This Universe Needs Old People - Chapter 69



Only Noblemtl

Apocalypse Needs Old People Episode 069

60. Father (1)

I came to the conclusion that the NPC in the ring was the ‘real Haytham’.

Of course, if you ask why ‘Heydam’, who should have died long ago, was in the jewel of the ring, and in the form of a cat at that, I have no answer.

But I felt… my gut was telling me so.

This guy is the real Haydam.

but.

‘Go back to the ring at that timing?’

Instead of answering my question about whether he was Haydam, the guy disappeared into the ring.

From then on, he didn’t react to any provocation, so it seemed like he couldn’t give any answer to the question of whether he was Haydam.

I don’t know what the circumstances are, but I’d rather have ‘Haydam’ than an unidentified NPC.

If that’s the case, then there must be no other intention behind wanting to protect the commander.

As long as I play Haydam the way he wants and don’t make the Commander ‘sad’,

Because he will cooperate with me.

… and I, too, thought that living as Haydam under the real Haydam’s tacit approval would help ease my guilt a little.

‘Even so, if you call the ring ‘Haydam’, anyone would find it suspicious… … .’

He himself won’t answer if he’s really Haydam, and he won’t even give me another name to call him by.

I guess it’s okay if I make up my own title.

After a brief moment of hesitation, I spoke to the ring.

“Your name will be ‘Luna’ from now on.”

Luna, because she’s the cat that lives in Luna Moon’s ring.

The ring seemed to tremble at my half-hearted naming.

‘…Why can’t this guy say he’s Haydam?’

Why would he need someone to act as Haytham for him?

Do you not want to appear in front of the Commander in the form of a cat monster?

What on earth happened that made this guy end up in Luna Moon’s ring?

There were a lot of questions, but there were also quite a few other things that needed to be checked right away.

The most urgent of these is the matter concerning Lieutenant General Max.

Did he really instigate Bones’ death?

* * *

I was able to be discharged from the hospital shortly after waking up.

In fact, there were no injuries when he was discovered in the cave below the cliff, and no abnormalities were found despite all kinds of tests.

The commander seemed unhappy with my discharge, but he couldn’t stop me from doing so.

And after I was discharged from the hospital, I heard an unexpected story from Meursault.

“Team 2’s leader committed suicide?”

According to Meursault.

The team leader of Team 2 was rescued from the cliff, returned to the area, and was taken into custody, where he was found dead the next day, he said.

“The official cause of death is ‘suicide.’ For now.”

“Not yet?”

“At that time, there was a person who was watching the team leader of Team 2. For some reason, he left the post and when he returned, he was reported to have hung himself and died.”

It seemed that Meursault was also suspicious that the leader of Team 2 might have been killed by faking his own suicide.

It’s a valid suspicion.

“So how far has the case progressed so far?”

“The team leader of Team 2 also committed suicide, and the bodies of the Team 2 members were not recovered, so all that remains are the testimonies of Bones and Lucas… Those guys, they haven’t opened their mouths about the incident. After asking His Majesty, I can understand why they’re keeping their mouths shut.”

‘Lieutenant General Max kept his mouth shut for fear of being identified as the culprit.’

But since those two are the only ones who returned alive from Team 2, remaining silent is not a very wise approach.

“Did you try to persuade her?”

Meursault nodded slightly in response to my question.

“He said he would tell me when Haydam wakes up.”

These guys?

Ha… No. In some ways, that might be wiser.

I was the one who gave them hope that it might not have been what Lt. Gen. Max had ordered them to do, and since they weren’t that stupid, they probably knew that if they rashly testified, “I don’t know if it’s true, but I heard from the Team 2 leader that Lt. Gen. Max had ordered me to do it,” it could be used against Lt. Gen. Max.

At least I was thinking of testifying when I was in a position to lend support to the argument that Lieutenant General Max might not be the culprit.

“Even so, those guys… don’t you think you were just waiting for me to wake up?”

“Yes. At that time, Your Excellency and 2nd Lieutenant Platon testified that Mr. Haydam interrogated the 2nd team leader and obtained a confession that it was something that Lieutenant General Max had ordered him to do, so Lieutenant General Max is also under arrest.”

“What did Lieutenant General Max say?”

“You claimed you didn’t know. What do you think?”

Judging by the way he asked what I thought, it seems that Meursault also realized that there was something strange about this incident.

“It’s not Lieutenant General Max. Lieutenant General Max has nothing to gain by ordering him to do something like that, and if Team 2’s leader was going to die anyway, he wouldn’t have had to confess.”

“Your Majesty seems to think so too, but if that happens, things will get complicated.”

“Because one of my father’s close associates could be the culprit?”

At my words, Meursault paused for a moment and then asked me in a small voice.

“You already know….”

I already know.

That means Meursault also knows who the culprit is.

That means… … .

“Could it be that my father thinks the same way as I do?”

Instead of denying it, Meursault just looked at me.

These people… … .

‘They knew the culprit, but they didn’t punish him.’

What was only a guess turned into a certainty.

The one who attempted to kill Bones under the guise of Lieutenant General Max’s orders was the leader of the pro-Hayden faction.

This is Captain Joseph.

“Seven soldiers died because of that, and if they are hesitating for political reasons… it’s disappointing.”

Meursault was quite embarrassed by my words, and then answered in an apologetic tone.

“That’s not it! I don’t know if there’s any solid evidence, but I can’t suspect my closest aide without evidence. Above all, the one who committed the murder was the Team 2 leader, and he’s already dead. Furthermore, His Excellency and Plato heard that he confessed to begging for his life and that he did it under duress from Lieutenant General Max… … .”

“Meursault.”

After calming down Meursault, who started talking without even breathing, I said:

“Why do you need evidence?”

“…yes?”

“Did you kill Lieutenant General Bottom because you had evidence?”

“… … !”

Meursault asked me with a look of half admiration and half shock on his face.

“Haydam would really make a great dictator… … .”

Is it okay to put the adjective ‘excellent’ before the word ‘dictator’?

Even more than that, this guy was aware that the commander was a dictator.

“But… if we do that this time, the risk is too great. Lieutenant General Bottom was someone outside the fence, but if we do that to someone inside the fence, no one will be loyal to Haydam in the future. Even if that person is truly guilty.”

“I won’t handle it myself.”

“It’s the same if you ask me to do it.”

Of course he thinks I’ll make him do it.

“Why do you think I would ask you to do it?”

“Then who is there?”

“Anton.”

Meursault was speechless for a long time, perhaps because the name coming out of my mouth was so unexpected.

“Are you serious? No, do you think he would do that?”

“I’m going to come and threaten you from now on.”

At those words, Meursault’s expression softened and soon he took on a look of resignation.

“… Anton also had a hard time in his later years.”

Meursault sympathizes with Anton?

“I almost died when I went to find the guys from Team 2, so I can’t just let this go. So tell my father that I’ll take care of this problem.”

“Aren’t you going to say it yourself?”

“Then it’s obvious that I’ll tell you not to do anything dangerous again.”

“… … .”

Suddenly Meursault started staring at me very intently.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I was wondering how you could be so indifferent and cold-hearted.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“after…….”

Meursault sighed and his lips trembled.

I was quite surprised because I had never seen Meursault make such an expression before, and while I was just blinking, Meursault continued.

“Haydam… I may not be your biological father, but I have watched you more closely than your own father since you showed up at the Commander’s Mansion. Of course, when you go hunting, I worry. When you get shot, I regret not taking the shot for you. When I hear that you fell off a cliff and disappeared, I am terrified of what might happen. You think His Majesty would tell you not to do anything dangerous? Don’t you think I would?”

“Meursault, Meursault… … .”

“But you won’t listen to me or Your Majesty anyway. After waking up after a week, you came to me and said that you were talking about what happened to Team 2’s leader… …!!”

It seems that Meursault was extremely upset.

Since my knowledge of Meursault was limited to what I knew in the game, I thought I was just an assistant to Daphne, a sociopath who only knew Daphne, and could help her with her divorce.

I never thought that he would think of me as family, even though he kept talking about family and acting like he understood me.

Although my parents have made me feel bad, I have never made them feel bad, but now I feel like an unfilial son who has made my parents feel bad.

When I woke up in the hospital, I heard something from the commander, but somehow it felt a little different than before.

“… I’m sorry, Meursault.”

“I didn’t bring this up just to hear you say sorry.”

“I can’t say I won’t do something dangerous again. I’m sorry about that too.”

“Are you saying that now?”

Meursault glared at me, but he seemed to feel better after I apologized repeatedly.

“But how on earth do you plan to threaten Anton?”

Meursault suddenly changed the subject, perhaps embarrassed by his emotional outbursts without realizing it, but I forgivingly pretended not to notice.

“Well, I’m not saying I’ll just solve it with threats… I could make a deal.”

“Whether it’s a threat or a deal, I don’t think Anton would go as far as to kill Haydam.”

“I don’t want to go as far as murder.”

Meursault looked puzzled at her words that she didn’t even want to go as far as murder.

“sure?”

“Anton’s role is to give assurance.”

“What kind of confidence are you talking about?”

“I am certain that Lieutenant General Max is not the culprit. I am certain that Josef is the culprit.”

Meursault’s face looked increasingly clueless.

“Didn’t you say that you don’t need proof? Why do you need certainty?”

“I don’t really care which one of those two is the culprit, but there are some people who aren’t.”

“Ah… you mean the new officers.”

Yes, that’s right.

Confidence is not for me.

Commander Nana, a politically experienced man, already knows that Josef must be involved.

Because this incident did not benefit Lieutenant General Max at all.

But it won’t be Bones or Lucas.

Especially if Bones can’t convince him, he’ll be left to live with the suspicion that Vice Admiral Max might really have abandoned him.

We need to convince everyone that Max hasn’t abandoned Bones.

“But… why do we need to be sure that Josef is the culprit?”

“That way, you won’t feel bad when you die.”

“You said you wouldn’t make me commit murder?”

“huh.”

“You’re not going to kill me yourself.”

“of course.”

“Then how on earth are you going to kill Joseph?”

“It is the law that those who have sinned are punished by heaven.”

“Huh?”

I said, pointing to the sky.

“You never know… lightning might strike that guy’s head.”

A player who is still not good at handling abilities may accidentally strike the guy with a lightning bolt on his head.