I Was Mistaken as a Great War Commander-Chapter 179

The soldiers, following Daniel’s orders, moved in perfect coordination.

It was a surreal sight—soldiers roaming through the National Assembly with restraints in hand—but none of the lawmakers dared protest against Daniel Steiner.

At this moment, in this place, Daniel Steiner was no different from the Emperor himself.

“Damn it!”

Amidst the deadly atmosphere, one of the lawmakers listed on the collaborators’ list jumped to his feet.

“Kademi! Our only crime is following you, isn’t it?! We didn’t even know exactly what we were getting involved in! If we had known it was about joining a rebellion, we never would have cooperated!”

As one lawmaker shouted, others, glancing nervously between the soldiers and Daniel, began standing up one by one.

“That’s right! It was that pale bastard who deceived us! It’s true we agreed to his plan blinded by promises of profit, without properly investigating, but we didn’t know it was tied to a rebellion!”

“Exactly! Colonel Daniel Steiner, sir! I won’t deny that I am guilty! But all I did was accept a modest bribe in exchange for supporting certain bills! I had no idea about the true intentions behind them!”

“Kademi, you bastard! You’re dragging us all into hell with you!”

Typical politicians.

Even cornered, they continued their political maneuvering.

By throwing Kademi under the bus as the sole instigator, they sought to lessen their own culpability.

It was a pathetic tactic—but when surrounded by soldiers, it was all they could do.

Still, for Kademi, who was being attacked by lawmakers that had been his allies just yesterday, the shock was overwhelming.

That shock quickly turned into anger.

Gritting his teeth as he watched the soldiers bind the lawmakers listed on Duke Belvar’s roster, Kademi finally shouted.

“You claim you didn’t know what you were supporting?! Who among you didn’t realize that siding with me meant opposing Colonel Daniel Steiner?! No one! Not a single one of you!”

Thanks to Kademi’s open admission of conspiracy, murmurs spread through the assembly.

Political scheming was nothing new—but seeing such division and betrayal in the middle of arrests was nonetheless a shocking sight.

“We all agreed knowingly! Because we knew the creation of the Security Oversight Bureau would be a threat! You disgusting old vultures...!”

“What did you say?! Do you even know who put you in the leadership of the Liberty Social Party?!”

“Yes! It was you, lawmakers! At first, I wondered why, but now I understand! You made me a figurehead just in case everything collapsed, planning to cut me loose when the time came! Now I see it clearly!”

As a verbal bloodbath unfolded, the soldiers approached Kademi.

Seeing the soldiers drawing near with restraints in hand, Kademi, his face tense, suddenly slammed his foot into the ground.

Shoving aside the soldier trying to grab him, he stumbled toward Daniel and urgently cried out.

“Colonel Daniel Steiner! I can tell you everything! Those vile old bastards are the real masterminds! I was merely blinded by ambition and sought to rise up, nothing more!”

Before everyone’s eyes, Kademi knelt before Daniel.

“I’m not asking for much! Just... just spare my life! If you let me live, I’ll tell you everything I know! I’ll expose how rotten those old men truly are!”

Daniel quietly looked down at Kademi, who was groveling miserably.

“Do you know what I find most disgusting about creatures like you?”

His cold voice echoed through the Assembly.

As the chamber fell into silence, Daniel spoke again, softly.

“Men like you would have continued gnawing away at the Empire, had you not been caught. But the moment a knife touches your throat, you cry out that you meant no harm and beg for mercy. That’s what I find so revolting.”

Still kneeling, Daniel stared directly at Kademi.

The two were of similar age and relatively handsome, but the difference in power was absolute.

Daniel was the Acting High Commissioner of Public Security, holding the Empire’s real authority in his hands.

Kademi was nothing more than a collaborator who had sided with Duke Belvar in his rebellion.

“They say a cornered rat will bite a cat. But it seems you don’t even have the pride of a rat.”

Kademi’s eyes trembled.

There wasn’t a hint of mercy in Daniel’s voice.

Watching Kademi’s face turn pale with despair, Daniel smiled faintly and stood up.

“Soldier. Get this thing out of my sight.”

Several grenadiers nodded and swiftly approached, forcing Kademi to his feet and dragging him away.

Only then, realizing his situation, Kademi cried out desperately—but Daniel paid him no mind.

Satisfied that the situation was mostly under control, Daniel gave the battalion officers orders to finish the operation and stepped outside the Assembly.

“High Commissioner.”

“Welcome back, sir.”

Outside, Lucy and Phelp were waiting to greet him.

They had mobilized soldiers to surround the Assembly in case of unforeseen incidents.

“Did everything go well, sir?”

In response to Lucy’s question, Daniel simply nodded and lifted his gaze toward the capital.

Under the full moon, military police vehicles, their sirens blaring, were weaving through the streets.

Watching the scene quietly alongside Daniel, Phelp finally spoke.

“By tonight, all {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} collaborators lurking within the Empire will have been apprehended. Although... there are some reports that a few quick-witted ones have vanished from their homes. Still, since the Guard has the lists, they won’t be able to escape the capital.”

Daniel remained silent.

Some of them escaped?

This purge had been a surprise operation, based on Duke Belvar’s collaborator list. Hearing that a few had slipped away unsettled him.

“...Colonel?”

As the silence dragged on, Phelp turned to look at Daniel—and instinctively stiffened.

Daniel was staring at the capital with unwavering eyes.

Despite his youth, his spirit was so steely that the word “iron-blooded” seemed tailor-made for him.

Of course. He must have another plan I don’t know about.

Phelp felt certain.

If it was Daniel Steiner, even the collaborators who had hidden themselves would be hunted down in the end.

There was no real basis for his certainty.

But the countless achievements Daniel Steiner had already accomplished convinced him.

If it’s Colonel Daniel Steiner...

He would not permit a single gap in his operation.

****

Meanwhile, in the signal control room of an abandoned station.

“Damn it! Daniel Steiner has finally gone and done it!”

In the signal control room of a station abandoned due to the railroad consolidation, a group of nobles sat around a table, speaking under the dim glow of a single incandescent bulb.

One particularly unusual detail: they were all wearing masks to cover their faces.

This was due to a standing agreement—should one of them be captured, they would not be able to betray the others.

As a result, everyone present faithfully wore a different mask while exchanging opinions.

“Even if we managed to escape here safely, what about the others? We said we'd gather here in case of emergency, but judging from the numbers... it seems someone’s missing.”

“They might be on their way.”

“What if they were caught? Shouldn’t we move to a different location?”

“Move where? Daniel Steiner has the entire capital under lockdown!”

“There’s no safer place than this. There's no way the military police would think to search a rundown abandoned station like this.”

Though everyone nodded as if in agreement, their breathing was heavy with unease and anxiety.

Gathering at the abandoned station in an emergency had been a sound idea, but no one could come up with a clear countermeasure against Daniel Steiner.

As they all struggled with their thoughts, a young man wearing a masquerade mask finally spoke.

“Does no one here have private troops they can mobilize? Even if we’re outmatched, shouldn't we at least attempt to block Daniel Steiner?”

“I brought a few men under the pretense of personal escorts—but what good are they against Daniel Steiner?”

“Of course, we couldn’t fight him head-on! But once tonight’s situation calms and the capital quiets down, Daniel Steiner will surely lower his guard. That’s when we must strike.”

“Strike? How?”

With a few showing interest, the man in the masquerade mask pressed forward.

“We select those among us who are skilled in stealth and order them to assassinate Daniel Steiner. If it succeeds, excellent. If it fails, it will still throw the city into chaos—and we can use that moment to escape.”

“It sounds almost like a gamble...”

“But what choice do we have?! If we sit here, it’ll be nothing but a meaningless death!”

Normally, the others would have dismissed such talk as foolishness, but cornered as they were, the masquerade man's words carried weight.

“The problem is, will the private soldiers actually follow such orders...”

“We only brought those loyal to our houses. We selected them for loyalty in the first place, didn't we?”

“That’s true. It’s distasteful to sacrifice them... but there’s no other way. If by chance we succeed in assassinating Daniel Steiner, it would create a chance for us to overturn everything. It’s a gamble worth taking.”

As the nobles heatedly discussed the possibility of assassinating Daniel Steiner—

“Well now.”

A low chuckle interrupted.

“I think that plan is destined to fail.”

The hall went dead silent, as if someone had poured water on a raging fire.

Everyone turned their gaze toward the source of the voice—and saw a man wearing a bear mask.

A bear mask?

The nobles exchanged puzzled glances.

No one at this gathering had ever worn a bear mask before.

As confusion spread over who this man was, the bear-masked man slowly raised a hand.

“To be more precise, it’s not just that it will fail. It must fail. Because...”

The man lifted his mask.

What emerged beneath was an unfamiliar sight for the nobles: dark skin.

The silence deepened.

“This place...”

As the incandescent bulb flickered above, the man smiled faintly.

“...is your grave.”