Chapter 74

Father (6)

“...And so.”

The Commander placed his interlaced hands on the desk.

“Officially, we’ll conclude that Lieutenant General Max did indeed order Bones’s death, but that Colonel Samson was the one who independently murdered the other soldiers. Since Bones—the actual target of the order—is still alive, the punishment won’t be severe. However, Lieutenant General Max’s reputation will be ruined.”

“None of the officers who were there will believe Lieutenant General Max’s confession was genuine. The soldiers who hear about it probably won’t either.”

We had been unable to prove Lieutenant General Max’s innocence.

Yet ironically, his confession had convinced everyone that he was innocent.

Even though he could have placed all the blame on Bones, he had confessed before everyone and claimed responsibility.

Only a true father could have done such a thing.

There was no way a man like that would have ordered his son’s death.

“What are you going to do about Josef?”

We had not found decisive evidence that Josef had ordered Colonel Samson to kill Bones and silence the other team members.

However, after hearing the rumor that the supposedly dead colonel was alive, Josef had dispatched people to search for him.

On top of that, the soldiers Josef had tortured had come forward of their own accord and confessed that they had killed Colonel Samson on Josef’s orders.

It was practically certain that Josef was behind it.

Even so, Lieutenant General Max was the one who would be publicly punished in his place.

If Josef were punished without solid evidence, every member of the pro-Hayden faction would turn against us.

Besides, the decision to publicly announce Lieutenant General Max as the culprit had not been mine.

It had been the Commander’s.

Therefore, asking what I intended to do about Josef was closer to testing me than genuinely seeking my opinion.

“You’re the one who should decide how Josef is dealt with, Father.”

“Haydam.”

“Yes?”

“Refrain from taking personal revenge.”

“Do you really think I’d go behind your back and harm him?”

“Yes.”

What was with that unwavering certainty?

Apparently, the Commander thought I would pretend to obey his instructions while secretly finding some way to retaliate against Josef.

“I won’t. If you really don’t trust me, I’ll stay away from Josef for a while, so don’t worry.”

“Very well...”

The Commander still looked suspicious.

Seriously, how could he trust his own son so little?

At that moment, the door to the Commander’s office flew open, and Meursault rushed inside.

“Your Excellency, we have a serious problem! It appears Lord Haydam has—”

My name was the first thing out of his mouth?

“What did I do?”

I had been sitting deeply sunk into the sofa.

When I spoke, Meursault finally noticed me and widened his eyes.

“Lord Haydam, you were here...?”

His tone made it sound as though I was not supposed to be.

“How long have you been here?”

“I’ve been here since this morning.”

“Is that so...?”

“What happened?”

Only after the Commander asked did Meursault tear his gaze away from me and answer.

“Well... Captain Josef has died.”

“What?”

“Oh dear. That really is terrible.”

“Why are both of you looking at me?”

“Haydam.”

The Commander called my name in a reproachful tone, and I sat up on the sofa with an aggrieved expression.

“It wasn’t me. You’ve seen me sitting here all morning without lifting a finger.”

“That is true, but if it were you...”

Was he serious?

I turned to Meursault.

“Meursault, how did Captain Josef die?”

“Ah, well... I also find it rather strange. He was struck by lightning and killed during training.”

The Commander frowned.

“Lightning?”

“Why would you suspect me over lightning?”

“Well, since it’s you, Lord Haydam, I wondered whether you had somehow arranged for lightning to strike Josef directly on the head.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“True... Even for you, Lord Haydam, manipulating lightning would probably be impossible.”

“Why are you saying something so obvious?”

Even so, the Commander stared at me suspiciously for a while.

Honestly, both the Commander and Meursault were far too perceptive.

[No way!]

Luna, who was nestled in my arms, smacked my chest repeatedly with her tiny front paws.

[You learned how to control your ability this quickly! You weren’t supposed to!]

“Why not?”

[Because then I can’t teach you!!]

I had thought I learned it faster than expected.

Now I had reasonable grounds to suspect that she had exaggerated how difficult it was merely because she wanted to teach me herself.

Ever since Luna told me I had developed an ability, I had practiced controlling it every day.

It seemed I had unintentionally terrified the people of the district in the process.

By now, I had grown skilled enough to call down lightning even on a training ground located far away.

Of course, if I wanted to strike someone precisely on the head, they had to be within my field of vision.

In Josef’s case, however, the location from which he supervised training was always the same.

That was why I had been able to hit him from a distance.

Well, I had not actually intended to strike him directly on the head.

I had merely aimed somewhere around him...

But according to eyewitness reports, the lightning had struck him squarely on top of the head.

Perhaps that counted as him receiving divine punishment after all.

It’s an incredible power, but...

I probably could not use it repeatedly.

No matter what, if people kept dying from lightning strikes within a single district, it would become suspicious.

It was true that Josef had caused the deaths of my precious soldiers.

Even so, the Commander would never tolerate me taking personal revenge.

[Still, Luna was moved.]

“Didn’t you say you hated that name?”

[The father stepped forward and claimed to be the culprit for his son! How admirable! Family really is wonderful!]

Sure it is.

This incident had only reached a Solomon-style conclusion because Lieutenant General Max had decent character.

If he had not stepped forward in Bones’s place, I had been prepared to punish both sons, since Josef and Max would have been equally worthless.

There were not many people who would claim to be the culprit in such a situation for the sake of an adopted son.

Perhaps not even for their biological child.

Then again, that might simply have been my prejudice from growing up under rather unimpressive parents.

I could not agree with Luna’s statement that families were wonderful.

But there was no need to tell her that.

If she truly was the real Haydam, then I had effectively stolen her family.

If Lunamoon really is my mother... does that make this thing my actual older brother too?

The more I thought about it, the more I hoped Lunamoon was not my mother.

[But don’t you miss your dad?]

Luna suddenly asked something completely out of nowhere, and I tilted my head slightly.

“I just saw him a moment ago.”

[Not Hayden! Your dad from the other world!]

“Oh... Not really.”

Naturally, I had a father too.

He was the person who had raised me ever since my mother abandoned me.

But he probably isn’t my biological father.

He had never abused me.

If anything, he had been kind to me to an almost unsettling degree.

However, even as a child, I could tell he had absolutely no interest in me.

It must have been during puberty.

Once, I asked him to take me to my biological father.

The man laughed as though he had heard something truly amusing.

—Unfortunately, there is no other father.

To this day, I still did not know whether he had meant that he really was my biological father, or that my real father was already dead.

For some reason, I had become too frightened to ask further.

[You don’t miss him? But he’s your dad.]

“He probably doesn’t particularly miss me either. He may not have even noticed I’m gone.”

[Nya... So even family members might not want to see each other.]

When I saw Luna’s ears droop, I hurriedly added,

“Commander Hayden missed Haydam terribly. I heard he searched for him for ten years.”

[Really?! N-No, that has nothing to do with me!]

Of course it did not.

“Lord Haydam, there you are.”

While Luna and I were bickering, Bones and Lucas opened the door and entered.

These guys were still staying at the Commander’s residence?

“Huh? Is that a cat?”

Even after Bones and Lucas came inside, I did not hide Luna.

I could not force her to live inside the ring forever.

Besides, she would inevitably be discovered someday.

Luna did not run or hide either.

She remained nestled in my arms, silently staring at the two of them with her vivid blue eyes.

“I’ve never seen that cat before.”

“Neither have I. She’s even cuter than the ones in paintings.”

“Is this the cat you were searching for in the hospital?”

Come to think of it, when I woke up in the hospital, I had asked Bones whether he had seen a cat.

He still remembered that.

Bones might have been mentally fragile, but he was intelligent.

I gave them a convenient excuse.

“Yeah. She must have hidden among the rescue team’s luggage and followed us back.”

“She must be incredibly clever.”

At this point, these guys would probably believe me even if I said Plato was my son.

Luna let out a long yawn, curled up on my lap, and began to fall asleep.

Bones and Lucas crouched beside the bed despite their large frames and spent a long time admiring her.

...How long were these bastards planning to stay in my room?

“If you’re done looking, why don’t you tell me why you came?”

“Ah, right. I forgot because the cat was so cute...”

Moments like this reminded me that these two were still only eighteen.

Embarrassed by how distracted he had become over the cat, Lucas cleared his throat several times before speaking with exaggerated politeness.

“We came... to express our gratitude to you, Lord Haydam.”

“All of a sudden?”

“You’ve already heard that bastard Josef got struck by lightning and died, haven’t you?”

Were they here because they thought I had killed him too?

When I looked at them uneasily, Bones scratched the back of his head.

“Seeing that bastard receive divine punishment made my heart sink. In the end, he was the one who deserved punishment. But if His Excellency hadn’t believed in Lieutenant General Max’s innocence... it would’ve been fucking unfair.”

Fortunately, they did not seem to suspect me.

I nodded, and Bones continued.

“There was no evidence proving Lieutenant General Max’s innocence. Even so, the reason everyone, including me, could accept from the bottom of our hearts that he was innocent was entirely because of you, Lord Haydam. Thank you.”

“Is that really something to thank me for?”

I could not understand why Bones was grateful, so I asked him directly.

“In the end, your father was the one who was punished. Josef’s death was merely an accident. You said everyone now knows your father is innocent, but that only applies to the officers who were present. Ordinary soldiers know nothing about what truly happened. Your father will be recorded as the worst kind of man—someone who ordered the death of his adopted son and dragged several innocent soldiers into the affair. I handled it that way because it benefited me. And you’re still thanking me?”

“Yes. Even so, I’m grateful to you, Lord Haydam.”

Bones looked at me without the slightest hesitation.

Lucas glanced between Bones and me before carefully interjecting.

“I feel the same. We are grateful despite all of that, Lord Haydam. You seem to think we have no reason to thank you because you failed to prove Lieutenant General Max’s innocence, but we understand as well. If it had not been publicly announced that Lieutenant General Max was punished, Bones and I would have found it difficult to return to the military. Because the ordinary soldiers do not know the truth, they sympathize with us instead.”

“I didn’t act with that in mind.”

“That is why we are grateful despite everything.”

“Just accept their gratitude already.”

“......”

They looked as though they would not leave until I accepted it, so I reluctantly nodded.

Once I did, Bones smiled in satisfaction.

“If you ever need help with anything, just say the word. We’ll repay what we owe you with our own bodies.”

“The same goes for me. If there is anything I can do to help, I will gladly do it.”

Now there were two more people besides Plato saying things like this to me.

Still, what could these guys possibly help me with...?

“Ah.”

“What is it?”

“I thought of something you can help me with.”

“Perfect timing. What is it?”

“Please tell us what you need us to do.”

“You’ll really help with anything, right?”

“Of course. For your sake, Lord Haydam, I would gladly do anything... Bones, you feel the same, don’t you?”

“...No, the way Lord Haydam said that suddenly makes me really fucking nervous.”

Bones had excellent instincts.

“Ultimately, it’s for the sake of the district, so don’t be so scared.”

“No, what the hell are you planning to make us do? Why are you trying to frighten us first?”

I smiled brightly at the two of them.

“I’m going to make my father get divorced.”

“...Pardon?”