Chapter 654: Bait
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 654: Bait
"Based on a detailed investigation across all of Belland, seven days passed from the moment the Kingdom’s diplomatic delegation entered the city to the sudden death of Prince Milne."
"During these seven days, thirteen officials exhibited suspicious behavior. Five of them have already been identified as Kingdom spies by the Central Intelligence Agency and have been apprehended. The other eight remain under observation."
"Furthermore, a total of thirty-five officials died within Belland during this same period. Five were of natural causes, the causes of death for six remain undetermined, and the remaining twenty-four died due to various accidents. Of those, only three have been confirmed as assassinations by external agents; the rest are still under investigation."
The Imperial Palace.
Since returning from St. Maria Academy, Celicia had set aside almost all other state affairs to focus exclusively on the anomaly surrounding the Kingdom’s delegation. At this moment, she was listening intently to Wei'er’s report.
"Thirteen officials acting suspiciously... thirty-five officials dead. That number..."
Celicia’s hand suddenly tightened around the carved armrest of her chair. She gripped it so hard her knuckles turned white.
"So many officials have died, yet no one reported this to me?"
"...Your Majesty, for a city the size of Belland, this number is actually considered normal," Wei'er answered cautiously.
"After all..."
"After all, the sheer scale of Belland’s population accounts for it, doesn't it?"
Celicia rubbed her temples, feeling a slight headache coming on.
As the most populous metropolis on the continent, Belland housed millions of people. The total number of officials across all levels and districts was staggering.
Against such a massive baseline, the suspicious behavior or deaths of a mere thirty or forty officials wasn't enough to be escalated to the throne—especially not in a Belland that had just endured a major upheaval. In a short time, many had become far too familiar with death.
In truth, even during times of peace, officials in Belland died every day—caught in Lower District gang wars, targeted by vengeful assassins, or framed by political rivals.
To the high ministers, these numbers were truly insignificant, certainly not worth bothering the Empress with while she was preoccupied with the myriad affairs of state. Thus, until Celicia specifically asked, no one would have thought to bring these statistics to her.
But beyond the scope of "common logic" lay a different reality.
Regarding the complex administrative system of the Empire, Celicia had to admit that no matter how hard she tried to compensate, adjust, or optimize... the loss of those bloated, greedy nobles—whether they were turned into nourishment or purged—had dealt a heavy blow to the Empire's management in the short term.
Lately, there had been too many promotions, backfills, and reallocations of duties. Though the Imperial parasites had been cleared out, their positions still needed to be filled. This period of transition was inevitably fraught with chaos.
And it was precisely this chaos that had given the enemy their opportunity.
"However, now that we have a narrowed scope, finding them won't be difficult."
Celicia did not dwell on the past for long. She quickly regained her composure, closed her eyes, and began to deliberate.
"Narrow the scope. Look only at those who died within the twenty-four hours preceding Prince Milne’s death."
"Yes!"
"Exclude those already confirmed as foreign spies. Hertz wouldn't bother covering for such obvious pawns."
"Yes!"
"Exclude those confirmed as assassinated for now. Faking a death would have been too time-consuming for them under such pressure."
"Yes!"
"If a fake death is hard to forge, then what remains... must be the real deaths."
Celicia’s tapping finger suddenly stopped. "I want the files on every official who died in an 'accident' last night."
"Understood!" Wei'er replied solemnly, her hands moving with lightning speed.
Celicia opened her beautiful eyes.
Before her, the list of over thirty officials had been whittled down to just five. It seemed that due to the urgency of the situation or the suddenness of the event, the enemy hadn't had time to set up many diversions.
"So, while their operation was long-planned, the decision to act at this specific moment was made on the fly. Why? Because they knew that ridiculous Seventeenth Prince was going to lose?"
A mocking sneer curled Celicia’s lips as her gaze fell upon the five files.
By sheer coincidence, although these five officials held different positions, they all had opportunities to access core Imperial information...
"Drowned in a river... food poisoning, entire family dead... stabbed by his wife’s lover, though he killed both the wife and the lover before dying... sudden death from overwork after consecutive shifts... and finally, a fire."
Celicia looked through them one by one, murmuring as if appreciating a fine theatrical play. "Three families wiped out entirely. How interesting. But among these, the 'cleanest' way to die would be..."
*
Belland.
The Fifth Department, subordinate to the Central Intelligence Agency.
As the largest intelligence organization operating in the shadows of the Empire, the Central Intelligence Agency oversaw thirteen sub-departments, each responsible for a different sector.
Even among these, the Fifth Department’s importance and level of secrecy were at the very top.
It managed military intelligence.
Celicia stepped into the fortress-like underground structure.
Strictly speaking, the headquarters of the Fifth Department was not located within Belland proper, but in a remote mountain forest about thirty miles from the city—a place where few people ever ventured.
Unlike the rest of the Central Intelligence Agency, which practiced the art of "hiding in plain sight," this place was heavily fortified. Layers of sentry posts were stationed throughout, and large-scale magic devices were mounted behind concealment magic. Any intruder would face a simultaneous volley from at least ten magic cannons.
Aside from Celicia, even Wei'er had to undergo a physical search by female soldiers.
"Your Majesty."
Celicia was greeted by a withered old man. He looked as though he had spent far too long underground; his pale skin resembled crumpled parchment.
He was the current head of the Fifth Department, code-named Mole. As for his true name, it had been buried decades ago.
"Do you remember Telfer Rokant?" Celicia asked, getting straight to the point.
"I do."
Mole nodded. "Everyone who enters the Fifth Department is personally vetted by me. Telfer hasn't been with us for very long, so my memory of him is quite fresh."
"What kind of man was he?"
"Silent, efficient, and highly capable." Mole made no effort to hide his praise for the man. "A perfect intelligence operative."
"Is that so?"
Celicia mulled over those words. "Perfect? Hah."
The two arrived at a dim, cramped room that appeared to be Mole’s office. Not a single ray of sunlight reached this place; only an old exhaust fan spun with a rhythmic creak-creak.
The air was thick with the pungent scent of cigars.
"I hope Your Majesty will permit me a smoke. It’s an old habit; I can't think properly without one." Mole pulled out a cigar.
"Permitted."
"Thank you."
Mole lit the cigar and took a deep drag.
The pale smoke swirled before being sucked into the exhaust fan and shredded.
"Does Your Majesty believe he is the one who leaked the intelligence?"
"It’s not confirmed yet. The charred remains of him and his family are still being examined... However, you run this massive intelligence apparatus. You should be the one answering that question."
"..."
Mole fell silent for a moment. He spread a map across the large desk, which was marked with various red arrows.
"After the recent upheaval in Belland, the Fifth Department lost many personnel in key functional roles. To fill those vacancies, we began promoting capable individuals from various sectors."
"Not just you," Celicia noted with a slight nod. "All of Belland is essentially in this state. The parasites were purged, but their work still needs to be done."
"Telfer Rokant was among those promoted later. He was originally just a minor official in the Lower District. Our people scouted him, and he entered the Fifth Department’s system only recently."
Mole paused. "Of course, this is the Fifth Department. Before bringing him in, we conducted an extremely detailed investigation into his background and credentials."
"And there were no issues?"
"None at all."
Mole sighed. "Telfer Rokant, the son of a failed merchant. He came to Belland twenty years ago to make a living. Because he once saved the young son of a noble from drowning, he was recommended for a minor official post in the Lower District. He stayed in that position for nearly twenty years. During that time, he married the second daughter of the Romia Family—a family that had fallen into ruin after a failed political struggle. They had a daughter. I’ve seen her photo; she was very lovely."
"He doesn't sound like a spy."
"There were no signs. His life trajectory over the last twenty years is perfectly visible. It’s as simple and straight as a clear pipe; you can see right to the end of it."
"In other words, for at least these twenty years in Belland, he was nothing more than a hardworking, low-level official with a happy family."
"Yes. For twenty years."
Twenty years.
For an ordinary person, how many twenty-year periods did they have?
Even if he truly were a spy from the Kingdom, would twenty years of domestic bliss—a wife and a daughter—not have warmed and softened a heart that might have once been cold?
Apparently not.
"And what were his responsibilities?"
"This."
Mole pointed to the map on the table.
He wasn't pointing at the map itself, but at the various arrows scattered across it.
"In truth, no matter how short-handed the Fifth Department is, we would never allow a newcomer to handle core intelligence. Therefore, Telfer’s workplace remained within Belland; he never actually entered this facility."
"Be specific."
"It’s simple: transcription. He was responsible for transcribing information regarding troop movements from the north and relaying it here. Of course, he only handled a portion of it. We would never allow a single transcriber to see the whole picture. His work was even intentionally overlapped and mixed with that of others."
Mole seemed to have anticipated the Empress’s personal visit. The red arrows on the map were categorized, and every piece of information Telfer had handled was labeled with his name.
The arrows bearing Telfer’s name were scattered haphazardly, without any apparent pattern.
At a glance, it looked like a tedious, clerical job that would prevent anyone from grasping any actual intelligence.
During this period, many armies within the Empire had been on the move under Celicia’s orders.
Celicia stroked her smooth chin, shifting her gaze from the individual arrows to the map as a whole.
Indeed, to an ordinary person who had spent twenty years scraping by in the Lower District, this complex and chaotic information would be useless.
But what if one looked from a higher perspective?
What if one looked through the eyes of someone who had once held a high position in the Kingdom—someone who already possessed key intelligence from various other channels?
...These tedious, disjointed fragments would be like words in a fill-in-the-blank puzzle, constructing a clear, complete narrative and picture.
Celicia’s fingertip followed the tails of those arrows, tracing them all the way up to the Empire’s northern border.
It was an incredibly complex border, having shifted several times within the last century alone.
And to the north of that border... lay the Kingdom.
Exactly. The picture these fragments painted was...
—The Imperial Border Defense Map.
"Is that... how it is?"
Celicia closed her eyes and murmured softly.
"Once the Seventeenth Prince is dead, regardless of the cause, he will have died within the Empire, on the Academy’s stage. The Kingdom will then have a so-called 'strong claim.' Furthermore... they aren't just playing around this time. They’re serious?"
"But... on what grounds? The Empire hasn't reached the point where it will collapse at a single touch. To think they can bring down the Empire with just this... isn't that a bit too fanciful?"
Thoughts swirled and connected in Celicia’s mind. Because she was in the middle of it, it was hard to see the full picture, but she felt she was close to grasping the end of the thread.
Right then, the quiet atmosphere of her contemplation was abruptly shattered.
"Your Majesty!"
Wei'er rushed in, her face pale with tension.
"Something terrible has happened!"
*
In a magnificent manor filled with blooming flowers, a white-robed old man sat by a mirror-like lake, fishing.
The fishing rod he used was not an exquisite item, but merely a bamboo pole with a line and a hook. It stood in stark contrast to the gold-trimmed white robe he wore, which was clearly of immense value.
Yet, he was completely immersed in the task, patiently waiting for a fish to take the bait.
"Your Majesty."
Suddenly, a voice—hushed as much as possible—broke the silence of the lake.
"What is it?"
"The Owl has returned."
"Oh?"
The old man raised an eyebrow. "That stubborn fellow actually succeeded?"
"Fortunately, he had the cover provided by Lord Hertz."
"Did Hertz manage to escape as well?"
"Yes, but he lost a hand and was severely injured by a Crown Bearer from an immense distance. He looks quite wretched."
"A Crown Bearer? Which one?"
"It is not yet clear," the attendant said shamefully. "We are still investigating, but based on Lord Hertz’s description, it should be that extremely mysterious head of the Imperial intelligence agency."
"Heh... To think that another never-before-heard-of Crown Bearer would emerge at a time like this. As expected of the Empire."
The old man chuckled.
"Your Majesty is not worried by this?" the attendant asked in surprise.
"Worried? Why should I be worried? An enemy hidden in the shadows is to be feared; once they reveal themselves, what is there to be afraid of? Besides, wasn't that the very reason I sent Hertz and the others? You didn't actually think Little Seventeen could become the Imperial Empress’s consort, did you?"
The old man casually tossed all the bait beside him into the lake.
In an instant, the calm surface of the lake became a frenzy as countless fish rose to the surface, fighting over the sweet morsels.
"Look."
The old man pointed at the water and sneered.
"As long as the bait is enticing enough, why worry about the big fish not showing themselves?"