Now I Understand
Now I Understand
As soon as morning came the next day, Daniel immediately sprang into action.
Through an unofficial channel, he informed General Headquarters that 'there might be a traitor within the division collaborating with the enemy,' detailing the ambush the reconnaissance unit had suffered.
Immediately afterward, he summoned the intelligence staff officer, Pelf, to the division commander's office.
Upon explaining the circumstances, Pelf could not hide his bewilderment and asked.
"...You're saying there's a traitor inside the division leaking information to the enemy?"
"I'm not certain. But based on the circumstances, the probability is high."
"By circumstances, you mean..."
Pelf, who had been deep in thought, nodded.
"You are correct, Division Commander. The fact that the enemy was waiting for our reconnaissance in force unit, trenches already dug, is suspicious in many ways. We must strengthen information security within the unit."
"Indeed. And in relation to that, I have a favor to ask of you."
"A favor, sir?"
Having closed the document he was reading, Daniel looked at Pelf.
"Can you investigate the commanders and staff officers at each level? If there is a traitor, they will be among them."
"...Understood. However, it will not be easy to quickly find out who betrayed us. They would have clearly been in contact with the Republic for a long period, so hiding secrets would be easy for them."
"That doesn't matter. The purpose is to restrict their activities by letting them know I am suspicious."
Pelf bowed his head.
"Understood. Then from this moment, the investigation will..."
Before Pelf could finish his sentence, the sound of knocking came.
Daniel called out, the door opened, and Lucy entered.
She looked slightly flustered.
Just as he wondered why she was acting like that, Lucy took a deep breath and spoke.
"Division Commander. It's an emergency. It seems you need to come out right now."
"An emergency?"
"The Armored Reconnaissance Battalion commander..."
A low, suppressed breath spat out an uncomfortable truth.
"...has been murdered."
*
Upon hearing the news that the battalion commander had been murdered, Daniel went straight to the scene.
The soldiers standing guard in front of the field tent saw Daniel and briefly bowed their heads.
"Division Commander."
"You should go inside, sir."
Daniel nodded to the soldiers who had cleared the way and stepped inside the tent.
He was greeted by the sight of the Armored Reconnaissance Battalion commander, collapsed with his throat cut.
The smell of blood was overwhelming, but Daniel examined the corpse without any change of expression.
"The wound is clean. This was done by someone accustomed to this kind of work. Is that a mug nearby?"
Kneeling on one knee, Daniel picked up the mug and checked the inside.
"Traces of coffee. He was drinking coffee just before being murdered? Was it someone he knew? Or perhaps his throat was cut before he could even notice..."
Having raised several possibilities, Daniel then grabbed the jaw joint of the battalion commander.
He tried to open the mouth, but the stiffened body resisted.
"Rigor mortis. That means it's been at least half a day since his death."
That meant the perpetrator had committed the crime under the cover of dawn.
"No matter how early the dawn..."
Given that they had infiltrated this deep, committed murder, and then leisurely slipped away, it didn't appear to be an intrusion from the outside.
"It seems the murderer is inside."
After finishing his deductions, Daniel got up and looked at the lieutenant standing near the corpse.
"Was it you? The first witness?"
The lieutenant nodded, an expression of unmistakable tension on his face.
"Yes, sir. I came to report as usual, and as you can see..."
Daniel, watching the lieutenant hesitate, let out a sigh.
It was because the lieutenant didn't seem to know anything else.
Daniel, who had fallen silent as a headache developed, suddenly turned to look at Pelf.
"Intelligence Staff Officer. Seal off the scene and report this to General Headquarters immediately. Also, as troop morale may decline, external mention of this must be thoroughly controlled. Do you understand?"
"...Understood."
After hearing the reply, Daniel patted Pelf on the shoulder and went outside alone.
He then let out a low breath, lost in contemplation.
Daniel, who had been watching the chill escaping through his lips in a daze, raised his hand.
As he slowly opened his clenched fist, a single strand of light brown hair revealed itself.
It was the hair he had retrieved when he grabbed the battalion commander's jaw under the pretense of checking for rigor mortis.
'Frien...'
As emotions he had never felt before rose within him, Daniel clenched his fist tightly once more.
'I can't jump to conclusions. So...'
He needed to find out for certain whether Frien was truly the culprit.
*
Late evening, inside the field tent of Engineering Staff Officer Rodel.
"Huh? You have something to talk about with me?"
Rodel blinked blankly.
It was because the medical officer, Frien, had suddenly appeared at his tent.
His puzzlement evident, Rodel scratched his neck and nodded.
"For me, it would be an honor to talk with our Saintess. But what is it about? You wouldn't come to an old man like me for dating advice, would you?"
"Ahaha. Old? Major Rodel, you're in your prime."
"Wow. I thought our Saintess only had a pretty face, but your heart is truly of the finest quality, too. If you come at me like this, I have to concede. I'll listen to whatever you say, so tell me. What brings you here?"
Frien gave a faint smile.
"Ah. It's nothing major. I just have something to give you."
"To me? Are you giving me a present or something?"
"Of course. Just a moment. I had it right here..."
Frien opened the bag she had brought and fumbled through an inner pocket.
"Ah! Found it."
What emerged from the pocket, held in Frien's hand, was a dagger.
Before Rodel could even be flustered, Frien grabbed the dagger and swung it wide.
Along with a sharp whistle of wind, Rodel's clothes were torn, and warm blood scattered into the air.
"...Kugh!"
She had aimed for the neck, but Rodel twisted his body at the last moment, the blade slashing his shoulder instead.
But it didn't matter.
Because she could just cut him again.
Just as Frien was steeling her resolve, Rodel stumbled backward, his eyes shaking with fear.
"...Captain Frien? What in the world is this!? Why are you attacking me!"
It was a pitiful act.
After taking a quiet deep breath, Frien kicked off the ground and charged.
Rodel moved his hand toward the dagger at his thigh to counterattack, but it was already too late.
Peok─
The dagger thrust in, pushing through Rodel's abdomen.
A scream burst out, but without a change in her expression, Frien twisted and pulled the dagger free.
Blood gushed out like a fountain as Rodel collapsed to his knees.
Frien stepped back, maintaining a cold gaze.
The blood flowing down the back of Frien's hand coalesced at the tip of the dagger and dripped to the floor.
"Keuheuk, kugh...!"
Rodel, groaning in pain while clutching his abdomen, looked up at Frien, his face a mask of incomprehension.
"Why? Why are you... heuk! doing this?"
There was a time when she had been shaken by such pathetic acting.
But not now.
Frien knew.
She knew that what was before her eyes right now was not the real Major Rodel.
"Think about it after you're dead."
It was the moment she raised the dagger to finish off the puppet.
"Think about it after I'm dead? Those are some pretty suggestive words, aren't they?"
The voice of the puppet that had been imitating Major Rodel changed.
"It's as if you know what my true identity is, isn't it?"
The figure of Major Rodel who had been groaning in pain just moments ago was gone.
Seraile, having stopped the act, spoke through the puppet's mouth.
"You. How do you know my true identity? So... how did you figure out that I use puppets to pull off this kind of deception?"
Frien did not answer.
"My ability is known to no one in the Republic, save for a very small minority. So naturally, there's no way my ability would be known to you Imperial Army soldiers. After all, even that famous great commander Daniel doesn't know what kind of being I am, does he? Isn't that right?"
She did not answer.
"But you... it's as if you know exactly what kind of being I am, what kind of ability I use. How did you figure out from the start that Major Rodel was a puppet? I was perfect, you know? I was copying even his personality and mannerisms exactly."
Seraile's laughter flowed from the puppet's mouth.
"And you know. You're truly strange, have I mentioned that? After all, a person's destiny doesn't change easily. Living according to a set destiny is the natural order, isn't it? But your destiny completely flipped at a certain point. What do you think this means?"
There was no change in Frien's expression.
It appeared there was no change.
But Seraile could see it.
The hatred and bloodlust that couldn't be hidden no matter how hard she tried.
Seraile's puppet's eyes widened greatly as it witnessed that thickly layered hatred and bloodlust.
"...Ah. Now I understand. Everything is clicking into place. Frien. You. You're repeating from a few days ago, aren't you?"
As Frien hesitated, a chilling smile hung on the puppet's lips.
"You're living the same timeframe over and over. Am I right?"