9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 51 - The Scent of Blood (5)

Team 1: 5 people. Monitor movements from outside, signal with magic in emergencies.

Team 2: 12 people. Blow up the basement and rescue prisoners.

Team 3: 10 people. Infiltrate the top floor conference room, engage in combat and make contact with Johann Werner.

Team 4: 5 people. Steal classified documents.

Team 1 had Georg, Team 2 had Erika and Oscar, Team 3 had me, Fael, and Assad, Team 4 had Daniel.

Richard was waiting at headquarters with the other elves.

The elves dispatched from Bletter numbered over 30. Practically all of Bletter’s combat forces. There were even 3 mages including Fael.

They too were betting their lives on this operation.

***

“I haven’t toured the entire headquarters myself either. But it’s definitely prepared for intruders. If the alarm goes off, the signal will reach even the Supreme Leader’s residence.”

Johann warned without any hesitation as he handed over Ossel’s secrets.

“Still, you won’t sound it, will you?”

“……Do you know what you’re saying?”

“No, I just guessed right. There’s no group more secretive and prideful than Ossel, is there? They’d never request help. They’d rather cover it up than lose face.”

In other words, they wouldn’t do anything that would damage their reputation.

That’s the kind of organization Ossel is.

Johann twisted his lips into a smile.

“You’re betting everything on just that? Even if they don’t request help, Ossel’s military force is strong. Regardless of their intelligence. So.”

Johann pulled out something like a black iron rod from his jacket and showed it in the light.

“Do well.”

“Hahahaha!”

Laughter erupted from my mouth convulsively.

I had written a scenario that would make Johann a hero.

There would be many variables, but if luck followed us just a little, and if Johann just didn’t betray us, it was a plan worth betting on.

But that bastard—that traitorous turncoat spy—was openly showing me a bomb while threatening me.

Saying that if things went wrong, he’d betray us, and if he became endangered, he’d kill us all!

If he judged the situation unfavorable, it wouldn’t be ‘let’s blow up together!’ but ‘I’ll blow you bastards up!’

That bomb he revealed as his trump card was so characteristically Johann that rather than making me angry, it felt refreshing.

I was gasping with laughter when I reached out. The smooth surface of a Schufaben standard grenade—far superior to homemade ones—brushed my fingertips before disappearing.

“Gasp, hah! Right, we absolutely have to win. If we lose the fight and die by your hand, there’d be no victors. Not the White Raven Order, not the elves, not Ossel, not you! Everyone would just lose and it would all be over.”

“What would I lose? Did you perhaps write a will? Saying you joined hands with Johann Werner?”

“You know well.”

“That’s a lie.”

Johann didn’t fall for it easily.

“Whether it’s a lie or not, I’d have to die for you to find out.”

I staggered up from the sofa and waved my hand.

“Well then, see you on July 21st. If I die, I hope I explode right in front of you and haunt you as a horrible nightmare!”

***

‘Even if the alarm doesn’t sound, it’d be best to move as quickly as possible.’

I thought while clinging to Fael’s waist, buffeted by fierce wind.

Even carrying 9 people, Fael shot up to the 10th floor in one bound.

Facing a dark, narrow window blocked by something, Fael reached out his hand.

“Troublesome. There are double defensive spells.”

He muttered while fingering a small gold coin.

“What? Is it difficult?”

“No. Hold tight. It’s going to shake.”

The coin in Fael’s hand spun round and round, emitting blue light.

“Obsil…… ribeti!”

With an incomprehensible incantation, light burst from the coin and struck the window.

A vibration that started with a faint crackling sound scattered into the air. Fael’s body also trembled.

“As expected of a mage.”

I grinned beneath my mask.

The path to the top floor is complicated? Then just enter from outside!

“Infiltrating.”

Assad’s voice could be heard beside me. He held a long rifle.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

Clang!

Small explosive magic circles activated repeatedly inside the mechanism, and the muzzle spat fire.

The glass window shattered instantly and thick curtains were torn apart. Fael charged through the flying glass shards.

Crash!

“Huk!”

“Ahhhhh!”

As he flew in at tremendous speed, a gust swept through the enormous conference hall, scattering quill pens, papers, and teacups, which I could dimly see.

Fael crashed into the thick, antique door on the opposite side of the window, sealing the escape route.

At the same time, the people who had been clinging to his body were thrown around by the impact.

“Ugh!”

I gripped the gun barrel tightly with sweat-soaked hands.

Rat-tat-ta!

Rat-tat-tat-tat-ta!

Before the people in the room could even react, I sprang up and pulled the trigger.

The same sounds were echoing from various places, so it seemed everyone was playing their roles without panicking.

“What is this! Rebellion…!”

“Kyahhhhh!”

“Guhak!”

A metallic smell wafted through the air.

Arms and legs flew off and blood-soaked bodies collapsed to the floor, appearing to move in unrealistic slow motion before my eyes.

A man who had been hiding under a large table sprang up like a coiled spring.

With a gun in his right hand, he tensed his muscles and launched his body.

His body cutting through the air, approaching me little by little, little by little, felt like watching a video in slow motion at 10,000 times slower speed, like eons of time.

I was aiming my gun at his face.

‘That’s a target, that’s a target, that’s a target, that’s a target……’

I recalled the grid-pattern zeroing targets I’d seen countless times during my military service and reserve training.

My hands trembled violently.

No, my whole body.

‘Damn it! There’s no way I can think like that!’

Bang!

Something seemed to burst from the man’s gun barrel.

At that moment.

“Duck!”

Rat-tat-ta!

Someone pushed me from the side.

Splat!

“Grrgh……!”

Blood splattered on my face again—no, on my mask. Blood droplets rushed into my nostrils, making me cough.

“Cough! Cough cough cough!”

And the world that had been in slow motion returned to normal speed.

“Get it together!”

A female elf shook me. Though she wore a mask, I could tell from her voice that she was the elf who had taken me hostage during the bank bombing incident.

She casually pushed aside the man’s corpse that had fallen on top of me and grabbed my shoulders roughly.

Across the room, I could see someone confirming kills on the fallen.

“I told you to drop out because of this.”

“Are you okay?”

I ignored Assad’s complaints and grabbed Fael’s hand as he asked with concern, pulling myself up.

It seemed I had been shooting while pressed against the door.

“Sorry, I lost my mind for a moment. This won’t happen again.”

I said, trying to appear calm while forcing my trembling legs to steady.

“If that’s true, then it’s fortunate. You proposed this plan, so you need to set a better example. But there’s nothing to be sorry about. It was expected.”

Looking at those sapphire eyes through the mask, I clenched my fists.

‘Pathetic bastard.’

I pretended to be nonchalant while checking that the magic stone in my gun had turned black and replacing it with a new one.

Being a crude homemade firearm, the magic stones wore out quickly.

Unlike the ominous atmosphere outside, this room was luxurious and comfortable.

“No survivors. We’ve also collected all identification.”

Assad pointed to the pouch on his waist while speaking matter-of-factly.

So far, everything was going according to plan.

“Let’s move to the 3rd conference room. The contact is over there.”

I shouted in a completely recovered voice.

Johann had said there were three grand conference rooms in the headquarters.

Not just conference rooms, but luxurious spaces like hotel conference rooms in Korea.

Schufaben is divided into 24 states, and the capital Lüdelheim, which doesn’t belong to any state, is divided into 16 districts.

Among the 16 districts, some are particularly developed while others are not.

When regular meetings are held at this Ossel headquarters, the Ossels from the ‘successful’ districts gather in the 2nd conference room, while those from less successful districts gather in the 3rd conference room. And the ‘high-ranking officials’ who make up Ossel’s upper echelon gather in the 1st conference room, receiving and coordinating the results of their discussions.

It’s a structure that perfectly reveals Ossel’s organizational culture, thoroughly closed-off and steeped in authoritarianism.

‘And that’s why it will crumble. Right today!’

It reminded me of the company I used to work for in Korea, making me feel like vomiting.

To think I endured that place for 7 years.

This world and that world seem to be exactly the same. Damn rigid and corrupt people engaging in hierarchy games within their fucking organizations.

***

According to Johann’s internal map, the distance between conference rooms was very far.

300 setins in this world’s units, about 300 meters in Earth terms.

It’s that large a building, with numerous corridors, stairs, and doors winding between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd conference rooms.

Johann said it was built to confuse intruders and facilitate escape, but from my perspective having memorized all the maps, it was only helpful.

Thanks to that distance and perfect soundproofing, even after raising such hell, the noise wouldn’t be heard!

“Who goes there!”

It was a woman in Ossel uniform.

Seeing us emerge bloodied into the central corridor, she shouted in shock, then immediately pulled out a small bomb hidden behind her waist and threw it.

“Fall back! El grum—.”

As Fael extended his hand, a bluish glass-like barrier spread before our eyes.

The bomb bounced off the magical barrier and hit the wall.

Behind the woman, I could see lower-ranking Ossels who had been standing guard rushing toward us. The bomb exploded at the woman’s feet as she was pulling out her pistol. The entire process took less than 10 seconds.

I crouched behind Fael with my shoulders hunched, turning my eyes away from the flesh being torn apart.

My head spun dizzily, and the carnage from the 2nd conference room earlier flashed through my mind, but it quickly faded.

“That was close.”

Assad’s voice could be heard.

“The explosion might have been heard, so let’s hurry.”

“Right, let’s run!”

I nodded and put strength in my legs as I ran. The path to take among the branching corridors naturally came to mind.

After running until I was breathless, I arrived at the 3rd conference room. Two Ossels were standing guard at the door.

One was a stranger, and the other was…

Bang!

The unknown Ossel crumpled at Assad’s shot. I ran to the remaining blonde handsome man and grabbed him by the collar.

“Why are you out here?! Then inside that room is…!”

Major Johann Werner calmly removed my hands.

“This doesn’t seem like the time for this.”

However, in Johann’s eyes was a whirlpool of rare bewilderment.

“Is there some trouble outside?”

The solid conference room door opened slightly and a voice leaked out.

“Take cover!”

Johann, shouting at the top of his lungs, pulled something from his black Ossel uniform’s inner pocket and threw it toward the corridor behind us.

“Crazy bastard! Barrier!”

I threw myself flat on the floor and shouted. The barrier barely spread as the wall behind us collapsed with a tremendous roar.

Thunk! Thud-thud-thud!

Glass and concrete fragments poured down onto the barrier.

‘This bastard! He really tried to massacre us!’

Hostility and hatred for Johann boiled up inside me. I could see him fleeing into the conference room.

At that moment, I caught a glimpse of the conference room’s interior through the door gap. Among the Ossels sitting around a massive circular table, a familiar face.

‘The Colonel! So the plan went awry!’

I had made the plan assuming Johann would attend the meeting instead of the Colonel, but for some reason, the Colonel had appeared together with Johann.

‘Damn, this is troublesome.’

I was grinding my teeth when Fael grabbed my sleeve. Those blue eyes seemed to be urging me to make a decision quickly.

“This bastard! Your story was different…!”

I blocked Assad’s mouth as he growled threateningly, ready to devour someone.

“Fael, the man with scars on his face and gray hair! Tall guy! Third from the left at the round table!”

I whispered urgently while throwing my rifle with all my strength.

Thwack!

The gun barrel wedged into the conference room door gap just as it was about to close and lock.

Crash!

Fael didn’t question my words. Bursting with magical power, his body flew into the grand conference room and collided with the Colonel.

“Everyone take cover…!”

Johann’s shouts were cut off by the chaotic noise.

We rushed into the grand conference room. Assad kicked away my rifle with a loud bang and locked the door.

Rat-tat-tat-ta!

Rat-tat-ta!

As expected, Ossel was still Ossel.

Unlike the 2nd conference room where everyone was annihilated due to the surprise attack, the Ossels here had grasped the situation thanks to Johann and opened fire without hesitation.

A sudden firefight. I was about to pull the trigger when I looked toward the window and felt my blood pressure spike.

‘That bastard, again with that!’

I ducked low and ran. I grabbed Johann’s trouser cuff as he was escaping through the window and yanked him down to the floor.

“Let go!”

Instead of strangling him, I grabbed his hair and shouted while gunfire rang out all around.

“I won’t kill you, you bastard! Continue with the plan!”

“Ha……”

Johann exhaled as if dumbfounded and glanced around. He checked the unconscious Colonel in the corner and the Ossels firing while cursing, then twisted his face into a smile.

And he aimed the pistol in his hand.

Bang!

The face of an Ossel hiding behind the round table exploded.