9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 50 - The Scent of Blood (4)

Summer had arrived.

The sunlight was brilliant, people were cheerfully going on summer vacations, the world was quiet, newspapers prattled about trivial stories, and the police and Ossel continued their rampage.

The speech-addicted Supreme Leader came out to the plaza in District 1, delivered a speech saying ‘Schufaben is strong! The subversive elements will soon learn the severity of the law! Dear citizens, please put aside your worries and focus on your livelihoods!’ and secretly departed for his villa.

I staggered about in the sweltering heat while taking a walk in front of the boarding house.

“Woof! Woof!”

Colin, now grown as large as a wolf, chased after a ball I’d thrown far in the distance, and I crouched down on the roadside shaded by street trees.

“Damn hot. Are you okay?”

“I don’t understand why you’re struggling so much.”

Oscar shrugged his shoulders. He glanced around surreptitiously, and after confirming no one was around, asked.

“How are the preparations going? I know we’ll talk about it tonight, but I’m curious.”

I quietly nodded my head.

We were currently planning a bombing attack.

***

“Good evening, Owner Redan.”

Click-clack, accompanied by familiar shoe sounds, Hannah Art opened the door and entered.

“Welcome, Miss Art.”

Daniel guided her to a private seat.

Fael and I had been regularly exchanging information.

Not through letters, but through Hannah Art’s mouth.

She pretended to be a regular customer, visiting Redan Tavern once or twice a week.

At least, she could be considered a fixed attendee on Friday nights when all the members gathered.

Every time she came, men swarmed around her like bees as she sat alone drinking with an aloof air, but since she came so consistently, it soon became a familiar sight and interest naturally waned.

Since we’d chosen Hannah instead of letters, which were difficult to keep secure, Fael and I had only exchanged written correspondence once, at the very beginning.

When I sent a letter through Hannah’s hands, rambling on about ‘Let’s hit the Ossel headquarters together,’ she brought back a reply the next day.

‘Alright, let’s do it.’

The content was so simple that I burst into laughter the moment I opened the envelope.

“We have a precious guest today.”

After finishing closing and seeing Ameli off, I opened the side door. Behind Hannah’s small frame, a person’s shadow was visible.

“Hello.”

Fael bent his tall frame to enter through the side door while greeting me. Assad, following behind him like a bodyguard, gave a curt nod.

“Good to see you.”

I chuckled and muttered, then latched the side door. Fael was removing his hat that covered down to his ears while looking around the tavern’s hall.

“I’d only heard about it in words, but seeing it in person is quite moving. Ah, are those the White Raven Order friends? I’m called Fa-Elhar. You can call me Fael comfortably. This is Assad—he doesn’t look like an elf, but he’s a pure-blood elf like me.”

“You cut your ears.”

Richard immediately noticed the scars on Assad’s ears even in the dim light. The experience of a doctor, perhaps?

After everyone finished their introductions, I spread out a large piece of paper on the table.

“Well, it’s good that the young chief came personally. I finally got my hands on this yesterday. I was worried whether Hannah could remember it all.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just joking. Anyway, everyone memorize this map.”

“Impressive intelligence gathering.”

Fael expressed mild admiration.

“No, I should say I placed my informants well.”

“That’s the same thing. We must succeed, so concentrate. As I said last time, the execution date is July 21st.”

The map clearly showed the structure of the Lüdelheim District 1 Ossel headquarters, whose location was top secret.

***

“I’ve devised a perfect plan.”

A few days ago, I visited Major Johann Werner’s house late at night.

At my confident words, he frowned as if displeased, but sat quietly on the sofa with his fingers interlaced, adopting an attitude of ‘let me at least hear this.’

“I’ll need your help—quite a lot, actually. But if we succeed, promotion and rewards should be guaranteed.”

“Should be?”

He asked coldly.

“Seventy-five percent. That’s good enough odds to bet one’s fate on.”

“Something only a gambling addict would say.”

“If I were a real gambling addict, wouldn’t I throw my life away on even a one percent chance? Anyway, there’s something I need to confirm. When is the next regular Ossel meeting?”

Johann fell silent, then slowly opened his mouth.

“July 21st.”

“You’re definitely going to headquarters instead of the colonel that day, right? The colonel always sends you as his representative.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“You can’t underestimate our White Raven Order’s intelligence network.”

I deliberately grinned and put on airs, which naturally drew a displeased reaction.

‘Really, he consistently hates me.’

But from now on, he’ll have no choice but to bow and thank me.

“I’ve thought about various ways. To benefit both you and me. As I said before, even hunting dogs don’t want to lose their master. When we blow up the Ossel headquarters, naturally Ossel’s reputation will be tarnished, and you’ll suffer damage too. To make only you slip out of that situation—”

“You’ll make me the only hero among all those Ossels?”

“Exactly.”

“No matter how outstanding my performance might be, haven’t you considered that if the Supreme Leader’s mood sours and he disbands Ossel entirely, it would all be meaningless?”

I chuckled and shook my head.

“No, that won’t happen. You know, right? That Kruger absolutely can’t do that now. Ossel is Kruger’s partner in destiny. One of his two wings. Would Kruger, who extremely fears rebellion, do such a thing?”

“Two wings. You’re talking about Ferint.”

Johann spoke bluntly.

Ferint.

The guard unit that played a decisive role in Kruger becoming Supreme Leader.

Kruger, who had been a knight commander, purged all knights who didn’t support him and created a guard unit with only the loyal ones remaining.

Leading them, he attacked the parliament and presidential palace, murdered his political enemies, and personally ascended to the position of Supreme Leader.

It all happened in just one night, which Kruger’s side called the ‘Night Blessed by the Holy Spirit’ and held sacred.

That night, the business owners, parliamentarians, knights, and unlucky citizens who got caught up in it—over 1,000 people were killed in just a few hours, and vast areas around the presidential palace were destroyed.

Having become Supreme Leader, Kruger appeared before the shocked citizens and gained support with a moving speech…

Well, setting that aside.

‘Ferint’ means ‘friend’ in ancient Schufaben.

And afterward, the special police Ossel was organized to check the guard unit Ferint, whose power had become excessive—this one means ‘homeland’ in ancient Schufaben.

Kruger apparently has a hobby of giving endearing names to garbage.

“Kruger is a very sensitive and frightening person. Instead of rashly purging Ossel, he’ll try to reshuffle personnel. Make your mark and aim for that moment.”

“You said the success probability was seventy-five percent. In my eyes, it doesn’t even look like twenty percent.”

“No, it’s possible. If only you help.”

Johann stared quietly into my eyes as if trying to confirm my true intentions.

As we glared at each other like in a staring contest, after a long while he coldly spat out a single phrase.

“You’re insane.”

“Of course.”

He stood up silently and approached the cupboard.

“Next week, same day, same time. Take this back with you. I don’t need such cheap stuff.”

He handed me the wine I’d given him as a gift last time. I thought it was pretty high-quality.

“Can I open it here?”

“Get lost.”

“Yes, yes.”

I got lost from his presence.

***

“July 21st, when the Ossels of Lüdelheim gather in one place, we’ll attack. According to intelligence, Kruger returns on July 26th.”

The Supreme Leader going to his villa for summer vacation was truly fortunate. When he moves, countless Ossels are mobilized for ceremonial and security purposes, making the headquarters’ security that much more lax.

I pointed to the Ossel headquarters map I’d obtained through Johann.

“We’ll split into four teams. Team 1 will monitor the outside situation, Team 2 will go to the basement, Team 3 to the conference room, and Team 4 to the document storage.”

“As discussed. Good.”

“As you can see, the basement walls of the headquarters are extremely thick. They’d be hard to break through with ordinary firepower. But with your Bletter’s makeshift bombs that completely collapsed the national bank, we should be able to manage somehow.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“And the basement has prisoners scattered throughout—according to intelligence, there are close to sixty, so time will be tight for rescue. That’s why we need to assign the most personnel to Team 2. At least ten people will be necessary. Still, since many Ossels are away, if we just avoid patrol times, there’s a good chance of no combat. The fiercest will be Team 3, so we should deploy experienced fighters—”

“Wait.”

Assad, who had been listening calmly, suddenly cut me off.

“How many people here have combat experience? In our organization, every elf who joins receives training without exception, but what about your side? Obviously not the lady and the kid.”

“Kid?!”

Georg bristled.

“No, kid, this is a really important issue. Who knows how to shoot?”

“Me.”

When I raised my hand, Daniel looked at me puzzledly.

‘Well, whatever. I even served in the military.’

Anyway, the ones who raised their hands were me, Erika, and Oscar.

“Erika, you too?”

“When I was young, I followed along on hunts and shot guns.”

“Me too. My father and brothers liked hunting.”

Oscar chimed in. Since he was also from a noble family, it was natural enough.

“So the ones without experience are Daniel, Richard, and Georg. We’ll assign them to Team 1 or 2…”

“No, wait.”

Assad frowned and waved his hand.

“Shooting a gun and properly fighting in combat are different things. How about leaving it to us instead of just becoming burdens? People might die before your eyes. It’s quite shocking the first time you see it. Can you handle that?”

Ah, suddenly my right cheek stung unbearably.

Tingly, hazily felt. The sensation of blood and flesh splattering against my cheek…

I raised my hand to rub it, but Daniel, who was watching me, firmly stepped on my foot to restrain me and said quietly.

“It’s okay. I’ve seen it before.”

Silence flowed through the hall for a moment.

Daniel had never told such a story before.

“Even so…”

“Assad, enough.”

Fael, who had been watching with interest, intervened.

“This is a plan proposed by the White Raven Order. They must have their own thoughts. And, Lucas. Isn’t this something you’re doing to temper your people? Naturally, it’s right for everyone to be deployed in real combat.”

‘Damn.’

I almost cursed at his beautiful smile.

Like a merchant, he’d already read my intentions.

That this was something contrived to make the White Raven Order stronger, more corrupt, more addicted.

I smiled and nodded.

“As Fael says. But anyone who wants to drop out can. This is a plan we unanimously agreed on, but there’s no need for everyone to recklessly dive in.”

“Brother, I’ll do it. I’m confident.”

“If it’s something we’ll have to experience someday anyway, as you said…”

“I’ll do it too.”

“Since I’ve never seen people die or shot a gun, I’ll wait at the hideout. If there are wounded, a doctor will be needed.”

Richard spoke gently.

“Good thinking.”

Everyone, including Fael, agreed.

‘Actually, he’s just trying to get out of dangerous work. Very like our doctor.’

But that was exactly what I expected from Richard.

“Then it’s somewhat settled. I’ll continue. The rendezvous point is…”

***

July 21st, Lüdelheim District 1.

Under the blazing sun, an unseasonably cool wind blew. Dark clouds were stealthily gathering from the north.

The quiet streets with wealthy District 1 residents away on summer vacation. An ordinary carriage rolled leisurely down the heated road.

Inside the carriage, looking as leisurely as if going on some trip, I crouched, feeling the tense silence.

The carriage slowly stopped.

Thump, thump, the sound of heartbeats began to be heard.

“What? You can’t just park a carriage here—”

“Sorry. The thing is, I, I came to make a delivery.”

“What? What—”

Swoosh!

“Guh!”

The carriage door flew wide open.

Behind the slowly collapsing body, sunlight reflecting off a blade flashed blindingly. The elves disguised as coachmen had stabbed the group of Ossels standing guard.

“Go!”

I pulled down the balaclava-like mask that completely covered my face from my head.

I could feel blood racing from my chest to my hands holding the gun. Adrenaline was surging, making it hard to breathe normally.

White Raven Order members and Bletters poured out of the carriages lined up in a row.

Before our eyes spread the desolate, massive abandoned factory site.

“Scatter!”

When I shouted, everyone nodded. Fael extended both arms and people grabbed onto him.

I felt tremendous power as my body shot up into the sky.

The operation had begun.