An Unwanted Encounter
An Unwanted Encounter
When I heard that the number of applicants had exceeded two thousand, I asked the personnel officer a question, seized by despair.
Why the recruitment notice I had written was considered a well-written notice.
In response, the personnel officer smiled and explained.
He kindly counted off the reasons on his fingers as he did so.
1. As the war with the Allied Nations dragged into a prolonged conflict, the children of parents who died on the battlefield had come of age and were enlisting en masse, burning with vengeance.
2. The notice written by Acting Operations Staff Officer Lieutenant Daniel Steiner was akin to pouring oil on the vengeful fire of those bereaved soldiers, so an increase in applicants was only natural.
3. Furthermore, the battlefield was the Northern Front, where the Imperial Army held the winning hand. It was judged that a fair number of soldiers wished to make a name for themselves on this advantageous battlefield and seize their share of the glory.
4. The phrasing that portrayed those in the rear as parasites likely provoked the soldiers' spirit of defiance. The probability was high that some of them took the notice's wording seriously and applied for the sake of honor.
5. Even setting aside the aforementioned logical deductions, there was something in Lieutenant Daniel's notice that moved a man's heart.
Having unfolded all the fingers on one hand, the personnel officer added that I possessed 'a talent for propaganda' and that I should let him know anytime if I wished to transfer to the Personnel Department.
I answered the transfer offer with an awkward smile, sent the personnel officer back, and ordered the soldiers to sort the documents.
By common sense, I couldn't reject over two thousand applicants, so my being sent to the Northern Front was practically a certainty.
In that case, the best course of action was to select the most normal yet elite soldiers from the applicants to ensure my safety.
Thus, anyone with even a minor criminal record was excluded.
Those whose purpose for applying was simply vengeance were also excluded.
Those harboring impure ideologies or appearing mentally or physically weak were excluded.
Those who had disobeyed a superior officer's command even once during training were also excluded.
Those who failed to achieve a perfect score on the marksmanship test were excluded.
Those without magitek aptitude were excluded.
After the first round of document screening, the number of remaining applicants was 327.
From among them, I selected and re-selected those with excellent grades and exemplary military conduct, finally choosing twenty squad members and sending them their acceptance notices.
Now, it had been ten days since I sent those acceptance notices.
I stood before them.
"......."
Standing in ten columns, lined up before the fountain at the main gate of the General Staff Headquarters which served as our rally point, the squad members I had selected exuded an intimidating pressure, and it felt unwarranted.
Their eyes in particular were terrifying.
To exaggerate slightly, their eyes held the iron-willed spirit of men who would follow a suicide charge order without a single word of complaint.
'No matter that I picked these guys myself... aren't they kind of lacking in humanity?'
I was breaking out in a cold sweat without even realizing it.
Of course, not the entire squad was acting like war machines devoid of humanity.
There was one woman blinking her clear eyes among the sturdy men.
'Frien Remilliart.'
She was the woman I had met previously in the detention cell and a named NPC destined to be reborn as the Saint of the Empire in the future.
She now wore the private's insignia, having apparently completed basic training without much difficulty.
I had picked her without much thought when I saw her on the applicant list, but looking at Frien, who was sending me sparkling glances amidst soldiers burning with fighting spirit, reminded me of a lunatic with clear eyes.
Did I choose wrong? As I stared at Frien with wariness, I let out a dry cough.
"I'm glad to meet you, soldiers."
Explaining the mission outline, however briefly, before departure was a commander's responsibility.
I was now trying to fulfill that duty.
I hoped my squad members would get scared and run away during the process.
"As you saw in the notice, the man standing before you is Lieutenant Daniel Steiner, an operations staff officer and your platoon leader. Lest you somehow missed it in the notice, I'll say it again: I have no combat experience."
Even though I told them I could be incompetent, there was absolutely no stir among them.
Fine. So you'll persevere, huh? Then I'll come on even stronger.
"Therefore, gentlemen, I hope you do not expect a competent commander. For the only thing I desire is the destruction of the Allied forces and the screams of the barbarians belonging to them."
Right now, I was appealing that I had no particular skill in tactics or strategy.
Any normal soldier would naturally feel fear at this point.
But for some reason, ferocious smiles were blooming on the faces of my squad members.
After a brief silence as I looked them over, I snapped a warning at them.
"I have no need for cowards. Therefore, your only chance to flee from the blood-soaked battlefield is now. Those who wish to abandon this mission, raise your hand."
I had expected it, but not a single bastard raised his hand.
As I thought, these guys were out of their minds.
I sighed internally and opened my mouth for the last time.
"Good! You lot are nothing but fools who wish to challenge death! I shall personally assist you. Your sweat and blood will bring glory to the Empire!"
No sooner had my words ended than the soldiers saluted.
"Glory to the Empire!"
Their voices rang out in unison, enough to blanket the General Staff Headquarters.
Watching this, I closed my eyes and groaned inwardly.
'This is insane.......'
Truly, there were no war fanatics quite like these.
*
Four days later.
307th Special Mission Unit Provisional Forward Base, Northern Front.
'Today was the day the reinforcements from the General Staff Headquarters Direct Command Unit were supposed to arrive, wasn't it?'
Resting in his military tent, Captain Heinz Schmidt, commander of the 307th Special Mission Unit company, reached into his pocket and pulled out the recruitment notice he had seen before.
《Northern Front Volunteer Recruitment Notice》
Hear me, you officers!
A fierce battle to defend the noble soil of our fatherland is currently raging in the north!
Therefore, I desire men who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the Empire!
You men! Do not covet the Empire's grain while alive, but become the foundation adorning the Empire's glory in death!
Join me and destroy, violate, and eliminate the enemy until you die!
We shall wish only for the death of our enemies!
'......It's like looking at pure madness.'
Even for Heinz, who prided himself on having witnessed all kinds of madness through assassinations, high-profile eliminations, and counter-terrorism operations since joining the special mission unit, this notice felt unfamiliar.
'As if this isn't recruiting comrades to fight alongside...'
It looked as though he was seeking expendable parts to use and discard for the Empire.
'Lieutenant Daniel Steiner, was it?'
According to what he'd heard from his adjutant, he was a talented individual who had recently received a special promotion to lieutenant for achieving three distinguished merits.
Yet the fact that he was still unsatisfied and had volunteered for the Northern Front meant one thing.
'A war maniac crazed with promotion......!'
Lieutenant Daniel Steiner appeared to be someone who knew how to use his allies without blood or tears for the sake of his own advancement.
Feeling deeply uncomfortable with that fact, Heinz unconsciously tightened his grip before shaking his head.
'One must not judge a person by rumors alone.'
One could never truly know a person's inner thoughts without experiencing them firsthand.
Just as he steadied his mind, a soldier entered the tent and saluted.
"Company Commander! The reinforcements dispatched from the General Staff Headquarters have arrived!"
Heinz nodded upon hearing the report.
"Understood. Let's go out."
Stowing the notice back into his pocket, Heinz rose from his seat.
He glanced back at the girl reading a book leisurely nearby, but since she seemed focused on her reading, he didn't bother speaking to her.
After showing the girl courtesy with a single nod, Heinz opened the tent flap and stepped outside.
His vision brightened, revealing a single platoon advancing across the snow-covered ground.
The twenty soldiers, exuding an inexplicably intense aura, created an unwarranted sense of intimidation.
It was enough to make nearby special mission unit officers and soldiers flinch and step back.
Leading these soldiers, who resembled war machines, was none other than Lieutenant Daniel Steiner.
He was staring straight ahead, his gaunt eyes glinting, seemingly devoid of any emotion.
"......."
"......."
When their eyes met, Heinz felt as if his body was stiffening for some unknown reason.
Daniel had been frowning, but realizing the man before him was the unit commander, he promptly saluted.
As Heinz returned the salute under tension, Daniel approached with a thin smile.
"It is an honor to meet you, Captain Heinz Schmidt."
"......You know my name?"
"Yes. I conducted a brief investigation into the unit I would be joining. It's a unit that has accomplished many tremendous missions. I think I understand why I was sent here."
"I appreciate you saying so. It must have been a difficult journey here. Are you not fatigued? Your soldiers, too, must be weary from the trip."
Daniel let out a low laugh and shook his head.
"You mean those suicide aspirants? I've been observing them for a few days, and they never seem to tire, so don't worry."
Heinz broke into a cold sweat at the term 'suicide aspirants'.
'As I thought...... he treats his soldiers as mere expendables.'
In reality, it was merely a joke to lighten the heavy atmosphere, but Heinz, already gripped by his preconceptions, was beginning to see Daniel as some kind of demon.
"......Captain Heinz, sir?"
It was about then that Daniel, who could not possibly know this, tilted his head at Heinz's stiff expression.
"What is all this commotion?"
The entrance to the military tent behind Heinz opened, and a blonde girl appeared.
Dressed in a pure white blouse with a red brooch at her neck, she was unmistakably a noble family's daughter.
Daniel, who had casually shifted his gaze, froze and closed his mouth the moment his eyes met the girl's.
Seeing this, Heinz opened his mouth to introduce her.
"Ah. This young lady here is a war correspondent who has been assigned to our unit. She arrived a few days ago and said she wanted to capture the Imperial Army's valor on camera."
Even with Heinz's explanation, Daniel could not take his eyes off the girl.
The girl, conscious of his gaze, smiled brightly at Daniel.
At the same time, Daniel felt as if every cell in his body had frozen over.
'This woman is a war correspondent?'
No. Absolutely not.
As far as Daniel knew, the woman before him was royalty.
'Why are you here?'
She was the heir to the throne, destined to later ascend as Emperor of the Empire.
Selvia von Amberg.
That was the girl's true identity.