The Saintess Has Returned
The Saintess Has Returned
Half a month later.
"No, listen! I've taken up stamp collecting as a hobby, and my wife goes and hears some nonsense somewhere, then comes home furious and tells me not to waste money on such things! Can you believe the absurdity?!"
I was taking my usual post-lunch stroll in front of the headquarters building, listening to Ernst grumble.
Incidentally, my adjutant, Lucy, had also unintentionally joined us and was listening to Ernst's domestic woes.
"I only have two hobbies—fishing and stamp collecting, just those two! Does it make any sense to forbid me from doing one of them?"
As I listened, it did strike me as a bit too harsh, so I nodded.
"It does seem like your wife is being excessive. It's not as if you're neglecting your family, Deputy Chief—you go straight home as soon as work is finished."
"Exactly! This is why Captain Daniel and I get along! The personnel section chief scolded me for spending too much money on stamp collecting—the absurdity of it! Where in this world is there a hobby that doesn't cost money?"
......Something felt off here.
"Deputy Chief? May I ask what stamp you recently purchased?"
"Huh? Ah, yes. The Berghausen Art Museum limited edition stamp came up for sale, so I did spend a bit."
The Berghausen Art Museum limited edition stamp? As far as I knew, that was something so notoriously expensive that even I, with zero interest in stamps, had heard of it.
'The price at the time of sale was probably around 100,000 won.'
Considering that a worker's monthly wage in this era ranged from 30,000 to 60,000 won, that was a significant expenditure.
I understood why Ernst's wife was angry, but I decided to simply remain silent.
As the saying goes, silence is golden.
"It's not as if I dipped into my emergency funds—I saved up my allowance and bought it. If she's going to fault me for that, it's so unfair! How am I supposed to live? Honestly, that woman......."
As I listened to Ernst's grievances with one ear and out the other, I suddenly noticed something strange.
'What's going on?'
I could see junior officers and non-commissioned officers I had never seen before coming and going in front of the General Staff Headquarters.
The General Staff Headquarters was the kind of place where you were more likely to see senior officers than junior ones.
Seeing unfamiliar second lieutenants and first lieutenants milling about here was an unusual sight.
"Excuse me, Deputy Chief?"
Ernst, who had been going on about his wife, turned to look at me.
"Hm? Is there something you want to say?"
"Well...... isn't there an unusually large number of officers coming and going at the General Staff Headquarters today? And they're all unfamiliar faces."
"Unfamiliar faces? Ah, yes. The personnel section summoned the officers being dispatched for operational support to the Northern Front Army today, and it looks like they've all just arrived."
Operational support to the Northern Front Army? My curiosity piqued, I spoke up.
"Isn't the northern expansion war proceeding smoothly at the moment? I heard that apart from a few sectors, the Kingdom of Eldreshia is collapsing helplessly."
"Those few sectors are precisely the problem. As you know, if we fail to crush the kingdom before winter arrives, there's a strong possibility it'll turn into a protracted war. That's why we're sending support."
I lifted the paper cup in my hand, took a sip of coffee, and tilted my head in puzzlement.
"Judging by the officers' ranks, the unit being sent for operational support appears to be company-sized. A single company joining a battlefield where corps are in motion doesn't seem likely to change the strategic picture."
At my words, Ernst let out a low chuckle.
"That's not it at all. The company is merely an escort unit to protect capable staff officers. We can't have them exposed to enemy guerrilla attacks on the way to join the Northern Front Army, after all."
"Ah. If that's the case, it makes sense."
It seemed the General Staff Headquarters' plan was to deploy capable staff officers to the front lines, altering the course of the war, even if only slightly, in the Empire's favor.
'So they're willing to lend even a cat's paw.......'
Well, from the Empire's perspective, the optimal strategy was to quickly occupy the relatively weak Kingdom of Eldreshia and then concentrate on the eastern front.
Once the winter cold wave began to sweep in, supply lines and advances would be disrupted, turning it into a war of attrition—so they were probably trying to end the war before summer passed, even if it meant pushing a little harder.
Either way, it was none of my concern.
"I don't know which staff officer is being sent for operational support, but they're in for quite a rough time."
That poor bastard. I almost felt sorry for him.
Being stationed in the warm, safe rear area and then getting reassigned to the very front—anyone who isn't a war maniac would weep tears of blood.
But what could he do? That's karma for you.
"......Captain Daniel?"
While I was snickering inwardly, Ernst awkwardly scratched his cheek.
I stared at him, wondering what was going on, and Ernst let out a low, awkward cough.
"I'm sorry about this. I've been so terribly busy lately that I must have completely forgotten to tell you. The staff officer being dispatched for operational support to the Northern Front Army is none other than you."
Excuse me? My thoughts momentarily seized up.
My hand went so limp I nearly dropped the paper cup.
After standing there dazed for a while, I barely managed to collect myself and spoke.
"......You mean me?"
"That's right. It seems the Deputy Chief of Staff has taken a favorable view of you this time. He's set the stage for you to distinguish yourself on the battlefield. The company is 200 strong, so for small-scale operations, you may even command directly."
Unbelievable. I didn't want to believe it.
I took a deep breath and asked again.
"You really mean me?"
"It's certain, so no need to ask twice. Are you that happy? Seeing that look of disbelief on your face puts me in a good mood too. Hahaha! Go on, give it your best!"
I wasn't happy—I felt like I was going to throw up.
As I stood there unable to respond to Ernst's encouragement, Lucy interjected.
"Congratulations. While Captain Daniel Steiner distinguishes himself on the battlefield, I shall look after the office duties here at headquarters."
Seeing that, Ernst tilted his head as if to ask what she meant.
"Hm? Obviously, as his adjutant, you're going up with him too, aren't you?"
Lucy, uncharacteristically, was flustered.
I could see her pupils shaking.
"......However, Deputy Chief of the Operations Staff? If even I leave headquarters, the staff office will be left with an excessive workload."
"That can be handled with some overtime. We are in wartime at the moment, are we not? Compared to the efforts you two will be making at the front, our hardships are hardly hardships at all."
Lucy shut her mouth and broke into a cold sweat.
Well, not just Lucy—the Allied Nations Intelligence Department probably hadn't anticipated this situation either.
Of course, Lucy's circumstances were none of my concern right now.
'Shit.......'
Things had gone more awry than I'd imagined.
I had been groaning to myself when I suddenly froze in my tracks.
Because the figure of a woman walking toward the General Staff Headquarters looked vaguely familiar.
Soft, light-brown hair that swayed gently with every step, and dark eyes tinged with brown.
It was Frien, who would one day come to be called the Saintess of the Empire.
'What's she doing here?'
At this point in time, shouldn't she be undergoing officer training at the military academy?
Puzzled, I excused myself from Ernst and approached Frien.
"Cadet. Halt right there."
At my words, Frien turned around, brightened, and broke into a soft smile.
"First Lieutenant Daniel Steiner! No, my apologies! You're a captain now!"
Her voice rose, like someone meeting a person she was delighted to see.
Of course, I was not particularly delighted, so I maintained a blank expression.
"I have no intention of exchanging pleasantries, so just answer the question. Why is a cadet loitering around the General Staff Headquarters? Shouldn't you be at the military academy right now?"
"Ah......! When the General Staff Headquarters issued the call for volunteers to support the Northern Front, I personally wrote a letter to the personnel section. I believe they reviewed it and granted me a special exception."
I frowned.
"A letter?"
"Yes. I saw the notice that Captain Daniel would be in command, and I sent my application documents by letter, mentioning that I had previously carried out an operation alongside you, sir."
"And the personnel section assignment officer at GHQ read that and placed you in my company?"
"That's correct! It is my family's honor to serve under Captain Daniel once again!"
If it was a decision made by the General Staff Headquarters, I couldn't very well object, but it left me deeply unsettled.
The fact that she could smile this brightly with the battlefield looming ahead meant one of two things.
Either her loyalty to the Empire was boiling over, or she had been seized by some kind of madness.
And usually, loyalty and madness had more in common than they had differences.
"......Frien? I understand how you feel, but aren't you a bit too young to volunteer for support to the Northern Front Army? Even if you, a cadet, were to back out, no one would say anything, so make your decision carefully."
I was indirectly telling her to withdraw her application right now, but Frien shook her head and gently placed a hand over her chest.
"I've already made my decision. I intend to repay the favor I received from Captain Daniel in the military police detention center with my life. So I will not withdraw my application."
......A favor? What favor? We'd done nothing more than exchange a few words.
"So I shall remain with Captain Daniel. And in the not-so-distant future, you and I will be able to see it, won't we? The ideal nation, where all worries and anxieties have vanished."
"......An ideal nation?"
"Yees. One Empire, one Emperor, one people. We must build God's kingdom upon this earth—a kingdom where every last one of those Allied Nations humans, no better than vile rats, has been eliminated."
With that, Frien smiled benevolently.
It was the kind of warm smile that looked as if it had emerged from the process of sanctification, and so I became certain.
'Is she a fucking lunatic?'
I wasn't sure of the reason, but Frien had gone beyond loyalty and had already entered a state of madness.
Breaking out in a cold sweat, I swallowed hard in fear.
'I need to speak with the Deputy Chief. To have Frien removed from my company's roster.'
It didn't seem likely to work, but I had to at least try.
Because this clear-eyed lunatic standing before me was genuinely terrifying.