Published: July 3, 2025
"Mr. Graham, here are today's documents."
"Ah, thank you for your hard work."
Ryo successfully completed his job today as well.
So, after this, it would be his private time.
"Mr. Graham, about yesterday's matter..."
"Yes, I was planning to inform you. I have set aside time this morning, so let’s go over it."
In response to Ryo's question, Cardinal Graham replied and instructed him to sit on the reception set.
Soon, fragrant coffee was served.
It was probably coffee produced in the dark continent.
"Let me tell you what I've found out. The one monitoring Ryo-san was a subordinate of Cardinal Adolfito."
"Oh, I see."
Graham explained, but of course, Ryo had almost no knowledge of the church, so he had no idea who Cardinal Adolfito was.
"Cardinal Adolfito is said to be the most skilled in behind-the-scenes manipulation among the twelve cardinals."
"Behind-the-scenes manipulation..."
Ryo frowned at Graham's grand explanation.
It seemed he had attracted the attention of a troublesome person.
"It seems that Ryo-san was aware that he was being monitored in three shifts of eight hours each, but their intent does not appear to be to cause harm. Instead, they aimed to probe my relationship with you. Their main objective seems to have been to investigate whether information within the Holy See was leaking to external parties... not to the delegation, but rather to a potential enemy nation like the Republic. The fact that Ryo-san had just returned from the Republic seems to be the reason for this."
"Oh, I see..."
Ryo found Graham's explanation very convincing.
If a man who had just returned from a Republic that had opened hostilities was entering and exiting the Holy See every day... indeed, it felt only natural for someone well-versed in covert operations to be suspicious.
"So, that Cardinal Adolfito is a good person acting for the church’s benefit, right?"
"I can't definitively say he's a good person, but this surveillance itself might be for the church and France's benefit... that much is certainly true."
Graham responded with a wry smile to Ryo's somewhat naive impression.
A nation cannot survive on just lofty ideals.
"Of course, if there’s evidence that Ryo-san is leaking information to the Republic or others, it seems they received orders to eliminate him discreetly."
"I retract my previous statement. He's not a good person at all!"
With the additional information from Graham, Ryo reversed his earlier statement.
Not a good person, but rather a very bad one.
Ryo's life is the most important thing to him.
"However, they mentioned something concerning."
"Something concerning?"
"Yes. They, the subordinates of Adolfito, are primarily focused on monitoring Ryo-san, but they occasionally see other watchers present."
"Huh?"
"One group is monitoring the alliance delegation. The other is monitoring the kingdom's officials."
"While the alliance is one thing, our officials…"
Ryo frowned at Graham's explanation and shook his head slightly.
If the officials became targets for those skilled in assassination, they would likely lose their lives easily.
"Which official from the kingdom are they monitoring?"
"Probably Gladys Aldis, the negotiation officer from the Ministry of Military Affairs."
"Oh... she's the most important official related to the military."
Ryo knew about her.
Well, to be precise, he didn’t know her personally, but he was familiar with the military official who was her bodyguard...
Due to that connection, he knew about Gladys Aldis as well.
"What exactly are they monitoring Gladys for? Oh, and who ordered the surveillance on her and the alliance delegation?"
"Archbishop Goon. I'm not very familiar with him, but it seems he is a close subordinate of Cardinal Camilo. Therefore, it is highly likely that Cardinal Camilo is behind this. Cardinal Camilo is, simply put, the second most skilled in behind-the-scenes manipulation after Cardinal Adolfito."
"Are there many cardinals skilled in behind-the-scenes manipulation...?"
Ryo expressed his rather extreme thoughts on Graham's explanation.