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Vol 03 Chapter 93: Intrigue I

There is no being more naturally gifted for intrigue than a magician.

They are able to poison, hypnotize, manipulate memories, and cast curses on enemies, and a falcon possessed by a magician is the fastest method of transmitting information … A top-notch magician is the best unit for any type of covert operation.

Hypnotism and memory manipulation cannot be executed unless the enemy’s mind is vulnerable. By restraining, capturing, administering drugs, and torturing, it’s possible to artificially create a vulnerability.

However, it is impractical to kidnap important figures and resort to such measures. In that case, it would be far more efficient to simply order a normal person to threaten the enemy with a knife.

However, this means that if there is a vulnerability in the mind, it can be exploited. Yet, even for a magician, manipulating someone at will—such as making them do things they would never do—is impossible.

What a magician can do is to encourage desires that were already present, like pushing someone who has been contemplating rebellion, or applying mild hypnosis to extract information.

But this is not without its dangers. Important individuals often have magicians as guards. Generally, magic is more powerful in defense than on offense; breaking curses and forming barriers is easier than casting curses and surpassing barriers. It’s also better at detection than concealment.

To take down a target protected by a level six magician, one would need a magician of level ten.

Thus, those typically targeted are patricians who can’t afford to hire strong magic guards or centurions without any guards at all. Extracting information from them is the main task of the common magician spies. Nevertheless, the certainty of obtaining information makes it a worthwhile endeavor.

However, this espionage activity by magicians has a significant flaw: the cost to train a top-tier magician is extremely high. Considering the upbringing and time investment in magicians, they are ill-suited for the disposable life of a spy.

On the contrary, second-tier magicians, whose loss wouldn’t be a significant setback, can’t be expected to perform well. Moreover, they might simply end up being detected by first-tier magicians working in counter-intelligence.

Ordinary small countries are already stretched thin just securing magicians for their own counter-intelligence efforts.

But that’s a story limited to small countries… like those based on the Adernian Peninsula or the Kirisia Peninsula, whose population is around a hundred thousand.

This issue doesn’t apply to major powers like the Rozel Kingdom, with a population exceeding three million, or the superpower Persis Empire, with a population over twenty million people. Such great countries leverage their national strength to gather girls with potential from across the country, train them thoroughly, and indoctrinate them to ensure they remain loyal in any situation.

By doing so, they secure the quality, quantity, and loyalty of thousands of magicians.

They then send these magicians as spies throughout the world, establishing overwhelmingly advantageous positions against other smaller countries.

◇

「Redus-sama, I’m certain you can do it. Our country will support you.」

Mari said with a smile, addressing Redus. It had been several months since Mari had arrived at the Equus Tribe, invited as a guest of the first queen.

Things had gone smoothly because one of the magicians employed by the first queen was one of Mari’s disciples. Most magicians were monopolized by the king, making it extremely difficult for vassals to secure a capable one. Even if they were foreigners, if a competent magician sought employment, they were likely to be hired on the spot.

It was that magician who informed Mati that Redus was an easy mark.

「But can we really do it? The enemy’s forces are many times greater than ours.」

「I’m sure Redus-sama will be victorious. If you would allow me to make a suggestion on how you can proceed…」

Mari taught Redus a strategy that seemed likely to lead to victory, while imbuing her words with a hint of magical power. When delivering important messages is better to use pleasing words, as the message is easier to absorb.

The curses carried by those words work the same way. Poison is best wrapped in sugar.

Of course, there were other magicians among the Equus Tribe besides Mari and the spies from the Rozel Kingdom, but they hadn’t noticed that Redus was being gradually hypnotized. Instead, they were pleased that he was becoming more positive.

The curse should be administered in small doses over time, a fundamental rule of magic.

「Redus-sama, it’s time for your meal.」

A servant announced, opening the curtain of the yurt to inform Redus. Redus stood up.

「Merlin-dono, would you like to have dinner with us?」

「I fear I must decline… I have some matters to attend to. Please allow me to excuse myself.」

Mari replied, looking apologetic as she left the area.

◇

「Ah… I just can’t get used to the Equus Tribe’s horse milk liquor. It’s too awful. Can’t something be done about it?」

「I understand your feelings, but please stop coming to my yurt so often. They will begin to suspect me.」

Lydia, a magician and a spy for the Rozel Kingdom embedded in the Equus Tribe, reprimanded Mari as they sipped tea. But Mari responded with a smile.

「It’s fine. You’re Adernian, and the first queen is quite fond of you, right? There’s no problem. We can just say we’ve become personally close after I came here.」

The spy let out a deep sigh. It was impossible to get through to her free-spirited superior.

「But you’ve blended in so well, you are even treating children for free and all that. I’m impressed.」

「The magicians among the Equus Tribe are of low level and not very knowledgeable.」

Lydia replied, blushing slightly. Mari responded while sipping her tea.

「The Equus are nomads, after all. Though they’ve begun to settle and started farming recently, culture doesn’t change that fast. Agricultural societies live or die by the weather, so they pray to gods and spirits regularly. That’s why high-quality magicians are more likely to emerge from them. Nomads, on the other hand, aren’t as dependent on the weather as agricultural societies, and in the worst case, they can move to areas with more abundant harvests or seize land. That’s why they don’t pray as often as agricultural societies. They rely less on gods and spirits, preferring to manage on their own… It’s a matter of the nature of their culture.」

Similarly, among the Rozel Kingdom’s magicians, Adernians tended to be more skilled than the Gallians. This was because the Gallians were a mix of farmers, herders, and hunters.

「Having completed my training at fifteen and having been embedded with the Equus Tribe for five years… finally, my time to be useful has arrived.」

「The real work starts now. I need you to become Prince Redus’ chief magician. When Rozel overthrows King Domorgal and starts to flow into King Rosais’ Country… Your turn will come. I’m counting on you, okay?」

Mari smiled. Lydia also sported a malicious grin.

◇

Meanwhile, in King Rosais’ Country:

「Oh, this isn’t going well…」

Annabella was troubled. Her mission was to collaborate with magicians embedded in the area to create discord within King Rosais’ Country.

Annabella’s targets were influential figures within the country, mainly patricians.

Ordinary soldiers or servants could be enchanted by an average top-tier magician or a skilled second-tier one. But casting spells on significant figures who had magician guards and had undergone anti-curse training required an exceptional magician.

It wouldn’t be surprising if there were patricians within the former Dibel faction dissatisfied with the new king. Even if it was impossible to incite them to revolt, she should be able to find someone willing to leak information.

Ideally, she would apply thorough hypnosis on some of them as Mari had done to Prince Redus. Annabella was quite attractive and had a voluptuous body.

‘「Please! I need work. I’ll do anything… You can even use my body if you want!」’

Using phrases like that, she would approach them and bring them under her influence while doing the deed. This tactic had worked for her numerous times before. For Annabella, men were easy to manipulate.

However, this time she was entirely unsuccessful. The reason was simple.

The former Dibel faction held no dissatisfaction towards the current king. To make matters worse, one of the embedded magicians was killed.

In King Rosais’ Country, there was a system for regulating magicians through magical licenses. Due to this system, any suspicious activities were quickly detected.

In a moment of impatience, one of the Rozel Kingdom’s magicians made a mistake, was discovered by the magicians of King Rosais’ Country, and was executed. Luckily, the magicians from the Rozel Kingdom had a curse placed on them that would cause their hearts to burst if they tried to reveal secrets, so the identities of the other spies remained safe for the moment, but…

「The quality of King Rosais’ Country magicians is higher than I thought… Ah, I need to find a way to avoid their net.」

Annabella lamented. She wanted to at least enthrall someone, to live up to Mari’s expectations.

Knock, knock, knock.

There was a knock at the door. Wondering who it could be, Annabella opened the door.

「Hello, I’m Lulu, a national magician. It has come to our attention that you are suspected of practicing magic without a license. Show me your license, please.」

Cold sweat broke out from every pore on Annabella’s skin. She couldn’t present her license as she was obviously an unlicensed magician.

To obtain a magician’s license, one must go to the palace and undergo a series of tests and interviews conducted by several magicians. Naturally, doing so would increase the possibility of her being exposed as a spy.

Annabella was a magician sent temporarily to command and assist the local embedded magicians. Since she would eventually need to return to Gallia, a license would only be a hindrance for her.

Nonetheless, Annabella had been careful not to use magic in public.

Meaning that the magician and the soldiers before her hadn’t come to her house to ask for her license, that was just a pretext.

(Did they realize I’m a spy from another country?)

Reflecting, Annabella acknowledged that in her eagerness to achieve results, she might have taken some risky actions.

「Show us your license, please.」

「I understand, I’ll get it right now.」

Annabella responded, and while acting like she was searching for her license, took a smoke bomb from her bag and smashed it on the ground, enveloping the surroundings in smoke.

「!!」

「You think I’d be captured that easily?」

Annabella swiftly ran to the back of the house, pulling out another smoke bomb and throwing it. The house was filled with smoke, blurring the visibility.

「Surround the house! Make sure she doesn’t escape through the windows! Several of you, come with me!」

Lulu ordered the house to be encircled and, along with a few elites, entered the house. They needed to prevent any escape through potential secret exits.

And indeed, their decision was right; there was a secret passage in the house.

However, Annabella pulled out a crossbow and aimed it at Lulu and her team, firing an arrow that whisked past Lulu’s ear.

「This is a crossbow1. Just so you know, I am using magic to pinpoint your exact locations! If you don’t want to die, stay still.」

Hearing this, Lulu couldn’t move. While Lulu and her team were immobilized, Annabella escaped through the underground tunnel she had dug.

「Ah, this is impossible! Their counter-espionage net is too extensive!」

Frustrated, Annabella wrote a letter to Mari, who was on assignment with the Equus tribe.

◇

To Merlin-sama,

How are you doing? I’m not doing well at all. For some reason, the former Dibel faction doesn’t seem to harbor any dissatisfaction with the current king. Some seem to hold fear of him, and others are in awe, but there doesn’t appear to be any inclination to rebel. Normally, those who were originally part of the king’s faction would get carried away and attack or bully the members of the defeated faction.

However, the current king seems to be a fair judge in the trials and doesn’t favor unjustly the patricians of his faction, even admonishing those who get carried away. You may think that the patricians who were initially in the king’s faction may be dissatisfied with the lenient treatment of the defeated faction, but many of them have received benefits like increases in the land they own, so there’s no discontent there either.

It seems there’s no vulnerability in their hearts, and I’m at a loss for what to do.

Moreover, the enemy’s magicians counter-espionage capabilities are higher than expected, and one of our embedded magicians was captured and executed. I nearly got caught as well and nearly lost my life.

What should I do?

From Annabella

◇

To Annabella,

How are you doing? I’m very energetic, though I’m utterly tired of horse milk liquor. Redus is fully under hypnosis and very motivated to do what I ask of him. Now, as for advice…

Retreat. If there’s no vulnerability in their hearts, there’s nothing you can do. If you, my top disciple, don’t see a way to manipulate them, I likely wouldn’t either. We’ve lost this time. King Rosais seems to have an excellent sense of balance. His use of the carrot and the stick is impressive.

You might be able to manipulate someone if you use torture or administer them powerful drugs, but it’s not realistic. It’s extremely dangerous and better avoided.

It’s preferable to avoid making moves that might reveal our activities to the enemy.

In addition, the idea of my dear top disciple dying saddens me more than my own death. I find the death of those close to me far more distressing.

For now, cast a light hypnosis on a servant or someone without protection and return to the Rozel Kingdom, I’ll give you new orders when I return. I plan to return soon myself. I’m craving pork.

P.S. Why do I end up using such stiff language in letters? It’s curious.

From the great, beautiful, eternally virginal witch, Merlin-sama.

TN1: It may seem anachronistic to have a crossbow, a weapon primarily from the Middle Ages, in a world with a cultural level of the Iron Age – Classical Antiquity. But it’s not entirely anachronistic. The first crossbows, called “gastraphetes”, appeared in the 5th century BC and were used extensively in the city-state of Syracuse in Sicily.
The crossbow was also developed independently of the Greek crossbow in China around the 4th century BC.