9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 93 - War, Never Again War (1)

Bright sunlight stabbed into my eyes.

‘Oh… this is comfortable…’

I squirmed within the cozy blankets.

How could something be this soft? It was just like being at home…

Then a sudden thought flashed through my mind and I snapped my eyes open.

‘Where am I?!’

I bolted upright to see a pristine, luxurious, and spacious room.

“Ah, shi—!”

I almost let a curse slip out.

‘This is that room from yesterday! Did I pass out drunk?!’

I was lying on the long sofa near the armchair, covered with a blanket, still wearing yesterday’s clothes.

‘Aaaaaahhhhh!’

I clutched the blanket and screamed internally.

‘Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn! What kind of amateur situation is this?! That bastard Lucas Redan! He messed with his liver so much I went down in one hit! Shit, even when I was playing the drinking executive role at the company, I never lost my head like this!’

Did I say anything stupid? I remember downing that huge bowl in one shot, so my memory didn’t completely black out.

‘I must have been insane. But how could I refuse in that situation?’

I was sighing heavily while hastily fixing my hair and clothes when the door burst open.

“You’re awake.”

Neatly pinned blonde hair, a face that was sharp beyond slender with a thin aquiline nose, cold blue eyes.

I’d never seen her face before, but I recognized the voice. It was the woman called Eve.

“Excuse me.”

“No time to waste. Move quickly.”

Eve dragged me out of the room. Before I knew what was happening, I was being pushed through a vast corridor into another room.

It was a small room with large mirrors on all four walls. My face, pale and sickly from drinking, was reflected with bleary eyes.

In the center of the room was a wide, luxurious bathtub, and next to it stood a young woman with a haggard face.

She wore a uniform similar to a civil servant’s, but blue-tinged rather than gray. A mage, probably.

Eve gave the woman a look and left. The woman curtly gestured with her hand.

“Take off your clothes.”

“What?!”

“I won’t look, so strip and get in the tub.”

“What exactly are you doing?! You should at least explain to the person involved!”

Though I tried protesting, I knew it would be useless.

I could roughly guess what was happening.

I obediently stripped and got into the tub. The woman, who had been facing away, muttered an incantation.

Oh, the tub filled in an instant not with water but with a sticky liquid that had a faint purple tint—and there wasn’t even a faucet.

The dangerous-looking liquid bubbled and frothed as it boiled. Though I was soaking in it, it felt like the perfect temperature.

Soon the foam began moving on its own, scrubbing the grime from my entire body.

Amazingly, wherever the foam passed, my pale skin gained a lustrous sheen, and my hair, reeking of alcohol, became fragrant and glossy.

‘This is why a sixty-year-old can look like he’s in his twenties.’

I recalled Kruger’s flawlessly perfect porcelain doll appearance.

From the photos that appeared in books and newspapers supposedly from his youth, he seemed naturally blessed with good looks.

But having wandered countless battlefields and experienced many hardships, without magic he would have looked like a weathered old man who’d faced all of life’s storms.

A moment later, the mage chanted another spell and the foam subsided.

“Now get out and get dressed. On the table over there.”

It was dress uniform similar to what the nurse had brought yesterday. After putting on everything from underwear to a long, warm coat, the mage sat me in a chair.

“Stay perfectly still. Your face might tingle a bit, but don’t move.”

In time with the incantation, the face in the mirror began to change.

Colors appeared on my smooth, radiant skin.

My lips, which had been pale and sickly, filled with blood and became deep crimson.

Conversely, dark circles appeared more prominently under my eyes.

Color returned to my deathly pale cheeks, while a blue tint spread across other parts of my face.

Hair grew between my eyebrows like a tattoo, becoming thick and neat, and my somewhat disheveled hair trimmed itself cleanly.

‘Whoa, what is this?’

I wanted to laugh in disbelief, but remembering the warning not to move, I just kept my eyes wide while maintaining my position.

“All done.”

As soon as the mage finished her spell, I could tell immediately.

In the mirror, I had become a ‘charismatic, handsome young man who had recovered his health but was troubled by the shocking events he’d experienced, yet had overcome his suffering and found stability.’

Considering I’d originally been a ‘decent-looking but off-putting young man with rotten eyes and a pale face,’ this was a complete transformation.

I let out a derisive snort.

‘These idiots buy into such thoroughly manufactured images…’

When I thought about it, this wasn’t different from the world I’d lived in.

Politicians, celebrities, and businessmen always appeared before cameras looking appropriate for the situation. If they were playing the victim, they’d receive meticulous makeup and styling to look haggard from emotional suffering.

‘Kruger would have made a great image consultant, probably.’

While I was being sarcastic internally, the mage gestured.

“You need to move now.”

Back out in the corridor, another civil servant attached himself to guide me.

After getting off the gold-painted elevator and walking down a spiral staircase, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

“Don’t I need to wear a blindfold?”

“No.”

The civil servant answered curtly and kept his mouth shut. He seemed to have the attitude of just doing his job well.

Was it because of attitudes like this? Despite being a spacious and bright area, the Supreme Leader’s residence had a suffocatingly oppressive atmosphere.

‘Letting me wander freely around the main building interior after receiving the kind of magical treatment Kruger gets.’

Was this an expression of trust, or powerful pressure? Kruger’s voice seemed to echo in my ears.

‘You’re clever, so you understand what this means, ahahaha!’

I held back from making a death face and looked outside through a window by the stairs.

Now I could see that all the buildings in the aerial fortress were organically connected.

Past the gardens surrounding the castle were small buildings attached to walls. Inside the walls, castles, towers, and arches rose higher toward the center, layered on top of each other. At the very heart of the aerial fortress stood a tall spire.

This was a castle that had endured for over a thousand years.

Originally much smaller, Kruger had greatly expanded it and lifted it into the sky, but this main building still maintained the appearance of the old royal castle.

Outside the residence, civil servants and servants scurried about. Occasionally I saw clergy members too.

They all tried to muffle their footsteps and moved with their mouths tightly shut. How bad must the Supreme Leader’s temper be for them to act like that?

“You should board this.”

The civil servant finally spoke when we reached a golden disc. It was identical to what I’d ridden when invited as part of the Queen’s delegation.

Two people were already on the disc.

Appel Damier and Alina Himmel.

‘Not surprising.’

The three of us rode the disc operated by a blue-uniformed mage down to the ground. A carriage was prepared there.

As I was about to board the carriage, the civil servant handed me something.

“The speech script. Please memorize it.”

“Ha…”

A hollow laugh escaped from my disbelief.

I’d been expecting this.

When the people’s anger reached its peak, Kruger would probably announce that Lucas Redan had fully recovered.

He’d make me into a spectacle, showing off my much healthier appearance, and have me shout his propaganda to manipulate the people according to his agenda.

If that wasn’t the plan, there’d be no need to treat me so carefully and even remove facial blemishes.

And certainly not in an inescapable white cell. If I hadn’t agreed to his proposal, he would have made me comply somehow. Torture, perhaps.

That’s why he sent Johann.

He was a ‘master interrogator’ who’d been rapidly promoted in Ossel from early on. It was also a way to keep the lieutenant general in check.

I’d built that deduction in my head and thought it roughly hit the mark.

‘But this extensive?’

The speech script was quite long.

‘What if I don’t have good memorization skills?’

Looking at the speech script, I found stage directions like (exhales nervously), (looks at audience with intense eyes) inserted throughout.

‘Did they mix this up with something meant for Kruger?!’

But the content was definitely written with me as the speaker.

“Heh heh…”

I chuckled hollowly as the carriage door closed. I set the speech script aside for now and looked to either side.

“You both made it out safely.”

“We’re relieved you’re unharmed.”

“You survived.”

I could sense faint relief in Captain Himmel’s voice and boredom in Damier’s.

“I have a lot I’d like to share, but it seems we don’t have time. Let’s get through this event first.”

“Major.”

“Hold on, wait a moment, Captain Himmel. The main building is busy.”

I flipped through the pages rapidly, reading the speech script. Trying to speed-read and memorize it at the same time was making my head feel like it would split.

Fortunately, the carriage moved incredibly smoothly, so at least I didn’t get motion sick.

***

Reaching the plaza felt instantaneous. Maybe twenty minutes at most.

“You need to get out.”

“Damn, already?!”

I hastily skimmed the speech script with my eyes as I got out of the carriage.

Mixed with the cutting cold air was excited fervor and cheering. Enthusiastic voices roared from all directions.

“Behold! See what trials and hardships this ordinary, good young man has endured! What he has done for all of you! And what great things he will accomplish! People of Schufaben! Are you ready to help the hero!”

“Waaaahhhhh!”

“Long live! Long live! Long live!”

“Schufaben forever!”

I walked, trying not to stagger, between the crowds who were rolling their eyes back and reaching their arms toward me while screaming.

‘This is terrifying. I think I’m going to throw up.’

Camera flashes burst blindingly from everywhere. Near the platform, movie cameras were set up too.

I wanted to gnaw on my lips but held back.

When I reached the platform, Kruger smiled at me.

The crowd’s cheering gradually died down.

I took a deep breath.

I was scared.

Not scared of having to give a speech in front of tens of thousands of people.

I was scared of the content in the speech script.

I was scared that I had to say those words with my own mouth.

‘White Raven Order or whatever, maybe I should have just somehow cut Kruger’s throat? No, even now…’

Beside Kruger stood terrifyingly massive soldiers like mannequins, glaring at everyone.

‘If I give this speech, I become an accomplice to that insane dictator.’

But I had no choice but to read it.

According to Kruger’s will, becoming his accomplice, I had to wait for an opportunity.

‘I should have bashed his head in with that bottle yesterday.’

With belated regret, I opened my mouth.

“Citizens of the nation!!”

When I shouted with all my strength, the chaotic noise stopped abruptly.

“Do you perhaps know me!”

People started murmuring again and voices burst out here and there.

“The hero! Hero!”

A middle-aged man with a bright red face even cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted.

I slowly shook my head.

“No! I, Lucas Redan, am certainly not a hero. I’m just a very ordinary, common person! No, perhaps a young man of Schufaben who’s a bit lacking compared to others. And I am a soldier of our Great Supreme Leader!”

“Ohhh…!”

The speech script’s effect was tremendous. I was already captivating the audience.

“I was assigned by His Excellency to guard the border! But on January 1st, a terrible incident occurred. I was wounded here.”

I placed my hand on my chest.

“Very close to my heart. I still remember that time vividly. My comrades falling to bullets and blades!”

I spoke.

About how cruel the treatment was, how horrible the humiliation.

Anger began to appear on everyone’s faces.

“Citizens! I stand before you today for two reasons. First, to show you my healthy appearance, and second, because I have something I want to tell you.”

I paused briefly and looked around at the audience who had perked up their ears. Just as the script directed.

“Citizens, I want to return to the border. I will work so that my subordinates who were sacrificed can rest in peace! I want to defeat the demons who felled those flower-like young men! Citizens, I beg you. Please fight alongside me!”

Ah, I said it.

I said it.

I squeezed my eyes shut and shouted.

“Citizens of the nation! Give me strength. The will to punish demons! Give me the chance for revenge!”

“Waaaahhhhh!”

“Death to Cortana!”

“War! War! War!”

The entire plaza shook with cheering.

The voices that had initially shouted various things soon converged into one word. War.

“War! War! War!”

I looked around at the crowd with the feeling that I wanted to sob.

The sensation of a gun barrel touching the back of my head. Lucas inside me going crazy and shouting for war along with the crowd.

‘As if I’d just let that happen.’

I will stop it. The war.