The information from the Bloodkin merchant, Valerius, had been a festering secret in Elias's mind. He had withheld one crucial detail from the Sentinels: the existence of a Bloodkin infiltrator within the Aegis Legions. Now, with the Sylvan charm a subtle pulse in his pocket, Elias felt the time was right to leverage this dangerous knowledge.
Valerius's intelligence indicated the spy was a Quartermaster, a seemingly mundane but strategically vital role responsible for military supplies. This Quartermaster wasn't just observing; they were actively diverting crucial Legion supplies to the Swarm, the collective of sentient, predatory insectoids that often clashed with the Realm's borders. This was an act of profound treason, a direct threat to the Realm's security.
Exposing the Quartermaster directly, however, would inevitably reveal Elias's unauthorized deal with a prisoner – a severe breach of Bureau protocol, likely leading to his own immediate arrest. He couldn't risk it, especially with the Sutra Corps deadline looming. He needed a subtler touch, a way to instigate the exposure without implicating himself.
Elias thought of Tribune Lyra, Commander Valerius's ambitious rival, the same officer who had benefited from Elias's earlier, anonymous tip. Lyra was a stickler for Legion efficiency, utterly ruthless in her pursuit of tactical advantage and promotion. She would see any internal corruption as a direct impediment to her career.
Working late into the night, using the midnight blind spot to ensure his actions were untraceable, Elias crafted a meticulously detailed, yet entirely anonymous, report. It didn't accuse the Quartermaster directly. Instead, it presented a pattern of resource anomalies within the Quartermaster's sector: discrepancies in requisition logs, unusual depletion rates for specific materials, and minor, untraceable energy signatures consistent with stealth transports. He framed it as an "internal audit irregularity", suggesting a potential leakage in the supply chain that required immediate, discreet investigation by a high-ranking officer. He subtly highlighted how these discrepancies negatively impacted Lyra's own tactical projections for border defense.
He then used a deep-network ghost protocol to deliver the report directly to Tribune Lyra's private data-scroll, making it appear as if it had been unearthed by her own internal intelligence network.
The results were swift. Lyra, with her characteristic efficiency, initiated a quiet, internal Legion investigation. Quartermasters were powerful, but not untouchable. Within days, whispers began to circulate. The unnamed Quartermaster found himself under intense, discreet scrutiny. He was not publicly accused, but his authority waned, his requests for supplies met with increasingly skeptical questions. Lyra was closing in, dismantling his network piece by piece, driven by her own ambition and completely unaware of Elias's guiding hand.
Elias watched the Legion's internal reports, a grim satisfaction settling in his gut. He had purged a dangerous spy, neutralized a threat to the Realm, and solidified his reputation as a master of subtle manipulation – all without leaving a single traceable fingerprint.