Chapter 28
After dining with Daniel, Katman headed not home but to the Imperial Security Bureau.
Upon entering the building, Katman made his way to the Fifth Department, which handled information gathering and espionage within the Security Bureau.
The intelligence analyst, sensing someone's presence, turned around. When he spotted Katman, he flinched and rose from his seat.
“Inspector Katman! Didn’t you say you were leaving work?”
“Ah. Well, you see…… First, take this.”
Katman held out a cup of coffee to the analyst.
The analyst accepted it with a puzzled look. Katman spoke.
“I suddenly became curious about something on my way home, so I turned around. You know me. Whenever something piques my curiosity, I lose sleep until I find out the answer.”
The analyst nodded dazedly.
There was hardly anyone who did not know that Katman was achieving impressive results within the Security Bureau.
“That’s why I’m asking—could you look into something for me?”
“What kind of investigation do you mean?”
“I’m curious how many military doctors who served on the Eastern Front suffered eye injuries and developed aphasia. I’d like you to narrow the search to those with brown hair.”
The analyst took a sip of the coffee in his hand, then asked with a puzzled expression,
“Is that all? As you know, Inspector, the forces currently operating on the Eastern Front consist of numerous field armies. There are no fewer than seventeen corps under those field armies alone. You want me to investigate all of them?”
“I know it will be difficult. That’s why I brought a bribe.”
“If someone told you to undergo torture in exchange for one cup of coffee, would you do it?”
Katman broke into a cold sweat.
“Not one cup—I’ll buy you a hundred. To be honest, I had no choice. It was an awkward place to obtain any other information.”
The analyst sighed and nodded as though he had no choice.
“There must be a reason for you to want this information, Inspector. But it will take a long time since I’ll have to investigate every case. I’ll also need the Central Intelligence Bureau’s cooperation.”
“No problem. It’s not urgent.”
The analyst glared at Katman once, as though he truly hated the idea, then sat down and began working.
Watching him, Katman recalled the dinner and stroked his chin once.
‘I don’t want to suspect Captain Daniel Steiner, but…….’
There was certainly no harm in making sure.
*
The next day.
Before reporting to the Operations Staff, I entered my office to make some personal preparations. As expected, Lucy was already there, sitting in her place.
Naturally, she had taken off her wig and was not wearing sunglasses.
“You’re here, Captain.”
As always, it was a dry greeting.
It was hard to believe she was the very person who had set off a bomb yesterday and escaped over a wall.
I looked at Lucy awkwardly, then went to my desk and sat down.
“……Did nothing happen yesterday?”
I casually asked as I opened a desk drawer, but Lucy did not even look at me. She merely reviewed the documents.
“I returned to my quarters immediately after work and rested.”
“I see. I met a strange woman on the way to a dessert shop and had a bit of a hard time.”
“I see.”
The way she put up an impenetrable wall as though she had no interest in the matter was absurd.
I was the one who had been dragged around by her all day, only to return without even tasting dessert.
I gave Lucy an unhappy look, then took the documents I needed to review today from the drawer and sorted them.
After putting the documents, sorted by importance, into my bag, Lucy glanced toward me and spoke.
“……Just how strange was this woman?”
Was she sounding me out? After hesitating for a moment, I stood and answered.
“She wore sunglasses indoors.”
“What else?”
“She seemed to have aphasia and couldn’t speak properly. On top of that, she had an awfully strong sense of pride and refused several times even when I offered to help. How does she intend to function in society? What a pitiful woman.”
Lucy closed her mouth and stared at me. No, glaring would have been more accurate.
“……”
“……”
The atmosphere turned icy. The odds of being assassinated were rising in real time.
Feeling the danger, I coughed once and walked toward the office door.
“Let’s end the small talk here and head to the Operations Staff. We can’t be late.”
“……Understood.”
I left the office and entered the Operations Staff with Lucy.
I was about to walk straight to my seat, but stopped short.
The personnel in the Operations Staff were gathered around the central conference table, murmuring among themselves.
“This is a masterpiece.”
“Indeed. For something put together in a hurry, it seems remarkably well made.”
“But the Personnel Department certainly works fast. It hasn’t even been a day since the article came out……”
What were they talking about? Curious, I walked closer.
“What are you all looking at so intently?”
Captain Dengel, an operations support staff officer, turned around first at my words.
“Oh! Captain Daniel! So the subject of the poster is here!”
“The poster? What are you talking about……”
I cast my gaze over the table and froze.
A photograph of me frowning as I stared straight ahead and pointed with my raised hand had been made into a poster.
Beneath my photograph, the slogan ‘The motherland wants you!’ was written in huge letters.
‘What is this, Uncle Sam?’
Completely dumbfounded, I clicked my tongue.
“Who on earth made this? To begin with, that pose yesterday was meant to tell the reporters not to take pictures. To make an enlistment propaganda poster without regard for my intentions—what impudence……”
“Captain Daniel. This was personally ordered by the Chief of Personnel.”
“……Then I was the impudent one. Looking again, it’s perfect.”
Having rapidly changed my tune, I nodded in agreement.
Dengel, watching me, smiled and spoke.
“Captain Daniel. I heard you’re already on the early promotion list. Aren’t you working a little too hard to build up your merits? I never dreamed you’d be making a name for yourself after work, too.”
One of the Operations Staff members listening from beside him joined in.
“Captain Dengel, surely Captain Daniel isn’t doing all this for a promotion. He’s practically the model of a soldier, so naturally he must be working himself to make the Empire even greater.”
“Ah, I misspoke. Then again, Captain Daniel is leagues above me. With my wage-earner’s mindset, I’m hardly qualified to judge him.”
I wanted to confess that it had been a crazy woman wearing sunglasses who set off the bomb, but with Lucy nearby, I simply could not tell the truth.
Besides, I doubted they would believe me even if I told them what had really happened.
“You’re too kind.”
So I had no choice but to put on a humble act and leave.
I walked over to the operations staff’s desk, pulled out a chair, and spoke.
“Adjutant, do we have today’s newspaper?”
“Yes. I’ll get you a copy.”
I sat down and accepted the newspaper Lucy handed me.
I wanted to know what the article had said that made the Chief of Personnel choose me as a propaganda soldier.
When I unfolded the newspaper, my photograph from earlier was on the front page, just as I had expected.
【Captain Daniel Steiner! He’s Done It Again! Mafia Organization Wiped Out!】
The headline alone made my head spin.
I let out a low groan and skimmed through the article.
『Captain Daniel Steiner, who saved Her Highness the Imperial Princess from a terrorist attack, has once again distinguished himself in a major incident, becoming the talk of the town. According to a reliable source, Captain Daniel single-handedly carried out a covert operation to eliminate a mafia organization that had been parasitizing the capital.』
As expected, it was riddled with fabrications.
I gritted my teeth and read on.
『……After these exploits, Captain Daniel Steiner said to the citizens who had gathered around him, “This wasn’t my doing. It was the result of all of us doing our part for the Empire.” The citizens could not help but erupt in cheers at Captain Daniel’s words.』
My head began to throb.
Hadn’t they slyly added words to what I had said, making it appear to be the truth?
Thinking I could not read any more, I folded the newspaper and tossed it toward the corner of my desk.
Seeing that, Lucy finally spoke.
“I hear the corrupt officials connected to that mafia organization were arrested as well, thanks to Captain Daniel. Most of them reportedly accepted bribes and helped the mafia smuggle opium.”
“……Was that in the newspaper, too?”
Lucy nodded.
That made me feel even worse.
‘It would be troublesome if my superiors got some strange idea after reading this…….’
Just as I thought that, the door to the Operations Staff flew open and Ernst entered.
“Daniel! Captain Daniel! Are you here?”
Seeing him searching for me with a flushed face made me not want to answer.
But I could not simply remain silent, so I rose from my seat and saluted.
“Ah. There you are!”
Ernst returned my salute and approached me.
“Captain Daniel! You should be pleased. I just came back from a meeting, and the Deputy Chief of Operations said he would like to see you sometime when he had the chance. You know what that means, don’t you?”
The Deputy Chief of Operations was the second most powerful person in General Staff Headquarters, after the Chief of Staff.
Why would someone like that want to see me? Unease ran up and down my spine.
“Captain Daniel.”
At that moment, Lucy addressed me with a rare smile.
“You’ll be able to join the deputy chief’s circle now. Congratulations.”
Lucy had merely smiled to play the role of a faithful adjutant, but to me, that smile somehow felt as though she was teasing me.
“……Thank you.”
I answered awkwardly and turned my gaze toward the window.
Unlike my gloomy mood, bright sunlight was streaming down beautifully over all creation.
It was a brutally hot summer.