A Veteran Player is Needed in the Apocalypse

Chapter 74. Father (6)

“…because of that.”

The commander clasped his hands together and rested them on the desk as he spoke.

“Officially, we’ll conclude that while General Max did, in fact, order Bones to be killed, Colonel Samson is the one who actively committed the murders of the other soldiers. Since Bones is still alive, the punishment won’t be too severe, but General Max’s honor will be tarnished.”

“No one among the officers present thinks General Max’s confession is genuine. I’d say the soldiers who heard it don’t believe it either.”

We couldn’t clear General Max of the accusations.

Yet, ironically, his confession made everyone aware of his innocence.

Though he could have easily shifted all the blame onto Bones, he confessed in front of everyone, taking responsibility for the crime. Only a true father would do something like that.

There was no way a man like that would order the death of his own child.

“What about Josef?”

Although we didn’t find decisive evidence that Josef had instructed Colonel Samson to kill Bones and eliminate the rest of the team,

It was clear that Josef was involved. The rumors about the deceased colonel being alive and the soldiers he had tortured coming forward on their own, confessing that they had killed Colonel Samson under Josef’s orders, left little room for doubt.

Nevertheless, punishing General Max publicly instead of Josef was a political decision. If we punished Josef without solid evidence, the pro-Hayden faction would turn against us.

And it wasn’t my decision to make General Max the scapegoat instead of Josef; it was the commander’s.

So when he asked me what I planned to do with Josef, it felt more like he was testing me.

“Josef’s fate will be decided by my father.”

“Heydam.”

“Yes?”

“Avoid personal retaliation.”

“What, do you think I’d go after him myself?”

“Yes.”

What was this sudden firmness?

The commander seemed convinced that I was just pretending to follow his orders now, only to take revenge on Josef later.

“I won’t. If you really don’t trust me, I’ll stay away from Josef for a while, so you can rest easy.”

“…Alright.”

The commander still looked doubtful.

Seriously, doesn’t he trust his own son?

Just then, the door to the commander’s office flew open, and Meursault rushed in, visibly alarmed.

“Your Excellency, something terrible has happened! It appears that Lord Heydam—”

Was my name really the first thing out of his mouth as soon as he came in?

“What did I do now?”

I asked, sinking deeper into the sofa, and only then did Meursault seem to notice me, his eyes widening in surprise.

“Lord Heydam, you’re here…?”

It sounded as if I shouldn’t be here.

“How long have you been here?”

“I’ve been here since this morning.”

“Is that so…?”

“What’s the issue?”

At the commander’s question, Meursault finally stopped looking at me and answered.

“Well… Captain Josef has died.”

“What?”

“Oh dear, that is quite a mess.”

“…”

“Why are you both looking at me?”

“Heydam.”

The commander called my name in a scolding tone, and I sat up from the sofa, trying to look as innocent as possible.

“It wasn’t me. You’ve seen me here all morning, haven’t you? I haven’t lifted a finger.”

“That’s true, but if it’s you…”

Was he serious?

I turned to Meursault and asked, “Meursault, how did Captain Josef die?”

“Oh, well… It’s rather strange. He was struck by lightning during training.”

The commander frowned at that.

“Lightning?”

“If it was lightning, why am I being suspected?”

“Well, we thought that maybe Lord Heydam had somehow orchestrated it so that lightning would strike Josef’s head.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I suppose… Even Lord Heydam wouldn’t be able to manipulate lightning.”

“Of course not. What kind of absurdity are you talking about?”

Despite this, the commander continued to eye me with suspicion for a while.

Honestly, both the commander and Meursault were too sharp for their own good.

* * *

[This is unbelievable!]

Luna, nestled in my arms, pounded her tiny paws against my chest.

[How could you have learned to control your powers so quickly? This can’t be happening!]

“Why not?”

[Because now I can’t teach you!!]

I’d had a feeling I was learning faster than expected.

It was starting to seem like she’d exaggerated the difficulty just because she wanted to teach me herself.

Ever since the day Luna told me that I’d gained supernatural abilities, I had been practicing controlling them every day.

In doing so, I unintentionally caused some anxiety among the Zone people, though.

Now, I had gotten so used to it that I could even strike distant training grounds with lightning.

Of course, to strike my target accurately, they had to be within my field of vision.

In Josef’s case, it was possible to hit him from afar because the place he supervised from during training was always the same.

Well, honestly, I hadn’t aimed for his head. I had only meant to hit nearby…

But considering that a lightning strike hit his head precisely, I suppose it could be seen as a sort of divine punishment.

‘It’s a tremendous power, but…’

I couldn’t use it too often.

After all, if too many people died from lightning strikes within a single zone, it would raise suspicion.

Though it was true that Josef was responsible for the deaths of my precious soldiers, the commander wouldn’t tolerate me taking personal revenge.

[By the way, Luna is so moved.]

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

[A father stepping up to claim responsibility for his son’s crimes! That’s so admirable. Family is truly wonderful!]

‘Yeah, right.’

This situation ended in a Solomon-like resolution, thanks to General Max’s good character.

Had he not stepped forward in place of Bones, I might have considered punishing both Josef and Max. After all, they were two sides of the same coin, and I would have punished both sons.

For the sake of his adopted son—or even his biological son—there aren’t many people who would step up and admit to being the culprit in such a situation.

Then again, this might just be my bias, shaped by growing up under less-than-exemplary parents.

That’s why I couldn’t agree with Luna when she said that family is wonderful.

There was no need to tell her that, though.

If this creature was the real Heydam, then I was the one who had taken away his family.

‘If Luna Moon really is my mother… does that make this guy my actual brother?’

The thought of it made me hope even more fervently that Luna Moon wasn’t my mother.

[By the way, don’t you want to see your dad?]

Luna suddenly asked out of nowhere, causing me to tilt my head slightly.

“I just saw him.”

[Not Hayden! I mean your dad from the other world!]

“Oh… not really.”

Of course, I had a father as well.

After my mother abandoned me, he was the one who raised me.

‘But that man probably isn’t my biological father.’

He never abused me or anything.

In fact, he was disturbingly kind to me.

But even at a young age, I could tell that he had no real interest in me.

I think it was during my teenage years.

Once, I asked him to take me to my real father. He responded by laughing as if he had just heard the most amusing story.

– Unfortunately, there’s no other father for you.

I still don’t know if he meant that he was my biological father or that my real father was already dead.

I became too scared to ask further.

[You don’t want to see him? Even though he’s your dad?]

“He probably doesn’t want to see me either. I doubt he even knows I’m gone.”

[Meow… So even family might not want to see each other, huh.]

Seeing Luna’s ears droop, I added, almost as an afterthought.

“Commander Hayden probably really wanted to see Heydam. He spent ten years searching for him.”

[Really?! Well, that has nothing to do with me!]

Of course.

“Lord Heydam, you’re here.”

As I was exchanging banter with Luna, Bones and Lucas opened the door and came in.

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

“Oh? Is that a cat?”

Even though Bones and Lucas had come in, I didn’t bother hiding Luna.

I couldn’t keep her living inside the ring forever, and she was bound to be discovered eventually.

Luna, rather than fleeing or hiding, stayed calmly in my arms, looking up at the two of them with her bright blue eyes.

“This is the first time I’m seeing that cat.”

“Same here. It’s even cuter than the pictures.”

“Is this the cat you were looking for when you woke up in the hospital?”

Ah, that’s right. I had asked Bones if he had seen a cat when I woke up in the hospital.

He still remembered that.

Bones might have a weak mentality, but he had a good memory.

I gave a casual response.

“Yeah. It must’ve snuck into the rescue team’s luggage.”

“Smart little thing.”

At this point, I could probably tell them Plato was my son, and they’d believe it.

Luna yawned widely, curled up in my lap, and began to sleep, while Bones and Lucas crouched next to the bed, watching her in fascination.

…But how long were they planning to stay in my room?

“Now that you’ve had a good look, how about telling me why you came?”

“Oh, right. I was so distracted by the cute cat that I forgot…”

Moments like these reminded me that they were still only 18-year-olds.

Lucas, looking embarrassed that he had been so absorbed by the cat, cleared his throat a few times before speaking more formally.

“We came to thank you, Lord Heydam.”

“All of a sudden?”

“You’ve probably heard by now that Josef got struck by lightning and died.”

Did they think I killed him and came to thank me?

Seeing my uneasy look, Bones scratched the back of his head and spoke.

“When that bastard got struck by lightning, it sent a chill down my spine. He ended up receiving divine punishment, but if His Excellency hadn’t believed in General Max’s innocence… well, it would’ve been a terrible injustice.”

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like they were suspicious of me, so I nodded slightly, and Bones continued.

“There was no evidence proving General Max’s innocence, but even so, all of us, myself included, were able to believe deep down that he wasn’t guilty—thanks to you, Lord Heydam. We’re grateful.”

“You think that’s something to be grateful for?”

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

“After all, your father was the one who was punished. Josef’s death was just a freak accident. You say that everyone knows your father’s innocent, but that only applies to the officers present at the scene. The common soldiers don’t know the truth. As far as they’re concerned, your father is recorded as the worst kind of man, who ordered the death of his adopted son and dragged countless soldiers into it. The reason I allowed things to be handled this way is because it benefits me. And yet, you thank me?”

“Yes. Even so, I thank you, Lord Heydam.”

“…”

Bones looked at me with unwavering eyes.

Lucas glanced between us before carefully chiming in.

“I feel the same way. I know you might wonder why we’re thanking you, Lord Heydam, when you didn’t even clear General Max’s name, but we understand. If it weren’t publicly announced that General Max was punished, neither Bones nor I would’ve been able to return to the army. The common soldiers don’t know the truth, so they actually sympathize with us.”

“I didn’t plan for that to happen.”

“That’s why we’re thanking you—despite that.”

“At least accept our thanks.”

“…”

They probably wouldn’t leave if I didn’t accept, so I reluctantly nodded.

Once I did, Bones smiled in satisfaction and said.

“If you ever need help, just say the word. We’ll repay you with whatever we can.”

“Same here. I’m ready to help with anything, as long as I can.”

Now, besides Plato, there were two more people willing to say things like that to me.

Though I doubt there’s anything they could really help me with…

“Oh.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I just thought of something. You can help with this.”

“Perfect timing. What is it?”

“Whatever it is, just let us know.”

“You’re sure you’ll help, no matter what?”

“Of course. We’ll gladly do anything for you… Right, Bones?”

“…No, I’m suddenly feeling a bit uneasy with the way Lord Heydam is phrasing this.”

Bones had a sharp instinct.

“Don’t worry too much. It’s ultimately for the good of the zone.”

“Seriously, what are you planning to make us do?”

I smiled at the two of them and said.

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

“………What?”