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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Daniel Steiner, Who Deceives Everyone
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Edbol's eyes darted around frantically, and he swallowed hard.
Deciding it was best to cooperate for now, Edbol gave a slight nod.
Edbol moved cautiously, walked over to the sofa, and sat opposite Hamtal.
The Black Swan operative, disguised as a soldier, still kept his pistol aimed.
Edbol, bothered by this, glanced sideways, and Hamtal raised a hand.
At that, the operative lowered his pistol without a word.
Realizing they weren't trying to kill him, Edbol inwardly relaxed and looked at Hamtal.
"...What do you want?"
Hamtal did not reply.
He simply stared intently at Edbol before him.
Silence, at times, is a powerful weapon.
Feeling the pressure, Edbol began to speak, even though Hamtal hadn't asked a single question.
"Are you from Imperial Intelligence? If so, I'll cooperate. As you probably know, I did order our territorial waters opened to the submarine. But this was because the Allied Nations blackmailed me. I can submit evidence regarding—"
Wait.
Edbol, who had been speaking, paused.
His thoughts abruptly stopped.
'Evidence... did I have any?'
Edbol replayed his dealings with the Allied Nations in his mind.
The Allied Nations had always used intermediaries to give Edbol verbal orders or deliver bribes.
And only in secluded locations of their choosing.
Furthermore, the bribes were always pure cash, not bank transfers.
This meant there were no records whatsoever—no basic documents, no communication logs.
No evidence.
Only then did Edbol's eyes tremble faintly as he realized he had been played by the Allied Nations.
"Edbol."
Hamtal, observing Edbol, quietly spoke.
"What we want from you isn't such trivial matters. We merely wish for you to tell the world the truth."
Edbol broke out in a cold sweat.
The ticking of the wall clock sounded unusually loud.
Edbol, breathing heavily, frowned.
"I can't do that. That's practically asking me to die, isn't it? If you came here to make a deal, then present a proper offer."
Hamtal let out a low chuckle.
"It seems you still take us for Imperial Intelligence agents. As they say, there's no cure for foolishness."
Hamtal pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"Very well. Since we've met like this, allow me to tell you a story from my past."
Hamtal raised a hand and ran his fingers over it.
"Edbol. Do you know how long it takes for a fingernail to grow back after it's pulled out?"
Edbol did not answer.
No, it would be more accurate to say he couldn't answer.
For someone who lived an ordinary life, there would be no reason to care about a nail growing back after being pulled out.
"It takes anywhere from six months to almost a year. To be honest, it's information I never wanted to know. Having your fingernails pulled out was one of the worst pains imaginable."
Hamtal clicked his tongue softly.
"When I was young, it was considered normal for Black people to be discriminated against. It's not much different now, but back then, Black people weren't even treated as humans. They were considered on par with animals that could speak."
Hamtal let out a self-deprecating laugh.
For some reason, the sound of his laughter weighed heavily on the atmosphere.
"I, too, was an animal back then. Because my master treated me like one. He had a terrible hobby, which was torturing Black slaves."
Hamtal removed his leather glove.
The smile vanished from Hamtal's face as he looked at his own hand.
"Thanks to him, being beaten by my master was a daily occurrence. My body was covered in scars. Laughably, at the time, I thought I could endure that much. It was a terrible slave mentality."
"..."
"But my master seemed to think he needed greater stimulation, because one day he approached me with pliers. That day, I lost my fingernails amidst my screams."
Hamtal turned his hand and showed it to Edbol.
Uneven, gnarled fingernails, grown back irregularly, were visible.
They were deformities that occurred during the process of new nails growing after the old ones were pulled out.
"It was painful. Why was it so painful? I later learned that there's an excessive concentration of nerves beneath the fingernails. So the pain would naturally be far worse than merely cutting your skin."
Hamtal withdrew his hand and put his glove back on.
"What was even more horrific was that because I'd lost my nails, I couldn't pick things up. Every time I tried to grasp something, immense pain shot through my fingertips, making it hard even to hold a water glass."
"..."
"So I decided. I would kill the master who had given me this hell. That single rage allowed me to endure for years. But unfortunately, my chance for revenge never came."
Hamtal's eyes slowly closed, then opened again.
"Because a fellow slave, unable to bear the master's tyranny any longer, snatched a gun and shot him. How do you think I felt then? Go on, tell me."
Edbol, gauging Hamtal's expression, with difficulty opened his mouth.
"...Weren't you glad?"
Hamtal chuckled softly and shook his head.
"Not at all. My master died too easily. A bullet to the head, he wouldn't have felt any pain. For him, a peaceful death was an immense luxury."
"So..."
"As a child, I was enraged. If possible, I wanted to bring him back to life. Bring him back, and return the exact pain I suffered. I wanted to show him a living hell, where he was neither dead nor alive."
Hamtal, his laughter gone, stared fixedly at Edbol.
"But now, that rage..."
His vacant eyes held a cold murderous intent.
"It's about to turn on you."
At those words, Edbol felt fear and gasped for breath.
For those words contained an unknown terror that went beyond the mere threat of torture.
Hamtal, quietly observing the terrified Edbol, shook his head.
"But I won't. Because I am different from my master. However, Edbol. If you refuse our offer..."
In the chilling atmosphere, Hamtal continued.
"We will gladly become devils."
Edbol, facing Hamtal, gasped for breath, then involuntarily lowered his gaze.
He couldn't bear Hamtal's stare.
"This is your one and only chance. I hope you make a wise decision."
If you don't tell the world the truth, you will see hell.
Having conveyed his message, Hamtal picked up the fedora from the table and put it on his head.
After Hamtal rose from his seat, Edbol, who had been bowing his head, spoke in a trembling voice.
"...May I ask one thing?"
"What?"
"If you aren't from Imperial Intelligence, then why are you trying to reveal the truth about the diplomatic vessel's sinking?"
It was a question Edbol asked with courage, but Hamtal and the Black Swan operative merely chuckled dismissively.
However, their laughter didn't last long.
Suddenly, the laughter ceased, and Hamtal's chilling voice was heard.
"You should know. You meddled with someone you shouldn't have."
Edbol's eyes widened.
"Surely not..."
He had heard rumors that Daniel Steiner possessed a mysterious private organization called the Armed Guard.
Just as Edbol grasped Hamtal's true identity, a sharp impact struck the back of his neck.
Edbol collapsed to the floor without even a scream, his eyes rolling back.
Through his blurring vision, he saw Hamtal looking down at him from above.
"Everything is..."
His consciousness slowly faded.
Just before Edbol lost consciousness, Hamtal whispered, pulling down the brim of his fedora.
"For Daniel Steiner."
*
Meanwhile, by Selvia's command, the Imperial fleet, having traversed Bellanos's territorial waters, safely arrived at the port of Tentarbaham.
It was a truly magnificent sight: four landing craft carrying search forces and two supply ships crossing the sea to reach the port, escorted by four massive surface combat ships.
Furthermore, maritime patrol aircraft circled the fleet, and several Imperial fighter jets flew over Tentarbaham as if on reconnaissance, causing citizens to initially mistake it for the outbreak of war.
To prevent unnecessary misunderstandings, the fleet commander, upon arriving in Bellanos, explained the reason for the troops' arrival to the citizens and then ordered a search operation.
As if rest were a luxury, the troops immediately began the search operation without a word of complaint.
The search party also included the Imperial Guard, with Hartmann, the chief of security for the Guard, commanding the battalion-sized personnel.
"We will investigate this nearby coast! By Her Imperial Highness's command! Search thoroughly!"
As Hartmann gave the order on a beach, the Guard members scattered in all directions to conduct their search.
Confirming the troops' orderly movements, Hartmann surveyed the surroundings.
'Abandoned fishing boats and a shack...'
It was a somewhat desolate scene.
Hartmann, who had been observing the landscape for a while, was just about to move to investigate the shack when—
"Lieutenant Colonel Hartmann!"
His head naturally turned at the sound of his subordinate's voice.
The subordinate, his eyes wide with disbelief, began to speak.
"...I think we've found something."
At the word "found," Hartmann immediately approached his subordinate.
Below the subordinate's feet, a uniform buried in the sand was visible.
'This is...'
Hartmann knelt down, dug away the sand, and pulled out the uniform.
The uniform bore not only the National Order's golden insignia but also the Golden Cross Medal.
It was unmistakably Daniel Steiner's military uniform.
"Huh..."
Hartmann, dumbfounded, stood with his mouth agape, when his subordinate spoke.
"Did he hide his uniform?"
Only then did Hartmann come to his senses and nod.
"It seems he hastily dug a hole and buried his uniform before leaving this place. The strong winds these past few days must have scattered the sand, revealing it."
"Why would Lieutenant Colonel Daniel do such a thing...?"
"At the point he was shipwrecked, he must have realized there were collaborators with the enemy nation within Bellanos. So it's reasonable to assume he removed his uniform to conceal his identity for safety."
Hartmann set the uniform down and stood up.
"Of course, he wouldn't have hidden his identity for that reason alone. Lieutenant Colonel Daniel surely intended to exploit the situation of his presumed death."
"What do you mean by that...?"
"Sergeant Pandaim. Think carefully. Under the pretext of investigating Daniel Steiner's death, we achieved a bloodless entry of our military into Bellanos. What does that imply?"
Now, Bellanos's Prime Minister had no choice but to adopt a submissive stance towards the Empire.
Not only had a terrorist attack against the Empire occurred within their territorial waters, but they were also suspected of having internal traitors cooperating with the Allied Nations.
With the Imperial army now inside Bellanos, the Prime Minister was forced to conduct diplomacy from an extremely disadvantageous position.
Realizing this, Sergeant Pandaim blinked blankly.
"...Indeed, the Empire will gain a massive diplomatic advantage. But why didn't Lieutenant Colonel Daniel inform his homeland of this? He could have carried out the operation in secret."
"Daniel Steiner fundamentally doesn't trust allies. Because he can't know who might be a spy."
Something similar happened previously in the Empire's southern region.
Daniel had gone south alone, without informing anyone within the Empire, and single-handedly crushed the Prince's private organization.
To deceive the enemy, deceive your allies too.
Hartmann knew very well that Daniel Steiner was the one who best utilized this maxim.
Hartmann clicked his tongue in admiration and looked at his subordinate.
"Inform the homeland that there's a high probability Daniel Steiner is alive. Her Imperial Highness, who must be grieving, will be delighted."
"Understood!"
Sergeant Pandaim saluted sharply and walked towards the radio operator.
After dismissing his subordinate, Hartmann raised his head and gazed at the city not far off.
Daniel Steiner was undoubtedly operating secretly there.
'I knew he was an extraordinary individual to begin with...'
To use even his own death for the Empire—he hardly seemed human anymore.
Hartmann, feeling an inexplicable awe, swallowed dryly.
'What further schemes might he be orchestrating in that place...?'
For Hartmann, who struggled to see even one step ahead, he simply could not fathom the thoughts of Daniel, the genius strategist.