Chapter 12
I clenched my teeth and pressed the accelerator all the way down.
If I stopped, I would die. That was the only thought in my mind.
Forcing my ragged breathing to calm, I pulled out the radio while continuing to drive.
“This is Kingfisher! We’re under enemy attack! I repeat! This is Kingfisher! We’re under enemy attack! Approximately forty-two kilometers from Mavrachika Village! Immediate support requested!”
After saying everything I needed to, I hurriedly changed frequencies and spoke to my platoon members.
“This is your platoon commander! Respond! Damn it, say anything!”
As soon as I released the transmit button, a trembling voice came from the other end.
─ L-Lieutenant? We don’t know exactly what happened. W-We took a side road as well. But because of the gunshots, we took the side road opposite from you to avoid the enemy!
Judging by the voice, it was Prien.
I would have preferred someone calmer to be standing by on the radio, but this wasn’t the time to be picky.
“Good. Drive as far as you can, then once you think you’ve put enough distance between yourselves and the enemy, get out and scatter! After that, wait for reinforcements from the forward base and determine the enemy’s numbers. If you judge that the enemy can be subdued……!”
Boom─!
The vehicle shook violently from the impact, and I ended up dropping the radio from my hand.
As Selvia’s groan echoed around us, my vision flashed chaotically.
In that mind-numbing situation, I grabbed the steering wheel with all my strength.
‘The tire’s blown. I don’t know whether they were aiming for it or it was just a stray bullet…….’
The important thing was that the gunshots now sounded fairly distant.
Since we had put considerable distance between us and them, we had bought ourselves a little time.
But it was still too early to relax. We had to escape their line of sight as well.
Just then, a bend in the road appeared ahead.
To throw them off as much as possible, I took my foot off the accelerator and hit the brakes.
Screeeech─
As the tires shrieked against the ground, I turned the steering wheel boldly.
The jeep spun halfway around and tilted to one side.
Just before it toppled over, I pressed hard on the accelerator.
The wheels spun sharply, and the vehicle surged forward.
The jeep, which had been about to tip over, regained its balance and landed firmly on all four wheels.
With a heavy thud, Selvia’s shrill scream rang out.
It was such a piteous scream that I wanted to apologize, but this was no time to worry about that.
I shifted gears and pressed the accelerator again.
Could this jeep really move this fast? Just as that thought flashed through my mind, my vision spun.
‘Damn……!’
The bullet-struck tire had lost all its air and could no longer function properly.
I panicked and slammed on the brakes, but that only made the situation worse.
The long scraping sound of the tire against the ground rang out, and the vehicle spun violently.
Then, with a crash, a tremendous impact was transmitted through the vehicle’s body.
“Ugh!”
After steadying myself from the direct impact, I slowly raised my head and saw that the hood was embedded in a tree trunk.
Judging by the smoke slowly seeping out, we had hit it quite spectacularly.
“U-Ugh…….”
A faint groan came from around my thigh.
Only then did I look down at Selvia and speak with concern.
“Are you all right?”
She obviously wasn’t, but I had asked out of courtesy.
As if she knew that too, Selvia glared at me once before raising her upper body.
“I’m not all right, but…… I can still move. More importantly, how did they know the route we were taking?”
That was unexpected. I had thought she would cry that she was scared or be paralyzed with fear.
Then again, she was destined to ascend to the imperial throne and command the Imperial Army, the most powerful military in the world.
If she panicked in a situation like this, she never would have earned the title of the Iron-Blooded Empress.
“It seems there was a spy at the forward base colluding with the enemy. That sort of thing is common during wartime.”
As I spoke, I grabbed the handle on the driver’s side. The vehicle’s body must have been twisted, because the door wouldn’t open.
After applying force several times, I turned around and kicked it.
After stomping on it several times with my military boot, the door fell off with a thud.
I got out through the open doorway first, then extended a hand toward Selvia.
“Get out for now. The pursuit team will be here soon, so we need to put some distance between us.”
“Yes. That would be best.”
Selvia answered obediently, took my hand, and climbed out of the jeep.
After getting out, Selvia took a deep breath, her slender shoulders trembling slightly.
She had been acting composed, but perhaps she was still a girl after all.
I let out a low laugh, led Selvia into the forest, and started walking.
Selvia, walking behind me, seemed conscious of my laughter and blushed faintly.
“You drive terribly, Lieutenant Daniel.”
Look at her changing the subject out of embarrassment. Judging by this alone, she was no different from a girl in the throes of adolescence.
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“Did that sound like a compliment to you?”
“If I hadn’t driven so recklessly, the reporter and I would have been turned into pincushions by enemy fire by now. If that isn’t a compliment, then what is?”
“We wouldn’t have been turned into pincushions. I have…….”
Selvia faltered over her words, then fell silent.
That’s more like it. Trying to beat an adult who had been through thick and thin in a battle of words? You’re ten years too young for that.
“Lieutenant Daniel. From now on, we…….”
I raised a hand and covered Selvia’s mouth.
I had heard the enemy speaking not far away.
“Mmph?!”
When Selvia struggled, I put a finger to my lips to gesture for her to be quiet.
Realizing how serious the situation was, Selvia nodded.
I took Selvia behind a nearby thicket and listened carefully to the voices.
“……They should be somewhere around here. The jeep was wrecked, so they couldn’t have gotten far.”
“Haaah. Fuck! I told you to hide that spike strip better!”
“Shut your damn mouth, Veldom! Complaining won’t fix anything!”
I cautiously peeked out and counted six men.
They seemed to be moving as a squad. I couldn’t see anyone else for now.
The problem was that they were gradually drawing closer to us.
At this rate, they would definitely discover us…… Wait.
‘Come to think of it, they’re Allied soldiers, aren’t they?’
If that was the case, there was a chance they would accept me if I surrendered and requested asylum.
I was an Imperial officer who had worked at General Staff Headquarters. Unless they were idiots blinded by revenge, they would judge me to have strategic value.
‘If they have a spy exchanging messages with them, they must have prepared a way to escape to the Allied Nations as well.’
I never expected to gain a chance to seek asylum like this. In any case, it was practically a godsend.
“……Ms. Correspondent.”
Of course, I couldn’t request asylum in front of the princess.
If I did that, my life would be in danger before I even joined the Allied Nations.
“We’ll be discovered by them soon. Therefore, one of us must sacrifice themselves. One of us must draw their attention and lure them away so the other can survive. So I’ll be the bait and lead them away.”
Selvia’s eyes grew round after she heard me out.
Her face was filled with bewilderment.
Selvia held her breath and whispered urgently.
“Stop right now! If you do that, you’ll die!”
“If my death allows you to live, that is enough for me. A soldier exists to protect the people of his country.”
“Lieutenant Daniel……!”
I gently took Selvia by both shoulders and spoke as wistfully as I could.
“You must survive. If an age of peace and prosperity ever comes to the Empire, please remember that a man named Daniel Steiner once lived.”
Selvia’s face flushed. She seemed to have been moved by my words.
That was enough farewell acting, so I released Selvia’s shoulders and stood up.
“W-Wait. You don’t need to run away……!”
Selvia tried to stop me until the very end, but the die had already been cast.
I kicked off the ground and ran with all my strength in the opposite direction from where Selvia was hiding.
“Huh? Wh-what!?”
“Get that bastard!”
I heard the Allied soldiers chasing after me.
Perfect. Everything was going according to my plan.
At this rate, escaping the Empire was only a matter of time!
*
Left alone, Selvia stared blankly in the direction Daniel had run.
As she did, she replayed Daniel’s words in her mind.
─ If my death allows you to live, that is enough for me. A soldier exists to protect the people of his country.
The sight of Daniel volunteering for death with melancholy in his eyes was vividly etched in her mind.
To Selvia, it was an utterly unreal sight.
What officer in the world would sacrifice his life for the sake of a mere war correspondent?
‘……Captain Heinz was wrong.’
Daniel had no respect for others? It was absurd.
Daniel was someone who could lay down his life for the people of the Empire!
He was on an entirely different level from the imperial court officials who merely paid lip service to sacrificing themselves for the nation and its people.
Hadn’t he shown his spirit of self-sacrifice through his actions rather than his words?
Therefore, she had to save him. She had to have him. The Empire’s treasure could not be lost in a place this insignificant.
“Imperial Guard.”
At Selvia’s low murmur, the surrounding space distorted, and soldiers wearing gas masks appeared one after another.
They had been hiding around Selvia all along and deactivated their optical camouflage when they heard the words ‘Imperial Guard.’
Without even looking at them, Selvia spoke.
“Rescue Lieutenant Daniel Steiner. If he suffers even the slightest injury…….”
Selvia slowly shifted her gaze and narrowed her eyes sharply.
“I will not forgive you.”
The Imperial Guards answered the order by bowing their heads, then kicked off the ground and dashed away.
Selvia watched the Imperial Guards moving at high speed, then slowly rose to her feet.
She placed a hand over her chest and exhaled softly.
Perhaps because of the aftereffects of the reckless driving, her heart was still pounding harder than usual.