Jessa's secret service squad was made up primarily of [Nocturnes], who through use of [Dark Magic] served as an excellent espionage resource. While [Dark Magic] as conventionally understood had comparatively low offensive capability, its capacity for enabling covert operations, concealment, and espionage was unmatched among the other attribute magics. As such, the vast majority of the palace officials and nobles had no idea that this squad of [Nocturnes] even existed, let alone were listening in to various closed-door conversations.
Today, Jessa yet again was listening in on a Grand Duke conversing with one of the army's generals, discussing a new agreement that would see the rapid militarisation of the Grand Duke's territory in exchange for implementing mandatory conscription. Under the laws of the Empire, nobles were not to have private militias. However, their territories would be prioritised by the nation in cascading rank order should internal strife or external military action threaten them. This agreement threatened to get around this long-standing law.
By "rapid militarisation", what was really meant was an elite squad of trustworthy soldiers would be deployed to essentially become the Grand Duke's private army. By "mandatory conscription", what was really meant was that commoners would be dragged from their homes to replenish the numbers of the military. While this kind of agreement was not new in the history of the Empire, it was only recently that top nobles and top military officials made these kinds of agreements so openly and freely. In the past, nobles would send an envoy to meet with an aide of a military official, to keep things at least looking unrelated to such deals.
"It's all rotten."
Jessa mumbled under her breath, her frustration rising. Day after day, week after week, month after month, she had been listening in to all of these kinds of discussions - wealthy merchants monopolising the market through harassment tactics carried out by merchant regulatory officials; policymakers being bought out by nobles, military officials, merchants, and guild authorities alike; the colluding of the military and the nobles; the expansion of the slave trade; etc.
Yet, she had a job to do. Whenever any of these deals were sealed in paper records, she would attempt to make a copy of it. The binder sitting on her desk was already over 500 pages thick. By laying all of this groundwork, when the time came for Freya to overturn all of this corruption, she could mask her purge with legal legitimacy. She had to be patient. She had to wait.
Despite her normally cool and calm demeanour around Freya, Jessa's heart burned with anger and frustration. However, her long years of training as a combat maid and as the head of the secret service allowed her to keep her emotions in check at all times, and to focus on the bigger picture. She sighed, lamenting the inability of one person to make any significant change within a political structure that was designed to enforce these hierarchies.
Having gotten all she could have from this shift, she retired to her room. After about an hour, one of the shadows rippled into the shape of a male [Nocturne], placing himself in front of her desk.
"Jessa-sama, here are the retrieved documents for today, as well as the unofficial reports regarding the hidden deals being made."
"Ah, Martis. Thank you, you've worked hard. Tell everyone to get some rest, we've got a big job tomorrow."
"Of course, Jessa-sama. Would you be speaking of the dive?"
"What else? Nothing else urgent has come up, thankfully."
"A rare occurrence these past weeks. Hopefully Jessa-sama too might be able to take a break once tomorrow's job has been completed."
"We are needed far too much for such things as breaks, Martis."
"If we are spent, it will take us even longer to help anyone else."
Jessa paused for a moment, considering his words.
"You're right. I suppose I will bring this up with Freya-sama. She too needs a break. We may work 16 hours a day, but our dear Empress has been working 20 hours a day for the past three months."
Martis smiled wryly, picturing the sleep-deprived and determined Freya slogging through mountains of paperwork.
"If the leader does not rest, neither can the subordinates."
Concluding his words, Martis once again melted into the shadows, plunging the room into silence.
Martis was Jessa's lieutenant, a combat butler brought over from Freya's family home. The two of them had known Freya the longest, although Jessa had far more close interactions with Freya due to being a female attendant. He was fiercely dedicated and fiercely loyal, and had excellent organisational skills along with the wisdom of age. He was one of the most capable allies of the rebellion. If even Martis was advocating for them to take some kind of break, it was probably the best thing to do.
The next day, the Daceli entrance to the [Megaceris Endless Labyrinth] saw around 20 adventurers milling about. They spanned the ranks from D to A, and were brought to attention by an A-ranked adventurer who stood at the entrance facing them.
"Listen up, everyone. From now on, we're going to enter the most dangerous place on [Illrya]. Stay alert and watch out for danger. Our objective is for each of us to tame as many of the strongest monsters that we can. Keep an eye on your map, and let's all stay together! None of us are allowed to die on this expedition, you hear me?"
""""Aye aye sir!""""
A chorus of voices echoed back playfully. All of these adventurers were sympathetic to the rebellion and possessed the [Tamer] skill. Over the course of a few months, Jessa and Martis had painstakingly gathered these adventurers and requested that they dive into the [Labyrinth] in search of as many powerful monsters as they could manage to tame. The objective, of course, was to prepare for the impending civil war that would no doubt break out once the rebellion was in full swing.
It was expected that the round trip would take six months. The projected maximum depth that these adventurers would dive to would probably be around the 30s, and with getting adequate rest, stopping for breaks and meals, and stopping to subjugate and tame monsters along the way would require around three months in each direction. The [Megaceris Endless Labyrinth] was huge. With each floor measuring around 80km by 50km, it would take an estimated 2-3 days just to clear one floor. With each successive floor becoming more and more dangerous, this travel time would increase, but with A-ranked adventurers and the accompanying secret service members, it should not increase by too much.
At least, that was the hope. With well-wishing and expectations buried beneath her trepidation, Jessa bade farewell to the troupe of adventurers, turning back towards the Palace.