From the Taiga to the British Seas (1)
'And here I thought they were nothing but a bunch of armchair theorists...!'
The magic unleashed from the heart of Moscow had rippled around the globe several times, transforming into a resonance that every mage in the world could feel. Immediately after that omnidirectional shock on the afternoon of October 4th, all of the syndicate's communication networks flooded me at once. After all, almost every single member of our organization was a mage. At the time, even I hadn't fully grasped the situation, so the only thing I could tell them was, "I will be there soon, so keep your heads down." In hindsight, it was incredibly fortunate that this had happened near the very end of my business trip.
I immediately boarded the Eurostar to London, crossing the Channel to return to headquarters. Returning to London the moment a global magical anomaly centered in Moscow occurred was bound to raise considerable suspicion if the British Ministry of Magic caught wind of it, but I wasn't particularly worried. 'They'll have their own hands full anyway.' If I had felt it in Paris, there was no way they hadn't felt it in London. On top of that, all kinds of intelligence would be pouring in from their network of mage agents scattered across Europe. The fire lit under the Ministry's feet was bound to be larger than mine, certainly not smaller.
After my hurried return to London, I reviewed the Ministry's real-time classified documents through Delis Bloomfeld while continuing my own investigations as a mage. 'It's definitely not a single spell, just as I initially thought.' Indeed, that made far more sense. Creating an anomaly of that scale with a single spell was utterly absurd. Though, of course, ever since I experienced a completely unasked-for time travel, common sense had become something easily crumpled like a sheet of paper.
Just as the Soviet Union had planted communist moles inside Britain, Britain had done the same. Thanks to the documents I accessed indirectly, I was able to piece together a rough picture of the magic unleashed in Moscow. After returning, I sat in our London safehouse, staring at a world map in deep thought. It was a map with pins stuck all over the vast territory of the USSR. 'A spell with one center, yet many.' The pivot of a spell's activation. This center must be firmly established to ensure the magic can be cast without issue, even in the face of external interference. Or, if it's a continuously active spell, it directly correlates to its post-activation stability. In terms of outward stability, two centers are better than one, and three are better than two.
"In that case, Miss, why do standard spells only use a single center? If what you say is true, shouldn't they just set up multiple pivots?" It was a natural question from Pavel. Anyone with even a basic understanding of the magical arts would raise their hand and ask the same. I explained it to Pavel and Delis, who was standing right next to him with a puzzled expression.
"Because it doesn't just have advantages, obviously. Think about it. Isn't the total amount of power you can pour into a single spell fixed?" If the total power is a constant, then the power allocated to each center—each pivot—must naturally be divided. You can think of it as density decreasing when volume increases while mass remains limited.
"Which means... if you recklessly increase the number of pivots, you only increase the surface area vulnerable to attack, while the actual gain in stability is relatively minor."
"Exactly. You're just giving the enemy a bigger target to hit, while the core itself becomes hollow." Since an opponent could try to defeat the pivots individually, the caster must divide their attention among all those centers. Furthermore, if even one pivot is breached, the burden on the remaining ones spikes exponentially, and one cannot rule out the possibility of the enemy pushing through the already destroyed pivot. Thus, pushing forward blindly just for the sake of stability invites a mountain of problems. In many ways, it is a tactic ill-suited for situations where time and resources are limited. Which, conversely, meant—
"Wait, then are you saying it's a viable method as long as there's no threat of enemy attack?" I nodded slowly at Delis, who had quickly picked up on the loophole in my explanation.
"And our enemy has plenty of resources, even if they might be short on time." Everything we've discussed so far was based on the premise that the total power available for a spell is fixed. But for a nation with the capacity to harvest mages like crops from a field, it becomes a perfectly viable option. If all it takes to solidify a spell's stability is throwing more bodies at it, why wouldn't they?
Five thousand kilometers north to south, eight thousand kilometers east to west. A spell easily covering twenty-five million square kilometers—encompassing the Soviet mainland and its Eastern European satellites—must have been cast under these very conditions. 'A spell covering five percent of the Earth's total surface area, and one-sixth of its landmass...' The overall structure of the completed spell resembled a massive spiderweb. With Moscow as the central node, a crimson web stretched across Eurasia. As the picture began to take shape, a natural question arose. 'But why?'
The scale of the magic was indeed colossal. To cover an entire nation and then some, just how many mages had to be deployed? Easily four digits, perhaps even pushing into five. Every single one of those materialist mages was assigned to a pivot, maintaining the 'density' of this massive spell above a certain threshold. Every action has a reason. Common sense dictated that they wouldn't pull off something like this unless there was a clear benefit. Yet, the reports trickling in only made me tilt my head, utterly failing to show what possible benefit this move brought to the Soviet of Materialists.
The clue to understanding lay in the additional information Delis brought. "However, Lady Yerina, the field agents deployed by the Ministry seem to believe that the spell cast by the Soviet Union is a type of barrier." "A barrier...? Are you sure?" "Positive. Even if they couldn't smuggle the documents out, memorizing them on the spot was no issue for them."
The information Delis brought made me furrow my brow. The more I synthesized the magical knowledge of my two lifetimes, the deeper my anxiety grew. I adjusted my posture and asked Delis, "By field agents... you mean the mages deployed inside the Soviet Union, correct?" "Yes. They are mostly mages trained by MI6, or elite MI6 agents who have undergone baptism." "Hmm..."
These were mages sent to their primary hypothetical enemy—no, their actual number-one enemy, the Soviet Union. If they were all saying the same thing, the chances of it being a lie were practically zero. Putting it all together, there was only one logical reason to deploy a barrier on a national scale. 'They did all this crazy shit just to block me...?' No matter how hard I tried to rationalize it, there was only one conclusion. I had known it in my head, but I hadn't truly felt it in my bones until now. But now, I knew with absolute clarity. I finally understood just how massive of a threat they considered me to be.
As I let out a low groan, Delis spoke up cautiously. "...Lady Yerina?" "Ah, just lost in thought for a moment." The worst-case scenario had indeed become reality. 'A barrier that lets everything else pass, but blocks only me...' At least it was somewhat positive that they had taken a defensive stance rather than an offensive one this time. Perhaps it was proof that the recent actions of my organization and myself had been avant-garde enough to startle them. Their intention to completely block my entry into the Soviet mainland and throw a wrench in my plans was transparent. While I busied my brain trying to find a silver lining in this bad news, Pavel asked,
"Does that mean they are preparing for a war of attrition?" "Exactly. Whether they realized I'm not someone they can eliminate quickly, or if there was some other trigger, I don't know." The silver lining I found was that a long-term conflict wouldn't necessarily work against me. While they closed their borders and busied themselves preparing for me, I could simply expand my own power and the scale of my organization in the world outside the barrier. If their barrier covered one-sixth of the Earth's landmass, didn't that leave the other five-sixths for me?
"The problem now is... how much preparation the Council will make while the barrier is active, or before you can break it, Miss." Just as Pavel said, the biggest issue wasn't that the reds were planning a long-term war, but rather that I wouldn't have any opening to slip through the barrier. Whether I could complete Yerina's revenge and watch Moscow burn would undoubtedly be decided by my future actions. With that in mind, I drove the point home once more.
"It's a bit annoying that the reds have completely ruled out the possibility of a quick resolution for both sides, but our plans remain unchanged." "Unchanged? Isn't this a situation where we must exercise the utmost caution above all else?" Pavel jumped up from his seat, startled by my audacity. "Pavel, sit down first." "...My apologies, Miss." "I know you're just worried about me. But I didn't say I'd keep the plan without thinking."
Even in that short span of time, deducing a series of facts wasn't entirely impossible. "Think about it. Why would the Soviet of Materialists resort to such an extreme measure?" "Uh... because they realized they can't eliminate you right away, Miss?" Pavel hit the nail on the head immediately. I smiled faintly at my subordinate's cleverness.
"Stalin's decision is merely pushing back his fear of the 'unknown'—which is me. It's not a real solution; it's just a temporary stopgap to buy time." I tapped my finger near my eye. "Since they don't yet know how much of a threat my eyes—the Mystic Eyes of Charm—truly are, they intend to use the rest of the world as guinea pigs to gather more information."
My father, in his infinite wisdom, had saved everything he discovered about Charm on a DVD in the form of an encrypted electronic document that only I could access. Thus, right after I escaped Kaliningrad, the pursuing Spetsnaz forces and the Council's lackeys could only gather fragmented scraps from the ashes. If they had truly understood it, they would have stopped at nothing to assassinate me in Marseille.
This time, Delis asked a question. Once again, I found myself appreciating the atmosphere of our organization, where my subordinates felt comfortable raising doubts. "But what if, after securing the Soviet mainland, they leak information about you to the Ministry of Magic...? Ah...!" Delis gasped, cutting herself off as she realized something mid-sentence. I chuckled softly and shared Delis's realization with Pavel.
"If those Council bastards leak information to the Ministry to borrow their knife to kill me, I would actually welcome it. Delis, how much does the Ministry currently know about the Northern Covenant Syndicate?" "They know that the remnants of the organization have settled in London, and that their relationship with the Soviet homeland—which discarded them—is extremely hostile." "Exactly. From the perspective of the British government, wouldn't they be delighted to see one barbarian fighting another?"
It was a recap of the conversation I had with Pavel right before our trip to Northern Ireland. Whether it was the materialists of Moscow or a criminal syndicate driven out of Kaliningrad, they were all savage barbarians in the eyes of the British. How wonderful would it be for them if we simply exhausted ourselves fighting each other? I turned my gaze to Pavel.
"Now, Pavel. If the Ministry hears from the Soviets that the head of the syndicate is actually Irene Lonska, or rather, Yerina Bronska, how will they react?" "Probably... they would try to make contact first, wouldn't they? Since they want to use one barbarian to control another, it wouldn't make sense to send combat mages right off the bat." "Precisely. And from that point on, wouldn't it mean I no longer have to hide my identity to operate?"
As for stealing the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum, I could simply play dumb and say, "I didn't do it." We could easily pin that on the IRA. No matter how much the Soviets blabbed about me being the head of the syndicate, the fact that the IRA was under my thumb wouldn't be revealed. If I coordinated with Rybakov beforehand to cut off a 'less painful limb' as a scapegoat, it would be more than enough to deflect suspicion.
Besides, I had my chief of intelligence. Delis was a sharp dagger I had planted deep, unknown to both the Soviets and the Ministry. As long as Delis maintained her solid footing within the Ministry, even if they found out I was the head of the syndicate, the pressure they could exert on me would be severely limited.
"In other words, it will become a symbiotic relationship. I will take on 'contracts' from the Ministry to fend off the red threat to the Empire, and the Ministry, despite finding me obnoxious, will have no choice but to leave me be because I get the job done." And it was obvious that this relationship would soon turn parasitic. Starting with Delis, and eventually using my Charm to gradually take over the Ministry of Magic, I would ultimately bring the entire nation of Britain to its knees. The Soviets might have aimed to borrow a knife to kill me, but in reality, they were only helping me solidify my foundation.
"Besides... I need to make a move sooner or later anyway. Sitting here in London, so far from the field, and only receiving reports is getting us nowhere." Seeing how my body was starting to itch for action, I was definitely the type who preferred to move directly. As I had thought before, there was no reason to let my most powerful asymmetric weapon sit idle. Conveniently, one of our candidate locations for the next trip was quite close to the Soviet border.
The aspects of the barrier revealed so far were mostly confirmed by Ministry agents stationed in European Russia. Therefore, it would be better to see for myself what the barrier looked like on the other side, toward Asian Russia. Who knows? I might find a gap to exploit. Thus, the barrier the Council had erected to target me failed to bind my movements. If anything, it only accelerated them. With these thoughts, I glanced down at the headline of a foreign news article dated October 17, 1997, lying on the table.