"Why did Degwin think that Gihren killed him?" I asked. I knew the reason, of course, but it would be for the best if I could temporarily prevent Garma from taking any drastic actions.
I scanned my memory for information on the Great Degwin at the Battle of Loum. Gihren had commanded the flagship to be placed in such a dangerous position, but I wasn't sure if Garma would know that. Kycilia knew the truth, and she approached Gihren about the issue in the original timeline. Either Garma already knew the truth, or he could figure it out easily.
"Gihren ordered the Great Degwin to watch over the battle at a distance," Garma said, confirming my fears. "Father, Zenna, and I were left completely undefended."
"Maybe the Supreme Commander thought you would be safer at a distance?" I said, phrasing my lie as if it was a question.
"Perhaps," Garma said with uncertainty in his eyes. "I don't want to believe that Gihren would do such a thing, but my father was convinced his death was the result of an intentional betrayal. My only option is to confront Gihren myself."
My eyes went wide, and my teeth clenched in fear. If Garma threatened Gihren, that would just end in Garma's death. Quickly, I said, "Please bring Dozle with you when you do that, Commander Garma. Going alone would not be safe."
"I'm not an idiot, Captain Dogwood," Garma said with a slight smile on his face. "Though, your concern is appreciated. I have already informed Dozle of my intention to speak to Gihren."
In my opinion, the jury was still out on whether Garma was an idiot. Still, he had been engaged in fraught political situations since he was a child, so he probably knew the basics on how not to get assassinated by your political rivals. He was just an idiot when it came to military matters.
"I see. That's good," I said.
"To whom are you loyal, Captain?" Garma asked offhandedly.
"Hmm?" I asked. I had heard Garma perfectly well, but I was buying myself a second to think of a response. That was the kind of question that I really shouldn't answer instinctually.
"I asked where your loyalties lie," Garma said.
After pausing for another few seconds, I said, "I am loyal to Zeon. If you need my support, Garma, you will have it."
"Thank you," Garma said, smiling broadly. "I'm happy to hear that from the Hero of Operation British."
"Yeah," I muttered.
Garma paused and looked over at Aiko's unconscious body in her bed. "Is she with your unit, Captain?"
"Yes. She's my mechanic," I said.
A strange expression crossed over Garma's face, and he said, "When the fall's all that remains, it matters a great deal."
"The Lion in Winter," I said, reflexively stating the quote's source.
"Excuse me?" Garma asked.
"What you just said was a quote from an old movie called the Lion in Winter," I said, blinking. The line was more notoriously quoted in the West Wing, which is where I knew it from.
"I didn't know that," Garma said. "Those were some of my father's final words. Please, could you tell me the context? Perhaps I could glean more about his final thoughts if I knew what that quote means."
I paused for a long moment before saying, "It was part of a conversation between two princes who were both about to die. One prince said to the other, 'You chivalrous fool! As if it matters how a man falls down.' In response, the other prince says, 'When the fall is all that's left, it matters a great deal.'"
"What happened to the two princes!?" Garma demanded, taking a step forward and grabbing me by the shoulders. The answer mattered a great deal to him.
I decided to answer honestly. "I don't fully remember. The last time I heard that quote was more than a decade ago. What I do remember is that one of the princes was Richard the Lionheart, and he eventually became the King of England. The princes survived, I think."
"Thank you," Garma said, taking a step back away from me. "Hopefully, that's a portent of things to come. I can see why they call you the Oracle, Captain Dogwood."
"What can I say? I have a habit of knowing things I shouldn't," I said in an attempt to brush the moment off with a joke.
"Hopefully, we can speak again, Captain. Tell Ensign Vultee I was here."
"Yes, Commander," I said.
Garma left the hospital, leaving me in the silence of the hospital. I hoped more than anything that no one had overheard that conversation.
Under normal circumstances, I would have returned to my seat and resumed my nap, but that dangerous conversation with Garma put me in an acute state of wakefulness. I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep any time soon. Aiko was still asleep, and I highly doubted that she would wake up before morning. I suspected that the painkillers they were giving her had soporific side effects.
I stepped out of the hospital room a few minutes after Garma left, and the nearby nurse's station was only manned by one person. I approached the young woman sitting there alone and asked, "Hello, uh, excuse me?"
"Yes?" the nurse asked.
Aiko's medical records had held her address. If I could find my own medical records, maybe I could find my way back to the original Dogwood's home.
"Do you think I could see my medical records?" I asked.
"I guess so?" the nurse said, clearly unsure of her answer. "What's your name?"
"Sebastian Dogwood," I said.
The nurse blinked in shock and looked directly at me for the first time. "You're the Hero of Operation British?"
"They also call me the Gray Demon and the Oracle of Zeon," I said, trying to sound as polite as possible.
"Well, you don't really like him. You sound like him, a little," the nurse said, squinting at me.
"Haircut," I said quickly.
"Do you have any evidence that you're actually Lt. Commander Dogwood?"
"First, I know it's Captain Dogwood now. Second," I pulled my dog tags over the top of my head and handed them over to the nurse, "those hold the identification number of Sebastian Dogwood. Either I killed him, or I am him."
"Oh my," the nurse exclaimed as she realized that I wasn't lying.
A few minutes later, a thick sheaf of papers sat in front of me. Luckily for me, the original Dogwood had been to this hospital before, so my medical record was already printed out. I looked down and read out the front page.
MEDICAL RECORD SUMMARY
Last Name: Dogwood
First Name: Sebastian
Address: 401 Artesia Road, Seventh District, Zum City
Date of Birth: November 29, 0046
Gender: Male
Height: 185 cm
Weight: 87 kg
Allergies: None
Current Medications: Diazepam, 10 mg/day
Past Medical History and Illnesses
Nicotine Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental Illness