Myths Reawakened

Rupert raised the document to show everyone the undeniable evidence. Clearly, both Scumbag Sr. and Scumbag Jr. were Franc spies. The Lando family had betrayed the Queen and didn’t deserve to be members of the Tulip Families.

Yvette, the moderator, didn’t review the document. Instead, she turned to Auston for his explanation.

“There’s nothing to say since the case involves important matters I cannot explain openly. Mr. Wilson must have failed to find out,” Auston drawled, fiddling with his antique silver coin. “Mr. Wilson did a good job in collecting intel, which must have taken you quite a lot of effort. However, you shouldn’t have displayed the document, especially not during such an important meeting.”

“Auston, are you going to talk your way out of even this?” snapped Rupert.

Auston shrugged and turned to one of the seats—the representative didn’t attend in person, so he would be speaking through the crystal ball.

“Mr. Fleming, please explain to Mr. Wilson. You are most qualified to speak on whether the information can be disclosed.”

The man on the other side of the crystal ball said soothingly after a moment of silence, “Rupert, Mr. Lando is right. You shouldn’t have disclosed the information. It puts me in a difficult position.”

Rupert’s expression darkened. He lowered the document and sat back down, conceding without a fight.

Fleming spoke up through the crystal ball, “Mr. Wayne is Windsorian and is eligible to become the Lando family heir. His personal information has been deleted by the intelligence agencies, so what you can find out about him is all false. I’ve reported the details to Her Majesty. If you have any doubt, you’re welcome to pose the question to Her Majesty.”

That silenced the room. No one made any objections.

Wayne’s eyes widened. He wondered who the bigshot was that he had not only commanded the room and silenced all representatives of the Tulip Families, but also convinced the Queen and whitewashed a Franc spy into Windsor’s asset. Moreover, Auston’s unwavering composure made it clear that he had come prepared.

Wayne had thought that the Ministry of Magic was full of scumbags, but there was always a bigger fish in scumminess. The scumbags of the Tulip Families exceeded the standards and openly sold out their nation—no, their Queen!

Confused, Wayne glanced at Auston’s calm face, planning to ask for an explanation later.

“Representatives, Auston Lando recommended Wayne to be the Lando heir. Do you have any other objections?” Yvette asked with a smile.

After she repeated the questions three times without anyone speaking up, the voting began. As expected, the representatives were not in favor of Wayne becoming the heir of the Lando family. Out of the thirteen votes, four were in support, seven were against, and two chose abstention.

Among the fourteen Tulip Families, thirteen had participated. The one missing was the Patino family. The reason was simple: before Obed became Obed Windsor, he had been Obed Patino.

According to the standard procedure, in case of a failed vote, the Queen would have the final say. If she said yes, Wayne would be the heir, and if she said no, he would receive no recognition.

Yvette took out the letter the Queen had personally penned in a dramatic manner and cleared her throat before reading her decree. The long, meandering speech was mostly empty words save for the final line: Her Majesty the Queen recognized Wayne’s competence and his undeniable contribution to Windsor, thus approving of his appointment as the Lando family heir. And he would be awarded an order of chivalry for the Kingdom of Windsor.

After the meeting, the attendants each took their leave. Among the few representatives, Yvette, the moderator, left after congratulating Auston on getting what he wanted. Rupert had attended the meeting to stir up trouble for Auston, but since things didn’t go his way, he offered congratulations with a smile like nothing had happened.

Such was the way of mature politicians. They could act as if what had happened had not happened, and they could adopt a new persona as easily as flipping a switch. Just because there was bad blood between two people didn’t mean that they would stay that way.

Barney hadn’t attended the meeting to make things difficult for Auston. He simply found Auston annoying and voted in support to taunt the ‘father and son’. He was satisfied with the result. He looked forward to the incestual union of Auston’s children and the brain-dead grandchild they would produce in a few months. It would be even better if said grandchild turned out deformed, too.

He wouldn’t miss any chance to jeer at Auston.

Forest, the tobacco businessman, had attended for an unknown reason. Perhaps he came for the entertainment because his secretary had done eighty percent of his job, but he didn’t fancy doing his secretary to pass the time.

Wayne followed Auston to the Minister’s personal office building to receive his award.

“Auston, who is Mr. Fleming, and how much did you pay to secure his cooperation?”

“Cumming Fleming[1]. Most of his family members are in the military, and they have established their authority in the field. I didn’t bribe him. He volunteered to vouch for you.”

When Wayne looked so genuinely confused even though he shouldn’t be, Auston huffed and said, “You had always been Windsor’s intelligence agent, sent to Franc to be a spy, but then they recruited you into their intelligence agency and sent you back to Londan.”

“Huh?!”

That only made Wayne more lost. Although it was a possibility, it was so noble a backstory that he was more convinced that Auston and Fleming had made an under-the-table deal.

“I know everything about your history, so stop pretending.” Auston scowled. He had investigated Wayne three times. The first time, he outsourced the work and found nothing. The second time, he bought his way to the information and found out that Wayne was a Francan spy. The third time... he dug so deeply and thoroughly that the Windsor intelligence agency in charge of Wayne had to stop him.

There were multiple intelligence agencies in Windsor, each playing different roles. The most well-known ones were the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service, and the Government Communications Headquarters. They were known as the trident that led the country’s intelligence community.

The Security Service was commonly known as MI5, short for Military Intelligence, Section 5. The Secret Intelligence Service was MI6, short for Military Intelligence, Section 6. It didn’t enjoy that much prestige at the moment and was responsible for many aspects of intelligence work, mostly clandestine in nature. The Government Communications Headquarters was equally morally questionable, specializing in wiretapping and surveillance of personal mail.

The Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, was the one that sought out Auston. One of its subordinate departments had once established joint initiatives with the Ministry of Magic, formulating ‘Operation: Sleeper Agents’.

As the name would suggest, the spies carrying out the mission were known as ‘deep sleepers’. With their memory wiped, they were sent to a foreign nation, their memory reactivated when necessary so that they could risk themselves for the Queen.

Unfortunately, Wayne didn’t get to fulfil his duty since Franc had repackaged him and sent him back to Londan.

Confused by what was happening to him, MI6 asked the handler to seek out Wayne and awaken his memory in advance to verify if the operation had been compromised. After confirming that it was only a coincidence, the handler worked Wayne hard, sending false information to Franc through him.

Later...

On a dark, moonless night, a magical girl in a black robe visited Wayne’s Detective Agency with a hunk and a cat.

“Your memory has long been awakened, but you kept playing dumb and even fooled me into...” Thinking of Lily Haworth, Auston pulled a long face. No wonder the little pervert was able to resist the temptation. They were colleagues who knew everything about each other. Of course the plan would fail.

If he had put more effort into his investigation rather than believing what he had discovered through outsourcing work, he would have found enough justification to take out Scumbag Jr.

Wayne hissed repeatedly in shock. Auston scoffed and said, “You managed to seize the chance to learn magic and tried to break out of the agency’s control, sending your handler to prison thrice. The agency is quite dissatisfied with you!”

∑(O_O;)

The handler I’ve sent to prison thrice... What, the mustachioed man?

Holy, he’s not my handler from Franc, but from Windsor?

Wayne covered his chest and had a 0.25-second condolence for the man, having gone through an emotional rollercoaster and reaching wonderful news at its destination.

Although Windsor and Franc were both terrible, and Windsor was even more advanced in their scumminess, Franc was too much of a meme nation. He was relieved that he wasn’t a citizen of the nation of quick surrenders.

Suddenly, the disjointed pieces of memory in his head fell into place. The dark enclosed room, the lamp, and the beating weren’t part of his intelligence training in Franc, but in Windsor, while his numerous espionage skills came from the Francan intelligence agency that had recruited him. They even assigned him a stunning female partner.

Thus, the original Wayne hadn’t lost his way because he saw the truth of the world, but because the reawakening of his memory left him at a loss as to which nation to be loyal to. He chose to do nothing in the end.

Wayne figured out the whole story. And...

Well, nothing. What did the original Wayne have to do with him? Outside of sharing a name, they had nothing in common. A superstar might share a name with a nobody, but it didn’t mean that they shared the same fate[2].

Now that he knew he wasn’t a Francan spy, Wayne was able to keep his back straight. He was a hero shedding blood and sweat for his nation, fully deserving an order of chivalry.

Auston scoffed again without glancing back. “Don’t get ahead of yourself just yet. Given your double identities, the intelligence agencies will never take their eyes off you. Moreover, since you’ve become the heir of one of the Tulip Families, both the intelligence agencies of Windsor and Franc would be making moves on you. A war is breaking out soon. You should think about how you’re getting yourself out of the mess!”

“I’m already the heir of a Tulip Family. Why would I continue to be a spy? I haven’t even gotten paid. Is there any reason for me to risk my life?” Wayne spread his hands. He trusted that Auston would take care of everything.

Auston had nothing to say but repeat, “A war is coming!”

Once the state apparatus revved up for the coming war, everyone would be caught in the waves, especially the Tulip Families. An individual couldn’t just untangle themselves because they wished to.

1. Likely a reference to Mansfield Smith-Cumming and Ian Fleming. The former was the first chief of the Secret Intelligence Service of Britain, and Ian Fleming was a former member of Britain’s Naval Intelligence Division and the author of the James Bond series. ☜

2. The original is literally translated as ’Just like what’s his name—right, Dehua. Someone with that name is a superstar, while another is Zhu Bajie.’ is a reference to Andy Lau, a famous Hong Kong actor and singer. His first name is 德华 (de-hua) in Mandarin, the same as a gaming streamer Lv Dehua. While Andy Lau is a superstar (tian-wang), Lv Dehua is just known to some people for playing Zhu Bajie, also known as Marshal Tianpeng, in the game Honor of Kings. As the reference is way too obscure, I’ve gone for a generalized translation. ☜