Tell Me?
Tell Me?
Sereveil, having judged that resisting Daniel could backfire, lowered his eyes and fell silent.
His demeanor was little different from waving a white flag, and the council members' faces darkened with defeat.
Amid the heavy atmosphere, as everyone was gauging each other's reactions, one of the council members raised his voice.
"Are you doing this to pass the National Crisis Unification Law right now?!"
When Daniel turned to look, the council member hesitated for a moment but did not back down.
"I had been thinking something was strange, what with the committee review being unusually fast and then the bill proceeding straight to a plenary session! But now I think I understand! Brigadier General Daniel Steiner! You were the one planning everything behind the scenes!"
Despite the council member's harsh rebuke, Daniel did not waver.
Rather, he merely stared at the council member with a sharp gaze.
"I apologize, but I am merely following His Majesty the Emperor's orders. Please cease such preposterous slander."
"...You mean to say His Majesty the Emperor intends to cast us out? That is impossible!"
"Impossible, you say. Why are you so certain of that?"
Daniel slowly stepped toward the council member.
"Councilman Kendrep. May I make a prediction?"
The pupils of Kendrep, whose name had been called, trembled once.
"I looked into it, and you first received a bribe from a corporation three years ago. On the condition that you represent that company's interests. At the time, Councilman Kendrep, even as you took the money, you must have suffered from guilt and anxiety in a corner of your heart."
The distance between him and Daniel Steiner was steadily narrowing.
"However, as time passed, your confidence swelled. Why? Because the Security Bureau never came to investigate, and the world was turning as usual. No one had held you, Councilman Kendrep, to account. And so, you came to think this."
Daniel, having stopped at close range, looked down at Kendrep.
"Wouldn't it be fine to keep accepting bribes going forward?"
Daniel's eyes as he looked down at Kendrep held a kind of disgust.
"Emboldened, you continued to accept bribes from multiple sources and represent their interests. So much so that you received bribes on three occasions just recently. You even took dirty money from a criminal organization. All without knowing that His Majesty the Emperor was watching."
When Kendrep failed to reply, Daniel let out a sigh and raised his head.
"The same goes for the other council members. If there is anyone here who wishes to claim their innocence, please step forward. If you are truly innocent, I will personally apologize and help you leave this place."
Daniel continued in a fierce tone.
"However, if you claim innocence and it differs from what I know, you had better be prepared. For in that moment, I will ensure you can never again hold your head high in the Empire."
None of the council members who received this threat stepped forward.
They knew as well.
That they had been committing crimes both large and small under the name of council members.
Since they had all committed crimes regardless of severity, no one dared to readily come forward.
From the start, because they had been accepting money on the pretext of representing others' interests at the party level, the council members were entangled with one another like a spider's web.
Daniel, who had been watching the council members trembling like frightened mice, turned to the superintendent with pity.
"They have admitted to their crimes. Arrest all of them and have them escorted without delay."
"Understood!"
The superintendent, who had saluted Daniel, shouted to the police officers arrayed around them.
"From this moment, we are commencing arrest procedures for all individuals! Move quickly!"
Hearing the order, the police officers pulled out handcuffs and approached the council members.
Thinking there was no escape, the council members resigned themselves and accepted reality.
As the police handcuffed the council members' wrists, Daniel approached Sereveil.
This was because the person who should have been present, as he had expected, was not visible.
"Party leader. Where is Prince Arno?"
Sereveil's shoulders flinched.
"Why are you asking me that...?"
"I came knowing everything, so you would do well not to think of making excuses. Surely you do not intend to add to your crimes here?"
Sereveil, who had been hemming and hawing, let out a low breath.
"...I do not know precisely myself. All I know is that he left for the Old Town with a single attendant, saying he had a way to reverse the situation."
The Old Town?
"For what purpose did he go to the Old Town?"
"I told you, I do not know. Prince Arno never properly told me his plans, even under normal circumstances. No, he is a person who doesn't make plans at all in the first place."
"Is that everything you know?"
"Do you think I've lived being only deceived?! Do you think I would lie in this situation? What possible benefit would there be?"
Come to think of it, with the evidence clear and the police having detained him, his future was practically nonexistent.
Adding lies here would only aggravate his crimes, so it was safe to assume it was the truth.
Thinking that things had gotten a bit troublesome, Daniel clicked his tongue and looked back at the superintendent.
"Superintendent. Contact the Security Bureau Director and relay the order to deploy all available personnel to the Old Town. I shall report to His Majesty the Emperor separately."
"...To the Old Town, you say?"
"Yes."
Daniel, having brushed the dust from his clothes, narrowed his eyes.
"For it seems Prince Arno is begging for us to find him."
*
Upon hearing Daniel's order, the Security Bureau Director immediately deployed Security Bureau personnel to the Old Town.
Emperor Selvia, having also heard Daniel's report and deeming finding Arno a matter of the utmost urgency, issued a search order to the Military Police Corps.
It was around a day after the military police had raided the Old Town in such fashion.
─ This is Wraith. During a sweep of Sector 8 in the Old Town, confirmed screams from the collapsed western zone. Location appears to be inside the cathedral. Estimated distance roughly 50 meters. Holding position. Awaiting instructions.
Daniel, who was walking nearby, heard the report coming through his portable radio.
'A scream, then.'
Since the Old Town, which was practically a ruin, was mainly inhabited by criminals or the homeless, hearing screams was one of its common daily occurrences.
But hearing a scream at a time when the military police had stormed in and were conducting a large-scale search was patently unusual.
Because the criminals and homeless would be warier than anyone else of being discovered by the military police and suffering an unforeseen incident.
It defied common sense that people who would be desperate to avoid the military police and hide would openly scream.
'Of course, not everything in the world flows according to common sense... but.'
Thinking there was no harm in confirming, Daniel picked up the radio and pressed the transmit button.
"Surround the cathedral. I will go there myself."
*
When Daniel arrived at the cathedral leading his escort troops, the Military Police Corps personnel saluted.
"Brigadier General Daniel Steiner. You have arrived, sir."
They seemed very tense, perhaps because they had not expected to see a general at the scene.
Daniel, having accepted the platoon leader's salute, gazed indifferently at the cathedral.
It was a cathedral covered in vines and moss, as if it had been neglected for a long time.
"Is this the place? Where the scream was heard, that is."
"That is correct."
"Any personnel who left the cathedral?"
"None. Because we completely surrounded the vicinity of the cathedral the moment we heard the order."
"Good. Then let us proceed to breach it now."
The platoon leader, nodding his head, looked around at the nearby soldiers and gestured.
Then the soldiers kicked down the cathedral door and entered inside.
Daniel also entered the cathedral through the opened door.
However, before he had taken even a few steps, he was forced to stop in place.
"Ahh."
Amid the dim light filtering through the stained glass, the man sitting in front of the pulpit raised his head.
The man with blond hair and blue eyes was smiling, covered in blood.
"You came?"
Before him lay the corpse of an attendant, dead with his whole body hacked to pieces.
It was impossible to grasp just what had happened.
While Daniel remained silent, Arno raised a hand and scratched his head.
"I don't get why you're looking at me with those eyes. You must have killed quite a few people on the battlefield too, haven't you? Ah. Maybe you're wondering why this bastard died? If that's the case, there's no reason I can't tell you."
Arno tossed the dagger he was holding onto the attendant's corpse and spoke.
"I clearly told him not to eavesdrop, but he was secretly listening. When I opened the basement door, this bastard fell over, you see? So I killed him. Because the piece of shit didn't understand what he was told properly."
Disgust welled up instinctively at Arno, who spoke as if he had killed an animal rather than a person.
"Your Highness, the fact that someone did not listen to you does not constitute justification for murder."
At Daniel's words, Arno let out a low laugh.
"If you hear the information I've uncovered, you'll more than understand why I killed this bastard. This is a truth that would be troublesome if it got out to the world, you see."
Arno, suddenly composing his laughter, wore a fishy smile.
"How about it? Don't you want to hear it?"