chapter_0089

88 – Daniel Steiner Deceiving Everyone

88 – Daniel Steiner Deceiving Everyone

Edball, who had been nervously rolling his eyes, swallowed hard.

Thinking it would be better to cooperate for now, Edball nodded slightly.

Moving cautiously, Edball walked over to the sofa and sat down opposite Hamtal.

The member of the Black Swan disguised as a soldier was still aiming a pistol at him.

Noticing this made Edball uneasy, and when he glanced sideways, Hamtal raised his hand.

At that, the member lowered the pistol without a word.

Realizing they were not trying to kill him, Edball felt a sense of relief and looked at Hamtal.

“…What do you want?”

Hamtal did not answer.

He simply stared intently at Edball in front of him.

Silence can sometimes be a powerful weapon.

Feeling pressured, Edball opened his mouth even though Hamtal hadn’t asked any questions.

“Did you come from the Imperial Intelligence Agency? If so, I will cooperate. As you probably already know, I ordered the submarine to open the territorial waters. But that was because the Allied Nations threatened me. I can submit evidence regarding that…”

Wait.

Edball, who had been continuing his speech, suddenly stopped.

His thoughts had come to a halt.

‘Was there… evidence?’

Edball reflected on his dealings with the Allied Nations.

The Allied Nations had always sent someone to give Edball verbal orders or deliver bribes.

And that was only in places where no one the Allied Nations wanted was present.

Moreover, the bribes were pure cash, not transactions made through banks.

This meant that there were no basic documents or even communication records.

There was no evidence.

Only then did Edball realize he had been played by the Allied Nations, and his eyes trembled slightly.

“Edball.”

Watching Edball, Hamtal quietly spoke.

“What we want from you is not such trivial matters. We simply wish for you to tell the truth to the world.”

Edball broke out in a cold sweat.

The ticking sound from the wall clock seemed unusually loud.

As Edball exhaled heavily, he frowned.

“I can’t do that. Isn’t that the same as asking me to die? If you came to negotiate, then make a proper proposal.”

Hamtal chuckled softly.

“It seems we still appear to be agents of the Imperial Intelligence Agency. They say there’s no cure for stupidity.”

After a moment of contemplation, Hamtal nodded.

“Fine. Since we’ve met like this, let me tell you a story from my past.”

Hamtal raised his hand and fiddled with his fingers.

“Edball, do you know how long it takes for a fingernail to grow back after it’s been pulled out?”

Edball did not respond.

No, it would be more accurate to say he could not respond.

If he had lived a normal life, he wouldn’t have had the time to worry about fingernails growing back.

“It takes anywhere from six months to nearly a year. Let me tell you in advance, I didn’t want to know this information either. The experience of having a fingernail pulled out is truly one of the worst pains.”

Hamtal clicked his tongue softly.

“When I was young, it was considered normal for black people to be discriminated against. It’s not much different now, but back then, black people weren’t even treated as human. They were regarded as beasts capable of human speech.”

Hamtal laughed bitterly.

For some reason, that laughter made the atmosphere heavy.

“I was also a beast back then. My master treated me like one. He had a terrible hobby: torturing black slaves.”

Hamtal took off his leather gloves.

The smile faded from Hamtal’s face as he looked at his hands.

“Thanks to that, it was a daily occurrence for me to be beaten by my master. I lived with wounds all over my body. Ironically, at that time, I thought I could endure this much. It was a terrible slave mentality.”

“…”

“However, it seemed my master needed a greater thrill, as one day he approached me with pliers. That day, I lost my fingernails amidst my screams.”

Hamtal turned his hand to show Edball his fingers.

The uneven, jagged fingernails were visible.

They were the result of the new nails growing back after the old ones had been pulled out.

“It was painful. Why was it so painful? I later learned that nerves are excessively distributed beneath the fingernails. So, the pain from just cutting the skin would be trivial in comparison.”

Hamtal withdrew his hand and put his gloves back on.

“Even more horrifying was that I couldn’t pick up anything because I had lost my fingernails. Every time I tried to grab something, immense pain shot through my fingertips, making it hard to even lift a glass of water.”

“…”

“So, I made a resolution. I would kill the master who had given me this hell. That one rage allowed me to endure for years. But unfortunately, I never got the chance for revenge.”

Hamtal’s eyes slowly closed and then opened again.

“My fellow slaves, unable to endure my master’s tyranny, seized a gun and shot him. Can you imagine how I felt at that moment? Go ahead, tell me.”

Edball, glancing at Hamtal, hesitantly opened his mouth.

“…You wouldn’t have been happy?”

Hamtal shook his head with a low laugh.

“Not at all. My master died too easily. With a bullet in his head, he wouldn’t have felt any pain. For him, a peaceful death was a tremendous luxury.”

“And so…”

“My younger self was enraged. If possible, I wanted to bring him back to life. To return the pain I had endured to him. I wanted to show him the hell of being neither dead nor alive.”

Hamtal, having contained his laughter, stared intently at Edball.

“But now that rage…”

In his hollow eyes, a cold malice lingered.

“Is about to be directed at you.”

At those words, Edball felt a wave of fear and gasped for breath.

There was an unknown terror lurking behind that statement, transcending the simple meaning of torture.

Watching Edball, who was terrified, Hamtal shook his head.

“But I don’t intend to do that. I am not the same as my master. However, Edball, if you refuse our proposal…”

In the chilling atmosphere, Hamtal continued.

“We will gladly choose to become demons.”

Edball, facing Hamtal, gasped for breath and unconsciously lowered his gaze.

He lacked the courage to endure Hamtal’s stare.

“Opportunity ends here. I hope you make a wise choice.”

If you do not reveal the truth to the world, you will see hell.

With that implication, Hamtal picked up the fedora from the table and placed it on his head.

After Hamtal stood up, Edball, who had been bowing his head, spoke in a trembling voice.

“…May I ask one thing?”

“What is it?”

“If you are not from the Imperial Intelligence Agency, then what are you trying to uncover the truth about the incident involving the sinking of the official vessel for?”

Edball’s question was brave, but Hamtal and the Black Swan member merely laughed as if it were ridiculous.

However, the laughter did not last long.

At some point, the laughter abruptly stopped, and Hamtal’s chilling voice was heard.

“You must know. You touched someone you shouldn’t have.”

Edball’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Don’t tell me…”

He had heard that Daniel Steiner had an unidentified private organization known as the armed SS.

Just as Edball realized Hamtal’s true identity, a sudden impact struck the back of his neck.

Without even having time to scream, Edball collapsed to the floor, his eyes rolling back.

In his fading vision, he saw Hamtal looking down at him from above.

“Everything is…”

His consciousness slowly sank.

Just before Edball fainted, Hamtal whispered, lowering the brim of his fedora.

“For Daniel Steiner.”

–

Meanwhile, under Selvia’s orders, the Imperial fleet that crossed the territorial waters of Bellanos safely arrived at the port of Tentarbahm.

With four massive naval battleships providing escort, four landing ships carrying search troops and two supply ships crossed the sea and arrived at the port, creating a magnificent sight.

Additionally, a maritime patrol aircraft circled around the fleet, and several Imperial fighter jets flew over Tentarbahm as if conducting reconnaissance, causing the citizens to initially mistake it for the outbreak of war.

To avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings, the fleet commander, upon arriving in Bellanos, explained to the citizens the reason for the troop arrival and ordered a search operation.

As if there was no time for rest, the troops silently began the search operation.

Included in the search troops was the Imperial Guard, led by Hartmann, who was in charge of the chief security detail.

“We will investigate the nearby coastline! It is the command of Her Highness the Princess! Search thoroughly!”

As Hartmann issued the command from a coastal area, the guards scattered in all directions to conduct the search.

Confirming that the troops were moving in an orderly manner, Hartmann glanced around.

‘Abandoned fishing boats and shacks…’

The scenery felt somehow desolate.

After admiring the landscape for a while, Hartmann decided he should investigate the shack and moved his feet when he heard a voice.

“Colonel Hartmann!”

Turning his head instinctively at the voice of his subordinate, Hartmann saw his subordinate with an expression of disbelief.

“…I think we’ve found something.”

At the mention of a discovery, Hartmann immediately approached his subordinate.

There, beneath the sand at his subordinate’s feet, lay a buried uniform.

‘This is…’

Kneeling down, Hartmann dug out the uniform from the sand.

The uniform bore the National Virtue Medal and the Golden Cross Medal.

It was undoubtedly Daniel Steiner’s military uniform.

“Ha…”

As Hartmann stood there in shock, his subordinate spoke.

“Did he hide the uniform?”

Only then did Hartmann come to his senses and nodded.

“It seems he hastily buried the uniform in the sand before leaving this place. The strong winds of the past few days must have scattered the sand, revealing it.”

“Why would Colonel Daniel do such a thing…?”

“He must have realized that there were traitors collaborating with the enemy within Bellanos at the time of the shipwreck. So, it would be reasonable to assume he took off his uniform to hide his identity for safety.”

Standing up after placing the uniform down, Hartmann continued.

“Of course, that’s not the only reason he hid his identity. Colonel Daniel likely intended to use the situation of his own death to his advantage.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

“Sergeant Pandaim. Think carefully. Under the pretext of justifying Daniel Steiner’s death, we entered Bellanos without bloodshed. What does that imply?”

Now, the Prime Minister of Bellanos had no choice but to approach the Empire in a subservient manner.

Not only had a terrorist act against the Empire occurred within their territorial waters, but they were also suspected of harboring traitors collaborating with the Allied Nations.

Moreover, with the Imperial army having entered Bellanos, the Prime Minister would have to conduct diplomacy in an extremely unfavorable situation.

Realizing this, Sergeant Pandaim blinked in shock.

“…Indeed, the Empire will gain significant diplomatic advantages. But why didn’t Colonel Daniel inform his homeland of this? He could have carried out the operation secretly.”

“Daniel Steiner fundamentally does not trust his allies. He cannot know who the spy is.”

There had been a similar incident in the southern part of the Empire before.

Daniel had gone down south alone, without informing anyone in the Empire, and wiped out the prince’s private organization in one fell swoop.

To deceive the enemy, deceive your allies as well.

Hartmann knew that Daniel Steiner was the one who best utilized this adage.

Shaking his head, Hartmann looked at his subordinate.

“Inform the homeland that the probability of Daniel Steiner being alive is high. Her Highness the Princess, who is grieving, will be pleased.”

“Understood!”

With a vigorous salute, Sergeant Pandaim walked toward the radio operator.

After sending off his subordinate, Hartmann raised his head to look at the city not far away.

Daniel Steiner was surely lurking there.

‘I knew he was an extraordinary individual, but…’

To use even his own death for the Empire, he now seemed almost inhuman.

Feeling an unknown sense of awe, Hartmann swallowed hard.

‘What kind of schemes might he be plotting over there…?’

For Hartmann, who was barely able to see one step ahead, he could not keep up with the thoughts of the genius strategist, Daniel.