In the Principality of Jagus there are those who are called <>.

It is not a religious term, but rather a literal meaning of <>.

In layman's terms, they are the elite who were educated from an early age to be gifted and talented.

Incidentally, this system started about 50 years ago.

First, they are taken in by a state institution at an early age.

Orphaned children, or those who wish to be orphaned (by their parents), are taken out of the family name at that point and are addressed only by their first names.

Until the age of 10, the children are in the basic education program, where they learn Japanese, arithmetic, geography, science, and a wide variety of other subjects (you can guess the contents).

At the same time, absolute loyalty to the principality and the king is drilled into them.

At the age of 10, the first selection is made according to the results of the previous years.

Those with the best grades are placed in a higher level of education as candidates for the executive branch.

Those with intermediate grades become high-level bureaucrats.

Those with low grades are placed in the general staff.

Dropouts are unknown at ....... They are not documented.

And there are exceptions who showed special talents.

Some became cooks in the royal castle, others became servants of the royal family.

Others become .......

* * * *

Special Investigator 99, here we come.

Mm.

Miki Amerin, the director of the Information Agency, nodded her head in an exultant tone.

You know what you're supposed to do, don't you?

I have it in writing.

"Good. Did you destroy the documents?

Of course I did. I burned them.

Good. Any questions?

Just one question.

Say it.

Thank you. ...... Is this really that important?"

Miki Amerin thought for a few seconds about how to answer this question,

"You'll have to judge for yourself."

He gave the usual answer, "See for yourself.

"Well, I'll leave you to it."

"I look forward to ............ results."

Miki Amerin gave her junior a kind look for a moment, but soon returned to her usual stern gaze and sent Special Investigator 99 on his way.

* * * *

"......< or ......"

For the 99, the name was nothing more than a legend of the past.

He is said to be a magician of unusual magic.

He is said to be accompanied by countless golems.

He has an invincible automata girl as his follower.

Says .......

We believe that all of this is an exaggeration, a hyperbole, as is often the case in legends.

The 99 is a super-elite selected from an elite group.

His physical skills, knowledge, and judgment are among the best in the principality. Of course, they are also loyal to .......

And being the elite, they also know about the , and some of the best have been lent golems made by the group.

"Let's go, Golem."

>

Golem 99 did not give names to the Golems under his command, but simply called them <>.

When asked if it was confusing with other golems, he answered, "No. 99 is a golem.　The question was asked,

"Other golems that have their own masters have their own names, so you can distinguish them from my golem," he said nonchalantly.

He once said, "Each of the other master golems will have its own name, so I can distinguish it from my golem.

The 99 disguised himself as a merchant and headed for the town of Hamsus in the Principality of Norway.

The route is less than 200 kilometers in a straight line, so it takes only two days to cross the Maise Plain.

Since horses were used for transportation, they were able to cross the border in such a short time.

Once in the Principality of Norway, the goods were carried on the backs of horses.

The main products are . Mainly pepper. This is part of the goods they obtained by holding (fake) Elena hostage and blackmailing the <.

Of course, they are disguised as imported goods from Mitsuho and other places. The quality of the product is of the highest quality, so there is no problem.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

First, we went to the town of Crossus, north of the town of Hamsus.

There, an intelligence agent sent by the Duchy of Jags lives there.

He has been living there for two generations and continues to act as a citizen of the Principality of Norway.

In Japanese parlance, they are "yo-shinobi. It means a shinobi who hides in the midst of the enemy while keeping a low profile.

The 99th decided to use it as a base of operations.

The local name is Escher Seewoon.

The local name is Escher Seewoong, a middle-aged intelligence officer who runs a general store in the town of Krossus.

He has a local wife but no children.

He has a good reputation in the neighborhood and he and his wife do not get along well.

...... was the information that No.99 had obtained from his friends in advance.

"Hello."

First of all, No.99 visits their house with a .

"Oh, welcome.

Do you have any, uh, imuka?

It won't arrive until <99> days later.

This is a kind of code word. <> is Escher's hometown, and <<99>> is, of course, the number 99.

It implies that both parties know each other.

"So, do you have a <>?"

"Yes, <<35 tall>>.

This is also a code word.

So far, we have 90% proof that we are friends with each other.

And the final confirmation is.

"Mister Alt-Elvine, isn't it?"

This is the alias of the 99th member.

Yes, it's been 25 years.

Twenty-five years, that's how long it's been since Escher Sehn was sent here.

In other words, by showing that they have information about each other, they have proven that they are friends.

Please, come in.

Sorry to disturb you.

And so, in 99, Alt-Elbein had a base of operations.