9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 94 - War, Never Again War (2)

The world spins round and round.

My stomach churns and I feel nauseous.

The crowd was still in a state of frenzy, shouting as if cheering at a sports event.

“War! War! War!”

“Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!”

“Long live the Supreme Leader! Long live! Long live!”

I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them, then smiled and spread my arms wide.

“Thank you, everyone! Thanks to all you citizens, I…!”

That’s when it happened. Through the noise of the crowd, I heard something like a faint wind sound reaching my ears.

A whooshing sound.

“I…”

Whoooooosh!

I looked up at the sky. My mouth almost fell open. People hadn’t noticed yet and were excited, but soon those who looked at me and casually tilted their heads back began pointing at the sky in surprise, drawing everyone’s gaze upward.

“Kraaaaaawk!!!”

“Dragon…”

A shadow fell over the square.

A red dragon of unrealistically enormous size was circling above the square.

“Kyaaaah! It’s a dragon!”

The crowd fell into chaos and began frantically fleeing. It was complete pandemonium with people tangling and trampling each other.

“Waaaaah!”

Children who had been brought out by their parents’ hands were knocked about and fell down, bursting into tears.

“It’s an ambush! An ambush!”

Panic spread at someone’s shout.

“It’s Cortana’s army! An ambush!”

I whirled around. The Supreme Leader was shouting something to the soldiers. The soldiers drew the rifles they’d been carrying on their shoulders.

‘An ambush? That’s ridiculous.’

The friction with Cortana and the precarious political situation were all fabricated. There’s no way they would suddenly deploy their air force.

“Supreme Leader, Your Excellency! Take cover!”

“Prepare for volley fire!”

The Supreme Leader’s thunderous command echoed from behind. Before my eyes was a living hell. Even the dispatched police were struggling to control the crowd.

‘How could things be so…’

Exactly as expected!

I laughed. I grabbed the microphone.

“Calm down!!”

When I shouted at the top of my lungs, silence descended over the square.

The soldiers who had been aiming their guns in preparation for anti-aircraft fire froze, and only the sporadic sobbing of children could be heard.

“It’s not the enemy! It’s not an attack by Cortana! It’s Schufaben’s dragon! Please calm down!”

I shouted so hard that my voice cracked with a metallic sound at the end.

However, my desperate shouting seemed to have an effect, as people stopped scattering in all directions and began murmuring.

“What? What does that mean?”

“Then that dragon belongs to our Schufaben?”

Looking at the people who had fallen into confusion and were whispering among themselves, I opened my mouth again.

“Everyone! Schufaben is mighty! That red dragon is a powerful being that even Cortana’s entire air force couldn’t defeat if they all attacked! Can’t you see its majesty! It’s a treasure that the employees of my Redan Mining Company and I discovered in the Great Desert! Everyone, please give a round of applause to the president and employees of Redan Company who worked so hard!”

Among the bewildered people, small applause began to sound. And it didn’t take long for it to spread and cover the entire square with thunderous applause.

“Waaaaaah!”

“Amazing!”

Excited cheers erupted here and there.

I grinned.

Somewhere among those thousands and tens of thousands of people, they must be there. Erika, Oscar, Georg, Richard, and Assad and Hannah too.

The idea of winning a war with just one dragon is absurd, but still, people bought into it.

***

“Lieutenant Colonel Johann Werner, you can’t kill me now. Either I’ll climb on top of your head, or the Supreme Leader will kill me instead of you. I’m betting on the former. Which are you betting on?”

“…You son of a bitch.”

Johann, who had been looking at me coldly, whispered indifferently.

“He told me to tell you they’ve arrived.”

I nodded with a smile.

“Ah, Daniel, my trustworthy friend! Fortunately it seems you made contact with the kids? So, what do you want this time?”

I was curious what Johann would demand this time. Every time he ‘helped’ me, he took something from me.

“That’s what I should be asking. What are you planning to demand from the Supreme Leader?”

“Ah, you’ll call him different things depending on what I get in return? Good strategy. But I don’t know yet. That depends on the Supreme Leader.”

“Fair enough.”

I told Daniel.

That something would happen on January 1st.

So if things in the Great Desert finished quickly and he could reach Schufaben around that time, bring the dragon along too.

If things flowed as I predicted, contact Johann.

And then…

***

Into the space created as the crowd spread outward, the dragon landed heavily.

Daniel, and Namir, Fael’s younger brother who had appeared in his letter, waved their hands and greeted the people.

“Pfhung!”

“Ooh! Amazing!”

When the dragon snorted, exclamations burst out.

I approached the Supreme Leader among the soldiers standing at attention.

“Your Excellency, I shall escort you.”

“Waaaaaah!”

Amid the crowd’s cheers.

Kruger looked down at me kneeling respectfully with an enigmatic expression, then bent over and whispered.

“What are you doing?”

“A show… to calm the confusion and give hope.”

When I whispered back, Kruger burst into delighted laughter.

“Ahahaha! I see! Hahaha!”

After laughing heartily for a while, he suddenly stopped. Despite his soldiers’ attempts to dissuade him with hardened faces, he lifted me up and commanded.

“Show me properly.”

“As you command.”

I saluted solemnly and guided him. Kruger climbed onto the dragon’s tail with perfectly balanced posture, as if he were an experienced pilot.

“It’s an honor, Your Excellency the Supreme Leader!”

When Daniel shouted loudly and stroked the dragon’s neck, Tan spread his wings. Just that movement alone was enough to make the clothes and hair of people nearby flutter violently.

“Kuuuuuuu!”

Tan took flight.

The square quickly receded, and cold wind brushed my cheeks.

Since Daniel controlled Tan to fly slowly, the wind noise wasn’t too loud. Rather, the cheers and applause that erupted again were louder.

Tan flew leisurely above the square. Hope and wonder shone on people’s faces.

***

Kruger, who had been quietly looking down, opened his mouth.

“Quite willful indeed.”

“I’m sorry!”

I knelt on Tan’s broad back.

“But quite clever too, which is interesting.”

“Your Excellency…”

“Answer honestly, Major Redan. Did you expect today’s events?”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“Ahahaha! You got me!”

Kruger laughed. However, I felt his piercing gaze pouring down on my back.

“Well then, do you know what will happen next?”

“Your Excellency will send me and the soldiers to the battlefield.”

“That’s obvious from looking at the speech text. Think more on a grand scale.”

I took a deep breath.

So you’re going to make me say it out loud.

“We’ll attack Cortana to secure a passage to the northern continent. After conquering Cortana and the northern countries to secure resources like mana stones, then using the southern forces that had been fortifying their defenses to occupy Rubellia, Schufaben’s territory will be surrounded by mountains and seas, making it easy to defend. Using the north as a resource base and the south as a food production area to gain economic hegemony over the continent—”

“Stop.”

Kruger cut off my words.

“Look at me, Major Redan.”

“…”

I slowly raised my forehead that had been touching Tan’s smooth scales.

Kruger’s expression was somewhat difficult to read. Unlike before.

Silence continued.

“Your Excellency, do you still doubt me?”

My voice, tinged with sadness and resignation, trembled uncontrollably. I made it sound that way.

Kruger smiled brightly.

It was a smile ‘so beautiful you might mistake it for an angel’s manifestation,’ as his mother had said.

“How could I?”

And behind that beautiful smile, the cruel nature that glittered secretly.

“Major Redan, you’re smart. Unmanageably so. But you’re also simple. You want honor. And you want power several times more than that. Isn’t that right?”

“Y-Your Excellency, I wouldn’t dare—”

“That’s why I’m drawn to you.”

“…”

“People like you are truly rare.”

“Thank you, Your Excellency!”

I pressed my forehead to the scales again. Kruger whispered in a demonic voice.

“So prove it, Major Redan. That talent, that loyalty. You said you wanted to stay by my side. Prove that you’re worthy of such a position.”

“On the battlefield… you mean?”

“Yes, on the battlefield.”

The hand hidden in my glove trembled. I buried my head and gnawed my lips.

“Thank you!! Please wait! I will definitely achieve results that satisfy you!”

“Is that all?”

Damn it, give me a break.

I straightened up and faced him, speaking resolutely.

“I will present you with the entire continent.”

“Ahahaha! That’s it, Major Redan! That’s the spirit! Keep your promise!”

Truly, it was a beautiful laugh.

***

「Unexpected triumph!」

「The ‘Hero’s’ business achieves mysterious accomplishment!」

「Discovery of the largest dragon in history – A beacon of hope for Schufaben’s future?」

A photograph of an enormously sized dragon descending from the sky and sensational headlines assaulted my eyeballs.

‘It’s out already.’

I thought as I watched a boy with an excited face shouting “Extra! Extra!”

Even though crowds of people gathered to buy newspapers, the boy’s bag was still full. He hadn’t sold much because he’d secretly gone to District 1 today.

“Give me all you have left.”

“Huh? Oh, brother!”

Georg, who had been wiping his nose, jumped in surprise.

“When did you get here?!”

“Shh, give me all of those and come home.”

Pulling my cap down low to hide my face, I trudged along with newspapers filling both hands.

The dragon show ended successfully.

The people of Schufaben were delighted, enjoyed themselves, came to trust the Supreme Leader even more, and came to love me even more.

Earlier, I saw them. The reporters who kept clicking their camera shutters non-stop even while the crowd was fleeing.

‘Yes, yes, well packaged to become Kruger’s achievement.’

Why did I bother building up that bastard’s achievements?

‘Because he needed to truly trust me.’

Kruger didn’t trust me at all. I could tell just by looking at his eyes.

Even while pushing me toward the battlefield, not at all.

Even after I revealed everything I had and knelt on a dragon’s back with nowhere to escape, he still seemed half-convinced.

At least I’d reached 50% trust, so I was a little less worried about dying.

The thought of just pushing him off briefly crossed my mind, but I had to endure it.

He didn’t seem like he’d die easily, and if Kruger fell to his death in front of the entire nation, not only me but Daniel and Namir, Erika, the company employees, and even the dragon Tan would lose their heads.

‘If it were just me, that would be different.’

A deep sigh escaped.

After the event ended, I completed the dragon registration process under my name.

Since I held the rank of major in the army, after some discussion, I was able to entrust Tan to the air force. Finding space to accommodate Tan right now would be impossible.

I thought Kruger would try to steal Tan, but he was only interested in publicity and completely indifferent to the dragon itself.

Kruger returned to his residence, telling me he’d call for me soon and to wait.

I’m currently on sick leave.

Officially.

By the time war breaks out, I’ll return to the border unit.

How much time do I have to rest peacefully? Ten days? A month?

I need to make the most of it.

A dim alley.

“Hah…”

Before my eyes was a modest house that made my heart feel like it was being twisted just by looking at it.

After standing frozen for a while, I slowly pressed the doorbell.

Dring-ring-ring!

The door opened and a red-haired young man appeared, grabbed me by the collar, dragged me inside the house, then threw me down in the entrance hallway.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

“Where’s the dragon?!”

Oscar grabbed me and shook me while shouting.

“Where did the dragon go?!”

“C-calm down. Tan is already entrusted to the air force unit.”

“Noooooo!”

Oscar cried out sorrowfully.

“Sigh, move aside, Oscar.”

A calm voice came from behind.

“Don’t make noise, just come inside for now.”

I crawled up and smiled at her.

“Hello, Erika.”

And to the other friends too.

“Oh, Georg, you got here before me.”

“You came late, brother.”

“Richard. How’s your body?”

“Same as always.”

As expected, everyone was gathered in Mrs. Schmidt’s house—no, the house that was now mine.

Daniel and Oscar and Erika, Richard, Georg, Assad and Hannah, and Namir too.

Since Daniel had heard about what he’d experienced and what I’d experienced, there was no tearful reunion.

Johann had done a lot of work as an information relay in between.

So I looked around at my friends and shrugged, asking.

“Shall we have dinner?”