Chapter 12: You, Are Now Official

When General Allenby met Ning Luo—

He could indeed confirm that he had never seen Ning Luo before. However, he did recognize the woman standing beside him: Priscilla, daughter of the Beaufort family. General Allenby had once met her briefly by chance, though it was clear from the current situation that Ning Luo was now the central figure.

A very peculiar name.

Ning Luo Bridge.

It sounded a bit like a false identity.

General Allenby wasn’t in any rush. He walked past Ning Luo and took the seat at the head of the table.

“I suppose you have quite a lot to report to me?”

“Yes, General.”

Ning Luo handed a document to General Allenby.

“Upon receiving your order, I immediately went to the Brittany Logistics Department and initiated a reform of the logistics system.”

General Allenby’s lips twitched into a slight smile.

He understood what Ning Luo meant.

Ning Luo’s identity was fabricated; he had impersonated Allenby’s authority to carry out reforms within the Logistics Department.

Now—

Ning Luo was telling General Allenby that it had been his order that authorized the logistics reform. That meant the credit for the overhaul would go to General Allenby, and in return, Ning Luo’s false identity would be legitimized. A win-win outcome for both.

Of course—

General Allenby didn’t really have the option to refuse. What could he do? Go to General Asfled and confess that the logistics reforms hadn’t come from his command, but were carried out by someone impersonating him?

The likely outcome would be General Asfled praising him for a job well done and choosing to keep Ning Luo, while Allenby—Quartermaster Director—would be the one getting replaced.

All that could be said was: the young man before him was indeed capable.

If anything—

General Allenby was rather pleased. However, once he looked through the file Ning Luo had handed over, his satisfaction began to fade. The document detailed exactly how Ning Luo had executed the logistics reform.

And also—

That he had executed the Minister of Finance, Lieutenant Colonel Wolsey.

“You killed the Minister of Finance?”

“Yes.”

“I can accept that you impersonated me to reform the Logistics Department, but you impersonated me to kill a minister—do you realize what kind of consequences that might bring?”

“I do.”

“He was a Finance Minister. Even I…”

“If he didn’t die, I couldn’t complete the reform!”

Ning Luo directly interrupted General Allenby, his bloodshot eyes staring straight at him.

There was no trace of retreat.

General Allenby backed down. He sat in his chair, fingers pressed to his forehead.

Even he wouldn’t have had the authority to summarily execute a Minister of Finance. At most, he could have removed the minister from office and sent him to the military tribunal for processing.

But Ning Luo had gone ahead and killed the minister outright. Even for General Allenby, this was a difficult situation to handle.

Yet—

Just as Ning Luo had said: if the Finance Minister hadn’t died, the reform of the logistics system couldn’t have been completed.

And if the war was lost—

The consequences would be far graver than the death of a Finance Minister.

General Allenby had no choice but to help Ning Luo clean up this mess. He changed the subject and asked:

“How is the logistics system functioning now?”

“It's extremely strained. I’ve pushed the logistics capacity to the absolute limit of what it can currently bear. If the budget and manpower aren’t increased, the system will collapse in no more than a month.”

Ning Luo had his reasons for not wanting to continue using this system.

Humans weren’t machines—such high-intensity operations simply couldn’t be sustained over time.

General Allenby continued his questioning.

“You want me to increase the budget and manpower?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll discuss this with General Asfled. Is there anything else the logistics system needs from me?”

“No. The current logistics system can now function independently. I’ll keep a close watch on it—as long as nothing unusual happens, it will hold.”

General Allenby stood up.

“Good. From now on, your position is my adjutant. Go get some rest.”

“Yes, General.”

Ning Luo gave General Allenby a slight nod and left with Priscilla in tow.

With those words—

General Allenby had formally acknowledged Ning Luo’s legitimacy. From this point forward, Ning Luo was officially the Quartermaster Director's representative, and the de facto Chief Logistics Officer of the Logistics Planning Bureau—even if he hadn’t yet reached the minimum required age. In every practical sense, he now held real authority.

Even if his military rank was only that of a captain.

…

…

After Ning Luo left—

General Allenby immediately picked up the logistics report and began reviewing it. He couldn’t simply take Ning Luo at his word and assume there were no issues with the system. If something went wrong, even as the Quartermaster Director, he wouldn’t be able to shoulder the blame.

As he examined the file in detail, it was difficult for General Allenby to believe this had been produced by someone who looked barely twenty years old. Most striking was the sheer extremity of the report—no ordinary young man would have had the courage to attempt something like this.

A short while later—

General Allenby’s adjutant arrived at his office.

“Did you find any information on him?”

“Yes. He’s a completely native-born Albion citizen. His parents died when he was very young, and he has a younger sister. There’s virtually no evidence of any contact with the Kingdom of Fontaine, so we can rule out espionage. He was raised with support from the Church and is currently studying law at Brittany University. His academic performance is exceptional. According to evaluations from the university, he could become a Supreme Judge within twenty years.”

“Where did he get his soldier’s credentials?”

“They were provided by the Beaufort family. Within the Logistics Department, he’s always accompanied by Lady Priscilla of the Beaufort family. One could say they share meals and lodging—please forgive the phrasing.”

After all, for the eldest daughter of the Beaufort family—

To be sharing meals and living quarters with a man of similar age while unmarried was an extremely delicate matter. If word of it got out, it would cause quite the scandal.

The adjutant chose his words carefully.

“Looks like the Beaufort family got lucky,” General Allenby sneered.

It wasn’t an unreasonable conclusion.

Orphaned at a young age, with a younger sister to care for—yet he still managed to gain admission to Brittany University and earn such high praise. In just a few short days, he had drafted and implemented a full-scale reform of the logistics system.

Even calling him a genius felt insufficient.

General Allenby wasn’t the least bit concerned that Ning Luo might be a spy from the Kingdom of Fontaine. A genius like that—Fontaine would have to be utterly insane to send him as a spy.

And with Priscilla constantly by his side, there was little doubt as to the nature of their relationship.

All Allenby could say was that the Beaufort family had struck gold. With a genius son-in-law like that, the Marquis of Beaufort would probably laugh himself awake in his dreams.

As for his commoner background—

As long as Ning Luo wasn’t from Fontaine, then based on talent alone, he’d be granted a noble title once the war was over.

But just then, the adjutant offered a reminder.

“General, perhaps it’s not the Beaufort family.”

“Hm?”

“The buttons on his uniform bear the royal silver dragon crest.”

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