9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 190 - That Summer (2)

After Queen Rubellia invented the new concept of trench warfare.

With massive casualties occurring on the eastern front and the war dragging on endlessly, all media attention shifted to the southern front.

At least here they were sweeping away the enemy with satisfying bombardment.

Part of the air force was still assigned to the east, but the majority had been transferred to the southern front, busy fighting on dragons every day.

The southern sea shone with a cool blue hue, and white sandy beaches with colonies of unfamiliar plants spread beautifully along the coastline.

If not for these circumstances, it would have felt like coming on vacation.

No, in fact, during the early stages of the war, everyone had enjoyed swimming and sand baths on the island where air force headquarters was established, relieving their fatigue.

‘It was childish behavior.’

Second Lieutenant Ian Keller bit down hard on his teeth and yanked the reins tied to Green Dragon Elizabeth’s neck.

“Elizabeth! A little higher!”

“Screeeeech!”

Elizabeth spread her wings wide and her body floated upward.

Ratatatatang!

A massive battleship was visible below. Sailors in bulletproof vests frantically operated anti-aircraft machine guns on deck.

Cannons protruding from the battleship’s sides spewed out shells. Not at Ian and Elizabeth, but shooting toward the opposing Schufaben battleship.

“This is 172nd Elkanshter. This is 172nd Elkanshter. 30th Squadron fall back 150 setin! 27th Squadron drop bombs! 25th Squadron prepare mortars!”

Commands from the battalion commander poured continuously from the voice transmitter. Ian pressed a button in his cockpit. A large box attached to Elizabeth’s belly opened and bombs poured out.

KABOOOOM!!

With a tremendous roar, the massive battleship’s mast was engulfed in flames. The bodies of sailors on deck were clearly visible being torn apart or flung into the sea.

The Kashan Principality was a tiny island nation no bigger than a speck. However, it had prospered through trade, and at least in terms of naval power, it held superiority over Schufaben.

The job of the air force, the Blue Eagles, was to bridge that gap.

They split into groups and moved organically, escorting allies or disrupting enemies. Sometimes they risked danger and approached enemy battleships closely to attack according to orders.

Such battles, continuously from when they were first dispatched here until now.

He was almost envious of the comrades assigned to major city bombing raids.

Ian had unconsciously thought that, then startled himself and yanked the reins hard. Then he dove toward the sea again, dodging enemy bullets.

How many hours had the battle continued? Suddenly the voice transmitter squealed loudly.

“Enemy forces spotted 3,000 setin ahead! Everyone prepare!”

“Damn it, they said they all went to defend the mainland! How are they here…!”

“Quiet! Maintain squadron formation!”

Dragon units from the Kashan Principality came flying like arrows. The Blue Eagles had no choice but to move away from the allied battleships, gain altitude, and engage the enemy.

Ratatatatang!

Gunfire rang out in the sky again, and chaos continued as dragons tangled together in combat.

The enemy leadership seemed to have decided that if they couldn’t stop the bombing anyway, they’d rather reinforce the naval side.

‘Otherwise they wouldn’t have sent all their dragon units this way!’

Bullets ricocheted off his cockpit cover, sending chills down his spine.

Looking around, his squadron was somehow surrounded by dozens of dragons.

“This is 137th Elizabeth! This is 137th Elizabeth! Squadron Leader! Please give orders!”

“This is 385th Sonya! This is 385th Sonya! Mortar fire…! These bastards!”

Squadron Leader First Lieutenant Maximilian Fisher screamed. Sonya was being attacked intensively.

“Squadron Leader! I’ll be the decoy!”

In desperation, Ian blurted out anything.

“Screeeeech!”

Elizabeth, who always won flight skill tests.

She roared ferociously and charged, but enemy forces blocked her. However, just before collision, she soared upward with movements like acrobatic flight.

KABOOM!

Ian quickly finished aiming and fired a mortar. It didn’t matter if it narrowly missed the target. The goal was to create an opening.

The moment the enemy formation was disrupted, Elizabeth slipped through the encirclement with fluid movements like swimming.

***

The tense chase over the blue sea.

Elizabeth flew freely, changing altitude and speed at will, while Ian frantically fired mortars and machine guns.

The dragon pack pursuing him fell away one by one. However, one Red Dragon seemed unwilling to give up.

It had been over thirty minutes since the massive battleship had disappeared from view, but it showed no signs of tiring.

‘I’ll be caught at this rate!’

Ian anxiously grabbed the voice transmitter.

“Squadron Leader! First Lieutenant Fisher!”

But having moved far beyond transmission range, it only crackled with static.

Ratatatatang!

Ratatatang!

Elizabeth twisted her body to avoid bullets flying from behind.

“First Lieutenant! First Lieutenant!”

Hanging upside down, Ian shouted until his throat was raw. After a while, a familiar voice began to mix faintly through the grating noise.

“137th… 137th Elizab… Elizabeth! Respond!”

It was hard to understand as it faded in and out, but it was definitely First Lieutenant Maximilian Fisher.

“137th Elizabeth receiving! Over!”

“Second Lieutenant Keller!”

“First Lieutenant! Has the encirclement been broken? Over.”

“Wait a moment, we’re heading your way! Over.”

“Please hurry! I can barely handle this alone…”

“Kiiiiiiiiiii!”

In the moment his body swayed, an ominous scream brushed past his ears.

“Elizabeth!”

The massive dragon crashed toward the sea.

Blood scattered before his eyes.

Her flapping wings were stained red where bullets had properly struck.

Splash!

White foam struck Elizabeth’s body and salty seawater soaked Ian’s legs.

“No! Elizabeth! Stay conscious!”

He could see the enemy dragon approaching to confirm the kill.

“First Lieutenant! First Lieutenant!”

But the voice transmitter was silent.

“Damn it!”

Ian ground his teeth and looked around. The enemy’s Red Dragon was becoming increasingly clear.

‘Now’s my only chance!’

After hesitating, Ian finally opened the cockpit and jumped into the sea.

***

“Hah, hah…”

Ian looked down at the bloodied dagger and the pilot’s limp corpse.

It had been a bloodbath.

No, even that word was inadequate for the insane luck that had won him this fight.

If Elizabeth hadn’t cleverly helped him without being told, if the enemy pilot hadn’t hesitated while listening to orders, if the strong waves hadn’t made the dragon sway—

It would have been Ian who died.

“Screeeeech!”

The Red Dragon was crying mournfully while holding its pilot’s corpse.

Dragons are intelligent beasts. Left alone, it would return to its unit carrying its master’s body.

So he should administer a sedative and wait for the navy to collect the dragon.

That would have been proper procedure.

But…

Ian picked up the large bottle containing the sedative.

He just needed to put this in a syringe and inject it bit by bit. The grief-stricken dragon wouldn’t even notice. It would fall asleep without even realizing.

“Why…”

But why were his hands trembling madly right now?

“Why am I… hah!”

He stammered in disbelief and covered his face.

He had already killed dozens of enemy pilots. He had nearly lost his life many times. He had captured and handed over dragons several times before.

But why, only now…

“Damn it!”

Ian threw the bottle into the seawater and grabbed the voice transmitter.

“This is 137th Elizabeth. This is 137th Elizabeth. First Lieutenant Fisher, mission accomplished. Sending coordinates. But my dragon is injured and can’t fly long. Over.”

“What? Understood. Go southeast 1,000 setin and there should be an uninhabited island. Can you see it? Over.”

“Yes, I can see it. Over.”

“Make an emergency landing and wait. I’ll come with support personnel soon. Over.”

“Roger. Over.”

***

Ian made an emergency landing on the quiet, beautiful uninhabited island’s coastline.

“Rest up, Elizabeth.”

He treated her wing wounds. He pulled out needle-sharp bullets and applied disinfectant to prevent infection.

After finishing first aid by wrapping bandages, he wove together large leaves, branches, and military blankets on the soft sand to make a resting place.

He lay down and waited for First Lieutenant Fisher to arrive, then dozed off.

“Gasp…! What time is it?!”

Ian bolted upright, realizing the surroundings had gone completely dark. He instinctively checked on Elizabeth first, finding her curled up asleep.

Looking at the moon’s gentle reflection on the seawater, it seemed at least well past midnight.

This was a warm southern island, otherwise he would have nearly frozen without even lighting a fire.

“This is 137th Elizabeth. This is 137th Elizabeth. First Lieutenant Fisher?”

Ian grabbed the voice transmitter and muttered while adjusting coordinates. But he couldn’t connect to First Lieutenant Fisher’s device, nor did any reply come.

“This is 137th Elizabeth! This is 137th Elizabeth!”

The same with other comrades. If First Lieutenant Fisher was sending support personnel, they would naturally be fellow squadron members. But he couldn’t catch anyone’s signal.

“Command headquarters is too far away, obviously…”

As Ian pondered, he suddenly listened carefully to the wind sounds from far away.

“First Lieutenant Fisher?”

Something felt wrong. An ominous feeling swept over his entire body.

‘At least eight hours have passed since the last order. But they haven’t come until now, which means…’

Either they died, or the support request was denied, or some other emergency…

Ian looked at Elizabeth with a hardened expression, then approached and whispered.

“You stay here.”

Elizabeth, awakened, rubbed her snout against his hand. Ian hugged the dragon’s neck tightly, gathered his things, and left the beach.

Dense palm trees and unfamiliar plants grew thickly in the tropical rainforest. Once he entered between the trees, it was pitch dark without even moonlight.

How long had Ian been positioned there? Rustling footsteps and whispering voices began to be heard.

“Second Lieutenant Keller? Where are you?”

It was unmistakably First Lieutenant Maximilian Fisher’s voice.

“Second Lieutenant Keller! Ian, Ian Keller?”

Ian pressed his body against a tree and took deep breaths.

“The footprints definitely led this way. Second Lieutenant Keller! Stop playing around and come out quickly! There’s no time!”

“First Lieutenant Fisher.”

“Second Lieutenant Keller!”

A light flickered in the darkness. Following the lamp, he could see the First Lieutenant’s movements.

“First Lieutenant, stay right there and answer me.”

“What?”

“Why are you so late? What happened in the meantime?”

At Ian’s quiet question, First Lieutenant Fisher frowned.

“What nonsense are you talking about? Second Lieutenant, did you eat something wrong?”

“Please!”

First Lieutenant Fisher was about to step forward when Ian’s shout made him flinch.

“Answer me!”

“Hah…”

A sticky sigh came through the muggy air.

“We suffered a major defeat in the naval battle. The battleships sank and the air force wasn’t unscathed either. Cleaning up that mess is why rescuing you got pushed back so long. Second Lieutenant, are you suspecting me?”

“That’s not…”

Ian hesitated and asked back.

“But why did you come alone?”

“Second Lieutenant, are you stupid? Didn’t you realize anything from what I said?”

First Lieutenant Fisher stamped his foot in frustration. The lamp swayed blindingly.

“I understand there was a personnel shortage! But!”

“Right! So I pushed through and came alone! How long will you keep suspecting me!”

“But First Lieutenant Fisher!”

The two men’s voices grew increasingly harsh.

Ian remembered.

The communication he had faintly heard while escaping as a decoy, between First Lieutenant Fisher and the squadron members.

“This is 385th Sonya! This is 385th Sonya! Split the enemy in two! I’ll support First Lieutenant Keller! The rest maintain battle readiness and move west!”

“But Squadron Leader! There are too many! We can’t possibly…”

“We are the air force. We are the strong Blue Eagles who protect our homeland and people. We carry out our duties to the end. Even if we sacrifice our lives during the mission, we have no regrets.”

“Squadron Leader…”

“Everyone, see you in heaven.”

Those voices he had been too frantic to pay attention to at the time.

“First Lieutenant Fisher didn’t come to help me. You didn’t give other orders either. I don’t know what happened, but surely…”

Something rose in his throat and he swallowed hard.

“Are the squadron members… dead? First Lieutenant, did you… flee from battle?”

Suddenly everything around went dark. The First Lieutenant had turned off the lamp. Or maybe the fuel had run out.

Eerie silence enveloped the jungle. And then—

BANG!

With a loud crack, a bullet whizzed past Ian’s ear.