The Black Bird Moves Stealthily
The Black Bird Moves Stealthily
Approximately ten days later, higher command approved Daniel's leave request.
Given the stringent and complex leave-approval procedures of a nation at war, the approval had come through relatively quickly.
With his leave pass in hand, Daniel boarded the first-class carriage of the luxury 'Royal Express' train at the station.
Normally, even officers were not issued first-class tickets on luxury trains, but General Headquarters had made an exception for Daniel, who had accumulated numerous military achievements.
'Let's see. The cabin I'll be staying in...'
Daniel, walking down the red-carpeted corridor, stopped in front of a cabin marked CA8.
After confirming it matched the cabin number on his ticket, Daniel opened the door.
Inside, a large window gave a bright view of the scenery outside.
As he entered, admiring the interior, soft beds on either side of the cabin came into view.
A luxurious table and chairs were set in the center, and expensive refreshments had been laid out on the table, making him think it truly lived up to its reputation.
Daniel set down the luggage he had brought against the wall, approached the table, pulled out a chair, and sat.
After he took off his uniform cap and placed it on the table, the train began to move with a jolt.
After adjusting his attire, Daniel leaned back comfortably and gazed at the scenery outside the window.
The scenery changed moment by moment as the train moved, but the gleam on the leaves and fields remained unchanged wherever the train traveled.
It was truly a succession of pastoral and peaceful landscapes.
A smile naturally formed on Daniel's lips.
'Yeah. This is what I wanted.'
A peaceful life without any worries or concerns.
Just enough money to maintain life's comforts.
And a modest amount of power so as not to be looked down upon.
Hadn't he enrolled in the Imperial Mage Officers' Academy for that trinity of life that any petit bourgeois desires?
'But...'
Ever since he began awakening his past life's memories, his life had gone awry in real time.
If one were to summarize Daniel's current life, it went like this.
An unstable life fraught with assassination threats and the constant need to ponder how not to die on the battlefield.
Money that had become embarrassingly abundant thanks to successive military merits and bonuses.
Power that had gone beyond merely avoiding disrespect to actually instilling fear.
It had become far, far removed from the long and thin life Daniel aspired to.
It was a situation that naturally made him sigh, but today at least he could laugh it off.
'Because it's leave.'
For the next month, he wouldn't have to spend breathless days with his adjutant, who was an Allied Nations spy.
There was no need to worry about getting caught up in the succession struggle between the princess and the prince, nor fret about what kind of operational support GHQ might send next.
'Troublesome. Is it okay to be this happy?'
Daniel let out a low chuckle and basked in the sunlight pouring in from the window.
'Come to think of it, I'm returning to my hometown after almost two years.'
It was the first time he had gone down south since visiting his hometown during regular leave back in his Imperial Mage Officers' Academy cadet days.
'I wonder if the abbot is well. I wrote him a letter so he wouldn't be surprised by my sudden visit...'
Since it was such a closed-off place, he was worried whether the letter had properly arrived.
As Daniel continued his thoughts, reminiscing about memories from his hometown, it was at that moment.
Deureureuk─
The cabin's sliding door opened, and a black man appeared.
Spotting Daniel, he took off his fedora and held it over his chest.
"Oh dear. I see there's a passenger already. I should have knocked."
Daniel rose from his seat, smiled, and extended his hand.
"It's fine. It's a shared cabin, so you don't need to worry about me. I'm Daniel Steiner."
"Ah! You're Major Daniel Steiner. I've heard a lot about you. I'm Hamtal. I'm from Nordia."
The black man was in truth Hamtal, the leader of the secret society Black Bird.
Of course, Daniel had no way of knowing that.
"From Nordia, huh. What an incredible coincidence. I served as the garrison commander there myself."
"I heard Nordia became a much better place to live thanks to you. But more importantly, why don't we sit down and talk?"
Daniel nodded pleasantly and took his seat.
Hamtal also sat down opposite him and adjusted his tie.
Right afterward, as if it had just occurred to him, he spoke casually.
"By the way, Major Daniel. I heard you implemented radical urban planning in Nordia. Is there a particular reason?"
It was a final probing of Daniel, just in case.
He wanted to know whether Daniel had made Nordia more beneficial 'for the Empire' or had helped Nordia purely for the sake of creating a more ideal world.
After a short silence at Hamtal's question, Daniel shrugged once.
"Actually, I implemented it thinking I might get cursed at by GHQ and the Nordia citizens. But the results just unintentionally turned out well."
Hamtal inwardly admired Daniel's words.
'He pushed it through even while judging there might be backlash from both the Empire and the citizens?'
This was no different from a true prophet.
"Then, could it be that you also spoke out for us black people and other people of color...?"
"Speak out? That was only natural. Racial discrimination... isn't it just a severe sense of elitism? I merely told those crazy bastards to stop doing crazy things."
Daniel's sincere voice carried genuine feeling.
Seeing Daniel like that, Hamtal was able to cast aside even the small doubts lingering in his heart.
'As expected, Daniel Steiner is a man worthy of our loyalty.'
Hamtal, expressing respect in his heart, rose from his seat.
"I'm sorry to interrupt our conversation, but I'll go to the restroom for a moment."
When Daniel nodded, Hamtal put his fedora back on and stepped out into the corridor.
After walking a few steps along the corridor, Hamtal took out a radio from his pocket, turned it on, and pressed the transmit button.
"Report any unusual situations in each sector."
Not long after Hamtal spoke, reports came in over the radio one after another.
─ Dining car, nothing unusual. We will continue monitoring.
─ Lounge car also clear.
─ Connecting passages between sectors, no anomalies.
At present, Black Bird operatives were stationed throughout the Royal Express train.
This was because, now that Daniel Steiner was on leave alone without the army, it was the best time for him to suffer an unfortunate incident.
Thus, Hamtal, the leader of the Black Bird, had brought many members of the secret society to secretly protect Daniel.
─ Suspicious individual found in the VIP cabin. Confirmed using a wristwatch-type radio to communicate with someone.
At that, the report from the VIP cabin made Hamtal's brow furrow.
Hamtal, narrowing his eyes coldly, pressed the transmit button and spoke.
"Continue surveillance. When he gets off the train, follow him and find his location."
When a voice from the other side acknowledged, Hamtal turned off the radio and put it back in his pocket.
'If there is a force trying to harm Daniel Steiner...'
He would utterly crush them with all the skills he had honed over the past decade.
Of course, Daniel, knowing nothing of all this, was simply enjoying the scenery inside his cabin.
*
Meanwhile, at St. Michael's Monastery.
"So many weeds... Please wait a moment."
In the garden located within a cloistered courtyard enclosed on all sides by walls, the abbot Hieronim was pulling weeds and placing them into a basket beside him.
The Vice-Head Monk, neatly clad in his priestly robes, approached Hieronim.
"Abbot. May I speak with you for a moment?"
Hearing the voice behind him, Hieronim stopped pulling weeds, rose, and turned around.
"Ah. Vice-Head Monk. What is it?"
"It's just... Didn't you say Daniel will arrive by tomorrow?"
"That's right. The admirable child sent a letter saying he would visit his hometown while on leave. But why does your expression... Are you not pleased that Daniel is coming?"
The Vice-Head Monk hastily shook his head.
"That's not it. It's just that the rumors I've been hearing are a bit puzzling."
"What rumors do you mean?"
"You also know of Major Daniel, don't you, Abbot?"
"Ah. Of course. The hero of the Empire. So?"
"I can't help but wonder if that Daniel is the Daniel from our monastery... "
The monastery strictly forbade bringing in outside items as a matter of principle.
It was a place that forbade even simple magazines, let alone newspapers.
Because it was a place serving God, the rule that one must not have ties to the world was strictly observed.
However, even in such a monastery, the name Major Daniel was famous.
Because wealthy individuals and politicians who came to donate to the orphanage run by the monastery occasionally told stories of how the world was faring.
Perhaps for that reason, there were people like the Vice-Head Monk who harbored the suspicion that this Daniel was the Daniel from their monastery.
Abbot Hieronim merely found it laughable.
"How many times have I told you it must be a different person with the same name? Have you already forgotten what kind of child our Daniel was, Vice-Head Monk?"
"That's not the case. Daniel was certainly... a child with a caring nature."
"Yes. That's right. Moreover, he liked to meditate and draw, and he was mature and responsible enough to help us with baking."
As if it had just occurred to him, Hieronim snapped his fingers.
"There's also that. When the puppy we raised at the monastery fell ill and died, didn't Daniel cry for three days and nights? Afterwards, he personally made a grave and placed a flower by it every day."
Hearing that, the Vice-Head Monk couldn't help but nod.
"Indeed, Daniel sometimes showed a composure that surprised even us, but he was fundamentally a good-natured child of God."
"Right. It's nonsense that such a Daniel would lead the invasion of Nordia and force a kingdom to surrender."
Hieronim let out a low chuckle.
"Putting everything else aside, Daniel has only been commissioned for about nine months now. And yet a major? That defies common sense."
That was true. The Vice-Head Monk let out a hollow laugh and nodded.
"I see. I guess I spoke nonsense. Then I'll be going back. When Daniel comes tomorrow, I should bake him some of the bread he always liked."
As Hieronim smiled and gave a slight bow of his head, the Vice-Head Monk turned and walked away.
Hieronim knelt again to pull weeds, and before he knew it, he was chuckling to himself.
'Our Daniel... being that major called the hero of the Empire...'
The Vice-Head Monk sometimes had too much imagination for his own good.
If you thought about it with common sense, you'd know such a thing couldn't happen.