He's certainly no ordinary man.
It was clear that Berthram harbored strong suspicions about him.
But from Daniel's perspective, genuinely knowing nothing, he could only feel unjustly accused.
How could he escape this absurd situation?
After a brief moment of rapid calculation in his mind, Daniel quickly dropped to one knee.
"Your Majesty! This humble subject cannot comprehend the intent behind Your Majesty's words...!"
His opponent was the Emperor, who held the empire in the palm of his hand.
Killing a person on a mere whim was as easy as pie for him.
If he stubbornly insisted on his ignorance, his life might be in danger.
"Of course, given the circumstances, I fully understand your suspicion towards me. Had I been in Your Majesty's position, I would have suspected myself as well. However, I possess no private organization."
Berthram let out a low chuckle at Daniel's excuse.
Berthram gestured, and a nearby attendant, who had been frozen in place, approached with bullets.
Receiving the bullets, Berthram loaded them one by one with practiced ease.
"No private organization, you say."
Having loaded all the bullets, Berthram raised the barrel, completing the loading.
"Strange. Then what exactly was the armed group that raided before you apprehended the Dawn's Herald? The testimonies of those who were caught say they were all well-trained."
"Your Majesty, I humbly beg your pardon, but that is truly something I know nothing about."
"You know nothing, you say. Then are you suggesting that I am currently consumed by suspicion and speaking nonsense?"
Berthram spoke in a calm tone, but the meaning behind his words was utterly chilling.
Daniel, startled, bowed his head deeply.
"A misunderstanding, Your Majesty! How could I ever say such a thing to Your Majesty? I am merely stating that I am unaware of something I truly do not know. If, by chance..."
Daniel swallowed dryly and continued.
"If Your Majesty judges that I command a private organization or a military faction, then even if it is not true, I shall humbly accept it."
"Humbly accept it? In what manner?"
"If you merely command me to withdraw from the military, I will shed my uniform and return to being an ordinary citizen. Furthermore, I will not involve myself in any political matters within the Empire."
Daniel had spoken with sincerity, but to Berthram, it sounded like a form of blackmail.
It was as if he was pressuring the Emperor to consider 'whether it would truly benefit him' to persecute and frame the Empire's war hero without any evidence.
An Emperor might seem, at first glance, to be above law and order, yet there is no one who must adhere to law and order more strictly than the Emperor himself.
If the Emperor does not uphold the law, the law's credibility diminishes, and when credibility falls, senior officials are bound to follow the Emperor's example and try to exploit loopholes.
That would soon spread as a bad custom, and bad customs transform into national maladies.
'Therefore...'
Daniel was, in essence, asking the Emperor, 'Will you destroy the venerable laws of the Empire, established by your predecessors, with your own hands?'
'I see how this cunning fellow managed to win over Duke Belvar.'
He knew he was no ordinary man, but he hadn't expected this much.
Perhaps needing time to think, Berthram, who had been silent for a moment, looked down at Daniel.
"Daniel Steiner. Raise your head."
As Daniel raised his head, Berthram spoke again.
"Can you swear? That there is not an inch of falsehood in the words you speak now."
"I can."
It was an immediate reply.
"Under the heavens, overlooked by the gods, I speak with utmost sincerity to Your Imperial Majesty: I command no private organization nor military faction."
Berthram, who had been staring intently at Daniel's face, nodded as if resigned.
"If you say so, I will question you no further. Rise."
As Daniel nodded and rose, Berthram pulled his hand back and flicked his finger.
It was a signal to launch the disks.
At the same time, Berthram tossed a loaded double-barreled shotgun towards Daniel.
As Daniel, flustered, caught the shotgun, Berthram spoke.
"Shoot."
No sooner had he spoken than a firing sound was heard, and two disks simultaneously flew into the air.
Daniel, almost instinctively adopting a stance, could see the disks soaring high into the sky.
However, he didn't shoot immediately; instead, he calculated the trajectory of the disks.
Just before the two disks, flying at different speeds, converged, Daniel pulled the trigger.
Bang—!
The gunpowder exploded, and the scattered shot burst both disks simultaneously.
Berthram let out an exclamation of admiration at the sight.
Daniel, who hadn't expected to succeed, blinked in bewilderment before lowering the shotgun.
Berthram, watching the shattered disk fragments fall to the ground, turned back to Daniel.
"Remarkable shooting skill. Are you going to dismiss this as mere luck as well?"
"Your Majesty, I merely..."
"Enough. I have no desire to argue. You look tired, so you may return now. I apologize for putting you in a difficult position with my unnecessary prank."
The attendant, who had been listening to the conversation nearby, approached Daniel and extended both hands.
As Daniel handed over the shotgun, the attendant stepped back.
He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he was truly being dismissed, when Berthram waved his hand.
Only then did Daniel bow deeply towards Berthram.
"It was an honor to meet you, Your Imperial Majesty."
With those words, Daniel turned and slowly walked away.
As Berthram quietly watched Daniel's retreating figure, the space beside him distorted.
The distorted space soon took on a human form, beginning to acquire distinct colors.
As the optical camouflage fully disengaged, Johannes, the Captain of the Imperial Guard, revealed himself.
Berthram opened his mouth without even turning to look at Johannes.
"He is more cunning than I thought. I expected as much, but he didn't even bat an eye at the mention of a reward."
Once Daniel was out of sight, Johannes cast his gaze towards Berthram.
"Your Imperial Majesty. If Daniel had been blinded by the reward and divulged information about his private organization, what would you have done?"
"If he had confessed, I would have convened a military tribunal and sentenced him to death."
According to Imperial law, if an individual soldier privately maintained troops or formed a military faction, the leader could be sentenced to death.
If Daniel had confessed, that confession would have served as valid evidence, allowing Berthram to sentence Daniel to death without any complications.
Of course, during that process, public opinion regarding an Emperor who sentenced a war hero to death would have deteriorated sharply, but Berthram had accounted for that as well.
"I would have issued a death sentence, but I would not have carried it out. My daughter would certainly have strongly opposed it. That way, I would have remained an Emperor unable to execute the sentence because of Selvia."
"Surely not..."
"When the time comes, I will pass the imperial throne to my daughter. Then Selvia would first pardon Daniel and release him. What do you think Daniel would think then?"
Johannes, deep in thought, nodded as if he understood.
"He would feel indebted to Her Imperial Highness. Her Imperial Highness would easily win Daniel Steiner's loyalty."
"Furthermore, I could have used the crime of operating a private organization as leverage to put a leash on him. A leash that I could yank anytime he bared his fangs."
Emperor Berthram had arranged all of this so that his daughter, Selvia, could tame Daniel Steiner.
However, Daniel did not fall into the trap laid by the Emperor.
As if he had known all of it from the beginning.
"Captain of the Imperial Guard, did you see it? Daniel Steiner's trap shooting."
"Yes, I did."
Berthram offered a faint smile.
"He's not new to trap shooting. Judging by his stable stance and his instantaneous calculation of the disks' trajectories, he must have enjoyed this sport many times."
"Then why would he lie about never having done it before..."
"Because he would have known from the very beginning, when he was summoned by the Grand Chamberlain, that this was never a gathering for camaraderie. He would have known it was a setup for interrogation, so he would have wanted to leave quickly."
Daniel must have tried to feign poor skill at trap shooting to diminish the Emperor's interest.
However, when he was suddenly handed the gun, Daniel, flustered, instinctively adopted the correct stance.
Upon seeing Daniel Steiner like that, Berthram became certain.
"Daniel Steiner's words were nothing but lies from beginning to end. Yet, we cannot claim those lies are falsehoods, because he has eliminated all evidence."
It was as if, if the Empire's intelligence agency couldn't uncover it, then no one could know.
That fact added wrinkles to Berthram's face.
"He is truly a meticulous and calculating individual. He deceives everyone, cloaking himself in lies, yet he leaves no opening. He is a man whom even I, the Emperor, cannot easily touch."
If Berthram had the strength and time, he would have welcomed Daniel's emergence.
For if he could only win the man's loyalty, they might have conquered the world together.
'But...'
Berthram was old and ailing, and Selvia, the next in line to be Emperor, was young and lacked experience.
'The current Selvia will never be able to tame the wolf that is Daniel Steiner.'
Berthram could not dare to fathom what repercussions this would have on the Empire.
'For now, I can only hope that Daniel Steiner's loyalty to Selvia is not a lie...'
Berthram, who had been looking with troubled eyes at the spot where Daniel had left, turned his head.
Taking a deep breath, Berthram looked up at the blue sky.
"Captain of the Imperial Guard. Will the season Daniel Steiner brings to the Empire truly be spring?"
Johannes, understanding Berthram's meaning, bowed his head deeply.
"I will do my utmost to ensure he does not bring winter upon the Empire."
Berthram let out a low chuckle and quietly nodded.
Hoping that Johannes, his loyal hound, would prevent the wolf's tyranny.