9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 15 - White Raven Order ― Oscar (1)

Twenty-six years old, the days of being a fresh new employee. I’m reminded of a senior colleague at work who became my mentor.

He was a good person.

Cheerful, good at reading the room, hardworking, but with a certain clumsy charm that made him endearingly human.

That senior who would often make mistakes while teaching me, ending up getting corrected instead—when the company tried to cover up the death of an employee sent overseas, he fought back fiercely in anger and got fired for it.

At the last drinking session we had face-to-face before he cleared out his desk, I bowed my head countless times in apology.

What exactly I was so sorry about, I’m not really sure anymore.

My senior patted my dejected back and smiled. He said he wouldn’t give up just like that, told me to keep in touch.

After that, we occasionally met for meals or drinks.

But maybe it was because seeing his increasingly haggard appearance became burdensome. Or maybe I was afraid of the company’s watchful eyes.

Before long, I gradually cut off contact.

I got promoted rapidly to assistant manager and then manager, becoming the department’s ace while forgetting about my senior.

Like that, I thought everything would quietly fade into oblivion.

But then I heard that my senior had died horribly in a traffic accident.

And it was already months after the fact, just a rumor.

That day, I wandered around in a daze all day, then suddenly went into the restaurant where I’d last met my senior and ate alone.

When the hot soup went down, something welled up inside me, but no tears came out.

This happened exactly one month before I fell into this damn totalitarian state.

Oscar Fisher’s genial eyes resembled that senior of mine.

Young, passionate, good-natured with strong self-esteem, but more virtuous than anyone and always ready to fight against injustice.

Whether there or here, these kinds of people were never meant to live long in these fucked-up places to begin with.

I muttered that to myself.

***

“What are you thinking about?”

Oscar asked out of the blue.

He was following behind me like a chick as I walked through the alley holding Colin’s leash.

I had been walking silently while he confidently declared close surveillance, responding with an attitude of ‘do whatever you want.’

“Is that also part of surveillance?”

“Of course. I’m going to find out every little detail and report it all to Daniel.”

He nodded confidently.

‘And here I thought he was just asking out of boredom.’

I chuckled and readily answered.

“Thinking about someone I used to know.”

“Who? Ameli?”

“You heard about that too?”

Ameli was the owner of a small bar and Lucas’s ex-girlfriend, someone Daniel had visited when he was digging into my background.

Seems information sharing within the White Raven Order is happening quite efficiently.

“Anyway, it’s not her.”

“Then who? What kind of person?”

“Someone who hastens expulsion.”

“Oh, that’s totally you.”

Seeing his completely innocent, bright expression left me speechless.

Oscar followed me around like that all day. Or at least, that’s what he seemed to try to do.

“Hello there!”

“Hmm? Are you Lucas’s friend?”

After our walk ended, he brazenly came right into the house, charming Mrs. Schmidt with his flowing charisma and getting breakfast out of her.

“You’re going to surveillance me on my way to work too?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

He followed along on the way to the office, constantly trying to make conversation.

“But why you specifically? Wouldn’t Daniel, who lives in the same house, be much better for surveilling me? Or Georg who works outside.”

“Daniel and Georg don’t suspect you. This is purely my personal activity.”

“Well, not that I mind.”

I stopped walking when we arrived near the office.

“Don’t you have to go to work too?”

At my question, Oscar’s mouth fell open with a stupid expression, like he’d been hit on the back of the head.

Did he really not think of that?

“I’ll skip.”

“Are you insane? You want to get arrested for being suspicious right away? Stop talking nonsense and go.”

I said coldly.

***

Tap, tap.

Sitting in the dim archive room, I drummed on the desk while looking down at a palm-sized notebook.

This notebook that fit perfectly in my pocket was practically my treasure. I’d read through documents in the archive room at random and copied down useful information.

Since I wrote it using English, Korean, and Chinese characters instead of this continent’s script, even if I lost it, there’d be no one who could read it.

‘Still, I should be careful.’

In a country this militarily advanced, they probably have some knowledge of cryptography too.

I opened to the most recent page of the notebook.

The office I worked at had jurisdiction over this administrative district—that is, all of the District 13 out of Lüdelheim’s 16 districts.

So naturally, they had resident registries too.

But after spending days covered in dust digging through everything, I’d only found two people: Daniel Hartmann and Oscar Fisher.

As I’d confirmed before, Erika Brightman and Richard Enke’s addresses weren’t in this area, and I couldn’t find Georg since I hadn’t heard his surname.

Anyway, seeing Schufaben’s administrative capabilities, which seemed about on par with 1960s Korea, was both impressive and unsettling.

I’d looked up this body’s—Lucas’s—information out of curiosity and was horrified.

Not only were his birth date, home address, and occupation recorded, but even his family relationships and military application history were all written down.

“No wonder that Ossel Major knew I was of royal blood.”

For a moment I wondered if there was anywhere I could use my lineage, then shook my head. Right now, it was just background that would only invite suspicion.

Anyway, putting that aside.

“This really is fantasy.”

I muttered quietly while looking at the page with Oscar’s personal information.

Oscar Fisher.

Born July 5, 1875.

Family relations: Father, mother, 2 siblings.

Workplace: 2nd Airship Assembly Factory.

Below the word ‘airship’ that I’d circled heavily, I could see the words ‘Dragon???’ that I’d scribbled.

***

Hundreds of people gathered in a vast open field.

Most wore drab navy blue work clothes, but occasionally there were those in white coats and others in sharp suits.

The research staff and factory manager who supervised the numerous workers. Plus the employees standing in neat rows and columns.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the sky. Oscar, mixed in among the crowd, also looked up at the blue sky anxiously.

After a moment, objects that looked like small dots began approaching from the distant mountain ridge.

What had briefly looked like a flock of crows grew larger and took on distinct forms.

Dragons.

Over a dozen dragons with glittering red, blue, white, and yellow scales flew together in formation.

With bodies larger than full-grown orcas and eyes like glass marbles. On their backs, they carried humans in saddles that seemed tiny compared to their massive frames.

“Everyone prepare!”

“Waaaaaaah!”

When the factory manager gave the command, the employees began cheering enthusiastically.

Whooooooosh!

As the dragons glided with their massive wings spread, sharp wind sounds could be heard.

Unlike the research staff who wore earplugs, the workers who received nothing grimaced in pain from the sound, but that was only the newcomers.

Working in a factory where loud noise was constantly heard anyway, assembling parts, your ears would go half-deaf and dragon wingbeats wouldn’t bother you at all.

Similarly, Oscar, a skilled assembler, paid no attention to the ear-splitting wind sounds and clapped soullessly while keeping his eyes wide open, carefully observing the group of dragons.

Then he lowered his head and let out a faint sigh.

‘She didn’t come this time either, Sonya.’

“Wooooooah!”

The dragons that had been flying overhead, casting huge shadows over everyone, began landing one by one.

Air force controllers guided safe landings, and despite their enormous bulk, the dragons showed disciplined behavior befitting trained creatures.

As the dragons folded their wings, the forms of pilots who had been leaning against their saddles became visible.

Wearing stylish helmets, sharp uniforms, and goggles, their appearance was truly admirable.

“Long live the Great Supreme Leader! Hahaha! Welcome! To think you’d help with test flights despite being so busy—we offer infinite gratitude!”

When the pilots all dismounted to the ground, the factory manager ran toward them with a broad smile. The pilot who seemed highest in rank among them casually saluted.

“Long live Supreme Leader. As for gratitude, when orders came down from above, as always, everyone volunteered eagerly. Isn’t this the work of building the foundation for the strong military that the Supreme Leader spoke of?”

“Hahaha, of course, of course. Now, please come this way, everyone. You must be hungry after the long journey—we’ve prepared a modest banquet. Please leave the dragons to our research staff.”

“Then let’s do that.”

The pilots naturally followed the factory manager toward the banquet hall. This was the third experiment, so they’d become quite familiar with each other.

No matter how well-connected someone was to have been put in charge of a munitions factory, they couldn’t treat the pilots carelessly—most of whom were from old noble families who had accumulated enough wealth to own dragons.

Rather, they made every effort to maintain good relationships. That effort naturally meant slathering on bribes and flattery.

A world that belonged only to them, completely unrelated to the workers who supported the factory.

“Alright, everyone back to the workshop!”

“Go finish your assigned work!”

Once the group of pilots disappeared, supervisors with armbands came out shouting orders.

The employees rubbed their palms, which had turned bright red and stung from continuous applause, and trudged toward the factory building.

Meanwhile, the few people remaining in the open field were busily preparing for the test flight.

“Whoa, whoa! This way!”

“Be careful!”

The trainers brought by the factory manager pushed the dragons into huge steel cages, and licensed technicians began lifting and moving the cages with cranes of tremendous height.

The research staff had their own busy work.

“Beginning gas injection. Current concentration at appropriate levels.”

“Air pressure normal!”

“Mana stone inspection complete, spell formations all clear. Equilibrium magic and weight distribution magic operating normally.”

Above the object that had been proudly showing off its presence in the center of the field, looking similar to a sailing ship, special white fabric began to inflate.

What looked like a giant steamed bun soon puffed up into an elongated spherical shape like a squashed balloon.

The dragon transport ship that the Schufaben Air Force Logistics Command had ambitiously designed revealed its massive form in full.

Since it had to carry over a dozen huge dragons, the cargo hold was vast enough that even a decent mansion couldn’t compare, and the gas bag that was three or four times larger would surely overwhelm enemies with its presence alone.

Using special materials developed by mages, they had arranged it so the gas bag wouldn’t burst easily even if enemies launched magic or artillery.

However, as the fact that this was the third test flight indicated, the research team was experiencing difficulties in development.

In the first flight, the wrong gas ratio caused an explosion, and in the second flight, they failed to balance the weight and crashed.

Fortunately, their thorough preparations meant no dragons were harmed, but it had been a close call.

Of course, this was only the third test flight with dragons actually aboard—there had been countless failures before that.

As gas injection was finishing up, the dragon cage loading operation also ended.

“Boarding complete!”

“Beginning flight operations.”

After radio communication came from the cockpit, the airship slowly began to ascend.

***

“Oscar Fisher!”

Oscar had been paying close attention to the outside situation when the supervisor’s sharp shout brought him back to his senses.

Of course, even while he was absent-mindedly lost in other thoughts, his hands had been steadily assembling the stream of incoming parts.

After working at the factory for five years and rising to the position of skilled worker, this much was basic.

“Pay attention.”

If it had been any other worker, they might have gotten slapped around.

But Oscar got along well with the supervisors too, and might even be selected as a new supervisor at the next promotion announcement, so he got off with just a simple warning.

He gave an awkward smile and turned his gaze back to the airship components. Of course, his ears were still monitoring the situation outside.

The factory building had no windows, but remembering how worried he’d been when he heard the explosive roar from the last test flight.

He couldn’t stop his thoughts from drifting toward Sonya.

How was she living? Sonya, whom his older brother had stolen from him.