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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: You'll Be a Good Superior
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At the same time, Eldresia Kingdom.
Office of the Director of the Royal Central Intelligence Bureau.
"...Is it true that the anti-war protest leaders have been arrested?"
Standing before a wall adorned with a massive world map, Colonel Octavian Leopold, Director of the Central Intelligence Bureau, spoke, making no effort to conceal his irritation.
Crispin, Head of the Strategic Analysis Department, and Phineas, Head of the Operations Execution Department, stood before the Director to deliver their report, swallowing dryly in tension.
Crispin, eyeing the Director's expression, finally managed to speak.
"Unfortunately, it is true. They reportedly confessed everything, unable to withstand the Imperial Military Police's interrogation."
Phineas, standing beside him, chimed in.
"Furthermore, the Empire is seizing this opportunity to label all those advocating against the war as puppets of the Allied Nations, waging a propaganda campaign."
This meant that the intelligence agency's plan to ignite a popular uprising, using the anti-war protests as a catalyst, had fallen apart.
Of course, it was obvious that any uprising would be suppressed, but the primary goal was to make the Empire's citizens develop a negative view of the war and the military.
Once negative public opinion began to accumulate, the Imperial household would no longer be able to ignore it.
If that could halt the Empire's offensive, the Eldresia Kingdom would gain time.
Time to rearm its defeated army.
However, with the leaders apprehended, everything had gone to waste.
Director Octavian sighed deeply, then glared at his department heads, his brow furrowed.
"Who is it? Who on earth thwarted our plan?"
"...This person."
Crispin lifted the file he held in his left hand and presented it to the Director.
Octavian took the file and frowned at the photo located at the top of the document, which detailed various personal information.
"Him again...!"
Black hair, black eyes.
His face, which could appear gaunt depending on the perspective, and his wolf-like gaze seemed ready to tear into prey at any moment.
[Imperial General Staff Headquarters, Operations Staff Captain Daniel Steiner]
He was a figure who had become famous among the Kingdom's high command for discerning the surprise attack in the foothills of the Thebaita Mountains and for single-handedly killing Colonel Jeremy, the corps commander's adjutant, who was retreating from enemy lines.
A dark horse of the Imperial Army, designated as a person of interest and placed on the next-in-line elimination list.
That was Daniel Steiner.
"He interferes at every turn. Every single turn!"
He felt like shooting the bastard right between the eyes.
But for now, he couldn't harm Daniel Steiner.
Octavian, grinding his teeth, turned his head to look at Crispin.
"What have our allies stated regarding this situation?"
"Well... they are condemning us, claiming that unauthorized intelligence activities have strengthened the Empire's unity."
"Condemning? Did you say condemning? Those insane fools!"
They urged the Kingdom to join the Allied Nations when they needed help, and now that they no longer needed it, they were casting them aside? It was preposterous.
"The Kingdom faithfully carried out its role! The allies surely didn't expect the Kingdom to defeat the Imperial Army! Our role was to split the Empire's forces, diverting them to the north!"
Octavian threw the file he held in his hand.
"It's *them* who haven't performed their role properly! What on earth are the Allied Nations doing on the Eastern Front? They're just foolishly dragging out time, alternating between victories and defeats!"
Crispin and Phineas could only bow their heads silently at Octavian's shouts.
Octavian, looking at his subordinates, grumbled softly and raised a hand.
Right. It wasn't his subordinates' fault. Octavian swept a hand over his face and spoke with a serious expression.
"...Damn it. There's only one way now. Unleash the hounds on the Imperial household."
At his words, Phineas, Head of the Operations Execution Department, looked up, a cold sweat beading on his brow.
"But, Your Excellency! If we execute that operation, the agents we've planted in the Empire will be massacred."
"It's only a matter of time anyway. They wouldn't want to be frogs dying in boiling water. So, shouldn't we at least break a few of the Empire's teeth?"
A short silence passed between the two.
Understanding the Director's intent, Phineas bowed his head with a grim determination.
"Yes. I will inform the agents that the time for the decisive battle has come."
*
...Was there ever a day he dreaded going to work as much as today?
Just thinking of Lucy, who had requested immediate execution without the slightest change in expression, still sent shivers down his spine.
Still, he couldn't simply skip work, so he trudged toward the General Staff Headquarters.
As he entered his office to prepare before heading to the staff room, he found Lucy already there.
Lucy, who had been eating a croissant, immediately stood at attention upon seeing him and saluted crisply.
"Good morning, Captain Daniel Steiner."
Looking at Lucy, he gave a perfunctory nod.
"...You came in early. More importantly, is that a croissant?"
"Yes. The one you bought me yesterday was quite delicious. I bought a few for you as well, Captain. You may have them if you're hungry."
"No. I'm fine."
Replying, he walked to his desk, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
However, Lucy didn't sit down; she just stared blankly at him.
Placing his briefcase on the desk, he asked, puzzled.
"...What is it?"
"I am waiting for you to assign me a task."
"You'll go to the operations staff room for that..."
"The Deputy Chief of Operations Staff said you could work from your private office today."
...What? Why? As he blinked, bewildered, Lucy added an explanation.
"The Deputy Chief of Operations Staff asked me to convey that 'Captain Daniel made another great contribution yesterday, and since there's nothing immediate to do for him, he should at least have a comfortable day at work.'"
*Deputy Chief, please! I'm not comfortable being alone in this office with this woman, not one bit!*
Suppressing the urge to scream, he nodded.
"Alright. Then let's get straight to work."
He pulled a stack of documents from his bag and held them out to Lucy.
"These are the documents to review today. You can take a look."
"Understood."
Lucy replied dispassionately and approached him to take the stack of documents.
Returning to her seat, Lucy sat down, opened the documents, and began her review.
Her calm blinking of red eyes as she reviewed the documents truly made her an exemplary adjutant.
If he hadn't known Lucy was a spy, he might have showered her with compliments.
Furthermore, if the adjutant before him had been a regular spy and not Lucy, he would have praised her profusely just to get on good terms.
*'But this woman is Lucy Emilia.'*
For reasons he didn't quite understand, Lucy utterly loathed traitors.
If he were to approach such a Lucy and say, 'I'm defecting, let's be friends,' there was a high probability he'd end up in a very bad situation.
...From that perspective, she was completely unsuited for intelligence work, so why on earth was she doing this here?
Though he wondered, his plan remained unchanged.
Getting Lucy out of his office was the only way to ensure his safety.
*'In that case, the fastest way now is...'*
He needed to report Lucy's shoddy work to his superiors to get her deemed unsuitable.
As it happened, Lucy was currently reviewing documents.
He remembered how overwhelmed he had been when he first took on the adjutant position, just trying to understand and organize all the military terminology that varied by region.
Lucy would surely make the same mistakes.
*'I'll make her feel the terror of a superior to her very bones.'*
Just you wait, Lucy Emilia. He'd criticize her until she voluntarily wanted to quit.
Thinking that, he wore a devilish smile and read a book until Lucy finished reviewing all the documents.
About four hours later, Lucy brought the stack of documents and placed them on his desk.
"Review complete, Captain Daniel Steiner."
Huh? Already? It was enough work for about eight hours, so this was excessively fast.
*'As expected. You're just a rookie after all.'*
She must have missed something in the review.
To begin his critique, he took the documents and looked inside.
And then, to his own surprise, he was astonished.
Lucy's document review skills were astonishingly perfect.
She had not only comprehensively checked the accuracy of information, feasibility, resource planning, risk management, and legal and ethical compliance, but also meticulously ensured that the request properly reflected the opinions of the higher-ups.
To top it off, she had arithmetically expressed the expected effects of the operation's results and even created an evaluation criteria table, allowing superiors to grasp the request at a glance.
Honestly, it was a perfect score.
It was so perfect there was nothing to critique.
Looking through the other documents, all of them had been reviewed to near perfection.
"Hmm..."
Unable to conjure up a single point of criticism, even falsely, he nodded.
"Excellent."
"Thank you. So now..."
"No. There's one more."
He opened a drawer and pulled out another stack of documents.
"These are classified B-level documents. Read them all and then report to me."
"Captain? But the time is currently..."
"I will not entertain objections. Finish them all before I return."
Getting up from his seat, he left Lucy in the office and exited through the door.
*
The place Daniel headed after leaving his office was the Operations Staff Room.
He intended to watch Lucy via the CCTV set up in the Deputy Chief of Operations Staff's office there.
The B-level classified documents Daniel had just given her contained military deployment plans and movement information for specific units, all laid bare.
For a spy, these were mouth-watering documents, so she would surely exhibit unusual behavior.
If he caught it and told Ernst, he could finally be rid of Lucy for good.
*'Perfect.'*
Daniel, convinced that this time his plan would succeed, entered the staff room.
"Oh? Captain Daniel Steiner?"
"Captain! I saw the newspaper! You handled another big one yesterday."
Daniel gave a perfunctory nod to the soldiers and junior officers, then knocked on the door of the Deputy Chief of Operations Staff's office.
"Ah. Captain Daniel, is that you? Come in."
Daniel, having received permission, opened the door to see Ernst preparing to leave for the day.
Puzzled, Daniel exchanged salutes, then posed a question.
"Deputy Chief. Are you perhaps leaving for the day?"
"Yes. There wasn't much work today, and I have an appointment with a royal official."
The timing was bad. Still, Daniel couldn't let an opportunity like this slip away, so he spoke with a serious expression.
"I apologize for bothering you while you're preparing to leave, but would you mind looking at the Operations Staff office CCTV with me?"
"For what reason?"
"I believe you'll understand once you see it. I understand your eagerness to go see your wife as soon as possible, Deputy Chief, but please spare a moment."
Ernst tilted his head, looking even more confused.
"What are you talking about? My wife is best when she's not at home."
"...?"
As Daniel remained silent, failing to comprehend, Ernst chuckled heartily and said,
"Don't tell my wife I said that. Anyway... yes. Your office's CCTV feed is over there."
Ernst raised a hand and pointed to the edge of his office.
On the various screens installed there, the private offices of staff members were visible, as part of counter-intelligence activities to identify potential traitors.
Furthermore, the CCTVs were cleverly hidden, so a newcomer wouldn't know their location.
"I'm not sure what you intend to show me, but since it's your request, let's take a look."
Daniel nodded and stood before the CCTV screen with Ernst.
As they peered into the screen showing the Operations Staff office, they found Lucy diligently working.
They watched for about twenty minutes, but there was no sign of her attempting to copy or steal classified information.
Just when he thought it might be a wasted effort, Lucy put down her pen and stared intently at Daniel's desk.
*'Is she perhaps trying to take other classified documents?'*
He had confirmed she'd taken classified documents from the drawer earlier, so it was possible.
But instead of getting up, Lucy quietly moved her lips.
What did she say? Wanting to know for sure, Daniel turned to Ernst.
"Deputy Chief. Might I request that we zoom in on that last moment and replay it?"
"Of course. Do so if you wish."
Having received permission, Daniel rewound the CCTV footage and pressed the replay button.
Thanks to that, he could clearly make out what Lucy had said.
*Shall I kill him?*
Confirming her lip movements, Daniel felt goosebumps erupt all over his body and clapped a hand over his mouth.
Ernst, on the other hand, was letting out a pleasant chuckle.
"This is your fault, you know. It's almost lunchtime, and you're still making her work, so it's understandable her frustration would explode. Besides, that workload is probably too much for a rookie to handle."
Ernst, unaware that Lucy was a spy, simply interpreted that 'Shall I kill him?' as a subordinate's cute, playful grumbling.
Daniel, however, had just felt his life was in danger.
Clapping a hand over his mouth, a cold sweat breaking out, Daniel slowly nodded.
"...I'll be more careful next time."
*To avoid dying, I'll have to do the work myself from now on.* Ernst, who had been intently watching Daniel's profile as he thought this, soon had a faint realization.
*'Ah, he wanted to look at the CCTV because he wanted to show off how well his subordinate works. I thought he was only cold and calculating, but he has such a human side to him after all.'*
It was truly something to be proud of and admirable.
*'To be so devoted to his subordinate, Captain Daniel will make a good superior someday.'*
Unaware of Daniel's true thoughts, Ernst nodded with a satisfied smile.