Chapter 2
Imperial General Staff.
Office of the Commander of the Magic Mobile Forces.
Rustle─
Heinrich, seated behind a luxurious mahogany desk, flipped through the pages of a file.
The information written on the page was none other than Daniel Steiner's personal details.
[Name : Daniel Steiner]
[Place of birth : Pianmari Village, Barony of Betargen, southern Empire]
[Special notes : Confirmed to have been abandoned by his parents and raised in an orphanage. He was later recognized for his magical talent by a conscription inspector on assignment, entered the Imperial Magic Officer Academy, and graduated at the top of his class]
Having read even the special notes, Heinrich put a pipe in his mouth.
‘So he graduated at the top of his class from the Magic Officer Academy….’
This was not particularly surprising.
The Imperial General Staff was a place only those with genius-level ability could enter, after all.
Yet Daniel's orphan background gave Heinrich a different impression.
‘He put forward opinions based solely on instinct, without even having a family to cover his back.’
It was uncommon, but from time to time, passionate young men would pierce through the icy atmosphere of the conference room like awls and voice their opinions.
But behind the courage those young men displayed, there was always a family name.
They invariably harbored the implicit assurance that, even if something went wrong because of their words, their family would not abandon them.
‘And yet….’
Daniel Steiner. This newly commissioned officer, an orphan by birth, had no family to cover his back.
If something had gone wrong for the military because of his opinion, the punishment would not have ended with simply being stripped of his uniform.
Daniel must have known that, and yet he had pushed his opinion through.
And in the end, that opinion had been sound and well-founded.
A large-scale reconnaissance operation had yielded information that the enemy was preparing an ambush near the hills.
‘Does he possess eyes that can see through the battlefield?’
Of course, that might be a leap. It could have been nothing more than a simple coincidence.
Still, it was clear that Daniel had allowed them to prevent casualties before they occurred.
In this era of fierce contests, when a single small shift could change the course of a war, Daniel's sharp observation had been like welcome rain in the desert.
From Heinrich's perspective, that meant he was a talent who absolutely had to be rewarded.
Knock knock─
The sound of knocking broke Heinrich from his thoughts.
Heinrich closed the folder and placed it at the edge of the desk.
“Commander, sir! I’ve come to attend to a matter with Second Lieutenant Daniel Steiner!”
Removing the pipe from his mouth, Heinrich blew out a puff of smoke and said,
“Come in.”
The office door opened, and Second Lieutenant Daniel Steiner entered alongside his adjutant, a captain.
He was tall, with black hair and black eyes. He looked gaunt, but the spirit in him was still alive.
Once the two reached the center of the office, they gave a razor-sharp salute as if rehearsed.
When Heinrich casually returned the salute, the captain stepped aside.
Daniel accordingly shifted into a stand-at-ease position and waited for Heinrich to call on him.
“Hmm.”
He was the very picture of a model soldier.
His posture was so straight that it was difficult to find anything different from the stand-at-ease position pictured in the manual.
Sensing a certain fondness for him, Heinrich began to speak.
“Second Lieutenant Daniel Steiner. You’ve likely already heard from my adjutant, but thanks to you, the army was able to avert casualties in advance. This is an indisputable military achievement.”
Daniel maintained his rigid stance.
He was adhering to the model soldier's attitude of not opening his mouth until his superior asked him a question.
Even though he could have gotten carried away after earning a military achievement, he was remarkably calm.
Of course, that was merely Heinrich's impression.
Inside Daniel's mind, meanwhile, chaos reigned.
‘My bullshit actually turned out to be right? Why the hell?’
Unable to understand, Daniel clenched his teeth, and Heinrich continued.
“Military achievements naturally deserve rewards. So I intend to put you up for the promotion review next quarter. What do you think?”
Daniel's shoulders flinched.
To Daniel, a promotion was tantamount to drawing closer to death.
Daniel took a deep breath and thought up an excuse as calmly as he could.
“Commander, sir. I am deeply moved by your gracious words. However, I do not wish to receive special treatment merely because I have earned a single military achievement.”
“Hm? Did you say ‘a single military achievement’?”
“Yes. As an officer sworn to protect the Holy Bavarian Empire, I believe I merely did what was expected of me. Therefore, I ask you to reconsider including my name in the promotion review.”
Heinrich blinked blankly.
He had seen countless warmongers desperate for promotion, but this was the first time he had encountered someone who stubbornly refused when offered one.
The captain watching this scene from the side was just as surprised.
‘What an extraordinary fellow.’
Heinrich let out a chuckle and set down his pipe.
“Second Lieutenant. I’m telling you this because you seem to be mistaken, but your accomplishment was not ‘a single military achievement.’ You effectively saved at least hundreds of your countrymen. So I cannot grant your request.”
“Commander, sir. I merely….”
“Enough. Do you not know that rewarding merit and punishing faults is one of the Imperial Army’s core principles? If you continue to refuse, I will take it as a rejection of the Empire’s ideals.”
It meant that even if Daniel said he did not want it, Heinrich would promote him anyway, so he had better understand that.
With the commander, the military's supreme authority, speaking like that, a mere second lieutenant could no longer argue.
In the end, Daniel answered, reluctantly swallowing his objections.
“……I shall accept this honor, though it is far beyond what I deserve.”
Heinrich, who had been watching Daniel closely, nodded.
“Good. Then consider it settled. You may withdraw.”
Hearing that he was dismissed, Daniel gave a crisp salute.
Once Heinrich returned the salute, Daniel turned and left the office.
His footsteps receded. After confirming that Daniel had left the office, Heinrich let out a low chuckle.
“A rare young man in this day and age. Don’t you agree, Captain?”
The captain, who had been staring blankly at the door of the office Daniel had left, turned around.
“Indeed. People usually do anything to improve their evaluations, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone try to lower theirs.”
“He isn’t a soldier in name only. He possesses the will to truly defend the Empire and crush the Allied Nations. It seems an extraordinary man has joined the army.”
It was almost like looking at himself in his younger days.
Heinrich added casually, wearing a satisfied smile.
“The army needs talents like that. Especially now, when the Allied forces are growing stronger by the day.”
Heinrich lifted the pipe he had set down and chuckled happily.
“I’m curious to see how far he can rise.”
*
“Quit screwing around! Seriously!”
After returning to my private quarters, I shouted in anger.
It was only natural, since the situation was getting worse by the minute.
“An accelerated promotion….”
This was not something that ended with merely adding one more diamond to my insignia when I was promoted from second lieutenant to first lieutenant.
In the Imperial General Staff, an elite institution, an accelerated promotion meant being recognized as an elite even among the elite.
Even if I was later transferred to another post, the label of “an elite who received an accelerated promotion at the General Staff” would inevitably continue to follow me.
That was both the greatest honor a junior officer could earn and the surest path to success.
In other words, I had taken one more step toward the core members of the Empire's leadership.
Put simply, it meant that as the future in which the Empire was defeated drew near, the odds of my head being cleanly chopped off had increased.
I sat on the bed, rubbed my face once, and raised my head.
In the full-length mirror before me, I saw a man with faint dark circles under his eyes.
I was sure I had shouted for joy when I first confirmed that my initial assignment was to the General Staff, but after awakening my memories of my previous life, I realized this place was hell itself.
After staring into the eyes of my reflection in the mirror for a while, I sighed and rose from my seat.
When I opened the window and looked outside, I saw senior military officers heading to work one by one.
Right. Come to think of it, this was a place where senior officers were as numerous as pebbles by the roadside.
That made it ideal for earning points toward a comfortable military life, but conversely, it was just as ideal for losing them.
‘Things have gotten a little tangled, but… nothing has changed.’
All I had to do was commit acts so incompetent and shameless that they outweighed my military achievement.
I loosened the constricting tie of my uniform and exhaled slowly.
‘Commander, I am grateful that you have placed your trust in me. However, I do not want an accelerated promotion. At least not in the Empire.’
So, even if it meant canceling my accelerated promotion and bringing forward my dishonorable discharge, I needed to become a complete delinquent.
Coincidentally, the General Staff had the perfect person for me to use in playing the delinquent.
That person was Major Karl Heinrich, the operations planning staff officer I served under.
A personality disaster who started each day by hounding me and ended it by looking down on me.
If I used my direct superior, Karl Heinrich, my chance at a dishonorable discharge still remained.
‘Just you wait, Commander.’
I will escape this Empire no matter what it takes.