"I'll do the questioning."
"Yes, Knight Gabriel."
The officers stepped aside as Gabriel entered the interview room. Julius sat by the window, staring outside with a bored expression.
Gabriel turned to the police and the Revenant Knights behind him, instructing them to shut down the surveillance systems. This was Schneider business, not Revenant Knight jurisdiction.
As soon as the monitors shut off, Gabriel walked to the table and took the seat across from Julius. The air in the room was heavy. Julius didn't look at him, only tapped his fingers once against the armrest before letting out a deep exhale.
"Young Master, how did you know the Mayor was about to be targeted?"
"Oh, now you're listening to me?" Julius laughed.
"I'm not joking around… Because you went around acting on your own whims, you could've died. Stop playing God, Julius. Why the hell are you throwing your life—"
"Hey." Julius glared at him, cutting him off. "I'm not joking around either."
"...."
Gabriel froze. Something in Julius's eyes felt off. They were spiraling, completely different from his usual composed, carefree self.
"You think I wanted this? Saving the mayor? Killing the Manticore?" Julius's voice trembled as his pupils shook. "Even I don't understand why. Why me? I don't deserve this. This… second chance."
His breath caught as his voice broke.
"But here I am, the only one who—" He stopped himself.
The room fell silent.
Julius had never wished for this regression. Yet, it was a duty he could not refuse, a burden placed upon him without consent. Not everyone was granted a second chance, but for him, it was no gift, but a curse.
The curse of knowing how the future would unfold.
The curse of smiling at people already dead in the timeline he once lived.
The curse of standing before the man he considered a brother, Gabriel, and seeing, not his living face, but the mutilated corpse in his memory.
Julius's breath trembled. He looked at Gabriel, and for a fleeting second, his mask cracked.
"...."
Then, slowly, he forced the smile back onto his face, as if he could erase what he saw by pretending it wasn't there.
"Anyway," he said, leaning back in his chair. "I'm glad I could be useful."
The so-called interrogation ended barely twenty minutes later. Julius was released without further questioning, walking out of the room as if he had simply been there for a casual chat.
When asked about the outcome, Gabriel only gave a short reply.
"Munich is lucky a Schneider took interest in it."
* * *
In the Adler mansion, Julius began packing his things. Just as he was about to zip his luggage shut, a voice came from the doorway.
"Mister Schneider, are you leaving already?"
"What can I do? My friend already found me," Julius replied. "Besides, it would be too presumptuous of me to extend my stay when I've already intruded this long."
"Not at all," Marianne said, stepping closer. "My family would be delighted if our savior chose to stay a little longer."
"Unfortunately, I have places to be, Miss Marianne."
"Is that so? Then, before you go, I'd like to ask you something."
Julius paused, glancing over his shoulder. "Ask away."
"You knew that woman… Elena, was it? You knew she was going to target my father, didn't you?"
Julius smiled and stood, brushing imaginary dust from his pants. "What makes you think that, Miss Marianne?"
"Just a hunch," she said. "Well, it doesn't really matter. But let me ask you something else… Is it true that woman, Elena, was my father's daughter too?"
It was inevitable for the Adler family to have heard Elena calling the mayor her father. Because of that, a rift had begun forming in the household. Friedemann had tried to clear the misunderstanding, yet both his wife and daughter remained wary.
It wasn't every day a Glassheart would appear and claim to be a politician's illegitimate child.
"I can't say," Julius replied. "Humans are ambiguous creatures. The signs point to him not lying, but isn't that a little too convenient as insurance? What if there are no telltale signs? What if everything seems to point toward the truth, but it isn't the truth at all?"
"...."
"In any case," Julius continued, closing his luggage, "the answer is yours to decide. Whether your father truly had another child or not, it comes down to one thing. Whether you trust him."
"I see. That's a shame, then."
"A shame?"
"I thought I finally had an excuse to run away."
Julius's eyes widened slightly in surprise before he chuckled. "Miss Marianne, there are countless children in this world who would give anything to have a family like yours."
"I'm aware," Marianne said, her gaze lowering to the floor. "I know it sounds like the sort of thing only someone spoiled would say, but still—"
"It is," Julius interjected. "And the troubles you speak of, Miss Marianne, are what others might call peace. Cherish them while you can."
She fell silent. Before she even realized it, Julius had closed the distance between them. His expression remained kind, but there was a cold edge Marianne couldn't quite explain.
Marianne instinctively took a step back, yet Julius reached forward and held her chin.
"It only takes a single blade," he said, "or one stray bullet, to take away everything you thought would last forever. When that happens, you'll understand. Running away was never your real problem."
"...."
Marianne swallowed. Julius released her and turned toward the door, pulling his luggage behind him without another word.
"Oh, you're driving today?"
When Julius reached his car, he noticed that the driver who was originally assigned to take him to Berlin was gone. In his place was Gabriel, leaning against the vehicle with his arms crossed.
"We're going back," Gabriel said. "I've been dismissed early from the case because of you."
"Because I killed the Glassheart."
Gabriel nodded. "Yes. Your involvement complicates things."
Because of Julius's direct participation, Gabriel had been withdrawn from the cleanup operation.
Under normal circumstances, the Revenant Knights would have classified the case and erased civilian involvement from the record. But this was no ordinary civilian.
This was a Schneider.
Moreover, with the mayor of Munich personally entangled in the incident, suppression was impossible. The event had already spread throughout the Revenant Knights Corps. like wildfire.
Julius Schneider had killed two Glasshearts within a single month.
And because of that, every pair of eyes in the Revenant Knights was now on him.
As Gabriel drove in silence, he finally spoke, "The Major wanted me to ask if you'd consider joining the Knights."
Julius didn't even bother looking at him. "How many times did you people let the Manticore slip away, again?"
"...."
"Three? Four? Five?"
"...She was barely alive by the time she reached the mayor's mansion."
"Excuses. In the end, only results matter," Julius said. "I killed her. Joint effort? There's no such thing, Gabriel. How do you think the Schneiders rose to where we are now?"
"...."
"That's right, by standing atop a pile of corpses."
"I understand we were played like fools, but—"
"Not you," Julius interrupted. "Just them."
Gabriel glanced at him from the rearview mirror, but Julius's expression gave nothing away.
"You've realized it too, haven't you?" Julius said. "There's someone pulling the strings."
Gabriel nodded silently. That was precisely why he had been late to the mayor's mansion in the first place.
Based on the pattern of the cases, he'd assumed Dr. Otto would be the next victim of the serial suicides. His focus had been on protecting the doctor, or more accurately, on uncovering whoever this third party was that orchestrated everything.
Some of the Knights who had been directly involved in the case had shared his doubts.
The pattern of the killings didn't match at all.
"This is out of our jurisdiction," Gabriel said.
"Yes, for you. Not for me."
"Huh?"
Julius took out his smartphone and handed it over. A faint smile played on his lips. Gabriel glanced at the screen. It was an official document with a stamp and a seal.
"I've been selected."
[ Federal Ministry of Internal Security
Directorate for National Cybernetic Security and State Intelligence (N.C.S.S.I.)
Confidential Notice — Clearance Level A2
This memorandum certifies that Julius Sebastian Schneider has been formally appointed as a Special Operations Officer under the National Cybernetic Security and State Intelligence Directorate.
By mandate of the Federal Executive Order No. 88-2142, the appointee is granted full extrajudicial and interdepartmental authority in matters concerning:
— Meta-human and Glassheart incidents.
— Internal corruption, cybernetic insurgencies, and espionage threats.
— Radical collectivist and subversive movements.
This directive supersedes local and regional jurisdictional limits and authorizes the operative to issue field orders, requisition assets, and execute containment or neutralization measures as necessary, under the State Continuity Enforcement Act (2142).
All federal, municipal, and paramilitary agencies shall comply with operative directives issued under this appointment.
— Office of the Director, State Security Directorate ]
"You… how?" Gabriel asked, glancing from the document to Julius before turning his eyes back to the road.
It didn't make sense. Membership in the Secret Police required a minimum of two years of service, rigorous training, psychological conditioning, and military clearance.
But Julius, a political science graduate, had none of that.
"It's simple," Julius said. "Because I'm in a favorable position."
A Schneider. The family that held the second-largest shares in Dream Industries, the most powerful magi-tech conglomerate in Germany.
The son of a sitting member of the Federal Parliament and a likely candidate for the next chancellorship. Julius himself was well-educated, politically visible, and now, officially, a proven asset.
"I've also made a report."
He was, even if expectations were modest, a perfect candidate. Someone with influence, a clean record, and a name the public already trusted.
And more importantly, no one would ever suspect that someone like him, a politician's son and corporate heir, was quietly working for the Secret State Police.
"And… did you accept?"
"First phase of training starts next month."
"...."
"This third party," Julius continued. "Whether they're real or not… I'll find out soon enough—"
Boom——!
All of a sudden, the vehicle went up in flames.