An Unexpected Guest
An Unexpected Guest
Having told Selvia and Rembador that he would cooperate to the best of his ability, Daniel chatted with them a little longer before leaving the Imperial Palace and returning to the Central Security Office.
Sitting down in the Chief of Public Security's office at the Central Security Office, Daniel stared blankly ahead.
'The Empire had been developing a nuclear weapon...'
That was a fact impossible to know in the game.
Because before the Empire could even develop nukes, the Allied Nations had won and the ending had rolled.
On top of that, the Empire in the game had not enjoyed the same financial abundance as the current Empire.
They had barely been able to hold the front lines, so funding research for scientists had been out of the question.
'But history has changed.'
Just as Selvia had said, thanks to Daniel, the Empire had seized staggering economic gains.
After all, he had brought the Kingdom of Eldreshia—which should have been occupied at an enormous cost—to its knees in a single negotiation and extracted a colossal war indemnity from it.
The war bonds that had sold like hotcakes after his total war speech had played their part as well, and because Bellanos had effectively been turned into an ally, the Empire had gained not only the recruitment of talented individuals but also financial backing.
It had not been his intention, but the fact was that Daniel Steiner had been slowly but surely altering the fate of the Empire.
'If we can endure the three-front war... and if the Empire can develop nukes before the Allied Nations do...'
The Empire would win the war and be reborn as the one and only hegemonic power.
That fact had shifted Daniel's thinking, if only slightly.
'...There's a chance of victory.'
Of course, the extremely difficult premise remained that they would have to withstand the offensives of the Allied Nations, the Federal States, and the Republic all while nuclear development was still underway.
Still, the mere fact that a foothold for a turnaround had appeared was good news to Daniel.
'I can't get out of this anymore.'
Dishonorable discharge had been his last escape route, but since Selvia had refused to permit it, there was now no way out.
On top of that, as if the Emergency Security Chief position hadn't been enough, he had now gone and established himself as a key executive of the Vargov Project while receiving Selvia's boundless trust.
This meant he would be jointly overseeing a top-secret matter that only a handful of people within the Empire even knew about.
'How will future historians evaluate me...'
He was already getting a headache over what kind of misunderstandings might arise, but that was not what mattered right now.
'Everything only has meaning if the Empire wins.'
If the Empire failed to hold out in the three-front war and was defeated, what meaning would nuclear development have?
The only thing that had changed was that hope had appeared; the fact that the Empire was at a disadvantage remained unchanged.
'You dumb bastard. Why the hell did you apply to the military academy...'
When a recruiting officer had been dispatched to the orphanage, he had been blinded by money and volunteered for military service—something he was regretting in more ways than one.
'I was definitely planning to just fulfill my mandatory service period, get discharged, and then use the money I'd saved to open a bakery or something...'
By the time he came to his senses, he had not only become the youngest colonel in history but had also received medals—three of them—that most people struggled to receive even once in their entire military careers.
Just as he was looking back at his past, wondering how on earth things had spiraled this far, a knock sounded.
Clearing his head, Daniel looked toward the door and spoke.
"Come in."
As soon as he spoke, the door swung open and Lucy entered.
"Chief of Public Security."
Lucy offered a salute with an expressionless face.
Once Daniel had half-heartedly returned it, Lucy lowered her hand and got straight to the point.
"Someone has arrived who wishes to speak with you, Chief of Public Security, so I've come to report it."
"At this hour? Who is it?"
"It is Count Ophilo Argentar, who runs an art auction company."
Count Ophilo, then.
Thinking that a noble who had finally taken the bait had come calling, Daniel spoke.
"Show him in. Since he came all this way in person, I can hardly turn him away at the door."
"Understood."
Lucy gave a slight bow of her head and exited the office.
A few small-voiced exchanges were heard from outside, and soon a middle-aged man opened the door and entered the Chief of Public Security's office.
He was a man with a well-groomed beard that looked as though it received daily care.
Ophilo, who gazed at Daniel with oddly drowsy eyes, gave a slight bow of his head.
Daniel responded in kind.
"Count Ophilo."
Smiling, Daniel pointed to the chair opposite him.
For Ophilo, it was displeasing that Daniel—who was nothing more than an orphan by birth—did not rise from his seat to greet him, but he was in no position to complain.
Because in the current Empire, defying Daniel Steiner, the Emergency Security Chief, was tantamount to disobeying the Emperor's command.
Ophilo walked over and sat in the chair, and Daniel placed his hands on the desk with a faint smile.
"Have you eaten? If Your Lordship doesn't mind, I'd like to share a meal while we talk."
"...I did not come here to accept hospitality, so I must decline."
"I see. In that case, what is the reason you came to see me?"
Daniel had asked about his intentions, but Ophilo had no intention of playing along so easily.
That was because the reason Ophilo had come here was not to inform on his comrades.
'Do you think I don't know what you're up to, Colonel Daniel Steiner.'
He had recently heard that the editor-in-chief of the Imperial Daily had been dismissed from his post after a conversation with Daniel Steiner—a relatively light punishment.
Afterward, among the nobles who had confirmed that the Security Bureau Chief had cast a vote in favor of establishing the National Security Surveillance Bureau, all sorts of talk had circulated.
The representative claim was that 'dealing with Daniel Steiner might allow one to avoid punishment.'
But Ophilo alone was different.
He had caught on that Daniel had deliberately caused a rift within the surviving Noble Union.
Thinking he could not afford to be caught in the bastard's hunt, Ophilo had secretly summoned the Union and then volunteered to extract information from Daniel himself.
His reasoning was that unless Daniel Steiner had actually learned about the Noble Union from Duke Belvar, there was no need for them to grow anxious.
'If he knew who the members of the Noble Union were, he would have acted immediately. He wouldn't just be passing time quietly in the Chief of Public Security's office like a hunter who has set a trap.'
That would mean Duke Belvar had not divulged information about the Noble Union to Daniel Steiner after all.
It was only natural, when you considered it.
Because the moment Belvar betrayed the Union, the nobles would not sit idly by.
Even if only to have their own sentences reduced, it was obvious they would make a torrent of statements detrimental to the House of Duke Belvar.
And if, in the process, the locations of his family members were to be discovered, everything would come to nothing—so Belvar was in a situation where he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.
This meant that the one whose feet were currently held to the fire might not be the Noble Union, but Daniel Steiner.
Ophilo spoke.
"I merely... asked for this meeting in the hope that you, Chief of Public Security, would catch the collaborators lurking within the Empire as quickly as possible. I was also curious about the state of the traitor Duke Belvar."
Daniel gave no answer.
Wearing an inscrutable smile, he merely tapped the desk with his index finger—tok, tok.
Amid an atmosphere charged with an indefinable sense of pressure, Daniel shrugged his shoulders once.
"I cannot tell you that. It is a classified matter."
From Daniel's words, Ophilo could be certain.
'As I thought, he hasn't managed to extract information from Duke Belvar.'
If he had extracted even the slightest bit of information, he would have tried to negotiate right then and there.
His doubts resolved, Ophilo smiled back at him.
"I see. I have committed a discourtesy. Then let us save the meal for another time, and I think it best I take my leave for today. I came here because my patriotism was running high, but now that I've actually arrived, I feel as though I am only intruding."
Daniel, who had been staring blankly at Ophilo chuckling, rose from his seat.
"Understood. Then allow me to see you out."
*
After exchanging casual remarks with Daniel and stepping outside the Central Security Office, Ophilo could see that it was raining.
"Ah. It's raining. Good thing I brought an umbrella. Though the rain is rather heavy."
Daniel, who had been looking at the same scene, nodded in agreement.
"Summer must be on its way. To see rain this heavy already."
"Summer, indeed. Just thinking about sleepless nights because of mosquitoes is already exhausting."
"Quite right. Mosquitoes are a problem. As creatures that grow by sucking blood, they offer no help whatsoever to humanity. And they are dumb things, besides."
Daniel turned to look at Ophilo.
"Because they don't even realize that if they suck too much blood, they'll burst and die on the hand of an angry human."
Somehow, it sounded like words aimed at the Noble Union, and Ophilo felt a chill run through him.
But Ophilo quickly collected himself.
'Duke Belvar is a man who cherishes his family terribly. Unless Daniel Steiner captures Duke Belvar's family, he would never divulge information about the Noble Union.'
He had to judge rationally, and not let himself be swept up in the atmosphere Daniel Steiner was exuding.
Steeling himself, Ophilo smiled thinly and untied the strap of his umbrella.
"I suspect humans are equally dumb. I've heard that humans have limits when it comes to tracking small, fast-moving objects. Also, a mosquito's flight does not follow a consistent trajectory. That perhaps is why we struggle so much to catch them."
Having returned Daniel's remark, Ophilo opened his umbrella.
"I sincerely hope you, too, watch out for mosquitoes, Chief of Public Security. The bloodsuckers may be few in number now, but come summer, they will grow their ranks once more."
Having delivered what was a veiled threat, Ophilo started to step away from the Central Security Office—but stopped short.
Because a group of people, entire families in tow, were pouring in through the entrance of the Central Security Office.
"Ah. Urgh..."
They were all clearly dressed in fine clothes, yet their appearance was haggard.
Without a single umbrella among them, walking through the rain, they slowly approached Daniel.
When they had drawn close enough, the man at their vanguard dropped to his knees before Daniel.
"Colonel Daniel Steiner. I am sorry. Truly, I am so sorry...!"
The man who said this, sobbing, placed his hands on the ground and bowed his head.
"To have declared I would seek asylum was my arrogance! Yes! I have now come to understand that I cannot run from you, Colonel! And I deeply regret having tried to flee from my responsibilities! I will cooperate with anything you command! So please, I beg you, show the slightest mercy to my family!"
As he observed the man prostrating himself and crying out, Ophilo's face turned ashen.
'That is...'
It was Peremilla, Duke Belvar's eldest son.
The others were also Duke Belvar's sons and their families.
'H-how is this...'
Did this mean Daniel Steiner had secured Duke Belvar's family a long time ago?
'Then why has he spent all this time unilaterally torturing Duke Belvar as if he held no meaningful cards, while simultaneously trying to fracture the Noble Union from within?'
If he had used them, extracting every last member of the Noble Union from Duke Belvar would have been an exceedingly simple matter.
'And yet, the reason he did not publicize the fact that he had captured Duke Belvar's family...'
This was no different from having toyed with Duke Belvar and the Noble Union.
To Duke Belvar, the hope that his family was safe.
To the Noble Union, the hope that they might survive unscathed.
Daniel Steiner had planned everything in order to hand them that hope and then utterly shatter it.
'Is this man truly human?'
Seeing Daniel as a demon wearing human skin, Ophilo dropped his umbrella.
Daniel shot a sidelong glance at Ophilo, whose face had gone pale, and then coldly looked down at Peremilla, who lay flat on the ground begging for his life.
Sswaaa─
As the sound of the rain intensified, the silence stretched on.
'What the hell...'
Apart from what Ophilo was thinking, Daniel simply could not understand this situation at all.
'Why the hell are you people here?'
It was no joke—he truly had absolutely no idea what was going on.