9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 11 - I Need to Get Out of Here (5)

Lucas Redan was tied to a chair, slumped over limply.

Blood dripped from his mouth, and his gray civil service uniform was wrinkled beyond recognition, making him look utterly pathetic.

Major Johann Werner briefly lifted his eyelids to check, confirmed he had fainted, and stretched leisurely.

It was time for a short break.

He sat in the chair across from him, lit a cigarette, and examined the report his adjutant had handed over.

“Is this really the Redan family?”

“Yes. We’re certain. It was written in the materials obtained from headquarters.”

Johann traced the tiny letters written in the report with his finger.

The genealogy of the former royal family.

Following the complex interconnected lines down to the most recent time, the surname ‘Redan’ appeared.

The Redan family had split off from the royal family centuries ago, during the turbulent period when the entire continent was in chaos before the republican revolution.

To prevent being massacred by the revolutionaries, they had compromised by offering up their wealth and significantly diminished themselves, falling into decline in the Heidel region—the most rural of rural areas—away from public attention.

However, the moment Johann heard the surname ‘Redan,’ he could immediately think of the old royal bloodline. Unlike most of those stupid Ossel members, he had delved into revolutionary history and Supreme Leader Kruger’s activities to a university professor level.

And what he had just discovered was that Lucas Redan was the sole surviving member of the Redan family.

“The heir who carries the blood of a fallen royal house.”

A twisted smile played at Johann’s lips.

Without showing any signs of fatigue, he went to report to the colonel who was in the middle of torturing Chief Clerk Emil Hoffman.

“Long live the Great Supreme Leader!”

“Long live the Supreme Leader. So, that Clerk Assistant Redan fellow or whatever—is he really a traitor to the Supreme Leader?”

The colonel asked, setting down his blood-soaked whip. Beside him lay Hoffman, unconscious from excessive pain.

“We’ve extracted confessions multiple times, but I judge that he was merely following his superior’s orders and wasn’t the ringleader. It seems Hoffman used Redan to avoid responsibility.”

Johann maintained a rigid posture and answered immediately.

“Yes, that would be right. Those who betray the Great Supreme Leader are all cunning beyond measure.”

Bang!

The colonel’s anger boiled over again as he kicked Hoffman and dragged him to plunge his face into a water tank.

“You bastard traitor, worse than a dog!”

Splash!

“How dare you scheme with such petty tricks?”

Splash!

“Did you think no one would know if you pinned it on your subordinates?”

Splash!

“Gaaahhh! Haaah!”

Hoffman, awakened by the shock, struggled desperately to escape, but it was hopeless.

Johann watched the scene with an expressionless face.

After venting his anger for a while, the colonel’s face was crimson as he gestured to him.

“Release the others. But I’m going to extract a confession from this Hoffman bastard, so prepare yourself and come in.”

“Yes, Colonel.”

A full day after being captured, Lucas Redan was released.

“Having them face each other might help with the confession.”

The colonel, accepting Johann’s suggestion, had Redan placed in the room where Hoffman was being tortured.

With Hoffman shrieking and going mad behind them, Redan was loaded into a carriage with the others, their eyes covered.

“Is it really okay to let him go like that? Lucas Redan—that man is definitely…”

The adjutant muttered with a somewhat uncomfortable expression.

“Tsk, it seems I’m surrounded by nothing but idiots.”

“Excuse me?”

“Didn’t I tell you?”

Johann twisted his lips while staring blankly at the rear of the carriage.

“You always have to look far ahead.”

The adjutant didn’t seem to understand, but that didn’t matter.

***

Johann Werner raised his head to feel the hot wind coming from the fan mounted on the wall.

It was already late August, the hottest time in Lüdelheim.

A drop of sweat fell from the face of the adjutant who had come to report to him.

These damn Ossel uniforms were quite beautiful, but they were absolutely terrible in terms of functionality. No ventilation at all.

“So, did you have a good trip to Heidel?”

“Yes!”

“So it turned out not to be impersonation, just as I suspected.”

“Yes, that’s correct! We judge that he is indeed Lucas Redan himself.”

Johann nodded with an indifferent expression.

To investigate whether Lucas Redan was an imposter or not, he had sent his adjutant all the way to Heidel, where the Redan family had taken root.

“Then why is such a person working as a low-level civil servant? Isn’t he a descendant of royalty, even if fallen?”

“His father failed in business, causing the family fortune to decline.”

“That matches his written statement.”

Johann carefully reread Lucas Redan’s written statement that he had kept in his drawer.

It was what he had been made to write when he was first captured due to Hoffman’s denunciation. As with other political criminals, he had been told to write about his life as he remembered it.

“Unnecessarily honest.”

Johann nodded, tapping the written statement.

“Go rest now.”

“Yes!”

After the adjutant saluted crisply and left, Johann fell into thought.

‘Is he really useful?’

He liked creating connections here and there. No one knows how the situation might change or what might happen in life.

When crisis strikes, connections become as important a means as one’s abilities or wealth.

‘If the Supreme Leader falls from power, could I make use of Redan?’

Unlike the colonel, who was a hardcore supporter of Kruger, Major Johann Werner didn’t particularly like Kruger.

No, there was no need to even judge likes or dislikes—he could be considered someone who simply evoked no feelings whatsoever.

He had applied to the Ossel because the salary was high, he could wield power, and he was confident he could pass without much effort.

With his purely shining thick blonde hair, handsome blue eyes, and his act of being enthusiastic about the Supreme Leader, the interviewers were satisfied.

Johann had quickly risen through the ranks by taking charge of brutal torture and building his record.

Being able to reach this position at the young age of thirty was certainly remarkable.

But would the world of the Ossel last forever?

If Kruger fell, the Ossel would fall too. They were a kind of community of shared destiny.

His superior, the colonel, seemed to believe Kruger was omnipotent, but Johann didn’t think so at all.

If Kruger went senile and made blunders, or if he were defeated in war, or even if he were assassinated or fell ill, his power, which had no immediate successor, would become precarious.

Johann had prepared various cards for such times.

And ‘royal bloodline’ was the most attractive card he had seen so far.

If Kruger fell from power and a new regime came to power, former royal family members would certainly play important roles.

Most royal figures had been massacred by revolutionaries or fled to third countries, but there would be quite a few who had survived with the wealth and connections built up over hundreds of years, keeping a low profile.

When that time came, he could go to the Redan family and say,

‘Didn’t I save your son’s life? If it weren’t for me, he would have disappeared as dew on the execution ground.’

By mentioning the debt of gratitude, he thought he might be able to secure a position.

No matter how insignificant he might seem, he was a descendant of the royal family, and even such a pathetic fellow would be a precious child to his family members.

‘But the family has fallen. Lucas Redan is the last survivor.’

Johann exhaled cigarette smoke and slightly furrowed his brow.

Even though they had lost their wealth by compromising with the revolutionaries, and even though they had failed in business once, that enormous wealth couldn’t have completely disappeared.

But given that Lucas Redan himself was groveling like this, he had no choice but to believe it.

“What to do about this.”

It was a card that seemed too valuable to throw away but didn’t appear very useful to keep.

Of course, Johann’s choice in such situations was predetermined.

‘Even a trashy card is better than having none. Who knows what might happen if I throw it away. You always have to look far ahead.’

That’s why Johann had designated Lucas as a special surveillance target. Of course, he kept this secret from his colleagues and his superior, the colonel.

Johann had his adjutant gather information about the Redan family. On his days off when he had leisure time, he would sometimes personally tail Lucas Redan.

‘Is this tailing the one being tailed?’

Johann thought while looking down at Redan from a shop district rooftop. It was an amusing situation.

Redan was currently being chased by a young man who lived in the same boarding house. For some reason, he had been caught while tailing him.

“Stop right there, Lucas!”

The young man’s frustrated voice echoed through the night streets.

***

I exhaled heavily, my face tense, looking at Daniel who was pointing a gun at me.

‘He had a gun.’

And he pulled out a tiny pistol from his chest—the kind assassins would use.

As the air grew sticky with the coming rain, heavy silence settled between us.

Whether from tension or the aftereffects of running, my heart was pounding so hard that my chest ached.

Seeing the gun barrel aimed precisely at my forehead made my whole body freeze.

“Why were you tailing me?”

Daniel asked in a murky voice.

‘He must be quite shocked.’

I forced my stiff expression to relax and grinned.

“…You were the one who suspected me first, weren’t you?”

I felt him flinch, showing signs of being shaken.

“You suspected me, searched my room, and went to my ex-girlfriend to ask about me.”

I took a step forward and pressed the gun barrel against my forehead.

“So I also became curious about what you were scheming. Why did you do that? Why did you investigate me? Weren’t we friends?”

My forehead began to sting painfully. I ignored it and met Daniel’s eyes. His pupils were shaking violently.

“Are you going to kill me?”

Now his breathing was louder than mine.

Daniel, who had been breathing roughly, gritted his teeth and slowly lowered his gun. His slightly trembling hand looked anxious.

“…You really have changed, Lucas.”

Daniel muttered as he put the gun back in his inner pocket.

Only then did the tension ease, and my legs felt like they might give way, but I barely managed to hold on.

“I’ve changed?”

“Yes. You weren’t originally this calm. Rather…”

“I was pathetic. I know that too.”

Daniel laughed helplessly and nodded.

“You were such an insignificant guy, but suddenly you’re not anymore.”

“Now you’re being honest. So, you tailed me because I seemed to have changed? Really? If we weren’t friends, what would it matter whether my personality changed or not?”

“You!”

Daniel raised his voice as if provoked by my sarcasm, then it died down.

“You were dragged away by the Ossel twice. Both times were because of false accusations pinned on you by Hoffman. At least that’s what they officially said. But it’s strange, isn’t it? False accusations, when you clearly bragged that you could now write scripts however you wanted.”

I leaned against the wall and silently listened to his story.

“Besides, your attitude was somewhat different from before, too different to think it was really false accusations. At first I thought you had matured, but well, rather than that…”

Daniel opened his mouth with a coldly sunken face.

“It seems like you no longer respect the Supreme Leader.”

“Hahahaha!”

Involuntary, convulsive laughter burst out of me.

“How you’re saying exactly the same thing as Hoffman. So are you going to turn me in?”

“No. But…”

“You’re the same way anyway.”

“What?”

“You also hate the Supreme Leader.”

The temperature around us seemed to drop by about three degrees.

‘This is a gamble. But I won’t lose anything anyway.’

I looked calmly at Daniel, clenching and unclenching my sweaty hands.

“If you had planned to hang me on the gallows, you wouldn’t have needed to investigate me. I’m guessing that you, Daniel…”

His Adam’s apple moved up and down as he swallowed.

“You investigated me to determine whether I was really trustworthy. Whether I had truly turned traitor, whether I was someone you could safely share harsh words about the Supreme Leader with.

No, going further, you were considering whether to reveal your secret to me, weren’t you? Whatever it is, it must be a dangerous secret that wouldn’t end with just going to prison if discovered.”

Daniel, who had been staring at me intently, let out a light sigh and hung his head.

Then he approached me and grabbed my shoulder.

“It seems not only your personality has changed but your intelligence has improved too. Yes, you’re completely right. Welcome to our White Raven Order. Of course, this isn’t an invitation but a notification.”

He pressed his pistol firmly against my side. If I refused here, a hole would be punched in my waist.

But I wasn’t displeased. No, I felt like I had seen a ray of light.

“I’ll consider it an honor.”

I gently pushed the pistol away and clasped his hand, shaking it. Seeing Daniel’s flustered expression made me burst into laughter again.