Chapter 36
Early the next morning.
Lucy entered through the entrance of the military tent.
“Captain Daniel Steiner. I have something important to tell you……”
Lucy stopped mid-step and fell silent.
She had spotted Daniel lying on a field cot at the edge of the tent, trying to sleep.
Judging by the way he had fallen asleep with only a blanket haphazardly draped over him, he must have been utterly exhausted.
After all, while the other soldiers and officers had arrived at the outpost and taken a rest, Daniel had been summoned by the Division Commander and forcibly dragged to the operations command post before finally returning, so his fatigue must have reached its limit.
‘That means…….’
Daniel Steiner was defenseless right now.
After confirming that there was no one nearby, Lucy approached Daniel.
She quietly looked down at him as he lay there trying to sleep.
The gold National Merit Medal pinned to the left side of his uniform gave off a faint gleam.
‘Daniel Steiner.’
The man before her was the one who had been amassing military achievements at a frightening rate lately.
Thanks to him, interest in Daniel was gradually growing even within the Allied nations.
However, the Allied nations still had not issued an order to assassinate Daniel Steiner.
Lucy’s mission from the Allied nations was merely to report Daniel’s every move as a subject under special surveillance.
But there was no telling when a subject under special surveillance might become an assassination target.
If her homeland ordered her to assassinate Daniel, Lucy would gladly obey.
But could she really do so without the slightest hesitation?
Aside from the fact that he was devoted to the Empire, Daniel Steiner was an ordinarily good man.
He shared food with her, his adjutant, lent her his umbrella, and even invited her to dessert shops so they could share their hobbies.
He had even prevented her from being placed in a dangerous situation after she was suspected by Security Bureau police on the day she had disguised herself as a doctor.
She could not deny that she owed Daniel a debt of gratitude.
That fact faintly shook the yoke she bore as a spy, a yoke born of the kindness she had received from the Allied nations.
‘If…….’
What if they had met not as a spy for the Allied nations and an officer of the Imperial Army, but as an ordinary man and woman with ordinary jobs?
Lucy shook her head vigorously as she continued her baseless imaginings.
It was a pointless and unproductive assumption.
If she considered the kindness she had received from the Allied nations, she could not take even one step away from the essence of a spy.
Besides, even if Daniel Steiner seemed like a good man, he was still an officer of the Empire.
Anyone who benefited the Empire was an enemy of the Allied nations and a fragment of the resentment Lucy carried.
Recalling the terrible memories of the past, Lucy clenched her fists tightly, then let out a long sigh.
It was foolish to indulge in self-pity all alone.
‘How stupid.’
There was no need to think so deeply. She merely had to do her best at the mission and role assigned to her, as always.
So until the Allied nations issued another order, all she had to do was act as ‘Captain Daniel Steiner’s loyal adjutant.’
As if answering her own heart, Lucy gave a small nod and turned to leave.
Lucy was about to leave the tent when she suddenly stopped.
For some reason, the disheveled blanket covering Daniel’s body had begun to bother her.
She did not know whether it was part of her compulsive neatness, but she found it deeply displeasing.
After hesitating for a moment, Lucy finally bent down and picked up the blanket.
She then spread it neatly and evenly over Daniel’s chest before lightly dusting off her hands.
“Sleep well.”
After whispering the brief words, Lucy turned and left the tent.
Only after Lucy had completely left did Daniel slowly open his eyes.
Once he confirmed that Lucy was no longer inside the tent, Daniel abruptly sat up.
He let out a harsh breath without realizing it.
‘……What was that?’
In fact, Daniel had been awake for some time.
He had woken up and sensed someone nearby, so when he cautiously opened his eyes a sliver and saw Lucy looking down at him, he had continued pretending to sleep.
There was no special reason. He had simply been terrified!
‘I’m still alive, right?’
Daniel reached up and felt his neck, then relaxed upon discovering that he had no wounds.
After sitting on the field cot and catching his breath for a while, Daniel’s nerves went taut.
He had heard two jeeps stop near the tent, followed by the thunderous approach of military boots.
Just as he wondered what was happening this time, four soldiers marched crisply into the tent and split off to either side.
Immediately afterward, Heinrich entered the tent, hauling his massive body along with him.
“Ah. You were awake.”
Daniel flinched in surprise, then immediately rose and saluted.
“Brigade Commander! What brings you here……!”
Heinrich chuckled heartily, returned his salute, and spoke.
“Congratulations, Captain Daniel.”
“……Congratulations? What do you mean?”
“Your prediction has come true once again. A report came in from the search battalion a few hours ago. They said they had discovered an underground tunnel belonging to the Kingdom Army.”
For a moment, Daniel felt as though he had been struck in the head with a hammer.
‘They found an underground tunnel? On the very day I gave my opinion?’
It was not logically impossible, but the odds had been vanishingly small.
Yet against those tiny odds, the Kingdom Army had actually been using an underground tunnel to transport supplies, and the search battalion had accomplished the feat of finding it in a single night.
Just as Daniel’s mind went blank at the sheer absurdity of it, Heinrich beckoned to him.
“Let’s talk once we get there. Time is of the essence.”
“……Understood.”
Daniel still did not properly understand what was happening, but he could not disobey a superior’s order, so he followed Heinrich.
*
The place Heinrich led me to was a flat clearing in the forest, eighteen kilometers north of where the enemy supply battalion had been discovered.
When I stepped out of the jeep, the first thing I saw was the soldiers of the magic mobile forces brigade.
Wearing every piece of equipment except their packs and standing motionless in formation between the trees, they truly looked like an army of iron.
As I stood stiff under the oppressive presence they exuded, Heinrich grabbed my shoulder.
“It’s right over there. The Kingdom Army’s underground tunnel you mentioned.”
Turning my gaze in the direction Heinrich pointed, I saw a massive iron door standing open.
“We sent scouts skilled in reconnaissance to check, and they say that underground tunnel connects all the way to the city. Astonishing, isn’t it? If not for you, we wouldn’t even have known it was there.”
Heinrich burst into hearty laughter, but I could only stare at him in bewilderment.
Just as I opened my mouth to offer some sort of rebuttal, the sound of artillery fire—‘Boom!’—began to rumble from the direction of Division Headquarters.
“It’s begun.”
Heinrich took his hand off my shoulder and shouted toward the brigade’s soldiers.
“I just heard the goddess of victory cry out, ‘Advance!’ If you have ears, you must have heard her too! Isn’t that right!?”
At Heinrich’s shout, smiles spread across the soldiers’ lips.
It was nothing short of bloodthirsty.
“The Kingdom Army joined hands with the filthy Allied forces, invaded our territory, and subjected countless comrades to torment. Think of it! The screams our comrades had to cry out! The pain they had to endure! The humiliation they had to withstand!”
Heinrich stepped forward, the veins standing out on his neck as he shouted.
“Now we will pay them back for all of it many times over! Burst the bellies of those enemies whose greed has swollen from drinking our comrades’ blood! Advance, elite warriors of the Empire!”
The brigade’s soldiers let out a deafening cheer as one.
At the same time, they began marching toward the underground tunnel one after another.
The sight of them marching into the tunnel in two-file columns was utterly mechanical.
It was proof of how well trained the soldiers were.
As I watched them in silence, I approached Heinrich and spoke.
“A diversionary attack. You’re advancing the division’s forces along the front and firing field artillery to hold the enemy’s attention, then using the underground tunnel to strike the city directly……”
“It will be an easy victory. Those fellows have been hiding all this time because they know they would clearly lose in an all-out battle. Once they realize enemy soldiers have infiltrated the city, fear will consume them and they’ll panic.”
Indeed, the city’s fall was now only a matter of time.
It was not the outcome I had wanted, but watching the soldiers charge in right before my eyes made me feel fortunate to be a staff officer.
‘They won’t send a staff officer into the middle of enemy territory…….’
Naturally, staying alive took priority over escaping the Empire.
One had to remain alive to have another chance.
As I watched the soldiers with inward relief, Heinrich turned to me and spoke.
“You seem envious of the soldiers. An officer as devoted to the Empire as you are would surely want to crush the enemy with his own hands. I was overflowing with that sort of fighting spirit when I was young as well.”
That was not true at all, but there was no reason I could not play along.
“That’s right. However, I believe that protecting our allies’ rear as a staff officer is also important. It’s regrettable, but I suppose the glory of attacking the enemy must be left to the soldiers.”
“That’s a fine attitude. But if you wish to attack, there’s no need for you to merely stand by in the rear. No, it would be more accurate to say that you can’t afford to stand by.”
Just a moment. This conversation was taking a strange turn.
When I looked at him in puzzlement, Heinrich gave me a subtle smile, as if I should be pleased.
“The Division Commander has ordered every unit directly under Headquarters, including yours, to assist the magic mobile forces and take part in the assault on the city.”
“……What? But if my company joins the fighting, we’ll only get in the way.”
“The Division Commander initially thought the same as you. But after speaking with you, he completely changed his mind. When it was just the two of us, the Division Commander told me that you were a wolf thirsty for blood.”
My mouth fell open. I wondered what sort of nonsense he was spouting.
“He told me to say that he’ll fill your hungry belly, so you should run wild to your heart’s content.”
“……Are you sure he said that about me?”
“Yes. It’s rare for the Division Commander to show favor, so use this opportunity to prove yourself.”
I could not understand what on earth he took me for to say something so absurd.
But when one was ordered to do something by a superior, one had no choice but to do it.
After letting out a short groan, I looked at Heinrich and spoke.
“Your Excellency. But did the Division Commander really call me a wolf thirsty for blood?”
“Hm? Haha. You seem to like that nickname quite a lot. He said it jokingly, but those were definitely his words.”
Thanks to that, I could be certain once again.
Namely, that my life was becoming hopelessly tangled in real time.