Chapter 10

“Fael? Well… he’s usually the quiet type. Hardly speaks at all. The last time I spoke with him was when he offered to take my watch duty.”

Inside the dormitory lounge, Luke sat across from Danny, another member of the Special Unit. Though Danny disliked serving under Luke, who was known for being domineering and unpopular, he had remained with the squad for quite a long time, seemingly well-suited to its nature.

“What exactly did Fael say when he offered to take your watch?”

“He claimed he couldn’t sleep at night… so he might as well do it for me. That’s about all.”

“And during leave, do you know what Fael usually does?”

“That, I wouldn’t really…”

Danny trailed off, opening his mouth to brush the question aside with a tone of disinterest.

“Danny, I know your family home is close to Fael’s. And that you sometimes go on leave together.”

Danny’s eyes widened in surprise. Clearly, he had assumed Luke had no interest in his men whatsoever.

“…That’s true. But we’re not that close. As far as I could tell, he never did much during leave. Mostly stayed cooped up at home, and… ah.”

Danny let out a low hum as if a memory had resurfaced.

“I did see him slip out at night once or twice.”

“At night? Where to?”

“That I don’t know. But he always carried a rather large bag on his back whenever he left. I thought about asking him, but figured he’d never answer me anyway.”

Luke’s eyes narrowed at that.

“Captain… is it really all right for you to be wandering around like this?”

Danny asked hesitantly. With Luke publicly accused of coercing Fael into committing crimes, even this conversation seemed unwise to him.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Luke dismissed the concern with a wave. Evading the guards stationed at his door was child’s play. The only reason he hadn’t before was because he hadn’t bothered.

“Anyway, Danny. There’s something I need you to help me with.”

“Me? You want me to…?”

“Yes. Why? Do you object?”

“…To be honest, yes. You’re under investigation, Captain.”

“You’re unnecessarily honest. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] But tell me; when you secretly swapped out the watch roster without informing your commanding officer, were you acting so honorably then?”

“Th-that…” Danny frowned, caught off guard by the jab.

“Danny, if I wanted to, I could make that into a very big problem for you.”

In truth, Luke had been turning a blind eye to such small infractions. Soldiers quietly swapping their duties wasn’t uncommon, but strictly speaking, it was a violation of imperial regulations.

“You’ve been doing that for quite some time, haven’t you? The demerits would stack up nicely.”

“…What do you want me to do?” Danny’s defiance crumbled at once. Luke might be under suspicion, but since nothing had been proven, Danny couldn’t afford to ignore his captain outright.

“It’s simple.”

Luke glanced at the time and rose from his seat.

******

Midnight approached. Behind the bustling Ludrein  Square, the commercial heart of the capital, lay a cramped neighborhood where commoners lived. Fael resided in one of its small houses. After checking his bedroom, he pulled a hooded robe over himself and inspected the bag on the table. Inside were five communication crystals, stolen from the army.

His expression dark, Fael slung the bag over his shoulder and slipped out.

Ludrein  Square spanned five streets, with the fifth, the one closest to his home, lined with cheap shops selling food and daily necessities to the poor.

Between the fourth and fifth streets was a narrow alley. Once lively with taverns, it was now abandoned; making money in the commoner’s quarter had proven impossible, so the businesses had long since moved elsewhere.

That alley was Fael’s destination. A place no one came to anymore, where the air was always cold and still.

Fael lit a small lamp as he entered. It flickered and sputtered, making a harsh, brittle sound.

“…”

Up ahead stood another figure in a robe. Startled, Fael hurried forward.

“You’re early today. I-I’m sorry I’m late.”

He bowed his head, and the figure wordlessly extended a hand.

“Ah, here are the goods.”

Fael obediently handed over the bag. The other checked its contents, examining the crystals inside.

“As I told you… things have been unstable at headquarters lately. I thought I should lie low for a while. But the payment you promised—”

“Well. That depends on you, doesn’t it?”

The voice that replied, both unfamiliar and familiar, sent a chill down Fael’s spine.

“…W-what?”

As he stammered, the figure slowly pushed back the hood.

“C-Captain…!”

It was Luke. Shocked, Fael collapsed onto the ground.

“H-how… how are you here?!”

“So, this is the man you’ve been meeting?”

Luke snapped his fingers. The alley flooded with brilliant light, far brighter than Fael’s pitiful lamp. Behind Luke lay the unconscious body of a servant, the very one Fael had been delivering crystals to.

“Fael.”

At the sound of his name, Fael’s shoulders jerked.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice? That I’d just sit back and take it?”

Luke crouched down, meeting his eyes. Fael’s face had already turned deathly pale, sweat dripping down his temples.

“H-how did you…? How…?”

“From the moment you pointed me out at the hearing, nothing made sense. And when I heard you’d been volunteering for extra watch duty, I knew. I knew exactly who the real culprit was.”

Luke pulled something from his coat and tossed it at Fael. The man’s trembling worsened when he saw what it was.

“Found this in your room. A handwritten copy of the Military Supplies and Weapons Log. You spent a great deal of effort figuring out how to siphon off supplies without leaving a trace, didn’t you?”

Luke had questioned Danny about Fael earlier, then taken him along to search Fael’s quarters. Since the two shared a room, Danny was tasked with distracting the sentries while Luke rifled through Fael’s things. In a desk drawer, with a crude false bottom, he had found the notebook.

“P-please! Captain, forgive me! I was wrong… I’ve committed a grave sin. Please, I beg you…”

Fael grovelled, repeating himself, trembling even more violently than he had at the tribunal.

“If you knew it was a crime worth dying for, why do it?”

“Th-that…” Fael’s lips trembled. All color had long since drained from them.

“Was it because of your mother’s illness?”

At that, Fael’s eyes widened even further. Clearly, he hadn’t expected Luke to know.

“Danny told me. That you care for your ailing mother alone. That your cowardice, your reason for clinging to the unit, was because of her.”

Fael had always been timid, hardly suited for a soldier. He came back from the battlefield so shaken that he wandered around like a shell for days. Luke knew this, and had often tried to shield him, sending him to keep watch, or to report back first, using any excuse to spare him direct combat.

He had always wondered why Fael didn’t transfer out. Today, Danny had given him the answer: money.

The Special Unit was paid even more than other magical divisions of the army, thanks to its role in striking at the enemy’s blind spots.

“M-my mother’s illness grew worse this year. I couldn’t afford a proper physician. We’ve been barely scraping by with medicine, but I was told she wouldn’t last without better treatment, so I…”

Fael’s voice trailed off. The trembling left him at last, replaced by weary resignation.

“That doesn’t justify your crime.”

“I know. I know. I swore it would be only once, Captain. Just once. Please believe me!”

Luke’s eyes narrowed. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] For such a cowardly man, it seemed strange that Fael had managed to repeat the theft so many times. Even for his mother’s sake, going against his very nature should have been nearly impossible.

“If there’s something you’re not telling me, say it now.”

Fael met Luke’s gaze with quivering eyes. Luke read his hesitation, but did not press or rage.

“C-Captain Mile…”

“Mile?”

“Yes, Captain Mile ordered me. After that first theft, I tried to stop. I truly did. But he caught me. I thought I’d be discharged, that my career was over, but instead he made me a… proposal.”

Fael confessed everything. Mile had forced him to keep stealing until given further orders, threatening to expose him otherwise.

Now Luke understood. From the start, Mile had planned to pin everything on him. By making Fael steal habitually, by setting him up as a witness, the farce would appear flawless.

“That bastard.”

Fael flinched at the venom in Luke’s voice.

“I’m sorry! I should never have… but I was terrified. If I failed, if I lost my position, my mother would die…”

Fael wept, prostrating himself. Watching his foolish subordinate tremble, Luke exhaled sharply.

“I’ll testify. I’ll confess everything, I swear it…”

“Fael. You still have leave left, don’t you? Take it. Stay at home until it’s over. Then report directly to headquarters.”

“…Wh-what?” Fael blinked in confusion, unable to understand. Luke ignored him, gathering up the bag.

“Oh, Fael.”

At the mouth of the alley, Luke paused and glanced back at the dazed man.

“The family you were delivering the crystals to, who were they?”

“…The Marquis of Hanus.”

So it was. Luke muttered under his breath, too softly for Fael to hear.

Then he left.

Fael remained slumped in the empty alley, stunned. He had braced himself to die tonight. Yet Luke had neither punished him nor even raised his voice.

And Fael would only understand why after returning from leave to headquarters, when he learned that Luke had admitted full responsibility for the embezzlement himself.