The Alliance of the Rat and the English

I opened my eyes at the set alarm and stretched with an invigorating sigh. A yawn that echoed like a muffled cheer.

My bed had been unusually comfortable for a while. Maybe it was because the mattress was so soft. I must have had someone deliver a good one to the apartment in Greenwich, no doubt.

It had to be a matter of mindset. The extremely mysterious enemy had been recognized, but that was a matter for the distant future anyway.

Right now, there was no force capable of preventing me from claiming the pearl of the Orient.

Expanding the organization’s sphere of influence had always been a pleasure.

I took a quick shower, picked up the phone to contact my two subordinates who were like my own extensions, and—

“Oh, right, vacation.”

—I immediately stopped. Thinking back, I had taken a half-day off this morning at Delis’s request.

The organization, especially at the rank of deputy head of one of the five pillars, didn’t normally operate that way.

Rights multiplied in proportion to rank, and so did responsibilities. It was normal to have to handle internal affairs while shortening sleep.

The Finance Minister was a good example. That man was the kind who watched global stock markets while shaving time for sleep.

Thanks to our country still being a sun-unsetting empire, I had to stay awake for a full eighteen hours just to check the economic trends of the English-speaking nations.

“Hmm…”

Thinking about it, it didn’t seem like a particularly good example. The Finance Minister had simply enjoyed watching money copy itself and had been doing it voluntarily.

His subordinates below had begged me more than once to tell him, “Please have the Finance Minister rest while he works.”

I had tried, but it didn’t work.

Anyway, the situation that required both of them from the start had been arranged so that nothing would go wrong even if I let them handle it in the afternoon.

I had accepted Delis’s request knowing that.

In addition, there was still quite a bit of work to do today.

First and foremost, confirming the information that the intelligence personnel from the headquarters and the ones who had followed me to Hong Kong had stayed up all night to compile.

The sooner, the better, and I had been ready to start right now.

And from the afternoon, there was the task of dealing with the Korean collaborators who would be flying in from South Korea.

“Dealing” was putting it mildly; I had already subdued the Hong Kong Governor and would be using him as a marionette to bring him to me.

I maintained the posture somewhere between sitting and lying on the bed, opened the laptop, and began reading the information the subordinates had uploaded to the organization’s intranet.

Click. Swipe. Click. Swipe. After more than an hour of this, a rough outline was slowly taking shape.

But only the edges were falling into place. There was no way to fill in the vast empty center.

That was because the moment I turned my curious gaze to the more detailed intranet materials, every next line or paragraph contained sentences like this.

“Information source: U.S. Magic Defense Agency. Detailed information is classified as top secret by the Magic Defense Agency and cannot be accessed.”

The most I knew about the heavily armored Red Communist Knight was, currently, the United States alone, as Delis had mentioned last night.

The Knight had appeared last night, and before that, the agency’s sphere ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of influence had been firmly Afghanistan.

The United States, which had blocked every Soviet opportunity to reach the oceans, had the most knowledge of full-body-armor knights.

So I thought.

‘The Americans must be contacted after all.’

The United States was fundamentally an imperialist country.

No matter how the president was elected every five years or how the first occupant of the White House could wear a lifetime armband, they had somehow managed to do it cleanly only twice and retire.

But the United States was still fundamentally an imperialist country.

This republican imperialist trend did not change much when dealing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with allies.

Just as every country in the world did, the United States hesitated to pass on losses to other nations only when it was in the national interest.

The traditional English-speaking allies had it a little better.

Thanks to Britain serving as the important ally that blocked the Soviets from the Atlantic side first, a small amount of secrets had been shared.

Still, a great deal was hidden outside by the Americans.

‘Especially in the magical part.’

I had a record of receiving requests from Americans in my previous life and performing various subcontracts.

What they had mainly entrusted me with was going on joint surveys to places where relics were believed to be buried or appraising relics that had already been excavated.

Among Americans, there was a relaxed atmosphere that didn’t care how much was involved when it came to unprecedented magic or relics.

Here, “how much” meant not only direct employment costs but all means to guarantee the safety and convenience of the employees.

Because of that, when I collaborated with the Yankees, I had been truly treated at the highest level.

For example, I would ride a private jet and a personal-owned helicopter to regions where relics were buried or needed appraisal.

I had substantial levels of mages constantly protecting my surroundings, so I could focus entirely on analyzing relics without other threats.

Considering the era when I had to travel mountain trails to evade surveillance by government and intelligence figures from the Far Eastern peninsula countries, it would have been foolish for me not to accept such a subcontract.

Of course, there were conditions proportional to the pay and treatment.

Maintaining secrecy was naturally included. Not only the secrets like “what relics were excavated and what conclusions were drawn,” but even the fact of “accepting the subcontract” was under embargo.

To me, it was a clause that didn’t really matter. There was no prohibition on using the magical knowledge I acquired while excavating relics.

I didn’t need to steal relics while bearing massive risks.

A mage of my caliber, even in the previous life, could roughly understand the mechanism and recreate it after several encounters with similar magic or relics.

Therefore, if this trend still held in this world, the United States Magic Defense Agency, judged only by the magical knowledge they possessed, meant a treasure trove far greater than the British Magic Bureau.

There was a noticeable difference thanks to Britain’s museum of stolen goods for magical relics, but what the Americans emphasized as their strength was mostly intangible assets represented by human resources and magical knowledge.

The United States, with its short history and nearly nonexistent tradition compared to other nations, was missing the mark.

So, in the short span of its history, it had to draw major strokes.

The Americans, with this mindset, created atomic bombs, sent people to the moon, and then greedily sucked up foreign manpower, magic, and relics in the magical realm as well.

The American Dream was still a valid expression. No, in the undercurrent of this world represented by magic, the trend ran even more rampant.

I myself had received love calls from Americans several times and had not accepted them.

Only when forming subcontract relationships could I receive such treatment because they sought my top-tier ability at the peak of the industry.

But if an official relationship were established, I could not ignore the possibility that my treatment would flip overnight.

I, bound by contract, was likely to become nothing more than a machine that excavated relics and magic from all over the undiscovered world with no freedom left at all.

It was no small matter to endure the impulse to read the magical assets the Americans hid.

Of course, if I tried, I could endure it, but the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠desire to access unknown magical knowledge was as innate as every mage’s wish.

Moreover, it was tied to the enemy I had to overthrow.

What secret the Americans hid even among their most reliable allies could only be revealed by direct confirmation.

***

Thus, after the sun had risen high in the sky and about an hour had passed, there came a knock at the door to the suite.

I didn’t need to ask who it was; it was obvious.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

The door opened with a creak and Pavel and Delis entered. Both were dressed to leave at any moment.

I chuckled and asked, “Well, how was your vacation? It was too short to be called a vacation, so I feel a little sorry for your employer.”

Personal curiosity was unavoidable. How close my most precious subordinates had become… Well, it might even be something to be curious about.

Delis brought her hand to her mouth and whispered softly, “Um… yes, thanks to you, we had a wonderful time.”

I had felt a slight unease during the encounters with the ones I always saw.

‘…What’s this?’

Pavel and Delis before me had been the norm for almost the entire past year and a half, except during missions.

Familiarity was natural scenery, yet the sudden feeling of awkwardness was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what exactly?

I glanced sideways at Pavel. Since the head of security had almost no change in expression, I wondered if he would give even the slightest hint.

‘…?’

Yet from his expression, it seemed the guy was somehow a little embarrassed.

Pavel, you too…?

We couldn’t stand the two of them in front of the suite door forever. So I first let them inside and seated them on the sofa.

“Hmm, well. The vacation is over, and it’s time to return to the workplace. Everyone has checked the schedule, right?”

Business talk was done as always. Quickly identifying the location of the Korean collaborator and readjusting the schedule.

Throughout it, I felt as if something about the two of them was in a different world.

Their bodies were here, but the atmosphere itself was different.

The decisive blow to this suspicion was the scent that had been subtly emanating since earlier. More precisely, the shampoo and body wash scent they both shared.

Well… it was only natural for the same room to have the same scent. It didn’t mean they had used the bathroom at the same time.

But when all contextual evidence was combined, there was only one conclusion.

They must have…?