Chapter 23

Choose Your Nickname Carefully

Meanwhile, in the officers’ conference room.

The officers’ meeting had been temporarily suspended after Lieutenant General Bartom’s death.

Today’s meeting had been reconvened to decide who would fill the vacant position he had left behind.

However, calling it a meeting was almost meaningless, since the promotion had already been decided in advance.

The Commander had agreed to allow the pro-Daphne faction to fill the position in exchange for their silence regarding Lieutenant General Bartom’s death.

For that reason, the Commander had announced that he would not attend today’s meeting, and the officers from the pro-Hayden faction had yet to appear.

The pro-Daphne officers sat gathered together, discussing Bartom’s son, who had been reassigned as a military policeman at the research institute, when someone cautiously introduced a different subject.

“By the way… did everyone see it?”

“See what?”

“The medium-sized monster that child brought back.”

Anton, the leader of the pro-Daphne faction, furrowed his brow slightly.

The other officers, however, seemed quite interested in the subject. They leaned forward and began offering their opinions.

“How could anyone with eyes have missed it? He dragged the thing all the way to the Commander’s residence as though he wanted the entire region to see.”

“I found it rather concerning that a child of only ten would try so desperately to attract attention.”

“I knew His Excellency was a ruthless man, but I never imagined he would force even his own son to do something so unreasonable.”

Another officer frowned, clearly disagreeing.

“You believe His Excellency ordered him to do it?”

“Then are you saying a mere ten-year-old independently decided to hunt a medium-sized monster and arrange a banquet for children his own age?”

“I agree that it was probably not the child’s own idea. His Excellency must be using him to scheme again, just as he did with Lieutenant General Bartom. Isn’t it obvious from the way Director Meursault constantly follows him around?”

Another officer clicked his tongue loudly.

“Hah. You only say that because you don’t know what kind of man Director Meursault is. He is not the sort to trail after a little child merely because His Excellency ordered him to.”

“I also believe the boy is no ordinary child. He did not so much as blink when Lieutenant General Bartom died. That kind of nerve cannot be taught.”

Anton, who had remained silent until then, finally spoke.

“Whether those actions were the child’s own idea or not, it does not change the fact that everything he does undermines Lady Daphne. Even if he has no intention of challenging her, his actions still pose a threat to us.”

The other officers nodded in agreement.

“You are correct.”

“Then what should we do? I would like to speak with him, but Meursault has been using his disciplinary confinement as an excuse to remain glued to the child’s side.”

“Has Lady Daphne said anything?”

“We have been unable to contact her as well.”

“What?!”

“She refused to meet the child because she was unwell. Is she truly ill?”

“That cannot be!”

When the officers raised their voices, Anton motioned for them to restrain themselves and continued.

“That is not the case. If she were genuinely ill, she would have acted even more aggressively in order to conceal it. She is most likely thinking.”

“Thinking about what?”

“About what should be done with that child.”

“Ah….”

“So none of you should act rashly. Leave that arrogant Meursault alone, and leave Lieutenant General Bartom’s son alone as well.”

“But even so, what happened to Lieutenant General Bartom—”

“Have you forgotten why we gathered today? We are here to fill Lieutenant General Bartom’s vacant position. His Excellency was the one who first proposed giving that position to one of our people rather than one of his own. Surely no one here is incapable of understanding what that means.”

“……”

Every officer in this room had survived political struggles to reach their current position.

The Commander had made it appear as though he were graciously yielding an officer’s seat to them.

But his true message was no different from telling them to take the position and disappear.

It was a threat.

If they continued to make an issue of Lieutenant General Bartom’s death, they would lose even this position.

“So do not mention Lieutenant General Bartom again. Live as though such a man never existed. Keep your heads down for the time being, and do not rise to that child’s provocations. That is exactly what he wants.”

“What the child wants?”

“From what I have seen, that child intends to participate in the next subjugation campaign.”

The officers immediately stirred.

“The subjugation campaign?”

“Why else would he make such a spectacle of his hunting ability? He must be trying to prove that he is capable of joining the campaign.”

“But why in the world would he want to participate?”

“The reason is irrelevant. If participating is something the child needs, then all we have to do is prevent him from doing so.”

“I also believe it is too soon. Not merely because we need to restrain him, but because he is far too young. Subjugation campaigns take place every year. No one would criticize him for waiting until he was older.”

“I do not know why either. Why he seems so desperate… almost as though he is working against a deadline.”

As Anton muttered those words, the doors of the conference room opened and the pro-Hayden officers strolled inside.

“What kind of conspiracy were you discussing that made all of you fall silent the moment we arrived?”

Several officers bristled, but Anton stepped forward and answered calmly.

“We were discussing Young Master Haydam. His hunting ability is quite exceptional.”

“Ah, you mean that hippo-pig?”

At the mention of the hippo-pig, the pro-Hayden officers began conversing in relaxed tones.

“Doesn’t everything he does remind you of Lunamoon?”

“What are you talking about? Her shooting skills were never that good.”

“No, I mean the way he likes hippo-pig meat. I always thought it was too greasy, but she used to insist on eating it at least once a week.”

“Ah, that’s right. It always smelled wonderful. I miss those days.”

“I look forward to the day that child joins us on a subjugation campaign. If His Excellency permits it, there is much I would like to teach him—”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Anton, who had been listening silently, cut in with obvious displeasure.

“Are you in your right mind? Your first thought is to send such a young child into a subjugation campaign?”

Once Anton spoke, the other officers—who had already been told that they needed to prevent Haydam from joining the campaign—began adding their own objections.

“This is precisely the problem with constantly comparing him to Lunamoon and placing expectations on him. How much pressure must that child have felt to leave the region and hunt a monster?”

“The child himself said that he and his mother were separate people. Are you not treating them as though they were the same?”

“This is why there is no reasoning with warmongers!”

“What did you call us? Warmongers? Do you have any idea whose efforts allow you to eat comfortably inside this region?”

Just as both sides began raising their voices, a soldier threw open the conference-room doors.

“W-We have an emergency…!”

The soldier was pale and gasping for breath.

The pro-Daphne officers recognized him as a soldier from Lady Daphne’s residence, and their expressions immediately stiffened.

‘Something happened to Daphne.’

The pro-Hayden officers twisted their lips, preparing to mock them.

However, the words that burst from the soldier’s mouth the next moment made both factions shout in shock.

“Y-Young Master Haydam climbed over the wall of Lady Daphne’s residence!”

“What?!”

***

I had not originally intended to climb over the wall.

Finding a way to make the officers from both factions come out of hiding was easy.

I merely had to provoke someone who should never be provoked.

In that sense, Daphne was the perfect target.

The pro-Daphne faction would rush over out of fear that I might mistreat her.

The pro-Hayden faction would rush over out of fear that Daphne might poison me.

All I had to do was leisurely drink tea with Daphne while waiting for them to arrive.

The problem was that even though I had personally come all the way to her residence, Daphne had refused to meet me.

“Lady Daphne is still unwell. She apologizes, but she asks that you return.”

‘She still has no intention of meeting me?’

Daphne’s claim that she was ill was obviously a lie.

If she had truly been sick, she would have taken any action necessary to hide it while still trying to restrain me.

‘Why is she refusing to see me?’

I had assumed Daphne rejected my first visit because she did not yet know what kind of child I was.

However, I had shown her plenty since then.

What happened in the officers’ conference room.

The medium-sized monster I had hunted.

The pork-belly party I had arranged for the children.

After hearing about all those events, Daphne should have had more than enough information to judge what kind of person I was.

That was precisely why I had come to her first.

‘There is no way she still doesn’t understand what kind of person I am. She was never such a stupid NPC.’

Then why was she refusing to meet me?

‘She’s hiding something.’

After concluding that Daphne was avoiding me in order to conceal something, I climbed straight over the wall surrounding her residence.

“Aah! Y-Young Master, you cannot do this…!”

Of course, I had not climbed over secretly.

The servants of Daphne’s residence had been staring at my sudden actions in bewilderment, and they hurriedly tried to stop me.

“Young Master! This is Lady Daphne’s private residence. Please stop…!”

However, none of them seemed willing to actually lay a hand on me.

Thanks to that, I was able to walk proudly into Daphne’s mansion.

There was a simple reason I had not sneaked inside.

If I caused enough of a commotion, that woman, Daphne, would be forced to come down and greet me herself.

As though proving my judgment correct, the moment I entered the lobby, Daphne appeared at the top of the staircase.

‘That is Daphne… right?’

For a moment, I doubted whether she was truly the NPC I remembered.

A dazzlingly beautiful woman began descending toward me with graceful, soundless steps.

‘Her silver hair falls all the way to her waist, and she has that thick white fur draped over her shoulders, so she does look like the NPC I remember.’

She was dozens of times more beautiful than she had been in the game.

She was so beautiful that it made me think the developers had been forced to weaken her appearance because the game’s graphics could never fully capture it.

I could somewhat understand why Meursault was obsessed with Daphne.

I even felt a sense of awe toward Commander Hayden for choosing Lunamoon over a woman this beautiful.

The Commander must have truly loved Lunamoon.

“Was there something so urgent that you had to cause this much of a disturbance just to tell me?”

Only when Daphne reached the bottom of the stairs and spoke to me was I able to stop thinking about her appearance.

That was when I realized my reaction was not normal.

‘Don’t tell me….’

Taking advantage of the brief moment in which I regained my senses, I replaced the Lunamoon’s Friend Title with Regard Gold as Nothing More Than Stone.

An unexpected message appeared before my eyes.

[The item effect has been neutralized.]

Only then was I able to look at Daphne properly.

Setting aside her beauty, she did not appear ill in the slightest.

That made it clear she had deliberately been avoiding me all this time.

I stared silently at Daphne.

No.

At “her.”

Then, as though entranced by something, I opened her character profile.

Normally, opening an NPC’s character profile produced a window like this:

[Name: Meursault
Favorability: 67/100
Affiliated Region: Cola
Special Notes: Rank—Director]

But the profile that appeared before my eyes for Daphne was different from an NPC’s.

It was also different from ours.

[Name: Meursault’s Wife
strategy guide Route: Merry Bad Ending—Hayden
Affiliated Region: Cola
Equipped Item: Violet Eyes of Enchantment
*This player uses a different version of the system. Friend requests are unavailable.]

‘A player using a different version of the system!’

…But what the hell is wrong with that nickname?