Kidnapping(?)
At that very hour, while the military academy graduation ceremony was in full swing—
“…….”
Darling Outsider sat facing Anton across a single tea table, the atmosphere thick with awkwardness.
His hair and clothes were a complete mess, yet Anton had not laid a hand on him.
When Darling Outsider first received a leave pass and headed for the Slums, he had been met by burly men in black.
“Get in. He’s waiting for you.”
Naturally assuming Haydam had summoned him, he thought nothing of it even as they blindfolded him inside the car. Only after they relocated and the blindfold came off did he see Anton sitting opposite him—and he freaked out completely, raising a huge ruckus.
Like a cat with its fur standing on end, he fled to a corner shouting for them to stay back and swung a chair around. Anton finally managed to calm him enough to sit him down, then asked with a thoroughly exhausted look on his face:
“Why are you so terrified?”
Darling Outsider hesitated a beat before answering in a tiny, fading voice.
“I thought I was going to be tortured…”
“You’ve been reading too many novels.”
At that, Darling Outsider offered an awkward smile.
Not novels—I’ve just played a lot of games. This place is usually the background for torture scenes.
Come to think of it, this secret location had only started being used as a torture chamber after the player was appointed commander.
When I was doing the walkthrough I always wondered who set up these secret spots. So it was Anton all along.
Anyone would have trembled just like him if the first place they saw after removing the blindfold was the very spot where they used to torture NPCs while playing the game, Darling Outsider reasoned.
“You could have just said you only called me to talk.”
“I did say that.”
“Actually, I’m not very good at English.”
It was the sort of line that would have earned him a “Is that something to brag about?” from Haydam, but Anton looked intrigued instead.
“A refreshing answer.”
“Refreshing, you say? Where are we going?”
“I’ve only seen someone your age recently—Haydam. And Haydam… speaks well, doesn’t he? Not like a child his age.”
“Not just well—he’s like a venomous snake.”
Anton let out a short laugh at that.
Did he really just call me to talk?
Seeing that Anton truly seemed to have no intention of harming him, Darling Outsider breathed an inward sigh of relief.
Anton the general—one of the Cola Area NPCs.
In truth, Darling Outsider knew almost nothing about this particular NPC. He only knew him as the one who committed suicide after the player poisoned Daphne, following her in death.
This old man kidnapped me because of Haydam, I bet…
From the way he didn’t seem inclined to treat him roughly, it looked like there was something he wanted to ask. No sooner had the thought formed than Anton suddenly inquired:
“How long have you known Haydam?”
How long have I known him…?
Why ask that of all things? Did something change depending on how long he’d known Haydam? Should he boast about knowing him since the Slums days? Or was he supposed to testify about Haydam’s childhood?
Hmm…
Darling Outsider tried to use his head a bit the way Haydam would, then quickly gave up and decided to answer honestly.
Even if I clumsily try to imitate Dopamine Addict, it won’t do any good. I don’t know how to play psychological games.
Besides, answering truthfully seemed like the fastest way to end this thin-ice one-on-one situation.
Because—
“I’ve known Haydam for about… three months?”
In reality, the time he had known Haydam since possessing the game was only three months. Claiming they had known each other since the Slums days would have required inventing a mountain of stories. Sticking to the truth meant he didn’t have to invent anything at all—and it would be easy enough to prove.
Naturally, Anton’s expression twisted. He had clearly been hoping they were longtime acquaintances.
“Three months… you say?”
“When I came to enlist, Haydam filled out the enlistment application for me since I couldn’t write. That’s when we first met… Why?”
“…….”
From the look in Anton’s eyes, he didn’t believe a word.
“Your enlistment application listed you as from the Slums. If you were from the same Slums, wouldn’t you have known Haydam?”
“I just told you. Haydam filled out the paperwork.”
“So you’re saying Haydam just put ‘from the Slums’ as a placeholder? Then where are you really from?”
Faced with Anton’s successive questions, Darling Outsider answered with complete confidence.
“I don’t know.”
“…You don’t know?”
“I have no memories from before I was ten. That’s why I couldn’t write. And why I’m still not good at English. It’s not because I’m stupid.”
“…….”
Anton didn’t look as though he believed a single sentence Darling Outsider had just uttered. Then again, even Darling Outsider himself wouldn’t have believed those words. No one would buy such a convenient setup as having no memories until right before meeting Haydam.
“But you put a name on the enlistment application as well as a place of origin. Don’t tell me you made that up too?”
“How did you know? Haydam made that up for me too.”
“…Are you telling me to believe that Haydam named a person ‘Darling Outsider’?”
“Hey, shouldn’t I be the one getting mad about that? I’m the one who has to live with that name!”
When Darling Outsider snapped back in genuine indignation, Anton leaned against the chair back with a look of utter disbelief.
“So Haydam doesn’t dote on you for nothing. I was wondering what he saw in you to keep you close… I almost fell for that naive little kid act of yours.”
“…….”
It’s not an act…
But denying it here wouldn’t make Anton believe him, so Darling Outsider kept quiet.
“Fine… Let’s say you’ve known Haydam for three months. You’re often summoned by him. When you go to the commander’s residence, what do you mainly do?”
Perhaps thinking Darling Outsider wasn’t being cooperative, Anton started openly prying into what he did with Haydam.
“Special training, perhaps? Or does he give you orders?”
“Uh…”
Darling Outsider decided to answer this one truthfully as well.
“We mostly eat stuff.”
“…You do what?”
“Cookies… Ah, and combat rations too. He tells me to try this and that, so I eat this and that.”
It wasn’t a lie—whenever he met with Haydam, he was busy eating things to test his abilities.
Anton retorted sharply, looking slightly irritated.
“Are you mocking me?”
“No, but is it that strange for a couple of ten-year-olds to get together and eat snacks?”
“It is strange! That Haydam would summon you just to eat snacks!”
As Anton’s voice rose uncharacteristically, Darling Outsider shrank back a little, then steeled himself and asked:
“Why do you want to know so badly what I do with Haydam? How are you going to handle it if Haydam finds out about this?”
“…….”
Anton stared at him for a moment, then spoke in a calmer voice, as if he’d composed himself.
“Haydam said he would make my son his adjutant.”
“…What? Platon?”
When his son’s name came out of Darling Outsider’s mouth without the slightest hesitation, Anton’s eyes narrowed.
“So you already know about my son too. You must have shared a great many stories while eating snacks with Haydam?”
“He never told me Platon would be the adjutant. Is he really making Platon his adjutant? Did you confirm that properly? Knowing Haydam, he’d scam someone with an adjutant position and then some.”
“…Weren’t you Haydam’s friend?”
Anton asked with a sour look at words that seemed even less trusting of Haydam than his own. Darling Outsider was pretty flustered himself right now.
He’d assumed the adjutant position would naturally go to him.
If he gives the adjutant position to Platon… then what about me?
Anton’s voice continued into the ears of the now-serious Darling Outsider.
“…But the truth is, I don’t trust Haydam that much either. That’s why I called you. I can’t decide whether my son should trust Haydam or not.”
“Umm…”
Doesn’t seem like a lie…
At first he had thought that since Anton was the leader of the pro-Daphne faction, he had naturally called him to uncover Haydam’s weaknesses. But if Haydam had offered the adjutant position to Platon, then Anton wouldn’t have any reason to oppose Haydam.
“Do you understand now? We’re going to be in the same boat. So stop holding back and tell me honestly. How long have you known Haydam? Is he someone we can trust?”
Darling Outsider felt that Anton was asking this with a certain amount of sincerity, but that didn’t change anything.
“W-well, I’ve really only known him for three months, and he’s not exactly trustworthy.”
At that answer, Anton’s expression turned cold for a moment.
“Even after I’ve said all this, you’re still going to keep acting? You’re quite cautious.”
It wasn’t caution or anything—he’d just been telling the truth.
While Darling Outsider was feeling awkward, Anton spoke with an unreadable face.
“If you really can’t trust me… then I’ll tell you one of my secrets.”
“A secret?”
“In truth, I have a daughter I’ve kept hidden.”
“You have a daughter?!”
Even Darling Outsider, a veteran of the Safe Zone, was hearing this for the first time.
Anton having a daughter…
A sudden thought flashed through his mind, and he asked in a shocked voice.
“So Daphne was your daughter after all?!”
In that instant, Anton’s face twisted.
“Daphne ‘was’?”
“Was Lady Daphne your daughter?”
“I say I’ll tell you a secret and you start writing some trashy soap opera. You really should stop reading novels.”
“…….”
There had been a popular theory among players that since he remained loyal to Daphne even after the previous commander’s death, and even followed her in death when she was poisoned, he must actually be Daphne’s real father. But from Anton’s expression, that didn’t seem to be the case.
Anton cleanly ignored Darling Outsider’s soap-opera story and pulled a photo from his coat, holding it out.
“Here’s a photo. Care to take a look?”
I’m not sure why he’s suddenly talking about a hidden daughter… but this might be something even Dopamine Addict doesn’t know, so better take a look.
Darling Outsider took the photo Anton offered. Looking at it, he saw a black-haired Asian woman who looked nothing like Anton—a young woman with a mole under her eye.
“…Huh?”
As Darling Outsider took the photo and tilted his head in confusion, a faint smile appeared on Anton’s lips.