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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Unexpected Discovery
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Why is oil coming out?
I let out a silent groan, then straightened my posture, wary of the eyes around me.
I wasn't sure how things had come to this, but in any case, I was currently the 'rising star of the Operations Staff Office', so acting strangely and inviting suspicion was out of the question.
For now, I had no choice but to calmly perform my duties and plan for the future.
'First things first...'
Processing the documents that had piled up on my desk was the priority.
I exhaled slowly and picked up the documents placed next to the telephone to check their contents.
*Rustle—*
Flipping through the papers, I found them to be perfectly ordinary.
Most were requests for operational permits or construction approvals for military buildings.
My task was to review them first, and if there were no logical issues, I would approve them and send them up the chain of command.
[Operations Staff Officer ▶ Chief of Operations Staff ▶ Deputy Chief of Operations Staff ▶ Chief of Staff Headquarters]
Roughly, this was how the approval process worked.
It wasn't particularly difficult work, so I proceeded with approvals for most documents, excluding a few that required resource and personnel reallocation.
It was when I unfolded the last document that I found myself flustered.
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"Logistics Department Construction Approval Request"
Recipient: Chief of Operations Staff (Colonel Ernst Bark)
Sender: Logistics Staff Officer (Captain Arnob Howbut)
Date: March 16, 1944
Subject: Request for Approval of Eastern Front Logistics Department Construction and Site Selection
Assigned Officer: Operations Staff Officer (Lieutenant Daniel Steiner)
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It was a perfectly normal request for logistics department construction approval.
The only problem was that I was listed as the assigned officer.
'...Why?'
I couldn't understand it.
A logistics department is a small-scale material collection point that smoothly receives supplies extending from the rear logistics headquarters and then redistributes them to the front lines.
In short, it's a critical stronghold for securing supply routes and is built to prevent supplies from being left unmanaged.
Logistics is so crucial it's called the mother of war, but they were entrusting it to an operations staff officer?
And to a lieutenant who'd clumsily landed an operations staff position after a single-rank promotion?
'There must have been a mix-up in the report...'
No matter how I looked at it, this seemed like something I needed to report to the Chief of Staff.
Having made up my mind, I picked up the documents and stood, entering the Chief of Staff's office, which was located within the Operations Staff Office.
Buried under all sorts of reports and documents, the Chief of Staff looked up at the sound of my footsteps.
"Hmm? Ah. If it isn't our hero, Daniel!"
Colonel Ernst Bark chuckled and straightened up, exuding the benevolent air of a friendly neighborhood uncle.
However, one shouldn't judge a person solely by their impression.
Anyone who had risen to the rank of colonel in the Empire had undoubtedly weathered countless storms.
"I merely did what was expected; the title of 'hero' is a bit much."
Humility is a virtue, regardless of nation. Ernst seemed pleased with my humble demeanor and opened his mouth with a smile.
"So, Lieutenant. What brings you to me?"
"I've completed the initial approvals for the documents that came into the staff office, and I came to report them."
"Ah. Already? Your efficiency is as good as I've heard. Hand them over."
I nodded and placed the documents on Ernst's desk.
However, I did not put down the logistics department document that listed me as the assigned officer. Seeing this, Ernst tilted his head.
"What's that one?"
"It was assigned to me. Strangely, the approval section for superiors was empty, so it seems the logistics staff officer made a mistake."
Ernst blinked a few times, then burst out laughing. Why was he laughing?
"Ah, ah. It's understandable why you'd think that, but that wasn't a mistake by the logistics staff officer."
"If it wasn't a mistake?"
"Headquarters intentionally gave you that task. As you can see, I've been very busy recently, so there's the purpose of distributing the workload. And the other reason, I'm sure you can guess, right?"
My brow furrowed instinctively.
This was headquarters testing me.
It was as good as telling me to prove that catching a spy and discovering hidden enemy forces in the hills wasn't just a stroke of luck.
The importance of logistics is known to any military officer, but building a logistics department at an appropriate location is no easy task.
For a logistics department, it fundamentally needed to be safe from enemy attacks, easily accessible, and have enough space to accommodate numerous supplies.
So, they must have judged it suitable for gauging my ability to perform the role of an operations staff officer.
'Who is it? Is the Chief of Staff testing me...?'
I didn't know for sure, but this was an opportunity.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to brilliantly showcase my incompetence!
If I built the logistics department in an utterly terrible location, my performance review would plummet into hell, and with that, I could naturally withdraw from the military.
Excited at the thought of being discharged, I snapped a crisp salute towards Ernst.
"Thank you for trusting me! I will do my best to construct the logistics department!"
Ernst smiled and nodded, seemingly pleased with my words.
"Good. We'll provide ample budget, so don't worry and proceed with the work."
"Understood!"
I replied vigorously, a sly smile forming within me.
'I'm sorry, but you'll regret this soon enough.'
Because I would build the logistics department in the theoretically worst possible location.
*
Two weeks later, Eastern Front rear line.
Bardenplatz Plain.
*Vroooom—*
Heavy machinery entered the plain, moving construction materials, making the very ground tremble.
Watching from a distance, Captain Arnob Howbut, the logistics staff officer, was not pleased.
'What on earth is headquarters thinking? Entrusting the construction of a logistics department to a lieutenant who's practically a greenhorn...'
That damn fellow had ordered construction on the Bardenplatz Plain, and now all sorts of manpower and resources were being consumed.
'Why build a logistics department here, of all places?'
The Bardenplatz Plain was an open field. That meant it was extremely vulnerable to enemy artillery bombardment.
To counter that, separate defensive walls had to be erected, leading to extreme material waste.
Were defensive walls the only problem? If they were going to build a logistics department on a plain, it should have been in a location where existing roads could be utilized.
But the Bardenplatz Plain had no usable roads nearby.
That meant new roads had to be laid all the way to the Bardenplatz Plain.
If they laid an incoming road, they'd also have to lay an outgoing road, doubling the budget consumption.
It was nothing short of a colossal waste of money.
'Daniel Steiner, was it? That damn brat...'
The empire's precious tax money was being squandered in real-time because of some greenhorn officer who didn't even know the basics of logistics.
Arnob, who normally didn't consider his patriotism particularly deep, found himself growing patriotic watching the tax money being wasted before his eyes.
But how could a mere logistics staff officer, a captain, defy headquarters' orders?
Even if Daniel Steiner was lower in rank than him, his authority was immense.
Even though dissatisfaction continued to grow within him, the fact that he couldn't say a word in front of Daniel was proof of that.
When Daniel had come for an inspection a week ago and ordered the logistics department construction to proceed as planned, Arnob hadn't been able to object.
Despite his true feelings, Arnob was, after all, an unavoidable bureaucrat of the Empire.
'If headquarters tells you to jump, you jump. What can you do...'
Feeling frustrated, Arnob pulled out a cigarette pack from his pocket and put a cigarette to his lips.
As he took out his lighter and lit the end of the cigarette, the walkie-talkie hanging from his shoulder strap crackled.
—Logistics Officer! Do you hear me?!
This person always contacts me when I'm having a cigarette. Arnob took out the walkie-talkie, pressed the transmit button, and replied.
"You're forgetting your rank and name again? If you keep doing that, how am I supposed to know who I'm talking to?"
—Ah! You're really difficult. Sergeant Winter Enfellt here! Is that enough?
"That's enough. What are you contacting me about?"
—Well, we did the ground survey, didn't we? With the experts, I mean.
Arnob nodded.
It was standard procedure to conduct a ground survey before putting up a building.
It had become mandatory after an incident where a building collapsed due to ground instability, causing casualties.
—The results from the experts came in today, and well, what can I say? It made me think that headquarters wasn't wrong to entrust this task to Lieutenant Daniel Steiner.
Huh? The sergeant, who had been cursing Daniel with him just yesterday, had changed his tune, which made Arnob curious.
"Just get to the point. The point. What were the results, exactly?"
—Hahaha! Well, it's...!
The sergeant shouted in a joyful voice.
—It's oil! Oil! Oil was discovered beneath the ground! And a massive quantity, enough to be worth mining!
Thanks to that, Arnob dropped the cigarette he was holding.
'What?'
Oil? The Bardenplatz Plain was an oil deposit?
If so, it wasn't Daniel who didn't know the basics of logistics, but Arnob himself.
Arnob let out a hollow breath and ran a hand over his face.
'Could Lieutenant Daniel Steiner have...?'
Had he known all of this from the beginning? Thinking that, Daniel's brazen attitude suddenly made sense.
Arnob let out a low, self-deprecating laugh and clasped his hands behind his back.
'It seems...'
An incredible talent had been commissioned into headquarters.
*
Meanwhile, upon hearing that the Bardenplatz Plain, where the logistics department was about to be built, was an oil deposit, Daniel Steiner was—
'Why?'
—in real-time, utterly flustered.