9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 104

Bullet Sponge (3)

The railroad from Schufaben to Cortana operated perfectly as if nothing had happened.

This railroad line was the very force that bound the continent together as one.

The railway tracks that circled the entire continent and extended to every corner of each country were laid along roads that had been paved during the heyday of an empire that had already fallen over a thousand years ago.

The 23rd Emperor of the empire was apparently a crazy obsessive-compulsive patient who made everywhere his orders reached use unified weights and measures.

He would carry a ruler around, measuring road widths and beheading local officials if there was even the slightest deviation. The people of that era suffered in exchange for making future railroad construction easier—quite an ironic situation.

‘Just like Emperor Qin Shi Huang.’

I chuckled briefly, then hardened my expression.

Of course, separately from how easy it was to cross borders like this, relations weren’t particularly good between the continental nations where nationalism had sprouted.

The current continental political situation was unstable beyond measure, so even if Kruger hadn’t started a war now, something might have erupted anyway.

‘Still, this isn’t right…’

Biting my lips tightly, I gazed at the scenery flashing by outside the window.

It takes about 10 hours by train from Schufaben to Carlton, the capital of Cortana.

The distance is roughly 600,000 setins.

Since one setin is a little less than one meter, that’s approximately 600 kilometers.

Being so close, no wonder the dragon units faster than trains could bomb the royal palace and leave them helpless.

I suppressed a sigh that was about to escape and straightened my posture.

“Are you uncomfortable somewhere?”

Captain Alina Himmel, who had been sitting straight as a model in the opposite seat, asked.

“No, not at all. By the way, Captain Himmel, wasn’t your family worried?”

The captain has a husband and young daughter. I’ve only seen them in photos, but they really seemed like kind, good-natured people.

“Of course they were worried, but since it’s the nation’s call, I must accept it as an honor.”

The captain’s blunt words probably weren’t sincere. I know well that she loves her family more than the nation.

However, asking ‘Are you okay with possibly dying?’ would be not only rude to the captain but also risky if the bodyguards standing with guns overheard and misunderstood.

On this train, there were only me, Captain Himmel, and five bodyguards.

They were scheduled to escort me to Carlton Palace and then return.

Was their extremely respectful and polite attitude due to my rank, my reputation, or perhaps Kruger’s orders?

They even let me ride in first class—truly touching treatment that brought tears to my eyes.

Well, since my heart was heavy beyond measure, at least having physical comfort was better than nothing.

In the silence, I fell into thought again.

This morning, the Continental Conference issued a statement condemning Schufaben.

Besides fierce criticism of the surprise attack and massacre, what was noteworthy was the part about sanctioning the Schufaben military for violating agreements regarding magic stone usage.

In the ‘Le Chapen Conference of 1753,’ heads of state including Schufaben and Rubellia passed an ‘Agreement on Standards and Guidelines for Military Use of Magic Stones.’

I hastily obtained and read the materials before boarding the train—in short, it prohibited the development of magical weapons above a certain level.

Like a nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

‘So Schufaben, which secretly developed new weapons by grinding up mages, will be treated like North Korea after making nuclear weapons… is that it?’

Good grief.

My entire skull began to ache.

Right after the statement was issued, each nation declared they would halt magic stone exports to Schufaben.

Cortana was the continent’s largest magic stone producer, but it was produced in many other places too. I even knew that Schufaben mined some to a certain extent.

Of course, Kruger wouldn’t surrender to this degree. What was there to fear when he had gotten his hands on Cortana?

Nevertheless, why wasn’t he leading the army north for immediate invasion? Sending me to Carlton instead of the battlefield meant…

‘He wants me to take the heat first.’

Go there and serve as a figurehead to receive all the resentment from Cortana’s citizens and power holders, mine magic stones to send to Schufaben, take control of the royal family to make them puppets… something like that.

‘That bastard.’

I almost cursed out loud. To treat me like a meat shield.

Outside was gradually getting dark, and the train was entering the city.

***

When I got off the train, the cold northern air clung to my body. White breath puffed out of my mouth.

A general who had been waiting with dozens of soldiers snapped to attention with a razor-sharp salute.

“Long live our Great Supreme Leader! Welcome, Commander. I am Brigadier General Eric Wagner. I was temporarily serving as expeditionary force commander and maintaining public order in Carlton, but now that you’ve arrived, I transfer command to you!”

“Me?”

I almost asked back. I’m the commander?

“Here are His Excellency’s orders.”

Brigadier General Wagner respectfully presented documents. A fancy appointment certificate was attached.

「Major General Lucas Redan is hereby appointed as Military Governor, the highest authority of the Schufaben Army Military Government Office in Cortana.

The Military Governor shall, effective 10:00 AM on March 4, 1903, exercise administrative authority over all Schufaben territory of Cortana on behalf of the Schufaben Republic government and possess absolute immunity privileges within the jurisdiction.

—Supreme Leader of the Schufaben Republic, Friedrich Kruger」

‘That bastard.’

I wanted to immediately crumple up the appointment certificate and throw it away.

It seemed my prediction was correct. Kruger had made me the fall guy for dirty work.

To summarize the brief appointment certificate even more briefly:

‘One person makes the mess, another cleans it up!’

And the orders were even more outrageous.

「The Military Governor shall perform the following duties until military government ends:

1. Declare martial law in Schufaben territory of Cortana and maintain public order.

2. Stabilize the economy so that citizens of Schufaben territory of Cortana can focus on their livelihoods.

3. Protect the royal family of Schufaben territory of Cortana from threats.

4. Identify and report all products and resources within Schufaben territory of Cortana.」

‘Are they planning to play colonial games?’

The concept of colonies didn’t exist in this world yet. As far as I knew.

The great empire had ruled the continent for a long time, and the imperial family had maintained a strategy of respecting each region’s culture as much as possible.

After the empire fell and nations proliferated, making the continent noisy, if they occupied enemy territory they made it their own land, but never left it in the ambiguous state of a ‘colony.’

But now Kruger seemed about to pioneer a new concept.

‘Why make it so complicated?’

To put it coldly, Cortana’s national power, territory, and population were only a few dozen times smaller than Schufaben’s anyway. Even swallowing it whole wouldn’t cause indigestion.

‘Is he trying to gradually swallow it to minimize backlash? Then why the massacre? Ah, I don’t know.’

I stopped thinking.

I just shook hands amicably with Brigadier General Wagner and asked him to guide me to the palace.

***

Carlton’s atmosphere was, in a word, a complete mess.

Along every street from the train station to the palace, soldiers stood guard with guns in hand and stern vigilant eyes, while citizens hid tightly in their homes and wouldn’t come out.

Brigadier General Wagner excitedly explained various things to me.

“Did you know that our forces arrived around noon yesterday and planted the Schufaben flag on the palace? War correspondents took wonderful photos, though they probably haven’t appeared in the newspapers yet. It takes some time to put photos on trains and send them.”

“Is that so? I heard the palace was severely damaged—where did you plant the flag?”

“Ah, there are still several intact buildings left, Commander. Among them, we planted the flag on the tallest spire in Carlton. That spire is also where the current king is staying.”

“The devastated palace must be quite visible from there. It would be quite shocking for a weak child.”

“Of course, Commander. He became a poor child who lost his parents in an instant to the bombing. Ah, but the deaths of the king and queen were an unfortunate accident that occurred while reclaiming rightful territory.”

“Small tragedies are unavoidable when pursuing great endeavors.”

I responded lightly while feeling my stomach twist inside. The deaths of the king and queen and the young king’s succession were probably intentional.

The palace was a sight to behold.

Nearly half the buildings had collapsed to ruin level, with the other half barely maintaining their form.

As soon as I entered the grounds, the terrible smell of blood made me involuntarily frown. At least they seemed to have roughly recovered all the corpses, as none were visible.

The boy king was sitting on a large, ornate throne, trembling.

He looked about fourteen at most.

Still, seeing how he kept his chin raised high trying not to be intimidated by the menacing atmosphere of the surrounding Schufaben soldiers, he didn’t seem to be the ‘mute little brat who’s both young and stupid’ that Kruger had described.

After finishing my observations, I approached the boy king and bowed.

“I greet Your Majesty. I am Major General Lucas Redan of the Schufaben Army, appointed as Military Governor to protect Your Majesty and your people.”

“……”

The boy king nodded slightly and tapped the small typewriter resting on his knees.

“Welcome. Please come forward.”

A person standing half a step below the throne—whether a minister or attendant, I couldn’t tell—read aloud the letters printed on paper.

‘The accent sounds just like dialect. Rather thick Schufaben dialect.’

Well, having been directly ruled for over a hundred years.

After slowly finishing typing and looking at me, his face and trembling fingers were deathly pale.

That brave pretense made me feel like dying from pity, and though the words from my mouth made me sick enough to go crazy, I still had to do my job.

“Please call on me whenever you need anything, have instructions to give, or if you’re curious about anything or feeling bored, Your Majesty.”

Once again, instead of a voice answering, small clicking sounds were heard.

“I understand. You must be tired, so you may withdraw and rest now.”

I took a polite bow and left the audience chamber. The boy king kept glaring at me with fear-filled eyes until the end.

“This is your temporary office and bedroom. The adjutant’s bedroom is right next door. We didn’t have time to finish decorating due to time constraints, but if you designate a building, we’ll start construction. How about borrowing the embassy for now?”

“No, this is fine. This is luxurious enough. I’ll just use this room.”

The place Brigadier General Wagner led me to was a somewhat messy room that hadn’t been fully organized.

It looked like a large study with a door to the bedroom visible in the back.

Honestly, where I sleep doesn’t matter right now.

After setting down my bag and unleashing Colin, he rolled around joyfully on the carpet.

‘It’ll be covered in fur in no time.’

I chuckled at the trivial thought, then turned to the brigadier general.

“Well then, rest comfortably.”

“Ah, Brigadier General. I have a small favor to ask.”

“Please speak.”

“Did you organize the valuables found in the palace separately?”

At my discreet question, the brigadier general’s expression became somewhat sheepish as if thinking ‘Well, of course,’ then turned serious again.

“Ah, I apologize. Due to insufficient personnel, we’re still searching the palace. We’ve discovered artworks, treasures, and some confidential documents.”

“Leave the other things for now and bring me any documents or papers you find. And make sure individual soldiers don’t pocket anything. Everything will become national assets. Of course, there probably aren’t any scoundrels in our Schufaben army who would do such things, but still give a strong warning. Understand?”

“Yes sir!”

I saw it. The jeweled ring glinting on the brigadier general’s finger. And immediately how he covered it with his other hand to hide it.

I decided to pretend not to notice for now.

***

Soon an enormous mountain of documents piled up in the office.

I plopped down on the soft floor and began examining the papers. Leaning against Colin’s massive body as he lay panting, I skimmed through document after document.

“Please, what honey pot were they hiding that made them rush to attack Cortana so urgently?! I need to know that first…!”

Muttering anxiously, I tossed examined documents aside. With a thud, another bundle was added to the pile of papers that had already accumulated.

Several hours later.

Unable to bear the subtle mixture of rising anger, relief, bewilderment, and despair, I buried my face in Colin’s fur and screamed.

“This land doesn’t produce magic stones anymore?! What kind of bullshit is this!”

This is absolutely maddening.