You Bastard, You Set Me Up!

A mission? What mission?

John was instantly full of question marks.

But when he saw the other Imperial higher-ups around him lowering their heads to stare at their teacups, as though terrified General Dormammu would call on them—

At that moment, John instantly realized something.

His absentminded drifting just now had invisibly dragged him into a huge mess.

But facing Dormammu's "death glare," John also understood that he had to find a suitable excuse to muddle through.

Though he had no idea what these people had been discussing just now, judging from Colonel Kode's report, it had to be related to postwar matters in the Walden Region.

As everyone knew, whenever postwar administration was involved, all he had to do was drape himself in the Empire's tiger skin and shout slogans. He could not go wrong.

And as for this kind of empty, repetitive rhetoric, he, a former life's gold-medal corporate beast, knew it like the back of his hand!

With that thought, John immediately gained much more confidence. His heart no longer raced, his hands no longer trembled. Under Dormammu's expectant gaze, he slowly rose to his feet, cleared his throat, and said:

"Cough, cough. Reporting to the General, I believe my personal views on this mission are not important. What is important is that, while carrying out our mission, we soldiers must take safeguarding the Empire's honor as our foremost objective."

"At the same time, we must unswervingly follow His Majesty the Emperor's guiding principle of consolidating the Empire's current territory."

"Through strict military discipline, we must let the Empire's people understand that the Empire's army is a shield that protects the people, not thugs who trample them beneath their feet."

"We must always adhere to this fighting style: treat friends with the gentleness of the warm spring sun, and fight enemies with the mercilessness of the winter wind."

"Only then will the Empire's people take deep pride in being members of the Empire. Only then will they show warm, approving smiles when they see the Empire's army rather than feel fear. Only then, when facing enemy troops, will they bravely take up arms to resist those thugs and defend the Empire's land, rather than stand by with cold eyes."

"Therefore, I personally believe that whether we are governing the Empire's current cities or cities in the future, we must always remain utterly blameless toward the people, never taking so much as a needle or thread from them. With rigorous military discipline and regulations, we must make the people feel secure and recognized, causing them to willingly support our army. In doing so, the people will come to understand and comprehend the Empire's radiance, and willingly take pride in being Imperial citizens."

"Only then can the Empire grow ever stronger. Only then can the Empire's glory never be extinguished, thereby achieving the goal of great unification."

"That is my personal opinion and perspective regarding postwar governance in the Walden Region. My views are crude and shallow; I hope the General will not blame me."

After delivering a long, grand stream of empty circular rhetoric as if reading from a speech draft at his former company, John gave a slight bow toward the Imperial higher-ups at the conference table, who looked utterly dumbfounded as though they had been listening to a heavenly scripture.

Clap, clap, clap!

After a brief pause, applause suddenly rang out inside the command post.

Following the sound, everyone was stunned to discover that the person applauding was none other than General Dormammu, seated at the head of the table.

At that moment, Dormammu was staring straight at John beside him, his eyes filled with undisguised shock and delight.

It could even be called amazement.

In truth, John's speech had indeed stunned him.

In his view, John's remarks just now were practically fit to be sent directly to the Imperial Political Department and listed as required ideological reading for newly enlisted Imperial soldiers.

Honestly, if he had not known John's background and personally witnessed this Warrant Officer's talent for command—

Dormammu would have suspected that John Maslow was a top-tier propaganda talent secretly cultivated by the Imperial Ministry of Culture.

Could it be that compared to fighting, this kid John was actually more suited to domestic administration?

If that were the case, then this young man had many more paths open to him.

After all, his old friend had complained to him in letters more than once that the Imperial Political Department currently had no suitable talent to use.

Should he recommend John to him later?

Thinking of that, Dormammu could not help sinking into thought.

Meanwhile, although they did not quite understand John's speech but found it impressive nonetheless, once they saw their superior begin applauding, the other Seventh Air Force higher-ups present quickly came to their senses. They hurriedly joined in the applause, continuously offering all kinds of praise.

For a time, the command post, which had originally been steeped in a stifling atmosphere, became unexpectedly harmonious.

"Warrant Officer John, I must say, your speech truly surprised me. Your ideas regarding domestic administration and regional governance also make me feel inferior."

"Although I know it is somewhat harsh to have an outstanding commander carry out difficult missions one after another, as the saying goes, the capable must labor more. Since Warrant Officer John has already demonstrated through his speech his views on postwar governance in the Walden Region, then I believe that only you personally carrying out the governance mission in Bahamut Town would be most appropriate."

"Of course, considering the scale and chaos of the Bahamut Town area, a force of thirty soldiers would clearly find it difficult to suppress and govern the town. Therefore, Warrant Officer John, in my capacity as commander-in-chief of the Seventh Air Force, I will temporarily appoint you as the supreme commander of the Independent Combat Force."

"I plan to merge the 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 14th Companies of the former Sixth Mage Soldier Battalion into this Independent Combat Force. At the same time, I will have six hundred outstanding soldiers selected from the Army's non-organic units to join them, forming a small force of seven hundred and twenty men to better assist Warrant Officer John in completing the suppression and governance of the Bahamut Region."

After saying that, without waiting for John to react, Dormammu turned his gaze toward Olaf at the last seat.

"Major Olaf, do you have any objections to my orders?"

"No objections, General!"

Olaf replied with his chest thrust out and a loyal expression.

Although Olaf, as John's superior, felt somewhat depressed that this subordinate of his had snatched away command authority that should have belonged to him—

Once he considered that John was also bringing him honor, and that with John's talent and the General's fondness for him, it was only a matter of time before John was promoted and received a raise to become his superior—

He realized that building a good relationship with this promising Warrant Officer would not only not be a bad thing for him, but would actually be beneficial.

The trace of dissatisfaction in his heart instantly vanished without a trace.

His gaze toward John also became kinder than ever before.

He had already decided that after the meeting, if John came to request reinforcements, he would put on a troubled expression but ultimately, in a private capacity, secretly stuff a few more men into that force for him.

As for why he would not report it to the General—cough, cough, how could official business and private favors be the same thing?

Why handle things strictly by the book when he could sell someone a favor?

As for the possibility that John might botch things after taking on this hot potato—

Heh heh, do not forget that General Dormammu had just said he felt inferior to Warrant Officer John's governance principles.

One had to know that although General Dormammu was publicly only the commander-in-chief of the Seventh Air Force—

In reality, the old gentleman was a famous all-rounder in the Empire.

Domestic administration might not be his most dazzling specialty, but he was not someone any random cat or dog could challenge. How could someone who made the General admit inferiority possibly be an idiot who dared rashly accept a mission without even understanding the situation?

Warrant Officer John was so bold because he definitely had the confidence to complete this mission.

So this investment of his would not only not lose money—it would be a blood-earned profit! Hahahaha!

Olaf was smug with delight. At the same time, the people beside him also seemed to realize what was happening. They all looked at Olaf in the middle of the room with jealousy, their teeth itching with rage.

They bitterly cursed in their hearts, wondering why this guy who could only use his ass to pop open wine bottles had managed to pick up such an outstanding subordinate for free. He had done nothing at all, yet he could still ride along and reap military merit.

Damn it, what kind of dogshit luck had that bastard Olaf stepped in?

However, unlike the envy and smugness of everyone else—

After hearing Dormammu's arrangements for him, John froze on the spot, and an uncontrollable ringing filled his ears.

What the hell?

Bahamut Town?

Wasn't that the town where the protagonist's party members were located in the game's story background?

So he was about to go head-to-head with the protagonist's party?

Th-this-this... something was wrong here, wasn't it?

Why was he, who had been doing perfectly fine, suddenly going to run right in front of the protagonist's party members and court death?

Dormammu, you bastard, you set me up!

No, he had to refuse. He absolutely had to refuse.

What mission was this? This was straight-up suicide!

"General, I..."

Just as John, realizing things had taken a turn for the worse, was about to find an excuse to decline, Colonel Jett beside him suddenly stood up and spoke to Dormammu in a deep voice:

"General Dormammu, I do not believe this is appropriate."

!

John froze, then immediately felt overjoyed.

He had not expected that Jett, that bastard who had ruined his attempt to change jobs, would actually step out to refute Dormammu on his behalf at a time like this.

All he could say was that although this guy had the standard face of a villain—

He was actually a great guy?

Looks like I wronged you, Jett. From today onward, you are my blood brother from another mother and another father!

I promise you, after I join the Allied Forces someday and follow the protagonist's party to capture you, I will definitely help you fight for a chance at bail!

John looked at Colonel Jett with a moved expression. But after hearing Jett's objection, Dormammu could not help raising an eyebrow, then looked at his loyal subordinate with slight confusion.

"Oh? I wonder what Colonel Jett finds inappropriate. Go ahead and say it. I will consider it as much as possible."

"I naturally have no objections to your judgment. After all, Warrant Officer John's excellence is plain for everyone to see. However, General, you seem to have forgotten that Warrant Officer John's current rank is not sufficient for him to command so many soldiers."

"If this decision reaches the Political Department, it may bring unnecessary trouble to the Seventh Legion. At the same time, it may also have an unnecessary impact on Warrant Officer John's record."

"!"

Colonel Jett gave this reminder in a deep voice. Hearing it, Dormammu instantly came to his senses, repeatedly sighing inwardly at his own oversight. How had he overlooked such a crucial detail?

In fact, John's current rank of Warrant Officer was only considered that of a low-level commander within the Empire's military establishment. Even in the Army's structure, he could only command a force of three hundred men at most.

Except under special circumstances—such as non-main forces being defeated, superior commanders dying in battle, and no one remaining to command the troops—John, as a Warrant Officer, could not normally lead more than three hundred soldiers in combat. Otherwise, it would be considered exceeding his authority.

Although exceeding one's authority was not considered a major matter in the military, as long as one had a superior's permission and the matter was not reported to the Political Department or the Military Affairs Department, everyone could simply pretend nothing had happened.

But at the end of the day, Dormammu had assigned this mission to John not only to have him solve this hot potato. More importantly, he wanted to use it to recommend talent to the upper ranks, allowing John to formally enter the Empire's high-level field of vision and gain greater room for development.

However, because he had not known how to bend in his youth, Dormammu had made quite a few enemies within the Empire.

If his political opponents learned of this matter of exceeding authority and made a major issue of it, then his plan to build John's reputation would likely fall apart. Even if John himself earned great merit for the Empire, some methods employed by his political enemies might cause the upper ranks to cold-shoulder him.

That would completely cut off John's future political career, and without a doubt, it was something Dormammu absolutely did not want to see.

Therefore, after Jett pointed this out, Dormammu immediately understood. He promptly admitted his oversight.

"Indeed, it was my oversight. Though it is regrettable, if that is the case, perhaps I should select someone else for this mission. My apologies, Warrant Officer John..."

No, no, no, do not apologize! I cannot thank you enough!

Seriously, as long as you do not make me go court death in front of the protagonist's party, I would even kneel down and polish your shoes!

Looking at Dormammu, who was gazing at him with a face full of apology, John's heart was filled with joy and excitement.

But he did not dare reveal the slightest bit of it on the surface. Instead, he waved his hand with feigned helplessness and said:

"You are too kind, General. As a soldier, obeying military discipline should naturally be my foremost objective. The reason I did not speak up earlier was also because I did not possess the qualifications to carry out this mission."

"Of course, I have great faith in the abilities of all my superiors. Even without me, I believe you will certainly be able to complete it brilliantly."

Complete my ass. The person staying in Bahamut Town was Selvia Reinhart, the strongest combatant among the protagonist's party!

And she was a female half-dragon.

Although she was still in her juvenile stage and could not yet transform her entire body into a dragon, and although her identity was merely that of an underground faction leader with practically no fame at all—

John, who knew the plot inside out, was well aware that this woman's combat power had already reached missile level. She was the kind of being who could truly fight a thousand alone.

Moreover, dragons were naturally tough, and they were born inheriting the Veil Technique, granting them innate resistance to magic.

And in the game, her personality was extremely violent. She was the sort to draw her blade and kill at the slightest disagreement, practically a bomb that could explode at any time.

If the game's female protagonist had a danger rating of seven, then in John's mind, Selvia's danger rating had absolutely reached a perfect ten!

She was the person John least wanted to face in the early plot.

Therefore, upon hearing that he would not have to directly confront this violent dragon girl, John was so happy he nearly wanted to burst into song and thank Colonel Jett for his help.

But just as he was thinking about what he should give this fairly reliable old brother as thanks later, Colonel Jett gave a mysterious smile the next second. Then, under John's horrified gaze, he slowly opened his mouth.

"As expected, just as I predicted, John, you truly are a competitive man. Since that is the case, I will not beat around the bush. In fact, I have thought of a way to let you take on this mission openly and legitimately. Well? Happy?"

"Of course, there is no need to thank me. As your senior and superior, helping someone achieve their wish is something I should do. After all, our goal is to make the Empire great again, isn't it?"

Happy my ass!

Jett Slaifute, you bastard, you actually dared to set me up!

I am definitely going to kill you!