Chapter 26 – Father, I…

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Standing behind us, Commander Hayden had arrived without us knowing.

The expressionless Meursault followed behind him and stared at me intently.

‘His eyes seem to ask what kind of accident I caused again.’

As the frozen executives stood lost for words, the commander asked again with one corner of his mouth raised askew.

“What if I find out?”

“Y-Your Excellency…!”

Only then did the pro-Hayden faction executives snap back to their senses and salute in unison, but the commander gestured as if to say it was enough.

“Just answer. It is a fact that I already know that my son scaled the wall to meet Daphne… but to say there is something more troublesome if I find out is interesting.”

Bearing an amused smile, the commander’s remaining eye lingered on me for a moment before fixing on Joseph.

“Just what could be more troublesome than scaling the wall to enter your stepmother’s residence?”

“W-Well…”

Joseph had a face that couldn’t decide whether to speak the truth or escape the situation with a lie.

He was probably thinking that even if he escaped the situation with a lie now, it would bring greater anger if Daphne told the truth.

Well, since there was nothing to gain from bothering the pro-Hayden faction executives here, I should step in.

“Your Excellency.”

When I called him that, the commander stared at me with wide eyes, seemingly because I called him ‘Your Excellency’ instead of ‘Father.’

I hesitated for a moment and then opened my mouth again.

“…Father. Please don’t misunderstand, although the method was somewhat rough…”

Hearing Meursault mutter ‘Somewhat?’ in dumbfoundedness beside me, I gave him a quick glare and continued.

“Because talking for a brief moment with Daphne-nim was all there was.”

“If you only had a conversation, why do these fellows have such restless faces?”

“Perhaps they are worried because they heard we had a conversation about Mother.”

When I said so, Meursault’s complexion changed, but the commander showed no agitation.

“Hmm…”

The commander, who seemed to think about something for a moment, glanced toward Daphne’s residence and spoke flatly.

“I suppose I can hear the details from Daphne.”

“Yes, no problem.”

The commander stared intently at me replying in that way for a moment.

“…Even if having a conversation was all, it isn’t entirely without problems. It is a fact that you scaled the wall.”

“It is entirely my fault for scaling the wall without Daphne-nim’s permission.”

“Yet there is no problem?”

“Well, since Daphne-nim forgave me, there is no problem.”

At my words, Meursault’s brow furrowed, and the commander added with a face still without any change in expression, as if teaching a simple fact.

“You are wrong, Heydam. Everything within this zone requires my permission. Even if it is scaling the wall of my wife’s residence, it wouldn’t be a problem if you had obtained permission from me. If you understand what I mean, nod your head.”

In other words, I could do whatever I wanted, but I should obtain permission before causing trouble.

It also meant that even if I was his son, I had to obey him.

Seeing that the commander, who hadn’t said much when I went hunting with Meursault or visited the research institute, acted sensitively toward this matter.

The issue concerning Daphne seemed to be important to the commander as well.

Well, today’s matter was close to a warning that I crossed the line.

Since I also hadn’t thought I would get away with scaling someone else’s wall without hearing a single scolding, I meekly nodded in agreement.

And I said.

“Then… since my business is finished, would you permit me to return to my room?”

When I said that instead of words of apology or reflection, the executives standing behind sighed and Meursault pressed his forehead, but the commander alone chuckled.

Previously I had wondered why he was so generous to me.

But once I learned that Luna Moon was a player, I understood.

Since I was also a player, each of my actions had no choice but to resemble Luna Moon’s.

“Yes. You may go now.”

Permission fell from the commander, and as I was about to return after greeting him brightly, I heard Meursault muttering softly with his mouth closed like ventriloquy.

“You will have to explain this properly later.”

I replied ‘Anytime’ with my mouth shape and turned around.

* * *

Perhaps because his mind was quite uncomfortable due to touching his small and precious Daphne, Meursault came to find me immediately after settling the matter, but.

On the contrary, I had been waiting only for Meursault to come find me, and then I delivered the words I had prepared.

“Daphne-nim and Father are going to divorce.”

Hearing my words, Meursault asked back in a trembling voice.

“W-What do you mean by that?”

“Daphne-nim and Father will divorce. To be exact, I decided to help so that they can divorce.”

“Heydam-nim decided to help Daphne-nim…?”

Meursault only repeated the words I spoke like a broken machine.

It couldn’t be helped.

“Daphne-nim wants to divorce the commander, and I want that too. So the two of them will part ways soon.”

“Daphne-nim… wants a divorce…”

Is this guy really the top intelligence in this zone?

“And I am telling this only to you…”

When I slurred the end of my sentence, Meursault gulped and looked at me.

“Daphne-nim was also looking for a partner to remarry. She asked me to find a good person?”

“T-That is…!”

I stared at Meursault’s shaking pupils while smiling brightly, without even wetting my lips with spit.

“Indeed, Meursault. Daphne-nim trusts me completely. So… you will be a ‘good person’ to me now, right?”

“Why, of course…!”

Watching Meursault’s head nod violently up and down, I smiled with satisfaction.

At any rate, Daphne was someone so infatuated with Meursault that she had chosen her nickname as ‘Meursault’s Wife’ from the very start.

Linking the two was not a difficult task.

Well, I could tell him that Daphne had favorability for Meursault, but… it was not polite to deliver the fact that Daphne hadn’t confessed first on her behalf.

I had to give a hint… no, use it indirectly like this.

I was really a good player.

* * *

Leaving the development of combat rations at the research institute to Meursault, the capable NPC who became a ‘good person’ thanks to Daphne.

I decided to go hunting with Tae-jeong.

CornerHoney would be fine since he received combat training every single day.

No matter how much of a clear conqueror of all zones I was, I couldn’t properly display my skills in the subjugation battle without real combat experience.

Tae-jeong would not participate in this subjugation battle, but it would help him to constantly face monsters if he wanted to play a tanker role later.

Tae-jeong had to grow larger to participate in the subjugation battle.

Since Tae-jeong, whose shooting and healing skills were just mediocre, had nothing to show off but his physical build.

Still, seeing that he was already a head taller than me and CornerHoney, Tae-jeong would probably be taller than most adults by the time he turned about fifteen.

“I cannot?”

The commander had not permitted Tae-jeong and me to hunt.

“Why is it not allowed?”

At my question, the commander replied briefly without even lifting his eyes from the documents.

“Because it is dangerous.”

As if I were going out to hunt without knowing it was dangerous.

“Would it be fine if I accompanied Meursault?”

“Heydam.”

The commander said, staring blankly at me with his remaining eye.

“Previously, you went out to hunt without seeking my permission. I let it be since the result wasn’t bad, but as a soldier, an adult, and moreover your father, I cannot permit a minor who is not a soldier to go outside the zone.”

“Even if my shooting skills are outstanding enough to hunt a hippo-pig by myself?”

“Yes.”

“Even if Major General Meursault and I go, leaving Tae-jeong out?”

“You shouldn’t be foolish enough to require me to say it multiple times.”

A sudden ominous thought crossed my mind, so after a brief silence, I asked.

“Then… what happens in the next subjugation battle?”

“Subjugation battle?”

The commander looked at me, raising one eyebrow as if he had heard something truly unexpected.

“Why do you ask that? It should be none of your business.”

None of my business…?

‘This guy, he has no intention of sending me to the subjugation battle.’

Seeing him say it was none of my business when he couldn’t possibly be ignorant of the fact that enlisting me in the subjugation battle was necessary to gain the support of the zone citizens, it was clear that this guy didn’t want to send the son he found after ten years to a dangerous place.

Who would have thought the commander being a fool for his child would become a problem.

For now, I tried to express my desire to participate in the subjugation battle.

“I want to participate in the next subjugation battle.”

At that, the commander chuckled.

It seemed he didn’t take my words seriously.

“Right. I heard the story. You directly visited the research institute and asked them not to let the boy soldiers going out to the subjugation battle starve? I know you worry about those kids… but it is excessive. You are no longer an orphan of the slums.”

“However, as a zone citizen myself—”

“Heydam. You will soon go to the military academy. It is not too late to participate in the subjugation battle after you graduate. There is no need to be impatient.”

‘Military academy? The place that takes six years to graduate, so no one used it for target routes?’

The fact that the commander was ignorant of the Second Apocalypse was always a stumbling block.

For me, no, for us, time was running out.

‘If I inform the commander right now that I am also a player like Luna Moon and that the Second Apocalypse will occur…’

Practically, the probability of the commander believing my words was close to zero.

The reason the commander showed generosity to me right now was solely because he believed I was Luna Moon’s son.

If I confessed to being a player, I would have to convince him first of why I pretended to be the deceased person’s son, so that would indeed be the decapitation ending CornerHoney worried about.

‘A way to go to the subjugation battle without losing the commander’s trust… A way not to enter the military academy…’

Although one wish from the three rewards strategy remained… I had to use it when making him divorce Daphne.

I should be able to solve this level of problem by myself.

While I was lost in thought for a moment, the commander asked me.

“More than that, I spoke with Daphne.”

“Ah, yes.”

“You said you would get Daphne and me divorced?”

“Yes, I did. Any problem?”

“……”

The commander stared at me with a face lost for words for a moment, and then finally shook his head from side to side.

“Even this shameless point resembles Luna Moon. Her way of education must have been unique indeed.”

Hmm… if it wasn’t just my imagination, he seemed to say I resembled Luna Moon whenever I acted insolently.

It seemed the player Luna Moon also had a formidable personality.

The commander stared at me blankly for a moment, then asked softly.

“Daphne… told you that Luna Moon was a ‘player’?”

“Yes.”

When I answered without hesitation, the commander’s brow furrowed.

“How can you accept that so easily?”

“Pardon?”

“I… didn’t believe Luna Moon’s words at first. Since she was a fellow who always said absurd things, I naturally thought it was a joke. It took a long time for me to believe Luna Moon’s words. But you…”

So it was strange that I immediately accepted the story that Luna Moon was a player.

I had already prepared words for that.

“I vaguely thought she was an existence from another world. Watching Mother.”

“True… if you were raised by her hands, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think so.”

She must have been quite a strange human.

“But why did you promise to divorce Daphne and me?”

“Is it strange for me, my mother’s son, to wish for that?”

“It’s not that. But I didn’t think you would want such a thing.”

That was the commander’s misconception.

From my standpoint as Luna Moon’s son, it was also good for him to divorce Daphne.

But for now, I should say this.

“Because Daphne-nim, who is my mother’s friend, wishes for it.”

“……”

A bitterness flickered across the commander’s expression for a moment.

Was his sensitivity to Daphne’s issue indeed because she was Luna Moon’s friend?

Even so, there was still one strange part.

“I have a question, why haven’t you divorced until now?”

If he knew Luna Moon was a player, it meant he also knew Daphne was a player.

It wouldn’t be strange even if they had divorced long ago.

However, the commander’s reply was simpler than necessary.

“Because I need a successor.”

“For saying that, it didn’t seem you cared much about producing a successor, though?”

“I believed you would appear. Daphne and I are still young, and we might have made a child with her in a few years, but since you have appeared, that letter is meaningless now.”

“Letter?”

“Luna Moon’s letter.”

Luna Moon’s letter?

Was Luna Moon entangled again in the marriage between Daphne and the commander?

“I said I would tell you before. Why I married Daphne instead of Luna Moon. Although this is something Daphne doesn’t know…”

The commander murmured softly, ‘It should be fine to tell you now,’ and added.

“The one who wanted me to marry Daphne was none other than Luna Moon.”

“What?”

“Daphne still seems to think Luna Moon left because I chose to marry her to become the commander, but it is slightly different. Luna Moon left as soon as she learned she was pregnant. I do not know the reason either, but only a letter was left behind telling me to marry the remaining Daphne and become the commander.”

“……”

She left a letter for her lover telling him to marry Daphne?

‘Why on earth?’

If one doesn’t succeed in targeting, they die…

Perhaps because she wanted Daphne not to die?

‘No. There’s no way.’

Even just hearing briefly from the commander or Daphne, the player Luna Moon was not such a warm personality.

She didn’t seem to be an altruistic person either.

‘Then what for…’

This is something whose reason cannot be known unless heard directly from Luna Moon herself.

I suddenly thought of the existence dwelling within Luna Moon’s ring.

Perhaps this ego inside the ring was a message Luna Moon left for me.

Although it didn’t seem to have any intention of telling me yet.

Still, having heard the story like this.

A way occurred to me.

A way to participate in the subjugation battle and not go to the military academy.

“…At that time, you made a request of me.”

“A request?”

“Whether I could also tell you everything if Father told me everything.”

Remembering the request back then, the commander nodded.

“Yes. I did.”

“Now I intend to tell you everything too. Father, I am…”

I slowly opened my mouth and spat out the remaining words.

“A regressor.”