Chapter 112: Field Intelligence Department

Beorn walked over to Lewin.

"I’m starting a new department."

He brought it up straightforwardly. "To handle information gathering and analysis. I want reports on what’s happening in the Badlands beyond the city outskirts, what the settlements are doing, and where threats are before they reach the walls."

He locked his gaze with Lewin’s.

"I want you to run it."

Lewin did not answer immediately. Beorn could almost see him considering the offer into parts before weighting which mattered first. He come to notice Lewin always handled decisions that way, understand the idea before reacting to it.

Eventually, he asked, "What exactly is a department? Do I answer to anyone, or can I make any decisions based on my discretion."

A reasonable first question. Not whether he wanted the role nor what rank came with it. He wanted the chain of command clarified before anything else.

"A department is a branch of the seat."

Beorn explained. "It answers only to me. If the concern is military, Godric will be brought up to address the issue accordingly to what is necessary, but your rank compared to him is equal."

Lewin nodded once, a small movement. Either he accepted the hierarchy, or at least acknowledged that it made sense.

Beorn folded his arms as he spoke. "Godric gets whatever intelligence his operations require, and your department gets whatever logistical support it needs from the army. Either or, accountability exists for both sides."

Lewin considered that for a moment, then asked the next question.

"What authority do I have inside the department?"

"Absolute, I’ll only provide a base hierarchy and doctrine for it."

Beorn said. "Be it for recruitment, missions, information flow, promotions. You decide who sees the reports and how they’re moved before they reach me."

He watched Lewin carefully.

"You are responsible for the standards and results in this case."

Lewin absorbed that slowly instead of rushing toward a response. He always tested the limits of responsibility before accepting it. Beorn preferred that to enthusiasm without thought.

"And the resources available?" Lewin said.

"There’s a building near the barracks with a discreet location. It’s yours starting today."

He gestured vaguely toward the eastern side of the quarter. "The department’s operating costs come from the administrative budget. You’ll have enough to recruit a small team and run field operations into the Badlands for routine spending. If an operation exceeds the standing allocation, you come to me and we discuss it."

"How small a team?"

"Start with people you can personally vouch for."

Beorn considered it long term. "Don’t expand faster than you can guarantee reliability. Intelligence is only as worthwhile as the people responsible for it."

Lewin understood that principle better than most, that was something Beorn knew from the operations he had already conducted.

The spy house raid had used five men, all chosen after Lewin watched them during the residential district skirmishes.

The eastern settlement operation had used only three operatives under a compromised cover identity. Lewin had identified the weakness in the cover before deployment and proceeded anyway because the value of the intelligence justified the risk.

That was the difference between numbers and capability, and he understood where one stopped supporting the other.

"I need to know how much of a responsibility this is."

Lewin said after a moment. "If I decide to quit one day and the whole department is compromised, then it isn’t a department."

His gaze shifted briefly toward the barracks wall.

"It’s just a person doing a job."

Beorn had expected that concern. Lewin thought in terms of durability and systems mattered more than individuals if the work needed to continue.

"Hence why it is a formal position with written rules, protocols and a doctrine."

He paused briefly before continuing. "If you stop leading it someday, the department can simply replace you afterward. That’s why I’m offering this as an institution instead of a personal assignment."

Lewin stayed silent for several seconds.

Around them, the garrison quarter had become quieter, the soldiers taking their breaks after the ceremony award.

"All right," Lewin said. "I’ll take it."

The voice came direct, calm, with no performance to the decision.

Beorn remembered hearing that exact tone when he had first offered Lewin a guard position at the citadel. Back then Lewin was only one more person in the slums, and his name on Aestrith’s list had guaranteed nothing.

"The department’s official name is the Field Intelligence and Surveillance Department."

Beorn offered his hand for a handshake. "Your formal title is Secretary of Field Intelligence and Analysis."

Lewin accepted the title and the handshake steadily. Once a decision was made, there was no hesitation to it.

"Your first objective is the Badlands beyond Ashmark’s outskirts."

Beorn continued. "I need an accurate idea of what’s changing out there. Be them monster stampedes, fracture events near ruins, more of those abominations."

He let the list settle before continuing. "We’ve confirmed a correlation between the abominations and the ruins, which means certain regions carry higher risk than others. I need to know which sites are active and how often."

He gave that a moment before continuing again.

"The second objective is about the minor settlements."

Beorn looked toward the distant walls for a second. "I need an estimative of their population size, economic condition, stability, if they are fine by themselves in some sort of self-rule or not."

His gaze returned to Lewin, "Then I want each settlement categorized according to its likelihood of sheltering Harvin Coss into three tiers. Settlements with no prior connection, settlements with partial ties, settlements that were effectively company towns for his network. Low, medium, and high."

At last objective, "And find me a steward. One knowledgeable and trustworthy enough."

Lewin nodded faintly, that had been enough information to begin building his network.

He left the garrison ground without ceremony. By the time he reached the entrance, his attention already seemed fixed on the first steps rather than the conversation behind him.

Beorn remained where he was for a while after Lewin disappeared from sight.

He still lacked enough data to determine whether the problem was temporarily or whether something deeper in the Badlands was changing.

The ruins correlation was the only clue he had so far.

That discovery changed the idea of the threat itself, in the way now certain locations had elevated risk, and those locations extended far beyond what Ashmark’s walls could observe directly.

And somewhere inside all of it was Coss.

Still active with unknown goals, backed by a Sinbound powerful enough to force a stalemate against Aestrith inside an enclosed room. He had the hidden financial reserves Wulfric had only partially uncovered and the contacts in both the Merchant Archipelago and The Kingdom of Dunvarre.

Beorn couldn’t predict when these problems would threat him or the city again.

The army standing on this ground that day represented one answer. Lewin walking toward a new department building near the barracks represented another. The six children on the citadel represented a third.

None of those systems were complete yet.

But all of them had potential.

Beorn turned and started back toward the citadel.