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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Black Swan Moves Covertly
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About ten days later, the higher-ups approved Daniel's leave request.
Considering the nation was at war, making the leave approval process notoriously strict and complex, the permission had come through relatively quickly.
With his leave pass in hand, Daniel boarded the first-class carriage of the luxurious 'Royal Express' train at the station.
Although officers were not typically granted first-class tickets on luxury trains, the General Staff had made an exception for Daniel, given his numerous military achievements.
'Let's see. My cabin is...'
Walking down a corridor carpeted in red, Daniel stopped in front of the cabin marked CA8.
Confirming it matched the cabin number on his ticket, Daniel opened the door.
A large window brightly displayed the scenery outside.
Stepping inside, inwardly impressed, he saw plush beds arranged on either side of the cabin.
In the center, a luxurious table and chairs were set up, and the expensive refreshments laid out on the table made him feel the train truly lived up to its name.
Daniel placed his luggage by the nearby wall, then approached the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
After taking off his uniform cap and placing it on the table, the train began to rumble and move.
Daniel adjusted his uniform once, then leaned back comfortably against the chair's backrest, gazing at the scenery outside the window.
The landscapes changed moment by moment as the train moved, yet the glow on the tree leaves and fields remained constant, no matter where the train sped.
It was truly a continuous panorama of pastoral and peaceful scenery.
A smile naturally formed on Daniel's lips.
'Yes. This is what I wanted.'
A peaceful life, free from worries or concerns.
A moderate amount of money, enough to maintain a comfortable standard of living.
And a small amount of power, just enough to avoid being looked down upon by others.
Hadn't he enrolled in the Magic Military Academy precisely for this trinity of life, which every ordinary citizen desired?
'But...'
Ever since he began awakening memories of his past life, his life had become twisted in real-time.
If one were to summarize Daniel's life now, it would be this:
An unstable life, constantly worrying about assassination and struggling not to die on the battlefield.
An uncomfortably large sum of money, accumulated from numerous successive military achievements and rewards.
Power that transcended merely not being looked down upon, now instilling fear in others.
It had strayed so far, too far, from the long, quiet life Daniel had aimed for.
It was a situation that naturally drew a sigh, but today, he could simply laugh it off.
'Because it's a holiday.'
For the next month, he wouldn't have to endure the suffocating daily routine with his adjutant, a spy for the Allied Nations.
He had no worries about being embroiled in the succession struggle between the Princess and the Prince, nor did he need to fret about what kind of operational support the General Staff might send next.
'This is troubling. Am I allowed to be this happy?'
Daniel chuckled softly, basking in the sunlight pouring in from outside the window.
'Come to think of it, is this the first time I'm returning to my hometown in almost two years?'
It was his first time traveling south since he had used a regular leave to visit his hometown during his Magic Military Academy cadet days.
'I wonder if the Abbot is doing well. I did write a letter, hoping not to surprise him with a sudden visit...'
Given how secluded the place was, he worried whether the letter had even arrived properly.
As Daniel continued his thoughts, reminiscing about his memories from his hometown,
*Slide*─
The cabin's sliding door opened, revealing a Black man.
Upon seeing Daniel, he took off the fedora he was wearing and placed it over his chest.
"Oh, my. There was already a passenger here. I should have knocked."
Daniel rose from his seat and extended a hand with a smile.
"It's quite alright. This is a shared cabin, so there's no need to feel awkward around me. I'm Daniel Steiner."
"Ah! Major Daniel Steiner, I presume. I've heard much about you. I am Hamtal. From Nordia, you see."
The Black man was Hamtal, the leader of the secret organization, the Black Swan.
Of course, Daniel had no way of knowing this.
"From Nordia, you say. What a remarkable coincidence. I served as the garrison commander there myself."
"I've heard that Nordia has become a much better place to live thanks to you. But, first, why don't we sit down and talk?"
Daniel nodded pleasantly and took his seat.
Hamtal also sat opposite him, then adjusted his tie.
Immediately after, as if something had just occurred to him, he casually began to speak.
"By the way, Major Daniel. I heard that a radical urban development plan was implemented in Nordia. Was there any particular reason for it?"
He was probing Daniel one last time, just in case.
He wanted to know if Daniel had made Nordia more prosperous 'for the Empire,' or if he had genuinely helped Nordia to create a more ideal world.
Daniel was silent for a moment at Hamtal's question, then shrugged once.
"Actually, I implemented it thinking I might even earn the scorn of both the General Staff and the citizens of Nordia. It's just that the outcome turned out to be unexpectedly good."
At Daniel's words, Hamtal was inwardly impressed.
'He pushed through with it, even knowing there might be backlash from both the Empire and its citizens?'
This was akin to a true prophet.
"And perhaps your advocacy for people of color, including us Black people, was also..."
"Advocacy? That's just common sense. Racial discrimination... isn't that just extreme elitism? I simply told those deranged people not to do deranged things."
Daniel's serious voice carried genuine conviction.
Seeing Daniel like this, Hamtal was able to discard even the slightest lingering doubt in his heart.
'Indeed, Daniel Steiner is a man worthy of our loyalty.'
Hamtal, showing his respect inwardly, rose from his seat.
"I apologize for interrupting our conversation, but I need to use the restroom for a moment."
As Daniel nodded, Hamtal put his fedora back on and exited into the corridor.
After walking a few steps down the corridor, Hamtal pulled out a radio from his pocket, turned it on, and pressed the transmit button.
"Report if there are any unusual situations in your respective sectors."
Soon after Hamtal spoke, reports began to come in one after another from the radio.
— Dining car clear. Will continue to monitor.
— Onboard lounge also clear.
— Connecting passages in all sections clear.
Currently, Black Swan members were stationed throughout the Royal Express train.
This was because the present moment, with Daniel Steiner on leave alone without military escort, was the most opportune time for him to encounter trouble.
Therefore, Hamtal, the leader of the Black Swan, had brought a large number of his secret organization's members to secretly protect Daniel.
— Suspicious individual spotted in the VIP cabin. Confirmed communicating with someone via a wrist-watch radio.
At that moment, the report from the VIP cabin made Hamtal frown.
Hamtal narrowed his eyes coldly, pressed the radio's transmit button, and spoke.
"Continue surveillance. If he disembarks, follow him and ascertain his whereabouts."
When an affirmative reply came from the other end, Hamtal turned off the radio and put it back in his pocket.
'If there's a force attempting to harm Daniel Steiner...'
He would utterly crush them, deploying every skill he had honed over the past ten years.
Of course, Daniel, completely unaware of any of this, was merely leisurely enjoying the scenery inside his cabin.
*
*
*
Meanwhile, at St. Michael's Monastery.
"So many weeds... just a moment, please."
In a garden located within a cloistered courtyard, walled on all four sides, Abbot Hierony was pulling out weeds and placing them into a basket beside him.
A Vice-Abbot, neatly dressed in monastic robes, approached Hierony.
"Abbot. May I speak with you for a moment?"
At the voice from behind, Hierony stopped pulling weeds, rose from his spot, and turned around.
"Ah. Vice-Abbot. What can I do for you?"
"It's nothing else... but Daniel said he'd arrive tomorrow, didn't he?"
"That's right. The brave boy sent a letter saying he'd visit his hometown while on leave. But why do you look like that, Vice-Abbot...? Are you not pleased Daniel is coming?"
The Vice-Abbot hastily shook his head.
"No, it's not that. It's just that the rumors I've heard are a bit perplexing."
"Rumors, you say?"
"Abbot, you know of Major Daniel, don't you?"
"Ah, yes, of course. The Empire's hero. What about him?"
"I was just wondering if that Daniel might be *our* Daniel, from this monastery..."
The monastery strictly prohibited the bringing in of outside items.
It was a place where not only newspapers but even simple magazines were forbidden.
This was because the strict rule that a place serving God should not be connected to the secular world was rigorously upheld.
Yet, even in such a monastery, the name Major Daniel was famous.
This was because wealthy individuals and politicians, who occasionally visited to donate to the orphanage run by the monastery, would sometimes share news of the outside world.
For this reason, there were some, like the Vice-Abbot, who wondered if that Daniel might indeed be *their* Daniel, from the monastery.
Abbot Hierony merely found it amusing.
"How many times have I told you it must be a namesake? Have you already forgotten what kind of child our Daniel was, Vice-Abbot?"
"No, it's not that. Daniel was certainly... a child with a gentle nature."
"Yes, that's right. And he loved to ponder and draw, and he was mature and responsible enough to help us with baking."
As if something just occurred to him, Hierony snapped his fingers.
"Oh, and this too. When the dog we raised at the monastery fell ill and died, Daniel cried for three days and nights, didn't he? Afterwards, he personally built a grave for it and placed a single flower on the tombstone every day."
Listening, the Vice-Abbot found himself nodding.
"Indeed, Daniel did sometimes show a coolness that surprised even us, but fundamentally, he was a kind-hearted, lovely child of God."
"Exactly. It makes no sense that *that* Daniel would spearhead the invasion of Nordia and subjugate a kingdom."
Hierony chuckled softly.
"Setting everything else aside, Daniel has only been commissioned for nine months now. And a Major? That simply defies common sense, doesn't it?"
"That's true," the Vice-Abbot said, letting out a dry laugh and nodding.
"You're right. I seem to have spoken out of turn. I'll take my leave then. When Daniel arrives tomorrow, I should bake him his favorite bread."
Hierony smiled and bowed slightly, and the Vice-Abbot turned and walked away.
Hierony knelt again, pulling out weeds, when he unconsciously let out a chuckle.
'Our Daniel, that Major they call the Empire's hero...'
The Vice-Abbot sometimes had an overly active imagination, to his detriment.
If one thought about it logically, they'd know such a thing couldn't possibly happen.