After Henry, the enemy commander, declared his surrender, the battlefield was quickly brought under control.

The Kingdom's soldiers, caught off guard by the unexpected ambush, dropped to their knees, completely demoralized. Even their officers, seemingly convinced that the situation could not be overturned, resigned themselves to captivity.

“Hurry up! You goddamn rats!”
“You should all be dead right now! Be grateful to our merciful company commander!”

As was typical of soldiers in the aftermath of victory, they barked harsh orders at the prisoners.

‘Why are they creating such a hostile atmosphere...?’

Daniel frowned, contemplating whether to intervene, but before he could step in, Lieutenant McCall approached.

“Sir! The headcount is complete!”
“Alright. What about casualties on our side?”
“Out of 207 men, we have 16 casualties. Four dead and twelve with minor injuries.”

Four deaths after defeating an entire battalion—an astonishingly favorable exchange rate, even considering the success of the operation.

He couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

“This is troublesome...”

Securing such a major achievement while merely supporting operations was undoubtedly problematic.

At this rate, the General Staff would continue assigning Daniel as a commander in every tactical deployment, something he wanted to avoid at all costs.

Though Daniel’s bitter smile was one of self-deprecation, Lieutenant McCall interpreted it differently.

‘He’s still not satisfied after achieving something this impressive...!’

To McCall, it was a mindset so advanced that he could hardly comprehend it.

It became clear to him why Daniel had earned his reputation as the Staff Headquarters’ ace and the Empire’s hero.

As McCall gazed at Daniel with a mix of awe and admiration, Daniel let out a quiet sigh.

“Prepare to move out for the forward outpost. Inform the troops we’ll depart after a short break.”

Truthfully, he would have preferred to stall for a few more days before joining up with the main force. However, with prisoners now in their custody, there was no room for delays.

If even one prisoner managed to cut their restraints and escape, it would spell disaster.

In the worst-case scenario, the Kingdom might send a rescue force to retrieve their captured supply battalion. Moving quickly to the forward outpost for safety was the better option.

“Yes, sir! I’ll relay your orders immediately!”

Saluting energetically, Lieutenant McCall hurried off to the gathered soldiers.

Left alone, Daniel absentmindedly turned his gaze and spotted Frien leading the Kingdom soldiers.

Frien was speaking softly with a smile, but the Kingdom soldiers looked pale and were panting in fear.

‘What kind of horrifying things is she saying to the prisoners...?’

He was genuinely concerned that she might end up violating the laws of war.

Just the previous day, during the planning stage of the ambush, Frien had suggested dressing like a civilian to better deceive the enemy.

Of course, disguising oneself as a civilian to attack the enemy was a blatant war crime.

When he explained this, Frien had asked, with a disturbingly sincere expression, “If they’ve sided with the Allied Nations, doesn’t that make them less than human? Why would it count as a crime?”

Her words had sent a chill down his spine.

‘At least she’s on our side.’

Facing an enemy with Frien’s level of fanatic nationalism would have been a nightmare.

Turning his attention away from Frien, Daniel’s eyes settled on Lucy.

Lucy was, as always, handling the prisoners with cold efficiency, just like she had back at headquarters.

He had worried that she might object to attacking the Kingdom’s forces, given the Kingdom’s alliance with the Allied Nations, but she seemed completely unbothered.

In fact, when one of the prisoners lashed out and charged at her, she knocked him unconscious with the butt of her rifle without so much as flinching.

Whether she was simply acting composed or genuinely indifferent to the Kingdom’s downfall, Daniel couldn’t say—but it was reassuring for the time being.

‘At least I don’t have to worry about Lucy shooting me anytime soon.’

After all, even from the perspective of the Allied Nations, the Kingdom was little more than a disposable pawn. There was no reason for them to waste resources defending it.

Feeling slightly relieved, Daniel raised his head as the world around him began to brighten.

From beyond the ridgeline, the sun slowly rose, casting its light over the battlefield.

It was the dawn of a new day.

*****

Forward Base Near the Coastal City of Nordia

Temporary Operations Headquarters of the Division Command

“It’s strange. Aerial reconnaissance reports show no signs of their supplies running out.”
“Indeed. By now, their provisions should’ve dried up...”

Seated around the large operations table in the command center were three regimental commanders, one brigade commander, and several battalion commanders along with staff officers.

They had all been summoned under the pretext of a tactical meeting by the division commander—the highest authority in the division headquarters.

[Commander of the 7th Magic Armored Division / Major General Felderham]

Felderham, seated at the head of the table with a solemn expression, listened intently to the discussions.

At the same time, his thoughts were consumed by one question—why had they failed to capture the coastal city of Nordia?

‘The northern front’s advance was progressing smoothly. Within just half a month of launching the offensive, we had occupied nearly thirty percent of the Kingdom’s territory.’

It had been nothing short of a blitzkrieg.

Convinced they could crush the Kingdom entirely, the Imperial High Command poured resources into the campaign, leading to a series of victories.

But now, the Imperial Army had hit a wall.

The Kingdom’s forces had begun resisting fiercely, halting further advancement of the frontlines.

Thus, in their deliberations, the Imperial Staff ordered the capture of Nordia.

The strategic plan was straightforward—seize Nordia, a critical coastal stronghold, to facilitate naval operations. With control over both land and sea, they could assault the Kingdom from two directions.

It was an excellent strategy. With no objections raised, Felderham led his division to encircle Nordia successfully.

Once the encirclement was complete, he focused his efforts on severing the Kingdom’s supply routes leading to the city.

The reasoning was simple.

A besieged city, once cut off from supplies, would quickly succumb to fear and exhaustion.

Not only would military and civilian morale plummet, but societal order would also collapse, spreading disease and epidemics.

If things went as planned, they might even force the enemy commander to surrender.

It was, by all accounts, a strategy that promised maximum victory with minimal losses.

‘But...’

Things were not going as expected.

Despite the siege, the Kingdom’s armored division stationed in Nordia showed no signs of supply shortages.

This baffled Felderham.

The Imperial Air Force had already secured aerial dominance, sinking several of the Kingdom’s supply ships.

On the ground, his armored division maintained an impenetrable blockade—tight enough that even an ant couldn’t slip through.

And yet, the Kingdom’s armored division continued to receive supplies on time.

Plagued by this inexplicable situation, Felderham turned to Brigade Commander Heinrich.

“Heinrich, do you have any idea what’s going on here?”

Unfortunately, Heinrich shook his head.

“I have no idea how their supply lines are holding, sir. However, I heard headquarters sent a staff officer to assist us. We might want to wait and see what he has to offer.”

“...A staff officer? Hah. Don’t tell me you’re talking about Daniel Steiner.”

Felderham, who had spent years in the northern frontlines, was well aware of the name Daniel Steiner.

It would’ve been stranger if he didn’t know. After all, Daniel had caused quite the uproar in the capital.

But Felderham didn’t trust Daniel in the slightest.

He found it suspicious that someone could rack up so many achievements in just six months.

‘No doubt the capital fabricated a hero for propaganda purposes.’

It was most likely a ploy to boost recruitment rates by manufacturing a poster boy.

Sure, some of Daniel’s accomplishments might’ve been real. But to believe every single one of them was genuine? That defied common sense.

The High Command’s motives—to secure more soldiers—were understandable. But wasn’t their excessive praise of Daniel taking things too far?

‘And to make matters worse...’

What they needed at headquarters right now wasn’t some smooth-talking staff officer, but a proven and competent warrior who could deliver results.

‘And yet, the best support headquarters could send is some rookie staff officer?’

Felderham was about to let out a disappointed sigh when—

“C-Commander, sir?”

It was the communications officer who had been monitoring the radio.

Turning his head to see what the fuss was about, Felderham noticed the soldier’s bewildered expression as he spoke.

“Captain Daniel Steiner’s company has arrived at this location, sir. But… there are casualties. Out of 16 reported casualties, 4 are dead and 12 suffered minor injuries...”

What? Sixteen casualties from nothing more than a march?

Even if it had been a forced march, this was beyond comprehension. On top of that, they’d arrived six days late from their expected arrival date, and yet they managed to sustain sixteen casualties?

‘What an incompetent commander…!’

This was exactly the type of officer who should never be deployed to the battlefield.

Felderham was already planning to reprimand Daniel and have him reassigned to the rear when—

“And also…”

The communications officer swallowed nervously, as if struggling to believe the words he was about to speak.

“Captain Daniel Steiner’s company encountered and neutralized an enemy supply battalion en route to the divisional headquarters. Out of 327 enemy personnel, 135 were killed, and 192—including the enemy battalion commander—were captured, sir...”

The operations room fell into stunned silence.

‘...What did he just say?’

Faced with such an absurdly outstanding report, Felderham—and every officer present in the command center—stood frozen with their mouths agape.