How Did It Come to This?
How Did It Come to This?
I stopped drinking mid-sip and stared blankly at the soldier's face in front of me.
Something about his flushed, excited face and the burgeoning respect for me radiating from it gave me a queasy feeling.
At first I'd been annoyed at the soldier for interrupting my off-duty rest at the officers' club, but now I was seized by an entirely different emotion.
It was because of the news the soldier had brought me — that the logistics construction site I'd designated was, in fact, an oil deposit.
Could I have misheard? Please, let me have misheard. Breaking out in a cold sweat, I set my glass down on the bar and spoke.
"Soldier. If you don't mind, could you repeat that?"
"Of course! They say a massive quantity of oil has been discovered exactly at the logistics construction site you ordered, Lieutenant Daniel! Captain Arnop, the logistics staff officer, radioed in and told me to inform you immediately, so I rushed here at the risk of being impolite!"
This soldier's voice was far too loud.
Wasn't he practically shouting it in every direction, as if he were desperate to brag about my achievements?
Thanks to that, not only the bartender but even people from other departments spending their leisure time in the officers' club were casting glances my way.
"...Oil, discovered at the logistics department?"
"Who discovered it? Don't tell me it's that greenhorn?"
"No, look closely — that's Lieutenant Daniel."
"Who's Lieutenant Daniel?"
"You don't know the guy who caught the spy and got a one-grade special promotion? Thanks to him, the Central Intelligence Department took quite a hit, you know? Same with the Hill Country matter..."
The stares fixed on me and the snatches of conversation drifting over were burdensome.
'I won't be able to come to the officers' club for a while...'
Staying here any longer would feel like sitting on a bed of thorns, so I rose from my seat.
"If what the logistics staff officer told you is true, I can't not go inspect it in person."
I straightened my uniform and put on the service cap I had left resting on the bar table.
"I'll get inspection approval from the Deputy Chief of Operations. Thank you for bringing the news, soldier."
As I expressed my thanks, dipping the black brim of my service cap slightly, the soldier vigorously snapped a salute.
He looked visibly moved. Though I had no idea exactly what had moved him.
"It was an honor to be of help to you, Lieutenant Daniel!"
Having given a half-hearted salute in return, I stepped out of the officers' club and privately furrowed my brow.
'The worst construction site I deliberately picked... is actually an oil deposit? What kind of absurd... Surely the logistics officer must have been mistaken.'
Right. It had to be a mistake.
Oil was one of the most strategically critical resources in wartime.
Vehicles, of course, but you needed oil to run tanks and put fighters in the sky. It was no exaggeration to say the presence or absence of an oil extraction site determined the tide of war.
Which meant my position within the Imperial Army would become solidified as a direct result of discovering oil.
To summarize, my dream of a dishonorable discharge had just taken another step further away.
So, please. The soldier's report absolutely had to be a mistake.
*
Most unfortunately, it was not a mistake.
After ten days of complex procedures, I finally came out to inspect the site, and there was oil gushing up right in the middle of Bardenplatz Plain.
The sight of the oil derrick operating with a thundering roar made me scowl.
"Do you see? That right there is the oil Lieutenant Daniel discovered!"
Wahaha! Sergeant Winter Enfelt burst into a hearty laugh and raised a fist.
If I weren't an officer but a fellow non-commissioned officer, he looked ready to throw an arm around my shoulders, he was that enthusiastic.
Back when I'd ordered him to build the logistics department here, he'd glared at me like I was some kind of human garbage, but now the situation's changed, hasn't it?
As I was staring at Sergeant Winter with displeasure, the logistics staff officer Arnop, standing beside me, spoke up.
"Lieutenant Daniel. On behalf of the Logistics Department, I offer you our gratitude. According to the report, there's enough oil buried underground to supply the Empire for the next 27 years. This will become a formidable weapon for the Empire."
"Is that so."
"Yes. Accordingly, I've already contacted the Railway Department. We plan to connect a railway to this logistics site to transport the oil more quickly. Once that's done, we won't have to rely on imports due to oil shortages any longer."
Hadn't Arnop originally been irritable and negative about everything?
His impression at the first inspection had definitely been close to that of a pessimist, but now I saw both his eyes were filled with hope. He even seemed to be feeling a certain degree of elation.
By contrast, I could only heave one sigh after another. What was the point of racking up military achievements in an Empire that was destined to lose anyway, I wondered.
Arnop must have mistaken my sigh for one of relief — relief that the Empire no longer depended on foreign powers — because he looked back at me and spoke in an approving tone.
"At any rate, it has barely been four months since you were commissioned, and you've already racked up three brilliant achievements. I wouldn't be surprised if you get promoted again before long."
Sergeant Winter chimed in, raising his voice.
"Haha! That's absolutely true! At this rate, won't Lieutenant Daniel end up outranking you, Captain? That would really be a sight to see."
Watching the two of them make a fuss over my promotion, how should I put it...
While I appreciated the congratulatory sentiment itself, from my position on the receiving end, it was just incredibly uncomfortable.
"You flatter me. I have no desire for any further special promotion."
No sooner had I finished speaking than both of them stopped breathing and stared fixedly at me.
Just as I was wondering if I'd made a verbal slip, Arnop cleared his throat dryly and spoke in a fairly serious tone.
"...I still have a long way to go. Hearing you say you don't desire promotion makes me feel shabby for thinking that devotion to the Empire should naturally be followed by reward."
"Lieutenant Daniel Steiner is truly a model for all soldiers. How can he possibly harbor such noble thoughts..."
Wait, didn't the two of you treat me like a total greenhorn during that first inspection?
It was absurd, but not entirely incomprehensible.
Compared to me, both of them possessed at least some degree of loyalty to the Empire.
From the perspective of Arnop and Winter, my statement that I didn't desire promotion despite having achieved immense merits would naturally come across as aristocratic nobility.
The reality was that I didn't want promotion because I wanted to escape the Empire, but it didn't seem necessary to inform them of that.
I raised a salute toward Arnop.
"Now that the inspection is complete, I will return to General Headquarters to file my report. I ask that both of you continue to devote your efforts to the logistics department construction."
"Of course. Leave it to me."
As Arnop returned the salute, I lowered my hand and turned to walk away.
I boarded a military jeep parked nearby, and the driver started the engine.
I straightened my collar, then glanced out the window. Arnop and Winter were still gazing after me with admiring eyes.
Extremely burdened, I turned my head straight forward and hurriedly spoke.
"Move out."
"Yes, Lieutenant."
As the driver pressed the accelerator, the jeep jolted and lurched forward.
Since it was still an unpaved road, such bumping and jolting had to be endured.
As I rode along gripping the roof handle, I glanced idly at the rearview mirror and broke into a cold sweat.
Because Arnop and Winter were still watching this way.
It felt like watching public officials fawning over a minister.
Mm. As I thought, I must never go near the logistics department again.
*
The news that oil had burst forth on Bardenplatz Plain swept across the entire Empire in an instant.
To spread this happy news, newspaper companies ran their printing presses day after day, and boys on the street corners cried out the extra editions, selling the papers in their hands like hotcakes.
Naturally, the Imperial Household was also aware of the fact.
"Is it true that a large-scale oil deposit has been discovered on Bardenplatz Plain? Who on earth discovered the oil deposit?"
At the question of Princess Selvia von Amberg — a girl with blue eyes resembling lapis lazuli and golden hair resembling the rays of spring — Quartermaster General Kaspar Benedict set down his utensils.
Though Kaspar Benedict, with four stars on his epaulettes, was a general overseeing logistics, before the princess he was nothing more than a subordinate.
"That is correct. The Lord has truly bestowed a gracious treasure upon the Empire."
"It wouldn't have been the Lord."
Kaspar's shoulders flinched. He wondered if the princess was about to commit blasphemy. But the princess had no such intention.
"It was a human being, and only a human being, who discovered that oil was deposited under Bardenplatz Plain. I am asking you who that human being is."
"Your Highness. He is but an orphan of no significance to Your Highness. So..."
Selvia's eyes narrowed.
"Quartermaster General. Since when has the Empire judged merit by birth status? Have you forgotten the Empire is at war?"
What Selvia was now saying, in a roundabout way, was to just answer the question she'd asked.
As Kaspar was not unaware of that, he bowed his head and relayed the information.
"To my knowledge, the one who located the oil deposit is Lieutenant Daniel Steiner. I understand he is currently active at General Headquarters as a deputy operations staff officer."
A lieutenant? A man who was still only a lieutenant had located an oil deposit?
For Selvia, who had naturally expected some high-ranking official to have discovered the oil deposit by pouring in money and manpower, it was a rather refreshing shock.
'...Interesting. In many ways.'
A person who was still only a mere lieutenant had a high probability of being a clean political blank slate.
Which meant there was no better time than the present to recruit him as an ally.
Even one more capable talent had to be kept close by her side.
Because that would increase the probability of succeeding to the throne.
"Lieutenant Daniel Steiner..."
Tapping the dining table lightly, Selvia gave a soft smile.
'I'll have to pay him a visit soon.'