Chapter 3

After adjusting my uniform and finishing breakfast at the officers’ dining room, I headed over to the Operations Staff’s personal office.

Just another regular day.

The only difference was that a few high-ranking officers I bumped into in the hallway started recognizing me.

“Are you that famous lieutenant? The one who supposedly left the staff officers speechless at the command post? Ah, don’t misunderstand. That’s a compliment.”

“Lieutenant. I get it—you’re confident in your abilities, but don’t show off too much in front of your superiors. If you want to survive military life, that is. Just some advice from my experience.”

“Holy cow! I thought the General Staff Headquarters was just full of stuck-up guys, but I didn’t expect someone like you to be here! I’ll root for you—keep going!”

…Every time I ran into them, they’d grab me and launch into long speeches, making my head spin.

Since I couldn’t ignore them, I escaped by spamming three magic words: “Understood!” “Is that so?” “Thank you!”

The problem was that getting caught up with these officers wasted time, causing me to miss my start-of-shift time.

My shift starts at 8:30, and now it’s 8:28.

The staff offices are on the 5th floor, so even if I hurry, it’ll take four minutes to get there.

And as an officer of the Empire, we’re obligated to maintain dignity, so no running unless it’s a battlefield. Late, guaranteed.

‘Here we go again with Karl losing his mind.’

Let me reiterate: my direct superior, Major Karl Heinrich, is a neurotic guy who flips out over the tiniest mistakes—a complete personality wreck.

If he had results worth respecting, maybe I’d feel differently, but this wreck’s only claim to fame is cowering in the rear lines during the defense against the United Nations seven years ago, shaking like a leaf.

How does such a person even exist in the Imperial General Staff, which claims to value merit above all else?

There’s an old saying—if you question someone’s rank or title, look at their background.

That’s right. Karl Heinrich comes from a prestigious noble family, and his father is a diplomat.

Even in the merit-based Empire, when you dig deeper, it’s all about bloodlines, connections, and school ties intertwined in complicated ways.

And the one benefiting from all this privilege is none other than my superior, Major Karl Heinrich.

In my evaluation, he’s the pinnacle of incompetence and a living human trash fire.

Proof? Just look at the dark circles under my eyes—if I had to assign blame, Karl would undoubtedly be the biggest shareholder.

Still, despite all this, I felt oddly calm today.

‘Anyway, I’ll just quit once I’m discharged.’

With dishonorable discharge as my ultimate goal, I no longer needed to cater to Karl’s mood swings.

It’s like how a salaryman walks into work with his resignation letter tucked under his arm. My lips even curled into a smile.

With that light step, I approached the Operations Staff office on the 5th floor and knocked on the door.

“I am Lieutenant Daniel Steiner, aide-de-camp to the Operations Staff. I’ll come in.”

After announcing my rank and name, I opened the door, revealing the interior of the office.

The first thing I saw was Karl sitting at his desk, clutching his head under the sunlight streaming through the window, drenched in cold sweat. It looked strange.

He seemed completely unaware of my presence, so I spoke up as I approached.

“Major Karl Heinrich, you need to head to the Operations Staff room by 9 AM. You should start preparing now…”

I trailed off mid-sentence because Karl suddenly raised his head, his eyes blazing with fury.

Is he mad about being two minutes late? Before I could figure it out, Karl abruptly stood up.

“You! Do you even know what you’ve done?”

What did I do? Two minutes late? Confused, I blinked as Karl stormed toward me.

“Who gave you permission to approach the commander with your opinions? How dare you, an orphan and mere lieutenant, interfere in meetings…!”

When he got close, Karl grabbed my collar and shoved me roughly.

I almost fell but managed to regain my balance by stepping back.

“Because of you, my entire plan has gone down the drain! Not only that, but my life is in danger, you son of a bitch!”

What the hell? He’s always been nuts, but today feels different—

Bang!

I slammed my head against the wall and groaned softly.

“If anything happens to me, I won’t let it go unpunished. No matter what it takes, I’ll drag you to hell with me, you bastard! Got it?”

…Is he actually insane?

Normally, I’d bite my tongue and let it slide, but not today.

“You started it, Karl.”

“What? Are you talking back to your superior…?”

Thud! I slapped his hand away and immediately threw a punch at his face.

Karl tried to dodge by turning his head, but it was too late.

The flying fist struck his cheekbone.

“Aaaah!”

Screaming in pain, Karl stumbled backward. I chased after him, grabbed his neck, and tripped him with my leg.

Bang!

Karl hit the ground, wincing in agony and spitting saliva.

As I climbed on top of him, I pulled my fist back.

Before I swung, Karl trembled and managed to speak.

“…This is insubordination. There will be a court-martial. Your military career is over. Oh, do you understand that?”

Do you think I don’t know that? I shrugged.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m doing this to end my military career.”

“What? What do you mean—”

Punch! Karl’s sentence cut off abruptly.

His jaw hung loose as he passed out. I stood up, brushing my hands off.

Footsteps were rapidly approaching from outside the door.

They must have heard Karl’s scream.

A moment later, two soldiers burst in, shouting,

“What’s going on here!?”

The soldiers froze upon seeing the scene before them—an operations staff officer lying unconscious on the floor and his aide standing above him.

I understood. A situation involving an operations staff officer and his aide isn’t easy to interpret.

So, I decided to help them out.

“It’s insubordination. I’m the perpetrator, so arrest me.”

Even after my explanation, the soldiers hesitated.

Annoyed, I sighed.

“What are you waiting for? Should I compare my fists to Karl’s bruises before you arrest me?”

“No, no sir!”

Finally moving, the soldiers pulled out their handcuffs and began tying my wrists.

As I remained expressionless while being restrained, I secretly smiled in relief.

‘This accidental assault won’t result in severe punishment. Considering my previous merits, I’ll probably just get discharged.’

In other words, a penalty-free discharge.

Smiling inwardly, I turned my head to gaze out the window.

The vibrant spring scenery stretched out before me—a perfect season to retire.

*

That evening.

Residence of Major Karl Heinrich.

“Search thoroughly.”

“Yes, Captain Schmidt!”

At the order of Captain Heinrich Schmidt’s aide, Philip Bender, the soldiers scattered throughout the house.

Philip strolled leisurely through the living room, lost in thought.

‘Today, Lieutenant Daniel assaulted his superior.’

When he first heard the news, Philip thought he must have misunderstood.

How could someone who just earned honors cause trouble?

Moreover, in Philip’s view, Daniel was the epitome of a model soldier.

There must be a reason why Daniel resorted to violence.

Sharing Philip’s thoughts, Heinrich requested a detailed investigation from the military police who arrived late.

During the process, Karl exhibited signs of anxiety, muttering nonsense about the United Nations possibly trying to kill him.

Something wasn’t right. Sensing this, Heinrich ordered Philip to search Karl’s residence, which brought Philip here leading the soldiers.

“Captain! Please come over here!”

At the soldier’s shout, Philip snapped out of his thoughts and nodded.

“I’ll be right there.”

Approaching, he watched as the soldier tapped the wooden floor lightly.

Thump-thump—it sounded unusually hollow, like something was empty inside.

“This area sounds different.”

“Classic trick. Tear it up.”

“Yes, Captain!”

Using a crowbar, the soldier pried up the wooden floor, revealing a small box underneath.

Philip knelt down, picked up the box, and opened it.

Inside were documents and several letters.

“These are…”

They were confidential documents of the Imperial Army that shouldn’t fall into enemy hands.

The letters promised large sums of money in exchange for leaking information to the United Nations. Some even included recent orders to guide the Empire’s reinforcements into hilly terrain.

“You piece of trash…”

Major Karl was a traitor to his people—a leech blinded by greed, sabotaging operations and selling secrets.

‘Then…’

Daniel must have assaulted Karl out of righteous anger against this national betrayer.

Thus, Daniel wasn’t some disrespectful subordinate.

He was a national hero who uncovered and exposed a spy—none other than Lieutenant Daniel Steiner.

‘Looks like we made a mistaken assumption.’

Philip needed to return to headquarters immediately to clear up this misunderstanding and inform everyone of the truth.

Having made up his mind, Philip closed the box and stood up.

“Soldier. I’m heading back to headquarters. Report any new findings.”

“Ah, understood, sir. But may I ask why you’re in such a rush?”

Smiling, Philip looked down at the soldier and said,

“Thanks to these materials, Lieutenant Daniel Steiner’s innocence has been proven. Don’t you think we should quickly clear the injustice against a hero who devoted himself to the Empire?”

The soldier hesitated for a moment.

It was the first time they’d seen the usually cold-blooded Captain Philip smile so warmly.