Who Opened the Territorial Waters?
Who Opened the Territorial Waters?
Early morning.
The pale light of dawn filtering through the inn room window signaled the start of the day.
At its touch, Daniel's eyes twitched as he lay rigid on his back, fast asleep.
His eyes slid open by reflex, and he turned his head toward the window, letting out a hollow laugh.
'Morning already. I was absolutely planning to sleep in until noon....'
Even though he had deliberately gone to bed late, the fact that his eyes still snapped open at daybreak proved he hadn't been able to shake the habits of an operations staff officer.
'Well, I did live as an officer in General Staff Headquarters for a year. It's not like my habits would just vanish overnight.'
Mocking himself, Daniel pushed himself upright and ran a hand over his face.
His body felt a little stiff, but the fatigue seemed to have faded, so it wasn't too bad.
'Let's see. Today is....'
Slowly piecing together his schedule through a groggy haze, Daniel nodded.
'The day I go to Ref's mansion, huh.'
That tomboyish young lady had succeeded in luring Daniel to her mansion with the bait of money.
The problem was that Ref hadn't actually told him where the mansion was.
So Daniel had asked how he was supposed to find a mansion he didn't know the location of.
In response, Ref had said, 'When the time comes, I'll send someone for you,' and then swept out of the cocktail bar.
'Maybe I should have asked what kind of work she's in.'
Though, given her guarded attitude, it didn't seem like she would have answered even if he had.
'Well, in any case....'
Since Ref had agreed to be his financial backer, there was no particular reason to refuse the dinner invitation.
'...She did say it was a dinner invitation.'
Given that it was early morning now, that meant he had quite a lot of time on his hands.
Lounging around his lodgings during a rare rest wouldn't be bad, but since he'd come all the way to Bellanos, he wanted to try the mainland desserts.
Deciding he'd head out soon, Daniel got up from the bed and slipped on his slippers.
Padding across the floor, he opened the wardrobe door.
Inside, brand-new clothes hung neatly on hangers.
They were a jacket, vest, and trousers made of tweed.
The overall dark gray color, along with a fine check pattern woven into the vest, gave the ensemble a touch of elegance.
After accepting the dinner invitation from Ref, Daniel had bought them with his own money.
'No matter how you look at her, that woman's a noble....'
He had separately acquired moderately pricey clothes in order to maintain a minimum degree of dignity.
Others might see it as trying too hard, but to Daniel, it was a matter of practical importance.
'If it's a dinner engagement, Ref's family will definitely be there too.'
It was far more likely that the ones providing the money weren't actually Ref, but Ref's parents.
If that were the case, then the people Daniel needed to win over were not Ref, but Ref's parents.
Because obviously, the money he could receive would increase only if he earned their approval.
With that in mind, Daniel had spent his own funds on elegant clothes despite the expense.
Nobles are fundamentally sensitive to the other party's attire, after all.
It wasn't for nothing that the monastery always dressed the children in ceremonial clothes whenever the councilors and nobles who provided donations came to visit.
Beyond that, there were other things to mind—gait, speech, personality, dining etiquette, and so on—but for Daniel, that posed no great difficulty.
'Because I was always the one in charge of receiving nobles at the monastery.'
Since he knew inside and out what nobles liked and disliked, earning points wouldn't be hard.
'Let's put in the effort. For laundering my identity and for my bakery.'
Having made up his mind, Daniel went into the bathroom, washed up quickly, and then changed into his new clothes.
After even tidying his hair in the mirror, Daniel finally put on his sunglasses and left the inn.
Outside, a pleasant warmth of sunlight—hard to believe winter was approaching—welcomed him.
Thinking the weather was truly fine, Daniel headed toward a famous dessert shop in Bellanos, as he had originally planned.
Weaving through the crowd, he entered the shop, took a seat, and a server approached.
The server, sensing a peculiar charm from Daniel as he struck a mood by the window, spoke.
"Would you like to order?"
Daniel turned to the server and nodded.
"One trifle, please. And coffee."
"One trifle and coffee... understood."
The server offered Daniel a smile, then turned and walked away.
His order placed, Daniel gazed out the window with a relaxed air.
Perhaps because the dessert shop was on the second floor, the view outside was wide and clear, and a massive trade ship could be seen approaching from the open sea, its horn blaring.
A flock of seagulls rose high into the sky in response to the horn.
It was such a pastoral scene that his whole heart felt at ease.
'Yeah. This is the proper way to live....'
To have escaped a life spent trembling in fear of dying at any moment and to be able to enjoy this peace—that was the greatest luxury Daniel could imagine.
He was in such a good mood, humming absentmindedly to himself, when the server returned a short while later.
"Here is the trifle and coffee you ordered."
The server placed the trifle and coffee on the table.
Daniel, about to thank them, paused.
Three almond cookies had come along as a bonus.
"Huh? Did I also order almond cookies?"
"Ah. The almond cookies are on the house, so to speak."
"On the house. Thank you. Bellanos seems full of kind people."
When Daniel smiled, the server blushed faintly to themselves.
"W-well then, please enjoy."
The server bobbed their head hastily and scurried away.
Daniel found it a little odd but didn't pay it much mind.
The important thing now was the trifle, after all.
Daniel picked up his fork and gently cut into the trifle topped with strawberries, bringing the piece to his mouth.
A fresh, soft, and sweet flavor filled his mouth.
A satisfied smile on his face, Daniel opened his mouth without thinking.
"Adjutant. This place is authentic—try some...."
He stopped mid-sentence and closed his mouth.
Even though no one sat in the seat across from him, he had instinctively looked for Lucy.
Flabbergasted by this, Daniel let out a low chuckle.
'I barely manage to escape, and here I am looking for the spy who tried to kill me....'
This was exactly why habits were so terrifying.
'Still....'
He did think that if Lucy had been here, eating would have been more enjoyable.
Because if Lucy ate this, she would definitely have lost her composure.
He could picture it now: her trying to suppress her admiration deep inside because she'd hate to admit it was delicious.
Watching that side of Lucy had been its own form of amusement.
But even so, he didn't feel the slightest urge to return to the Empire.
'I should be satisfied with the peace I have now.'
Shaking off the idle thoughts in his head, Daniel cut another piece of the trifle with his fork and put it in his mouth again.
This time, somehow, the trifle wasn't quite as delicious as the first bite.
*
The trade ship that arrived at Bellanos' Tentarbahém port confirmed its berthing position and dropped anchor.
After that, mooring lines were used to secure the ship to the dock, and a boarding ramp was installed.
Once the ramp was fixed in place, the trade ship's crew members began moving one by one to transport cargo.
Among those crew members, the members of the secret organization Black Bird also set their feet in motion.
About thirty people dressed in black suits entered Tentarbahém via the ramp.
They moved in unison as if on cue, and not only the merchants doing business near the port but even the touts did not dare to speak to them.
That was because an intense fury blazed in the eyes of those who walked with tight lips and deeply furrowed brows.
No one could know who they were or why they had come to Tentarbahém; they could only make various speculations.
As conjectures and guesswork spread, whispers of 'Aren't they some kind of mafia?' even began to circulate, but Hamtal, the head of the Black Bird, paid them no mind.
The reason the Black Bird had worn conspicuous black suits, contrary to their usual practice, was solely to mourn Daniel Steiner.
'Daniel Steiner is dead. Right here in this place....'
The Prophet, who was practically the living symbol of abolishing racial discrimination, had been martyred in Bellanos.
The Black Bird understood that fact with their heads but could not accept it with their hearts.
That inability to accept it in their hearts curdled into rage, and they were gripped by the compulsion that they must, by any means necessary, find the culprit who had contributed to killing Daniel Steiner.
"Chief."
One of the subordinates approached Hamtal, who was leading them.
"Should we devote our full strength to ferreting out the culprit, as you said?"
At the subordinate's words, Hamtal nodded.
"Bellanos is a place where not only the nobles but the politicians and military brass are all corrupt. Slip them bribes, and they'll willingly tell us who commanded the territorial waters to be opened. Trace the clues from there and pursue them."
"Understood. However, if there is someone who refuses to cooperate...."
"Make them cooperate."
At the cold voice, the subordinate nodded without another word.
He knew very well what the phrase 'make them cooperate' meant.
As the subordinate withdrew to relay the order, Hamtal stared straight ahead and ground his teeth.
'I don't know who you are, you bastard. But I will make you bitterly regret having killed our Prophet. We will find you, no matter what it takes....'
He clenched his fist so hard that the leather of his gloves twisted.
'And we will execute judgment—thoroughly!'