I Was Mistaken for a Great General of War

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After fixing my uniform and having breakfast in the officers’ mess, I made my way to the personal office of the Operations Staff.

It was just another usual day.

One difference this time was that some senior officers I met in the hallway were starting to recognize me.

“Are you that famous second lieutenant? The one who outsmarted the staff at the operations command? Ah, don’t get me wrong; I’m saying this as a compliment!”

“Second Lieutenant, I know you’re confident in your abilities, but please don’t show off too much in front of your superiors if you want to survive in the military for long. Just a piece of advice from my experience.”

“Wow! I thought the General Staff was full of stiff folks, but I didn’t expect someone like you to be here. I’ll be cheering you on, so keep up the hard work!”

…They were catching me every time we crossed paths, and it was getting dizzying.

Given my position, I couldn’t just ignore them, so I managed to escape by repeatedly saying the magical three words: “Understood!” “Is that so?” “Thank you!”

The problem was that I wasted time chatting with the officers and couldn’t keep to my start time.

The start time was 8:30, but the clock now read 8:28.

The General Staff’s office was located on the fifth floor, and even if I walked quickly, it would take at least 4 minutes to get there.

As an imperial officer, I had to maintain my dignity and couldn’t run unless I was in the field, so being late was a certainty.

‘Carl is going to lose his mind again.’

Let me say it again: my direct superior, Major Karl Heinrich, is neurotic about everything and reacts violently to the smallest mistake.

If his performance were respectable, I might have at least felt some respect for him, but the only achievement he had was trembling in the back during the defensive war against the coalition seven years ago.

How could such a person exist in the imperial General Staff that espouses ability over connections?

If you doubt the rank and title of a superior, people say to look at their background.

Indeed. Karl Heinrich hails from an aristocratic family of noble lineage, and his father serves as a diplomatic ambassador.

It’s the same everywhere, but even in an empire that champions meritocracy, if you look closely, connections of blood, region, and academia are intricately intertwined.

And it is my superior, Karl Heinrich, who fully benefits from those privileges.

In my evaluation, he was the epitome of incompetence and personality breakdown, a living piece of trash.

There’s evidence too. If you trace my dark circles, it would surely point to Karl Heinrich as the major shareholder.

Thanks to him, I was wondering what kind of nonsense he would pull today, but my heart was at peace.

‘Anyway, I’m done once I serve out my time.’

As my goal is an dishonorable discharge, I no longer needed to cater to Karl.

I could almost feel the lightness that comes from carrying a resignation letter to work as if a smile was dancing on my lips.

With such light steps, I headed toward the fifth-floor Operations Staff office and knocked on the door.

“This is Second Lieutenant Daniel Steiner, Aide-de-Camp of the Operations Staff. I will be entering.”

After saying my name and title, I opened the door and saw inside.

The first thing that caught my eye was Karl sitting at his desk in a sunlit room, clutching his head as if he had made some grave mistake, sweating profusely.

It seemed he didn’t realize I had entered, so I approached and opened my mouth.

“Major Karl Heinrich? You need to go to the operations staff room by 9 o’clock. You should start preparing now…”

I stopped mid-sentence.

Karl’s eyes, reacting to my voice, were filled with rage.

Could he seriously be getting this worked up over a 2-minute lateness? Just as I was feeling flustered, Karl sprang to his feet from his chair.

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

What have I done? Is it just about being 2 minutes late? I blinked in confusion, and Karl strode toward me.

“Who said that a mere second lieutenant like you could interrupt the commander’s meeting?! How dare you—an orphan at that!”

Karl came up close and grabbed me by the collar, shoving me hard.

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

“Because of you, all my plans have gone to waste! Damn it! It’s not just that my plans are ruined, my life is in danger because of you, you bastard!”

What the hell is he talking about? He’s always a pain, but today he’s acting extra—

Thud!

I slammed my head into the wall and let out a low groan.

“If anything goes wrong with me, I won’t stay quiet. I’ll drag you down to hell with me by any means necessary! Do you understand me, you bastard?!”

…Is he really crazy?

Normally, I would have swallowed my anger, but today I wasn’t going to do that.

“You started this, Karl.”

“What? Are you disrespecting your superior right now?”

Slap! I pushed Karl’s hand away and immediately threw a punch at his face.

Karl, taken by surprise, turned his head to dodge, but it was too late.

My punch struck him squarely on the cheekbone.

“Ahhh!”

As he screamed and began to step back, I lunged forward, grabbed his neck, and tripped him.

Thud!

Karl hit the floor, grimacing in pain and spitting.

I climbed on top of him and reared back my fist.

Before I could hit, I paused for a moment as Karl trembled and opened his mouth.

“…You, you realize this is assault on a superior, don’t you? A court-martial will convene. Then your military career will be over. Are you aware of this?”

As if I didn’t know. I shrugged my shoulders.

“You don’t need to worry. I’m actually trying to end my military career.”

“What? What do you mean by that—”

Thwack! The sound cut off Karl’s words.

I looked down at him, who had fainted with his jaw twisted.

As I rose from my place and brushed my hands, I heard rapid footsteps approaching from outside the door.

They must have heard Karl’s scream.

After a moment, the door swung open, and two soldiers rushed in.

“What the hell is the commotion here?!”

The soldier who shouted boldly froze upon seeing the scene before him.

I understand. The sight of the operations officer and his aide collapsed on the ground? It must be hard to grasp the situation.

So, I took the liberty of clarifying.

“This is assault on a superior. I’m the one committing it, so take me away.”

Even with my kind explanation, the soldiers hesitated.

I sighed at their indecisiveness.

“What are you all standing around for? Do I need to line up my fist and Karl’s bruises before you haul me away?”

“N-no, sir!”

Only then did the soldiers spring into action, pulling out rope from their waists to start binding my wrists.

I maintained a blank expression as they tied me up while inwardly smiling in relief.

‘Since this is just an accidental assault on a superior, the punishment won’t be too severe. Given my past achievements, I’ll probably just end up being dismissed.’

It was essentially a discharge with no penalties!

Cheering inwardly, I turned my head and looked out the window.

Spring’s vibrance spread out in front of me. It was the perfect season to be discharged.

*

That evening.

Residence of Major Karl Heinrich.

“Search every nook and cranny.”

“Yes! Captain!”

At the command of Captain Philip Bender, aide-de-camp to Major Heinrich Schmidt, the soldiers scattered in every direction.

Philip strolled through the living room at a leisurely pace, deep in thought.

“Today, Second Lieutenant Daniel assaulted his superior.”

When I first heard the news, I thought I must have misheard.

How could someone who had just earned merits cause such trouble?

Moreover, to Philip, Daniel was an exemplary model of a soldier.

For someone like Daniel to have committed assault, there must surely be a reason.

Heinrich, who shared Philip’s sentiments, requested a detailed statement from the Military Police, who had arrived later.

During that process, Karl exhibited symptoms of anxiety and muttered nonsensical claims that “the coalition might kill him.”

Noticing something was off, Heinrich ordered Philip to search Karl’s residence, which is why Philip now led troops to storm the place.

“Captain! Please come this way!”

At a soldier’s shout, Philip shook off his thoughts and nodded.

“I’ll be there shortly.”

As he moved closer, the soldier lightly tapped the floorboards.

Thump—

The sound from the floorboards was surprisingly light, as if insides were hollow.

“This spot sounds different.”

“A classic trick. Tear it apart.”

“Yes! Captain!”

As the soldier used a crowbar to pry up the floorboards, a small box was revealed inside.

Kneeling, Philip took the box and opened it.

Inside were several documents and a few letters.

“What is this…?”

It was classified information from the Imperial Army that should not be known to the enemy.

The letters promised large sums of money in exchange for selling information to the coalition… and even included orders to guide the imperial reinforcements into the hilly terrain.

“This garbage of a guy…”

Major Karl was a traitor to his nation. Blinded by greed, he sold secrets and sabotaged operations—this was Major Karl.

‘Then…’

The reason Daniel assaulted Karl must be that he could not contain his fury over this betrayer.

So, Daniel was not a shameless man who assaulted his superior.

He was a hero who had captured a spy for his country—Second Lieutenant Daniel Steiner.

‘Ah, we really misunderstood the situation here.’

I need to return to headquarters immediately and correct this misunderstanding.

Having finished his thoughts, Philip closed the box and stood up.

“Soldiers. I’ll be returning to headquarters, so report any further findings.”

“Ah. Understood. But may I ask why you’re hurrying back?”

Philip smiled as he looked down at the soldier.

“Thanks to this information, it’s proven that Second Lieutenant Daniel Steiner is innocent. So we must rectify the injustices done to a hero who dedicated himself to the empire as soon as possible.”

The soldier momentarily paused.

It was the first time he realized that Captain Philip, known as the cold-blooded one, could smile so brightly.