I Was Mistaken as a Great War Commander-Chapter 178

Late evening.

The estate of Count Ophilo.

“Darling? What on earth is going on?”

The countess, standing by the window, looked anxiously at Ophilo, who was standing in front of the telephone.

Nearby, Ophilo’s haphazardly packed luggage lay scattered around.

“Darling? Please, say something!”

The countess pleaded, but Ophilo simply turned the dial on the phone, receiver in hand.

It was already his third attempt, but only an ominous dial tone echoed—no one picked up on the other end.

Clicking his tongue, Ophilo muttered something under his breath as he redialed.

“Darling! I have the right to know what’s happening too! Why are you acting like this?”

The dial tone dragged on, but again, no one answered.

“Damn it!”

Ophilo clenched his teeth and threw the receiver with a burst of irritation.

Startled by the outburst, the countess flinched. Ophilo frowned and steadied his breathing.

“There’s a bastard in the Capital Guard I bribed, but he’s not answering! I thought he might be off duty, so I tried his home phone too—but it’s the same! That son of a bitch is deliberately avoiding me!”

Ophilo lifted his trembling hand to his forehead.

“Damn it. Lower than a beast, that bastard...”

Watching him from the side, the countess spoke in a small, creeping voice.

“...Why do you need the Guard’s help?”

“Because Daniel Steiner must be locking down the capital! He’s hell-bent on arresting everyone connected to Duke Belvar! What do you think will happen if we try to leave the capital in this situation? It’s only a matter of time before we’re detained!”

“You said Duke Belvar wouldn’t talk. Then why...?”

Lowering the hand from his forehead, Ophilo clenched his teeth.

“Daniel Steiner captured Duke Belvar’s family. Considering the Duke kept his mouth shut until now for their sake, it’s only a matter of time before a list gets written up. That’s why I was trying to get out of the capital...”

And yet, the Capital Guard was now refusing to take his calls.

He had anticipated the possibility, but now that it was real, it felt as if his only route of escape had been sealed.

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Ophilo exhaled deeply and gathered himself.

The situation was turning against him—but this was a matter of survival. He couldn’t afford to give up.

“Remira. Pack our things.”

“What? But you just said the Guard is deliberately ignoring us...”

“Still, we have to try, don’t we? If we show our faces at the station, they might still let our family through. They took our money too—they won’t reject us so easily.”

With that, Ophilo began gathering his belongings one by one.

Arms full of baggage, he was about to rush out of the room when he suddenly stopped.

I definitely told her to pack...

His wife, Remira, was blankly staring out the window. Without realizing it, anger welled up in him.

She often had a poor sense of reality, but in such a desperate situation, her dazed silence was infuriating.

“Remira! Didn’t I tell you to pack?! Get the children too—”

The closer he got to the window, the quieter his voice became.

From outside, the muffled sound of vehicle exhaust could be heard.

“No way...”

A terrible sense of foreboding overcame Ophilo. The bags he was holding slipped from his hands.

Remira turned toward him and spoke in a trembling voice, almost like a sob.

“It’s started.”

His legs went weak, and dizziness struck him.

Forcing his breath into rhythm, Ophilo walked to the window and looked outside.

Military trucks had entered the manor’s courtyard, and soldiers were disembarking one by one.

Among them, a man who appeared to be an officer raised his voice.

— Move quickly! Capture the collaborator, Count Ophilo, before he can leave the estate! If he attempts to flee or ignores orders, you are authorized to shoot! This is a direct order from above! I repeat! Capture the collaborator, Count Ophilo, before—

Ophilo staggered.

“Darling!”

Remira rushed to support him.

Leaning against her for balance, Ophilo stood awkwardly, his mouth falling open in a daze.

“This isn’t the beginning. It’s nothing more than the end of the current state of things. In the end... Daniel Steiner...”

His pale eyes lost all vitality, as though staring into the inevitable future.

“...has swallowed the Empire whole.”

****

At the same time, in the Grand Assembly Hall of the Capitol.

“We must stop the creation of the National Security Oversight Bureau!”

Kademi, the new leader of the Liberty Social Party, spoke fervently from the podium.

“All of the lawmakers here are well aware! The establishment of the National Security Oversight Bureau will not only infringe on the people’s freedoms and rights, it will also create the dangerous precedent of concentrating unchecked power in one man’s hands!”

From the high seat, the Speaker of the Assembly looked down as Kademi raised his voice.

“I understand the purpose and principle behind the Bureau’s creation! No one here disagrees that traitors like Duke Belvar must never be allowed to rise again! But is this the right way? Do you truly believe this is the only way?!”

Most of the assembly members remained silent in response to Kademi’s appeal.

Even to them, the establishment of the Bureau felt far too radical.

Many believed the Bureau should be established only after sufficient deliberation and legal justification.

Noticing that the lawmakers were beginning to waver, Kademi shouted out after a brief silence.

“Mr. Speaker, and all the honorable members of this assembly—can anyone here confidently say that ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ this organization, the Security Oversight Bureau, will restrict its reach to collaborators or terrorists? I, for one, do not believe so. What I’m saying is that the person appointed as its Director could easily seize the innocent!”

Kademi looked around at the lawmakers.

“The Security Oversight Bureau is demanding that kind of overwhelming power from Her Majesty the Empress. And now it’s coercing the National Assembly to approve its creation! Is this truly for the sake of the Empire? Or is it merely for Colonel Daniel Steiner?!”

Murmurs rippled through the chamber.

No one had expected Kademi to directly invoke Daniel Steiner’s name.

In such a sensitive debate, defending Kademi was politically dangerous.

Everyone had been whispering behind closed doors, but Kademi didn’t care.

He was certain—blocking the establishment of the Security Oversight Bureau was the only way he might survive.

“We were elected to represent the will of the people. The people do not want to be monitored or controlled. If surveillance and control are to be exercised, then at the very least, freedom and the right to resist must also be guaranteed. But this Security Oversight Bureau that Daniel Steiner is trying to create...”

Kademi stopped mid-sentence and closed his mouth.

There was an unusual commotion coming from just outside the chamber.

At first, he thought he had misheard, but the sound of military boots was growing louder.

Other lawmakers, alarmed by the noise, turned to look at the main entrance of the Assembly Hall.

“What is that noise?”

“Could it be troops from the Central Security Bureau?”

“...Even so, to come into the National Assembly?”

While everyone was at a loss, the doors suddenly burst open, and grenadiers stormed in.

As the lawmakers gasped in shock, the soldiers quickly occupied the chamber.

From his high seat, the Speaker of the Assembly watched in stunned silence as the soldiers encircled the lawmakers—and then he saw the one who had ordered this.

Daniel Steiner...!

Beyond the wide-open doors, Daniel entered, dressed crisply in his black uniform.

All eyes were fixed on him as he calmly walked into the chamber and came to a halt.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Daniel slowly looked around at the lawmakers before bowing slightly with a faint smile.

“Honorable lawmakers. Mr. Speaker. I deeply regret interrupting your session at this late hour.”

As the lawmakers swallowed dryly, Daniel continued speaking.

“I see many of you are surprised, but I ask that you not misunderstand. I did not come here to persecute the members of this Assembly. I came only to apprehend the collaborators who are hiding here like parasites.”

Kademi, still at the podium, broke into a cold sweat.

He knew exactly who Daniel was referring to.

He, along with several members of the Liberty Social Party, had conspired with Duke Belvar.

Daniel had discovered this—and now he had taken the Assembly by surprise.

“I’ll make this quick, so I ask for your cooperation. I do not wish for unnecessary chaos, so please remain in your seats—”

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

The Speaker interrupted Daniel, jumping up from his seat.

Descending from the podium, the Speaker strode straight toward Daniel.

“Colonel Daniel Steiner! Are you saying you intend to arrest lawmakers within the sacred halls of the Assembly? Do you mean to deny the parliamentary immunity granted to our members?!”

Blocking Daniel’s path, the Speaker glared with widened eyes.

“No matter how special your orders from Her Majesty may be, such abuse of authority cannot be tolerated! If you take members from this place, I will personally inform Her Majesty of your overreach in the name of the Speaker—do you understand me?!”

Though the Speaker barked with authority, Daniel did not blink.

“Have you finished speaking, sir? Then may I speak now?”

One of the Speaker’s eyebrows twitched.

“What did you say?”

“Honorable Speaker. I did not come here to arrest lawmakers. I came to apprehend collaborators. Collaborators have no parliamentary immunity—wouldn’t you agree?”

“Colonel Daniel Steiner! First you mock this Assembly, and now you insult me—!”

Daniel raised a hand, cutting him off.

“If you believe what I’m doing is illegal, then feel free to inform Her Majesty. I won’t stop you. However... I will not stand still either.”

“And if you don’t stand still, what then?”

“Well, I suppose I would have no choice but to inform Her Majesty that the Speaker attempted to shield the collaborators. Wouldn’t you be curious to see whose words Her Majesty will believe?”

Daniel’s words made the Speaker falter.

The heat of his anger began to cool, and with it came a chill down his spine—a fear of what might lie ahead.

The Speaker was left speechless, and Daniel spoke again with a smile.

“As you said yourself, I am currently carrying out a special order from Her Majesty. So please, don’t stand in my way. And one more thing...”

Daniel lowered his hand, his voice quieting.

“This is your first and final warning.”

Though it sounded like a warning, it carried the weight of a command. And the Speaker could no longer argue.

Lowering his gaze, he stepped aside.

Raising his head, Daniel resumed speaking.

“Well then. Let’s begin the operation. Grenadier Battalion.”

The smile that had lingered on Daniel’s lips vanished in an instant.

“Arrest all the collaborators hiding here in human disguise...”

His eyes sharpened as he looked toward Kademi, still standing at the podium.

“...Every last one of them.”