Chapter 146
Chapter 146
Lunaseeker Meeting (2)
Even if they had captured him, they still had to make Roderick talk.
“He’s not going to open his mouth that easily.”
At Nora’s words, Kairus nodded. Roderick had probably been tortured before—and likely had done his share of it too.
He wasn’t the kind of person who’d spill just because you rough him up. On top of that—
“He doesn’t have any family or a lover.”
He hadn’t left any weaknesses behind. He just farmed in a corner of the village. He barely interacted with the people living there.
Torture wouldn’t work, and there was no one they could take hostage.
“He’s a farmer, so how about we burn all his crops?”
At Irena’s words, Kairus looked at her with a pitying expression.
“You’re not actually saying that because you think it’ll work, right?”
If burning some plants was enough to make someone sell out their nation’s secrets, they wouldn’t be allowed to work in the Security Bureau in the first place.
“Maybe we could use drugs. Like a truth serum or something.”
At Kairus’s suggestion, Nora clicked her tongue.
“Oppa, truth serum is, to be blunt, just a mix of all kinds of psychoactive substances.”
It made people woozy, knocked them senseless, and in that state, you’d ask questions to get the answers you wanted.
Even at Lunaseeker, which also acted as the intelligence agency of the Aylan Republic, they used truth serum when necessary.
“If you really want to get accurate info with a truth serum, you’d need at least five people who know the same thing.”
Only then could you compare each statement and see if they were just high and talking nonsense, or actually revealing the truth.
Unfortunately, Kairus didn’t have that luxury. As he pondered it deeply, Irena spoke up.
“Then don’t make him our enemy.”
Kairus and Nora turned to look at her at the same time.
“W-what?”
“Explain in more detail.”
Prompted by Kairus, Irena scratched her cheek for a moment before answering.
“Think about what you did when we first met.”
At her words, Kairus let out an ‘ah.’ The fake identity. They’d first met on a train, and Kairus had used a fake identity to spread false rumors.
“Hey, come on. Don’t just talk about stuff only the two of you know—let me in on it.”
Kairus briefly explained what had happened between him and Irena. Once she finished listening, Nora’s expression grew just as serious.
“You think a former Security Bureau executive would fall for a disguise?”
To that, Kairus replied,
“It’s not like it’s completely impossible.”
At his words, both Irena and Nora looked intrigued.
“My country and the Empire are both working very hard behind the scenes. You know that, right?”
The Republic and the Empire had a sibling-like relationship. They wanted to kill each other, but couldn’t.
“There are even double agents.”
That meant some people pretended to have defected to the Republic, while in truth, they were still working for the Empire.
The funnier part was that the Republic actually knew the identities of some of those double agents. They even used them to leak false information.
Naturally, all of this was orchestrated by the Lunaseeker Agency, which also functioned as the Republic’s intelligence organization.
“Even if they’re double agents, they’d be under the Intelligence Department, not the Security Bureau.”
The Empire ran its external intelligence and internal counterintelligence as separate organizations. The Security Bureau was responsible for counterintelligence within the Empire.
“That’s why it’s even better!”
Nora grinned brightly, her eyes sparkling. Their jurisdictions were different, and their department heads were separate.
That meant they kept each other in check.
“Oppa, you’ll become an agent from the Imperial Intelligence Department, secretly contacting a former Security Bureau executive to rise in rank.”
“To pull that off, I’d need something to prove my identity.”
Nora replied with a smirk.
“That’s something Lunaseeker could help with.”
“Didn’t you say earlier that I shouldn’t expect much help?”
Supplying the identity of a double agent was a huge favor. In espionage, if attack and defense existed, leaking false intel through a known double agent was one of the strongest offensive tactics available.
Nora nodded.
“We won’t actually lend you a real identity. We’ll just tell you a few tricks that real double agents from the Intelligence Department use.”
If Roderick had been a former officer of the Intelligence Department, he wouldn’t fall for it… but he was formerly with the Security Bureau.
“This is unni’s idea. It’s a way better chance than capturing and torturing him.”
With that, Nora winked at Irena.
“While oppa plays the part of an Intelligence Department agent, I’ll cut off the emergency communication network.”
“Then what about me? If this works, there won’t be any need to kill Roderick.”
At Irena’s words, Kairus let out a surprised noise.
“What are you talking about? Roderick has to die.”
“Huh…?”
Nora looked at Irena for a moment, then smiled.
“You’re so cute, unni. Still seeing the world through such clear eyes. Roderick will eventually realize he was tricked. What do you think he’ll do then?”
He’d go back to the Security Bureau and tell them everything Kairus had made him say. Naturally, that would include the locations of the secret Security Bureau branches that had been exposed.
“That means the Security Bureau branches he mentioned will be shut down.”
Then all the information Kairus had secured at Simid Kellogg’s request would become meaningless.
“That’s why he has to die. So the Security Bureau won’t know what he said.”
“But even if they don’t know… couldn’t they just shut down the entire secret branch network anyway?”
Even if the Security Bureau made that choice, it would still benefit Simid Kellogg. Shutting down and rebuilding all those countless secret branches would require an enormous amount of time and resources.
Roderick’s death was already decided. It wasn’t something that could be changed.
“I… see.”
Irena’s expression was far from bright. To be honest, the only “crime” Roderick had committed was serving the Empire with loyalty.
To be repaid with death for his patriotism—what a bitter outcome.
Being forced to do something you didn’t want to do—that probably described Irena’s current situation as well.
“This is something your father asked for.”
“I know. That’s why I’m torn about it.”
If it hadn’t been Simid Kellogg who commissioned Kairus, Irena would’ve definitely refused to take part in this operation.
Even if she couldn’t stop it, she wouldn’t cooperate. But in this case, the one who’d made the request was her own father.
‘….’
All sorts of thoughts whirled through her head. Kairus didn’t pressure her, simply waited for her to reach a conclusion.
“Alright, alright! No need to stare at me like that.”
If it was a request from Simid Kellogg, there must be a reason for it. And even if he wouldn’t explain that reason, Irena still wanted to be of help to her family.
“If you’re going to hesitate later…”
Irena slightly raised her hand. Kairus stopped mid-sentence.
“I said I’ll do it.”
Many people waver after making a decision, but Irena wasn’t one of them.
Kairus looked into her eyes for a moment, then mimed poking her eyes as he spoke.
“How dare you glare like that at someone trying to teach you.”
Irena let out a faint laugh and took a deep breath.
“While you’re playing your part, I’ll be nearby on standby.”
“Yeah, that’s for the best.”
Only one person needed to play the role of the double agent and deceive Roderick. If two people showed up together claiming to be double agents who’d agreed on a plan, it would raise suspicion from the start.
Irena would wait nearby, and once Nora severed the emergency communication network and Kairus began the engagement, she’d join in.
Nora would also move in around that time.
“Let’s do it. It’s not the first time we’ve gotten what we want by tricking someone.”
“I’ll contact the company.”
Nora had quite a few things to report to Lunaseeker anyway. She planned to report everything and gather the intel needed for this mission in the process.
After finishing her greetings, Nora headed straight for the phone installed at city hall.
‘It’s probably being tapped.’
She didn’t care. Considering the nature of Lunaseeker’s usual operations, they had to be able to make contact even in situations like this.
After scanning the area once, Nora picked up the receiver and immediately dialed a number.
― ….
The call connected, but all she could hear was a faint beeping sound. Nora took out her notebook, checked its contents, and began to speak.
“One-three. Five-zero. Zero-zero. Two-eight. Seven-four. One-eight.”
Everything coming out of Nora’s mouth was numbers. Each two-digit combination symbolized a letter or a word.
If you tuned in to a specific radio frequency at a fixed time each day, you could find the number combinations to be used that day. Since it changed daily, even if Nora were tortured and spilled the code, it would become useless within a few hours.
‘Some of the combinations are fake too.’
Of course, using this method made calls significantly longer, but it was worth the trouble.
The person on the other end of the call would jot down the numbers, decode them, and pass on the message.
“Ugh. This job’s gonna kill me.”
After finishing the call, Nora let out a small sigh and stretched. She had shared everything they’d learned about Kairus and had also requested Lunaseeker’s cooperation for this operation.
Now the response to Nora’s request would arrive by telegram.
‘If it’s rejected, the telegram will just say so clearly.’
If her proposal was approved, the telegram would contain the rendezvous point.
All that remained was to wait. Nora returned to the office.
“Telegram’s here!”
And two days later, Lunaseeker’s response arrived. After checking the telegram, Nora turned to Kairus and said,
“Permission granted. Though it’s conditional.”
“Took them long enough.”
At Kairus’s comment, Nora lightly tapped the telegram down on the table and replied,
“Oppa, even the company has an approval line, you know.”
You had to summarize the issue, write the report, and have it reviewed through every rank in order. In fact, getting approval in just two days meant Lunaseeker had processed this request pretty fast.
“Is there any organization without an approval line? And what’s this about a condition?”
Kairus looked at her as he asked.
“They want to verify that what you’re using is Cloud Seizing Art.”
Kairus’s expression turned annoyed. What did that even mean—“verify and then decide”?
The technique he had used to beat down the thug with the jackhammer wasn’t Cloud Seizing Art. As a direct descendant of the Featherwings, he was sure of that. Lunaseeker would likely come to the same conclusion.
After thinking it over for a while, Kairus finally nodded.
“Got it. So, where are we going?”
“Renterhorn City.”
It was a city located about 120 kilometers from Burfa. According to Republic standards, that was pretty far, but given the size of the Valorn Empire’s territory, it wasn’t that distant.
“Alright. Let’s get going.”
Kairus threw on a light coat as he spoke. The weather had gotten much warmer. By the time this operation was over, it would probably be the kind of weather you’d call a slightly chilly spring.
The three of them packed their things and headed for Bennett Station.
“Looks like the city’s still not fully cleaned up.”
Glancing at a building cordoned off by police tape, Irena made a comment.
Some time had passed, but the city was still in disarray. A few of the escapees from the detention center still hadn’t been captured.
“Most of them have been dealt with though.”
From what they heard, around 80% of the escapees had already been locked up again.
The rest would be handled soon enough.
‘I was actually going to deal with one of them in the Lantern District too…’
Kairus had decided not to take on any additional jobs in order to conserve his strength.
The opponent he had to face this time was strong enough that it was worth saving his energy.
‘If the opportunity comes, I’ll take another job someday.’
Letting go of his lingering thoughts about the guide, Kairus boarded the train.