I Was Mistaken for a Great General of War

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My intuition was telling me.

That something big was going to happen with Lucy today.

I’m not bragging, but my intuition is usually quite accurate.

So, I spent my day on guard, but contrary to my expectations, Lucy worked quietly, just as usual.

“It’s quitting time, Captain.”

In my private office, Lucy looked back at me as she finished organizing documents.

‘…Is it already quitting time?’

Looking away from Lucy to the wall clock, it was 6 PM.

After a moment of daze, I cleared my throat and stood up.

“Right. Let’s get going.”

Grabbing a few documents into my briefcase, I headed out of the office with Lucy following me.

Just as we descended the central staircase and stepped out of the General Staff Headquarters—

“Um, Captain.”

Wondering what it was, I turned to see Lucy holding out an umbrella.

“This is the umbrella I borrowed from you before. Thanks to it, I was able to avoid the rain. I meant to return it a bit earlier, but since you’ve been quite busy, I didn’t have the chance.”

Ah, I had lent her an umbrella.

“I’m glad it was useful.”

As I took the umbrella, Lucy looked up at me, blinking her red eyes.

“Also, congratulations on receiving the National Order of Goryeo Medal. Considering the favor you received, a promotion to Major is just a matter of time, right?”

…What? Was that a threat?

Unsure of her intentions, I froze as Lucy lowered her head slightly.

“Well then, I have a prior engagement, so I’ll be leaving first.”

With that, Lucy walked ahead.

Had my intuition been wrong? Was nothing actually going to happen?

As I stared blankly at Lucy’s retreating figure, I opened my briefcase and put the umbrella inside.

‘Well, good things must come too.’

I closed the bag and looked up at the sky; it was clear without a cloud in sight.

‘Is it summer now?’

The sun was still up at 6 PM.

The gentle breeze blowing by was pleasantly warm.

Taking a nice deep breath, I lightened my steps.

‘I heard there’s a new dessert shop on the outskirts of the city, maybe I should check it out.’

After all the recent chaos, I wanted to take some time to relax.

*

“Boss. It seems we can now distribute our products on Raven Street 23. We’ve upped the bribes for the patrolling cops, so they’ll look the other way for a while.”

In a room with an old ventilator spinning, Mafia boss Nickel chuckled contentedly.

“See? What did I tell you? If they won’t take bribes, just offer them more money. We should just keep expanding our routes and form a tighter network.”

As Nickel put a cigar in his mouth, a subordinate rushed over to light it for him.

After taking a few puffs and exhaling the smoke, the subordinate stepped back.

Knocking the ash off his burning cigar into an ashtray, Nickel said, “I have a meeting with the customs inspector today, so tell everyone to dress formally. We need to grease that slippery bastard’s palms to make opium smuggling easier.”

“Yes! Understood!”

As the subordinate replied energetically, Nickel waved his hand.

The subordinate then opened the door and left the room.

Watching him go, Nickel took a few more puffs from his cigar before rising his hefty body from the chair.

He pushed the creaky chair back and stood in front of a full-length mirror, adjusting his appearance.

His hands were adorned with several gold rings, all accentuating his luxurious attire.

As Nickel basked in the sight of himself draped in expensive goods, a greedy smile crept onto his face.

‘It’s so easy. Who knew it would be this simple…!’

Nickel was originally a spy for the United Alliance.

The opium trade began purely as a means to fund local operations.

However, as the scale grew and he came to manage around thirty members, his greed for wealth surpassed any loyalty to his homeland.

Thus, he betrayed both his country and organization.

A life of luxury and comfort dealing opium in the Empire was far more appealing than risking his life for clandestine espionage.

It had already been over a year since he ignored communications from his homeland, with no pangs of conscience in sight.

‘They treated me like a disposable tool from the start anyway…’

There was no longer any reason for him to follow their orders.

Just as Nickel had rationalized his choices and was about to turn to meet the customs inspector—

Clunk—

The cool sensation of a silencer pressed against the back of his head.

In an instant of confusion, the space behind Nickel started to distort in the mirror.

‘Optical camouflage…!’

A high-level technique that reflects and refracts light to render the body transparent via mana.

Very few people, even in the Empire and the United Alliance, could use optical camouflage.

So who could be the one disabling it right now? As cold sweat trickled down his back, a woman with red eyes slowly revealed herself.

“…!”

At the sight, Nickel’s heart raced.

He had heard of the “Grim Reaper with Red Eyes” who punishes traitors of the homeland.

But wasn’t that just an urban legend? While Nickel trembled in confusion, Lucy slowly moved her lips.

“Nickel Meyer. Your homeland has given you countless opportunities. However, you have frequently denied them.”

The coldness of her tone froze him in place.

Nickel’s eyes darted around frantically as he stuttered, “W-wait! Keeping me alive would be beneficial for the United Alliance! I’m spreading opium into the Empire! Even though I betrayed you, I’m not doing anything that harms the Empire!”

“That excuse won’t hold.”

“Please! L-let’s do this. I’ll give you all the money I’ve collected—”

Lucy pulled the trigger.

Pew—

A muffled gunshot echoed, and blood splashed.

Nickel’s hefty body swayed for a moment before crashing to the ground with a loud thud.

“…”

Looking down coldly at the fallen Nickel, Lucy dusted her hands off and opened a window.

It was three stories high, but that wasn’t much of a problem for her.

Leaping down like a cat, Lucy landed lightly on the ground and then entered a nearby alleyway.

Dodging beggars and wandering the streets, Lucy finally stepped into an empty alley.

If she could change her clothes here and leave, her mission would be a success.

Thinking she had a moment’s reprieve, Lucy pulled out sunglasses from her coat pocket and put them on.

The red eyes were bound to draw attention, so it was best to hide them as much as possible.

After adjusting her wig, Lucy began to take off her blood-splattered coat but paused as her gaze accidentally met the approaching Empire soldier.

At first, she thought it was just a nuisance because her workload seemed to have increased, but upon closer inspection of the soldier, she couldn’t help but feel rare surprise.

‘…Daniel Steiner?’

The soldier with sharp wolf-like eyes and black hair was none other than Daniel Steiner.

Thus, Lucy’s expression cracked slightly from her usual stoic demeanor.

‘This is dangerous.’

Who was Daniel Steiner? A man credited with numerous achievements, he was also skilled at uncovering and interrogating spies.

Not to mention, he had significant combat prowess.

He had famously taken out Colonel Jeremy in a single blow and defeated seven soldiers in battle.

Additionally, he was the one who turned eight enemy agents into corpses while rescuing the Princess.

‘Of course…’

If the only skill Daniel employed was Neural Acceleration, I could definitely overpower him.

But he was a thorough, calculative, cool-headed, and sinister individual.

There was also the possibility he could use other techniques while keeping them under wraps.

Even if I somehow succeeded in killing Daniel here, I wouldn’t be able to escape the Empire’s investigation.

If it were just some random soldier, it wouldn’t matter, but Daniel was among the elite who received the National Order of Goryeo Medal and was a candidate for early promotion.

If such a figure were found dead in an alleyway, there would be a massive investigation, and Lucy would likely be apprehended in the process.

‘In that case…’

The only option left was to navigate this situation as smoothly as possible.

Fortunately, Lucy was already wearing a wig and sunglasses.

If she could act like someone else and trick Daniel, she might make it out alive.

The worst-case scenario would be if Daniel had been tracking her from the start and followed her into the alley, but for now, she decided not to act rashly until it was certain.

As Lucy was brainstorming ways out of the situation in her head, Daniel was having a similar train of thought.

‘I was just trying to go to a dessert shop and got lost…’

Turning into this alley, he bumped into Lucy, who had blood on her coat. It was the worst-case scenario.

…There was a reason he was certain that woman was Lucy.

He had seen her fiery red eyes flash right before she put on the sunglasses upon entering the alley.

‘It feels like she ran into me while on a spy mission.’

This was troubling. The moment Lucy knew he recognized her as a spy, a bullet might find its way to his forehead.

But the chances of that happening were low.

Surely, Lucy would try to find a way to extricate herself from this situation.

After all, she was wearing a wig and sunglasses, wasn’t she?

That naturally led to the assumption that Lucy would be pretending to be someone else.

‘In that case, there’s only one way out.’

Calming themselves, the two exchanged silent glances.

In that instant, both were thinking the same thing.

‘I have to deceive Daniel thoroughly.’

‘I have to grit my teeth and play along.’

Ironically, both their minds were entwined in a strange convergence.