chapter_0091

90 – The Prime Minister of Belanos is Fearful

90 – The Prime Minister of Belanos is Fearful

Thanks to Daniel’s confident retort, the Officer was thrown into confusion.

‘He doesn’t know Daniel Steiner?’

Daniel Steiner was the empire’s war hero and the very person who caused a global sensation with his total war address.

Even in Bellanos, located across the sea, anyone who read newspapers or listened to the radio would know of Daniel Steiner’s existence.

Yet, he was saying he didn’t know who he was, which amplified the suspicion.

‘Besides…’

The man before him matched the physique of Daniel Steiner as conveyed by his superiors.

He was wearing sunglasses, so his eyes weren’t visible, but his features perfectly matched Daniel Steiner’s portrait.

The Officer looked back and forth between the portrait and Daniel once more before finally speaking with difficulty.

“…If possible, could you take off your sunglasses? Once the verification is complete, I won’t detain you any longer.”

Daniel groaned softly at that.

He had expected it, but the Officer wasn’t backing down easily, making his head throb.

‘If I take off my sunglasses, my identity will be exposed. But…’

Let’s think from the Officer’s perspective.

Could a lower-ranking officer forcibly take a Bellanos citizen into custody just because they looked similar?

Even if he had the authority, he wouldn’t act rashly without permission from his superiors.

‘The empire adheres to international law.’

If he denied it again, the Officer would radio his superiors to get permission for the arrest.

Daniel thought he could buy time that way and then escape by exploiting an opening, so he raised his hand.

“Didn’t I say?”

Daniel, holding onto his sunglasses, lowered them slightly and glared at the Officer with a cold expression.

“That I don’t know who he is.”

The Officer, meeting Daniel’s eyes, felt as if his entire body was freezing.

That was because his sharp, wolf-like eyes were exactly as depicted in the portrait.

The Officer, flustered and reflexively about to salute, paused, struck by a thought.

‘Wait a minute. The fact that he keeps insisting he doesn’t know is…’

There must be a reason for it.

The Officer swallowed hard and recalled Daniel’s achievements in his mind.

The top contributor to the Nordia invasion operation.

Holder of the National Virtue Medal, the empire’s second-class Order of National Security Merit.

Holder of the Golden Cross Medal, the empire’s first-class Order of Diplomatic Service Merit.

The youngest field-grade Officer.

A key figure in the imperial princess faction who ended the succession battle.

A great orator who united the people with his total war address.

Just listing the major achievements was enough.

Daniel had mastered all the achievements that others would struggle to achieve even once in their lifetime.

That was how much of a genius strategist Daniel Steiner was.

A common person couldn’t even dare to guess his thoughts.

‘Surely, hiding his identity is also part of a plan I don’t know about.’

The Officer, realizing everything, bowed his head instead of saluting.

“I understand what you mean. Then, I will be on my way.”

The Officer, showing courtesy by raising his hand and slightly lowering the brim of his uniform cap, turned around.

The soldiers also bowed their heads towards Daniel and began to leave the inn, following the Officer.

Daniel watched them go with a puzzled expression.

‘What is this? They’re just leaving?’

Daniel couldn’t accurately grasp the Officer’s inner thoughts, but it wasn’t a bad thing.

Thinking he was relieved, Daniel hurriedly went up the stairs and entered his inn room.

‘There’s not much time. Now is the perfect time to escape. The Officer may have left, but he’s still watching this place.’

The Officer would surely report to his superiors that he had found someone whose features matched Daniel Steiner’s.

If so, he could easily predict that someone with higher authority would come with soldiers to verify the facts.

Thinking that he had to escape the empire’s encirclement before they arrived, Daniel turned his gaze to the window, only to stop short.

“…”

In Daniel’s view, four massive Naval Battleships were waiting beyond the landing ships and supply ships docked at the port.

Daniel let out a hollow breath at the scale of the fleet, which made Tentarbahem Port look small.

‘They sent a fleet of that size just to find me?’

Daniel, who had thought that at most one ship would come, felt an unknown sense of dread.

‘…Are they crazy?’

He couldn’t understand Selvia’s obsession with him, no matter how much he thought about it.

Also, no matter how he thought about it, he didn’t think he could break through that encirclement and escape.

*

At dawn, Lowell Tailwiss, the Prime Minister of Bellanos, was racking his brains in his office.

‘Why did the accident have to happen in our territorial waters…!’

Ever since an imperial diplomatic vessel that had entered Bellanos’ territorial waters was sunk, Lowell had been unable to sleep at night due to the empire’s various demands and statements.

In particular, he felt dizzy when he received a notice from the empire to “open the borders.”

Opening the borders was the same as allowing the empire’s army to be stationed in Bellanos.

It was a notice that a neutral country should never accept, but because a terrorist attack had occurred in Bellanos’ territorial waters, there was no justification for refusing.

As a result, the empire’s fleet had entered Tentarbahem Port without bloodshed and was beginning its activities.

Lowell didn’t know what demands the empire would make next, now that it had succeeded in stationing its troops.

Fearing that, Lowell had ordered the Intelligence Agency to find the person who had opened the territorial waters to the terrorists as soon as possible.

His aim was to escape the empire’s influence by finding the culprit and handing them over to the empire as soon as possible.

‘If the empire finds the culprit before we do…’

The empire might criticize Bellanos’ incompetence, demand the military’s personnel list, and then try to interfere in domestic affairs.

Lowell, wanting to prevent that at all costs, was praying to God with his eyes closed when there was a knock.

Knock, knock—

Lowell, opening his eyes at the sound of the knock, said,

“Come in.”

The door to the office opened, and the Director of Intelligence entered.

The Director of Intelligence, with a nervous look, saluted Lowell, the Prime Minister, and walked to the center of the office.

“Your Excellency, we have succeeded in finding the culprit who colluded with the terrorists. The culprit is said to be Colonel Edball, the commander of the 12th Naval District Defense Command.”

That was the most welcome news he had heard.

Lowell, his face brightening, clenched his fist tightly.

“That’s a relief! How did you ferret him out?”

At Lowell’s words, the Director of Intelligence hesitated for a moment before finally opening his mouth with difficulty.

“I am sorry to say, but the Intelligence Agency did not ferret out the culprit. Edball came to the Intelligence Agency and confessed.”

“…He confessed?”

“Yes. I heard that he came to the Intelligence Agency with a dazed expression and confessed his crime. But there is one strange thing…”

The Director of Intelligence paused for a moment before saying,

“According to Colonel Edball, Daniel Steiner’s private organization came to his house. He begged for his life, saying he was being threatened in some way. He was terrified.”

Silence formed between the Director of Intelligence and Lowell.

Lowell, his mouth gaping as if his throat was burning, swallowed hard.

“So… you’re saying that Daniel Steiner’s private organization ferreted out the culprit, not the Intelligence Agency? And that they threatened Colonel Edball into confessing?”

“That seems to be the case.”

According to the Director of Intelligence, Daniel Steiner had not been hiding quietly since surviving the sunken ship.

Daniel Steiner, who had faked his identity with his death, was operating secretly in Tentarbahem.

Lowell’s breathing began to quicken as the thought occurred to him.

‘Could it be…’

Lowell knew that his daughter had recently invited a guest to the mansion.

That was because most of the mansion’s servants were Lowell’s people.

He hadn’t paid much attention to the sudden news because he had been busy, but now that he realized that Daniel Steiner was alive and had been active all along, cold sweat broke out on his skin.

Feeling an ominous premonition, Lowell hurriedly reached for the telephone on his desk.

Picking up the receiver, Lowell dialed the rotary dial like a madman.

After a few rings, a voice was heard from the other end.

— Dad? Why are you calling at this hour?

It was a drowsy voice, as if she had just woken up.

Lowell, organizing what he had to say, opened his mouth as calmly as possible.

“Leff, listen carefully. I have a question about the man you invited.”

— Who? Oh. Are you talking about Libelard? He was a nice guy. He had a good sense of humor.

“That’s not what I’m asking! His appearance… I mean, do you remember his appearance when you first met him?”

The empire had investigated the cabin after finding Daniel Steiner’s uniform on the coast.

To be exact, they had tracked down the owner of the cabin.

The owner of the cabin was an old man living near the coast, and he kept a record of the items and clothes he had thrown away in the cabin.

The empire, after receiving the document, cross-referenced it and confirmed that sunglasses, a hat, and some clothes were missing from the cabin.

The empire shared the information with the government of Bellanos in real time, and as a result, Lowell knew what kind of clothes Daniel was wearing when he roamed Tentarbahem.

That was why Lowell was trying to verify whether the person who had contacted his daughter was Daniel Steiner by his appearance.

— Why are you asking about that all of a sudden? You’re not going to say something now, are you? You approved it because you thought there wouldn’t be any repercussions if he was just an illegal alien, right? Just so you know. Anyway, his appearance…

Leff grumbled but still recalled her memories.

— Um. First of all, he was wearing a fedora on his head and sunglasses. And he was wearing shabby cotton clothes, the top was brown and the bottom was gray. It was the kind of outfit an old man would wear, but it suited him surprisingly well. Is it because he’s handsome?

Lowell’s hands began to tremble as he listened to Leff’s story.

It matched the information he had received from the empire.

‘Daniel Steiner… not only did he independently search for the culprit, but he also contacted my daughter.’

And his illegitimate child, which he kept secret from the world.

A sense of dread washed over him because he couldn’t understand Daniel’s intentions.

Just as he was trying to hide his fear in the heavy silence, Leff’s voice was heard.

— Oh. And what was it? He told me to tell our damn father something. Oh, I remember.

Leff imitated Daniel’s voice and said,

— You should do the right thing in politics. He said something like that?

As a result, Lowell felt as if his heart had dropped.

No matter how he looked at it, it was a threat to him, the Prime Minister.

After a few breaths, Lowell, replying that he understood, slowly put down the receiver.

“We were wrong.”

A gloomy light entered Lowell’s eyes as he hung up the phone.

“We were wrong by a long shot.”

Lowell, biting his lip tightly, sobbed without realizing it.

“What we were dealing with wasn’t the empire…”

His sobs were like the self-reproach of someone who had given up on everything.

“Our enemy is…”

Lowell, clutching his head with his eyes closed, uttered in a voice choked with resentment.

“Daniel Steiner. It was that devil…”

Author’s Note

Dear readers! I hope you have a happy holiday!

Also, thank you for always reading!

See you again tomorrow!