I Was Mistaken as a Great War Commander

The Imperial General Staff Headquarters.
Daniel Steiner’s personal office.

Rustle—

In Daniel’s office while he was away, Lucie was handling the work.

Lucie, who had been reviewing and organizing documents by importance as usual, raised her head.

‘Footsteps…’

She could hear footsteps coming from the hallway.

‘Is it Daniel?’

Today was the day Daniel was supposed to return after relinquishing his vacation.

The thought of no longer having to work overtime once Daniel arrived made her feel inexplicably pleased.

With anticipation, Lucie perked up her ears but soon shook her head.

‘No, it’s not him.’

It wasn’t Daniel’s footsteps.

Based on the sound, the stride and weight with which the feet touched the ground differed.

‘Then who could it be…’

Just as she wondered if it might be Ernst, the Chief of Operations, the office door opened.

Without even a knock, someone in a navy blue police uniform slowly entered through the opened door.

Seeing this, Lucie’s hand trembled slightly.

For she recognized the middle-aged man quite well.

‘Kartmann Schultz…’

He was the Chief Inspector of the Security Police.

She couldn’t possibly not recognize him, as they had even dined together at a restaurant when she was in disguise before.

“Hm?”

Looking puzzled at the empty desk, Kartmann turned his head.

Upon making eye contact with Lucie, he fell silent for a moment before forcing an awkward smile.

“Ah, are you Major Daniel’s aide?”

Lucie hesitated to answer.

If Kartmann, a Security Police officer, suspected her, it could lead to big trouble.

‘But back then, I clearly…’

Not only had she concealed her appearance with a wig and sunglasses, but she hadn’t even spoken.

Thinking a brief conversation would be fine, Lucie calmly rose from her seat and spoke.

“Yes. What business brings you from the Security Police all the way to the General Staff Headquarters?”
“Well. There are several reasons, but to put it simply…”

Scratching his head, Kartmann suddenly fixed his gaze on Lucie.

“Rooting out a spy.”

For a moment, silence hung between them.

The suspicion lingering in Kartmann’s sleepy eyes felt chillingly palpable.

However, being suspected was nothing new for Lucie.

Without the slightest change in expression, she accepted Kartmann’s words.

“Are you saying there’s a spy within the General Staff Headquarters?”

In response to Lucie’s question, Kartmann let out a scornful laugh.

Ordinarily, one would protest by saying something like, “Are you suspecting me?” thereby inadvertently implicating themselves, but Lucie had cunningly redirected Kartmann’s suspicion towards the entire Headquarters.

Realizing she wasn’t an easy target, Kartmann shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, to be honest, I don’t want to suspect those who are working hard for the Empire at the Headquarters. But after conducting my own investigation, I’ve found circumstances that raise suspicions about Major Daniel.”
“Circumstances that raise suspicions?”
“That’s right. I once had the honor of dining with Major Daniel at a restaurant. And there was this woman accompanying him.”

She was a peculiar one. Stroking his chin as if deep in thought, Kartmann suddenly snapped his fingers.

“Ah! She claimed to have been a military doctor on the Eastern Front who suffered an eye injury from enemy soldiers. She wore sunglasses, so I couldn’t see her eyes, but she had beautiful brown hair.”

Kartmann gazed at Lucie with a smirk.

“She was quite close to my type. So, I secretly investigated a bit. How many military doctors suffered eye injuries from enemy soldiers on the Eastern Front while still remaining relatively young?”

Wiping the smirk off his face, Kartmann raised his hand and spread his fingers.

“Five. There were five military doctors who had suffered eye injuries but were still alive and relatively young. Then I thought, out of these five, how many had brown hair?”

Kartmann folded three of his fingers.

“Two. Only two of them had brown hair. So then, out of these brown-haired military doctors with eye injuries, who was the one who developed a speech impediment and became completely unable to speak?”

Kartmann clenched his fist.

“Unfortunately, none.”

Staring intently at Lucie, Kartmann lowered his hand.

“Isn’t that strange? The military doctor Major Daniel described doesn’t seem to exist in reality. Then it must have been a lie. But why would he lie?”

Tilting his head once, Kartmann raised his eyes.

“Perhaps that woman was a spy, and he concealed her from me, a Security Police officer.”

It was an accurate deduction, but Lucie didn’t even bat an eye.

Instead, she simply frowned in displeasure.

“Are you attempting to accuse my superior, Major Daniel, of colluding with a spy?”

As Lucie firmly confronted him, Kartmann fell silent for a moment before letting out a scornful laugh and shaking his head.

“Of course not. For now, it’s merely my foolish delusion. I sincerely hope it’s just a delusion. But there’s no harm in making sure, is there? With that in mind…”

Kartmann fumbled around in his pocket and took something out.

It was a sunglasses case.

When Kartmann opened the case, it contained a pair of sunglasses identical to the ones Lucie had worn back then.

“Could you try these on for me? I’m not particularly suspecting you, Lieutenant Lucie, but if that woman I met really was a spy, she might be operating within the Headquarters.”

The implication was for her to try on the sunglasses since he had others do the same.

Thanks to this, Lucie broke out in a cold sweat in secret.

If she put on the sunglasses Kartmann was offering, it would only amplify his suspicions.

She could claim it was just a similar appearance, but Kartmann’s tenacious investigation afterward would make it impossible to maintain that excuse for long.

However, refusing to wear the sunglasses would also seem suspicious.

Backed into a corner, Lucie took a deep breath and reached out for the sunglasses, judging it the best course of action for now.

But at that moment…

“What are you doing right now?”

Daniel’s voice caused Lucie’s hand to pause.

Reflexively turning her head, Lucie could see Daniel standing at the office entrance, watching her.

Caught off guard by his unexpected appearance, Lucie forgot to salute and simply blinked blankly.

Kartmann, too, turned his head towards the voice and spotted Daniel.

“Ah, Major Daniel. It’s not what it looks like…”

As Kartmann spoke nonchalantly, his voice gradually trailed off.

For Daniel, who had approached closer, was looking down at Kartmann as if he might devour him.

The oppressive aura exuded by Daniel’s tall stature and sharp gaze was truly formidable.

“Explain what this is all about.”

The authoritative tone in Daniel’s voice intimidated Kartmann.

However, in his current position, Kartmann could not back down, so he opened his mouth.

“Explain, you say? I’m merely doing my job. The higher-ups granted me access to the Headquarters, so…”
“Then did you obtain a warrant for internal security surveillance?”

Kartmann fell silent.

An internal security surveillance warrant superseded mere access clearance.

No matter the Security Police, without concrete evidence, such a warrant would not be issued.

As Kartmann remained silent, Daniel furrowed his brow.

“Don’t tell me you barged in here without a warrant. Moreover, you’ve put my aide in a difficult situation.”
“Major Daniel. It’s a misunderstanding. Besides, this is all for the sake of national interests. So I haven’t put your aide in a difficult situation—”
“Kartmann Schultz.”

Cutting off Kartmann’s words, Daniel lightly dipped his head.

“Since you seem unable to understand, let me reiterate.”

Meeting Kartmann’s gaze, he could see the snarling wolf that was Daniel.

“Leave here at once.”

Cold sweat trickled down.

Overcome by a sense of dread, Kartmann nodded and hurriedly fled the office.

Only after confirming Kartmann’s departure did Daniel let out a sigh of relief.

‘I knew Baron Velbar would take action, but to send someone so quickly.’

It was undoubtedly Baron Velbar who had granted Kartmann access to the Headquarters.

‘Seeing Security Police officers roaming the Headquarters…’

It could only be interpreted as them becoming desperate to find evidence.

‘At least it’s a relief. If Lucie had put on those sunglasses, things would have become complicated.’

If Lucie were suspected of being a spy, her superior Daniel wouldn’t be spared either.

In the worst case, he could have been accused of colluding with a spy and faced execution.

That’s why he had mustered his spirit and chased Kartmann away.

However, this was only a temporary solution.

‘Velbar will continue to pressure me. In that case…’

He needed to extinguish Velbar’s very will to fight back.

Currently, Daniel possessed the power and ability to do so.

“Aide.”

Having made up his mind, Daniel turned towards Lucie.

“I’ll be meeting with Her Highness the Princess, so guard the Headquarters while I’m gone. And don’t go anywhere near the Security Police today, understood?”

Staring blankly at Daniel, Lucie gave a small nod.

Seeing this, Daniel promptly left the office.

Gazing absentmindedly at the spot where Daniel had exited, Lucie let out a long sigh.

‘Why…’

She couldn’t understand why Daniel had confronted the Security Police officer pressuring her.

From Lucie’s perspective, it was as if Daniel had risked his life to save her, who was suspected of being a spy.

After being lost in thought for a while, Lucie half-opened her eyes and placed her hand over her chest.

“……”

The pounding of her heart was conveyed through her fingertips.