I Think It Would Be Best to Go on Leave
I Think It Would Be Best to Go on Leave
A day passed, and I arrived at the General Headquarters early in the morning, pressing a hand to my forehead.
My head was throbbing because the alcohol hadn't worn off.
'Maybe I drank too much yesterday.'
The trouble started when I entered the officers' club and the bartender recognized me.
The bartender, who had smiled at me, declared, 'Today, all drinks are on the house for Major Daniel, the Empire's hero!' And so I ended up drinking beyond my limit.
'Then I fell asleep at some point.......'
When I came to, I was on the bed in my quarters.
The problem was, I had absolutely no memory of how I got back.
'There's no way I walked back on my own two feet. Did someone help me?'
The thought that I had caused trouble for others put me in a foul mood.
Frowning, I let out a low sigh, arrived at my personal office, and grasped the doorknob.
When I opened the door, Lucy, immaculately dressed as always, had already arrived and was attending to her work.
Lucy noted my entrance, then rose from her seat and saluted.
"Major Daniel Steiner. You have arrived, sir."
......She didn't usually use my full name, I thought.
Her attitude had become somewhat stiffer.
After standing awkwardly for a moment, I returned her salute and walked toward my desk.
I set down my briefcase and sat at my desk, and Lucy approached me.
She was holding a copy of the Imperial Daily.
"Ah. Thank......."
I reached for the newspaper, but for some reason Lucy wouldn't let go.
Wondering why, I looked up and found Lucy fixing me with a cold stare.
"Major Daniel Steiner. Alcohol is a luxury item. I believe one may drink as much as one wishes according to personal taste."
"......Is that so?"
"However, anything in excess is harmful to the body. In particular, I believe that drinking until one loses consciousness cannot set a proper example for an officer of the Empire."
She hadn't said a single wrong thing from start to finish, so I couldn't argue.
'More importantly, suddenly bringing all this up.......'
Could Lucy have been the one who took me back to my quarters? Baffled, I threw out a question to sound her out.
"Are you saying I lost consciousness? What exactly happened yesterday?"
Lucy's shoulders flinched.
On top of that, she couldn't meet my eyes.
"......Nothing happened."
After speaking as if playing dumb, Lucy released the newspaper and returned to her seat.
Once seated at her desk, Lucy carried out her duties as usual, but for some reason her ears had gone red.
After staring at her with a puzzled expression, I gave a shrug and unfolded the newspaper.
The moment I opened it, my photograph was plastered across the front page.
To be precise, it was a photograph taken when I had left the Imperial Palace after meeting His Majesty the Emperor.
『Hero of the Empire, Major Daniel Steiner! Receives the Golden Cross Medal following the National Medal!』
Just looking at the article's title made my head reel.
I flipped past it without reading the contents and looked over the other articles.
Since I'd been on the battlefield, I hadn't been able to know how the capital was faring, and I intended to grasp at least a rough picture now that I had the chance.
As I was carefully reading through various articles, I stopped short at a particular passage.
『Editor-in-Chief Tyden Barkaloy Dies of Heart Attack at His Residence』
Tyden Barkaloy was a journalist I knew well.
He was an editor-in-chief who primarily ran articles favorable to the princess.
His newspaper's editorial direction and his political stance were likewise focused on supporting the princess.
He could be described as one of the most prominent figures of the princess faction.
'And that Tyden died of a heart attack at his residence?'
In this political climate? That was absurd.
It was objectively more accurate to assume the prince's side had made a move.
'Which means.......'
The succession struggle had begun to surface.
The princess was no fool either, so she would mount a counteroffensive.
So from now on, a bloodbath would clearly unfold beneath the surface.
As long as I remained in the capital, I couldn't avoid that bloodbath either.
After muttering to myself and drumming my fingers on the desk, I folded the newspaper.
How could I get through the approaching waves of the era unscathed?
After a brief deliberation, I made my decision.
'I'll run away.'
If I couldn't avoid the bloodbath while staying in the capital, then all I had to do was leave the capital.
As luck would have it, the consecutive special promotions had left me with accumulated reward leave, so there was no issue.
'The Empire's maximum reward leave period is 30 days, so.......'
If I went on leave now and returned, the power ranking would have been sorted out.
On top of that, by going on leave I could also convey the message that 'I have absolutely no interest in your succession struggle,' so it would be killing two birds with one stone.
Of course, if I unilaterally went on leave, Lucy would be stuck working overtime handling all the duties alone, but that couldn't be helped.
'It would be strange in the first place to show any consideration for a spy who is after my life.'
Having made up my mind, I rose from my seat and walked toward the door.
Just before opening the door to leave, a mischievous impulse made me turn back to look at Lucy.
"Adjutant. Allow me to apologize in advance."
"......What do you mean by that?"
"You'll find out soon."
After gazing benevolently at Lucy, who had a question mark floating over her head, I stepped out of the office.
Right afterward, I entered the staff office and went into the Deputy Chief of Operations Staff Office, where I saluted Ernst.
Having returned the salute, Ernst smiled and began to speak.
"If it isn't our Major Daniel. What brings you to the Deputy Chief of Staff's office? I told you that you could handle your work even from your personal office, didn't I?"
"Sir, I am not here to discuss matters of work."
"Hm? Ah. Then you must want to discuss your promotion. That matter is already under discussion with the higher-ups. There should be good results, so don't worry yourself."
"It is not that either."
Then what on earth had I come for? Ernst wore an expression of utter incomprehension.
After pausing a beat, I spoke.
"Sir. I would like to take my leave."
Ernst nodded as if he understood.
"Leave, is it. Very well. Even someone like you would need rest. How long do you intend to take?"
"One month."
Ernst's eyes widened into circles.
He had probably been thinking of about a week, so the abrupt mention of a month's duration flustered him.
"......One month? Are you serious?"
"Yes. I understand that using reward leave makes an extended leave possible."
"You're not wrong. You're not wrong, but...... Hmm. I understand. I am in no position to quibble if you say you want to take it. I will pass this on to the higher-ups."
I had been wondering what to do if he blocked it, so this was fortunate.
As I let out a breath of relief, Ernst looked at me with a somewhat surprised air.
"Still, you are requesting quite a long leave. Have you decided on a place to rest?"
A place to rest, he said.
I hadn't decided on any particular place, but there was somewhere I wanted to visit.
"I intend to go to my hometown."
Pianmari Village, Betargen Barony, in the south of the Empire.
It was the hometown where I was born, and the place where my mentor, the abbot, resided.
*
Betargen Barony, south of the Empire.
The leadership of 'Dawn's Morning,' the secret organization under the prince.
Tadatak─
In the dim underground lighting, the mechanical and repetitive clicking of a Telex machine transmitting and receiving characters rang out.
This was one of the ways the leadership of Dawn's Morning issued orders to the armed groups it had spread out like a cell organization throughout the capital.
Morten Blackmore, their overseeing leader, called the organization's supreme advisor, was monitoring the operatives with a grim look in his eyes.
If even one among them was secretly colluding with figures from the princess faction, the organization would crumble from within.
Though such a thing was unlikely, in tense political times like these, a little suspicion was not unwarranted.
After scanning the operatives for some time, Morten clenched his fist tightly.
'I must place the prince on the throne by any means necessary.'
Having chosen to side with the prince, Morten had no alternatives.
The moment the princess, not the prince, ascended to the throne, Morten and the entire organization would face a purge.
The assassination of Editor-in-Chief Tyden Barkaloy, who had raised his voice in support of the princess, had been carried out for similar reasons.
'I cannot allow public opinion favorable to the princess to spread.'
Public opinion was the will of the citizenry, and the will of the citizenry would inevitably reach the ears of the emperor, who would ultimately select the successor.
The current emperor was an eccentric who had successively implemented radical policies to the point of being called a progressive monarch.
Since he showed great interest in public welfare, he would certainly not be able to ignore public opinion when choosing his successor.
Therefore, Morten was doing his utmost to incite the citizens and silence the voices of the opposing side.
Because to place the incompetent prince on the throne, this was the best course of action.
'Thus far, there have been no issues.......'
But unless the princess was a fool, she would begin her counterattack soon now.
While he was pondering what cards the princess held, one operative sprang from his seat in alarm.
Finding it suspicious, Morten furrowed his brow.
"What is the matter?"
The operative read the message he had received once more, then turned his head toward Morten.
"Your Excellency the supreme advisor. It is...... Daniel Steiner has applied for leave, they say. And not an ordinary leave, but a whole month at that."
"He can apply for leave. Why would that be a problem?"
"The place Daniel Steiner has applied for leave to visit is......."
After an audible gulp, the operative spoke in a trembling voice.
"......Precisely the Betargen Barony in the south of the Empire, where we are currently located."
In an instant, all the hands that had been tapping the Telex typewriters came to a halt.
Morten, too, stopped breathing, his pupils trembling.
'Could it be...... he is coming to annihilate us, having sided with the princess?'
While Morten muttered to himself, a heavy atmosphere pressed down upon the leadership.
For the terror invoked by the name Daniel Steiner was immense.
After maintaining a long silence, Morten barely managed to open his mouth.
"The Betargen Barony is Daniel Steiner's hometown. He may truly have come simply to enjoy his leave. Even if that weren't the case, he cannot have pinpointed our location yet. If he had, he wouldn't have taken an entire month's leave."
After looking around at the operatives, Morten spoke, feigning composure.
"From now on, we will monitor Daniel Steiner's every move, so that even if he is indeed targeting us, we can respond at any time. Understood!"
Yes, sir! The operatives answered vigorously and resumed their typing.
Though Morten had succeeded in spurring on the operatives, he himself could not calm his trembling hands.
Who was Daniel Steiner? A calculating and cold-blooded man with neither blood nor tears, who had even been called the spawn of Satan by the kingdom's foreign minister.
He would come to his hometown just to enjoy his leave? By common sense, that was absurd.
It was more accurate to assume that Daniel had discovered that the leadership of Dawn's Morning was here.
'If it is truly the case that Daniel Steiner is coming to target us.......'
We might be crushed before we even dared to oppose him.
Having forcibly suppressed his inexplicable fear, Morten clenched his fist tightly.
'O God.'
Please grant us the strength to fight and prevail against the demon.