This Time, I'll Step Forward Myself
This Time, I'll Step Forward Myself
After Dolbaf signed the surrender documents, Daniel occupied the Defense Force Headquarters.
He had cleared out all the existing defense force personnel and filled the building with key Imperial personnel instead.
Originally, he had planned to occupy City Hall, but considering potential public backlash, he decided to use the Defense Force Headquarters as a temporary command post.
Fortunately, the citizens of Penbark raised little objection to the Imperial Army seizing the Defense Force Headquarters.
Since they already knew they had been defeated, they resigned themselves to the fact that the Imperial Army absorbing the city's military institutions was an unavoidable outcome.
And so, for the moment, Daniel and Lucy were conducting their duties in the defense force commander's office.
The reason they were working inside the occupied city was simple.
Even though they had captured the city, they were not yet out of danger.
Enemy remnants or resistance organizations could still be hiding, and the Allied forces that had decided to reinforce Penbark might not have given up—the possibility was far from negligible.
On top of that, in order to stabilize the city and secure the cooperation of its citizens, they had no choice but to bury themselves under mountains of paperwork.
As a result, Lucy, who had been assisting Daniel all day with the workload, suddenly felt a headache coming on.
"Ugh... ."
Struck by the unprompted headache, Lucy clenched her teeth and pressed her fingers to her forehead.
But the headache showed no sign of abating—it only grew worse.
The moment the pain erupted inside her head like a flash of lightning, Lucy could see something.
─ The harvest is good today, isn't it?
What she saw were people who appeared to be coachmen, and children loaded into the cargo bed of a wagon.
As she looked over the children in their shabby state, the coachmen's voices reached her.
─ But why does ■■■ pay such high prices to buy orphans?
─ I don't really know either. I've heard that it's an order handed down directly by ■■■■ ■■.
─ Huh? I heard it was an order from ■■■■. But is that really it? They say they conduct human experiments on orphans... .
The wagon lurched as it caught a stone.
─ Speculation's fine, but don't go running your mouth about it. The moment things go wrong, our heads could go flying, you know.
─ Aigo. Understood. More importantly, they say war makes people cruel, and there's not a single wrong word in that. What fault do these young children have? It's nothing but pitiful.
─ Damn plague. Are you one to talk?
With the coachmen's laughter trailing off, her vision returned to normal.
What appeared before her eyes were not shabby-looking children, but documents crammed with military terminology.
It was just around the time Lucy blinked blankly, bewildered by what she had just seen.
"Adjutant?"
Hearing Daniel's voice, Lucy raised her head in surprise.
"...Brigade Commander?"
Daniel, who had been eyeing Lucy as if she were dazed, furrowed one eyebrow.
"Is something the matter? I've been calling you for a while now—you looked unwell, but you didn't respond."
Lucy was about to recount the inexplicable memory that had just surfaced, then shook her head.
She did not want to cause Daniel worry by telling him about memories she could not properly explain.
"It's nothing. I think I was just briefly overcome by drowsiness."
"Drowsiness, you say... ."
Daniel still regarded Lucy with suspicion but did not press the matter further.
"Well, you've been through quite a lot getting here, so it's only natural your mind and body are exhausted. You may leave early today—go ahead and pack up your things."
Having said that, Daniel lowered his gaze and moved his fountain pen.
It looked to anyone as though he were writing a report, so after a brief moment of hesitation, Lucy opened her mouth.
"...Are you writing a report to submit to General Headquarters?"
Daniel nodded as he continued writing the report.
"They asked for a detailed explanation of the circumstances leading to the battle and the nature of the engagement. Seeing as they don't believe it even after I submitted the combat log, it seems we fought too well—suspiciously too well."
Daniel was laughing it off, but Lucy felt a tinge of guilt, whether he noticed it or not.
Because she had run wild without permission, Daniel had been left to handle the aftermath all by himself.
Feeling as though she were sitting on a bed of thorns for no reason, Lucy spoke in a voice that was barely audible.
"I'm sorry. You're going through trouble because of me... ."
"Trouble? That's preposterous."
Daniel, who had finished writing the report, signed his name in the signature field.
"It's already water under the bridge, and thanks to you, the company's personnel survived. As your commanding officer, I'm the one who ought to be expressing gratitude. I'd even like to give you a reward."
Having diligently emphasized the 'I'm on your side! You know that, right?' message, Daniel organized the report and opened a drawer.
"Speaking of rewards, I recall that you were fond of desserts. So what I mean to say is... ."
Daniel placed the report in the drawer, closed it, and looked at Lucy.
"Once we've cleared out the resistance elements lurking in the city and completed the administrative measures, we should have some time to rest. What do you say we spend that time at a dessert shop?"
"...Are you talking about dessert?"
"Yes. I looked into this city a bit, and there's apparently a place famous for its lemon drizzle cake. They say it's crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, and perhaps because the cake is soaked in lemon syrup, it's widely praised for its elegant, clean flavor that's said to be exquisite."
Lucy felt her mouth begin to water.
"In particular, I hear that at that shop, when you order the lemon drizzle cake, it comes with chilled black tea. They say that the tea's refreshing quality balances out the cake's sweetness, allowing you to keep enjoying the sweet, soft taste as if you were tasting it for the first time... ."
Lucy's expression remained blank, but her eyes were brimming with life.
Since it was obvious to anyone that she wanted to eat it, Daniel drove the final nail in.
"If you'd like, I'll tell you the shop's name and location."
Daniel's inner thoughts as he made this irresistible offer went as follows.
'While Lucy is spending time at the dessert shop, I'll have to visit the laboratory that businessman Hamtal told me about.'
The research facility that could reveal the full truth of the Lucy Project was located right in this city.
It hadn't been his intention, but now that he had occupied the city in any case, there was no reason not to visit that laboratory.
So, once he finished all the urgent matters, he planned to divert Lucy's attention elsewhere and visit the laboratory alone.
Taking soldiers along would have been safer, but Daniel had his own reasons.
'Because no one else must learn about the information regarding the Lucy Project.'
Depending on how the information was handled, not only Lucy but Daniel himself could be put in danger, so he had to approach it with caution.
In that sense, it was Daniel who intended to separate from Lucy, but things did not go as he expected.
"If the Brigade Commander will accompany me, I will go."
To Lucy, whether Daniel would accompany her was more important than the dessert.
*
At the same time, the Allied Command Headquarters.
Just after the operations meeting had concluded.
"How am I supposed to accept the fact that Penbark has fallen? Do you think I, as Commander-in-Chief, could simply nod my head in silence?"
Count Kaledra, who had visited the conference room in his capacity as a Special Advisor directly under the Supreme Command, snarled at Commander-in-Chief Bemaret.
In the vast conference chamber where only the two of them remained, Bemaret replied as if he had no other choice.
"It is not as though we refused to accept the request for reinforcements. We simply could not divert personnel from the front lines, so there was only a delay in mustering the available forces."
From a broad perspective, Bemaret's words were not incorrect.
After all, no one could have predicted that Penbark, which they thought would hold out for a month, would fall in less than two weeks.
Count Kaledra, believing he had been outplayed by Daniel Steiner, gritted his teeth.
"...The reinforcements? Where are they positioned now?"
"Near the Edelbatre Mountains. They are approximately 300 kilometers from Penbark. If they conduct a forced march, they could reach Penbark within eight days, but it likely wouldn't mean much. Daniel Steiner will have laid traps and be lying in wait by then."
Count Kaledra raised a hand and pressed it to his forehead.
After regulating his breathing for a while, Count Kaledra spoke quietly, his voice slipping out.
"We cannot hand over Penbark. That is a place we must not yield to him."
"Count Kaledra. I cannot deny that Penbark is a symbolic city for the Allied Nations, but it is not a place worth fighting a massive war of attrition over."
"No. We must reclaim it, even if it means enduring a war of attrition."
Count Kaledra, who had rubbed his face once, leaned on his cane and rose from his seat.
"Commander-in-Chief. Order the reinforcements to hold position at their current location."
"Count Kaledra? As I just told you, not only are the odds of victory not high—"
"We have the odds."
Count Kaledra, who had cut him off, gazed down quietly at the Commander-in-Chief seated in his chair.
"Gather all the Ethelium remaining in the Allied Nations. At present, the Empire believes that the Allied Nations have completely exhausted their Ethelium supply. So if we strike using Ethelium, not even Daniel Steiner will be able to prepare for it."
Bemaret, who had been listening, sprang up from his seat in a flare of temper.
"Count Kaledra! Are you saying you intend to pour every scrap of Ethelium we've scraped together from across the country into retaking Penbark? If we use up all the Ethelium this time, we'll be in a state of resource depletion for at least several months!"
"...Retaking Penbark? Do I look like I'm concerned about something as trivial as that?"
Bemaret's shoulders flinched at Count Kaledra's low, subdued voice.
"Commander-in-Chief. What I am trying to do with this opportunity is eliminate Daniel Steiner. And furthermore... ."
Count Kaledra's eyes narrowed.
"This time, I will personally command the troops. If you understand, prepare a vehicle."
"...Personally, you say?"
"Yes."
It was the first time Count Kaledra, who had always issued orders from the safety of the rear, had declared he would take command in person.
That was just how highly Count Kaledra valued Daniel Steiner.
"To catch a wolf running amok so ferociously... ."
Count Kaledra, who had turned to look out the window, gripped his cane tightly as he pictured Daniel Steiner's face in his mind.
"...this is the only way."