Chapter 40
Ten days later.
I took the officers and soldiers with me and patrolled the outskirts of the city under the pretext of conducting city patrols.
Why patrol the outskirts of the city in particular? Because I thought I would be able to hear the citizens’ complaints and grievances more candidly there than in the center, where the garrison was permanently stationed.
But there was nothing.
Even though I walked with my ears pricked, I heard no complaints about the garrison.
Every now and then, a few citizens who spotted me would make strange expressions, give a slight bow, and pass by.
‘Hmm. This is probably…….’
They seemed to be holding their tongues out of fear that they might be arrested for saying something bad about the garrison.
Or perhaps word had already spread through the streets that I, the acting garrison commander, was conducting patrols.
Otherwise, it made no sense that they would not resist the tyranny I had imposed.
Once I understood the situation, I nodded once and turned to Lucy.
“Adjutant. What do the citizens of Nordia think of the garrison? You’ve spent more time out in the field than I have after sitting behind a desk for ten days, so I imagine you know better.”
Lucy thought for a moment before answering.
“There are some complaints. However, the general mood is one of tolerating the garrison’s occupation of the city.”
“……Tolerating it? The garrison?”
“Yes. Thanks to your appropriate measures, Major, not only have the city’s public services been rapidly restored, but its paralyzed administrative system is gradually returning to normal as well. We have also received reports that the crime rate has fallen below what it was before the city was occupied.”
I could understand that. I had been the one to order them to strengthen patrols and urgently restore public services.
But the citizens tolerating the garrison was another matter entirely.
Normally, citizens were filled with anger during the early stages of an occupation.
‘And in any normal city, shouldn’t they be protesting the tax rates I set and the forced military service?’
Just as I was about to ask Lucy whether there was something I had overlooked, it happened.
“This is outrageous! You’ve cut my daily wage even further than yesterday!”
My gaze naturally turned toward the voice of a young man shouting at the top of his lungs.
In front of a watchtower reconstruction site, a man who appeared to be a middle manager was confronting a Black man.
The middle manager frowned as though annoyed and folded his arms.
“Hey. You should be grateful I’m giving you work at all. Or would you rather have even that daily wage taken away?”
“I’m grateful you hired me, but this is absurd! If you take half my daily wage, what am I supposed to feed my family……!”
There was clearly something wrong with the situation.
Wanting to know what was going on, I walked toward them.
“If you want to feed your family, work overtime. Why the hell are you bitching at me……”
The middle manager, who had been arguing with the man, heard my footsteps and turned toward me.
When he saw me accompanied by armed soldiers and military officers, he hurriedly bowed his head.
“C-Commander! W-What brings you to such a humble place……!”
“I don’t consider it humble. My hometown was even worse off than this. More importantly, what’s going on that you’re arguing with a worker?”
“Ah, well, you see. This fellow keeps making a fuss, demanding that I pay him his full daily wage.”
The middle manager said this while glaring at the man, so I could not help tilting my head.
“The garrison must have appointed you to a managerial position so you could ensure that daily wages were paid properly. Why aren’t you paying him in full? Did the man shirk his work?”
“What? No. That’s not it. He’s fairly diligent.”
“Then why aren’t you paying him properly?”
“Surely you know, Commander. This man is Black.”
What? He said it so casually that, for a moment, I thought I had misheard him.
After remaining silent for a while, I asked to make sure I had heard him correctly.
“You didn’t pay him properly because he’s Black?”
“Yes, that’s right. His father was a slave, yet the son is pretending to be a free citizen, which is outrageous. In the Kingdom, people of color have traditionally been third-class citizens……”
I raised a hand to stop the middle manager.
There was no need to hear any more.
“What disgusting things you say. Are you invoking Kingdom law while serving under the Empire’s military authority? Or are you trying to insult His Majesty the Emperor, who has prohibited discrimination against people based on status or race?”
The middle manager’s eyes widened.
The middle manager stood trembling with his mouth hanging open, then hurriedly clasped his hands together.
“No! That wasn’t my intention at all! I, I merely……!”
“Shut your filthy mouth. Not only did you disobey my order to pay him properly, you also insulted the solemn law enacted by His Majesty the Emperor. Soldier. Bind this man.”
“Yes, sir!” Two soldiers answered forcefully, rushed forward, and kicked the middle manager behind the knees.
“Kuhk!”
After forcing the middle manager to his knees, one of the soldiers twisted his arms behind his back.
Immediately afterward, they took out a rope and tied both his wrists.
“Commander! Ngh! I, I didn’t mean to……!”
The middle manager cried out pleadingly, but I did not even spare him a glance.
After letting out a low sigh, I turned to the Black man, who was sweating nervously beside me.
“You.”
The Black man came to his senses and hurriedly stood at attention.
He looked terrified, as though he expected to be bound as well.
Even though he had done nothing wrong, he was acting like this. It was easy to imagine how much discrimination he must have suffered in the past.
“From now on, you’re the middle manager for this district.”
“……What? C-Commander, I can’t rise to such a lofty position.”
“Who are you?”
The Black man hesitated for a moment before answering.
“That man is right. My father was a slave, and although I’m a free citizen, I’m still a slave’s son, first and foremost. Besides, I’m a person of color, so it’s only natural that I should be discriminated against…….”
“You don’t understand. I asked who you are.”
The Black man blinked blankly several times before answering cautiously.
“……Darnel.”
“Good. Darnel. I don’t care in the slightest that you’re a person of color or that your father was a slave. What matters is that you worked diligently and still weren’t paid properly. I’m here to correct that.”
I placed a hand on Darnel’s shoulder.
“That’s an order. Starting today, supervise the workers as their middle manager and ensure they’re paid properly. Also, if anyone makes an unfair complaint against you, ask the garrison for help.”
Tears welled in the corners of Darnel’s eyes as he listened to me.
Perhaps trying to hide his overwhelming emotions, Darnel clenched his teeth and lowered his head deeply.
“Thank you! Thank you so much, Commander!”
I nodded once and turned away.
Then I stopped short without realizing it.
The officers and soldiers looking at me all had faint smiles around their mouths.
I felt a strange chill run down my spine and hurried my steps.
“Let’s head back. It’s cold.”
I led the way, and the officers and soldiers followed behind me.
I tried to ignore them as much as possible, but I could hear the officers whispering behind me.
“The Commander really is beyond reproach. I never knew his loyalty to His Majesty was so great.”
“Do you think His Majesty would have awarded the Commander the Order of National Security Merit for nothing? He’s the very model of a soldier. Consider it an honor just to follow him.”
It was Sergeant Glendy and Lieutenant McCall.
“Major Daniel really is like a saint sent down by God. Honestly, another Imperial citizen would have ignored it and moved on. Don’t you agree, Second Lieutenant Lucy?”
“Yes. That much is certainly true……”
Those two were Prien and Lucy.
Perhaps Lucy’s response excited Prien, because Prien clasped both hands and spoke.
“The things I hate most are racists and citizens of the Allied nations. Because both are so close to beasts.”
……When will Prien realize that Prien isn’t in their right mind?
*
Meanwhile, at the secret society Black Swan’s hideout.
On the third floor of a building disguised as an ordinary general store, Telex machines and radios capable of transmitting and receiving text stood lined up in rows.
While the society’s members moved back and forth handling their work, their leader, Hamtal, sat at a desk and pressed his fingers against his brow.
‘Daniel Steiner is the leader of the occupying forces that seized the city. Naturally, he’s someone who must be eliminated. But…….’
The citizens had begun to tolerate the garrison.
Their hearts, which had been boiling with rage, gradually cooled after hearing about Daniel Steiner’s plans for the city.
Hamtal was no different.
Whenever he looked at the policies Daniel had introduced, a question inevitably rose in his mind: ‘Do we really have to eliminate him?’
‘However, as long as he is the leader of a foreign army…….’
There was no telling when Daniel might cast off his mask and begin oppressing the city’s citizens.
Therefore, eliminating him was the wise choice.
Having steeled his resolve, Hamtal opened a drawer and took out a revolver.
Just as he opened the revolver’s cylinder to check the remaining ammunition, he heard a familiar set of footsteps.
When he raised his head to see who it was, he found Tarki, who had delivered information to the council yesterday.
Apparently having rushed over, Tarki was panting heavily. After barely catching his breath, he spoke.
“Hamtal! The garrison has issued new orders to the citizens!”
“……Orders? What kind of orders?”
If they intended to oppress the citizens, he could not delay any longer.
As tension filled the room, Tarki began to speak.
“From now on, anyone who discriminates against people of color in the city will be punished under Imperial law.”
Hamtal closed the revolver’s cylinder and stopped short.
“……They’re banning racial discrimination?”
“Yes. I also heard they appointed a Black man as one of the local middle managers overseeing the Empire’s military service.”
Hamtal involuntarily dropped the revolver after hearing Tarki’s words.
‘That’s impossible…….’
For the past ten years, Hamtal had worked to eliminate the racial discrimination imposed by Nordia’s aristocratic class.
The secret society Black Swan had been founded in opposition to racial discrimination in the first place.
But Hamtal’s wish had not come true.
He had once succeeded in bribing a politician and getting him elected mayor, but after becoming mayor, the man broke his promise to the Black Swan and continued down an arrogant, self-serving path.
Even so, Hamtal did not despair. He continued fighting for freedom and equality.
‘Even so, there had been no sign of progress…….’
Daniel Steiner had fulfilled the long-cherished dream that had once seemed impossible to reach.
Unprecedented emotions filled Hamtal’s heart and threw his mind into confusion.
Hamtal frowned and breathed heavily before raising a hand to wipe his face.
“Thank you for bringing me the news. I think I need to see for myself what kind of person Daniel Steiner is.”
“……You mean you’re going to reveal yourself?”
“No. I’ll merely watch him from nearby. I need to determine whether the policies he’s introduced are a temporary deception intended to placate the city’s public sentiment.”
If it was merely temporary deception, Daniel was naturally someone who had to be eliminated.
But if all his actions came from genuine sincerity, then the situation was different.
‘If the latter is true, Daniel Steiner is not a conqueror who came to rule the city, but…….’
He might be a savior who had come to liberate the city from the Kingdom’s oppression.