John the Warrant Officer Had Great Wisdom!

John the Warrant Officer Had Great Wisdom! "Hm? Colonel Jett, you have a solution? Go ahead and tell me."

Hearing Dormammu take the initiative to ask, Colonel Jett stopped playing coy and smilingly revealed the method he had just come up with.

"Yes, General. My method is actually very simple: a 'joint operation.'"

A joint operation... How had he not thought of that?

Dormammu immediately understood.

A so-called joint operation was generally used when a mission required a large number of personnel, but unforeseen circumstances left it lacking senior officers to lead it. Two commanders of equal rank would temporarily combine their respective forces and carry out the mission together.

Although it appeared to consist of a lead commander and a deputy commander, everyone in the military knew that in a joint operation, the deputy commander did not have much of a role and received relatively little credit.

After all, this position was usually reserved for noble offspring with powerful backgrounds who had come to the military to pad their résumés.

It was only to save face that the Empire's Military Affairs Department had prettified it by calling it a joint operation.

But compared to the overstepping decision Dormammu had issued earlier, a joint operation undoubtedly complied with military regulations.

Applied to John, even if Dormammu's political enemies wanted to stir up trouble, they would not be able to find fault with it under this justification!

This method clearly suited Dormammu's present needs perfectly!

"I understand, Colonel Jett. Your suggestion is very good. Then, what do you think about the choice of deputy commander?"

"As for the deputy commander, I think the person must first possess considerable intelligence and adaptability. Only then can they keep up with Warrant Officer John's quick thinking. Otherwise, they would only become a burden to him."

"Second, this deputy commander must possess formidable combat ability. After all, the chaos in Bahamut Town is plain for all to see. If a team has two commanders who need soldiers to protect them, that would undoubtedly make the mission more difficult."

"Indeed. That is how it should be."

Colonel Jett spoke at length, and after hearing him, Dormammu could not help nodding.

Clearly, Jett's words had earned his approval. And from Jett's earnest performance, he vaguely guessed that his capable subordinate had already selected someone in his heart for the position of deputy commander in this joint operation.

But for the sake of fairness, Dormammu added to everyone present.

"What Colonel Jett said is also what I wanted to say. So, if any of you have exceptional talents under your command who meet these qualifications, feel free to recommend them. As long as they are capable enough, I will consider them."

"..."

At once, everyone's thoughts began racing, and they could not help recommending their trusted subordinates to Dormammu.

Clearly, they wanted to use this joint operation to establish a connection with Warrant Officer John, who was destined for great prominence, so that their own careers might proceed more smoothly.

Thus, even several colonels who normally kept a low profile shamelessly stepped forward to make their requests.

Some even exposed embarrassing details about the other candidates in an attempt to prove that their own subordinate was the best choice.

For a time, the entire command post became exceptionally noisy, like a marketplace.

Yet just as everyone disparaged one another, trying to secure a chance to participate in the mission by putting each other down—

The next second, Colonel Jett's voice suddenly rang out.

"Ahem. Speaking of which, I do happen to have a suitable candidate here. And I believe that compared to the people everyone has recommended, my subordinate may be more suited to carrying out the mission alongside Warrant Officer John."

"After all, whether it is me, my subordinate, or Warrant Officer John, we all come from the Imperial First Military Academy. So in terms of tactics and orders, my subordinate should be able to coordinate with Warrant Officer John better than anyone else, shouldn't they?"

"General, you should know this very well too, right?"

"You mean... Hm, that is indeed true."

Listening to Colonel Jett's words, Dormammu seemed to recall something, and hesitation flashed through his eyes.

If he had not judged wrongly, the soldier Jett mentioned, who had also graduated from the Imperial First Military Academy like John, should be the final descendant of the unusual Binote Family.

Likewise, that person was someone His Majesty the Emperor had placed great hopes upon.

Though the person's abilities were indeed impressive, the flaws were equally obvious.

Combined with the personality that many high-ranking officials had criticized—

Was it really appropriate to have that person join John's mission?

Thinking of this, Dormammu could not help feeling worried.

But when his gaze swept over John, who wore a baffled expression, and he recalled the two Miracles this young man had created, he seemed to think of some possibility. His gaze instantly hardened with resolve. Without further hesitation, he made the decision.

"Then Colonel Jett will be responsible for selecting the deputy commander for this joint operation. Furthermore, if any of you have objections, you may discuss them with Colonel Jett yourselves after the meeting."

"I believe he will give everyone an answer they find satisfactory."

After saying that, Dormammu did not waste any more words. He cast a meaningful look at the utterly confused John, then moved past the matter and began discussing postwar governance for the rest of Walden with everyone.

Only after two hours had passed did the meeting officially end. John, who had maintained a stiff smile throughout, was surrounded by praise from the Empire's senior officials as he left the command post.

After shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with each officer who had proactively approached to greet and curry favor with him, and assuring them that he would definitely visit these respectable officers when he had the chance—

Having dealt with those assholes, John used the excuse of going to the restroom to make his escape.

He then arrived at a broad, deserted river behind the garrison.

He sat on the grass by the bank, staring blankly at the swiftly rushing river before him. The fake smile on his face vanished instantly, replaced by unprecedented gloom and despair.

He was such an idiot. Truly.

He had known that Colonel Jett, who had ruined his plan to transfer jobs, could not possibly have anything good to say.

Yet he had stupidly chosen to believe him.

And he had successfully fallen into the man's trap, forced to accept this mission that was certain to kill him.

If he had known it would end like this, then when that old bastard Dormammu had forced him to speak earlier—

He would never have shown off.

Then he would not have ended up in this situation.

Nor would he have needed to face the most dangerous existence in the game.

Leaving him able to do nothing but watch himself march toward death.

At this moment, John had no doubt that his misfortune stat had perhaps been cranked to its maximum by some hateful god the moment he transmigrated.

Otherwise, he could not think of any other reason to explain his current predicament.

"Damn it! I just want to survive! Why, why is it so hard?!"

John slumped dejectedly onto the grass, his despairing eyes staring up at the blue sky.

But after only a brief silence, he abruptly sat up and clenched his teeth as he punched the ground.

Since it had already happened, regret was meaningless.

Though he did not understand why his flawless plan had failed again and again, sitting around and waiting to die had never been John's style.

What was more, he knew how the story unfolded. In other words, no one knew better than him how to deal with the current difficulty.

As long as he used his clever brain, John believed everything could still turn around.

Even the freedom he longed for was not impossible to achieve.

"Let me think. Think carefully." John's eyes flickered as he continuously recalled the scant information concerning Sellviya from the game.

He tried to find a way to deal with that violent dragonkin girl through the few background descriptions available about her.

But the more he thought, the more John felt an unprecedented despair.

There was no other reason: for a commander whose identity as an "Empire lackey" had now been firmly established, her background was unquestionably Deadly Class.

As a child, she witnessed her parents being slaughtered by Imperial nobles. In her youth, slave traders sold her to a madman at the Imperial Research Institute, where she underwent inhumane magical modification experiments. The friend she had finally made in captivity later died before her eyes helping her escape.

Those blows from her family, her own suffering, and her friend—if John had been in her place—

After enduring such misery, he would certainly have hated the Empire to the bone just like Sellviya.

Even though the high-ranking noble who had murdered innocents to claim military merit had been ordered hanged after His Majesty the Emperor formally took the throne and the truth came to light.

Even though the illegal magical modification experiments had been abolished by official Imperial decree.

And even though the Empire's former policy of classifying people by race had now been completely prohibited, with everyone instead uniformly recognized as citizens.

The hatred piled upon Sellviya would undoubtedly not diminish.

Given her extreme personality, it was only natural that she would grow even more hostile toward the Empire because she could not personally kill her enemies.

After all, it was precisely this bone-deep hatred for the Empire that made Sellviya abandon everything and join the Allied Forces the moment she came into contact with the game's heroine.

From this, it was clear that if John truly went to Bahamut Town as the so-called chief commander of a joint operation to carry out the so-called suppression mission and faced that monstrous dragonkin girl—

Then without question, she would kill him at the first opportunity.

Against the terrifying strength that could withstand bullets head-on and flip over then crush an armored vehicle beneath her feet, John felt that all he could do was pray that her dragon claws left behind a relatively intact corpse.

Damn it, wasn't this already a dead end?!

John irritably clutched his hair, unable to stop lamenting inwardly.

Just as he hesitated over whether he should simply run away during the mission—

He suddenly spotted two little flowers growing side by side on the riverbank, and a devious idea instantly formed in his mind.

Wait, did he really need to face that violent dragonkin girl head-on?

After all, this was a joint operation, wasn't it?

Wasn't that muscle freak Jett going to assign him an assistant? He could completely let that unlucky bastard draw the fire!

"Yes! An unlucky bastard, that's it!"

With reason reclaiming the high ground, John's eyes widened instantly, and his face was immediately filled with wild delight.

Convinced that his intelligence was unrivaled, he had now found a way out of this certain-death situation!

Although this decision did not seem particularly friendly toward the person whose name and gender he did not know, and who was about to become his deputy commander—

Warrant Officer John, who prided himself on being despicable and shameless, was not the sort of hero willing to sacrifice himself for so-called justice.

Feeling guilty afterward, burning a little paper money for the person during holidays, or helping look after the person's family would already count as a burst of kindness from him.

Besides, the person might not necessarily die.

Given the terrifying combat strength that asshole Jett had displayed earlier, anyone accepted under his command surely could not be as useless in battle as John himself.

But none of that was important. What he needed now was an appropriate reason to avoid going to Bahamut Town himself and arrange for the deputy commander to lead the troops there alone.

Otherwise, when the Inspection Forces reviewed the matter, he would definitely be charged with neglecting his mission and sent before a military tribunal, where he would still be unable to escape death.

Hm, a reasonable excuse, an excuse...

Got it. The Encircle Town Policy!

Couldn't he just use the Encircle Town Policy as his explanation?

That way, he would have ample reason to split up from that unlucky bastard. The other person could go to Bahamut Town as the sacrificial pawn and draw the attention of that violent dragonkin girl Sellviya.

Meanwhile, John could head directly to the rural areas around the town, using the excuse of gathering intelligence and dismantling the influence that local Kingdom nobles held over the Bahamut Town region to justify his actions.

That way, he would only need to wait for Sellviya to clash with the troops led by that unlucky bastard, causing the mission to fail, and then shift the blame onto the other person.

Then not only would he avoid being killed, but he would not be implicated either. Instead, he could get away unscathed while also screwing over that musclehead Jett.

Thus avenging the grudge of Jett ruining his job-transfer plan!

And he could also lower Dormammu's evaluation of him, thereby achieving his original goal of lying low!

It was a perfect decision that killed several birds with one stone!

A genius. Anyone capable of devising such a plan had to be a genius!

"Ha ha ha! Nothing escapes my calculations. The advantage is mine. Victory is but something in the palm of my hand!"

The more he thought about it, the more flawless his plan seemed. Convinced he possessed great wisdom, John excitedly sprang up from the grass.

But in his excitement, he forgot that he was sitting beside the river.

His body stumbled, and he immediately fell uncontrollably toward the river ahead. His pupils shrank to pinpoints.

He suddenly remembered something.

He didn't fucking know how to swim!

"To die before achieving victory... I'm really fucking finished this time!"

Watching the river that was about to make intimate contact with his handsome face, this thought could not help surfacing in John's mind.

But before he could hold his breath to avoid swallowing too much water and prepare to call for help afterward—

An inexplicable pulling force from behind stopped his fall toward the river.

Then John felt his neck tighten, and his entire body was uncontrollably flung backward into a safe area.

Having been saved, John was both delighted and grateful. Without even having time to straighten his appearance, he immediately got up, intending to thank this unknown kind person.

"Whew, I'm saved. Tha—"

But just as John looked gratefully at his benefactor, his smile froze the instant he caught sight of the girl's hair from behind.

It was a head of beautiful silver hair, stirred by the gentle spring breeze and gleaming with captivating luster beneath the afternoon sunlight.

Yet this dreamlike scene did not make John feel any of the fluttering excitement a romantic encounter should bring.

Instead, it made him feel an unprecedented chill from the bottom of his heart.

And it made him realize just how malicious this world was toward an unlucky bastard like him.

(End of Chapter)