The Nest of Crows
The sound of footsteps echoed quietly.
Tap. Tap.
If I counted the steps of Dupont Clancher and myself, I could roughly guess our location.
‘We must be around the fifth floor now.’
The main building was a five-story structure.
Yet the staircase didn’t end there. It continued upward.
“What are you doing? Stop dawdling and keep moving.”
I subtly dodged the finger that jabbed at me again at Dupont Clancher’s impatient urging and continued climbing the stairs.
‘Did I remember it wrong? No, the main building definitely ends at five floors.’
No matter how many times I recalled the Knox map I’d memorized long ago, the main building was indeed only five stories tall.
Despite the confusion swirling in my head, my feet kept moving faithfully until they finally stepped onto the very last stair.
There, a rather plain-looking door waited for us—one that felt too modest to be the endpoint of a secret passage hidden behind the portrait of the first duke.
“……A dragon?”
If not for the protruding dragon sculpture on the door.
“Put your hand inside.”
“Y-you mean… in there?”
When I pointed at the dragon’s wide-open maw and asked, Dupont Clancher nodded.
I stared blankly at the way his wavy hair, which had slipped from its high tie, swayed gently, then asked again.
“You’re joking, right?”
“If I had time to joke with you, I’d use that minute to sleep instead.”
Yeah, I could tell he was completely serious.
But still!
“It looks incredibly ominous…”
“Tsk.”
His tongue was as quick as his perception.
With a mutter even more ominous than the dragon sculpture itself, Dupont Clancher grabbed my right hand and shoved it straight into the gaping maw.
“W-wait a second!”
“As if I’d kill you.”
“I literally just died and came back… Ow! It bit me!”
A burning sensation grazed the tip of my ring finger.
“It bit me! This thing just bit me!”
I yanked my hand out in a panic and checked. A drop of blood had welled up at the end of my ring finger.
It really did bite me!
But Dupont Clancher simply stared at me without replying.
It was that same look he gave pathetic objects.
“No, the dragon just bit my—!”
My weak protest was drowned out by a grinding sound.
The noise of the dragon sculpture closing its mouth.
I had no idea what to think anymore.
A secret passage that appeared where my superior had dragged me, and a dragon sculpture that bit people to taste their blood—which one was I supposed to be more shocked by?
“Are you planning to stand there forever?”
Dupont Clancher called to me from beyond the door that had opened at some point.
I really didn’t want to go in.
I didn’t know what it was, but I had a strong feeling I shouldn’t cross that threshold.
“Can’t I just stay here?”
“……Get in.”
“Eek!”
In the end, Dupont Clancher grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and hauled me through the door.
To be completely honest, I had been planning to overpower Dupont Clancher and make a run for it.
Since I didn’t have any weapons on me, I’d even reached out to snatch the chain hanging at his waist as a last resort.
Thud!
“Ugh… wait, that’s not—?”
I’d screamed in advance, bracing for the pain of my thrown body slamming into the floor.
Instead, a soft, plush, and incredibly gentle sensation greeted me.
“A couch?”
It wasn’t an ordinary couch.
It wrapped around my body like a cloud while still supporting me firmly. This was unmistakably a top-tier couch.
“You’re sharp, but apparently a bit lacking.”
Dupont Clancher said as he watched me dazedly stroking the couch’s soft leather.
He then turned around, snapped something with a crisp sound, and tossed it in. The completely dead fireplace roared to life with flames.
“A mana stone fireplace?”
It looked like an ordinary fire, but the flames rose without any smoke. It was definitely a mana stone fireplace.
They were so expensive to run that only high-ranking nobles used them in their bedrooms. Why was one here?
I got up from the couch, looked around, and asked.
“Where… exactly are we?”
“The Nest.”
“The… Nest?”
It was far too luxurious a space to be called by such a humble name.
Even I, who had once been a Wickers executive, felt completely out of place.
Far from the straw a bird might use to build a nest, the carpet covering the wide floor was so thick it absorbed every footstep. The various seating areas placed before the mana stone fireplace were clearly all top-quality pieces, just like the couch I’d been sitting on.
A round table large enough to seat at least ten people dominated one side of the room, and elegant paintings hung on the walls.
The fairly spacious area felt comfortable and cozy thanks to the thoughtfully arranged furniture.
Perhaps the sense of stability came from the bookshelves that filled an entire wall.
“Sit.”
Before I knew it, Dupont Clancher had even prepared steaming tea and spoke to me.
From the moment he’d lit the mana stone fireplace, something had felt off. His every movement looked far too familiar, as if he’d been here for days, not just once or twice.
I obediently perched awkwardly on the couch again as he’d ordered and asked.
“Where exactly… are we, Sir Dupont Clancher?”
“I just told you. It’s the Nest.”
With a curt, half-hearted reply, Dupont Clancher took a sip of tea, then called my name.
“Lunelck Eins, Operations Division.”
“……Yes.”
“I hereby declare that from this moment forward, you have become a Crow.”
“A… Crow?”
The ones that caw and fly around?
The ones with those glaring yellow eyes?
“That’s right. On paper, you will remain in the Operations Division, but do not forget that you now belong to the Nest.”
“Wait, wait just a second.”
I held up both palms to stop Dupont Clancher from continuing.
“I’m sorry, Sir Clancher. Right now I’m a little…”
“Yes, it must be confusing.”
I’d expected him to click his tongue and call me pathetic again, but this time Dupont Clancher simply nodded in understanding.
This kind of situation seemed just as familiar to him as lighting the mana fireplace.
“Do you remember what His Excellency said? That it was only half an answer.”
“W-well, yes…”
“When a squad member suddenly mentioned ‘Crows,’ even I was surprised for the first time in a while. I thought we’d been completely exposed.”
Dupont Clancher laughed pleasantly.
“Well, it was only half correct, but it was quite impressive. Just as you guessed, there are two intelligence organizations within Knox. The public-facing intelligence division of Grayer Knox, and…”
His callused index finger spun once like a conductor’s baton.
“The ‘Crows’ hiding inside the Nest.”
“Not Crow Tower?”
“That’s merely where the correspondence gathers.”
It felt like I’d been struck hard in the head with a giant hammer.
I looked around the luxurious space again—one so opulent I could have believed it was the duke’s lounge.
‘So this is real.’
I had suspected there was a real intelligence division somewhere, but I never imagined it would be this elaborate.
Then, like a bolt of lightning, my mind snapped awake.
“But you said… I’ve become a Crow?”
Dupont Clancher had definitely said that a moment ago.
From this moment forward, etcetera.
“Isn’t ‘Crow’ the term for the real intelligence unit?”
“Correct.”
“Then why me…? The Crows seem like an incredibly important organization to Knox. I don’t have the ability for something like that… And besides, I like the Operations Division!”
I can slack off as much as I want, and while it’s sometimes bothersome to move my body, I don’t have to rack my brain over complicated things!
The Operations Division is perfect—just butter up the seniors a bit and I can live an easy life!
“Stand up.”
Dupont Clancher set down his teacup, walked over to me, and commanded.
I quickly stood as ordered.
Standing face-to-face at such close range made the height difference painfully obvious.
The top of my head barely reached his shoulder.
The oversized clothes had made him seem less intimidating, but now I was struck by just how massive his frame truly was.
“Lunelck Eins.”
The deep green eyes looking down at me resembled dry, rough moss.
‘Is he going to hit me?’
The atmosphere certainly suggested a fist could come flying at any moment.
Then both of Dupont Clancher’s arms moved at the same time.
Was he going to grab me and kick?
Was he that angry just because I talked back a little?
I thought he was pettier than expected and tensed my stomach, bracing for the coming impact.
Thud.
Just like he had in the duke’s office, Dupont Clancher firmly gripped both my shoulders and said.
“You have talent.”