Chapter 30
Two weeks later.
“No! I collect stamps as a hobby, but my wife hears some nonsense somewhere and then gets angry, telling me not to waste money on places like this! It’s absurd!”
As usual, I was taking a walk in front of the Headquarters building after lunch while listening to Ernst complain.
For the record, my adjutant Lucy had also inadvertently joined us and was listening to Ernst’s family troubles.
“The only hobbies I have are fishing and stamp collecting! Does it make any sense to stop me from enjoying one of them?”
Listening to him, I felt he had a point, so I nodded.
“Your wife does seem a little harsh, Chief. It’s not as though you neglect your family—you go straight home as soon as work is over.”
“Exactly! At least Captain Daniel understands me! The Chief of Personnel was chiding me for spending too much money on stamp collecting, and it was ridiculous! What hobby in this world doesn’t cost money?”
……Something feels off.
“Chief? May I ask what stamps you purchased recently?”
“Hm? Ah, yes. A limited-edition stamp from the Berghausen Museum came up for sale, so I did spend a little.”
A limited-edition stamp from the Berghausen Museum? As far as I knew, it was expensive enough that even I, who had little interest in stamps, knew about it.
‘It was 100,000 won when it was sold, if I remember correctly.’
Considering workers in this era earned between 30,000 and 60,000 won a month, that was a considerable expense.
I understood why Ernst’s wife had gotten angry, but decided to remain silent.
There was a saying that silence was golden, after all.
“It’s not as though I touched my emergency fund. I bought it entirely with money I’d saved from my allowance, so if she complains about that, how am I supposed to live? Honestly, that woman……”
I was letting Ernst’s complaints go in one ear and out the other when I suddenly noticed something odd.
‘What is it?’
I saw unfamiliar junior officers and NCOs coming and going in front of General Staff Headquarters.
General Staff Headquarters was the sort of place where one was more likely to see senior officers than junior ones.
Seeing unfamiliar lieutenants and second lieutenants moving around a place like this was unusual.
“Um, Chief?”
Ernst, who had been continuing to disparage his wife, turned to me.
“Hm? Is there something you wanted to say?”
“Well…… Aren’t there an unusually large number of officers coming and going through General Staff Headquarters today? They’re all unfamiliar faces.”
“Unfamiliar faces? Ah, I heard the Personnel Department summoned the officers being sent to provide operational support to the Northern Army Group today. I suppose they’ve all arrived now.”
Operational support to the Northern Army Group? My curiosity piqued, and I spoke.
“Isn’t the Northern Expansion War going smoothly? I heard the Kingdom of Eldresia is collapsing helplessly, except in a few areas.”
“That’s precisely the problem—the few areas. As you know, if we can’t crush the kingdom before winter, there’s a good chance this will turn into a protracted war. That’s why we’re sending support.”
I lifted the paper cup in my hand and took a sip of coffee, tilting my head in puzzlement.
“Judging by the officers’ ranks, the unit providing operational support seems to be company-sized, but I don’t see how sending a company to join a theater where a corps is on the move would change the situation.”
Ernst let out a low chuckle at my words.
“That’s not what it is. The company is merely an escort unit to protect a capable staff officer. They can’t be exposed to guerrilla attacks by the enemy on the way to join the Northern Army Group.”
“Ah. If that’s the case, I understand.”
It seemed Headquarters’ plan was to send capable staff officers into actual combat and tilt the course of the war, even if only slightly, in the Empire’s favor.
‘They’re willing to borrow even a cat’s paw…….’
Well, from the Empire’s perspective, the best strategy was to quickly occupy the relatively weak Kingdom of Eldresia and then focus on the Eastern Front.
Once winter’s cold began to sweep in, supplies and advances would be disrupted, leading to a prolonged war, so they must have been trying to end the war before summer passed, even if it meant pushing themselves too hard.
In any case, it had nothing to do with me.
“I don’t know which staff officer is being sent to provide operational support, but they’re going to have a pretty rough time.”
Poor bastard. I almost felt sorry for him.
Anyone reassigned from the warm, safe rear to the front lines would weep tears of blood unless they were a war fanatic.
Still, what could he do? That was simply the consequence of his own actions.
“……Captain Daniel?”
As I snickered inwardly, Ernst awkwardly scratched his cheek.
Wondering what was wrong, I stared at him, and Ernst gave a low, awkward cough.
“I’m sorry about this. I seem to have forgotten to tell you because I’ve been so busy lately. The staff officer going to provide operational support to the Northern Army Group is none other than you.”
Huh? My mind went blank for a moment.
The strength went out of my hand, and I nearly dropped the paper cup.
After standing dazed for a while, I finally came to my senses and spoke.
“……Me?”
“That’s right. It seems the Deputy Chief of Staff took a liking to you this time. He’s laying the groundwork for you to distinguish yourself on the battlefield. The company is two hundred men strong, so you should even be able to command small-scale operations yourself.”
Unbelievable. I didn’t want to believe it.
I took a deep breath and asked once more.
“You mean me?”
“I’m certain, so there’s no need to ask twice. Are you really that happy? You look so incredulous that I’m actually pleased myself. Hahaha! Go give it your all!”
I wasn’t happy. I felt like I was going to throw up.
Unable to think of a response to Ernst’s encouragement, I was silent until Lucy interjected.
“Congratulations. While Captain Daniel Steiner distinguishes himself on the battlefield, I will handle the office work at Headquarters.”
Ernst tilted his head as though he did not understand what she meant.
“Hm? Of course you’re going with him, too, as his adjutant, aren’t you?”
Lucy looked flustered—a rare sight.
I could see her pupils trembling.
“……But, Chief? If I leave Headquarters as well, the staff office will be saddled with an excessive workload.”
“That’s what overtime is for. This is wartime, after all. Compared to what you two will accomplish at the front, our hardships are nothing.”
Lucy kept her mouth shut and broke into a cold sweat.
Indeed, neither Lucy nor the Allied intelligence services could have anticipated a situation like this.
Of course, Lucy’s situation was the least of my concerns at the moment.
‘Damn…….’
Things had gone far worse than expected.
I was secretly groaning when I suddenly stopped short.
The figure of a woman walking toward General Staff Headquarters seemed strangely familiar.
Light-brown hair that swayed softly with every step, and dark eyes tinged with brown.
It was Prien, who would one day come to be called the Empire’s Saintess.
‘Why is she here?’
At this point in time, shouldn’t she have been taking officer classes at the military academy?
Puzzled, I asked Ernst to excuse me and approached Prien.
“You there, cadet. Stop where you are.”
Hearing me, Prien turned around, then soon broke into a delighted, bashful smile.
“Lieutenant Daniel Steiner! Oh, pardon me! You’re a captain now!”
Her voice rose as though she had met someone she was happy to see.
Naturally, I did not feel particularly happy to see her, so I maintained my expressionless face.
“I have no intention of exchanging greetings, so answer my question. Why is a cadet loitering around General Staff Headquarters? Shouldn’t you be at the military academy right now?”
“Ah……! When Headquarters issued a call for support to the Northern Army Group, I personally wrote a letter to the Personnel Department. They must have seen it and made an exception for me.”
I furrowed my brow.
“A letter?”
“Yes. After seeing the notice that Captain Daniel would be commanding, I sent an application letter explaining that I had previously carried out an operation alongside you.”
“And the Personnel Department’s organization officer read it and assigned you to my company?”
“That’s right! It’s the honor of my family to serve Captain Daniel once again!”
If it was Headquarters’ decision, I had no grounds to object, but something about it made me uneasy.
There were only two possibilities for someone to smile so brightly despite having the battlefield ahead of them.
Either she was overflowing with loyalty to the Empire, or she was in the grip of some kind of madness.
And usually, loyalty and madness had more in common than differences.
“……Prien? I understand how you feel, but aren’t you too young to volunteer for deployment to the Northern Army Group? No one will blame you if you, as a cadet, withdraw your application, so consider your choice carefully.”
I was indirectly telling her to withdraw immediately, but Prien shook her head and gently placed a hand over her heart.
“I’ve already made up my mind. I intend to repay with my life the favor Captain Daniel showed me in the military police detention cell. So I won’t withdraw my application.”
……A favor? What favor? We had only exchanged a few words.
“So I will accompany Captain Daniel. And in the not-too-distant future, Captain, you and I will see an ideal country where all worries and concerns have vanished.”
“……An ideal country?”
“Yes. We must establish God’s kingdom on this earth, where there is one empire, one emperor, and one people, after eliminating all the people of the Allied nations, who are no better than lowly rats.”
Having said that, Prien smiled benevolently.
It was such a warm smile, as though it had come straight from a sacred painting, that I became certain.
‘Is she insane?’
For reasons I did not understand, Prien had already crossed from loyalty into outright madness.
Swallowing hard in fear, I broke into a cold sweat.
‘I’ll have to tell the deputy chief. I need to ask him to remove Prien from my company’s roster.’
It probably wouldn’t work, but I had to at least try.
The clear-eyed lunatic standing before me was genuinely terrifying.