LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 57
The next day, early evening.
At the monastery’s dining hall, Monastery Head Hieroni was busy conversing with councilmen and wealthy citizens who had come to donate.
Under ordinary circumstances, he would have gone out to greet Daniel, but it just so happened that the donation event coincided with Daniel’s visit, leaving him no choice but to entertain the guests.
Of course, Daniel was important too, but from Hieroni’s perspective, the money to feed countless orphans was much more critical.
With donations for orphans steadily declining, Hieroni was making every effort to win the councilmen’s hearts.
“It’s rather ironic that the number of orphans is increasing because of the war, yet donations for them are dwindling. What are the businesses benefiting from the war doing…?”
As the councilman spoke solemnly, Hieroni nodded with an awkward smile.
“In that sense, Councilman Reden is truly a gracious person. He has pledged a significant amount for the orphans. It’s truly divine grace.”
“Significant? Not at all. And I’m afraid I must apologize, but we might have to cut the budget for the orphanage in our council.”
Just when he was trying to butter him up, the outcome wasn’t great.
However, Hieroni understood.
After all, even a council has limited budgets.
So, he couldn’t label them as bad guys just for saying they’d cut donations.
“How much of a budget cut are we talking about…?”
While Hieroni cautiously posed the question, the dining hall door opened.
Instinctively, he and the councilman turned to see a soldier in officer’s uniform.
Clomp—
The sound of the officer’s boots echoed hollowly in the dining hall.
Everyone was frozen, intimidated by the sight of the officer slowly adjusting his appearance and stepping forward.
Hieroni was also puzzled as to why an imperial officer was here at this moment.
“Monastery Head.”
The officer, with a deep voice, removed his cap.
At that moment, a glow lit up Hieroni’s face.
“Daniel!”
Just as he was about to walk toward Daniel out of joy, he paused.
That was because he spotted the Captain insignia on Daniel’s epaulette.
Thanks to that, Daniel approached Hieroni, who was blinking in bewilderment.
“It’s been a while. How have you been?”
“…Well. But it seems you’ve had quite a lot going on. A Captain? Am I seeing this correctly? You’re the war hero of the Empire?”
As Hieroni awkwardly spoke, Daniel smiled bashfully.
“Unfortunately, I’ve gone through several things. But who’s the person next to you?”
The councilman, locking eyes with Daniel, promptly stood at attention and responded.
“I-I am Councilman Reden. It’s an honor to meet you.”
“It’s my honor as well. You must be the one who delivers donations to our monastery. I look forward to your continued support.”
“Y-yes…”
Listening to the councilman’s reply, Daniel maintained his smile and turned to Hieroni.
“By the way, how are the children? Are they doing well?”
“They’re over there, all gathered.”
As Daniel turned his gaze, he spotted a few children standing in a corner, gazing blankly.
The boys wore white dress shirts and black suspender pants with bow ties around their necks, while the girls donned white dresses adorned with floral hairpins.
‘Nothing has changed.’
Every time there was a donation event, it was the same old show of dressing the kids to look presentable.
Chuckling softly, Daniel said to Hieroni, “Well then, I’ll keep the kids entertained until the event is over.”
With that, Daniel walked toward the children.
The councilman, watching his back, was nervously fidgeting with his hands before finally opening his mouth.
“…So Captain Daniel Steiner is from this monastery. I wish you had let me know beforehand. Monastery Head, I apologize for changing my words, but let’s forget about cutting the donations budget.”
“What? Really?”
Absolutely. There was no way he could proceed with budget cuts against a war hero who personally received the Golden Cross Medal from Your Majesty the Emperor saying, “Take good care of the monastery.”
While the councilman was nodding reluctantly, as if he had no choice, Daniel stopped in front of the children and stood with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Listen, everyone. I am Captain Daniel Steiner of the Imperial General Staff Headquarters, Operations Staff. Do any of you know why I’m here?”
The children swallowed hard in fear, doing nothing but gulping.
Seeing their frightened expressions, Daniel broke into a smile and spread his arms wide.
“I’m here to play with you! Ella! Luca! Melly! You’ve all grown so much!”
Realizing that Daniel was just messing around, the children burst into laughter and ran toward him.
A few couldn’t contain their excitement and nearly toppled over trying to hug Daniel.
Worried the kids might get hurt, Daniel knelt to one knee, prompting Ella to clasp her hands in front of her chest and say, “Daniel oppa! If you were coming, you should’ve said so! I waited forever!”
“Sorry. I wrote a letter to the monastery head but didn’t mention it to you all.”
“You didn’t! The monastery head is grumpy!”
The cheeky Luca chimed in.
With an excited face, Luca exclaimed, “Bro! But are you really Captain now? That’s a super high rank, right? Thousands of soldiers shoot guns under you now, right?”
“I’m not that high a rank. The most I can command is a few hundred.”
“A few hundred is still amazing! But bro, is it really true? Melly said earlier that you came here on a secret mission?!”
At the mention of a secret mission, stars sparkled in the children’s eyes.
Daniel felt a bit flustered by their gazes, but he wouldn’t shy away from the moment.
After all, the kids spent nearly all their time cooped up in the monastery except for two outings a month.
Thus, spinning a little yarn to share a fun story was a kindness towards them.
“Oh no, I’ve been found out. Actually, it’s true that I came here for a secret mission.”
Luca covered his mouth, eyes wide open.
The other kids, aware of their surroundings, concentrated on Daniel’s words.
“Listen carefully. I came here under the royal command. There are some wicked forces lurking here. My purpose is to wipe them out in one strike.”
“…Is that really true?”
The mature Ella was drawn in by the lie and nodded along.
With a smile, Daniel nodded back.
“Yes. They operate like store employees during the day, but underground, they gather information and engage in nefarious deeds. The number of them is roughly…”
“Roughly?”
How many should it be?
Worrying that too few might dampen things, Daniel held out five fingers.
“Roughly around fifty.”
“Whoa!” The kids gasped in unison, buzzing with excitement.
A few looked frightened, so Daniel quickly proceeded to reassure them.
“But there’s no need to worry. I’ll take care of all of them. Got it?”
The kids nodded in succession, trusting Daniel.
Finding their faces adorable, Daniel stopped smiling for a moment.
For some reason, he felt a compelling stare from somewhere.
Instinctively glancing over, he caught eyes with one of the wealthy citizens attending the donation event.
The wealthy citizen flinched in surprise but quickly turned and hurried away.
‘What was that…?’
Was it just his imagination?
As Daniel tilted his head in confusion, Luca tugged at his arm.
“Bro! You’re super cool! I want to be like you! I want to be a cool soldier just like you! Then I’ll help you, and I’ll—”
“Absolutely not.”
Cutting off Luca’s words, Daniel removed any semblance of playfulness from his face and spoke gravely.
“I warn you, never become a soldier.”
That advice came straight from the heart.
—–
In the basement of the storefront, the early morning of Dawn’s leadership.
“Sir! Supreme Chief, sir!”
An informant who had been sent to spy on Daniel rushed into Morton’s office without a moment’s thought.
Immediately bursting into Morton’s office, the informant couldn’t even catch their breath before speaking.
“Sir! Daniel Steiner…!”
Morton frowned at the sight of his subordinate, disguised as a wealthy citizen and panting heavily.
“Take a breath and gather your thoughts before speaking.”
Nodding, the informant took a deep breath and opened their mouth.
“Daniel Steiner has come at the command of the princess, and he seems to be aware of the location of our leadership.”
One of Morton’s eyebrows twitched as he sat at his desk.
He took off his glasses and eyed the informant skeptically.
“…He knows? This place?”
“Yes. I heard him joking with the children, and he mentioned where the base in the storefront basement is and even seemed to know the approximate number of people involved. Most importantly…”
The informant recalled Daniel’s chilling gaze as he shot a sidelong look at them.
“…After finishing his words, he glared at me, as if he knew everything from the start.”
Listening to the informant, Morton ground his teeth in silence.
It could be dismissed as a coincidence that Daniel had roughly guessed their location and number of members, but once he singled out an informant spying on him, it was no longer a mere coincidence.
‘And…’
Daniel must have remained fully aware that the Dawn’s informant was watching him but still divulged all the information.
To Morton, it was nothing short of a threat masked as a playful interaction with the kids.
“Damn it. Daniel is sending us a warning. It’s like saying he could wipe us all out whenever he wanted, but he won’t.”
“…Why would that be?”
“I don’t know the reason. What’s certain is that Daniel wants to talk to us.”
With no way to refuse, it was a standoff.
Dizziness swayed his thoughts.
Taking a deep breath, Morton gathered his resolve to face Daniel.
“Very well. If he wants to talk, we must accept. I will personally probe into Daniel’s intentions.”
What schemes Daniel had in mind remained unclear.
But for the organization’s survival, Morton had no choice but to entertain Daniel’s proposal.