9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 170 - The Paradigm of Truth (2)

The landscape of White Palace as we moved into May was absolutely magnificent. Unlike my heart, where rain was gloomily falling.

“Now I have to go look at that bastard’s faaace…”

I squirmed under the blankets as if throwing a tantrum.

“I just want to stay here playing and eating fooooood…”

Actually, that’s a lie.

Playing and eating? I was completely excited and nervous about returning.

My hands and feet were tingling, and my heart was beating like crazy. With a premonition that I was heading toward the very end, giggles kept escaping, so I buried my face in the pillow to stifle the sounds.

I just hated myself for being like this—how had I fallen to such depths?

I wish I were just an ordinary aspiring slacker rolling around at home.

Now it was time to put on the military uniform again.

There was no grand farewell party, but I received Queen Marianne’s send-off.

“Luca, be careful.”

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. Even if I have to throw away my life, I’ll achieve my goal.”

“You really are a con artist.”

While the Queen laughed quite cheerfully, Sophia, standing half a step behind, whispered.

“Commander, thank you.”

“I’m the one who should be grateful. Didn’t you agree to the deal? Let’s both do our jobs well. Then we’ll be happy.”

I extended my hand to shake hers.

“Well then, I’ll be going now, Your Majesty. Please take care of your health.”

I bowed deeply and turned to stride away. Following the stairs hidden in a secret part of White Palace, I went down to the underground waterway.

With Aveline’s guidance, this time I hitched a ride on a freight train to quickly head toward the border area. The driver and soldiers must have been told to mind their own business since they were the Queen’s direct special forces.

“Hmm, still quite a commotion.”

I leaned against a magic stone crate and flipped through today’s newspapers.

Even though quite some time had passed since the rumors spread, every newspaper and magazine in Rubellia was pouring out stories about me.

That I’d been purged by Kruger, that I’d been kidnapped by guerrilla forces, that I’d committed suicide after becoming disillusioned with war, that I was in a coma from serious injuries.

All sorts of wild theories were floating around.

“Quite a sight.”

In contrast, newspapers published in Schufaben still weren’t saying a word.

Did the journalists even know anything?

Border surveillance had become incredibly strict, making it difficult for even the Queen to spy on Schufaben’s internal situation.

So my return now wasn’t based on perfect calculations. I was just pinning my hopes on it.

But.

One thing was certain.

Whether news of my disappearance had shaken Schufaben or not, Kruger would definitely try to find me. Or at least my corpse.

I just had to appear to match that. Ta-da!

***

“I never wanted to come here again.”

The moment I set foot in the vast forest, chills swept over my entire body.

In the forest where spring had deepened further with waist-high grass and thick trees blocking out the sky, an eerie silence pervaded.

“Here.”

As soon as I took a step, there was a snap as a tree branch broke underfoot.

“Weren’t there those deserters around this area?”

“This direction is certain.”

Aveline, holding a compass, nodded.

“Come to think of it, did you notify the relevant unit?”

“I sent a telegram, but got a reply saying they searched but found nothing. They probably handled it half-heartedly on their end.”

“Well, sending people to specific coordinates would have been troublesome enough.”

Just five or six deserters. It wasn’t worth dispatching a search party to break through enemy surveillance.

Given the somewhat sloppy and scatterbrained aspects of the Rubellia military, there was a good chance they’d just pretended to search a bit before heading back.

Yeah, why would they care about the life or death of some deserters?

‘I don’t need to worry about it either.’

The cave where we’d stayed came into view. In the meantime, it had rained several times, and overgrown grass had almost completely hidden the entrance.

And that terrible stench floating in the air.

“Ah, damn it.”

A curse escaped me involuntarily. I realized what I’d just tripped over.

“Ugh, I really…”

Body parts cut with a sharp sword were scattered about. They’d rotted so much that they’d almost lost their original form. You could maybe make out some dried blood-matted hair.

“More than two weeks.”

Aveline swept the corpse with sharp eyes and said.

“The perpetrator was quite—”

“Woof! Woof woof woof!”

Colin suddenly went wild and started barking. At the same time, Captain Himmel embraced me and threw her body forward.

Boom!

A sound that could have been either a collision or an explosion rang out loudly, and I found myself sprawled on the ground looking up at the overturned sky.

A man dressed entirely in black was glowing with a faint blue light.

‘Ferint?’

There was no time to think. Captain Himmel hoisted me up like a piece of luggage.

“Hold on tight.”

“Wait, hold on!”

The man launched himself into the air. Not toward us, but toward Aveline.

Swish—a sharp sound of air being cut.

Bang!

Aveline fired her pistol but the man lightly dodged and charged at her. Just before the man rushed within striking distance, Aveline drew a long sword from her waist.

CRASH!!!

I never expected such a sound when sword met sword. I watched the man swing his dagger at Aveline’s throat and my eyes widened.

“Stop!!”

Captain Himmel, who had been carrying me as she ran, came to an abrupt halt.

“He’s Damier! Stop it!!”

Captain Himmel turned around. Blue light was constantly bursting from Damier’s body.

***

Damier exhaled lightly and wiped the blood from his small blade on his clothes.

That woman. She was called Aveline earlier, wasn’t she? Her solid muscles and flexible movements caught his eye.

She seemed more accustomed to guns than swords. Either way, it didn’t matter.

Crash! Bang! Bang!

He moved through the air in all directions, front and back, left and right, disrupting the enemy. He was as quick as a black bundle of cloth caught in a typhoon and blown around. However, Aveline gave him no opening.

“Woof! Woof woof!”

Lucas Redan’s dog barked. Redan, who had been staring blankly this way, suddenly came to his senses and screamed.

“Hey! Damier! I said stop!!”

He was running back toward the clearing in front of the cave with Captain Himmel. But Damier pretended to be deaf and just kept swinging his sword.

“Captain! Pull that bastard away!”

“If I interfere, Aveline will be in danger.”

The conversation between the two could be heard. Captain Himmel simply held her gun and took a defensive stance, showing no intention of intervening.

“What if Aveline dies?”

“She won’t die.”

“How can you be so confident when Damier’s better than Aveline? You know his skills, don’t you?”

“Yes. But Aveline is stronger.”

“Aveline is stronger than that human weapon? How can you be sure?”

“At least right now she is.”

As expected of Captain Himmel.

Unlike the clueless Redan, she had accurately grasped Damier’s current condition.

Damier moved as if swimming through the air.

The dagger in his hand left afterimages as it stabbed repeatedly toward Aveline’s nape, wrists, chest, and abdomen.

Aveline blocked the attacks with her long sword and occasionally swung wide to drive Damier back. Then Damier would probe for openings again.

The drug effects still not completely purged from his system boiled in his blood. As he moved his arm, muscles swelled and deflated. Tearing, clawing pain dominated his entire body. His nerves were burning.

‘Can’t last long.’

Bang!

Damier kicked off the ground. The moment white light wrapped around his legs, his body shot up like a fired cannon.

His body that had soared into the sky fell rapidly again.

“Aveline! Get away!”

In Damier’s expanded field of vision, Aveline came into view. The moment Commander Redan shouted, her eyes also coldly settled.

Bang!

It was tremendous rapid fire.

The drug effects were almost wearing off. The bullets moved fast, then slow, completely at will.

Damier squeezed out every last bit of mana. He slightly twisted his body to dodge the bullet, then collided with the ground as is.

CRASH!!!

A small explosion occurred, and Aveline was engulfed in dust.

He swung his arm again. Flashing light shot out from his sword.

Aveline did a backflip, dodging the light beam while simultaneously throwing the long sword in her right hand.

Whistle!

The sword packed with power flew straight. The moment Damier quickly ducked.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three consecutive gunshots.

A burning sensation was felt in his shoulder. Blood splattered before his eyes.

“Urgh…!”

He reached out, but the blue light around his body flickered and melted away without forming a protective barrier.

Mana depletion.

Desperate emptiness dominated his brain as if his blood vessels and nerves had been completely drained.

“Colin! Now!”

The large dog came charging. A body blow from a beast nearly the size of a tiger. Damier staggered and his knees buckled with a thud.

‘Mission failed.’

He gasped for breath in excruciating pain.

***

“Hah, so stubborn.”

I slowly approached and crouched down beside Damier. Aveline was holding her long sword to his throat.

“You are Damier, right?”

“……”

He silently removed his mask.

“I told you to stop, so why didn’t you listen?”

“Is there any reason I should follow your orders?”

“It wasn’t an order, it was common sense. Why did you attack my companions?”

He looked up at Aveline, who was pointing her sword at him without the slightest tremor.

“Because I have to kill them all.”

“His Excellency the Supreme Leader told you to bring me back, I suppose? And ordered you to eliminate all witnesses?”

“Yes.”

“Did you come alone?”

“Three of us.”

“Where are the other two?”

“I don’t know. We’re moving separately.”

“Hmm, that figures. But why were you in this forest? Did you know we’d come here?”

“The places you could hide are obvious.”

At my interrogation, Damier spat out with bleak eyes.

“How impressive.”

I grinned while feeling relieved inside. If it had been someone other than Damier, who knows what would have happened to Aveline and Captain Himmel.

I fell into thought for a moment. How should I handle Damier?

“Tell me the truth. His Excellency the Supreme Leader definitely told you to bring back only me, and only alive, right? ‘Only me,’ ‘alive.'”

“Yes.”

“Since you failed your mission, now you’ll be…”

“Eliminated.”

“That’s unfortunate. Still, you don’t want to die by my hand, do you?”

“If you knew about Ferint, you couldn’t say such things.”

“Why? What’s wrong with Ferint?”

“It’s not killing, but going to that place.”

Damier was about to say something but closed his mouth. Heavy silence descended on the forest.

Finally, I stood up, brushing grass stains off my military uniform.

“Take you as prisoner then. That settles it, doesn’t it? Aveline, could you lower that sword?”

Aveline made a dubious expression but sheathed her long sword. Damier stared at me with emotionless eyes.

“Why are you sparing my life?”

“I’m not a psychopath. I prefer to spare and use people. Captain Himmel, the medicine kit from the backpack.”

Blood was seeping steadily from Damier’s shoulder.

While I stripped off his torn clothes and applied medicine, he stood still. Or maybe he seemed lost in thought.

Actually, there wasn’t much reason to keep this guy alive. He was an enemy, after all.

At the very least, he wasn’t an ally.

Even if we’d found common ground before, he was someone who would cut me down at a single word from Kruger.

‘Still, what’s the point of getting blood on my hands? It’s also a waste.’

Let’s keep things amicable if possible.

After tying the bandages, Damier took out a cloak from his bag, wrapped it around himself, and handed me a document.

“A dismissal order.”

A snicker escaped me.

「In light of responsibility for the eastern front situation, Lucas Redan is hereby dismissed from his position as 1st Field Army Commander and ordered to return to the homeland immediately.」

What situation was it referring to?

Canil burning? Driving the war situation to the worst possible outcome? The deputy commander disappearing?

“At any rate, I won’t be dying anytime soon. Captain Himmel, it’s time for a temporary farewell.”

Captain Himmel, who had been monitoring Damier’s movements, turned her head toward me.

“I was hoping we might be able to return together, but it’s turned out like this. Damier, you weren’t ordered to bring back the corpses of witnesses too, were you?”

“There were no such orders.”

“That’s fortunate. I can claim the Captain died.”

“Are we parting ways?”

Captain Himmel’s voice was as blunt as always.

“Not forever, but yes. Once things are sorted out, we’ll be able to see each other. If I’m still alive, that is, hahaha!”

“Such jokes—”

“Now you can distinguish between jokes and serious talk. Amazing!”

“……”

“Farewell, Captain. Give my regards to your family. The Great Desert is far, so prepare thoroughly. And Aveline, I was fortunate to meet you in this forest. It made things much easier.”

“I wish you luck, Commander.”

Aveline’s voice was light, as if she’d completed a mission.

Captain Himmel bowed her head stiffly. Then, as she was about to turn away, she hesitated and added.

“Thank you.”

“Why are you acting like we’ll never see each other again? We’ll meet again within a year at the latest. Stay healthy, Captain.”

I pushed her hesitating back.

***

The journey with Damier—or should I call this a journey? Anyway, returning to Lüdelheim with Damier wasn’t a bad experience. It wasn’t good either, though.

We walked through the night to escape the no-man’s land and arrived at a base at dawn the next day where we could board a train.

Whether it was Kruger’s orders or Damier’s arrangements, the high-ranking officers showed no surprise at my sudden reappearance. Rather, they guided me to the train’s first-class compartment.

Their attitude was quite respectful. Of course, the commander treatment was long gone.

Quiet silence flowed in the compartment.

I sat in the plush seat and closed my eyes. Colin yawned and rested his head on my thigh. I was about to let my body follow the train’s swaying and drift off to sleep when I opened my eyes slightly and asked.

“It was you, wasn’t it? The corpses in front of the cave.”

“Yes.”

“Why did you kill them?”

“They might have been witnesses.”

“So you committed massacre? You chopped them into pieces.”

Damier looked at me as if he couldn’t understand.

“They wouldn’t have lasted two weeks anyway.”

“What, because of the canil poisoning? How do you know when they’d die?”

“……”

Instead of answering, Damier pulled up his clothes and showed me his bruise-covered arm. Looking at skin that had lost its original color, covered in injection marks, I closed my mouth.

Damier asked me with vacant eyes.

“Why did you get captured? You’ll die when you return.”

“Would His Excellency the Supreme Leader execute me? Well, actually, dying wouldn’t be so bad either. My life’s goal will be achieved soon, so there’d be no reason to live longer after that.”

“Goal.”

Damier muttered, and we fell into silence again.

The train raced onward without stopping.

Confined in the first-class compartment, I passed time lost in pointless worries. When I’m dragged before Kruger, what should I say this time?

The sun set and rose again.

I was idly fiddling with a radio I’d found under the seat.

The morning news flowed out in a familiar voice.

“Shocking news reached us as soon as the stock market opened today. Redan Trading Company has collapsed overnight.”

“Huh?!”

What the hell is this now!