Shock and Awe (4)
During my stay at a hotel in Miami, Florida, the Americans' response—pieced together through the Syndicate's Intelligence Department in coordination with the British Magic Ministry and MI6's intelligence network—didn't stray far from my expectations.
The State Department was the State Department, the CIA was the CIA, and the Magic Defense Bureau was the Magic Defense Bureau. Each was doing its best within its own sphere, and that much was clear enough even to me.
It was only natural, then, that the Americans would turn their attention to me.
Even if I'd been a little… well, a very little late in letting them know the truth, I was the only person on the entire planet who'd known about this beforehand.
So it was less than two days before I found myself meeting with Matthew W. Lewis again—the Magic Defense Bureau's point man for British affairs.
"Things have been quite lively in your country, haven't they? Here we are, meeting again so soon, W."
"…I appreciate your understanding."
"Oh my, I never said I understood. You dragged someone here and locked them in a hotel room with no word of when they'd be released—shouldn't I expect some compensation for that? Would it be too much to ask?"
I giggled and crossed my legs the other way.
Provoking an angry eagle was practically a taboo, but… hmm. If our Syndicate was the only one holding the correct answer among countless wrong ones, perhaps it was worth the risk.
W's response was as predictable as his own country.
"Irene Varez. I'll let it slide for now given the urgency of the situation, but you'd do well to watch your words when you're not speaking to me. There are patriots out there who won't be as careful."
"Hmm, what do you mean by that?"
"Others aren't as cautious as I am, and I suspect action will be taken sooner than you think. I'm asking you—now is not the time to waste our strength on posturing."
Well, at least he was someone I could talk to. If I had to choose between a hawk and a dove, he leaned more toward dove.
But even such a man could turn into a hawk—no, an eagle—in an instant if you crossed the line. That was the American way, wasn't it?
Just confirming the Americans' attitude in conversation was enough to make the probing worthwhile.
I extended another envelope, just as I had last time, to open the conversation.
"Take a look. This is why our organization went to Hong Kong, along with some findings from there that don't need to be hidden."
The contents contained nothing particularly classified.
It was a meta-analysis conducted primarily by the Syndicate's Intelligence Department, with the British Magic Ministry and MI6 brought in as well—evidence of our deliberations over what the Americans already knew and what would be most effective to share.
The sound of pages turning rustled for a moment, accompanied by the crunch of finger food and the occasional sip of apple juice.
After about five minutes, W set the papers down with a sharp slap, having grasped the facts.
"…I see. So you went to identify the nature of that mysterious barrier enveloping the entire Communist bloc."
"As I mentioned before, the Northern Covenant Syndicate exists to burn Moscow and topple the Soviet Reds."
"Indeed… you did say that. Though I never confirmed how sincere you were."
"I'd say it's less that you didn't confirm it, and more that you didn't feel the need to."
"I can't deny that. The Magic Defense Bureau has plenty on its plate."
It was only natural for someone affiliated with a state agency to think that way.
After all, individual mages gathering together were nothing compared to a nation—that was an undeniable fact.
Especially when that nation was a superpower leading the cutting edge of the world.
Until now, the Syndicate had been able to grow in the shadow of America's complacency. But now that we'd entered their awareness, we'd need to be far more careful if we wanted to expand.
"Setting that aside, that mysterious barrier has captured the attention of every mage in the world since it was activated last October. You're a mage yourself, so you know this well."
"I know."
"'I know'?"
"…"
"Hmm, so you're saying you can't tell me more?"
I subtly pointed out W's sudden shift to one-word answers.
Why? Reflecting on our previous meetings, the phrase "I know" was always followed by something about how the Magic Defense Bureau had tried every means to investigate. But this time, there was nothing.
That meant he was hiding something.
He couldn't possibly be unaware that the more he hid, the more it made me curious.
"I'm sure you understand, Varez. Even though I've been given full authority, there are still minimum procedures to follow."
"I understand. I can't say I sympathize, but there's a give-and-take to things. May I present a list of the information our Syndicate is looking for?"
"…I'll hear it and decide."
"It breaks down into two main items. One concerns the mage residing in Kowloon Walled City, and the other concerns the crimson-armored knight who killed that mage."
"…"
W remained silent. At this point, I was certain the Magic Defense Bureau knew something.
"So, what's your answer? As I mentioned before—when we met in Dublin, Ireland—I'm asking Matthew Wyatt Lewis, the one entrusted with full authority of the US Magic Defense Bureau, to give me an answer right here."
After a brief silence, the answer came.
"Both… are things I can answer. Can you give me time to organize the materials?"
Fortunately, a positive response. I replied with a smile.
"Of course. That's only natural."
And so, the next day, after exchanging materials with Matthew W. Lewis, I shared the documents with my subordinates through the Syndicate's internal intranet.
"…So the Americans knew about Hong Xiuquan too, it seems."
Pavel, reviewing the materials beside me, murmured his observation. I added:
"They probably chose not to disclose it. I'd say they were conducting an observation—seeing how strong a mage could become while isolated from the outside world and cultivating power."
The materials the Americans had handed over were full of facts I hadn't known.
For me, and for the organization, learning these things alone was worth the trip to Florida.
"Indeed. That's one way to look at it. From what I felt fighting him directly, he didn't seem very powerful outside that shadow subspace."
"It's a kind of constraint. Most of his power is devoted to dominating the interior of the subspace, and projecting Kowloon Walled City into it. Outside of that, he's reduced to something weaker than an ordinary mage."
"Now the puzzle pieces are fitting together. It explains why Hong Xiuquan, despite possessing such power, only crouched like a territorial lord inside Kowloon Walled City."
There's always a trade-off. I wanted to shatter those limits and place the entire world beneath my feet, but for any mage, the principle above was as true as an axiom.
I chuckled.
"Funny, isn't it? The very Pavel whose limbs were nearly torn apart by the shadows Hong Xiuquan commanded is now saying he didn't look strong outside."
"Are you making fun of me…?"
"Hahaha, of course I am. You became a bad man who couldn't keep his promise to the girlfriend who told you to come back safely, didn't you?"
"…"
I teased him and glanced toward Delis. She was staring at Pavel with a somewhat dazed expression, then her face turned slightly red.
Was she remembering what happened during the early morning of her leave?
I didn't bother asking exactly what had happened, but it wasn't hard to imagine—which is why a broad smile spread across my face.
Ah, truly. Moments like these, spending time with the people I trusted most, were the greatest of all.
The more I thought about it, the stronger my resolve became to wipe out the Soviet Communists.
If we were to enjoy such an extraordinary everyday life, all variables outside the organization had to be eliminated.
There was also additional information about the pseudo-Hong Xiuquan.
"The mage's extremely biased magic path is estimated to have been achieved by shattering fresh souls supplied in effectively unlimited quantities from the Chinese mainland."
"The most direct example is the warfare and mismanagement of the Chinese Communist Party over the past several decades on the Chinese mainland."
"Since the fall of the Qing following the Xinhai Revolution, through warlord dictatorship, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Chinese Civil War, countless refugees accumulated in Hong Kong. Many of them slipped into Kowloon Walled City with the tacit approval of the British Hong Kong authorities."
"Over the past decade or more, two additional events were added: the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution."
"As a result, the number of displaced persons flowing into Hong Kong from the Chinese mainland became incalculable, and the refugees who hid in Kowloon Walled City became, in the literal sense, pure souls unrecorded in any population statistics."
It turned out that Hong Xiuquan had been using the refugees flooding in from the Central Plains—no, from the Chinese mainland—as fertilizer for the growth of his own magic path, all thanks to the blunders of his triad associates.
It was a collaboration spanning eras between Mao Zedong, who killed eighty million through various missteps, and the witch of privatization who effectively knew about Kowloon Walled City and left it be.
A collaboration between the bastard you blame when something strange happens in modern world history and the bastard you blame when something strange happens in contemporary world history.
Truly, no matter how I thought about it, the great British Empire didn't seem so great after all.