Bloodthirsty Wolf (Not)
Bloodthirsty Wolf (Not)
Early the following morning.
Lucy entered the tent.
"Captain Daniel Steiner. I have something urgent to discuss..."
Lucy stopped in her tracks and fell silent as she moved farther into the tent.
She had spotted Daniel lying on a field cot at the edge of the tent, trying to sleep.
He lay asleep with a blanket carelessly tossed over him, looking utterly exhausted.
After all, while the other soldiers and officers had arrived at the forward base and were resting, Daniel had been summoned by the division commander and forcibly dragged to the operations command post. His exhaustion must have been at its peak.
'If that's the case...'
That meant Daniel Steiner was completely defenseless right now.
Confirming that no one else was around, Lucy approached Daniel.
She quietly looked down at him as he lay there trying to sleep.
The Golden Medal of National Order affixed to the left breast of his uniform gave off a soft gleam.
'Daniel Steiner.'
The man lying right before her eyes was the one who had recently been accumulating military achievements at a terrifying pace.
Because of that, interest in Daniel had been steadily increasing even within the Allied Nations.
But so far, the Allied Nations had not yet issued an order to assassinate Daniel Steiner.
Lucy's mission from the Allied Nations was simply to report on Daniel's every move as a special surveillance target.
However, there was no telling when a special surveillance target might turn into an assassination target.
If her nation ordered her to assassinate Daniel, Lucy would gladly follow through.
Yet could she really do so without hesitation?
Aside from his devotion to the Empire, Daniel Steiner was simply an ordinarily good man.
Enough that he would share food with his adjutant, lend her an umbrella, or even suggest they visit a dessert shop together to bond over a shared hobby.
On the day she had disguised herself as a doctor, he had even proactively prevented her from falling into a dangerous situation when a Security Bureau policeman grew suspicious.
She couldn't deny that she was indebted to Daniel.
It made the shackles of her duty as a spy, born of her debt to the Allied Nations, waver ever so slightly.
'What if...'
What if they had met not as an Allied Nations spy and an Imperial officer, but as an ordinary man and woman with normal jobs?
Lucy shook her head sharply, cutting off the pointless daydream.
It was a useless and unproductive supposition.
Considering the debt she owed the Allied Nations, she couldn't afford to stray a single step from the essence of being a spy.
Besides, even if he appeared to be a good man, Daniel Steiner was still an Imperial officer.
Anyone who benefited the Empire was an enemy of the Allied Nations and a fragment of the grudge Lucy harbored.
Recalling the horrific memories of the past, Lucy clenched her fist tightly before letting out a long sigh.
Wasting time brooding alone was foolish.
'I'm such an idiot.'
There was no need to overthink it. As always, she just had to do her best with the mission and role she had been assigned.
So until other orders came down from the Allied Nations, she just had to act as 'Captain Daniel Steiner's loyal adjutant.'
Nodding slightly to herself as if answering her own heart, Lucy turned away.
Just as she was about to leave the tent, Lucy paused.
The disheveled blanket covering Daniel's body bothered her, though she couldn't say why.
She wasn't sure if it was out of fastidiousness, but she just didn't like it.
Hesitating for a moment, Lucy eventually bent over and picked up the blanket.
She then neatly and tidily pulled the blanket up to Daniel's chest, lightly dusting off her hands afterward.
"Sleep well."
After whispering briefly, Lucy turned and left the tent.
Only after Lucy was completely gone did Daniel slowly open his eyes.
Confirming that Lucy was no longer inside the tent, Daniel abruptly sat up.
He then let out a ragged breath without realizing it.
'...What the hell was that?'
In truth, Daniel had been awake for a little while now.
He had woken from his sleep, and sensing someone's presence, he cracked his eyes open slightly—only to find Lucy staring down at him. So he had kept pretending to be asleep.
The reason was simple: he was just scared!
'I am still alive, right?'
Daniel raised his hand to feel his neck and felt relief that there was no wound.
As he sat on the field cot catching his breath, Daniel's nerves went on high alert.
He heard the sound of two jeeps pulling up near the tent, followed by the thud of military boots swarming closer.
Just as he was wondering what it was this time, four soldiers strode into the tent in perfect order and split off to either side.
Right after that, Heinrich's heavy-set, imposing figure strode inside.
"Ah. You were awake."
Startled, Daniel immediately rose from his spot and rendered a salute.
"Brigade Commander, sir! What brings you here...!"
Heinrich chuckled heartily as he returned the salute.
"Congratulations, Captain Daniel."
"...Congratulations? What do you mean, sir?"
"Your prediction has proven correct once again. A report came in from the search battalion a few hours ago. They said they discovered the Royal Army's underground tunnel."
For a moment, Daniel felt a shock as if he had been struck by a hammer.
'They discovered an underground tunnel? And on the very same day I gave my opinion?'
It wasn't logically impossible, but the probability was extremely low.
Against those low odds, the Royal Army had actually been using an underground tunnel for supply runs, and the search battalion had achieved the feat of finding it in just a single night.
His mind went blank. What kind of nonsense was this? Then Heinrich gestured with his hand.
"Let's continue this discussion while we move. Every second counts right now, you see."
"...Understood, sir."
He couldn't quite grasp how the situation was unfolding, but he couldn't disobey a superior's order, so Daniel followed Heinrich's steps.
*
The place they arrived at following Heinrich was a flat clearing in the forest, 18 kilometers north of where the enemy supply battalion had been found.
As soon as he disembarked from the jeep, the first thing he saw were soldiers from the Magitek Armored Brigade.
They stood among the trees without a single stir, clad in all their gear except their field packs, lined up in a sight truly worthy of being called an army of iron.
As Daniel froze under their imposing pressure, Heinrich clapped him on the shoulder.
"Right over there. The Royal Army's underground tunnel you spoke of."
Daniel turned his gaze toward the direction Heinrich was pointing and saw a large iron door, left wide open.
"I sent in scouts skilled in reconnaissance to confirm, and they reported that the underground tunnel connects all the way to the city. Isn't it astonishing? If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have even known it existed."
Heinrich burst into a hearty laugh, but Daniel was simply bewildered.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to offer some kind of rebuttal, the sound of artillery fire, 'Kwaang!', began ringing out from the direction of the division command post.
"It's begun."
Heinrich removed his hand from Daniel's shoulder and shouted toward the brigade's soldiers.
"I just heard the goddess of victory cry out for us to advance! Those of you with ears must have heard it too! Is that not so!?"
At Heinrich's cry, faint smiles spread across the soldiers' lips.
It was utterly bloodthirsty.
"The Royal Army joined hands with the filthy Allies to invade our territory and mock our countless comrades. Remember! The screams our comrades had to let out! The pain they had to endure! The shame they had to withstand!"
Heinrich stepped forward, shouting with the veins bulging in his neck.
"Now we shall return all of it upon them tenfold! Burst the bellies of the enemy who greedily swelled themselves by drinking the blood of our comrades! Advance, elite soldiers of the Empire!"
The soldiers of the brigade let out a unified battle cry.
With that, they began moving toward the underground tunnel, one after another.
The sight of them filing into the tunnel in a two-line column was almost mechanical.
It was proof positive of well-drilled soldiers.
Daniel, who had been quietly observing the scene, approached Heinrich and said,
"A diversionary attack. You advance the division's troops on the front line and fire field artillery to hold the enemy's gaze, then use the underground tunnel to strike the city directly..."
"It'll be an assured victory. Those fellows have been hiding away because it was clear they'd be defeated in a head-on battle. The moment they realize enemy troops have infiltrated the city, they'll be consumed by terror and panic."
Indeed, with this, the fall of the city was only a matter of time.
It wasn't the picture he had hoped for, but watching the soldiers charge in in real time made him grateful that he was a staff officer.
'After all, they wouldn't send a staff officer right into the heart of enemy lines...'
Saving his own skin obviously came first, before escaping the Empire.
You had to be alive to get another chance, after all.
As he felt quietly relieved while watching the soldiers, Heinrich turned to him and said,
"Looks like you're envying the soldiers? A devoted officer of the Empire like you must want to crush the enemy with your own hands, after all. In my younger days, that kind of fighting spirit used to overflow in me, too."
That was absolutely not the case, but there was no reason he couldn't play along.
"That's correct, sir. However, I believe that protecting our army's rear flank as a staff officer is also important. Regretfully, I must leave the glory of attacking the enemy to the soldiers."
"An admirable mindset. But if you wish for it, there's no reason for you to stand idly by in the back. No, I suppose saying you can't stand idly by would be more accurate."
Wait a moment. The flow of this conversation was strange.
As Daniel looked on with puzzlement, Heinrich gave a knowing smile, as if telling him it was all right to be happy.
"The division commander has ordered you and the entire headquarters direct command unit to join the Magitek Mobile Unit in assaulting the city."
"...Pardon me? But my company joining the fight would only be a nuisance."
"The division commander initially thought the same as you. But after talking with you, he completely changed his mind. When it was just the two of us, the division commander told me. He said you are a bloodthirsty wolf."
Daniel's mouth fell open blankly. He had thought it was some kind of nonsense.
"He told me to let him fill his starving belly, so go ahead and run wild to your heart's content."
"...Are you sure he was talking about me, sir?"
"Yes. It's rare for the division commander to show such favor, so use this opportunity to prove yourself."
He couldn't understand what on earth the man was seeing him as to make such absurd remarks.
But if his superiors ordered him to jump, he could only ask how high. It couldn't be helped.
Letting out a short groan, Daniel looked at Heinrich and said,
"Brigade Commander, Your Excellency. But did the division commander really call me a bloodthirsty wolf?"
"Hmm? Haha. You must have really taken a liking to that nickname. It was said in a joking tone, but he definitely called you that."
Thanks to that, he was able to be certain of one thing once again.
That his life was spiraling out of control in real time.