Chapter 45

Gift

I heard something unexpected from the Commander.

“The officers are looking for me because you banned them from participating in the subjugation?”

“That’s right.”

I frowned.

“What is it? Don’t tell me they insist on joining the subjugation.”

“No one said they absolutely had to go. But they want to hear why they were prohibited from participating.”

So they would obey the order not to go, but still wanted to know the reason?

That meant...

“They seem to have realized that you were involved.”

“Why didn’t you just tell them you were the one who prohibited it, Father?”

The Commander gave me a faint smile.

“I considered that, but the Josefs were curious as well.”

The Josefs?

Josef was the name of the leader of the pro-Hayden faction.

Apparently, it wasn’t just the pro-Daphne officers who were dissatisfied. Even the pro-Hayden officers had complaints.

Then again, unlike the pro-Daphne officers, the pro-Hayden officers were people who had once fought alongside Lunamoon on the battlefield.

It was understandable that they would be displeased when none other than Lunamoon’s son forbade them from participating.

I had been ignoring them because they wouldn’t be useful to me during the Second Apocalypse ten years from now.

But looking at it another way, since there were still ten years left, I should probably pay attention to their grievances for now.

“Well... all right. If they want to know the reason, it’s not difficult to tell them.”

“But are you truly certain this will be all right?”

All right?

He didn’t seem to be asking whether it was all right to reveal the reason.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean going out with only a small elite force.”

The Commander looked at me with concern.

“Of course, the practical effectiveness of the method you devised for locating the jewels has already been verified several times through other soldiers. But if the man who attacked you last time appears again, you could immediately find yourself in danger.”

It seemed the Commander was also concerned about the Unicorn Zone player.

That was understandable. Anyone would be concerned about a man who had crossed into someone else’s zone and shot the regressor’s son.

“He... won’t appear.”

He had said with his own mouth that he would be waiting for me to come to his zone, so he was probably sitting quietly on the floating island and waiting for me.

Of course, it would be strange to blindly believe him just because he had said that.

Still, he had deliberately appeared on a hoverboard as if showing off, struck an impressive pose, delivered a dramatic line about looking forward to my arrival in his zone, and then disappeared.

The chances of someone like that breaking his own word and showing up again seemed low.

The Commander still looked doubtful.

“How can you be certain?”

“It’s a regressor’s intuition.”

“Hmm...”

The regressor act was incredibly convenient at times like this.

“If you say so, then I suppose that must be the case...”

Then the Commander brought up something else unexpected.

“Meursault will also be joining this subjugation.”

“What? Meursault will?”

“He says he’s worried about you.”

“I’m more worried about Meursault...”

After leaving the zone with Meursault twice, I had learned one thing.

That bastard had invested every last one of his points into his brain.

His shooting stance was awkward, and his stamina was terrible. He wasn’t the kind of soldier you would bring along on a lengthy operation like a subjugation.

And yet the person who knew that better than anyone had decided to participate merely because he was worried about me?

“I appreciate the sentiment, but... I don’t think I’ll be any safer just because Meursault comes along.”

“I told him the same thing, but he is stubborn. So, as you said, this operation had better be ‘safe.’ Otherwise, you may lose many things.”

If something happened to Meursault, Daphne probably wouldn’t forgive me either.

I needed to visit her anyway to ask about the dating simulation game, so I might as well tell her that Meursault would be joining the operation.

“And you no longer need to attend the military academy.”

“Really?”

I had already grown tired of sitting through theoretical classes with the cadets, so this was welcome news.

Still, he was giving up rather quickly for someone who had told me to attend until I could dodge bullets.

“Merely hearing the rumors was enough to tell me that there is nothing left for you to learn at that school.”

“Rumors?”

“The rumor that you killed a fur crocodile with a single bullet, eliminated eight cadets while using only one arm, and then had Plato kneel in front of your dormitory and swear allegiance to you.”

Seriously, how far was this rumor—or rather, this creation myth—going to spread?

***

The officers sat in the conference room, waiting for the Commander and Haydam to arrive.

This would be Haydam’s second time attending an officers’ meeting.

The first had been held to introduce him.

Now, however, there was not a single officer who did not know who Haydam was.

On the very first day Haydam appeared, an officer had died.

Not long afterward, he had ventured outside the zone to hunt and returned after killing a hippopotamus boar by himself.

He had held a charity party for children his age.

During training simulations, he had wiped out the opposing team twice.

On one occasion, he had personally eliminated eight graduating cadets. On another, he had participated while injured and still won.

It had later been revealed that he had suffered those injuries while killing a large-class monster—a fur crocodile.

‘Extraordinary.’

No. “Extraordinary” was no longer enough to describe him.

When they heard that he regularly entered and left the operations room with Meursault, they had assumed the Commander had ordered it so the boy could learn.

But when the officers were prohibited from participating in the subjugation, they all sensed that this order was different from anything before it.

Neither Commander Hayden nor Major General Meursault had ever given such an order.

Haydam had unquestionably been involved in planning the subjugation.

And the Commander had permitted it.

Regardless of whether they belonged to the pro-Hayden faction or the pro-Daphne faction, the officers all had the same thought.

‘He’s dangerous.’

The fact that he showed no respect even toward the pro-Commander officers who had fought alongside his mother, Lunamoon, was extremely dangerous.

It might actually have been better if Haydam had openly antagonized the pro-Daphne officers and made an obvious attempt to avenge Lunamoon.

At least then, what Haydam wanted would have been clear.

But Haydam’s current course of action was...

‘Impossible to predict.’

If he were doing all this merely to win the Commander’s favor, then he was deliberately choosing actions that were far too dangerous.

Yet if his goal was to establish his position within the zone, he did not even spare the officers a glance.

And if it were merely the recklessness of a child...

He appeared strangely desperate.

Like someone being chased by something.

Even more peculiar was the Commander’s willingness to tolerate Haydam’s behavior.

The Commander they knew was not a man who would entrust the affairs of the zone to a child.

Was even the man known as Iron-Blooded weak when it came to his own flesh and blood?

But if he treasured his bloodline that much, it made no sense for him to send his only young son into a subjugation operation.

Anton could understand the intentions of neither the Commander nor Haydam.

Even so, he decided that it was time to create some distance between them.

He had to prepare for the possibility that Haydam truly was an impostor.

And for the day when Daphne eventually gave birth to an heir.

That was why revealing Lunamoon’s portrait during today’s officers’ meeting was so important.

After repeatedly examining the evidence, Anton had confirmed that although the exact date was unknown, Lunamoon’s grave had certainly not been created merely one or two years ago.

He had also confirmed that the residents of the slums knew nothing about Haydam.

More importantly, they had discovered traces suggesting that the grave had been dug up not long ago.

Taking all this information together, Anton believed he could plant doubt in the Commander’s mind that Haydam might not be Lunamoon’s biological son.

‘I cannot personally accuse Haydam of being an impostor. That would be far too dangerous.’

For one thing, Haydam resembled the Commander and Lunamoon far too closely to be a fake.

The moment Anton saw the portrait of Lunamoon that he had completed with Daphne’s assistance, even he had become convinced that Haydam truly was her biological son...

...to the point that he wondered whether there had been some mistake in the testimony of the slum residents.

Moreover, the information Haydam had recited one after another at the first officers’ meeting was not something he could have known unless Lunamoon had told him.

Anton could not even begin to guess how the boy had known the name of a puppy that had only just been born.

Lastly...

Haydam had already proven far too much for him to be dismissed as a fake.

Even if the child truly was an impostor, there was a very high chance that the meritocratic Commander would refuse to cast him aside.

And if the officers stepped forward and accused Haydam of being a fake, that contrarian man would only become even more protective of him.

‘So... for now, planting doubt is the best option.’

In other words, Anton intended to slowly guide the Commander into thinking for himself and arriving at the conclusion that Haydam was an impostor.

Just as he had refrained from immediately suggesting that they give Daphne the portrait as a gift, instead guiding her until she decided for herself that it should be gifted.

People as strongly self-assured as the Commander and Daphne were far more likely to believe something was “right” when it was a choice they had made themselves rather than an opinion given to them by someone else.

Just then, the Commander and Haydam entered the conference room with indifferent expressions.

Anton composed his stern face and waited for the right moment to reveal the portrait.

“It seems all of you already know that I’m involved in this operation, so I’ll just say it openly.”

The moment Haydam entered the conference room, he went straight to the point.

“This operation will be conducted by a small elite force. Our resources are limited to begin with. Bringing that many people along and wasting ammunition during a subjugation would be inefficient. Even the combat rations you eat and drink during the operation are property of the zone.”

“A small elite force? I cannot imagine how few people you intend to bring for you to say such a thing.”

Josef, the leader of the pro-Commander faction who was normally favorable toward Haydam, seemed to have had his pride badly wounded by this matter. He spoke to Haydam through clenched teeth.

“Do you even know how many soldiers are required to kill a large-class monster? I heard you brought back a fur crocodile that was already on the verge of death. Surely you do not expect every monster we encounter during the subjugation to be in such a state?”

“Even if it was dying, I was still the one who killed it. Let me ask you the opposite question. When was the last time you personally hunted a monster?”

“Th-that is...”

Josef was left speechless by Haydam’s question.

Another officer immediately stepped forward in indignation.

“The idea that we should be excluded simply because we do not personally participate in combat is something you can only think because you do not yet understand the military, Lord Haydam. We hold our positions as commanders of our respective units. A soldier’s duty is not limited to charging directly into battle. Someone must organize the battle lines. Hunting even a single large-class monster necessarily requires advanced strategy and a vast quantity of supplies.”

“I can identify the location of a monster’s jewel with my naked eyes.”

“So merely knowing where the jewel is would not... Pardon? What did you just say?”

The officer who had been questioning Haydam asked again in bewilderment.

“Y-you can tell where the jewel is... just by looking?”

The other officers listening nearby wore similarly shocked expressions.

Even Anton, who had only brought Haydam to the officers’ meeting so he could reveal the portrait, stared at him in astonishment.

Despite making such a tremendous confession, Haydam spoke as though it were nothing remarkable.

“I know the rule used to determine the location of the jewel. That means there is no need to spray bullets around like idiots, bring the monster down, and then search for it afterward.”

“N-no... Is that really true?”

“It has already been verified.”

When even the Commander stepped forward and confirmed that it had been tested, the officers began murmuring among themselves.

“That is actually possible?”

“There is a rule governing the location of the jewels...?”

“Then was the rumor that he killed a fur crocodile with a single bullet actually true?”

Anton had also heard from Plato that Haydam had killed the fur crocodile with one bullet, but he had assumed his immature son had exaggerated out of excessive admiration.

Yet Haydam truly was a child capable of hunting a large-class monster with a single bullet.

“Even I learned the skill quickly despite having only faced large-class monsters a few times. You have all participated in subjugations for decades without learning even that much, so why should I trust you enough to bring you along?”

“......”

This time, not a single officer stepped forward.

Only silence flowed through the conference room.

At that moment, all the elderly officers were thinking the same thing.

‘At this rate, we’ll be discarded.’

They were too old to take part in subjugations personally, yet they had retained their positions as officers because their decades of experience and knowledge were recognized.

But the appearance of an alien existence whose experience and knowledge far surpassed their own was more than enough to instill a sense of crisis in them.

Especially since he had already declared that he would not bring the officers on the subjugation.

Anton decided that now was the right moment to reveal the portrait.

“Understood. We will refrain from participating.”

When Anton stepped forward and accepted the ban, the other officers appeared unsettled, but no one voiced any opposition.

The pro-Daphne officers knew that Anton was about to unveil the portrait.

They looked at him with expectant eyes, hoping he would overturn the entire situation.

Anton continued.

“We have all grown old. If we insist on participating even now, it would only prove that age has robbed us of our judgment as well. It is time for us to step aside and yield our places to younger blood. Therefore...”

Anton paused for a moment before quietly adding,

“I intend to retire after today’s meeting.”

“L-Lord Anton?!”

“What are you saying?”

The pro-Daphne officers, who had only been waiting for Anton to bring out the portrait, sprang up in alarm.

Anton ignored them and looked toward Haydam.

“This old man has brought one final gift before departing. Would you accept it?”

Haydam had shown no change in expression even after Anton announced his retirement.

But when Anton mentioned that he had brought a gift, a subtle look appeared on his face.

“Surely that enormous thing behind you isn’t supposed to be my gift.”

Lunamoon’s portrait had been painted in a massive frame and transported to the conference room early that morning.

Although it had been covered with a white cloth, the silhouette of the frame was clearly visible beneath it, making it easy enough to guess that it was a painting.

“I don’t really understand the value of paintings.”

Anton smiled as he watched Haydam speak with obvious reluctance.

“You will understand its value the moment you see it.”

With those words, Anton sharply pulled away the cloth covering the portrait and studied every change in Haydam’s expression with a piercing gaze.

‘Now then, you little impostor. Let us see whether you can slither your way out of this one as well.’

If Haydam hesitated even slightly, Anton intended to immediately press him on why he could not even recognize his own mother’s face.

But Anton’s expression was soon filled with disappointment.

The way Haydam looked at the painting was not the expression of someone who did not know the person depicted within it.

There was a piercing longing in his eyes, along with even a trace of resentment.

It was unmistakably the gaze of a young child who had not seen his mother for a very long time.

Then Haydam’s faintly trembling voice escaped his lips, declaring the failure of Anton’s plan.

“Mother...?”

***

Before the officers’ meeting, Daphne had told me that Anton was preparing a gift for me.

“He’s working on a portrait of Lunamoon.”

A portrait of Lunamoon.

I immediately realized what that meant.

‘Anton suspects my identity, doesn’t he?’