Mistaken for a War Hero

Chapter 57
Just How Many Steps Ahead Is He Thinking?

『 Translator – Divinity 』

Early evening the next day.

In the monastery’s dining hall, Head Priest Hierony was busy talking with the city council members and wealthy individuals who had come to donate.

Normally, he would have gone to welcome Daniel, but unfortunately, the donation event coincided with Daniel’s visit, so he had no choice but to prioritize the guests.

Although Daniel was important, from Hierony’s perspective as the head priest, the money to feed the many orphans was more important.

With donations for the orphans gradually decreasing, Hierony was trying his best to win over the city council members.

“It’s ironic that while the number of orphans is increasing due to the war, the donations for them are decreasing. What are those companies that profited from the war even doing…?”

Hierony gave an awkward smile and nodded at the council member’s pretentious remark.

“In that sense, Councilman Reden, you are truly a benefactor. You’ve offered to donate a large sum to our monastery for the orphans. It’s a blessing from God.”

“It’s not a large sum at all. And I apologize, but our city council might be cutting the budget for the orphanage in the future.”

Despite his efforts to please them, the results weren’t good.

Still, Hierony understood.

Even the city council had a limited budget.

Therefore, he couldn’t accuse them of being evil for cutting the donations.

“If you’re cutting the budget, by how much…”

As Hierony cautiously asked, the dining hall door opened.

Hierony and the council members reflexively turned their heads and saw a soldier in an officer’s uniform.

Click-clack—

The sound of the officer’s boots echoed in the dining hall.

Everyone froze, intimidated by the sight of the officer walking with a dignified air, adjusting his uniform.

Just as Hierony was wondering why an Imperial officer was here,

“Head Priest.”

The officer spoke in a deep voice and took off his uniform cap.

A bright smile spread across Hierony’s face.

“Daniel!”

Hierony, about to rush towards Daniel with joy, stopped in his tracks.

He had noticed the Major’s insignia on Daniel’s epaulets.

As Hierony blinked his eyes in a daze, Daniel approached him.

“It’s been a while. Has everything been alright?”

“…Yes, it has. But it seems like you’ve had quite an eventful time. A Major? Am I seeing this correctly? Are you that hero of the Empire?”

Hierony was dumbfounded and Daniel smiled awkwardly.

“I’ve been through a lot unintentionally. By the way, who is this next to you?”

The council member, making eye contact with Daniel, straightened up and answered,

“C-Councilman Reden, sir. It’s an honor to meet you.”

“The honor is mine. A councilman, you say? Then you must be the one who provides donations to our monastery. I look forward to your continued support.”

“Y-Yes…”

After hearing the councilman’s reply, Daniel maintained his smile and looked at Hierony.

“But what about the children? Are they doing well?”

“Y-Yes, they’re all gathered over there.”

Daniel turned his gaze, and there were children standing in a corner, staring blankly.

The boys were wearing white shirts with black suspenders and bow ties, and the girls were wearing white dresses with flower ornaments in their hair.

‘Nothing has changed.’

It was the same as always, dressing the children in neat clothes for show during donation events.

Daniel chuckled softly and said to Hierony,

“Then I’ll play with the children until the event is over.”

Saying that, Daniel walked towards the children.

The councilman, watching him, fidgeted nervously, then spoke up hesitantly,

“…So Major Daniel is from this monastery. It would have been nice if you had told us beforehand. Head Priest, I apologize for going back on my word, but the city council’s budget cut for the orphanage will be canceled.”

“Sir? Is that true?”

Of course, it was true. He couldn’t possibly go through with the budget cut after the Empire’s war hero, who had personally received the Golden Cross Medal from His Majesty, asked him to “take good care of the monastery.”

As the councilman nodded with a forced smile, Daniel stopped in front of the children and put his hands behind his back with a stern expression.

“Listen up, everyone. I am Major Daniel Steiner, Operations Staff Officer from the Imperial General Staff Headquarters. Does anyone know why I’m here?”

The children gulped, looking intimidated.

Daniel, who had been staring at them coldly, suddenly smiled and extended both arms.

“To play with you all! Ella! Luca! Melly! You’ve all grown so much!”

Realizing that Daniel was joking, the children burst into laughter and rushed towards him.

Some even tried to hug him in their excitement, making it a bit dangerous.

As Daniel knelt to avoid the children getting hurt, Ella clasped her hands together in front of her chest and said,

“Brother Daniel! You should have told us you were coming! I’ve been waiting so long!”

“I’m sorry. I wrote a letter to the Head Priest, didn’t he tell you?”

“No, he didn’t! The Head Priest is grumpy!”

The mischievous Luca interrupted.

With his excited face and a button nose, he raised his voice.

“Brother! Are you really a Major? Isn’t that a super high rank? Do you have thousands of soldiers with guns following you now?”

“It’s not that high of a rank. The most I can command is a few hundred.”

“Even a few hundred is amazing! But Brother, is it true what Melly said earlier? That you came here on a secret mission!?”

Stars twinkled in the children’s eyes at the mention of a “secret mission.”

Daniel was flustered, but he decided to play along.

These children were practically confined to the monastery except for two outings a month.

Therefore, it was a kindness to tell them an interesting story, even if it involved a little white lie.

“Oh dear, I’ve been found out. It’s true that I came here on a secret mission.”

Luca covered his mouth and his eyes widened.

The other children also glanced around cautiously and focused on Daniel’s words.

“Listen carefully. I came here on orders from the Imperial family. Because there are impure forces lurking here. My goal is to eliminate them in one fell swoop.”

“…I-Is that true?”

Even the mature Ella was taken in by the lie and seemed intrigued.

Daniel smiled and nodded.

“Yes. They act like ordinary shop employees during the day, but in the basement below, they gather information and plot in secret. Their numbers are…”

“Their numbers?”

How many should he say?

Thinking that it wouldn’t be exciting enough if the number was too small, Daniel held up five fingers.

“Around fifty.”

Gasp!

The children gasped and murmured in unison.

Seeing that some of them seemed scared, Daniel quickly added,

“But there’s no need to worry. I’ll take care of them all. Alright?”

The children, trusting Daniel, nodded in succession.

Daniel smiled at their cuteness, then paused.

He felt a persistent gaze from somewhere.

Turning his head instinctively, he made eye contact with one of the wealthy individuals who had come for the donation event.

The man flinched, then hurriedly walked away.

‘What was that…?’

Was it just his imagination?

As Daniel tilted his head in confusion, Luca tugged on his arm.

“Brother! You’re so cool! I want to be like you! I want to be a cool soldier like you! And then I’ll help you, and I’ll—”

“No.”

Daniel cut off Luca’s words and said seriously, erasing the playful expression from his face,

“I’m warning you, never become a soldier.”

It was advice from the bottom of his heart.

***

Dawn of the New Day headquarters, in the basement of a shopping mall.

“Your Highness! Chief of Staff!”

The informant sent to monitor Daniel entered the basement and immediately looked for Morten.

He barged into Morten’s office without even catching his breath and exclaimed,

“Your Highness! Daniel Steiner…”

Morten frowned at his subordinate, disguised as a merchant, panting and struggling to speak.

“Catch your breath and compose yourself before speaking.”

The informant nodded, took a deep breath, and said,

“It seems that Daniel Steiner came here on the princess’s orders, and he’s aware of the location of our headquarters.”

Morten’s eyebrow twitched.

He took off his glasses and looked at the informant suspiciously.

“…He knows? About this place?”

“Yes. I overheard him talking to the children playfully, and he mentioned that the headquarters was in the basement of the shopping mall. He even seemed to know the approximate number of personnel. And most importantly…”

The informant recalled Daniel’s chilling gaze.

“…After he finished speaking, he glared at me, as if he knew everything from the beginning.”

Morten groaned and gritted his teeth upon hearing the informant’s words.

He could dismiss the fact that Daniel guessed the location and the number of personnel as a coincidence, but with the addition of him identifying the person monitoring him, it couldn’t be a coincidence anymore.

‘Moreover…’

Daniel had revealed all that information even though he knew that a Dawn of the New Day informant was watching him.

From Morten’s perspective, it was no different from Daniel threatening the Dawn of the New Day while pretending to play with children.

“Damn it, Daniel is warning us. He’s saying he could wipe us out if he wanted to, but he won’t.”

“…Why?”

“I don’t know the reason. But one thing’s for sure, Daniel wants to talk to us.”

It was a dead end; they couldn’t refuse.

He felt dizzy, and his head throbbed.

Taking a deep breath, Morten fought back his fear and raised his head.

“Alright. If he wants to talk, we have to accept. I’ll go and personally gauge Daniel’s intentions.”

He didn’t know what Daniel was planning.

But for the sake of the organization’s survival, Morten had no choice but to respond to Daniel’s proposal.