9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 89 - The Clown (2)

Captain Himmel’s movements were swift. Instead of drawing her short sword, she let go of it and pulled out her pistol from its holster.

About one second to aim the muzzle. I didn’t even have a chance to counterattack.

Bang!

“Woof! Woof woof!”

The bullet grazed past my hair. A ringing tinnitus echoed in my ears, making my head dizzy.

I blinked my eyes.

Black and green shapes rolling in the white snow.

Colin was trying to bite Himmel’s throat. Himmel, knocked down by the large dog’s strength, struck Colin with her pistol while dodging his teeth.

“Good job, Colin.”

Thud!

I kicked Captain Himmel’s wrist with my military boot. Still, Himmel held onto the gun with tremendous grip strength.

Bang!

Another gunshot. A clump of snow on the ground instantly melted from the bullet’s heat.

I frowned slightly and raised my foot.

Crack! Crunch!

“Urgh!”

Himmel let out a pained groan. Her fingers finally went limp and lost their strength.

I picked up the fallen pistol and sat on her body, shoving the gun into her mouth.

“Hrk! Gag!”

Himmel retched and shed tears. I kept pressing down on her until her body went completely limp.

“Look, Captain Himmel.”

I unbuttoned my workout shirt with one hand. Between the open collar appeared a black vest. Himmel’s eyes widened.

“It’s a bulletproof vest. It has high-strength steel plates inside. Of course, it blocks swords too. I ran seven laps around the parade ground wearing this steel plate. Pretty impressive, isn’t it? Hahaha!”

It was good that I’d obtained it through Johann. Philip had grumbled while delivering it.

I pulled out the short sword that was dangling from the fabric, blocked by the steel plate.

“If you’d aimed for the head from the start, I’d definitely be dead. Ah, but you had to avoid the head for newspaper photos?”

“What are you waiting for? Just kill me.”

When I grinned and lowered the gun, Himmel, unable to move because of Colin and me, ground her teeth and spat out.

“I don’t want to.”

I looked down at her face covered in dust.

“Is your family’s safety more important than your superior’s life?”

“How did you…!”

“For someone like you to attempt to kill a superior, the only thing I can think of is if your family was taken hostage. Answer me, Captain.”

“…That’s correct.”

“Hah, I figured as much.”

“I will protect my family.”

I quietly met her eyes. Eyes glaring at me, full of venom.

‘To think she could have such intense eyes.’

It was the first time I’d seen such a desire to live in her. I suddenly had that thought.

Even though she asked to be killed with words, how much did she actually want to survive? If she truly wanted to die, she would have bitten her tongue.

‘Well, if she died here, there’s no way the higher-ups would take care of her family. They might even kill them to eliminate witnesses.’

I gave her a wicked smile.

“Correct answer, Captain Himmel!”

When I offered my hand to help her up, she showed a slightly puzzled expression. Like a porcelain mask had cracked, I could finally read her expression.

“That’s the right answer. If you’d answered the opposite, I would have shot you.”

That was a lie, though.

I shrugged my shoulders toward the captain who was staring at me blankly.

“Captain Himmel, I understand you want to kill me, but it’s good that you failed. I sent letters to friends saying that if I’m murdered, the culprit would be Alina Himmel, so please get revenge. Very persistent and scary friends. If you’d succeeded, you wouldn’t have slept peacefully for even a single day.”

At my threat mixing half truth and half lie, her face turned pale. Unlike usual, her varied expressions proved how shaken she was.

“So don’t think about trying again now. I’ll guarantee your family’s safety myself.”

Captain Himmel’s eyes widened slightly.

“Really?! Can you really protect my family?”

“When have you seen me make empty promises?”

“It’s hard to believe.”

“Hahaha! You don’t have any choice right now anyway, do you? All your weapons have been taken.”

Captain Himmel’s eyes wavered for a moment, then she suddenly dropped to her knees.

“You may take my life. Please just spare my family.”

“Why would I kill you? Rather, Captain Himmel, can you swear loyalty to me?”

“If you keep your promise, I’ll do anything.”

“Good.”

I patted her shoulder.

“Now shall we hear the story?”

I settled down on a nearby fallen, rotten log.

***

“Who told you to kill me?”

“My superior gave me orders. He said if I failed, my family wouldn’t be safe.”

She clenched her fists in frustration. Seeing the veins stand out on her stone-like fists, I flinched involuntarily.

If she’d hit me with those fists instead of a blade, I’d already be dead.

“Do you know who’s above him?”

“I didn’t hear.”

“Why you specifically? Is there something special about you?”

“I don’t know. My superior didn’t say a word about why he selected me. He just gave me orders and threatened me.”

“When did you receive the order to kill me?”

“This morning at dawn. There was a note in my quarters.”

“What did it say?”

“To kill Lucas Redan at dawn on January 1st and dump the body at the marked coordinates. It said not to let anyone find out.”

“But you must have been surprised when I suddenly suggested climbing the mountain.”

When I joked, she shook her head.

“I thought you were also carrying out some mission. Didn’t you say you’d received orders from His Excellency?”

“Ah, that. That was a lie. No, it was just speculation. From how things were going, it seems I was right though. Wait, then what did you think about yesterday’s toast?”

“I thought it was related to the mission.”

Damn, it was all for nothing then.

I thought all those provocative things I’d been doing to draw out the spy would have had some effect.

I gnawed on my lips.

The faint sense of unease I’d been feeling. This unpleasant feeling of my heart being heavy.

“What was in the alcohol yesterday?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Well, she sat perfectly upright in her chair from start to finish during the drinking session without moving a muscle. I wondered if a person could be like that.

The ominous feeling was growing… Even sitting still, I was getting short of breath.

“Have you received any other orders?”

“No. What I received at dawn was the first and last.”

At Captain Himmel’s calm answer, my body trembled all over.

‘Something’s wrong.’

No way.

No way.

“You said to kill me? Just me?”

“Yes.”

“What about the majors?”

“What? There was no mention of that.”

In that moment, it felt like all the blood in my body froze.

“Damn! There wasn’t just one!”

I shot to my feet. In the cold air, my frozen breath spread out.

“Captain Himmel! We have to go back right now!”

I frantically ran down the mountain path. Captain Himmel followed me without understanding what was happening.

Frozen earth, rocks, accumulated snow, scattered fallen leaves and branches. It was more than twice as slippery as when climbing up, and I slipped forward while staggering.

Thud!

Rolling over and over, I crashed face-first into some dry bushes and lay spread-eagle like a dead frog.

“Battalion Commander!”

My forehead was cut on a rock, and a warm trickle of blood flowed down.

The blood quickly spread through the bushes and snow, staining the ground red.

“Ah, shit…”

I wiped the blood with my sleeve, but an alien sound reached my ears.

Rustle!

Swish!

‘What’s this?’

Captain Himmel also seemed to hear the sound and went quiet.

It was too windless for rustling grass, and too fast and stealthy for a wild animal moving.

And the fishy smell of blood hanging around my nose. It was too thick and strong to be from the blood flowing down my nose.

Rustle rustle!

For a moment it seemed like time had stopped, then suddenly a sound came from very close by.

And.

“Gasp!”

I saw it through the bushes.

About five meters in front, something emerged from behind a large elm tree.

Flashing blue light as it stirred up a whirlwind, that thing flew toward Captain Himmel.

Swish!

Something—ah, a person. A person in military uniform. He stretched out his arm toward the captain. The captain dodged the attack that came like machine gun fire.

Light glinting at the man’s fingertips. A blade.

I could barely follow their movements with my eyes. I couldn’t understand what was happening.

All I could tell was that the man was trying to kill Captain Himmel, and the captain was barely dodging.

Each time the man moved, blue light flashed. It was unbelievably fast for human speed. The same went for Captain Himmel.

Swish!

The blade sliced through the captain’s uniform. She’d dodged just barely—no blood sprayed.

I suddenly came to my senses.

“What the hell are you doing!”

At my thunderous voice that could have caused a mini landslide, the man’s movement stopped dead.

“You’re alive?”

The youthful voice was familiar.

“Who…?”

When he removed his cap and sunglasses, a gasp escaped me.

“Damier?”

Damier, the youngest of the ten majors, the ridiculous bumbling young master, was looking this way expressionlessly while holding a toy-like small sword.

***

This isn’t funny at all.

“January 1st is my birthday! And it’s also the day we’ll finally fulfill our sacred mission!”

When Lucas Redan shouted his toast, Appel Damier sneered.

He didn’t know what Redan wanted, but he kept constantly babbling about ‘secret missions.’ Something about needing to be killed.

‘The drug is already taking effect.’

When the atmosphere became subdued, Redan looked at the majors and laughed loudly, asking why they were so sad.

The majors who usually answered “yes yes” easily to his talk about dying magnificently all had strangely ambiguous expressions when the day actually came.

‘What is he thinking, Redan?’

What will he do if tomorrow comes and nothing happens after acting like that?

‘It will go as he said, though.’

Damier glanced at the beer glasses scattered here and there.

Depending on the person, it takes about 10 hours for the drug to take effect. It lasts a minimum of 2 to 4 hours.

It’s a specially manufactured drug that can’t be obtained again. Within that time, definitely…

“Let’s call it a night. We have a lot to do tomorrow, don’t we? Go back and get some sleep.”

Redan patted the majors’ backs and called the proprietor to pay the bill.

“Um, I’ll just go to the bathroom!”

“Can’t you hold it?”

“It’s urgent!”

Damier who entered the bathroom took out a voice transmitter from his pocket.

Regular radios only receive one broadcast. That’s because they’re manufactured from the factory unable to change channels.

But the radio modified by the magicians at Supreme Leader’s residence can pick up any broadcast in the world if you know the coordinates.

If you know the coordinates, that is.

That radio would have hundreds of channels running daily.

“101.03.872, 101.03.872. ‘Fake Hero’ status report. ‘Fake Hero’ status report. World Calendar year 1903, January 1st, mentioned as secret mission execution date. World Calendar year 1903, January 1st, mentioned as secret mission execution date. Over.”

“No change in plan, over.”

This time too, the response was the same.

Damier put away the transmitter and ran out of the tavern.

A few hours later.

Damier waited.

Standing quietly in the quarters hallway, he waited and waited.

5 AM. The first bite came.

“Hehehe! Hey, Demi, Damier! Hehe! It tickles!”

Major Hoellope rolled out of his room giggling madly and babbled incoherently when he saw him.

“What are you doing? Hahahaha!”

“Who’s weak? Me? Me? Give me some drugs too!”

“The alcohol, kahahaha!”

Etin, Köller, Schwanz, Loch, Lang, Beed, Bay, and even Schleswig.

They all wandered around the hallway here and there, giggling like madmen.

‘Bloodshot eyes. Dilated pupils. Convulsive laughter. Impaired judgment. Occasional itching and fingertip peeling.’

It matched the symptoms in the orders.

A drug made by refining toxic plants that only grow in Cortana and synthesizing them with other chemicals.

A drug that brings supreme pleasure but causes severe withdrawal symptoms from just one dose.

Since they didn’t inject it directly into their blood, it would be milder, but it would be sufficiently detectable in an autopsy.

Damier approached the majors who were bumping into each other and laughing.

“You should go now. Have you forgotten the Battalion Commander’s great mission?”

The majors, with vacant eyes, followed behind him like docile rabbits.

Stumbling and slipping as they climbed the mountain path. The men still under the drug’s influence didn’t feel pain even when injured.

“Drugs? Drugs?”

“Hehehehe!”

When Damier arrived at the coordinates, he looked at them with emotionless eyes. Soon his body moved like lightning.

Swish!

Köller’s throat was torn and spurted blood. Lang’s arm flew off, and Etin’s intestines spilled from his belly.

The corpses fell one by one onto the tangled mess of footprints.

When all the work was finished, silence came. Only peaceful breathing faintly wrapped around his ears.

‘Now to deal with that guy…’

Beep!

Suddenly a faint sound came from his inner pocket.

It was the voice transmitter.

“Mission cancelled. Mission cancelled.”

Now?

Damier frowned.

Bang!

A gunshot echoing through the mountains. His body rushed toward the sound.