9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 145 - Necessary Evil (2)

A single hot air balloon floated against the cold, deep blue sky.

“Turn fifteen degrees to the north-northwest. Ah, raise the altitude.”

At Namir’s words, Fa-Elhar nodded and pulled a coin from his pocket, concentrating mana. When his muttered spell ended, the flame swaying beneath the balloon suddenly blazed larger.

The hot air balloon drifted upward and began flying a bit faster as it caught the strong wind.

“I didn’t know you could even pilot hot air balloons. You’re truly multi-talented, little brother.”

“Are you teasing me? If you hadn’t left home and lived here long enough, you would have learned about the seasonal winds too.”

The atmosphere was light and refreshing enough for the brothers to joke with each other.

“We’re almost there!”

Daniel leaned over the basket’s edge, alternately looking at the map and the sandy ground below as he shouted.

“Iron ore veins are 2,000 setin ahead, and if we go that much further north, there’s the amethyst mine. It’s really lucky we found the mines.”

“We can’t set up large-scale processing operations right now, but it’s still fortunate.”

“As expected, when we join forces, we’re starting to see some progress. Even if they’re not as expensive as mana stones, they’ll help with building the new nation. And the company too.”

Daniel spoke cheerfully, and Fael smiled bitterly.

The way they were deliberately ignoring or lightly brushing past the unseemly incidents that had occurred.

‘Lucas, everyone has fallen into corruption just as you wanted.’

Well, from the start, it was jarring that Daniel, who had been a righteous journalist, was now inciting and deceiving his fellow countrymen from the same nation.

“Daniel, with so many workers now, aren’t you finding it burdensome? Keeping watch to prevent unseemly incidents from happening.”

At Fael’s probing question, Daniel fell silent for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.

“Lucas is definitely a genius.”

“That’s nothing new.”

“He’s a genius at reading people’s hearts. If Lucas had continued worshipping Supreme Leader Kruger, he might have become the most vicious torture technician of all.”

“He certainly would have.”

Fael readily agreed.

Soon the worker housing that Lucas had eagerly designed spread out on the ground below.

Watchtowers rising between circular perimeter walls, and barracks precisely spaced at regular intervals within.

This was the ‘human village’ where nearly 10,000 workers lived—officially called the ‘pioneer village’ by Redan Company.

***

The pioneer village’s day begins at 6 AM.

When cheerful songs flow from the sound systems installed throughout the village, people wake up from their sleep in house after house.

Redan Company had established a strict principle.

‘One house per family.’

In other words, regardless of family size, everyone was fairly assigned one barracks.

Of course, there was some consideration given—single people lived in small barracks while large families lived in big ones.

Less than ten days after Redan Company began accepting pioneer applications, rumors spread that family unit applicants had an advantage in selection.

Actually, it was hardly a rumor. It was written right there on the flyers.

「Whole family employment! No longer just a dream!」

「Let’s build a new life with your family! Priority hiring for those with spouses and children!」

So most of the people selected to come here had brought wives or husbands and children.

Liam Weber was the same.

This head of household in his mid-thirties had originally worked as a physical education teacher in Schufaben.

However, after clashing with a corrupt principal and being fired from school, Liam wandered until he discovered the pioneer recruitment ad in the newspaper.

He applied with a “whatever happens, happens” attitude and was surprisingly selected. Even for a management position rather than general labor.

In fact, since the pioneer village was so large, Redan Company employees were busy just with administrative work and maintaining public order.

So they had no choice but to welcome applicants with even a little education.

Liam headed to the Great Desert with his wife and son.

It was a very interesting experience, but one he wouldn’t want to repeat.

Spending three days crammed with dozens of strangers in tents pitched on a giant dragon’s back.

When he saw the vast sand dunes and oasis, and the starkly built housing, the first emotion Liam felt was overwhelming bewilderment.

How could this land filled with barbarians, where nothing existed but the blazing sun, rocks, and sandstorms, become the land where Schufaben’s future depended?

He was worried from the start whether they could even live properly.

His wife seemed to feel the anxiety too, gripping his hand tightly throughout the registration process and moving into the pioneer village.

However, the moment they entered the village, their tense hearts gradually relaxed.

The cleanly maintained pioneer village and the cozy little house were truly comfortable and pleasant spaces.

6 AM.

He brought his wife and his still-sleepy son to the village square.

Everyone greets each other and does simple exercises to music. It’s to warm up the body to prevent accidents during work.

His son’s earnest arm stretching and leg stretching was adorable. Liam chuckled softly, reminded of elementary school.

Students used to do exercises every morning to the physical education teacher’s calls.

So this morning exercise gave him a strange sense of stability. Many of the workers had at least attended elementary school.

After finishing exercises, they ate breakfast in the communal dining hall and scattered to their workplaces.

People newly arrived at the pioneer village receive simple job training and are sent to construction sites and mines throughout the Great Desert.

For distant locations, separate accommodations are prepared, where they stay until rotating with the next team every week.

Liam’s wife, who had worked at a textile factory in Schufaben, was assigned to work at the clothing repair shop.

Work clothes that constantly tore in the harsh desert environment were delivered to the repair shop via the laundry every morning and redistributed to workers in the evening.

His son played with other children at the daycare center, learning letters, taking naps, and caring for plants and small animals.

Finally, Liam was assigned as a manager to a cave near the pioneer village.

This was the amethyst mine that had recently been discovered—or rather, that the Ban tribe had been hiding and Fael had intimidated them into surrendering.

He didn’t know the complicated circumstances, but anyway, he worked diligently every day.

Supplies needed for mining work were regularly delivered, and the excavated amethyst was sent to the pioneer village.

Like a customs officer, Liam inspected whether anything strange was mixed in with the cargo and whether people coming and going were bringing in dangerous items.

The second task was especially important.

Redan Company hadn’t just bought land with massive funds—they had even bought elves and were using them as they pleased.

Especially for delivery work like this, elves were assigned, but how could you easily trust those money-crazed half-breeds?

“There they come again.”

“Filthy elf bastards. Hawk! Ptooey!”

When Liam spotted the camel caravan, his colleague spat on the ground.

Honestly, those half-breed bastards were utterly repulsive. Starting with those shifty eyes.

Of course, Liam and the other workers trusted the company’s decisions. No, beyond trusting—they followed without any doubt.

To them, Redan Company’s president and directors were no different from gods.

The company gave them high salaries.

It gave them clean, comfortable housing.

When they were sick, it ensured they could receive immediate medical treatment, and it gathered the children together to care for them and teach them to read.

On days off, to prevent boredom, it even showed movies with projectors imported from the homeland.

What other company in the world was like this? Liam and his colleagues would loudly praise it.

‘But I still hate those half-breeds.’

Liam’s hatred remained unchanged.

While he had no choice but to admire the company’s explanation that since they couldn’t just throw them all in prison or drive them out, they had at least bound them with money.

“Ah, hello.”

An elf who had approached closely greeted him in awkward Schufaben and bowed his head. Liam arrogantly lifted his chin and began opening the cargo.

***

Ashtard.

No surname since he’s not from a great chieftain family. The third of five siblings, from the Ban tribe.

From childhood, he learned to write, calculate, and deal with customers, and he never doubted he would become a great merchant.

A merchant who would lead trading companies encompassing not just the Ban tribe and Fa tribe, but all five tribes of the Great Desert.

Whenever he looked at the horizon beyond the setting sun, his heart would race. He was curious about how the other tribes beyond there lived and how many new people he could meet.

Finally, when he turned eighteen and his mother told him to work under his uncle, Ashtard jumped up and cheered.

His job as his uncle’s apprentice was to accompany his uncle traveling between Ban tribe and Fa tribe villages, care for camels, and manage inventory.

However, while preparing for his first trading expedition, he heard unbelievable rumors.

The ‘Elrahatan’ he had only seen in history books was opening again for the first time in 150 years.

Moreover, the person leading it was the first son of the Fa tribe chieftain, Fa-Elhar, who had caused a great scandal ten years ago and left for the human world.

He had recently returned suddenly and once again caused a great stir, drawing everyone’s attention.

What exactly were his intentions? What did he want? Was he trying to reclaim the position that had passed to his younger brother?

While all eyes in the Great Desert were focused on him, he declared he would revive Elrahatan.

Ashtard felt both curiosity and hostility simultaneously.

Fa-Elhar was a traitor who had abandoned his own people and groveled to humans.

It was incomprehensible why the Fa tribe had accepted him back. And why Great Chieftain Ban-Diyab and the other great chieftains wanted to meet with him.

The situation moved breathlessly fast.

Ban-Diyab, who had returned from attending Elrahatan, gathered the tribal people in the largest village’s square—the village where Ashtard lived.

And shocking words flowed from the mouth of the chancellor representing the great chieftain’s command.

“Our five tribes have decided to unite and establish a confederate nation. The founding will proceed with cooperation from Redan Trading Company.”

Ashtard momentarily doubted his ears.

“What are they doing now…?”

He wasn’t the only one stunned.

Looking around, his older brother, sisters, younger siblings, parents, uncle, neighbors—everyone either had their mouths hanging open as if their jaws had dropped or their faces were rapidly changing color.

“What on earth are you saying?!”

“A confederate nation?!”

“Humans are entering our land?!”

People gradually emerging from confusion shouted at the chancellor, but he entered with his soldiers.

That was the beginning of misfortune.

The Ban tribe people were furious that such a major event had proceeded without their knowledge.

“Bastards, there are other things to decide hastily!”

When his drunken uncle cursed and slammed the table, Ashtard nodded enthusiastically.

Anyone with a mouth complained about the great chieftain’s decision and voiced their worries.

Some wrote petitions to the great chieftain or protested in front of the palace.

However, the great chieftain and elders wouldn’t tolerate opposing opinions.

As the protesters gradually grew and their numbers exceeded several hundred, the chieftain’s guards stepped forward.

“Stand back! Nothing will change because you’re doing this!”

“Disperse immediately!”

“If you don’t scatter right now, we’ll have no choice but to use force!”

“This is really serious— Ugh!”

A guard soldier who had been warning them repeatedly collapsed with a thud after being struck by a stone thrown from somewhere.

And the guards charged at the people. Though they didn’t use guns or swords, the protesters were helplessly beaten by soldiers with clubs and shields.

It was like pouring oil on fire.

Even those who had been uncomfortable with the protesters turned furious when family and friends returned injured, and the hundreds of protesters soon swelled to thousands.

Protests broke out not only in the large villages but also in small settlements everywhere.

“We don’t need humans!”

“The great chieftain who became the Fa tribe’s dog should get lost immediately!”

What they called protests had an atmosphere that seemed ready to explode into riots at any moment.

Ashtard felt the heated atmosphere and mindlessly shouted slogans and waved his fists with his neighbors.

Had that gone too far?

“Traitors who sold their compatriots to humans should disappear from this land!”

Ashtard’s uncle, who had been venting his frustration nightly about ruined business after Elrahatan and the increasingly tense atmosphere.

Before anyone could stop him, he rushed to the front of the protesters and shouted, then collided with the formation the soldiers had arranged.

That’s when it happened.

“Suppress the rioters!”

Shamans revealed themselves. Each one extended their hands forward.

When he realized something was wrong, it was too late. The high-voltage current they unleashed literally fried the protesters.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

“Ugh! Uaaaaaaah!”

Those at the front who were hit by the electric shock writhed and foamed at the mouth, and people began to flee.

“Uncle! Uncle!”

Ashtard tried to find his uncle but was only pushed around in the crowd that had become chaos.

The next day, his uncle returned as a charred corpse.

Before they could even hold a funeral, news came that humans had invaded the Great Desert.

Ashtard gave up his dream of becoming a great merchant.

***

“Ah, hello.”

Ashtard greeted the human before him with a foolish smile.

A few months ago, after seeing a notice posted by Redan Company, he got a job as a delivery worker. The job involved carrying food and daily necessities to designated locations every week.

Today, Ashtard and his colleagues had come to deliver to the amethyst cave.

Neighbors whispered that the great chieftain had been threatened by Fa-Elhar and had it stolen, but Ashtard wasn’t interested and didn’t need to know.

He underwent the usual body search by the humans.

Always those guys who didn’t even hide their contemptuous looks. Anyway, rumors were going around that this work wouldn’t last much longer.

They said a railcar track would be laid from the village to the cave and they’d transport materials using that.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

After unloading cargo from the camel’s back, Ashtard smiled awkwardly.

“Um, excuse me, bathroom…”

The human frowned and pointed to a small outbuilding.

Inside the quiet bathroom, Ashtard pulled down his pants and reached behind himself.

“Ungh!”

He suppressed a disgusting groan. Shortly after, something wrapped in rolled paper came out attached to his fingers.

It was a very small bomb.