Was Mistaken For A War Hero

Swallowing dryly, I corrected the position of my uniform tie.

"For now....

I'd better act as natural as possible.

I let out a single cough and walked toward Lucy.

"I'm a little surprised to see you here, I wasn't expecting to meet anyone. More than that, you have blood on your coat, did something happen to you here?"

Lucy paused for a moment, then said casually.

"There was a commotion."

"You mean the ... commotion?"

"Yep. To make a long story short, I'm an emergency medicine specialist and surgeon working at a central hospital. I was walking down the street after work, and while performing emergency hemostasis on a bleeding citizen who had been mugged, I got blood on my coat."

His tone was surprisingly calm and level-headed.

It was amazing to watch him rattle off a series of plausible excuses in less than 30 seconds from the time we made eye contact to the time I asked the question.

"So you're an intelligence agent.

As I approached with inward admiration, Lucy asked the question this time.

"Officer, may I ask why you are here?"

Unlike Lucy, I didn't have to lie.

"I'm a little embarrassed to tell you, but I heard there was a new dessert shop on the outskirts of the island, and I got lost on my way to take a shortcut."

"You mean the ... dessert shop?"

Lucy repeats in disbelief, and I feel a pang of shame.

Judging by her reaction, it's not considered normal in this day and age for a man to go to a dessert shop alone.

But I wasn't going to give up something I loved just because I cared what others thought.

"Is there a problem?"

Lucy hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

"No. I'm just a little surprised that Captain Daniel Steiner, famous for his bloodlessness and tearlessness, would eat something so bad that only a child would like it."

This one scratches a little.

"Please cover your words. Dessert is not a junk food."

"If you're more lost than that, I can give you directions. ...Excuse me."

Directions. I was reluctant, but as long as he was with me as I exited the alley, I didn't mind.

"It would be unbecoming of an officer to refuse a favor from a subject, so I'll be happy to be of assistance. I'm Captain Daniel Steiner from the General Staff, as I'm sure you already know."

"And I'm Surgeon Meirin Ceabrite from the Central Hospital."

Lucy and I shook hands lightly, then walked down the alleyway.

I followed about half a step behind, glancing at Lucy as we walked.

Perhaps thinking that discarding her coat in front of me would arouse suspicion, she turned it inside out to hide the blood stains and draped it over her arm.

She had a shoulder bag slung over her shoulder, which I could tell was where she carried her pistol and other assassination paraphernalia.

I thought, "...I'll never let him open that shoulder bag.

There's no telling what could happen if she did.

Lucy Emilia is far too powerful for a mere intelligence agent.

You may not realize it yet, but she could single-handedly wipe out a small battalion if she were to use all her powers.

So it's a bit of a pain in the ass to have to deal with someone I've tried to avoid as much as possible, and now she's here as my second-in-command, and now she's pretending to be a doctor in front of me.

The one good thing was that Lucy would be uncomfortable with me, too, so we could part ways neatly once we left the alleyway.

"Here we go."

Lucy and I walk out of the alleyway and onto the boulevard, where the streetcar is passing by.

It's a cool evening, and the streetlights are all lit up.

A cool breeze blew in, carrying the chatter of passersby.

I opened my mouth to say goodbye to Lucy, enjoying the scenery, but stopped myself.

"Oh, Captain Daniel, are you by any chance Captain Daniel?"

A passerby in a police uniform walking down the sidewalk looked at me and feigned recognition.

He looked me up and down, and soon exclaimed.

"Ah! You must be Captain Daniel! My God, I never thought I'd see an Imperial hero on the street!"

I didn't think anyone would recognize me, but I had a bad feeling about running into a cop, especially when I was with Lucy in disguise.

'Plus....'

As far as I knew, only members of the Security Service could wear that ultramarine blue police uniform.

They are what is commonly referred to as the 'secret police' or 'thought police'.

They are trained solely for counterintelligence.

Lucy seemed to realize this, and her demeanor became a little tense.

The passerby, who of course had no idea of our situation, smiled and extended his hand to me.

"This is a pleasure. Captain Daniel. I'm Cartman Schultz, the chief inspector of the Security Service."

I smiled and shook his hand, unable to ignore him.

"This is Captain Daniel Steiner from the General Staff. It's not every day you run into someone from the Secret Service on the street."

"Ahaha, well, this neighborhood isn't under my jurisdiction, but I had reservations at a nearby restaurant, and it just so happened to coincide with my off-duty time, so I'm here in uniform."

After shaking hands, Cartman snapped his fingers as if he had an idea.

"Since this is how we met, how about a meal together? I'll pay, of course, and if you don't mind, I'll invite your friend, the captain next to you, to join us."

This was bad. Should I just call him an acquaintance?

No. If I did, they'd ask me how we got out of the alley together without being acquaintances.

Suspicion of everything is an occupational hazard of the Security Service officers.

So to avoid complicating the situation, it was best to pretend to be an acquaintance but decline the invitation to eat.

Searching for a natural way to decline, I spoke up.

"It's very kind of you to invite me to dinner, but I've been traveling a long way to get here and I'm very tired."

"Oh. If that's the case, you needn't worry, the restaurant I'm looking for is just around the corner. Do you see it over there?"

Cartman raised his hand and pointed, and the restaurant was indeed literally a block away.

I nodded, not sure I could say no anymore.

"If you're that far out, I won't say no anymore, let's go."

At my words, I could see Lucy secretly swallow hard, but I couldn't help it.

This was a force majeure.

*Pause.

The restaurant I walked into with Cartman was an upscale restaurant for the upper class.

The atmosphere was cool, the decor was elegant, and the waiters were dressed to impress.

We're seated at a window seat overlooking the city, and after placing a simple order, Katman looks at me with a soft smile on his face.

"I don't know how many times I've seen this," he said, "but it's almost overwhelming to see a hero right in front of me that I've only seen in newspapers and on TV."

"I don't deserve to be called a hero."

"Don't be modest, he's got quite a few fans here at the Secret Service. Me, too, haha. I'll be sure to brag about our meeting today."

As Cartman continues to talk warmly, I glance over at Lucy, who is sitting next to me.

She looks puzzled.

"...But your friend doesn't take off his sunglasses, does he? He doesn't have to keep them on, does he?"

She wasn't wrong. But the moment Lucy removes her sunglasses, her red eyes are revealed.

There's no telling what she's going to do when she decides she can't hide her identity anymore.

"You haven't said a word since the beginning, and I'm sure you know it's not polite to keep doing that in public. If you don't feel comfortable with your hands, I can put your sunglasses back on ....."

Mr. Cartman reaches his hand toward Lucy's face.

Lucy, apparently deciding she can't fool the Secret Service and me at the same time, moves her hand under the table to open her shoulder bag.

It's a close call. I broke out in a cold sweat and quickly grabbed Cartman's wrist.

"...Yes, Captain?"

I flashed him an awkward smile as he turned around.

"Oops. I must have forgotten to introduce myself. This woman next to me was a medic on the Eastern Front, and unfortunately, she suffered a wound in her eye from an enemy soldier, ... if you know what I mean?"

Hearing my words, Mr. Cartman let out a pitiful groan.

"Oh my God, I didn't realize such a terrible thing had happened, I'm sorry. You're wearing sunglasses to cover your wounds, and I must have been rude, but you can't speak...."

It's the Secret Service, after all.

I don't give him the benefit of the doubt.

After rolling the abacus in my head for a while, I said sadly.

"The trauma of the incident has left him with aphasia, and he can't speak even if he wants to."

Withdrawing his hand, Katman wiggled his fingers guiltily.

"From what I've heard ..., I've been incredibly rude, and I'm truly sorry. It's my job to be suspicious of others. Ugh. I'm going to take a quick trip to the restroom to regain my composure."

Cartman pulls back his chair and stands up, bowing politely to Lucy.

Afterward, Lucy turns to me as she watches Cartman walk toward the restroom.

She's obviously confused.

I cough once and whisper just loud enough for Lucy to hear.

"I know. That the doctor is innocent. But I'm dealing with a security service officer, and you've heard of special powers of arrest, which means they can arrest you on suspicion."

It was important to put to rest the suspicion that Lucy was now raising in my mind: does Daniel know who I am?

"I don't know, but seeing as he's risen to the rank of Chief Inspector, I'm sure he's arrested a lot of innocent people. You know what they say, 'When you're taken to the Security Service, even the most innocent people turn out to be spies'?"

I shrugged once.

"I was just trying to get the doctor out of a bad situation, so what did you say your name was, Maireen Seab...?"

Lucy remained silent at my question.

I think she might even be angry.

I snapped my fingers as if I'd done a good job.

"That's right, that's right, you have aphasia. That's a very good attitude. You're going to have to keep it up until you're away from the Secret Service cops. Do you understand?"

Lucy still didn't answer. Inwardly frustrated, I spoke again.

"Answer with action. With action."

Her pride wounded, Lucy turned away from me and bit her bottom lip hard.

This is where it gets tricky. Wanting to be sure, I rapped my fingers on the table and said.

"Answer."

Lucy let out a low sigh and gave a small nod of her head.

For now, she decided it was safest to play it my way.