What the Hell Are You Talking About?
What the Hell Are You Talking About?
Leaving Jack's Restaurant, Morten felt a growing sense of anxiety as he quickened his pace.
The cryptic words Daniel had spoken had planted seeds of unease and left his breathing ragged.
'That bastard had absolutely no intention of talking. Cooperation? Daniel himself must have known better than anyone that it was nonsense...'
And yet Daniel had exerted some kind of pressure at the monastery restaurant that compelled Morten to seek him out on his own.
What on earth had Daniel intended by doing that?
As Morten continued his deductions, running the numbers in his head, his steps gradually slowed.
'Right, he never actually planned to cooperate from the start. If so... could it be...'
His slowing steps came to a complete halt.
'...His goal was to pull me out of the Dawn's Morning headquarters?'
A quiet realization flickered through his mind.
It was a classic tactic—draw the leader away from the organization, then sweep up the entire group in one stroke.
'I've been had...!'
As his anxiety hardened into certainty, Morten pulled a radio from his coat and switched it on.
Having set the frequency, Morten pressed the transmit button and spoke urgently.
"HQ! Do you read!? Anyone, respond if you can! This is an emergency!"
But no one answered.
Something felt wrong. Morten checked the frequency and pressed the transmit button again.
"HQ! Answer me! We need to initiate an immediate withdrawal—"
Morten stopped mid-sentence and closed his mouth.
He thought he understood why no one was responding.
Cold sweat beading on his skin, he released the transmit button, and a short 'Ppibik' beep sounded.
Immediately after, an eerie chorus of laughter drifted out from the radio.
As Morten stood frozen, the laughter from the other side slowly subsided.
─ Are you listening? Mortan Blackmore.
It was a voice he had never heard before.
That meant the Dawn's Morning headquarters had been taken by enemies.
─ You were busy with some rather amusing things down in that basement. Unfortunately, the fun ends here.
The strength drained from the hand gripping the radio.
The thought that everyone at the headquarters had been wiped out was making it hard to keep his head.
Even as he reeled, the voice continued to flow from the radio.
─ Mortan Blackmore. This is your first and final warning.
After a brief silence, a cold and solemn voice followed.
─ Do not dare to oppose Daniel Steiner.
With those final words, the transmission went dead.
Staring blankly down at the radio, Morten was suddenly struck by a wave of vertigo and stumbled.
His heart pounded erratically as dry heaves rose in his throat.
Clutching his chest, Morten staggered forward, placed a hand against a nearby wall, and bowed his head.
"Huh, huh..."
Morten expelled ragged breaths, his pupils trembling minutely.
'His Highness the Prince's... my hundred-year grand plan...'
It had been mercilessly crushed underfoot by the figure known as Daniel Steiner.
"Ah, ah...!"
Letting out a sound that was either a scream or a groan, Morten suddenly began to sob softly.
There was no choice but to admit it now.
'I was...'
I was nothing more than a puppet dancing in the palm of Daniel Steiner's hand.
*
After finishing his meal, Daniel headed not to his lodgings but to the monastery.
The rudeness Morten had shown had profoundly offended Daniel in more ways than one.
Upon arriving at the monastery, Daniel immediately sought out the abbot.
He spotted the abbot walking down the cloister hallway holding a candlestick and strode over with long, purposeful strides.
"Abbot!"
The abbot, Hieronim, flinched in surprise and turned around.
Finding Daniel there, Hieronim could only tilt his head in confusion.
"Daniel? Weren't you at Jack's Restaurant?"
"I went there... but that isn't important right now."
Seeing Daniel looking undeniably angry, Hieronim blinked in bewilderment.
"Did something happen at the restaurant? Why do you look so upset?"
"Something did happen. I met someone from the City Council."
"The City Council?"
"Yes! A remarkably rude man. Has the City Council been treating you and the children with the same high-handedness?"
Power usually stems from money.
And Daniel knew all too well just how shameless someone drunk on power could become.
If the City Council had been frequently harassing the monastery under the guise of budget assessments, it was something Daniel could never forgive.
That was why he had come to hear the full story from the abbot.
But Hieronim, who had never seen any rudeness from the council members, was merely puzzled.
"You seem to be under some kind of misunderstanding. The City Council people have always been courteous and polite. Moreover, this time, despite their own difficult circumstances, they told us they wouldn't cut the donation budget."
"...They said they wouldn't cut the donation budget?"
If so, what had the man at Jack's Restaurant meant when he mentioned the war?
As he stood there blinking blankly, unable to understand, the sound of footsteps approached.
Turning his head reflexively, he saw the Vice-Head Monk rounding a corner of the courtyard and approaching.
"Vice-Head Monk."
As Daniel bowed his head lightly, the Vice-Head Monk let out a hollow laugh.
"Daniel. A guest suddenly showed up looking for you. I was wondering what was going on, and here you are. If you were back, you might have at least let us know."
"My apologies. I had urgent matters to discuss with the Abbot... But you said there's a guest looking for me?"
The Vice-Head Monk nodded.
"Yes. Even though I told them visitors aren't allowed into the monastery at this hour, they insisted they absolutely had to meet Major Daniel Steiner. They seemed to have circumstances, so I let them in for the time being."
"...Looking for me?"
He wondered who it could be, but since they had come all this way, he could hardly refuse.
"Understood. Where are they?"
"Waiting in the chapel."
Nodding, Daniel walked toward the chapel.
After navigating a few corridors, he found the chapel, opened the door, and stepped inside.
The view beyond the open door was hushed and still.
Moonlight filtered through the stained glass that adorned the ceiling and walls.
In the center of the chapel, a man stood gazing silently up at the statue of God.
As Daniel drew near, the man sensed his presence and turned around.
The moment Daniel recognized the man's identity, his brow furrowed.
'It's the same man from Jack's Restaurant.'
Despite his face having grown much more haggard in the past few hours, it was definitely the same person.
'But why is he here? No way... did he come to apologize?'
This was the very man who had joined his table without permission and then suddenly started making veiled threats.
Still keenly remembering the displeasure he had felt, Daniel spoke after a brief silence.
"You must have something to say."
At Daniel's words, Morten's shoulders flinched.
His hands clenching and unclenching with apparent anxiety, Morten came to a stop before Daniel and slowly knelt down.
'No. I didn't mean for him to go this far...'
As the bewildered Daniel stood there speechless, Morten opened his mouth.
"...Major Daniel Steiner. This is my complete defeat."
Morten's words only deepened his bewilderment.
Just as he was wondering what on earth he was talking about, Morten continued in a somber tone.
"You have won, Major. I have lost everything, and I do not even have the strength to recover. You may dispose of me as you see fit. I ask only that my family..."
The tears welling in Morten's eyes traced paths down his cheeks.
"Please, I beg you, spare my family. They are innocent and know nothing of this. If you spare them, I will quietly confess that I was secretly working on behalf of His Highness the Prince."
At this, Daniel could only break out in a cold sweat.
'What is he talking about?'
The man had suddenly shown up and was making an absurd confession, which left Daniel completely dumbfounded.
Troubled, Daniel let out a low sigh and spoke.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Pardon? But Major Daniel Steiner, you're the one who..."
Letting out another sigh, Daniel knelt down on one knee and looked at Morten.
"I will say this one more time."
Daniel's eyes, fixed on Morten, narrowed slightly.
"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about."
Upon hearing Daniel's words, a tremor passed through Morten's eyes.
For he thought he understood the intent behind what Daniel had just said.
'He means to hide the fact that he has an armed force under his command...'
If it became known that a mere officer commanded a private armed group, things would become complicated in many ways.
In Morten's view, Daniel was 'playing dumb' to avoid outside interference.
He was telling a lie to avoid leaving even the slightest shred of incriminating evidence.
Goosebumps prickled his skin.
He was truly a meticulous and cold-blooded individual.
'Just how many moves ahead is he looking...?'
Was the annihilation of the Dawn's Morning, the Prince's secretive organization, merely a part of some grander scheme planned by this figure named Daniel Steiner?
The warning from those bastards never to oppose Daniel Steiner was beginning to sink into his very bones.
A nameless dread gripping him, Morten placed his hands on the floor and slowly bowed his head.
"Yes. I will keep that in mind. Major Daniel Steiner..."
Prostrate and consumed by fear, Morten pressed his forehead to the floor in submission.
From his tightly shut eyes, tears streamed down in lines.
"...truly knows nothing at all."
Through faint sobs, Morten could be certain of one thing once more.
That this was a fight he could never have won from the very beginning.