Chapter 74 – Father (6)

===================

Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

“…Therefore.”

The Commander said, placing his clasped hands on the office desk.

“Publicly, we will conclude that while it is true Lieutenant General Max instigated the attempt to kill Bones, it was Colonel Sampson who actively committed the murders of the other soldiers. Since Bones, the target of the instigation, is alive, the punishment will not be severe, but Lieutenant General Max’s honor will be tarnished.”

“Out of the executives who were present there, probably none of them believe Lieutenant General Max’s confession is real. The same goes for the soldiers who heard the story.”

We could not prove Lieutenant General Max’s innocence.

However, Lieutenant General Max’s confession ironically made everyone realize his innocence.

Because confessing that he did it before everyone, even though he could have shifted all the blame onto Bones, was something only a true father could do.

Because there was no way such a person would order his child killed.

“What are you going to do about Josef?”

Although we did not find decisive evidence that Josef instructed Colonel Sampson to murder Bones and silence the other team members.

Along with the circumstances of him releasing people to search for him after hearing the rumor that the dead colonel was alive, the soldiers tortured by Josef came forward on their own and confessed that they killed Colonel Sampson under Josef’s orders, so it seemed certain that it was Josef’s doing.

Even so, the reason they publicly punished Lieutenant General Max instead was because if they punished Josef without evidence, the pro-Hayden faction would all turn away.

And after all, it was the Commander, not me, who decided to announce Lieutenant General Max rather than Josef as the culprit.

Therefore, asking me what I was going to do about Josef was closer to testing me.

“The disposition of Josef is a matter for Father to decide.”

“Haydam.”

“Yes?”

“Refrain from personal retaliation.”

“Do you think I’d actually do him any harm separately?”

“Yes.”

What was with this firmness?

The Commander seemed to think that while I pretended to follow his instructions now, I would somehow retaliate against Josef behind his back.

“I won’t. If you really can’t believe me, rest assured that I won’t even go near Josef for a while.”

“Alright…”

The Commander still seemed suspicious.

No, how could he not trust his own son that much?

Just then, the door to the Commander’s office burst open, and Meursault rushed inside.

“Your Excellency, it’s an emergency! It seems Lord Haydam—”

Bringing up my name the moment he came in?

“What did I do?”

When I, who was sitting deeply buried in the sofa, asked that, Meursault’s eyes widened as if he only just discovered me.

“Lord Haydam, you were here…?”

His tone made it seem as if I shouldn’t be here.

“Since when have you been here?”

“I’ve been here all morning.”

“Is that so…?”

“What is the matter?”

Only after the Commander asked did Meursault withdraw his gaze from me and reply.

“Well… General Josef has died.”

“What?”

“Oh dear. That is a real tragedy.”

“…”

“Why are you both staring at me?”

“Haydam.”

As the Commander called me rebukingly, I sat up from the sofa looking aggrieved.

“It wasn’t me. You saw me not lifting a single finger here since morning.”

“That may be so, but if it’s you…”

No, were they serious?

I asked Meursault.

“Meursault, how did General Josef die?”

“Ah, well… it is a bit strange to me too, but. He died from being struck by lightning during training.”

At those words, the Commander frowned.

“Lightning?”

“It was lightning, so why suspect me?”

“No, well. I thought if it was Lord Haydam, you might have somehow manipulated it to strike lightning right on Josef’s head.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“True… no matter how Lord Haydam is, manipulating even lightning would be impossible.”

“Why are you stating the obvious?”

Nevertheless, the Commander stared at me with a suspicious look for a moment.

At any rate, whether it was the Commander or Meursault.

They were far too quick-witted.

* * *

[Unbelievable!]

Luna, held in my arms, pounded on my chest with her tiny paws.

[To be able to control supernatural power this quickly! That shouldn’t be possible!]

“Why shouldn’t it be?”

[Because then I can’t teach you!!]

Somehow, I had thought I learned it faster than expected.

I harbored a reasonable suspicion that she might have exaggerated the difficulty just because she wanted to teach me.

From the day I heard from Luna that I had gained supernatural power, I practiced controlling it every day.

Although it seemed that because of it, I had unintentionally made the people of the zone tremble in anxiety.

By now, I had become familiar enough to drop lightning even on a distant training ground.

Of course, to accurately drop lightning on someone’s head, they had to be within the region that came into my field of vision.

In Josef’s case, since the spot where he supervised training was always the same, it was possible to shoot and hit him from afar.

Well, actually, I hadn’t intended to drop it right on his head but roughly near that vicinity…

Seeing that there were eyewitness accounts of lightning striking exactly on his head, I wondered if this, too, was to some extent a divine punishment.

‘It is a tremendous power, but…’

I probably wouldn’t be able to use it multiple times.

For no matter what, if people kept dying from being struck by lightning within a single zone, it would be suspicious.

It was true that Josef caused my precious soldiers to die, but even so, the Commander would not tolerate me taking personal revenge.

[By the way, Luna is touched.]

“Didn’t you say you didn’t like that name?”

[For a father to step forward as the culprit for his son! Truly admirable. Family is a really wonderful thing!]

‘Yeah, right.’

This incident resulted in a Solomon ending thanks to Lieutenant General Max’s good character.

If he hadn’t stepped forward in Bones’s place on the spot, Josef and Max were two of a kind, so I was prepared to have both bastards punished.

Because there wouldn’t be many people who would step forward as the culprit in such a situation for the sake of an adopted son, or perhaps even a biological son.

This might also be a prejudice I held from having grown up under not-so-great parents.

So while I could not agree with Luna’s words that family was wonderful.

There was no need to tell her that.

If this entity was indeed the real Haydam, it meant I had stolen his family, after all.

‘If Luna Moon is really my mother… does that mean this guy is also truly my older brother?’

As my thoughts reached that point, I prayed even harder that Luna Moon was not my mother.

[But don’t you miss your dad?]

Since Luna suddenly asked out of the blue, I tilted my head slightly.

“I was just looking at him until a moment ago.”

[Not Hayden! Your dad from the other world!]

“Ah… not particularly.”

Naturally, I also had a father.

He was the one who raised me up to now after my mother abandoned me and left.

‘But that man is probably not my biological father.’

It wasn’t that he abused me or anything.

In fact, he was kind to me to a chilling degree.

However, no matter how young I was, I could tell that he had no interest in me.

Was it during my adolescence?

Once, I asked him to take me to my biological father, and that man laughed as if he had heard a really amusing joke.

-Unfortunately, there is no other father.

Whether it meant he was indeed my biological father or that my biological father was already dead, I still did not know.

For somehow, I had become too afraid to ask further.

[You don’t miss him? Even though he’s your dad?]

“That person probably doesn’t miss me particularly either. He probably doesn’t even know I’m gone.”

[Meow… So even if they are family, they might not miss each other.]

Seeing Luna’s ears droop, I added belatedly.

“Commander Hayden must have missed Haydam terribly. I heard he searched for ten years.”

[Really?! No, that story has nothing to do with me!]

Sure it doesn’t.

“Lord Haydam, here you were.”

While I was bickering with Luna, Bones and Lucas opened the door and entered.

These guys were still staying at the Commander’s residence.

“Huh? Is that a cat?”

Even though Bones and Lucas came inside, I did not hide Luna.

Because I couldn’t keep her living inside the ring forever, and it was bound to be discovered someday.

Instead of running away or hiding, Luna just stared up at the two with her deep blue eyes while held in my arms.

“It’s my first time seeing a cat.”

“Mine too. It’s cuter than the ones I saw in pictures.”

“Is this the cat you were looking for back in the hospital room?”

Ah, come to think of it, when I woke up in the hospital room, I had asked Bones if he had seen a cat.

He still remembered that.

Bones has a weak mental state, but he is smart.

I made a suitable excuse.

“Yeah. It seems she hid inside the rescue team’s luggage and followed me.”

“She is a very clever fellow.”

At this rate, these guys would probably believe me even if I said Plato was my son.

Luna let out a long yawn, curled up on my lap, and began to seek sleep, while Bones and Lucas crouched by the bed with their bulky frames and watched Luna for a long time.

…But how long do these bastards plan to stay in my room?

“Since you’ve seen enough, why don’t you state the business that brought you here?”

“Ah, the cat was so cute that I forgot…”

Seeing them like this makes it hit home that these fellows are also still just eighteen.

Lucas, perhaps embarrassed by being distracted by the cat, coughed dryly a few times and spoke in a highly polite manner.

“We… came to thank you, Lord Haydam.”

“Suddenly?”

“You must have already heard that the bastard Josef died from being struck by lightning.”

Could it be that these guys also came thinking I killed him?

As I looked at him with an uneasy gaze, Bones scratched the back of his head and said.

“Seeing that bastard get punished by heaven made my heart sink. In the end, he was the one who got punished, but if His Excellency hadn’t believed in Lieutenant General Max’s innocence… it would have been so fucking unfair.”

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to suspect me, so I nodded moderately, and Bones continued.

“There was no evidence that Lieutenant General Max was innocent, yet the reason everyone, including me, could convince themselves from the bottom of their hearts that he was guiltless is all thanks to Lord Haydam. Thank you.”

“Is that something to be thankful for?”

I asked back, not understanding why Bones was thanking me.

“In the end, the one punished was your father. Josef’s death is merely an accidental event. You said everyone came to know your father’s innocence, but that only applies to the executives who were present there; the ordinary soldiers know absolutely nothing about the inner story. Your father will be recorded as the worst human who instigated his adopted son’s death and dragged several innocent soldiers into it. The reason it was handled that way is because that benefits me. And yet, you thank me?”

“Yes. Even so, I thank Lord Haydam.”

“…”

Bones stared at me with an unwavering gaze.

Lucas looked back and forth between me and Bones, then carefully chimed in.

“I also thank you nevertheless, Lord Haydam. You seem to think why we are thanking you when you couldn’t even prove Lieutenant General Max’s innocence, but we also know. That if it hadn’t been announced that Lieutenant General Max was punished, it would have been difficult for Bones and me to return to the military. And that because the ordinary soldiers do not know the truth, they sympathize with us instead.”

“I didn’t act with that in mind, though.”

“That is why we thank you nevertheless.”

“Just accept it when we thank you.”

“…”

Since it seemed they wouldn’t leave unless I accepted their gratitude, I reluctantly nodded.

As I nodded, Bones smiled satisfyingly and said.

“If you need help with anything in the future, speak comfortably. We will pay back what we received with our bodies.”

“Same for me. If there is anything I can help with, I will willingly do it.”

Beside Plato, I now had two more guys saying such things to me.

Even if they said that, what they could help me with was…

“Ah.”

“What is it?”

“I thought of it. What you can help with.”

“Good timing. What is it?”

“You can comfortably tell us what we should do.”

“You’ll really help with any kind of work, right?”

“Of course. For Lord Haydam, we will willingly do anything… Bones, you too, right?”

“…No, since Lord Haydam is speaking like that, I suddenly feel super anxious.”

That guy Bones has really good intuition.

“Ultimately, it’s for the sake of the zone, so don’t be too scared.”

“No, what on earth are you trying to make us do that you’re scaring us like this?”

I smirked at the two and said.

“I’m going to get my father divorced.”

“…What?”