly?"
This could make for a truly excellent recovery tool.
Who knew the perfect remedy for the aftermath of overtime, night shifts, and grueling labor would be standing right in front of me?
Catching my meaning instantly, the Five Senses Officers went white as sheets.
"N-no, please say no. Please. Miss Erzena. Please."
"You can only use that once a month—no, once every six months, right? Right?!"
"The world has its codes of honor and ethics. As decent human beings, I beg you to uphold virtue."
But Erzena was far too honest.
"I'll pray for all of you every day from now on. Then you'll be in peak condition at all times."
"Excellent."
The screams of the Five Senses Officers echoed through the conference room.
A short while later, the reception room.
Once I was alone, I activated the crystal orb, and only after a long wait did a familiar face appear.
"Director. This is the Central Officer."
— Haaahm, Central Officer. Summoning your superior first thing on a bright morning like this. I do hope it was important enough to warrant it...
Hailin waved a hand, yawning languidly.
"I have an urgent report. This takes absolute priority."
— Go ahead.
I told her everything I knew, straight through. Her sleep-dead expression shifted, degree by degree, into something grave. And by the time she had listened to it all—down to the existence of the Evil God Cult—every trace of sleep had fled from her, and she straightened in her seat.
— I will report this to the Minister separately. When it comes to the Evil God Cult, he knows more than I ever could. Is there anything else you require of me?
"I believe the alert status of every border in the kingdom must be raised. Any cult bold enough to operate this aggressively may well have already planted spies within our borders."
They could rightly be classified as a terrorist organization. If so, it would be no surprise if something similar erupted not just at the Southern Border but at every border we had. Every border checkpoint in the kingdom needed to know they existed.
— A sound proposal. It shall be done.
It had been a long time since I'd seen her face so serious.
— Take care of yourself, Central Officer.
And the light in the communication orb went dark.
"And then there's..."
One person remained from whom I genuinely needed help.
The Director of Intelligence.
"Haa. Damn it."
A curse slipped out before I could stop it.
Under ordinary circumstances, I would have simply requested assistance in writing. Because I had no particular desire to be alone with her.
But this conversation absolutely had to happen face to face. Unwilling as I was, there was no way around it.
I reached out to her.
— Tak.
In less than a second, the crystal orb responded. And the face that materialized belonged to a woman with a long, vertically slit yellow pupil.
— Oh my. Look who it is.
"...Director of Intelligence Melanie. This is Nathan Kell, Central Officer of the Southern Border."
I spoke with my emotions locked down as tightly as I could manage. She flicked her forked tongue in and out and murmured,
— Ah, the reclusive and lofty rare Talent Awakener of our kingdom, the very center of every rumor these days, coming to call on little old me in person. It's a good day to be alive.
Her long, milky-white lamia tail writhed lazily behind her. She drummed her claws against the desk as she spoke.
— It's been a while, darling.
I swallowed hard.
For an instant, her eyes regarded me with something almost gentle. But then they changed—into a gaze that seemed to crave something desperately, and at the same time brimmed with feelings too tangled to name.
— How long has it been, I wonder. Since you rejected me.
Melanie narrowed her eyes and glared at me.