Year 12 - Month 2 - Day 21

Ten cloaked people stood in front of me. Lily, Cat, my avatar, and Nyx stood at my side.

 

“What are your orders, my lord?” The first of them asked. These ten people were the elite agents of the empire's current intelligence network. Each had a team of one hundred agents spread out at various locations throughout the world. Now that leadership has been transferred to me (really to Nyx, but she’s technically my familiar in this world) they are reporting and awaiting orders.

 

“Nyx?” I asked through my avatar.

 

“Activate your most powerful stealth capabilities,” she stated while the ten began mumbling some words, enabling their skills. As soon as their abilities were active, they disappeared from all my senses in both my avatar and tree body. Nyx, on the other hand, was not impressed. She flicked a shadowy finger at each of them, making them reappear one by one. “Garbage. Are there any of you with better stealth?”

 

The leaders looked around until the third stepped forward. He was a middle-aged man with an oddly pointed look. “My best agent has a unique stealth skill.”

 

“Bring them now,” Nyx stated, and the agent pulled out a square crystalline device. After taping it a few times, it vanished and a new person was present. The new person wore the same black cloak as the elite agents and, after a glance around, faced his leader, slightly annoyed. “Why am I here, boss?”

 

Sighing, the agent replied. “Showcase your stealth.”

 

The scene repeated. The man activated his skills with some mumbles and disappeared from all my senses. Nyx flicked a finger, and he reappeared with a shocked expression. Nyx smirked. “That was garbage, less so, but still garbage. It’ll do for now.”

 

“Are there any in this world with better stealth capabilities?” Nyx asked Lily.

 

“Doubtful… Actually, the Kingdom of Murrandor might have something.” The Murrandor Kingdom was a kingdom largely comprised of beastkin, particularly catkin, who just so happen to be skilled at stealth. While not strong enough to pose any risk, they are great at secretive missions. The Twilight Empire has even contracted them on a few high-risk assaults to take care of commanders or high-value targets before the main battles begin.

 

“Hmm. Can we contact them?”

 

“We can request their emissary to visit. They have full rights to refuse, though,” Lily said. “While our diplomatic relationship is friendly, the populace is still fearful of our strength.”

 

“Request their presence. We should make a joint spy network if their skills are truly better,” Nyx suggested.

 

“I’ll run it by father.”

 

Turning back toward the ten agents, Nyx gave them a few tasks. “Agent one, your team will monitor Twilight City. Keep a log of everyone who enters and exits. Make sure it stays separate from the normal guard. Keep track of possible corruption among the ranks.”

 

“Understood.”

 

“Agents two and three, same location, but monitor the various guilds. Once again, keep track of everything.”

 

“Alright.” “Wilco.”

 

“Agent four, monitor the imperial family, keep track of all movements and protect them with your life. Mark down any suspicious interactions.”

 

“Roger.”

 

“Agent five, monitor the situation in the Carabello Sultanate. They should’ve collapsed ages ago, find out who’s providing them resources.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Agents six and seven, spread out around our vassal nations and monitor their leaders or valuable assets. Protect only the current head of the country, just watch and make note of the rest.”

 

“Yes ma’am.” “Roger.”

 

“Agent eight, do so in the rest of this continent's countries, excluding the protection part.”

 

“Roger, wilco.”

 

“Agents nine and ten, do so in the eastern continent.”

 

“Gotcha.” “As you wish.”

 

“Do everything how you’ve been trained. I need to evaluate your effectiveness. Questions?”

 

The agents shook their heads. “Good. Dismissed.”

Year 12 - Month 3

A representative of the Kingdom of Murrandor is visiting today. We also received our first reports on the current spy network situation. For starters…

 

 

“Not bad…” Nyx commented. “It’s nice to see they embrace the dark side.”

 

“No it’s stupid,” Cat argued. “The ‘dark side’ just backstabs you. They should get rid of them.”

 

“The dark side follows money, as long as they pay, they have no risk.”

 

“Until someone pays more.”

 

“Then you just pay even more.”

 

“It’s all a scam. Infinite money loop.”

 

“You eliminate them when they reach your budget limit.”

 

“That’s just stupid. Nyx, if eliminate them right away then you’ll never reach your limit.”

 

“The dark break the laws, they are willing, unlike the day, where the public eyes your every movement. They are necessary.”

 

As Nyx and Cat started debating, I interrupted. “Nyx, do we need any changes to the spending?”

 

“Nope. More budget would be nice though.”

 

“I’ll ask,” Lily said.

 

”Okay. Then, find out why they pay the Dark Moon Mercenary Group so much.”

 

“Ah, I can answer that too,” Lily said. “They do a lot of the dirty work in foreign countries. That way it never links back to us.”

 

“Don't the money transfers leave their own trail?” Cat asked, confused.

 

“Can’t make a trail, it’s cash, Cat,” Nyx interjected and dismissed his concern. “Word of mouth is far too weak to cause problems for an empire.”

 

“How so?”

 

“No news channels or instant communication. Duh.”

 

“Haah. It’s been a while since I’ve done anything on a medieval world.”

 

“Probably because they don’t have any good cat trees.”

 

“No! It’s just because… uh… the… too many monsters.”

 

“Mmhm, someone on par with a god is afraid of monsters,” Nyx turned back toward Lily. “So when is the representative from Murrandor coming?”

 

“Any minute now.”

 

As expected, a few minutes later, the visitor arrived. Once again, Lily, Cat, my avatar, and Nyx stood at my side while the emissary stood in front.

 

“To what do I owe the pleasure, princess?” The female catkin asked. The catkin race all had small fluffy cat ears on their heads and long tails that swung around passively. This one in particular had light gray fur and stood about sixty-six inches tall..

 

“We have a proposal for your country, Nyx, if you please,” Lily gestured toward Nyx.

 

“Greetings envoy, I am Nyx, the… leader of our current spy and intelligence division. I have heard some rumors that the catkin race possesses some impressive stealth capabilities. I was wondering if you would be interested in some joint cooperation.”

 

The catkin smiled. “We do indeed have many stealth capabilities. The Kingdom of Murrandor would be very interested in this proposal. May I establish a communication with our king?”

 

“Of course.”

 

The catkin pulled a spherical device out of a spatial artifact. After mumbling some words, the artifact lit up and we could see a small pulsating light inside.

 

“I am King Mrowmer of the Kingdom of Murrandor,” a voice originating from the orb said. “I have received word that the Twilight Empire is interested in cooperation for an intelligence network. Could you please spell out the terms? I am sorry, but I am unable to address any individual, this communication artifact does not provide sight.”

 

“Greetings King Mrowmer. I am Nyx, the head of the Twilight Empire Spy and Intelligence Division.” Nyx replied. “Our current offer is a joint operation where we both have full access to the network. Your kingdom will help locate and provide suitable agents while we provide the majority of funding. We will have our headquarters stationed in the Twilight Empire’s Imperial Palace to provide total security on all communications and actions.”

 

“As for the specifics. We ask that you provide half the forces. Two separate command structures will be established, one led by your team of leaders that you will send to our palace, the other by ours. I will still have the final say in all matters as the head of the division but will avoid interference with your units unless absolutely necessary. For the agents, they will report to a shared database using a new magic system that we have for storing information.”

 

Finished with her offer, Nyx waited for a response.

 

“That feels very one-sided. Why should we have our agents sent to the palace? Why should you have the final say? The Twilight Empire could easily commandeer our forces with this,” Mrowmer replied. He had valid points, but Nyx had something else in mind.

 

“The Twilight Empire does not have final say. I do.”

 

“Is that not one and the same?”

 

“The moment the Twilight Empire does something I do not like, I will kill them all. The same with your country, and any other in the world.”

 

After a brief pause, the King continued. “Who do you work for?”

 

“The Order of the Tree.”

 

“...why would the Twilight Empire agree to this?”

 

“Our headquarters are located in their palace, and our current interests align. They have a weak network, and we can improve it. They had no reason not to. We have already provided aid multiple times.”

 

“How can I be assured of my country's safety?”

 

“Would you rather work with or against the most powerful group in the world? You are needed now. Later you might not be.”

 

“I will need to discuss this with my advisors.” After a brief pause, the king replied, and the orb shut off. The emissary bid farewell and vacated the courtyard.

 

“He’ll join,” Nyx stated confidently.

 

“Why?” I asked.

 

“Their country isn’t strong and beastkin are infamous power chasers,” Lily replied while Nyx nodded along.

 

Now, with an alliance tentatively secured, our attention shifted back to our current agents. It was time to take a look over our first set of reports. How much have they done in the last nine days?

 

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