Klad stared at the tall and muscular military official, he supposed that the man was probably around his sixties, which surprised him that even though he was somewhat old he still looked in great shape.
Sadly the white hair betrayed the illusion of youth that his well-trained body gave.
"I want to fight for my country, sir" Klad couldn't care less about the fate of the country, and yet he lied without any second thought.
The man, clearly not amused by Klad's remark, stared at him for some seconds before finally speaking.
"This is not something to take lightly kid. I've seen many young men just like you die on the battleground."
'Well that's not very helpful, is it? Besides why does everyone keep calling me a kid? I'm sixteen for god's sake! Besides, it's not like I want this either. You damned old man! This was the best idea you could give me!'
"I know, sir. But I can't sleep at night knowing how those northern bastards are waiting for a chance to attack us! What if they come after us next time? I can't let that happen."
"Kid, we haven't had a war with the Kyjas since the foundation of the Empire, they are one of the only allies the Empire have."
"R—Right. But you never know right? T—Thats right! I'm sure they kept their appearances so they could stab us in the back!"
"This is not a joke kid. Will you tell the real reason why you are trying to enlist? Or should I arrest you for lying to a military officer?"
Klad spun his head upwards towards the officer at the other side of the table, staring at his brown eyes.
"…Fine. Let's say, I'm a very curious person. I have some questions I would love to get an answer, and everyone seems very… reluctant of answering them."
"You tried to join the army in order to satisfy your curiosity?" The officer stood up and turned towards the door.
"I know some stuff that you might me dying to hear though." The man stopped dead on his tracks and turned towards Klad, staring back at him.
"What?" He shrugged "You seem like a reasonable man. I assume your superiors wouldn't mind some information regarding the last casino incident."
The officer frowned, seemingly stunned by Klad's proposition.
"What?! You dare blackmail me?"
"Woah! Who said anything about blackmail? I'm just offering a friendly exchange between peers."
"We are not peers. And I won't share any government information with you. I swore my loyalty to the Sacred Empire and I'm not going to betray it for some scoundrel. I came here because I didn't want to see a poor young soul going willingly to die on a battlefield. But to think that I was almost swindled by you."
"Fine by me." He placed his legs above the table "But I'm reeeeally sure they would at least give you a fine promotion for this information. You swore loyalty to them and that got you, where exactly? You are a low-ranking official, they have you stationed here, in a city in the middle of nowhere on top of a literal mountain, where the most and least interesting business happening here is mining coal."
"So what? I'm sure they must have had their reasons to put me here."
'Right. He is that kind of individual, isn't he? You don't want to get back at them? Fine, I can work with that.'
"So then you don't have to see it that way. You can think of me as your personal spy."
"My spy?"
"Exactly. I will investigate for you the undergrounds of this city and provide you with excellent information regarding their whereabouts and plans. All I ask you in exchange is to answer me a couple of simple and harmless questions."
The official went back to his chair and sat, crossing his arms.
"So, what's stopping me from declaring you a traitor right now thus allowing me extract the information out of you with magic?"
'Crap. He is basically saying that he can torture the information out of me without any repercussions.'
"Of course you could. But then how could you know all of their deep little secrets? I don't know much, haven't stuck my tongue deep enough, as for I had no reason."
"So you are saying that this questions of yours are worth enough to risk getting caught by them? Our magical extractions tools are massaging devices in comparison of what they use."
"What? Can you blame a man for being curious?"
"Being curious does not usually involve risking your life."
"You haven't been curious enough then."
"Fine. Let's have it your way. But I will state my conditions first. I will not answer anything regarding military secrets, that being position of troops, their numbers, providing maps, the position of —"
"Relax old man. I have a very set of questions I want to ask, so you tell me before if you answer them or not."
"Fine. You will be working under me as an external covert agent. You will have no authority, no position, no nothing. If you dare lie to me or leak any data I give to you, you and your parents will be charged with high treason. You answer to me and only me, is that clear?"
"Seems right to me. Should we set this on paper then?"
"You are a covert agent. That would defeat its purpose."
"Right. So can I ask my first question then?"
"You can ask it. The answer, though, might depend on what you tell me regarding last night incident."
"Great. So please tell me, what does it mean to be a Cursed?"