I Was Mistaken for a Great General of War

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At first, I thought I must have misheard, but the certainty in Priyen’s gaze left no doubt.

“…The telescope.”

“Yes, Lieutenant!”

Receiving the telescope from Priyen, I scanned the entrance of the gorge, my brows furrowing.

As Priyen had said, a sizable troop was marching forward.

But what in the world were they doing in the mine-laden Edelkrall Gorge?

Feeling puzzled, I examined their formation and found myself chuckling in disbelief.

‘They’re marching in this stupid formation. Two soldiers are walking at the front, quite far ahead.’

The soldiers at the front were literally mine-clearing teams.

If no explosions occurred on their path, it meant there were no mines.

Thus, Jeremy’s troop was following in their footsteps.

‘The soldiers at the front… They don’t seem to want to be there.’

Zooming in with the telescope, I observed the faces of the men at the front, filled with fear.

Did they voluntarily step into the front line trembling like that? Absolutely not.

It was highly likely there had been some form of coercion.

Turning the telescope, I spotted a soldier about 30 meters back, openly aiming his gun at the men ahead.

“Fall out of line, and you’ll be shot.”

Jeremy must have issued a similar command.

‘Wanting to verify mines using the lives of his subordinates…’

It was truly a devilish mindset.

War history has shown far worse, so this shouldn’t come as a shock.

With a sigh, I lowered the telescope and surveyed the area.

“The target is approaching. All squads, prepare for battle.”

No sooner had I finished speaking than the squad members crouched down, drawing their rifles from their shoulders. Immediately after, they checked the mana cylinders strapped to their opposite shoulders.

These cylindrical devices, filled with various mechanical gadgets and counters, were the Empire’s cutting-edge warfare equipment.

Their function was to store mana within the body for later use, allowing soldiers to use up to twice as much mana in battle, depending on the individual.

This meant that the Empire’s soldiers could fight twice as well as soldiers from other nations.

Of course, this figure is a bit inflated when solely based on numbers, but it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the invention of mana cylinders, dubbed the culmination of magic engineering, made the Empire a superpower.

‘Actually, there’s no nation that can defeat the Empire in a one-on-one total war…’

Because of that overwhelming national power, the Empire ignited fear and resentment among neighboring nations.

Recalling my reasons for wanting to escape the Empire, I joined others in checking the counters on my mana cylinder.

Having confirmed everything was in order, I took a prone position at the cliff’s edge.

The soldiers formed a line beside me, mirroring my stance.

As I glanced down, watching Jeremy’s company venture deeper into the gorge, I whispered just loud enough for the soldiers to hear.

“I’ll handle the enemy commander. The moment I fire, you all take rear positions to block their escape route. Prepare magic bullets.”

“Magic bullets ready!”

With voices nearly identical to mine, the soldiers gathered mana in their hands around the magazines.

This act temporarily infused the bullets with mana, enhancing their destructive power and penetration.

Mana-infused bullets far surpass ordinary magic and only require mana infusion without special incantations, making them much easier to cast.

Just like how medieval knights disappeared with the development of firearms, once the efficacy of magic bullets was proven, most magic in this world fell out of practical use, save for a few that remained relevant.

Technological advancements are often a prime example of how romance gets destroyed.

‘By the way…’

If I succeed in killing Colonel Jeremy here, wouldn’t that earn me more accolades?

With the princess watching from behind, I had to engage in battle, but if I generated notable results here, it might vanish my chance to escape the Empire.

So what should I do? Feeling Selvia’s gaze, I opened the rifle scope.

Bracing the rifle’s stock, I peered through the scope and spotted Colonel Jeremy walking in the center of the formation.

The scope wasn’t magnified too much, so I couldn’t see his face properly, but I could tell he was the one wearing a high-ranking officer’s uniform.

If I manage to take him out, I would certainly be promoted.

I must not let that happen. I no longer wanted to be tied down by the Empire.

‘So…’

If I were to fail to kill Colonel Jeremy despite having the chance, I would become a complete fool.

‘I’ll have to act as if I missed my shot.’

Having made my decision, I slightly adjusted my aim to shoot the soldier walking alongside Colonel Jeremy.

I took a deep breath, held my breath, conjured a magic bullet, and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The bullet sliced through the air, piercing the soldier’s head.

In quick succession, my squadmates’ gunfire rang out, drowning my ears.

I peeked up to check the rear and found around 17 allied soldiers collapsing in a spray of blood.

A splendid initial shot.

But the enemy commander was still alive.

Upon confirming the number of dead soldiers was around twenty, they would easily realize that our troop only consisted of a squad.

As far as I knew, Jeremy was a crafty rat. He would certainly deploy mana barriers and flee in any direction.

During that process, many soldiers would perish, but would Jeremy genuinely care if he was using them as a mine-clearing team?

If Jeremy escaped, I would become an officer who failed his mission.

‘Come on, hurry up and run, Colonel Jeremy!’

Peering through the scope, I saw Jeremy’s dazed company fumbling around.

An officer among them seemed to shout something and dropped his weapon.

‘…Huh? Why are they dropping their weapons?’

As I cluelessly watched, the enemy officer and soldiers began kneeling one by one, raising their hands in surrender.

A clear sign of surrender. A declaration of no intention to continue fighting.

Even Priyen, who had been firing beside me, tilted her head in confusion.

“……They’re surrendering?”

“No. There’s a possibility it’s a deceptive tactic. They might attack us once we get closer…”

No sooner had I said that than the officer shouted something and hurled their firearms toward the minefield.

The soldiers followed suit and tossed their guns into what seemed like the minefield.

“……It’s definitely a surrender.”

What on earth was the reason? I couldn’t comprehend, but regardless, since the enemy surrendered, the operation was officially over.

“All standing up! We’re going to bind them.”

*

As I descended into the gorge, I ordered the squad members to bind the prisoners before walking over to Colonel Jeremy to understand the whole story.

To be precise, I wanted to know the reason for their surrender.

“You shot and killed the Colonel!”

Jeremy… or rather, someone resembling him in the Colonel’s uniform, glared at me.

“We were ambushed. If our intelligence couldn’t even recognize that the clothes were switched, it was clear we couldn’t win. Fleeing forward leads to mines, and retreating leads to certain death.”

In short, the soldier I killed with my first shot had disguised himself as the colonel.

Losing their commander in an instant led the company to believe that the enemy had the upper hand in every aspect, hence their morale plummeted, resulting in surrender.

‘Damn…’

As I wiped my face in disbelief, a soldier clenched his fists in frustration.

“Damn it…! If I had known you were just a mere squad, I would have fought! You conniving bastards…! To deceive all of us! You better go to hell—”

Thud! With a sound, the soldier collapsed in the snow.

It was Priyen, delivering a swift blow with her rifle stock to the soldier’s neck.

Looking down coldly at the enemy soldier, Priyen turned to me and saluted.

“Squad Leader! We’ve bound 87 enemy soldiers, excluding the 18 who were killed!”

Listening to Priyen, I realized we had defeated a company with merely a squad.

Holding back a cold breath, I fell silent, and Priyen added more.

“…Isn’t this something to be happy about for you? Ah! Perhaps this level of achievement is just expected from you, Lieutenant. My apologies for overstepping!”

What on earth was she saying? As I frowned, a camera shutter clicked.

Startled, I turned to the source of the sound and found Selvia standing there.

Lowering the camera, Selvia looked at me with an expression of pride.

“Congratulations. You executed the operation flawlessly and even killed the target.”

“Wait a minute. That photo you just took…”

“When we return to the regime, I’ll request… no, I’ll beg you to run a story about the hero who captured a company with just a squad.”

I wanted to refuse, but considering who she was, I had no power to say no.

Selvia, seemingly fond of me, took a step closer and playfully tapped me on the waist.

“How does it feel? Becoming a war hero?”

“…….”

It was the worst.

But I could never express that to the Empire’s princess.

Gathering my emotions, I spoke as calmly as I could.

“I merely did what was expected of me for the Empire; calling me a war hero is absurd. What I accomplished is just one of the countless battles occurring on the frontlines. I worry that announcing this battle to the regime might seem like excessive celebration.”

That was me indirectly asking her not to publicize my accomplishments.

However, Selvia appeared momentarily surprised by my words, then quickly smiled.

“Indeed. As I heard, you are a true model soldier. I almost want to whisk you away right now.”

…Did I create some misunderstanding? Surely it was just my imagination?