You'll Make a Good Superior Officer
You'll Make a Good Superior Officer
Same time, Kingdom of Eldreshia.
Office of the Director of the Kingdom's Central Intelligence Bureau.
"......Is it true that the leaders of the anti-war protests have been captured?"
Standing before the massive world map hanging on the wall, Central Intelligence Bureau Director Colonel Octavian Leopold spoke, not bothering to hide his irritation.
Strategy Analysis Department Head Crispin and Operations Execution Department Head Phineas, who stood before the director to deliver their report, swallowed hard under the tension.
Crispin, who had been gauging the director's mood, hesitantly broke the silence.
"Regrettably, it is true. They reportedly couldn't withstand the Imperial Military Police's interrogation and confessed everything."
Phineas, standing beside him, added.
"Furthermore, the Empire is using this as an opportunity to wage a propaganda war, labeling all those who advocate for peace as pawns of the Allied Nations."
That meant the intelligence bureau's plan, which had aimed to use the anti-war protests as a catalyst to incite a popular uprising, had gone up in smoke.
Of course, even if a popular uprising had been incited, it would have been obvious that it would be suppressed, but the primary objective was to cause the Empire's citizens to develop a negative view of the war and the military.
Because if negative public opinion began to pile up one by one, even the Imperial Household of the Empire would no longer be able to ignore it.
If that stopped the Empire's offensive, the Kingdom of Eldreshia could buy time.
Time to rearm its defeated army, that is.
But with the capture of the ringleaders, everything came to nothing.
Director Octavian, who had let out a deep sigh, looked at the department heads with a furrowed brow.
"Who is it? Who on earth thwarted our plan?"
"......This person."
Crispin held up the document file he had in his left hand and presented it to the director.
Octavian, having received the file, frowned the moment he saw the photo placed at the top of the documents listing various personal details.
"This man again......!"
Black hair and black eyes.
A face that could be seen as gaunt depending on the viewer, but the gaze resembling that of a wolf seemed ready to sink its teeth into its prey at any moment.
【Imperial General Staff Headquarters Operations Staff Officer Captain Daniel Steiner】
He was a figure who had become famous among the Kingdom's leadership for seeing through the ambush operation in the hill country of the Tevaita Mountains and for personally shooting and killing Colonel Jeremy, a corps commander's adjutant who had been retreating from enemy lines.
A dark horse of the Imperial Army, selected as a person of great interest and placed on the priority elimination list.
That was precisely who Daniel Steiner was.
"He obstructs us at every turn. Every single turn!"
If he had his way, he'd want to shoot the bastard right between the eyes.
But he could not harm Daniel Steiner right at this moment.
Octavian, who had been grinding his teeth, turned his head to look at Crispin.
"What did the allies say about this situation?"
"Well...... they are condemning us, saying that uncoordinated intelligence activities have strengthened the Empire's unity."
"Condemning? Did you just say condemning? Those lunatics!"
When they needed help, they encouraged the Kingdom to join the Allied Nations, and now that the need was gone, they sought to cast them aside. It was absurd.
"The Kingdom performed its role faithfully! The allies likely never thought the Kingdom would defeat the Imperial Army either! Our role was to divide the Empire's strength to the north!"
Octavian hurled the document file in his hand.
"Rather, it is those bastards who failed to perform their role properly! What in the world are the Allied Nations doing on the eastern front? They are just dragging things out like idiots, repeating victories and defeats!"
At Octavian's shout, Crispin and Phineas could only silently bow their heads.
Octavian, who was looking at his subordinates, muttered softly and raised his hand.
Right. It was not his subordinates' fault. Octavian, who had swept a hand down his face, spoke with a serious expression.
"......Damn it. Now there is only one method left. Unleash the dogs upon the Imperial Household of the Empire."
At those words, Operations Execution Department Head Phineas broke into a cold sweat and raised his head.
"But Your Excellency! If we execute that operation, the agents we planted in the Empire will be slaughtered wholesale."
"It is a matter of time anyway. They will not want to become frogs slowly boiling to death either. So, should we not at least break some of the Empire's teeth?"
A short silence passed between the two.
Phineas, having understood the director's will, bowed his head with a solemn air.
"Yes. Then I will convey to the agents that the time for the decisive battle has come."
*
......Was there ever a day as dreadful to go to work as today?
Thinking about Lucy, who had requested a summary execution without the slightest change in expression, still gave me goosebumps all over.
However, since I couldn't be absent without leave, I trudged my way toward the General Staff Headquarters.
Before entering the staff office, I entered my personal office first to get ready, and Lucy was there.
Lucy, who had been eating a croissant, immediately stood up upon spotting me and rendered a sharp salute.
"Good morning, Captain Daniel Steiner."
I, who was looking at Lucy like that, nodded my head roughly.
"......You came to work early. More importantly, that's a croissant."
"Yes. The one you bought me yesterday was so delicious. I also purchased a few to give to you, Captain. If you are hungry, you may have them."
"No. I'm fine."
I answered as I walked to my office desk, pulled out the chair, and sat down.
But Lucy did not sit down; she just stared at me blankly.
I, who had placed my briefcase on the desk, asked, puzzled.
"......What is it?"
"I am waiting for you to assign me a mission."
"Go to the operations staff office for that......."
"The Deputy Chief of the Operations Staff Office said you may work from your personal office for today."
......What? Why? As I blinked in incomprehension, Lucy added an explanation.
"The Deputy Chief of the Operations Staff Office asked me to tell you, 'Captain Daniel earned great merits again yesterday, and since I have nothing proper to give him right now, let him at least spend his duty hours comfortably.'"
Deputy Chief, please! I am not comfortable being alone in an office with this woman in the slightest!
I suppressed the urge to let out a scream and nodded my head.
"Alright. Then let's get to work right away."
I took out a stack of documents from my bag and held it out to Lucy.
"These are the documents to review today. You give it a try."
"Understood."
Lucy, who had answered impassively, approached me and took the stack of documents.
Lucy, who returned to her seat, sat down and opened the documents, beginning her review.
The sight of her reviewing documents while calmly blinking her red eyes was truly that of an exemplary adjutant.
If I hadn't known Lucy was a spy, I might have showered her with a string of compliments.
Furthermore, if the adjutant in front of me right now was not Lucy but an ordinary spy, I would have showered her with compliments just to get close to her.
'But this woman is Lucy Emilia.'
I didn't know the exact reason, but Lucy harbored an extreme hatred for traitors.
If I said to a Lucy like that, 'I plan to defect, so let's be friends,' there was a high probability I would end up in a very bad situation.
......From that perspective, she was a complete misfit for espionage work, so what on earth was she doing here?
It raised questions, but my plan would not change.
Kicking Lucy out of my personal office was the only way to secure my safety.
'If so, the fastest method right now is.......'
I had to report to the higher-ups that Lucy's work processing was horrendous and get her deemed unfit.
As luck would have it, Lucy was reviewing documents right now.
I remembered that when I first took on the role of adjutant, just understanding and organizing all the military terms that varied from region to region had been a struggle for me.
It was clear that Lucy would probably make the same mistakes.
'I will make you feel the terror of a superior officer in your bones.'
You can look forward to it, Lucy Emilia. I'll point out mistakes until you voluntarily consider quitting.
Thinking this, I wore a devilish smile and read a book until Lucy had finished reviewing all the documents.
Around four hours later, Lucy brought the stack of documents and placed it on my desk.
"Review complete, Captain Daniel Steiner."
Huh? Already? It was an amount that should take about eight hours to review, which was excessively fast.
'As expected. You really are a helpless newcomer.'
She must have omitted something from the review items.
I took the documents, intending to point out errors, and examined the contents.
And I was surprised despite myself.
Lucy's document review ability was astonishingly perfect.
Not only had she comprehensively checked the accuracy of the information, feasibility, resource planning, risk management, and legal and ethical compliance, but she was also assessing whether the request properly reflected the opinions of the higher-ups.
On top of that, she went a step further and quantitatively expressed the estimated effects of the operation results, even creating an evaluation rubric so that a superior could grasp the request at a single glance.
To be honest, it was a perfect score.
It was flawless—there was nothing to criticize.
I examined other documents, and all of them were reviewed to a near-perfect standard as well.
"Hmm......."
Unable to even fabricate a point to criticize, I nodded my head.
"Excellent."
"Thank you. Then, now......."
"No. There is one more."
I opened a drawer and took out another stack of documents.
"These are Class 2 Secret materials. Read all of them and report back to me."
"Captain? But the time now is......."
"I will not accept objections. Finish them all before I return."
I rose from my seat, left Lucy alone in the personal office, and walked out the door.
*
The place Daniel headed after leaving the personal office was the operations staff office.
He planned to watch Lucy via the CCTV installed in the Deputy Chief of the Operations Staff Office's room.
The Class 2 Secret materials Daniel had just handed over contained military deployment plans and specific unit movement information written out in full.
For a spy, they were mouth-watering materials, so she would surely act abnormally.
If he caught that and told Ernst about it, he could part ways with Lucy forever.
'Alright.'
Daniel, thinking this time his plan would finally succeed, entered the staff office.
"Oh? Captain Daniel Steiner?"
"Captain! I saw the newspaper! You handled another big case yesterday."
After acknowledging the soldiers and junior officers with a rough nod, Daniel knocked on the door of the Deputy Chief of the Operations Staff Office's room.
"Ah. Is that Captain Daniel? Come in."
When Daniel opened the door upon receiving permission, he saw Ernst preparing to leave work.
Daniel, finding this odd, exchanged salutes and then asked.
"Deputy Chief, sir. Are you perhaps leaving work?"
"Indeed. Work is light today, and I have a meeting scheduled with an Imperial Household contact."
The timing was bad. Still, Daniel, who could not miss an opportunity like this, spoke with a serious expression.
"I apologize for interrupting you while you are preparing to leave, but would you watch the CCTV from the operations staff's personal office with me?"
"For what reason?"
"I believe you will understand once you see it. I fully understand the Deputy Chief's desire to see his wife as soon as possible, but please spare just a moment of your time."
Ernst tilted his head with a face that suggested he understood even less.
"What are you talking about? The time when the wife is not home is the best."
"......?"
As Daniel stood still, unable to comprehend, Ernst laughed heartily and spoke.
"Don't tell my wife I said such a thing. Anyway...... sure. If it's the CCTV feed of your personal office, it's over there."
Ernst raised his hand and pointed to the edge of the deputy chief's office.
The personal offices of staff officers were displayed across multiple screens installed there as part of counterintelligence efforts to uncover potential traitors.
Additionally, because the CCTV had been hidden in a clever spot, a newcomer would not be able to know its location.
"I don't know what you're trying to show me, but since it is your request, shall we take a look?"
Daniel nodded his head and went to stand with Ernst in front of the CCTV screen.
Then, as the two peered into the screen showing the operations staff's personal office, they discovered Lucy working diligently.
After that, they watched for about twenty minutes, but there was absolutely no sign of any intention to copy or secretly remove the classified materials.
Just as he was thinking it was a wasted effort, Lucy put down her pen and stared intently at Daniel's desk, the senior officer's desk.
'Is she perhaps going to take other classified materials?'
Since he had confirmed she took the classified materials from the drawer, the possibility existed.
But instead of rising from her seat, Lucy quietly moved her lips.
What did she just say? Daniel, who wanted to know for sure, turned to look back at Ernst.
"Deputy Chief, sir. May I request to enlarge and replay that last scene?"
"Of course. Go ahead and do so if you wish."
Having received permission, Daniel rewound the CCTV feed and pressed the play button again.
Thanks to that, he could clearly tell what Lucy had said.
Should I kill him.
Daniel, having confirmed the shape of her lips, felt goosebumps erupt all over his body and covered his mouth.
On the other hand, Ernst was letting out a laugh as if he found it delightful.
"This is your fault. It's almost lunchtime, yet you are making her work, so her irritation is bound to explode. On top of that, the workload is too much for a newcomer to handle."
Ernst, not knowing Lucy was a spy, judged that 'Should I kill him' was merely the cute display of a subordinate's annoyance.
In contrast, Daniel had just felt a threat to his life.
Daniel, who had been breaking out in a cold sweat while covering his mouth, slowly nodded his head.
"......I will be more careful from now on."
Even if only to keep himself alive, he resolved to do the work himself going forward. Ernst, who was staring intently at Daniel's profile as he thought that, soon gained a quiet realization.
'So this is why he asked to watch the CCTV. He wanted to boast about how well his subordinate does her work. I only thought he was cold and rational, but to think he has this human side to him.'
It was a truly admirable and heartwarming matter.
'His heart for his subordinate is this sincere and devoted. Captain Daniel will make a good superior later on.'
Unaware of Daniel's true feelings, Ernst wore a contented smile and nodded his head approvingly.