Intelligence Agents and an Unexpected Encounter
I tried using Presence Detection to see if anyone was hiding, but of course, it was not so simple. Still, I tried narrowing it down and raising the accuracy. That was when I detected something strange. It was behind me to the left. But it was blocked by the wall of a building, so… It was above then.
"h.e.l.lo?"
I tried addressing the intelligence folks. According to Presence detection, there had been no movement yet.
"Uh, intelligence…"
"Don"t move."
Someone had suddenly appeared behind me. I didn"t move. I could feel something sharp poking me through my clothes.
"I was told to monitor you. However, I was not given permission to make contact."
"Then why?"
"Because you instigated it."
I felt the sharp object retract from my clothes and so I slowly turned around. The person hid their face with a mask. A woman? She was about my own height and dressed in black. Only her mouth was exposed, and they were plump and pretty lips indeed. Of course, the person could also be an abnormally pretty man, but I prefered the scenario where I maintained my sanity a little.
Just then, I noticed that several other figures had appeared behind me. I was surrounded…
"…So, what do you want?"
"The thing is, I was told by one of your men in Usk, that I was to depend on him if I ever needed help in the imperial capital. But I can"t remember his name…"
"It is the man who told us to monitor you. Captain Tames."
"Ah, that"s what it was! Mister Tames!"
Mister Tames. Tames. So much had happened since then that I had forgotten. But I do remember him saying I "might be monitored," but it turned out that he was the one to give the order. Was it…so I wouldn"t be too alert?
"What do you want with the captain?"
"Right. I want to meet him. Today."
"That won"t be easy. Is it urgent?"
It"s the biggest emergency!
"We"re having trouble finding an inn. Please help us."
"You… You do realize that we are agents of the Empire…"
She sighed. I didn"t get it. It was their captain that told me to do this.
"However, if that is what the captain said, then we have no choice. We will have to secure you an inn."
"Thank you. Thank you!"
"Raise your head. d.a.m.n it. Why must I…"
She muttered as she produced a paper and pen from her pockets. I suppose she was going to write something… Then I should take out the table.
"Here, you can write on this."
"Thank you… I"ve seen you use it before a few times. It really is convenient."
"It"s an important buddy for sure."
Seen me use it before? Well, at least I hadn"t been doing anything I was ashamed of. But as far as lewd things go, yes, we did those things.
The intelligence agent began to write on the paper and then stamped it. I had no idea what it was…
"Here. Show this to the inn you wish to stay at."
"What? What is that?"
"It"s a military priority pa.s.s."
A military priority pa.s.s?
"You will be offered services reserved for military personnel."
"Really? That seems ridiculously convenient!"
"Aye, that"s exactly how I would describe it."
While I could only see her face, the smile was about as smug as could be.
"But, won"t I get in trouble? I"m just an ordinary Adventurer."
"The captain"s words and my authority will make up for that. Now, go in peace and enjoy the capital."
"Uh, thank you."
I put away the very important piece of paper in my bag. When I looked up again, there was no one in sight. I could not even sense their presence.
"I"ve been underestimating them…this is kind of scary."
Intelligence agents of the empire… I would have to stay on my guard the next time we came in contact with them.
"Well, at least they were nice enough. I better go and find Daniela now."
While it was highly unlikely, she may have even found herself an inn. I had to hurry. And so I used Presence Detection to find her.
Daniela appeared to be inside one of the inns. I followed the signal and arrived at a very luxurious looking building. She didn"t compromise…
I opened the door and entered. Daniela was facing the counter with her back to me. Quite the negotiation seemed to be in session, and I could hear them from my position.
"…As I said, we really must have a place to stay."
"But the thing is…"
"We will pay double. So give us a room."
"But we do not have any rooms available…"
Oh, dear. She wasn"t backing down… Well, I had been the one who provoked her into doing it.
"Daniela."
"Asagi. Just wait one moment. A room will be available soon."
"That"s ridiculous."
And so I grabbed her shoulder and peeled her away from the counter.
"Sorry. We"ll be back later."
"What are you saying, Asagi? I almost had it."
"Hush your voice for a second."
And with that, I pulled her out of the building. Then we moved to a back alley, where I took out the priority pa.s.s from the bag and explained to her what had happened.
"…So, that"s what happened."
"You could have told me sooner and just used it!"
Do you know how many years I have lost because of this? Daniela grumbled.
"Well, this means we can stay at almost any inn that we want now."
"That is quite forceful of the military. How do they enforce it?"
"They probably write over some reservation."
Knock out someone"s reservation… That seemed really slimy. I would hate it if it happened to me.
"Well, let us go and see if it works."
"Yeah. I hope it does…"
And so we returned to the inn we had just left.
"I am terribly sorry…but we do not accept these here."
"Hmm?"
They don"t accept them? Were these only usable in select places then?
"I"m sorry, but could you explain to us how this works? I think that I might have made a mistake."
"Ah, I see. Well, to put it simply, these military priority pa.s.ses allow you to receive the same services as soldiers of the Empire. In other words, facilities that are exclusively for military people. They can not be used in civilian facilities. If you could, there would be people who abused their right…"
"Ahhh… That"s very helpful. I get it now."
That intelligence agent hadn"t told me anything. How was I supposed to know it was only usable in military exclusive facilities? Besides, why was it even called a priority pa.s.s anyway?
"So, we just need to go to such a place then."
"Indeed so. By the way, most of the military facilities are concentrated towards the north. I would advise you to hurry…"
What. That"s on the opposite side!
"We have to hurry! Excuse us. And thank you!"
"Thank you."
I grabbed Daniela"s hand and we ran without waiting for a reply.
After mulling over it for a while, I decided to use Legs of the G.o.d Wolf. Of course, I used it up in the sky, so we would not disturb the civilians. I also avoided getting close to the n.o.bles district or the imperial castle.
I was carrying Daniela as we moved, and surprisingly, no one seemed to notice us. We should have been visible, but it was as if we weren"t…or was it just me?
The north district…where all the military facilities were. I see. Most people here were in uniform. However, there were also civilians and tourists. The most important facilities would be closer to the center of the city. From what I could see, there was no security gate for entering the district. It felt that they lived quite closely with the civilians. Perhaps this was a place where they could interact freely with each other.
In any case, we were able to reach the place without losing any time. There was still plenty of time until sundown. First, we would have to find an inn. Was there a direction board anywhere?
"Asagi. Over there."
"Oh, right…"
There was a guardhouse. We should ask them.
"h.e.l.lo?"
"Yes. What is it?"
A woman in military uniform shuffled some papers before looking up at me. Hmm, quite pretty. Daniela stomped on my foot.
"Could you help us with directions?"
"Yes, I can. Where are you going?"
"We"re looking for an inn to stay at."
"I see. An inn. But they are military facilities, and only those in the military may use them…"
She scratched her chin uncomfortably as she tilted her head. It was kind of cute… Daniela"s heel ground into my toes.
"But we have this."
"Oh… A priority pa.s.s. Where did you get it?"
"I have my connections."
I covered my face so only my mouth was showing. She looked at me with surprise. Apparently, she had gotten the message.
"Very well. I shall take you to an inn."
"No, you just need to tell us where it is…"
"You are important guests. Allow me to take you there."
She gave a sly wink and then called another member of staff. As she was leaving someone in charge, she clearly meant to be thorough in guiding us there.
"Let us go then. I am Licoris Ladiaray. Management Division of the Empire"s North District. It"s a pleasure to meet you two."
"I"m Asagi Kamiyashiro. And this is…"
"Daniela Villesilf. A pleasure."
"You two are… Yes, I understand. Silvergreen, Asagi Kamiyashiro, and Lightwind, Daniela Villesilf. Please allow me to escort you."
She gave a most elegant salute then. Clearly, someone who had been in the military for a while.
Now, would we get there alright…? No, of course, we would. What I was actually worried about was what this place would be like.