Spy Classroom - Volume 1 - Chapter 1.1

Hint: To Play after pausing the player, use this button

Add to favorites

Chapter 1

Coercion

The world was awash in pain.

The war was simply called the Great War, a conflict on a scale never before seen, and it had left the world with bitter pain and unhealed scars. The Galgad Empire’s surrender had marked the end of the bloodshed, but even the victorious nations had lost tens of millions of their people. In a very real sense, it was a war with no true winners.

The Great War was also particular in that the majority of its casualties were civilians.

Gone was the era of bows and swords. This was the era of scientific progress, and the lethality of a single weapon put everything from olden times to shame. Submachine guns, poison gas, fighter jets, land mines… To put it frankly, it had become too easy to kill people. In the war’s final stages, when both sides had completely lost perspective, countless indiscriminate massacres had been carried out. Most of those targeted had been women and children with no means of defending themselves.

After seeing what the war had wrought, the world’s politicians came to a realization.

From a cost-benefit standpoint, war simply was not a feasible option.

And at the end of the day, it was only one of many possible measures they could take to resolve a conflict.

If they could achieve their ends through other means, then why not just do that?

There was no need to go to war over the right to drill for petroleum in a hostile nation. It was far more efficient to get that nation’s politicians to just sign a treaty allowing it, and there was no shortage of ways that could be achieved. They could kidnap their families, they could bribe them with money and asylum, or they could have women seduce them and gain control of them that way. And if a politician was getting in their way, they could fabricate scandals to remove them from office or simply assassinate them. Either would be far more efficient than starting a war that would cost millions of lives.

Even if peace was just a pretense, that was good enough.

In the wake of the Great War, the nations of the world signed various peace treaties and established an international organization dedicated to maintaining order around the globe. At that organization’s first summit, leaders from all across the world got together and shook hands while smiling radiantly.

That marked the end of wars fought in the light.

Now spies and information were the currency of conflict—of shadow wars.

The Din Republic was one of the countries that had suffered in the Great War.

It was a rural nation, one that would have been perfectly happy staying out of the fray entirely. After being left behind by the rapid advances of the industrial revolution, the Din Republic continued dutifully producing high-quality agricultural crops. It didn’t have the military to expand itself through colonial rule, and it lacked the natural resources to invite foreign aggression. But the Galgad Empire had world domination in its sights, and Din had suffered countless casualties simply by virtue of sharing a border with an imperialist power.

After the war ended, little changed with regard to the Din Republic’s pacifist national policies, but the country also began investing resources into spy education, hoping to turn the tides in the shadow war.

A decade later, there were spy training schools scattered across the nation.

Hundreds of headhunters scoured the country for promising children to send off to such institutions. From there, they whittled down the students’ ranks mercilessly. In their eyes, nothing was worse than an incompetent spy. Every training academy held four grueling exams a year, and after each, the class would shrink. The graduation exams were so harsh that students even died taking them. And yet…

“Wait, I’m graduating? And I don’t even have to take the exam? Hooraaaaay!”

…on that day, an exception was born.

The academy principal looked at the girl she’d called to her office and let out a large sigh.

“It’s a provisional graduation. Not a graduation.”

“But it means I can work as a full-fledged spy, right? Wow, and to think I was on the verge of flunking!”

“Yes, well…”

The principal examined the papers again, wondering why in the world the girl had been chosen.

Her alias was Lily, and she was seventeen years old. She did well on written tests and possessed an unusual physical idiosyncrasy, but her practical exam results were downright disastrous. She would make one huge blunder after another, then squeak in just over the passing line each time. Her homeroom teacher had been almost positive she would flunk out in her next exam.

The principal gave Lily another once-over. Perhaps she’d been picked for her looks alone. After all, she had luscious silver hair, an adorable baby face, and a voluptuous chest noticeable even beneath her clothes. Seventeen was obviously too young, but there were plenty of men who preferred girls her age. Maybe she had been chosen to lure men in and tempt them—in other words, as a honey trap.

“…Are you any good at seduction?”

“Huh? What? Whaaaaat? No way! I’m terrible with dirty stuff!”

“That’s a pretty glaring weakness for a female spy…”

“Look, I don’t know what you want me to say. Wait, you’re not telling me that this mission I’m going on is…”

“I’m not.”

Lily laid her hand on her chest in relief. “Oh, thank goodness.”

The principal heaved another sigh.

Did they really know what they were getting into when they picked this girl?

“I’m not telling you that because I don’t actually know the particulars.” The principal glowered at Lily. “Do you know what an Impossible Mission is?”

Lily covered her mouth with her hand. “Uh, that’s what they call a mission where somebody’s already failed at it once, right?”

“That’s right.” The principal snapped her fingers. “An Impossible Mission is one that either has already been unsuccessfully attempted by another spy or soldier or is so difficult to begin with that it’s been deemed impossible to complete.”

“’Kay…”

“Now, I’m told they’re putting together a team that specializes in these Impossible Missions.”

“Huh?” Lily’s eyes went wide.

The principal nodded in agreement. She thought it was just as unreasonable as Lily probably did.

When someone failed a mission, the difficulty of completing it on the second try went through the roof. Not only would the target be more wary, but any methods used the first time around would no longer be viable. And that wasn’t even getting into all the information the failed attempt probably leaked.

Stay far away from Impossible Missions. In their world, that was just basic common sense.

Having a team that specialized in them was completely unheard-of.

“It’s called Lamplight—and it’s the team you’ve been assigned to.”

Lily’s expression froze.

The principal lowered her voice as she continued. “I’m going to be blunt here. You definitely have potential. You’re exceptionally attractive, you have a useful ability inherent to your body, and you take your classes seriously. Your future holds promise.”

“Hee-hee, it’s been a while since anyone complimented me like that.”

“But to put it another way, that’s all you have going for you.”

“…”

“The academy’s official stance is that you’re a washout on the verge of flunking. One of your teachers, a skilled educator who has nothing against you personally, deemed you ‘unqualified to be a spy.’ Personally, I find it difficult to imagine you accomplishing any of these hyper-difficult missions. Even for top-class operatives, less than one in ten Impossible Missions end in success, and they have a mortality rate of over ninety percent.”

“Ninety percent…?”

“After hearing that, do you still want to join Lamplight?”

The principal’s fears were well-founded. After all, Lily was a gigantic klutz.

In her test one month ago, she dropped her gun right in front of her target.

In her test four months ago, she got lost in the streets and only barely finished her objective on time.

And in her test seven months ago, she took the cipher she stole and accidentally flushed it down the toilet.

Each time, she had only passed by the narrowest of margins.

The principal felt a pang of guilt. Weren’t they just sending this girl to her death?

“…You’re saying that for my sake, aren’t you?” Lily looked down. “Ha-ha; that’s what makes it hurt so much to hear. Like a great big weight crushing my heart…”

“I don’t want to see one of my students die.”

However, that decision wasn’t the principal’s to make. Lily’s assignment had come from a higher authority than the academy.

However, if Lily herself refused to go, then maybe, just maybe—

“I’ll do it. I’ll join Lamplight. And I swear I won’t run away.” The girl threw out her chest with pride. “Code name Flower Garden, ready to deploy and not afraid to die!”

Her eyes burned with resolve.

If that’s true, thought the principal, then I guess this will have to do.

“Juuust kidding. I’m super-afraid of dying. ♪”

Lily stuck out her tongue.

She was at her dorm’s incinerator and cheerfully talking to herself. She tossed her personal effects into the furnace one after another, slowly but surely eliminating any trace that she had ever been enrolled there. As she watched the smoke rise over the mountain on which the academy was situated, she let out a proud ahem.

“It’s basic deduction. If someone’s assembling an elite team to take on Impossible Missions, then it’s gonna be comprised of the best of the best. And that actually makes it safer than a regular old team. I’ve got it made! Man, I guess there’s no point hiding talent as magnificent as mine. Heh, looks like game really does recognize game.”

It was a well-known fact among the other students, but Lily’s personality was really quite something.

Unconcerned by the principal’s fears, she continued disposing of her things with nothing on her mind but glee at her provisional graduation.

I’m gonna be on an elite team!

Plus, the pay is awesome!

Just thinking about it had Lily downright ecstatic. “Whoo-hoo! Good-bye forever, childhood!” she cried as she tossed her old notebooks and test sheets into the fire. She had lived in the same dorm room for the past eight years, so there was quite a bit to get rid of.

Just as she was preparing to empty the last of her garbage can, a sheet of paper inside caught her eye.

“Considering how much potential she shows and how low our current student count is, we’ve decided to pass her.”

It was a report card, stuffed away in the very bottom of the bin.

She ripped it up without a word and tossed it into the incinerator.

All in all, there were ten forms that essentially said the same thing, and she did the same for each of them.

She had so much potential. That was the word they kept using to describe her. She was blessed with natural talents, and that was what had allowed her to remain at the academy for as long as she had. But when exactly were those talents supposed to bloom?

How many years of mediocrity would she have to suffer?

How many times would she have to endure the disdain of others?

“Screw that. I’m gonna do this.” Lily was determined to burn away all the anguish the academy had put her through. “This lily’s gonna join that elite team and come into full bloom there. See you never, alma mater!”

After cleaning out her dorm room, she immediately left. Sadly, she didn’t have time to say good-bye to her classmates. When they saw her empty room, they would no doubt all come to the same conclusion. Ah, they’d say, looks like the numbskull finally flunked out.

Lily boarded an unfamiliar bus, then transferred to an overnight train.

The next day, she arrived in a port city—the third largest metropolis in the Din Republic. Between its proximity to the capital and its harbor serving as a gateway to the rest of the world, the city was bustling and prosperous. When Lily got off the train, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh of amazement at the tightly packed lines of brickwork buildings.

She then set off down the road, sidestepping newsies and flower sellers as she headed to the specified establishment.

Her destination was a two-story building sandwiched between a watch store and a paint shop that sat on a road packed with white-collar workers coming and going. The sign outside read GARMOUTH SEMINARY, and there was a man smoking inside at what looked to be the front desk. Lily summoned her courage, then went in. “I’m the wonderful new transfer student,” she declared.

The man gave her a short look, then gestured farther inside with his thumb. “In the back.”

Ooh, this totally feels like spy stuff, Lily silently cooed.

On paper, Lily’s cover was that she was a student at a fictitious seminary school. She’d even been sent a uniform and all the proper ID.

The room the receptionist had directed her to was a storeroom filled with piles of wooden crates. Upon sliding them aside, she discovered a stairway leading to an underground passage. The passage didn’t have much in the way of light, but after following it for a short while, she reached an aboveground clearing.

And in the center, there was a massive manor.

In fact, the word manor hardly even seemed adequate. It was practically a palace, like the kind that nobles lived in.

Lily stared at it with her mouth agape.

How had she failed to notice something so ginormous? The answer to that lay in the city’s buildings. They were so compressed that they were essentially ramparts completely blocking the manor from view. There were probably people who’d lived in the city their whole lives who didn’t even realize it existed.

So this is where the Lamplight members are… Lily swallowed. Well, for an elite team that takes on Impossible Missions, their base definitely looks the part.

Who knew what sorts of geniuses she would find inside?

Lily would be lying if she said she wasn’t a bit scared, but more than anything, she hoped they were just as outstanding as she expected them to be. After all, she was counting on them to help awaken whatever talents she had hidden inside her.

She tried to suppress her heart’s rapid thumping as she opened the manor’s front door.

“Code name Flower Garden, at your service!”

As she did, she gave a bold, decidedly un-spy-like introduction.

Now, come on out, elites! Let’s see what we’re working with!

She looked inside, her eyes gleaming with nervousness and hope.

“Huh…?”

Then she cocked her head to the side.

In the foyer, there were six girls about the same age as her.

Laden with bags and suitcases, the young women turned to look at the new guest. It appeared they had just arrived as well, and all were wearing uniforms identical to the one Lily had been given.

One of the gaggle, a girl with short white hair, gave her a glare.

“Hey. You.”

She had a commanding presence and keen, confident eyes. Her gaze was so pointed it felt like a knife. Between that and her lean, toned figure, she was really quite intimidating.

“What were your grades like?”

“Uh…does anyone know where all the Lamplight members are?”

“Answer the question. And no bullshit.”

Whoa, what’s with this sudden interrogation? Am I being tested?

Under the weight of the girl’s menacing gaze, Lily reflexively blurted out the truth. “W-well, to be honest, I was pretty close to failing my—”

The rest of her answer was cut off by the ominous tolling of a clock filling the foyer.

There was a grandfather clock installed right in front of them, loud enough to reverberate through the whole manor.

When Lily looked, she discovered that it was six o’clock—the time she’d been instructed to arrive.

“Magnificent.”

The seven girls looked up as one.

None of them had noticed when, but a suited figure had appeared atop the central staircase in the middle of the foyer.

At first glance, the person’s fair complexion and shoulder-length hair suggested a woman, but upon further inspection of the slender frame devoid of any excess fat, it was just barely possible to identify the figure as a man—and a beautiful man at that.

However, the girls quickly realized that such beauty was the result of a systematic removal of anything wasteful or unnecessary, and there was something unsettling both about that fact and his expressionless, almost frozen-looking face. That said, as long as he did something about his hair, he’d be able to seamlessly disappear into any crowd in the city.

For some reason, though, his suit was stained a dark red. As if he’d just finished murdering someone.

“Welcome to Heat Haze Palace. I’m Klaus, the boss here at Lamplight.”

Apparently, that was the name of this building.

The man continued his explanation from atop the stairs. “I’m glad to see you all made it. Myself and the seven of you make up the full ranks of Lamplight, and together, our job is to take on an Impossible Mission.”

“Say what?” Lily replied.

“The mission begins in one month. Until then, I had planned to thoroughly train you, but…I imagine you’re all tired from your journeys. We’ll leave the training for tomorrow, and you can take today to get to know one another.”

Klaus twirled around and headed back into the manor.

In his wake, he left a dumbfounded silence.

Sorry, what did he just say?

Was Lamplight really just one guy and a bunch of young girls?

Did they really have only one month until the Impossible Mission?