NOVEL WEB Chapter 86
Early morning.
A faint light sneaked through the inn room’s window, announcing the arrival of a new day.
Thanks to that, Daniel, who had been sleeping in a proper posture, felt his eyes twitch.
Instinctively, Daniel opened his eyes and turned toward the window, letting out a chuckle.
‘It’s morning. I was sure I’d sleep until noon…’
Even though he had intentionally tried to sleep in, it seemed that his habits as an Operations Staff officer were hard to shake off.
‘After all, I’ve spent a year as an officer in General Staff Headquarters; it wouldn’t change overnight.’
With a wry smile, Daniel propped himself up and ran a hand over his face.
His body felt a bit sluggish, but the fatigue seemed to have disappeared, so it wasn’t too bad.
‘Let’s see. Today is…’
As Daniel slowly recalled his schedule, still a bit groggy, he nodded to himself.
‘It’s the day I go to Ref’s manor.’
The mischievous young lady had successfully invited Daniel to her manor using money as bait.
The problem was that Ref hadn’t mentioned the location of the manor.
So, Daniel had asked how he was supposed to find a manor whose location he didn’t know.
In response, Ref said, ‘I’ll send someone to you when the time comes,’ then simply left the cocktail bar.
‘I should have asked what kind of person they’d send.’
Judging by her cautious demeanor, it didn’t seem likely she’d have answered if he had.
‘Well, anyway…’
Since Ref had decided to play the role of a messenger, there was no need to refuse the dinner invitation.
‘…She did say it was a dinner invitation.’
Since it was early morning now, that meant he had quite a bit of time left.
Given it was a rare day of rest, it wouldn’t be too bad to spend some leisurely time at the inn, but since he was already in Belanos, he felt like trying some local desserts.
With that thought in mind, Daniel got out of bed and slipped on his slippers.
As he moved, he opened the wardrobe door.
Inside the open wardrobe hung neatly arranged new clothes on hangers.
There was a jacket, vest, and trousers made from tweed.
The overall color was dark gray, and the vest had a subtle check pattern that added to its elegance.
Daniel had bought these with his own money after receiving the dinner invitation from Ref.
‘She definitely seems like a noble…’
So he got himself some appropriately priced attire to maintain at least a minimal level of dignity.
Others might consider it overdoing it, but for Daniel, it was important.
‘If it’s a dinner, there will definitely be Ref’s family there.’
Money would likely be given by Ref’s parents, not by her directly.
That meant the real target for Daniel to impress wasn’t Ref, but her parents.
It was natural that the more he could win them over, the more money he’d receive.
So, on that note, Daniel splurged on some fancy clothes.
Nobles are generally sensitive to how others dress.
It wasn’t like they dressed the children in formal wear just because the ministers and nobles visit the monastery for sponsorship.
Besides, there were many other aspects to consider, like posture, speech, personality, dining etiquette, and more, but for Daniel, that wasn’t too difficult.
‘I’ve always been in charge of dealing with nobles at the monastery.’
Knowing what nobles liked and disliked made scoring points an easy task.
‘Let’s give it my all this time, for my social standing and my bakery.’
With that resolution, Daniel stepped into the bathroom, washed up briefly, and changed clothes.
After fixing his hair while looking in the mirror, Daniel put on his sunglasses and exited the inn.
He was greeted by a warm sunlight that seemed impossible for the approaching winter.
Thinking the weather was lovely, he headed to the famous dessert shop in Belanos, just as planned.
Navigating through the crowd, Daniel entered the dessert shop and found a seat.
The employee approached him, feeling a strange charm from Daniel sitting by the window.
“May I take your order?”
Daniel turned to look at the employee and nodded.
“I’d like a trifle, please. And a coffee, too.”
“One trifle and coffee… Got it.”
The employee smiled at Daniel and walked away.
Finished with his order, Daniel leisurely gazed beyond the window.
Being on the second floor of the dessert shop gave a good view outside, where a huge trading ship approached, honking its horn as it came into view on the vast sea.
Seagulls flocked, rising high into the sky, reacting to the horn.
It was truly a pastoral scene, soothing Daniel’s soul.
‘Yeah. This is what a proper life feels like…’
Escaping a life of trembling uncertainty about when he might die and being able to enjoy peace was the greatest luxury for Daniel.
Feeling good, he hummed a little tune for a while until the employee returned.
“Here are your trifle and coffee.”
The employee placed the trifle and coffee on the table.
Just as Daniel was about to say thank you, he paused.
Three almond cookies had come as a bonus.
“Hmm? Did I order almond cookies?”
“Ah, consider the almond cookies a complimentary service.”
“A service, huh. Thank you. There are some nice people in Belanos.”
As Daniel smiled, the employee blushed secretly.
“W-well, enjoy!”
With a hasty bow, the employee dashed off.
Daniel found that odd but didn’t think much of it.
What mattered now was the trifle.
Daniel picked up his fork and gently sliced into the strawberry-topped trifle, putting a piece in his mouth.
The refreshing, soft, and sweet flavor burst in his mouth.
With a satisfied smile, Daniel unconsciously opened his mouth.
“Aide-de-Camp, this is a proper establishment; you should try it…”
He stopped mid-sentence as he realized no one was sitting across from him.
It was ridiculous how he just reflexively looked for Lucy.
Daniel chuckled softly at the absurdity of it.
‘Here I am, having escaped and now searching for the spy trying to kill me…’
That’s why habits could be terrifying.
‘But still…’
If Lucy had been there, it would have been more fun to eat.
She would have been completely lost after trying this. It felt like she’d be desperately suppressing her amazement, refusing to admit how delicious it was.
Watching Lucy like that would have its unique charm.
Still, that didn’t mean he wanted to return to the Empire even a tiny bit.
‘I should just be satisfied with the peace I have now.’
Shaking off those thoughts, Daniel cut another piece of trifle with his fork and put it back into his mouth.
The taste of the trifle didn’t seem quite as good as the first bite.
…
The trading ship that arrived at the Tentarvahem port of Belanos checked its docking position and dropped anchor.
They then connected the ship to the dock using mooring lines and set up a boarding ramp.
Once the ramp was secured, the crew began moving one by one to unload the cargo.
Among those workers, members of the secret society, Black Crow, also made their way.
About thirty people dressed in black suits stepped onto Tentarvahem via the ramp.
They moved in unison, almost as if it had been prearranged, and even the merchants and hawkers near the port dared not approach them.
With their lips sealed and frowns on their faces, strong anger radiated from their eyes.
Everyone was left to wonder who they were and why they had arrived at Tentarvahem, speculating wildly.
As speculation and imagination ran rampant, whispers circulated, wondering if they were part of a mafia organization, but Hamtal, the leader of Black Crow, paid no mind.
The reason Black Crow appeared in noticeable black suits was solely to commemorate Captain Daniel Steiner.
‘Daniel Steiner is dead. Right here, in this place…’
The prophet, a symbol of the fight against racial discrimination, had been martyred in Belanos.
While the members of Black Crow understood this fact with their heads, their hearts could not comprehend it.
The inability to understand it with their hearts had boiled down to anger, and they were seized by the obsession to find the culprit who had contributed to the death of Daniel Steiner by any means necessary.
“Leader.”
A subordinate approached Hamtal, who was leading them.
“Should we focus our efforts on identifying the culprit, as you instructed?”
Hamtal nodded in response to his subordinate’s words.
“Belanos is a corrupt place filled with nobles, politicians, and military officials. If you bribe them, they will willingly tell you who ordered to open the territorial waters. Gather clues and track them down.”
“Understood. But what if someone refuses to cooperate…?”
“Make them cooperate.”
The cold voice made the subordinate nod without question.
He understood all too well what it meant to make someone cooperate.
As the subordinate stepped back to relay the orders, Hamtal stared straight ahead, grinding his teeth.
‘I don’t know who you are. But I’ll make sure you regret killing our prophet. We will certainly find you…’
He clenched his fists so tightly that his leather gloves twisted.
‘You will be thoroughly punished!’