He Is Coming
He Is Coming
Four days after the Christmas banquet.
Vice Chief of Staff Cedric's office.
"Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Steiner."
Cedric spoke while skimming the documents he held.
"Thanks to the approval of His Majesty the Emperor and Her Highness the Crown Princess, a request for operational support has come down from the top, just as you wished. This time it's the Eastern Front."
Daniel stood at attention and listened quietly to Cedric's words.
"The location is the border zone with the Kingdom of Belmore, one of the Allied Nations. It's a near-barren environment. Since it's a basin surrounded by mountainous terrain, it holds no strategic or military importance, so only a small company is stationed there."
That meant it was a surveillance unit posted to detect in advance if the Kingdom of Belmore ever decided to march through the mountains.
Of course, as long as the Kingdom of Belmore was in its right mind, it would never think of advancing through such terrain.
Because marching through those treacherous mountain ranges was practically suicide.
"You will lead a battalion-sized Headquarters Direct Command Unit to this location. Upon arrival, you are to link up with the stationed company and take over operations. The mission will begin after that."
"What kind of mission, sir?"
"To rescue a captured Imperial engineering technician held in the vicinity of the border zone. Specifically, you are to retrieve Hans Jernmehat. He is one of the technicians who knows the Empire's core secrets."
Having understood the mission, Daniel saluted.
"I will carry out the orders."
Cedric nodded and returned the salute.
Just as he was about to dismiss Daniel, Cedric spoke as if something had just occurred to him.
"Ah. One more thing, there is no need to push the mission to the breaking point. Higher command prioritizes your survival over rescuing Hans Jernmehat. In the first place, breaking through the border area's security with battalion-level forces to rescue a prisoner is no easy task."
That was welcome news to Daniel.
It essentially meant they wouldn't hold him responsible even if the mission failed.
For Daniel, who'd been troubled by the thought that the Emperor might use mission failure as a pretext to check him, this was nothing short of a boon.
"I'll keep that in mind. However, I will give my best to the mission I've been assigned."
"Good. If there are no objections, you may return to your duties."
"Understood."
Daniel answered emphatically, turned on his heel, and left Cedric's office.
As he walked down the corridor, he cheered inwardly.
'Alright!'
Things were going better than expected.
'When I asked to be sent to the battlefield, I was worried about what would happen if they dropped me right in the middle of a hellish warzone with bullets raining down....'
Higher command apparently decided that keeping Daniel Steiner alive served the national interest, so they sent him to the battlefield, but to a place with relatively less danger.
They'd even added the warm assurance that 'failure wouldn't be blamed.'
To put it bluntly, it wasn't much different from being told to go to another sector, look like you're participating in the war, and take a rest.
'Now, I can keep staying on the front lines under the pretext of carrying out missions until....'
Once the current Emperor, Bertram, transferred all authority to Selvia and stepped down, he would return to the capital.
'Judging by Selvia's attitude yesterday, she didn't seem to have any intention of keeping me in check.'
So if Selvia became Empress, he felt he could live in the capital with peace of mind.
'Of course....'
His ultimate goal wasn't living in the capital with peace of mind.
Even though the Empire had grown stronger than expected by successively subjugating the Kingdom of Eldreshia and Belanos, the best course was still escape.
Because the moment winter's thin ice melted and spring arrived, the great powers would rush to declare war on the Empire.
According to incoming reports, the Federal State and the Republic were gradually mobilizing their forces.
He'd heard that the number of meetings with Kaledra, the de facto leader of the Allied Nations, was increasing as well.
It was safe to say a world war was ticking toward its final countdown.
The only way to escape that blaze of total war, for now, was to flee the Empire.
'But....'
Was leaving Selvia behind in that conflagration really the right thing to do?
Daniel didn't fail to notice that, unlike the Emperor, Selvia was well-disposed toward him.
Furthermore, Selvia knew how to care for the people but wasn't adept at politics.
She would surely fall along with the perishing Empire.
Thinking that, his thoughts grew complicated.
As he racked his brain and descended the stairs, he came face to face with a woman of familiar appearance.
Disheveled short silver-white hair and eyes as red as blood.
It was Lucy.
"Adjutant?"
Wondering why she had come out of the office, he asked. Lucy blinked her red eyes and spoke.
"Ah. A cadre from the Headquarters Direct Unit came requesting to see you, Lieutenant Colonel. I was looking for you to pass on the news."
"...From the Headquarters Direct Unit?"
He could roughly guess who it was.
With an uncomfortable expression, Daniel nodded and headed toward his personal office with Lucy.
Standing before the office door, Daniel took a deep breath, then grabbed the handle and opened it.
The first thing he saw was a woman with light-brown hair falling past her waist.
On her shoulder was a Second Lieutenant's insignia that looked brand new.
Sensing someone's presence, the woman turned around, and upon finding Daniel, her eyes lit up and she clasped her hands together.
"Ah. Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Steiner. You don't know how long I've awaited this moment. I give thanks that I can perform my duties beside Lieutenant Colonel Daniel, who is akin to a saint, and I swear to God I will dedicate my life to the slaughter of the Allied Nations' beasts—"
Kung!
Finding it impossible to listen any longer, Daniel shut the door.
One particularly unsettling detail was that, even with the door closed, Frien's voice kept streaming out from inside.
As if the door were a mere barrier to her sight, Frien continued to praise Daniel.
Utterly fed up with this, Daniel turned to face Lucy.
"Adjutant."
"Yes."
"Is there any way we can return her, by any chance?"
Looking straight at Daniel, Lucy frowned—a rare sight.
"Lieutenant Colonel. You shouldn't say such things about a person."
"A person, you say...."
Could he really consider that woman, who was so steeped in nationalism that she twisted religion to suit her own whims, a person?
He was about to argue that mentally, she was something closer to a monster, but restrained himself.
He thought there was no need to make unnecessary remarks when they'd have to spend time together for a while, like it or not.
*
Meanwhile, in the basin at the border zone of the Kingdom of Belmore.
The Operations Command Room of the Special Warfare Company under the Airborne Special Warfare Brigade.
"Captain."
Company Commander Varnrad, who had been lying face down asleep in the command post, opened his bleary eyes.
After blinking blankly for a moment, Varnrad let out a low yawn and raised his upper body.
His uniform was completely untucked and the laces of his combat boots weren't even tied, but Varnrad paid it no mind.
After all, this was a place where such things were acceptable.
"What? What's the matter? Did we run out of booze?"
Varnrad asked with a blank stare, and the platoon leader shook his head.
Seeing that, Varnrad scratched his forehead in apparent irritation.
"Then what is it?"
"Well, sir... I think we should be getting started on our mission soon."
"Mission? Did you just say mission?"
Varnrad let out a hollow laugh, as if dumbfounded.
"Get a grip, Sergeant. We've been abandoned here. It's been over a year since we were told to focus on surveillance duty until new orders were issued. Since then, higher command hasn't given us any orders at all."
Varnrad raised a hand and swept his disheveled hair back.
"So that means we just sit tight here and keep guzzling the supply liquor until the war ends. Let's look on the bright side. There's nothing but these goddamned mountains, but at least you won't get shot to death, right?"
Varnrad was chuckling to himself when he trailed off, doubt creeping in.
Usually, by this point, the platoon leader would play along, but today his face was noticeably pale.
"...What's with that face? Don't tell me higher command actually issued new orders?"
The platoon leader nodded.
"Yes. The order is that the Headquarters Direct Unit will send battalion-level forces, and we are to come under the command of a certain Lieutenant Colonel."
"Lieutenant Colonel? Ha. What difference is battalion-level manpower gonna make coming all the way out here? They planning to subdue the Kingdom of Belmore with less than a thousand men? What kind of ridiculous— fuck. What's with that look on your face this whole time?"
The sight of the platoon leader trembling like a deer terrified out of its wits did not sit well with him.
As Varnrad glared at him, demanding an explanation, the platoon leader took a deep breath and spoke.
"The Lieutenant Colonel who's coming here is none other than...."
"None other than who?"
"...Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Steiner."
The moment he heard the Lieutenant Colonel's name, Varnrad froze in place.
No matter how remote this basin was, they still managed to hear the news coming from the capital.
Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Steiner, Operations Staff Officer at General Staff Headquarters.
This was a name no Imperial soldier could claim not to know.
"Sergeant? I don't like jokes."
He asked, hoping it was a joke, but the platoon leader did not retract his statement.
"I heard it clearly. That Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Steiner is coming here...."
At that, Varnrad pressed a trembling hand to his forehead.
"If it's Daniel Steiner... that's the one, isn't it? The one who skinned the face of an Allied soldier in front of the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Eldreshia...."
Rumors are always distorted as they spread.
The more remote the area, the more the stories get embellished.
Something that started as a simple 'drunken joke' gets passed on and retold until it transforms into 'truth' in the process.
The platoon leader was also one of those who accepted these distorted rumors as truth.
"That's not the end of it. Did you know that when Duke Belvar pressured him, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Steiner stormed the mansion? They say he shot and killed an enlisted man with his pistol right in front of Duke Belvar."
"Good Lord...."
Varnrad's eyes trembled slightly.
With a cold sweat, Varnrad lifted his head and looked at the platoon leader.
"If that Daniel Steiner sees the state we're currently in...."
"Execution by firing squad. It'll be a firing squad for sure."
Terrified, Varnrad let out a hiccup.
Instantly sobered, Varnrad scrambled to his feet and shouted.
"Inform all personnel! Tell them to commence facility inspection and cleaning immediately! Issue orders to conduct weapon maintenance and straighten out their uniforms! We'll check over all technical matters as well!"
"Understood. But what should we give as the reason...?"
It wasn't just Varnrad who had grown lax over the past year.
The troops were also so steeped in the peacetime atmosphere on this battlefield that they spent duty hours playing poker.
But bringing them to their senses was a very easy thing to do.
Because Varnrad had just experienced it himself.
"Tell them he's coming. Daniel Steiner...."
Having gone pale, Varnrad swallowed dryly and spoke.
"That the Demon of the Empire is coming to this place."