I Was Mistaken as a Great War Commander - Chapter 126

Celvia, who had ascended to the position of emperor, read an official speech expressing her stance and then began to commend some political and business figures and the military for their contributions.

The purpose was to strengthen the emperor's authority by clearly indicating who her people were in an official setting.

Of course, Daniel Steiner was also included among these.

"Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Steiner of the General Staff Headquarters' Operations Staff, please come forward."

As Celvia had told him in advance, it wasn't particularly surprising.

After adjusting his attire, Daniel stepped onto the red carpet and knelt on one knee.

Looking down at Daniel from the throne, Celvia quietly began to speak.

"Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Steiner. You have not only led numerous battles to victory but also demonstrated exceptional ability in negotiations with the Kingdom of Eldresia and the neutral country of Bellanos, bringing immense benefits to the empire and the imperial family."

Daniel bowed his head deeply.

"You flatter me, Your Majesty."

As Daniel showed humility, Celvia smiled faintly.

"It's not flattery. Recently, you even turned the surprise attack from the Kingdom of Velmore to our advantage and captured their crown prince as a prisoner. As a result, through prisoner exchange, the empire was able to acquire strategic resources while safely retrieving our engineers captured by the enemy."

She didn't mention the arrest of collaborators.

Not all nobles were at odds with Celvia, but since there were many nobles with such tendencies present, she decided not to mention sensitive matters unnecessarily.

"This is an achievement worthy of praise. Therefore, I hereby order the promotion of Daniel Steiner on this occasion."

As soon as Celvia finished speaking, Johannes, the Imperial Guard Captain, approached carrying a box wrapped in the national flag.

"Please rise."

Daniel nodded and stood up, and Johannes unfolded the flag and took out a colonel's insignia from the box.

With deft hand movements, Johannes replaced the insignia and muttered in a voice only audible to Daniel.

"...You may be able to deceive His Majesty the Emperor, but you won't be able to deceive me."

Feeling a sudden chill down his spine, Daniel turned to look at Johannes.

However, Johannes merely attached the insignia with a neutral expression and stepped back.

As if he had never spoken to Daniel in the first place.

Daniel found this somewhat bewildering.

'What does he mean I deceived him?'

He couldn't understand what misunderstanding could have led to such a statement.

'It seems he might have heard something strange from the former emperor, Bertram...'

Although Daniel wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, there was no way to do so at the moment, so he knelt on one knee.

After all, he couldn't take any other action while in conversation with the emperor.

"Congratulations on your promotion, Colonel Daniel Steiner. As your rank has increased, I expect your loyalty to the imperial family and the empire to grow even greater than it is now. Also, regarding your change of position..."

A thin smile played on Daniel's lips, as he had been hoping for the position of head of the Operations Staff Department.

However, the words coming from Celvia's mouth were different from Daniel's expectations.

"Considering the dedication you have shown to the empire so far, I will assign you to the position of chief of staff of the 7th Division, a direct unit under the headquarters."

Daniel's shoulders twitched involuntarily.

'If it's the chief of staff of a division directly under the headquarters...'

It meant he would have to continue going to the battlefield for operational support and independent operations.

'You're going to send someone who nearly died on the battlefield back to the battlefield?'

Unable to understand, Daniel slowly raised his head to look up at Celvia.

However, Celvia was merely smiling gently.

From Celvia's perspective, it was natural to assume that Daniel, who had refused the position in the Imperial Guard which was essentially an office job, wanted to be active on the battlefield.

Moreover, since the Chief of the General Staff had also conveyed the opinion that it was right to assign Daniel Steiner to a front-line commander position, this was a reasonable order.

On the other hand, Daniel, who had wanted to work in the rear if escaping the empire was difficult, felt like he was burning up inside.

He had worked hard to build a tower by bribing the media, but now he felt like he was being kicked out before even moving in.

However, as he was in no position to refuse the emperor's order, Daniel reluctantly bowed his head.

"I am deeply grateful for Your Majesty's grace."

• 
  

After the coronation ended, Celvia set out on a procession.

The purpose was to inform the citizens that a new emperor had ascended to the throne by circling the capital once.

Meanwhile, those invited to the coronation moved to the grand banquet hall prepared by the imperial family. As not attending the banquet would be disrespectful to the emperor, no one left.

Daniel, too, had arrived at the banquet hall with Ernst and was in the middle of a brief conversation.

"A colonel already! When I first saw you, you were definitely a second lieutenant!"

Ernst made a fuss as if he was proud, but Daniel remained expressionless throughout.

There was no excitement in being praised for a promotion he wasn't interested in.

In fact, it was more like a death sentence, as he was likely to be sent to the battlefield with the rank of colonel.

If the enemy had snipers deployed, the first target to kill would be the division commander, and the next would be Daniel Steiner, the chief of staff.

"At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if you came to me as a general later. That would be quite awkward. I'd have to use honorifics to someone who used to be my subordinate."

Ernst burst into laughter, unaware of Daniel's inner thoughts.

Looking at Ernst blankly, Daniel exhaled softly.

"Don't worry. Even if I become a general, I won't ask you to use honorifics with me, Department Head."

"I'm grateful you say that. But I'm not sure how often we'll meet from now on. You'll be active as a front-line commander, after all."

It wasn't wrong.

The main duty of units directly under the headquarters was to be active on the front lines.

It meant he would hear the sound of bullets more often than alarm clocks from now on.

As this fact sank in depressingly, Daniel's eyes grew cold.

Seeing this, Ernst felt somewhat scared and slowly backed away.

"Well, I... have someone I'm supposed to meet at the banquet. Colonel Daniel? Enjoy the banquet, alright?"

Ahem. Ahem. Ernst cleared his throat conspicuously and walked away somewhere.

Daniel quietly watched Ernst's retreating back, then sighed and walked towards a table full of food.

He decided to fill his stomach instead of worrying uselessly about the future, as nothing would change by worrying.

As he was looking down at the not-so-appetizing food, it happened.

"Colonel Daniel Steiner?"

Turning his head at the unfamiliar voice, he saw a neat-looking man approaching with a grin.

He was holding a whiskey bottle in his hand, and he was Platt disguised as a low-ranking imperial official.

"Ah! It really is Colonel Daniel Steiner! I've been looking for you, and I'm so happy to have found you like this!"

"...You were looking for me?"

"Yes! I'm Vihram, working in the imperial clothing repair team, and I'm personally a fan of Colonel Daniel Steiner, so I wanted to take this opportunity to give you a gift."

Platt lightly raised the whiskey bottle he was holding.

Looking at the golden liquid swirling inside, it was clearly a high-quality product.

After a brief pause, Daniel nodded.

"If you're offering, I won't refuse. But it looks like a very expensive product. Is it alright for me to accept this?"

"Of course. I like alcohol too, but I have cheap taste, so I hope someone like Colonel Daniel would enjoy this high-quality product."

"If you insist..."

As if he had no choice, Daniel accepted the whiskey bottle.

After examining the whiskey bottle for a moment, Daniel turned his head and raised his hand.

"Waiter."

A waiter carrying a tray with several glasses of wine approached.

Daniel took two glasses from the tray and smiled faintly, and the waiter responded with a smile before walking away.

After sending the waiter off, Daniel muttered.

"I've been drinking too much whiskey lately, so I feel like having wine today. I heard it's of very good quality, made directly in a monastery."

Daniel placed the two glasses on the table.

"But you work in the imperial household, so you must have often tasted such wine. Just as I'm tired of whiskey, you must be tired of wine."

Daniel picked up one of the two glasses and poured the wine onto the floor.

Platt was surprised but tried hard to maintain his smile.

Ignoring Platt, Daniel put down the empty glass and opened the mouth of the whiskey bottle.

Daniel grasped the bottom of the bottle and filled the empty glass on the table with whiskey.

After pouring the whiskey, Daniel put down the bottle and picked up the two glasses containing alcohol.

Then he offered the glass with whiskey to Platt.

"I know this is a hard-to-get whiskey, so I'll let you have the first glass."

Daniel offered the glass with pure goodwill, but Platt broke out in a cold sweat.

He knew that poison had been put into that whiskey.

However, as he couldn't refuse, Platt raised his trembling hand.

As Platt took the glass, Daniel smiled and lightly clinked their glasses.

"You said your name was Vihram?"

"...Yes."

"It's a good name. Let's drink not to the empire, which is a bit cliché, but to our future."

Saying this, Daniel raised his glass and drank the wine.

Watching this, Platt's lips gradually dried up.

The sound of Daniel's swallowing was so clear that the voices in the banquet hall felt like a distant background.

Gulp─

After drinking the last sip, Daniel made a refreshed expression and removed the glass from his lips.

"Whew! I think this is the most delicious wine I've ever tasted. But still..."

Daniel chuckled softly and turned to Platt, speaking playfully.

"It probably doesn't compare to the whiskey you gifted me."

Daniel shrugged once and put down the empty glass.

"But..."

Daniel lightly turned his hand and spoke as if puzzled.

"Why aren't you drinking? I heard you liked alcohol."

Platt's breathing quickened.

Daniel's gaze felt like heavy lead weighing down on him.

Just as Platt, sweating cold, was about to open his mouth to make some excuse, it happened.

"What are you doing?"

After a brief silence, Daniel smiled lightly and urged.

"Please, drink up."