Mistaken for a War Hero

Chapter 43
I Am Merely Carrying Out My Mission

『 Translator – Divinity 』

It was a tense situation.

As Daniel watched nervously, Lucy suppressed her anger and let out a soft sigh.

It was true that she had agreed when Frienne offered to order, and it was also true that she hadn’t specified what she wanted.

‘But…’

Lucy couldn’t help but feel disappointed, as she had wanted to try the éclair that Daniel was praising so much.

So, with her eyes slightly narrowed, she looked down at the mint chocolate chip ice cream.

She couldn’t imagine what the bright turquoise ice cream would taste like.

If it didn’t taste good, it would ruin her long-awaited break.

As Lucy scrutinized the mint chocolate chip ice cream with a serious expression, Frienne narrowed her eyes.

‘Hmm, she doesn’t look happy…’

Why? She didn’t have to think hard to figure it out.

‘She must hate being interrupted on her date.’

It was obvious that Lucy was upset that someone had interfered with her plan to spend some quality time alone with Daniel.

Although the real reason was Frienne’s arbitrary ordering of the ‘mint chocolate chip ice cream,’ Frienne was completely oblivious to this fact.

Because mint chocolate chip ice cream was delicious.

In Frienne’s opinion, it was a perfect dessert that everyone liked.

Of course, there were some people who hated mint, but they were a minority, so there was no need to worry about them.

‘Anyway…’

Frienne didn’t like seeing Lucy cozying up to Major Daniel, who was like a saint, striving for the annihilation of the Allied Nations.

Although she personally respected Lucy’s work ethic, this was a separate issue.

Frienne knew how many great figures in history had suffered because of women.

Love could blind one’s eyes and cloud one’s judgment.

Therefore, Frienne couldn’t stand seeing Lucy trying to seduce Daniel.

‘If it were a normal relationship, I wouldn’t interfere…’

But Lucy was hiding something.

Others might not know, but Frienne could sense that the darkness Lucy was hiding was profound.

She was wary because she didn’t know what kind of negative influence that darkness might have on Daniel.

If Lucy was seducing him for some ulterior motive, she would never forgive her.

‘I wanted to try the éclair…’

On the other hand, Lucy simply wanted to try the éclair.

She hesitated, wanting to ask Daniel to cut her a bite-sized piece, but then shook her head.

She couldn’t make such a rude request to her superior officer.

In the end, Lucy decided to settle for the mint chocolate chip ice cream and picked up her spoon.

Lucy took a bite of the ice cream and her eyes widened in surprise.

The sweet and refreshing taste that filled her mouth opened up a new horizon of flavor.

Taking the spoon out of her mouth, Lucy quietly murmured,

“Delicious…”

Frienne looked a bit surprised, then gave a genuine smile.

“Lieutenant Lucy! You like mint?”

“Yes, I think I do.”

“Then why didn’t you say so earlier! I know a few shops in the capital. Want to go together?”

Lucy blinked a few times with a troubled expression, then looked at Daniel.

It seemed like she was asking for his permission, so Daniel picked up his coffee cup and said,

“Do as you please. When we return to the capital, the headquarters will recognize our achievements and give us plenty of time to rest.”

Lucy nodded slightly in agreement.

Seeing this, Daniel sipped his coffee and smiled faintly.

‘She’s completely fallen for desserts.’

He felt a bit sorry for the Allied Nations.

The Lucy who had disparaged desserts as junk food was no more.

He wondered how they would feel if they knew he had ‘NTR-ed’ the taste buds of their competent intelligence agent.

‘Even if one’s ideology is impure, their tongue is honest.’

As Daniel was about to eat his éclair with satisfaction, he paused, feeling Lucy’s gaze.

He saw her glancing at the éclair.

Well, it was natural for her to be curious after hearing him sing its praises in the office.

Fully understanding Lucy’s feelings, Daniel cut the éclair in half with a knife, placed it on a small plate, and handed it to her.

Lucy looked at him with surprise.

“Major, this isn’t mine.”

“It is now. I’m full.”

“…Thank you.”

Lucy politely accepted the plate, picked up the éclair with a fork, and took a bite.

“…!”

Her pupils dilated.

She was even more surprised than when she had the mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Lucy quickly regained her usual expression, but her face was flushed.

Daniel, watching this from right in front of her, chuckled.

‘I’ve felt it from the beginning, but she’s not good at expressing her emotions…’

If Lucy had a tail, it would probably be wagging furiously from side to side.

With that thought in mind, Daniel cut the éclair into bite-sized pieces and put one in his mouth.

‘Oh.’

As expected, the éclair was delicious, enough to understand Lucy’s reaction.

***

After finishing their desserts, Lucy let Daniel and Frienne leave the shop first.

She had something else to do.

Daniel and Frienne looked puzzled but nodded. After watching them walk away, Lucy approached a man leaning against a pillar outside the shop.

The man, wearing a black beanie, looked at Lucy.

“…What?”

“If you’re going to follow someone, you shouldn’t make it so obvious. You were lurking around five days ago, and now you’ve appeared again today.”

The man frowned at Lucy’s words.

“What? What nonsense are you…”

“An eagle soaring high in the sky can never know what’s happening on the ground.”

The man’s hand twitched.

It was a kind of code used within the Allied Intelligence Agency.

Realizing that Lucy was an intelligence agent, the man gulped.

Lucy stared at him and said quietly,

“Follow me naturally.”

She turned and started walking.

The man wasn’t sure what was going on, but he felt compelled to follow, so he trailed behind Lucy at a distance.

Lucy continued walking as if she had a specific destination in mind, and with each step, the surroundings became more and more deserted.

‘Where is she taking me?’

The anxious man bit his lower lip.

Continuing to scan his surroundings as he walked, he arrived at an empty construction site.

The workers had all gone home, and there were no residents nearby, making it completely deserted.

Wondering why she had led him to such a place, the man tried to lighten the mood and spoke first.

“Wow! I didn’t expect to meet a comrade here! And disguised as that bastard’s adjutant, no less. This works out well, actually. We’re planning to assassinate Daniel Steiner. Can you help us?”

Lucy sighed softly.

“That’s not an order from the Allied Nations.”

The man fell silent. She wasn’t wrong.

“I’ve done my research on you. You have a history of acting independently.”

“…So? Did my independent actions ever harm the Allied Nations? Besides, Daniel Steiner is someone who could cause significant damage to the Allied Nations in the future. It’s right to eliminate him.”

“I’ll say it again. That’s not an order from the Allied Nations.”

The man gritted his teeth. He thought she was being unreasonable.

“So what do you want me to do? Just sit back and watch? Or are you going to offer some other kind of help?”

“You’re wrong. I’m here to eliminate you.”

“…Eliminate?”

Kill someone on the same team? Just as he was wondering what nonsense this was, Lucy turned around.

Bathed in the moonlight, she exuded an inexplicable aura of intimidation.

“I can’t tell you the details, but the Allied Nations wants the Kingdom to lose. If you assassinate Daniel Steiner, it would be seen as going against the will of the Allied Nations.”

“Wait a minute…”

“Furthermore, my mission is to ‘eliminate agents who have betrayed or disobeyed orders.’ Your actions fall under both categories.”

Judging from how she spoke, she didn’t seem to be lying.

The man chuckled and suddenly drew a pistol from his pocket.

Before Lucy could even speak, he pulled the trigger repeatedly.

Gunshots rang out, flashes erupted, and bullets flew.

But the bullets didn’t pierce Lucy’s body.

Woooong—

They were embedded in a blue barrier that Lucy had erected.

‘She blocked them? In that split second?’

As the man stared in disbelief, Lucy dispelled the barrier.

The bullets, which had been suspended in mid-air, fell to the ground and rolled harmlessly away.

“I apologize. I bear you no ill will.”

Lucy drew her revolver from her pocket.

Seeing this, the man, overwhelmed by fear, shouted,

“You crazy bitch! You’re going to kill a fellow agent, even if it’s an order from above…?”

Unfortunately, he couldn’t finish his sentence.

Bang!

A bullet pierced his head.

The man swayed for a moment, then collapsed onto the ground.

“…”

After confirming the man’s death, Lucy lowered her revolver.

Then, she turned her head, bothered by the moonlight reflecting off something.

There was a cracked full-length mirror left abandoned in the corner.

Lucy looked at her reflection.

Her silver hair, gleaming in the moonlight, and her red eyes.

Staring at herself, she unconsciously recalled Daniel’s words from earlier.

—Just admiring your beauty today.

…What did he mean by that?

It was quite a perplexing compliment for Lucy, who had never considered herself beautiful.

The only things she had ever heard from men were screams and curses.

After all, the mission assigned to her by the Allied Nations was to eliminate traitors.

As Lucy pondered Daniel’s words, she suddenly looked up at the sky.

‘The Milky Way…’

Seeing the abundance of stars, it seemed that the night was already deep.

She should head back soon to prepare for work tomorrow.

Clearing her thoughts, Lucy slowly started walking.

And she couldn’t help but sigh.

Lucy had experienced countless incidents and killed many people.

As the Crimson-Eyed Reaper, she was a figure of fear for traitors.

But even Lucy was afraid of one thing.

‘I don’t want to go to work…’

Unfortunately, that one thing was going to work.