Father (6)
"…So."
The commander rested his clasped hands atop the office desk as he spoke.
"Officially, we will conclude that while General Max did indeed order the attempt on Bones's life, the active murders of the other soldiers were committed by Colonel Samson. Bones, the one who was actually put up to it, is still alive, so his punishment will not be severe—but General Max's reputation will take a hit."
"I doubt any of the officers who were present actually believe General Max's confession was genuine. Same goes for the soldiers who heard about it."
We had failed to clear General Max's name outright.
Yet ironically, his confession had convinced everyone of his innocence.
Even when he could have dumped every charge on Bones, he had stood before them all and claimed the crime as his own. Only a real father would do something like that.
And a man like that would never have ordered his own son's death.
"What about Yosef?"
We had never found decisive proof that Yosef had ordered Colonel Samson to kill Bones and silence the rest of the team. Still, the fact that he had dispatched men the moment he heard the dead colonel might still be alive, combined with the tortured soldiers who had come forward of their own accord and confessed that they had killed Samson on Yosef's orders, made it clear enough that Yosef was behind it.
Nevertheless, publicly punishing General Max instead of Yosef was necessary—because without hard evidence, punishing Yosef would have turned the entire pro-Hayden faction against us.
And the decision to name Max as the culprit rather than Yosef had been the commander's, not mine. So when he asked me what I intended to do about Yosef, he was essentially testing me.
"Yosef's disposition is for you to decide, Father."
"Haydam."
"Yes?"
"Refrain from any private revenge."
"You think I'd go behind your back and mess with him somehow?"
"Yes."
That was… blunt.
Apparently the commander believed I was only pretending to follow orders while plotting some way to retaliate against Yosef in secret.
"I won't. If you still don't trust me, I'll stay well clear of Yosef for a while. Happy?"
"Fine……."
He still looked unconvinced.
Seriously—did he trust his own son this little?
At that moment the door to the commander's office burst open and Meursault rushed in.
"Your Excellency, it's an emergency! It seems Haydam—"
My name was the first thing out of his mouth?
"What did I do this time?"
From where I sat half-sunken into the sofa, I asked the question. Only then did Meursault notice me; his eyes went round.
"Haydam, you were here……?"
He sounded as though I had no business being present.
"How long have you been here?"
"Since morning. The whole time."
"Is that so……?"
"What is going on?"
Only when the commander asked did Meursault tear his gaze from me and answer.
"Well… General Yosef is dead."
"What?"
"Oh dear. That really is a problem."
"……."
"Why are both of you looking at me?"
"Haydam."
The commander called my name in a tone of pure rebuke. I sat up from the sofa with an expression of pure injury.
"It wasn't me. You've been watching me sit here since morning without so much as lifting a finger."
"That's true enough, but knowing you……."
Was he serious?
I turned to Meursault.
"Meursault, how exactly did General Yosef die?"
"Ah, well… even I find it a little strange. He was struck by lightning during training and killed."
The commander's brow furrowed.
"Lightning?"
"Why are you looking at me just because it was lightning?"
"Well… I thought if it was you, Haydam, you might somehow have arranged for a bolt to land right on Yosef's head."
"Don't be ridiculous."
"True… even for you, manipulating lightning itself would be a stretch."
"You're stating the obvious."
Even so, the commander continued to eye me with open suspicion for a long moment.
Honestly—both the commander and Meursault.
Their instincts were far too sharp.
No way!
Luna, curled in my arms, pummeled my chest with her tiny front paws.
Learning to control a special ability this fast is completely unfair! You're not supposed to!
"Why not?"
Because then I don't get to teach you!!
So that was it. I had thought I was picking it up faster than expected.
Maybe she had exaggerated how hard it was just because she wanted to be the one to teach me. A perfectly reasonable suspicion.
From the day Luna first told me I had gained a special ability, I had practiced controlling it every single day.
That had, admittedly, left the people of the zone a little shaken, but by now I could drop lightning even on a distant training ground with ease.
Of course, to land a bolt precisely on someone's head, they still had to be within my line of sight. In Yosef's case, the spot from which he always supervised training never changed, so I had been able to hit him from far away.
Truthfully, I had only been aiming for the general area near his head…
But given the eyewitness accounts of the bolt striking him dead-center on the crown, I supposed it counted as a little divine punishment as well.
It's an enormous power, but…
I probably wouldn't be able to use it repeatedly.
Even so, if people kept dying by lightning inside a single zone, questions would start getting asked.
Yosef really had gotten my precious soldiers killed—but the commander would never tolerate me carrying out a personal vendetta.
By the way, Luna was moved.
"I thought you hated that name."
A father stepping forward and claiming to be the culprit for his son's sake! So admirable. Family is such a wonderful thing!
As if.
This whole affair had only reached a Solomon ending because General Max happened to be a decent man.
If he had not stepped forward in Bones's place right then, Yosef and Max would have been equally rotten in my eyes, and I would have been prepared to punish both of their sons.
There were not many people who would claim to be the culprit for an adopted son—or even a blood son—in a situation like that.
Maybe that was simply the bias of someone raised by less-than-stellar parents.
So I could not agree with Luna's declaration that family was wonderful.
There was no need to say as much to this little creature, though.
If Luna really was the true Haydam, then I was the one who had stolen his family.
If Luna Moon truly is my mother… then this little guy really would be my older brother.
The thought made me hope even harder that Luna Moon was not my mother.
But don't you want to see your dad?
Luna's sudden question made me tilt my head slightly.
"I just saw him a minute ago."
Not Hayden! Your dad from the other world!
"Ah… not particularly."
Of course I had a father.
After Mother abandoned me, he was the one who had raised me all this time.
But he probably isn't my real father.
He had never abused me.
If anything, he had been so kind it was almost creepy.
Even as a child, though, I could tell he had absolutely no interest in me.
Sometime during my teenage years I once asked him to take me to my real father. The man had laughed as though he had just heard the most amusing story.
—Unfortunately, there is no other father.
Whether that meant he truly was my biological father, or that my real father was already dead, I still did not know.
Somehow I had become too afraid to ask further.
You don't want to see him? But he's your dad.
"He probably doesn't particularly want to see me either. He might not even have noticed I'm gone."
Meow… so even family can not want to see each other.
Watching Luna's ears droop, I belatedly added,
"Commander Hayden must have wanted to see Haydam terribly. I heard he searched for ten whole years."
Really?! Wait—no, that has nothing to do with me!
Sure it doesn't.
"Haydam, so this is where you were."
While I was bickering with Luna, Bones and Lucas opened the door and came in.
These two were still living at the commander's residence, apparently.
"Huh? Is that a cat?"
Even after Bones and Lucas entered, I made no attempt to hide Luna.
I could not keep her trapped inside the ring forever, and she was bound to be discovered sooner or later.
Luna likewise neither fled nor hid; she simply nestled in my arms and gazed up at the two of them with clear blue eyes.
"I've never seen that cat before."
"Me neither. She's even cuter than the pictures."
"Is this the cat you were looking for in the hospital room?"
Ah—right. When I woke up in the ward I had asked Bones whether he had seen a cat.
He still remembered that.
Bones might be emotionally fragile, but the kid was sharp.
I offered a casual excuse.
"Yeah. She must have stowed away in the rescue team's gear."
"Quite the clever little thing."
At this point these two would probably believe me even if I told them Platon was my son.
Luna stretched her jaws in a long yawn, then curled up on my lap and began to doze. Bones and Lucas, despite their size, squatted beside the bed and spent a long while simply staring at her.
…Exactly how long did these brats plan to stay in my room?
"If you've finished looking, how about stating your actual business?"
"Oh—right. She was so cute I completely forgot……."
Moments like this made it painfully clear they were still only eighteen.
Lucas cleared his throat a few times, looking embarrassed at having been so distracted by a cat, then spoke with formal politeness.
"We… came to express our gratitude to you, Haydam."
"Out of nowhere?"
"You've already heard that the bastard Yosef got struck by lightning and croaked, right?"
Don't tell me these two also thought I killed him and came to thank me for it.
When I eyed them uneasily, Bones scratched the back of his head and said,
"Seeing that bastard get divine punishment made my heart lurch. In the end he's the one who got smote, but if His Excellency hadn't believed General Max was innocent… I would've been pissed as hell."
Fortunately they did not seem to suspect me. I nodded lightly, and Bones continued.
"There wasn't a shred of evidence that General Max was innocent. The fact that everyone—myself included—could accept deep down that he was guiltless is entirely thanks to you, Haydam. Thank you."
"Is that something to thank me for?"
I genuinely did not understand why Bones was grateful, so I asked again.
"In the end, the one who got punished is your father. Yosef dying was pure accident. You say everyone now knows your father is innocent, but that only applies to the officers who were actually there. Ordinary soldiers have no idea what really happened. Your father will go down in the records as the worst kind of man—someone who ordered his adopted son's death and dragged a bunch of innocent soldiers into it. We handled it that way because it was advantageous for me. And you still want to thank me?"
"Yes. Even so, thank you, Haydam."
"……."
Bones looked at me without the slightest waver.
Lucas glanced between the two of us, then carefully interjected.
"I likewise remain grateful, Haydam. You seem to think there is no reason for thanks because you failed to clear General Max's name. But we understand. If word had not gone out that General Max was the one punished, Bones and I would have found it difficult to return to the military. Because ordinary soldiers do not know the truth, they are actually sympathizing with us."
"I didn't even think that far when I acted."
"Which is exactly why we are still grateful."
"Just accept the thanks already."
"……."
It looked as though they would refuse to leave until I accepted, so I reluctantly nodded.
When I did, Bones grinned in satisfaction.
"If you ever need anything, just say the word. We'll pay back what we owe with our bodies."
"The same goes for me. If there is anything at all I can do to help, I will gladly do it."
So now I had two more people besides Platon saying things like that to me.
Even if they offered, there wasn't much these two could actually help me with…
"Ah."
"What is it?"
"I just thought of something you can help with."
"Perfect timing. What is it?"
"Please feel free to tell us whatever we need to do."
"You'll really help with anything?"
"Of course. For you, Haydam, we would gladly—Bones, same for you, right?"
"…No, the way Haydam just said that is suddenly making me really fucking nervous."
Bones's instincts really were sharp.
"Ultimately it's for the good of the zone, so quit panicking."
"What the hell are you about to order us to do that you need to scare us first?"
I smiled brightly at the two of them.
"I'm going to make my father get divorced."
"………Excuse me?"