[Vol. 7] Chapter 138: Obsession, Faith, and Madness
Joseph Belen was a three-star agent under the Special Operations Division of the Austre Empire’s Intelligence Bureau.
The Empire was known worldwide for its overwhelming military strength, but that didn’t mean they relied solely on brute force. The existence of the Intelligence Bureau was proof of that.
Joseph was born in Frederick CIty, the City of the Lion, the capital of the Austre Empire. A true "Imperial citizen," he was an orphan who caught the Intelligence Bureau’s attention from a young age due to his sharp mind and quick reflexes. Seeing his potential, they secretly trained him as a candidate for future spying work.
A clean background with no ties or attachments, along with absolute loyalty to the Empire. These were the most critical qualities of an intelligence agent. Unlike warriors or mages, combat talent was not the primary requirement for being an outstanding agent. In fact, ordinary people often performed better in this field.
Because what they needed most was to be unnoticeable.
The exact number of agents working for the Austre Empire’s Intelligence Bureau was a mystery. Most of them had no official records, no public identities, and many even held foreign citizenships. Scattered across different nations and professions, they lived as ordinary people. But when the time came, they could provide the Empire with an unimaginable level of influence and power.
Joseph officially became an agent at the age of 15. That was when he left Frederick City, and after a series of seemingly "coincidental" events, he ended up settling in Sainz. There, he maintained a one-way line of communication with his superiors.
His public identity? A mid-level manager in a medium-sized trading company. This company had long-standing business ties with Sainz Academy and a background that appeared completely legitimate. Other than Joseph himself and his direct superiors, no one in the world knew that he was actually an intelligence officer planted within Sainz Academy.
Now 30 years old, Joseph had spent more years living in Sainz than in the Empire’s capital. As a covert agent, his usual activities were relatively low-profile. He mostly sent letters disguised as casual family correspondence, casually mentioning "interesting people and events" in the city that many others had already heard about.
At first glance, it seemed like meaningless chatter. But when thousands of agents like him gathered and relayed similar pieces of information, the Intelligence Bureau could construct an enormous web of intelligence. This allowed them to monitor every little shift within Sainz Academy, a place outside of Imperial control, and develop highly precise countermeasures when needed.
Over the years, Joseph gradually climbed the ranks from a one-star agent to his current three-star status. In the Intelligence Bureau’s five-star system, he was already considered an experienced veteran. Although few people knew of his existence, his accumulated achievements would serve as leverage when the time came for him to return to his homeland and take on an official role in the public eye.
For that goal, he had been quietly working hard, for the glory of the Austre Empire.
Being an Imperial agent wasn’t necessarily a high-risk job. While they were spies, most of the time, they didn’t directly interfere with the forces they infiltrated. Instead, they functioned like silent eyes, observing and passing on information.
When an agent grew older or their cover was at risk of being exposed, the Bureau would usually recall them in advance, assign them a new identity, and place them in official positions within the Imperial capital. Some simply retired and lived out their days in peace.
Many senior agents had followed this path, and Joseph expected no different for himself. After all, they had devoted their lives to the Empire and were rewarded with protection and privilege. It was only natural.
But a short while ago, a classified emergency letter from his superiors shattered the quiet routine of his life.
The letter stated that in Lannas Province, the region bordering Sainz, a mysterious dragon had appeared. The local dragonkin worshiped it fanatically as a deity. Its presence had drastically disrupted the Austre Empire’s strategic planning in Lannas Province and the entire northwest region, posing a serious threat.
To quickly uncover the dragon’s identity and background, and to formulate an appropriate countermeasure, Joseph’s superiors decided to transfer him to the Special Operations Division. He was to work alongside other agents and infiltrate the Dragon Temple, the dragon’s stronghold, to investigate and report his findings back to headquarters.
When Joseph read the letter, his heart sank.
After more than ten years as an agent, he knew what it meant to be assigned to the Special Operations Division.
If ordinary agents are merely the eyes of the Intelligence Agency stationed around the world, relatively harmless and dispensable to hidden forces, then the Special Operations Division is the sharpest invisible blade in the Empire's hands.
Every mission they carried out was aimed directly at the heart of their enemies, triggering the most ruthless and desperate retaliations.
If an agent was caught during such a mission, dying quickly would be considered a mercy. Survival was almost impossible.
To be honest, Joseph was terrified.
He feared that unknown and terrifying dragon. He feared the dragonkin, whose fanatical devotion made them uncontrollable and untamable. He feared the brutal, savage warriors who had never truly submitted to the Empire.
But as an agent who had sworn absolute loyalty to the Empire, once an official order was given. He had no choice but to follow it.
After spending a long time preparing, Joseph managed to naturally secure a spot on a merchant guild heading to Lannas Province for trade. It was a mid-range commercial trip, and to save time, they planned to take a shortcut through the area where the Dragon Temple was located, making it the perfect opportunity to act.
For such an important and dangerous mission, the Imperial Intelligence Bureau wouldn’t rely on Joseph alone. As an ordinary human, it was impossible for him to complete this task by himself. On the way there, he carefully studied the environment and made contact with other Special Operations agents who had already arrived and were hiding nearby. However, they didn’t rush into action just yet.
Joseph had traveled this route many times and was familiar with some of the local dragonkin, making it easier for him to blend in without raising suspicion. This was one of the main reasons the Empire had chosen him for the mission.
But there was only one chance to act. The Dragon Temple was heavily guarded, and the moment they made their move, whether they succeeded or not, they would be discovered and hunted down in no time. Therefore, Joseph chose to execute his plan during the trade caravan's return, coinciding with the “World Academy Joint Exchange Conference”, when global powers gather, aiming to maximize his cover.
In addition, he arranged for his colleagues to create distractions, causing chaos to divert the dragonkin’s attention away from the temple. Every little detail was planned to ensure that one critical strike.
In the end, they succeeded.
However, success came at a heavy cost.
All ten-plus Special Operations agents, elites carefully trained by the Empire, were killed by the furious dragonkin who pursued them. But they managed to keep their true identities as Imperial agents hidden. More importantly, they protected the only person who had the highest chance of escaping unnoticed, Joseph.
As an ordinary man with excellent concealment skills, he successfully fled with the information, slipping past the dragonkin’s watchful eyes.
As long as he could return to Sainz, the mission would be an undeniable victory for the Imperial Intelligence Bureau. No matter how enraged or suspicious the dragonkin were, they had no evidence linking the Empire to the operation.
Joseph had completed his task.
But he underestimated just how seriously the dragonkin took this matter, and their sheer determination.
He never expected them to block every single traveler who had passed near the Dragon Temple during that period, stopping them all at the gates of Sainz. It didn’t matter who tried to intervene, they refused to back down. Any attempt to negotiate was met with hostility, and they were ready to resort to violence at the slightest provocation.
Brutal and relentless, they completely ignored the intelligence bureau’s carefully crafted media manipulation. No matter the cost or the consequences, they refused to let the matter go. Even to the point where the approaching military forces had no choice but to temporarily stand down rather than risk escalating the conflict.
Unless they were prepared to break the [Lannas Armistice Treaty] and recreate that devastating war from a hundred years ago.