Chapter 28

After dining with Daniel, Katman didn’t head home but instead went to the Imperial Security Agency.

Once inside the building, Katman entered the Fifth Department within the Security Bureau, which handled information gathering and espionage activities.

An analyst who sensed someone approaching turned his head and upon spotting Katman, jumped up in surprise.

“Inspector Katman! Didn’t you say you were going home?”

“Ah, well… first things first, take this.”

Katman handed over a cup of coffee to the analyst.

“What’s with the coffee? Weird as it is, I’ll take it.” As the analyst accepted the coffee, Katman spoke.

“I was on my way home when something popped into my mind, so I swung by. You know me—once I get curious, I don’t sleep until I find out what’s going on.”

The analyst awkwardly nodded.

Everyone knew how productive Katman was within the Security Bureau.

“So, can you do me a favor and check something for me?”

“What kind of investigation are we talking about?”

“I’m curious about how many military doctors serving on the Eastern Front have facial injuries and suffer from aphasia. And if you could limit it to those with brown hair, that’d be great.”

The analyst took a sip of coffee and asked curiously,

“Is that all? Inspector, you’re aware there are numerous field armies operating on the Eastern Front, right? There are 17 corps alone under their command—are you asking me to check them all?”

“I know it’s tough, which is why I brought a bribe.”

“You think I’d torture myself for just one measly cup of coffee?”

Katman broke out in a nervous sweat.

“Not just one cup—I’ll buy you a hundred! It’s just… getting other info is inconvenient where I am right now.”

Sighing deeply, the analyst reluctantly agreed.

“Inspector, there must be a reason you want this info. However, a full-scale investigation will take time. We’ll need cooperation from the Central Intelligence Agency too.”

“No problem. This isn’t urgent.”

The analyst, clearly unenthused, sat down and got to work while Katman watched him.

‘There’s no harm in double-checking Captain Daniel Steiner.’

—

The next day.

Before heading to the Operations Staff office, I entered my personal office to prepare only to find Lucy already sitting there.

As usual, her wig was off, and she wasn’t wearing sunglasses.

“You’ve arrived, Captain.”

Her usual dry greeting made it hard to believe she was the one who set off a bomb and fled over a wall yesterday.

I awkwardly looked at Lucy as I approached my desk and sat down.

“Did anything happen yesterday?”

While opening a drawer, I casually asked, but Lucy kept reviewing documents without even glancing at me.

“I returned to my quarters after work and rested.”

“Huh. Well, I met a strange woman on my way to a dessert shop and had quite an ordeal.”

“Hmph.”

She acted like she didn’t care at all, which was infuriating.

‘Who does she think she is, ignoring me when I almost missed dessert because of her nonsense?’

I pulled out today’s paperwork from the drawer and sorted it.

After placing the categorized documents into my bag, Lucy glanced at me and said,

“How strange was the woman exactly?”

Was she fishing for details? I hesitated before standing up and replying,

“She wore sunglasses indoors.”

“And?”

“She seemed to have aphasia, couldn’t speak properly, and despite needing help, refused multiple times—it was ridiculous. Her social skills were nonexistent. What a pity.”

Lucy stared silently at me, or rather glared.

“…”

“…”

The atmosphere grew icy. The likelihood of assassination was rising in real-time.

Sensing danger, I cleared my throat and headed toward the door.

“Enough chit-chat. Let’s head to the Operations Staff office—we can’t be late.”

“Understood.”

Leaving the office with Lucy, we entered the Operations Staff room.

Just as I was about to walk to my seat, I stopped.

The staff members were gathered around the central conference table chatting.

“This is impressive!”

“Yeah, they did a great job considering how rushed it was.”

“The Personnel Department sure works fast. The article hasn’t been out for a full day yet…”

What were they talking about? Curious, I approached.

“What’s everyone looking at?”

At my question, Captain Dengel, the Operations Support officer, turned around.

“Oh! Captain Daniel! Look whose picture this is!”

“What do you mean by ‘poster’…”

I glanced at the table and froze.

There was a poster featuring a photo of me raising my hand in protest while frowning straight ahead.

Below the image read: “The Empire Wants YOU!”

‘Wait, am I Uncle Sam now?’

Utterly baffled, I sighed.

“Who made this? This pose was meant to tell reporters not to take pictures. Turning it into a recruitment poster without my consent is outrageous…”

“Captain Daniel, this was ordered directly by the Chief of Personnel.”

“…My apologies. Upon further review, it’s perfect.”

Having quickly adjusted my attitude, I nodded.

Dengel smiled and teased me.

“Captain Daniel, I heard your name is already on the early promotion list. Aren’t you working too hard? I never expected you to be active even after hours.”

Another staff member chimed in,

“Captain Dengel, surely Captain Daniel isn’t doing this for promotions. He’s setting an example for the army and striving to make the Empire greater.”

“Ahh, I misspoke. Of course, compared to Captain Daniel, I’m just a lowly wage slave.”

Though I wanted to explain that it was actually a crazy sunglass-wearing woman who caused the explosion, I couldn’t due to Lucy standing nearby.

Even if I told the truth, they probably wouldn’t believe me anyway.

“Flattery will get you nowhere.”

So, I left the conversation gracefully.

Walking to my Operations Staff seat, I asked,

“Aide-de-camp, do you have today’s newspaper?”

“Yes, sir. Here you go.”

I took the paper Lucy handed me, wanting to understand why the Chief of Personnel chose me as propaganda material.

Opening the paper, unsurprisingly, my face was splashed across the front page.

[Captain Daniel Steiner Does It Again! Mafia Organization Completely Dismantled!]

The headline made me dizzy.

I gritted my teeth and skimmed the article.

“According to reliable sources, Captain Daniel Steiner conducted a secret operation alone to eliminate the mafia organization parasitizing our system.”

Of course, it was completely fabricated.

I forced myself to keep reading.

“…after such heroic efforts, Captain Daniel Steiner addressed the gathered citizens saying, ‘This isn’t my achievement alone; it’s the result of everyone contributing in their own roles for the Empire.’ The crowd was ecstatic.”

My head throbbed.

They added extra quotes to my words, making it sound like fact.

Unable to bear reading more, I folded the paper and tossed it onto the corner of my desk.

Seeing this, Lucy spoke up.

“Thanks to Captain Daniel Steiner, corrupt officials linked to the mafia organization were also arrested. Most were bribed to facilitate opium smuggling.”

“Was that in the paper too?”

She nodded.

It made me uneasy.

‘If higher-ups misinterpret this…’

As if on cue, Colonel Ernst burst through the door.

“Daniel! Captain Daniel! Are you here!?”

His excited expression made me reluctant to respond, but I had no choice but to stand and salute.

“There you are!”

Ernst returned the salute and approached me.

“Captain Daniel! Rejoice! I just came back from a meeting, and the Deputy of Operations Staff wants to see you when he has time. You know what that means, right?”

The Deputy of Operations Staff is second only to the Chief of Staff in power within the General Staff Headquarters.

Why would someone so high-ranking want to see me? Anxiety crept up my spine.

“Captain Daniel.”

At that moment, Lucy unusually smiled and said,

“Looks like you’re entering the boss’s circle. Congratulations.”

Though Lucy was probably smiling just to play the role of a loyal aide-de-camp, it felt mocking to me.

“…Thank you.”

Awkwardly responding, I turned my gaze toward the window.

Despite my gloomy mood, the blazing summer sun illuminated everything beautifully outside.

It was unbearably hot.