Bang.
A palm slamd onto the desktop.
It wasn't particularly heavy.
But in this quiet office, it sounded like a muffled clap of thunder.
Ripples ford in the tea within the cup.
The docunts on the table trembled slightly from ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) the rush of air.
Eleanor stood on one side of the table.
There was no warmth in her ice-blue eyes.
Three people stood behind her.
All were her direct subordinates.
They were all dressed in Imperial Army uniforms and said nothing.
But their hands were resting naturally at their waists.
Guns were there.
On the other side of the table.
A middle-aged man sat in a chair.
He wore the general's uniform of the Imperial Garrison Corps, with major general rank insignias on his shoulders.
A smile was plastered on his face.
But that smile was stiff, as if it had been stuck on with paste.
Sweat seeped from his forehead, trickling down his sideburns.
He didn't move to wipe it.
Because he didn't dare move.
"Eleanor, I say, Eleanor..."
His voice was sowhat dry.
"Calm down first..."
"Calm?"
Eleanor's voice was very soft.
But that softness was more chilling than any roar.
"You want to be calm?"
"Last night, Eisenburg's Old City burned for an entire night."
"Thousands of people were displaced."
"Hundreds died."
"What was Eisenburg's Garrison Corps doing?"
Her fingers tapped lightly on the table.
"Sleeping?"
"Gambling?"
"Counting how many fingers they have?"
The middle-aged man's smile grew even stiffer.
"Eleanor, you have to listen to my explanation—"
"Not only that."
Eleanor didn't give him a chance to speak.
"The Royal Knights Academy's Underground Storage Area, a key mission site designated by the Imperial Army General Staff Departnt, suffered an organized ard attack last night."
"Fifty-seven enemies."
"What was your reaction ti?"
She paused.
"One hour."
"An entire hour."
"By the ti your late-arriving soldiers reached the scene, the battle was long over."
"Am I to assu that Eisenburg's Garrison Corps has decided to mingle with dostic terrorists and Usar anti-governnt organizations?"
"Am I to assu—"
"That you've already decided to commit treason?"
Those two words were like two blocks of ice striking the middle-aged man's face.
His face turned pale.
The sweat flowed even more freely.
"Eleanor!"
He finally couldn't take it anymore.
"That's a slanderous accusation!"
"How could we possibly—"
"Then tell ."
Eleanor's voice remained very soft.
"Why?"
The middle-aged man opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again.
Like a fish thrown onto the shore.
"You are my elder,"
Eleanor said.
"By seniority, I should call you 'cousin-uncle'."
"So I will give you a chance."
"Now."
"Explain yourself."
The room fell silent for a few seconds.
Only the ticking of the clock on the wall could be heard.
Along with soone's rapid breathing.
The middle-aged man finally sighed.
It was a breath that seed to have been held for a long ti.
"Eleanor... no, Lieutenant Colonel."
His tone changed.
It was no longer that perfunctory smile from before.
Instead, it was a kind of... helplessness.
A deep helplessness.
"You should know the command structure of the Garrison Corps, right?"
Eleanor didn't speak.
She knew.
But she wanted to hear him say it himself.
"Field armies are under the command of the Army General Staff,"
the middle-aged man said.
"But the dostic Garrison Corps..."
He paused.
"Is led by the Imperial Security Bureau."
"The current director of the Imperial Security Bureau is Count Klaus."
Klaus.
A core mber of the Pro-war faction.
Duchess Erwina's right-hand man.
"Last night,"
the middle-aged man continued.
"The Imperial Security Bureau sent a direct order."
"All units are to remain on alert in place."
"No actions are to be taken without further orders."
"None."
He emphasized the word.
"Including fighting the fire?"
Eleanor asked.
"Including fighting the fire."
"Including saving people?"
"Including saving people."
"Including responding to the Imperial Army General Staff's call for help?"
The middle-aged man gave a bitter smile.
"Lieutenant Colonel, your request for aid..."
"I requested instructions three separate tis."
"I waited fifty minutes."
"Before receiving approval to provide 'appropriate' support."
"And then I assembled the troops and arrived at the scene within ten minutes."
The room went quiet again.
Eleanor looked at him.
She looked for a long ti.
"So what you're saying is—"
Her voice was slow.
Word by word.
"You couldn't do anything."
"Because soone above wouldn't let you."
The middle-aged man nodded.
"I know what you're thinking,"
he said.
"You're thinking I'm a coward."
"You're thinking I have no sense of responsibility."
"You're thinking that if it were you, you would never have done this."
He looked up at Eleanor.
There was sothing complex in his eyes.
"But Lieutenant Colonel."
"I have many subordinates."
"They have families too."
"If I disobey orders."
"If I act on my own authority."
"It wouldn't be those civilians in the Old City dying."
"It would be my n."
"It would be the families of my subordinates."
"Do you understand?"
Eleanor didn't answer.
Her expression remained cold.
But sothing flickered in those eyes.
"Lieutenant Colonel."
The middle-aged man stood up.
He was a head taller than Eleanor.
But at this mont, he seed sowhat hunched.
"To be honest, I don't want to be an enemy of the Schwartz Family."
"So I have a suggestion."
"I advise you to... restrain your sharp edges a bit."
"Right now, I am nothing more than a minor major general."
"You are nothing more than a lieutenant colonel who has been stripped of power."
"We..."
He gave a bitter smile.
"Are both just chess pieces on a board."
"Chess pieces?"
The corner of Eleanor's mouth moved.
Whether it was mockery or sothing else was unclear.
"Yes, chess pieces,"
the middle-aged man said.
"Soone is playing chess."
"We are just pieces being pushed along."
"If you want to keep your life, stay honestly in your own square."
"Don't move around."
"Don't think too much."
"Don't—"
The door was pushed open.
An officer hurried in.
It was one of Eleanor's people.
He looked terrible.
"Lieutenant Colonel!"
"What is it?"
"An ergency order from the Army General Staff!"
Eleanor frowned.
"Speak."
The officer glanced at the middle-aged man.
He hesitated.
"It's fine,"
Eleanor said.
"Speak."
The officer took a deep breath.
"The order is as follows: Lieutenant Colonel Eleanor von Schwartz is to return to Victoria imdiately; current duties are to be handed over to Colonel Bergmann for continued execution."
Eleanor's frown deepened.
"Is there a reason given?"
"Yes."
The officer's voice was trembling slightly.
"Supplentary information—"
"Dr. Lovelace and Duchess Erwina..."
He paused.
As if he didn't dare say the next words.
"Are dead."
The air in the room froze.
Eleanor's pupils contracted sharply.
"What?"
"The two t at Duchess Erwina's villa early this morning."
The officer's voice was shaking.
"During the eting, they were attacked."
"Everyone in the entire residence is dead."
"The culprit, based on traces at the scene and witness descriptions—"
"Is suspected to be the 'ghost of Kaldburg' wielding the Soul-Eater Sword."
User Comments
0 comments from readers