9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 165 - The Paradigm of Lies (3)

Crack!

A sharp sound broke through the forest’s black stillness. Did the rock thrown so forcefully embed in a tree?

“Huh!”

“Wh-who is it!”

The deserters jumped in startled shock.

“Come out!”

“Who goes there!”

“If you don’t come out, we’ll-we’ll kill you!”

Bang! Bang bang! Bang!

Those whose eyes had rolled back from withdrawal symptoms began firing their pistols wildly into empty air.

“Grrrrr…”

Colin sprang up and bared his teeth.

“Colin, shh! Be quiet!”

I backed away and pressed down on Colin’s muzzle firmly. Though bullets were unlikely to reach this far, my neck went cold at the sight of them firing wildly in all directions.

“Someone’s here.”

Captain Himmel suddenly whispered.

“What?”

She grabbed me and rolled across the narrow sleeping area.

Swish!

With light footsteps, a dark figure landed where I had been moments before.

“Hands up.”

The figure pressed a long rifle against the back of Captain Himmel’s head. The captain calmly released me and slowly raised her hands.

“Who are you people?”

It was Rubellia speech. A voice I’d heard somewhere before…

“Woof! Woof woof woof!”

“Agh!”

Colin, who had been hiding in the darkness, lunged at the attacker. The attacker staggered as their thigh got bitten. Captain Himmel’s reaction was swift.

“Kurgh!”

The captain grabbed the attacker’s throat with her pot-lid-sized hand and slammed them against a tree trunk. With her other hand, she twisted their wrist and wrested away the long rifle.

The whole thing took less than three seconds.

“Wait! Captain Himmel!”

I whispered sharply.

“Hah, that bastard Eisler knew something after all. What do you mean there are no people in the forest? It’s crawling with them.”

Leading my trembling body forward on my knees while grumbling, I roughly pulled off the attacker’s black mask to reveal a familiar face.

“Commander?”

The attacker—no, the woman—widened her eyes.

“It’s been a while, sniper. Did you deliver my answer to the Queen properly?”

Bang! Bang!

“Waaaahhh!”

“Come out, you bastards! Come out!”

Below us, gunshots and screams continued endlessly, making the atmosphere utterly chaotic.

***

“What brings you here?”

Having escaped from Captain Himmel’s grip, the woman sat perched on a branch and bowed her head.

“I asked first. But I’ll answer anyway—I had circumstances.”

“I see.”

A moment of silence passed.

The sounds of the deserters rampaging and Colin growling warily mixed together like dissonance.

“…Is the place where you got beaten last time okay? Our soldiers beat your face to a pulp.”

“I’m fine. I have good recovery, so it healed quickly.”

This woman had deliberately allowed herself to be captured to deliver Queen Marianne’s message to me.

“That’s good to hear. By the way, why are you here? Did you come to catch those poor deserters?”

“Deserters?”

“Just look and you’ll know.”

The woman picked up her rifle and tilted her head.

“I was just looking for a squad that had completely vanished.”

“And then something unusual happened because of our presence, is that it?”

“Yes.”

I fell into thought for a moment. I couldn’t completely trust the woman, but this situation was incredibly fortunate.

“Hey, you… um…”

“Please call me Aveline.”

“Right, Aveline. We have absolutely no intention of interfering with your work. We just happened to come here due to circumstances and encountered the deserters. We were keeping watch. They seemed like they’d definitely cause some trouble. Sure enough, they’ve been stealing canil from the no man’s land every night.”

Under the dim moonlight, Aveline’s eyes narrowed.

“As you probably guessed, look at them. They’re typical canil addicts.”

The sight of the deserters who had completely lost their reason, squawking disgustingly while firing guns in all directions. How had they ended up like this?

“It’s truly sad. Anyway, we have no interest in how you handle them. But there’s one thing I’d like to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Let me meet Her Majesty the Queen.”

It must have been quite unexpected. Aveline froze like she was lagging.

“…Please entrust me with a message.”

“What I have to say is quite complex and long. It has to be a private audience.”

When I took a hard line, Aveline quietly closed her eyes. I could hear the gears turning in her head from here.

“I understand.”

A while later, when the deserters had either exhausted themselves or were suffering from side effects and had quieted down, Aveline finally spoke.

“I’ll be honest with you. I’m not military personnel but work directly under Her Majesty the Queen, with individual operational authority. According to the original plan, I should have immediately reported the deserters to the relevant unit and withdrawn, but…”

She pulled out a small device. Error sounds were beeping from the voice transmitter.

“As you can see, even specially treated equipment has been disabled by the magical field.”

“That’s quite troublesome.”

“Indeed. I could report directly, but you can’t be seen by anyone, right?”

“Your perception is sharp.”

I chuckled.

“How about this—you go back alone and then help us?”

“That seems like quite an urgent situation. And now that I’ve encountered you, Commander, I’m reluctant to let you out of my sight. I don’t completely trust you yet.”

Aveline shrugged slightly as she replied.

“Smart!”

I clapped lightly and stood up.

“Then what do you think is the best method?”

“Well, handling the deserters isn’t as important as your affairs. I can find a place where signals reach on the way to Le Chapen, or send contact after arriving in the capital.”

I nodded with a broad smile.

“Very good. I agree.”

“Let’s leave immediately. We need to save time.”

“Yes, good thinking. What’s our means of transport?”

Aveline, who had maintained a calm expression until now, smiled mischievously.

“Just our two legs.”

A groan and melancholy sigh escaped from my mouth.

“Another hellish march…”

***

There are no good wars in this world.

That’s what Marianne thought.

But the people didn’t think so.

That’s why the war spiraled into catastrophe.

“Everyone! Rubellia can endure! We can do it! Let’s be strong! Let’s fight for freedom and justice!”

The Prime Minister would finish his spirited speech, then stand before the Queen with a dark expression, reporting how many young people had died and how much money was hemorrhaging.

Upon hearing this, the Queen would analyze and calculate in her head, then tell them how many more to kill and how much more to spend.

That’s what war is.

Not the freedom and justice, continental protection, liberation of small nations, overthrowing dictatorships, patriotism and nationalism that the people fanatically believed in.

Waste of money and manpower.

That’s the only true face of war.

“Casualties in three months… 98,000. Nearly reaching 100,000.”

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

Prime Minister Silvia Bertrand bowed deeply.

“But the people’s fighting spirit remains high. Volunteers continue flooding in.”

“I see.”

Marianne smiled softly with perfectly taut lips showing not a single wrinkle.

Her children were pure, passionate, and foolish. Still, for now.

After finishing her audience with Silvia, Marianne sat quietly on her golden throne, mulling over one phrase.

“The war’s end will be at least after summer…”

It was what Lucas Redan had told her through Aveline three months ago.

Since then, nearly 100,000 people—no, including Schufaben’s side, several times that many—had been killed and wounded.

Yet the chaos still wasn’t deep enough.

As Lucas said, at least summer had to pass. To get as close to the goal as possible.

But the numbers written on paper kept tormenting Marianne, making her want to escape somewhere.

To her childhood when she knew nothing of the world and played with Charlotte without any worries. Or to her younger days when she had ascended to the throne and married the man she loved, enjoying happiness.

Anyway, to a time that was even slightly less painful than now. To a time when she didn’t have to drive her people into death with her own hands…

“Your Majesty.”

The chamberlain carefully called to her.

“Aveline requests an audience. She says it’s urgent.”

Aveline.

One of the Queen’s few trusted advisors.

Like Chief of Security Ludovic Herbé, she was royal family, and someone Marianne had watched closely from childhood and extended her hand to.

She had been working for Marianne for quite a long time. Handling all sorts of secret missions hundreds of times.

She couldn’t be called a knight or a soldier, but Aveline never complained.

In combat, she was gifted, immediately understanding the sniping tactics Marianne had pioneered and playing a major role in hampering Schufaben forces.

Currently, she was supposed to be moving freely, gathering information and serving as Marianne’s eyes and ears on the battlefield…

Why would that Aveline suddenly…?

A moment later, when Aveline entered the audience chamber with someone, Marianne’s eyes widened greatly.

“My word, Luca!”

Forgetting her dignity, she sprang up and hurried toward Aveline with quick steps.

Beside Aveline, who was quietly kneeling on one knee, stood a large woman carrying a small man on her back.

The man slumped with his chin resting on the woman’s shoulder was Lucas Redan, even thinner than when they’d last met.

“What is this? Has he collapsed from exhaustion? Where on earth…”

Flustered, she poured out words, making her already rapid Rubellia speech sound like a foreign language.

“Oh dear.”

Marianne took a deep breath and calmed her gaze. She gestured for the chamberlain to leave and whispered.

“It’s been a while, Aveline. You weren’t spotted by anyone on the way here, were you?”

“No, Your Majesty. I came through the underground waterway.”

“Well done.”

Lucas was moved to a small room in White Palace. And Marianne faced Aveline and the unknown woman.

“What happened?”

***

“High mountains, deep valleys, the silent land!”

Huh, where is this?

Looking down, I could see white sand mixed with snow.

“Your voice lacks spirit, lacks spirit!”

“Through the snow-covered front lines, we advance!”

At someone’s words, people packed in front, behind, and on both sides roared out harsh metallic voices.

Ah, everyone’s wearing military uniforms.

This is a dream.

I don’t know when I fell asleep. No, did I pass out?

I definitely remember arriving at Le Chapen following Aveline and going down into the underground waterway connected to White Palace.

I walked eight hours a day for a week.

Actually, the pure travel time was about sixteen hours. I walked for eight hours and spent the other eight hours being carried by Captain Himmel.

Seeing the captain who seemed perfectly fine even while carrying a person, I wanted to be carried for all sixteen hours, but that pricked my conscience too much.

The two women spent two-thirds of each day walking silently, except for the time they took turns sleeping.

Aveline led us along unpopulated paths, and seeming to know well where battles were taking place, she guided us around bombardments and gunfire to reach the rear.

Sometimes Colin would catch a scent and bark softly to alert us of danger. Then we’d use binoculars to assess the situation and take a different route.

When I was half-dead, we managed to enter a base town in the rear.

Just when I thought we could travel more comfortably, I nearly fainted at the news that we’d have to take a stagecoach, not a train.

Civilians couldn’t just board trains going to and from the base, and regular trains had been reduced to half their normal schedules due to wartime supply transport.

Another three days of suffering from motion sickness in the stagecoach.

“Young souls who died in that place! The wounded old pine forgot how to speak!”

Ah, how many years ago was this?

This feeling of my calves and thighs burning. Even though it’s just a dream, being back in the military for a march is disgusting.

20kg backpack and 20km walk training. It wasn’t quite hell, but it felt like dipping my foot into hell’s entrance.

“Comrade, can you hear…”

“Spirit!”

“That angry voice!”

We got off at Le Chapen Central Station and arrived at a two-story house in an ordinary residential area.

Going down the stairs to the basement and through a narrow corridor beyond, a twisted waterway appeared.

Now I remember why I lost consciousness.

Squeak!

Crash clatter!

As I was walking through the waterway, a sharp sound came and a fat gray rat ran past me. The strength instantly left my legs and I fell spectacularly.

During the time we were chasing deserters, I must have seen too many rats eating corpses.

Colin barked fiercely and killed the rat. I was carried by Captain Himmel and lost consciousness as if fainting.

The dream changed.

“What would you do if war broke out on the day you’re discharged?”

Is this around the end of the march?

Everyone was sprawled out like pancakes, when one of my fellow soldiers suddenly asked. I was putting a band-aid on my blistered foot and looked up at him with soulless eyes.

“What are you talking about?”

“Like DEFCON 2 or something appearing right on the morning of discharge.”

“Shut up. We haven’t even gotten unit assignments yet and you’re talking about discharge.”

“Who knows if a nuke might fly to Seoul tomorrow?”

“Ugh, persistent bastard. Then I’d run away immediately. I don’t want to see corpses.”

I brushed him off with an annoyed answer, but back then…

Why are such useless memories appearing so vividly? Unpleasantly.

“Comrade, can you hear…”

“Luca?”

“That angry… Huh!”

My eyes snapped open.

An unfamiliar ceiling. Luxuriously gilded.

I checked if my senses were working properly and turned my head. A silver-haired woman with a kind smile appeared.

“Your Majesty.”

“It’s really been a long time, Luca.”

Right.

This is Le Chapen, capital of Rubellia, and White Palace where the Queen lives.

I’m truly at war.

I parted my dry lips and whispered.

“Your Majesty, please… help me.”