Daniel Steiner, (Semi-Forced) Joins the War!
Daniel Steiner, (Semi-Forced) Joins the War!
Immediately after arresting the subordinates of Morten, who had been operating in the basement of a commercial building.
Daniel had cut short his leave and conveyed his intention to return to the Imperial Capital to General Headquarters.
General Headquarters respected Daniel's wishes and arranged a return train, and two days later, Daniel was able to finish preparing to leave his hometown.
"Daniel? Didn't you say you would stay here for a month?"
In front of the monastery entrance, Abbot Hieronim looked worriedly at Daniel, who had come to say goodbye.
He felt it was a pity that Daniel had to return to the capital without even properly enjoying his leave.
Daniel also would have liked to spend a leisurely time in his hometown if he could, but now that he had captured insurrectionists, he had no choice but to hurry back.
'Prince faction figures will be thinking of me as a core member of the Princess faction by now...'
Even if it was unintended, the fact that he had taken the lead in arresting Morten's subordinates was enough to give the Prince faction figures the wrong impression.
To remain in a position of being misunderstood while continuing to leisurely enjoy his leave was no different from advertising, 'Please, someone kill me.'
"My apologies. Something has come up in the Imperial Capital."
Of course, there was no need to tell that fact to the abbot, who was like a mentor to him.
Daniel smiled as if it was nothing, then took an envelope of money from his coat and handed it over.
"More importantly, please accept this. I've added a bit of my bonus to the salary I received."
Hieronim's eyes widened when he felt the thickness of the envelope.
"Daniel! Just the fact that you took leave and came to visit the monastery is a blessing from God, but to bring such a large sum of money! I absolutely cannot accept it! Please, use it for yourself."
"Abbot. Donating this money to the monastery is using it for myself."
Though Daniel urged him in a gentle tone, Hieronim firmly refused.
"Even without your help, the monastery can sufficiently feed and raise the children, so please, use this for yourself. I don't want to take money from you when you're already working so hard."
"Is that so. Then this money is unnecessary, so I shall burn it."
"Daniel. If you play such an absurd prank..."
Hieronim trailed off.
Because, with an unperturbed hand, Daniel had pulled a lighter from inside his officer's coat and sparked a flame.
A thin smile hung on Daniel's lips as he held the envelope over the flame.
"Abbot. You know well enough that I'm a man who does what he says he will. If you do not take this envelope right now, I will burn it."
Hieronim swallowed hard.
Just as he was doubting whether Daniel would actually burn that much money, Daniel's hand slowly descended.
As soon as the edge of the envelope began to scorch, Hieronim cried out in alarm and reached out.
Having hastily snatched the envelope, Hieronim shouted in surprise.
"Daniel! Do you intend to trample on the goodwill of the people who gave you this money!?"
"I did intend to trample it, but since the Abbot took it, such a thing will not happen."
"What the... Ah."
Only then realizing he had fallen for Daniel's trick, Hieronim wore a blank expression.
Seeing Hieronim's expression, Daniel let out a small chuckle.
Brought back to his senses by Daniel's laughter, Hieronim furrowed his brow.
"...Daniel. Is it fun playing such awful pranks?"
"I apologize, but I had no other choice. If I didn't play an awful prank, you would not have accepted the money, Abbot."
"Goodness. Truly, you haven't changed a bit from then till now..."
Hieronim, having let out a low sigh, nodded as if he had no other choice.
"Fine. If this is truly your wish, I shall use it for the children."
"That's what I was hoping for. Then, I shall take my leave now."
"Already? I would have liked for you to come inside and have a cup of tea..."
"I dearly wish to as well, but it's nearly time for my train. If you look behind me, you'll see the taxi cab driver is waiting as well."
Turning his gaze as Daniel had said, Hieronim could see an Asian man wearing suspenders leaning against the vehicle.
The Asian man, having met Hieronim's eyes, politely greeted him by lowering the fedora he wore on his head.
Seeing that, Hieronim spoke as if slightly puzzled.
"He's an Asian driver. But it's a face I haven't seen around the neighborhood before..."
Did he recently find employment here? Blinking in vague confusion, Hieronim nodded.
"Anyway, since time is pressing, it seems I mustn't keep you any longer. Daniel. We will pray for you here, so come back anytime if the work gets hard."
"Yes. I will do so."
Smiling, Daniel said his farewell and turned around.
Immediately after, the smile vanished from Daniel's face.
Slowly moving his steps, Daniel got into the back seat of the taxi and spoke, looking toward the driver's seat.
"Please take me to the nearest train station."
After hearing the taxi driver's reply of confirmation, Daniel leaned his body against the backrest of the seat.
In his head, thoughts of the events currently unfolding in the Imperial Capital surfaced.
'The Prince faction figure who will quickly grasp that Morten has been captured is probably Duke Belvar.'
Duke Belvar was the head of an ancient and distinguished imperial household as well as the Minister of the Court.
Duke Belvar, who placed great importance on the legitimacy of the Imperial Household, had been unwavering in his opinion that the Imperial Prince was the suitable successor for the next Emperor.
If Morten, who had been working in the shadows for the Prince, was the Prince's left arm, then Duke Belvar, who supported the Prince openly, could be called the Prince's right arm.
Considering he stood at odds with the Princess to uphold that damnable legitimacy even at a point where the Prince's defeat was all but certain, one could understand just how stubborn he was.
So for now, Daniel had only disclosed the news that insurrection documents had been discovered during the arrests of Morten and his remnants to the Princess and her closest aides.
It was to plant the illusion in Duke Belvar that Morten had likely burned all related documents and sealed his lips before being captured.
It was a way of buying time, so to speak.
'Additionally, I should keep revealing this fact to the press as a last-resort method.'
Scattering information thoughtlessly is the same as throwing away a useful bargaining chip.
Moreover, if the information disclosure inadvertently turned into a public opinion war, it could cause the side effect of further solidifying the enemy's unity.
'So I'll have to use this information in a limited way to cause division from within...'
Only by doing so would he be able to survive this messy and violent succession struggle.
While racking his brain inside the moving taxi, Daniel suddenly let out a low sigh.
Loosening the necktie that was choking him, Daniel looked out the window, his face filled with worry.
'Just how did things end up like this...'
He had planned to play with the monastery children in his hometown, eat at Jack's Restaurant, and enjoy a leisurely stroll.
When he came to his senses, he was being semi-forcibly drafted into the Princess faction and racking his brains on how to survive.
'Just what damn bastards purged the Prince's secret organization and then dumped all the responsibility on me?'
Daniel, who found it incomprehensible, narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth tightly. The taxi driver, having checked Daniel's state through the rearview mirror, smiled a discreet smile.
'Judging by his expression of ecstasy, he seems pleased with our gift.'
Daniel Steiner would rise to even greater heights in the future.
As the Prophet who leads the Black Bird.
*
Meanwhile, at Duke Belvar's Mansion.
"Morten was captured?"
Belvar, having heard the news that came up from the south, was astonished and opened his mouth wide.
It was only natural for him to be flustered that an organization which had operated for the past three years without even its shadow being detected had been purged overnight.
But there was no time to be flustered now.
"What of the secrets? Was it discovered that the Dawn's Morning acted on the side of His Highness the Prince?"
At Belvar's question, his confidant and informant, Bason, shook his head.
"Given there is no particular news, it seems the investigation is still ongoing."
"That's a relief at least. But it will only be a matter of time before it's uncovered. So, who on earth was it that captured Morten?"
"...It was Lieutenant Daniel Steiner."
Daniel Steiner.
As soon as he heard that name, Belvar felt dizziness and pressed his fingers to his forehead.
"That damn bastard. He's finally showing his true colors."
It was common for a person whose prestige had risen as a war hero to step into politics as well.
Daniel, too, seemed to have entered the fray to make the Princess the Empress for the sake of his own advancement and prosperity.
However, Daniel was different from typical war heroes.
'To have pretended to have no interest in politics right up until the moment he arrested Morten...'
It was Daniel who had extremely restricted meetings with politicians and refused all kinds of interviews.
This time too, since he had taken a long leave during the most critical period of the succession struggle, Belvar had even thought that Daniel really might not be interested in politics.
'But to think it was all a deception strategy...!'
Judging by the skill with which he had thoroughly deceived everyone and then arrested Dawn's Morning, he must have been preparing this for quite a long time.
Thinking that he had been dancing in the palm of Daniel Steiner's hand, rage boiled over.
But no matter how shrewd and meticulous a bastard he was, there were bound to be weaknesses.
"Kartman Schulz..."
In fact, a short while ago, Kartman Schulz, the Chief Inspector of the Security Bureau, had visited the mansion.
Saying that it seemed Daniel Steiner was colluding with a spy.
But after hearing him out, since there was no proper evidence, Belvar had considered it a waste of time and chased him out.
'But now, I must grasp at even a straw.'
The situation was urgent, so he was in no position to be picky about people.
"Contact the Security Bureau and tell Kartman Schulz this: that I, the Minister of the Court, will back him, so find evidence that Daniel Steiner is colluding with a spy, by any means necessary!"
The confidant, hearing Belvar's words, bowed his head deeply and left the room.
Seeing his confidant leave, Belvar irritably threw the wine glass he was holding.
Clink-clank!
Red wine spread like blood from the shattered glass.
Staring blankly at that scene, Belvar clenched his fist tightly.
'Daniel Steiner...! A mere orphan like you dares to try and manipulate this Empire!'
Belvar thought that Daniel's final goal was not just to make the Princess the Empress.
His instinct told him.
That his sinister intentions were surely deeper and darker.
But because he could not gauge the depth of the darkness Daniel possessed, Belvar was afraid.
His hands trembling uncontrollably, Belvar forcibly shook off his fear and squeezed his eyes shut.
'This Empire that our ancestors protected...'
He would never hand it over to a vagabond like you.