9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 217 - Salvation (4)

Eve knew.

That Kruger would absolutely never run away. That rather than lose paradise and live a miserable life, he’d rather kill me and end his own life too.

Even after hearing Eve’s dying words, even after seeing her will, I had continued to doubt.

Run away. Even if it means making Lucas Redan king.

How could a woman who had served the Supreme Leader for so long make such an unreasonable request of him? Didn’t she know it was absolutely impossible?

‘She must have known.’

Knowing full well, she still bet her life on that thread-thin hope. She made all the arrangements, then died after binding me with the chains called her dying wish.

Please save that poor man in the basement of the spire. Please bring down this paradise. Become king of a new nation, and help Kruger abandon his lingering attachments and run away.

‘If I could pass the test…’

And one more thing—when killing the man in the basement, bring out a few mana stones. No matter how much I asked what they were for, she wouldn’t tell me, just emphasized over and over that I absolutely must not forget.

To think they’d be used like this.

“Eve truly loved you. She even saved me to save you. However slim the odds, that was surely your only path to survival.”

“Ha, ahahahaha!”

Hearing my calm words, Kruger burst into laughter.

“What a useless thing to do. Truly useless.”

His voice sounded cruelly indifferent.

“Lucas, did you know? All the mana stones in the basement were created by me. To protect my castle.”

“No, I didn’t know that. Eve must have, though. That’s why she begged me to take them. Well, how does it feel to be bounced back by your own magic? Must feel pretty damn dirty.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Kruger’s sword—no, his entire body—flashed brilliantly. Moving at a speed the eye couldn’t follow, he swung his sword. Even in that brief instant, the mana stone I clutched tightly glowed and formed a protective barrier. Whether this was some principle other than powering the engine room to protect me, or if Eve had made some kind of arrangement with her oath to the man from heaven, I had no idea.

“Eve was always such a foolish woman!”

“Ghrk!”

Standing there in a daze as if my brain had shut down, I let out a pained groan at the sight of red blood spurting from the back of Kruger’s hand.

The mana stone didn’t block all of Kruger’s attacks. Only the ones that would take my life. It only defended against attacks so fatal that a slight slip would mean certain death.

Kruger is a genius swordsman. No, that word isn’t even enough. With transcendent magic and swordsmanship I’d never seen before, he pressed me relentlessly. I staggered and dodged, but there was no escaping. Small wounds that missed vital spots began to be carved into my body one by one.

Arms and legs, the nape of my neck, face and back.

‘Does it really mean to just barely save my life? Just that level of kindness?’

As the pain accumulated, I could vividly feel Eve’s malice. And her obsessive love too.

‘If Kruger had died, she would have been the most heartbroken. Maybe even in the afterlife.’

That realization came to me. At the same time, in that very brief moment, emotions I’d never even been aware of came flooding in.

When I lived on the planet called Earth.

When I lived as an ordinary office worker, knowing nothing of war or revolution.

I always thought.

Even if all those many friends and acquaintances died, I wouldn’t be sad at all. And vice versa. If I died, there wouldn’t be anyone who’d truly cry for me.

But after falling into this strange and cruel world, I lost someone precious. Not a parent or sibling, someone I hadn’t even known for long, yet I learned for the first time how terrible the pain of loss could be.

So I decided to seek revenge. I couldn’t bear any more loss, and I believed that extinguishing the flame of rage burning inside me was the only way.

For revenge, I put the ones I loved in danger. Ironically.

And now, now that the perfect opportunity had come.

If I just threw the mana stone in my hand out the window and charged at Kruger, everything would be over. To end this tiresome revenge, I thought I could endure any pain, I could throw away my life.

Somehow, I’d started not wanting to die.

‘Would it be okay to live?’

I muttered while looking at the slowly drifting clouds on the violently plummeting spire top, as if time had stopped.

Revolution.

I, we, had always wanted revolution.

But if I ended the revolution with my death, countless faces of those who could never be happy flashed through my mind.

And the certainty that they would always remember today with sadness.

Absurdly, I started laughing.

And in that moment, time began flowing properly again. I reached my hand forward.

“Hrgh! Graaah!”

Kruger was stabbing and slashing rapidly as if trying to kill me through blood loss. He was increasing those small wounds to drive me into agony.

So I thrust my hand straight at the incoming sword. My palm was mercilessly cut and torn. I could see Kruger’s hand also becoming mangled and spurting blood.

Along with terrible pain, my right hand was half-pierced through. The strength left Kruger’s hand gripping the sword hilt slightly. I swung my hand sharply. Sharp sensation flowed through my entire body, and the sword that had been stuck in my hand was hurled to the floor.

“Friedrich Kruger.”

Trembling, I crawled over and grabbed the sword. Straightening my body, I charged toward Kruger’s chest.

“Ahahahaha! Lucas, so it ends like this! Like this!”

The floor of the spire was cracking. The vibrations were so severe it was hard to even stand. Kruger pulled me into an embrace as I staggered.

With a wet, disgusting sensation, the sword blade pierced through Kruger’s chest.

“We can’t escape from this paradise anyway. Isn’t that right?”

“That filthy mouth spewing garbage ends now too, you bastard.”

I pulled out the sword that had been thrust deep. An enormous amount of blood flowed out and dripped along the blade.

“Haa…”

I dropped the sword and collapsed.

The ground split and buildings crumbled. Shattered glass fragments, fallen bricks, and broken statue pieces flew around outside the window. While I gasped for breath, the floor of the spire gave way and Kruger and I slid down into the depths. I flailed my arms trying to grab onto anything, but it was useless.

Blood spurting mercilessly through the air and Kruger’s magic flickering and dying looked hazy like a mirage.

When had it started snowing?

Was the weather different only in this aerial fortress, only in the sky seen from that spire?

Snow flakes danced in the air.

I, and Kruger, were soon sucked down toward the snow-covered ground below the castle, into the building debris.

The blood flowing from Kruger stained the snowfield red. He was smiling. With tears of pain pooled in his blue eyes.

“Lucas… Redan. Are you afraid now?”

The bastard who had ultimately chosen half-suicide kept running his filthy mouth to the end without even pressing on his heart. I covered my stinging, aching face weakly and answered.

“I don’t know.”

“I can’t understand…”

His eyes slowly closed.

Ruuuumble!

With an intense shock, the aerial fortress settled onto the ground.

***

Someone is pressing down on my body.

Something damp and cold touches my cheek. This is a snowfield. Not the gap between collapsed buildings.

I lifted my eyelids, heavy as a thousand pounds.

The first thing I saw was an unidentified pale hand.

I barely managed to roll my eyes upward. There was Damier, soaked in blood from head to toe as if he’d taken a shower in it, but with only his face deathly pale. Blue magic seemed to flow from his body and envelop me.

“…You’re alive.”

A surprisingly clear voice came out.

“I’ll die soon.”

“Did you win? Against Ferint?”

“Yes.”

“That’s really impressive. More than that, were you the one who pulled me out of there? How did you find me?”

“I tracked your energy.”

“I see. Is this healing magic now?”

“Not exactly, but it’s similar in that it speeds up wound recovery.”

“Seems like quite a difficult spell—what about you?”

“……”

“Stop it now.”

Damier just silently continued pouring in magic. I could feel new flesh tingling as it grew on my neck, arms, and chest.

“Damier, I said stop.”

“Oliver.”

The light in his eyes was fading.

“Oliver. That’s my real name.”

With his trembling fingertips, the last handful of blue magic flowed out and into me.

And Damier’s eyes became completely empty.

***

The aerial fortress slowly settled onto the ground. To its original location, with a thunderous roar.

The bedrock and earth that had supported the castle destroyed the wide plaza, and the impact caused surrounding buildings to shake or collapse. With most of the castle structures also collapsed and debris flying everywhere, it was an extremely dangerous situation.

Fortunately, casualties weren’t numerous.

Everyone had evacuated far away after seeing it descending slowly. The minimal damage was also thanks to the fact that the area around the plaza wasn’t ordinary residential or industrial facilities, but only decorative or ceremonial buildings.

After the massive shock spread, silence settled in.

Lüdelheim fell into temporary silence.

Everyone waited for another incident, but nothing happened. Eventually, those who had fled began to gradually muster courage and move little by little toward the plaza—now too damaged to even be called a plaza anymore.

Had the Supreme Leader crashed his residence?

What on earth had happened inside there?

The aerial fortress was completely collapsed.

The buildings precariously standing on the poured earth and bedrock looked like they’d been hit by bombs. The gardens were ruined, and even structures that hadn’t completely collapsed were tilted at angles.

After waiting a long time with no sign of further collapse, the protesters cautiously explored the ruins.

People poured in randomly, climbing the hill-like mounds of earth.

“Careful, watch your footing!”

Christian, holding a flag, led everyone from the front.

They moved slowly to avoid accidentally stepping on unknown corpses or building debris. The castle grounds were so vast that thousands upon thousands could climb up and still have space left, and the originally complex spaces between buildings had become even more maze-like.

And finally, people discovered it.

Between debris and wreckage scattered everywhere. In a snowy field that seemed to have luckily avoided dangerous objects, completely empty. There stood a man covered in blood, on his own two feet.

He was looking down at a corpse at his feet with his head bowed.

“Huk!”

Someone who had approached hesitantly screamed in shock.

“Lu, Lucas Redan…!”

The man raised his eyes and looked at the crowd that had gathered.

“Everyone, the Supreme Leader is dead.”

His voice was utterly calm. His expression was also hard to read.

“Yes, I am Lucas Redan. Secretary to the Supreme Leader and also a member of the White Raven Order. I killed the Supreme Leader. His corpse is buried under that spire.”

The crowd fell into confusion at his sudden confession. Lucas smiled weakly, then struggled to lift the corpse in the white uniform onto his back. Then he slowly reached out toward the approaching green dragon.

“Lucas!”

Elizabeth gently wrapped Lucas with her tail and lifted him onto her back.

“This is the freedom and peace you have won. Please enjoy it. And… let’s go home, Oscar.”

Having caused great chaos, Lucas Redan disappeared.

People couldn’t escape their state of panic.

Some cried uncontrollably from shock, others burst into mad laughter. Most just stood there trembling with confused expressions.

Breaking news flowed from the radio.

“Citizens, hello. This is the White Raven Order. We have urgent news to share. Just moments ago, the Supreme Leader’s residence collided with the ground. Please be careful when approaching due to the high risk of collapse from the impact. The Supreme Leader is dead. Supreme Leader Friedrich Kruger died at the hands of his secretary Lucas Redan. We repeat. The Supreme Leader’s residence…”

***

I arrived home carrying Damier’s—Oliver’s—corpse.

Oscar and Ian beside me were bombarding me with questions, but nothing was getting through. To be precise, my head was in a vacuum state.

“This friend here.”

Then I suddenly spoke up. The two who had been chattering with worried faces fell quiet.

“His name was Oliver. Probably around our age? I want to hold a funeral for him.”

“Lucas.”

“He… saved me…”

Just saying those few words made me incredibly sleepy. My eyes gradually closed. The moment I saw the familiar little house, I lost consciousness.