Chapter 46

How

Before the officers’ meeting, I went to see Daphne.

I needed to tell her that Meursault would be participating in the subjugation and ask her about the dating simulation game.

“Meursault is joining the subjugation?”

As expected, Daphne looked surprised.

“He hasn’t personally participated in a single subjugation over the past ten years... Perhaps meeting Haydam caused a change of heart. He isn’t normally someone who acts so emotionally.”

Although she was surprised, her reaction was calmer than I had expected.

‘For someone whose nickname is “Meursault’s Wife,” I thought she’d object to her favorite character doing something so dangerous.’

“Are you all right with Meursault joining the subjugation?”

“If that’s what Meursault wants. And if... he found the courage to do it after seeing Haydam...”

Daphne clasped her teacup tightly with both hands.

“If Meursault returns safely from the subjugation... I think I might confess my feelings to him.”

“...That sounds like a death fla— Never mind.”

The moment I started to say “death flag,” Daphne’s face turned deadly serious, so I quickly changed my words.

“I’ll do everything I can to take care of Meursault. That being said, could you perhaps help me as a player?”

“As a player?”

“I still don’t know what kind of abilities you possess.”

Daphne gave a small laugh.

“Being a player doesn’t mean I possess some extraordinary authority. I do have an appearance-enhancement item, but at most, it can only raise someone’s affection toward me.”

“Is that so?”

‘But Lunamoon...’

As though she had read my thoughts, Daphne continued.

“Lunamoon was such an extraordinary person that I understand why you might be mistaken, Haydam. But it’s true. Other than helping me gain people’s favor, I don’t have any functions useful for a dating simulation.”

In other words, Daphne had survived until now without any other abilities.

I might have felt more at ease if she had possessed some special power.

But realizing that she had reached her current position purely through her own abilities made her existence feel even more intimidating.

And if she was lying...

That would mean she did not trust me.

Perhaps because my expression had darkened, Daphne looked apologetic.

“I’m sorry I can’t be of much help. I do possess a healing ability, but it isn’t something that would be useful to you.”

So she really did have a healing ability like Lunamoon.

She had not deliberately concealed it from me. She had simply thought it would not be helpful and therefore had not mentioned it first.

“Ah, the ability works like—”

“I already know.”

Daphne was about to explain her healing ability, but I spoke first.

“I inherited that ability from Mother as well.”

Daphne stared at me in shock.

“Th-that ability can be inherited?”

Sooner or later, people were bound to discover that I possessed a healing ability.

Once they noticed how quickly my injuries healed, Daphne, who had the same ability, would immediately realize it.

In that case, it was better for me to get ahead of the issue.

Before Daphne could develop any suspicions about my ability, I put on a gentle smile and delivered a line drenched in emotion.

“Whenever I use that ability, I feel as though Mother is always beside me, protecting me.”

Sure enough, Daphne looked deeply moved.

“Ah...! I’m certain that’s true. It must be a legacy Lunamoon left behind for you, Haydam!”

Perhaps this made her trust even more strongly that I was Lunamoon’s son, because the gaze she directed at me became even more affectionate.

‘Honestly, I think you’re more impressive for surviving ten years with nothing but an appearance-enhancement item.’

Just as I was beginning to feel something close to awe toward Daphne, who had spent ten years trapped in a game world inside a body that could not even taste food, her face suddenly turned serious.

“You must miss your mother.”

“Of course... There is no child who doesn’t miss their mother.”

At my answer, Daphne looked as though she had made up her mind about something.

“Actually... I’m preparing a gift.”

“A gift?”

“Yes. Anton told me recently that not a single photograph of Lunamoon remains.”

‘Anton did?’

It did not seem likely that Anton had told Daphne that for no reason.

If Daphne were preparing the gift alone, that would be one thing.

But if Anton was involved in choosing it, then the gift probably did not come with entirely good intentions.

“He told me to keep it secret until the officers’ meeting... but seeing how much you miss Lunamoon made me want to tell you immediately.”

He had told her to keep it secret, yet she was telling me?

At times like this, I was truly grateful that Daphne was a player.

It seemed she felt closer to me, who knew she was a player, than to Anton, who had been by her side for ten years.

Anton probably never imagined that she would care more for me, the son of her romantic rival, than for him after a decade together.

“We’re working on a portrait of Lunamoon. That way, whenever you miss her, you’ll be able to look at it.”

‘A portrait of Lunamoon...?’

When I thought about it, there was nothing inherently strange about giving a portrait of a deceased mother to a young child who had lost her.

But the fact that they had specifically chosen a portrait of Lunamoon meant...

‘He suspects me.’

To be honest, anyone who questioned the people living in the slums around the grave would quickly realize that my existence was suspicious.

I was, quite literally, a child who had fallen from the sky.

Anton apparently intended to show me Lunamoon’s portrait and check whether I truly was her son.

It seemed I would have to visit Lunamoon’s grave.

***

When I told Daphne that I wanted to visit my mother’s grave for the first time in a while, she readily lent me a car and a driver.

I rode Daphne’s car to the slums where Lunamoon’s grave was located, told the driver to wait outside, and equipped the title Mask of an Extra, which blurred people’s impression of my appearance.

Then, in a place where no one could see me, I changed into clothes I had stored in my inventory and entered the slums.

The streets were so clean that it was almost difficult to call the place a slum.

Compared to the last time I had come to dig up the grave, the area was far better maintained. It seemed the Commander had inspected and repaired the nearby facilities after he began visiting frequently.

I wandered through the slums, searching for someone whose appearance did not match that of a destitute resident.

If Anton had extracted information from someone here, I expected there would be a slum resident whose living conditions had improved after being paid for it.

And apparently my prediction was correct.

I found an old man wearing clothes that did not look conspicuous at first glance, but whose fabric was far too fine for an ordinary slum resident.

The old man had apparently already received plenty of food, because he did not even glance at the dried meat I offered him.

However, after I gave him a fragrant handkerchief I happened to be carrying, he told me everything he knew.

“Some people from the military came here asking if anyone knew a child named Haydam.”

“They came to investigate him?”

“That’s right. When I said I didn’t know him, they asked whether a child with black hair and black eyes had ever lived in this village.”

The old man looked at me, but his face showed no sign that he found my hair or eye color strange.

It was a good thing I had equipped the title that blurred people’s impressions of me.

To him, my hair probably looked like a somewhat dark shade of brown.

“Did a child like that ever live here?”

“No. If there had been a black-haired child, there’s no way I wouldn’t remember. I told them I’d never seen one in my life.”

“What did they say after that?”

“They asked whether I knew the owner of that nameless grave farther inside.”

The old man clicked his tongue.

“The grave is called the Nameless Grave to begin with. How would I know who’s buried there? I did tell them that someone who looked like an important noble had been visiting often lately, but I had no desire to get involved with such a person and suffer for the sake of satisfying my curiosity.”

“Did they leave after that?”

“No. They were persistent.”

Judging by the way the old man rubbed his pocket while speaking, it seemed he had only answered after they had paid him a considerable amount.

“They kept asking, so I remembered that an old man who died recently used to go around saying that the person buried there was a benefactor who had cared for the villagers when a plague swept through this place. I told them that much. But the man had been even older than me and his mind was failing, so I also said I didn’t know whether it was true.”

“What happened next?”

“They asked something truly strange.”

“Something strange?”

“They said there were signs that the grave had been dug up and asked whether I knew anything about it.”

The old man laughed as though the question was absurd.

“They asked if I knew who had dug it up. What kind of fool would answer, ‘Yes, I do’? Apparently that black-haired brat named Haydam has been digging up the graves of important people while searching for something...”

Hmm.

Wrong, but not entirely wrong.

“Oh, and at the end, when I told them the nameless grave had been there for a very long time, the soldiers’ expressions changed before they left.”

That seemed to be everything I needed to hear.

“I see. Thank you for telling me. You can keep the dried meat too.”

“Well, if you’re offering.”

I said goodbye to the old man, whose grin now stretched from ear to ear.

Then I deliberately took a long detour, changed back into my original clothes in a deserted place, and headed toward Lunamoon’s grave.

My business was already finished, but I needed to leave behind witnesses who had seen me visiting the grave.

Otherwise, people might find it strange that I had come here.

When I went deeper into the village, I found that Lunamoon’s grave was no longer a desolate mound of dirt.

Several flowers had been placed before it.

I had no idea how anyone had found flowers in this snow-covered apocalyptic world.

The moment I saw them, the ring began heating up once again.

‘Come to think of it, this ring seemed like an NPC connected to Lunamoon.’

I was already pretending to be Lunamoon’s son, yet I had been far too indifferent toward it.

‘I’ll visit the grave more often from now on.’

I thought the words as though speaking to the ring.

As if replying, the jewel set into it flashed for an instant.

I chuckled as I looked at the ring, then turned my gaze back toward the grave.

Although the Commander had been maintaining it, it was still an old grave.

The section that Safe Zone 8 and I had dug up and overturned looked suspiciously soft compared to the surrounding earth.

‘The traces of the grave being dug up... I can say Safe Zone 8 did that while trying to impersonate me.’

The Commander had seen him bring Lunamoon’s military identification tags, so he would not doubt my explanation.

‘And the grave being old proves nothing.’

There was no way technology capable of accurately calculating the age of a grave still existed in a world destroyed by the First Apocalypse.

That was likely why Anton intended to show me Lunamoon’s portrait and observe my reaction instead of relying on the grave.

He probably assumed I did not know what Lunamoon looked like.

And in truth, the only thing I knew of Lunamoon was her skeleton.

But since I now knew in advance that they intended to show me her portrait, I could put on a convincing performance.

‘Still, the fact that the slum residents don’t know a child named Haydam may seem suspicious.’

I would have no choice but to claim Lunamoon had raised me in hiding.

I would also have to say that Lunamoon had died only recently.

There might be more old people who believed Lunamoon had died while treating the plague, but the Commander knew she possessed a healing ability.

That would make my claim sound even more credible.

Having prepared thoroughly for Anton’s trap, I entered the officers’ meeting.

But the moment I saw the portrait Anton unveiled...

I realized something had gone terribly wrong.

‘...How?’

How could that person’s face be in the painting?

The face of my real mother.