9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 126 - Pride and Prejudice (3)

There’s a ritual I’ve been going through every morning when I regain consciousness.

I blink my eyes to check my vision, wiggle my fingers to check my sense of touch, and flick my tongue to check my hearing.

I sometimes think it’s excessive considering I’m not some special forces operative, but it’s become a habit.

At least this time I was glad I did it. I confirmed that my body was so heavy I could barely wiggle a finger.

“Huh? You’re awake!”

The area around me became bustling, and someone held a cup to my lips. After drinking the incredibly sweet water for quite a while.

“I told you to run, you idiots.”

I grumbled at my friends looking down at me.

“What?”

Oscar asked back as if bewildered.

“I was worried you’d all be in danger too. They said they had to kill me! I’ve been telling you repeatedly from the start.”

Smack!

Suddenly I felt a sharp pain on my cheek. Erika was glaring at me with a cold expression.

“How dare you say such things! Telling us to just let you die? Is that what you should be saying to us!”

My emotions also surged up, and forgetting the pain, I burst out.

“Then what were you planning to do! Do you think I don’t know the price you all paid to save me?!”

***

“So you were here after all.”

The top floor of a luxury hotel in Lüdelheim District 3, a secret room.

When Philip entered the room, both the White Raven Order and Bletter all turned their heads to look at him.

A few hours ago, Oscar had found a note under the cookie dish on the living room table.

「Going to the Supreme Leader’s residence. Run away.」

How his heart had dropped when he saw Lucas’s handwriting.

He immediately led Colin and his friends to take refuge at the Fa-Elhar Hotel.

“Lieutenant Colonel’s orders. Pack your things.”

Philip said with his arm in bandages and a pale face.

“Mr. Decker! Are you okay?”

“Ah, this is nothing.”

“How is Lieutenant Colonel Werner?”

Hannah’s worry softened his expression slightly, then Erika’s question darkened his face again.

“Our assumption is that he’s been detained. Fortunately, the Lieutenant Colonel predicted this situation and left instructions. If there’s no contact for more than five hours—.”

“Run away?”

“Right. We’re going to Rubellia.”

“We’ve decided not to go.”

Erika said calmly.

“Wh-what?! You plan to disobey the Lieutenant Colonel’s orders!”

“We’re grateful you came this far, but we need to rescue Lucas. We don’t ask for help, just don’t interfere.”

“Bletter is the same. We’re not running away.”

“Why!”

“Calm down, Mr. Decker.”

Hannah restrained Philip, who was waving his not-yet-healed arm in anger.

“We have a contractual relationship with Lucas Redan.”

Assad replied heavily.

“Wait—.”

“Of course, we never contracted to protect Redan’s safety. But Fa-Elhar-sama made a very large investment, and that investment becomes worthless if Redan dies.”

At the crystal-clear elven explanation, Philip became a goldfish that could only open and close his mouth.

“Anything else to say?”

Philip ground his teeth, made strange groaning sounds while suppressing his anger, then finally gave up.

“I can’t understand why everyone’s making this fuss over that guy.”

“You’d be an idiot not to know by now.”

When Erika shot back, Philip glared at her.

“Don’t fight.”

Hannah stepped between them.

“So what do you plan to do?”

At Richard’s question, Philip answered bluntly.

“Following the Lieutenant Colonel’s orders, I should drag all of you away by force if necessary. But we don’t have the manpower for that either. How annoying.”

“Then shall we make a plan?”

Daniel asked, and everyone nodded.

They fought off drowsiness and talked for a long time, but only grim conclusions emerged.

Every method they could deploy had flaws.

Military demonstration was excluded from the options from the start.

They couldn’t possibly win against an army with just a few dozen people, and even if they attempted terrorism or a surprise attack, it would likely only provoke the Supreme Leader’s anger.

Georg suggested revealing their identity completely and gaining public support, but that was rejected.

Public opinion regarding the White Raven Order was hardly fifty-fifty—more like 9:1. Nine parts anger and fear that they should be killed, one part secret support.

Various other plans came up, but none seemed capable of defeating the Supreme Leader or at least bringing him to the negotiating table.

Finally, around dawn, when Erika’s face was completely drained of color after staying up for two nights, she spoke.

“In the end, there’s only one thing we can do.”

Her voice was so heavy and firm that everyone held their breath and focused.

“Let’s disband the White Raven Order.”

***

“I knew it the moment I saw you. You either surrendered or made a deal—one of the two. Otherwise there’s no way you’d be standing so amicably next to Kruger. What did you save me for?! Making everything come to nothing!”

“What for? Lucas, we don’t know either. We’ve been caught up in the major events you planned, and we don’t even remember what the White Raven Order was like originally.”

Daniel answered quietly, and with heat rushing to the top of my head, I snarled in a trembling voice.

“Then what should I have done…! What did you all say at first! That the people should bring down Kruger themselves! That everyone should realize his ugliness! Did you really think that was possible?! What we’ve done so far isn’t nearly enough! We needed to become more radical! Is this my fault?!”

“I knew it.”

Sparks flew from Erika’s cold eyes.

“Lucas, you were prepared for war. And you saw it as an opportunity. A chance to kill Kruger! That’s all you’ve been thinking about from the start.”

“So what! What’s wrong with that? How else can we even scratch Kruger without a shock as great as war?!”

“But the countless people who would die there—.”

“Then tell me, a way to achieve our goal without sacrifice! Let me know too.”

Suddenly my eyes started stinging, and tears came streaming down. Heavy silence settled over the hospital room. Except for the sound of my sniffling.

“I see.”

Richard’s gentle voice came.

“I suspected you had no interest in Schufaben, but today confirmed it. Whether Schufaben falls into ruin through war doesn’t matter, as long as you can kill Kruger.”

“Yeah, that’s right. So let’s stop now. The White Raven Order is over. I’ll go my own way, you all figure things out for yourselves. We were only bound by mutual interests from the beginning anyway.”

I rubbed my eyes roughly and replied.

I want them to stay away from me. I don’t want to see them die meaninglessly.

But Erika grabbed my collar.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

With each swing of her hand, I felt my face turning left and right.

“S-sister, stop!”

Through my blurred vision, I saw Georg grabbing both of Erika’s arms.

“Huk!”

Erika whimpered and let her hands drop limply.

“What…”

I stared at her blankly. Both cheeks hurt beyond description. They must be swelling red.

“Lucas, the White Raven Order has been disbanded. But we thought that as long as you’re alive, we could somehow win.”

Daniel brought an ice pack from the refrigerator in the corner of the hospital room and pressed it against my cheek as he spoke calmly.

“Mutual interests? Even if it started that way, it’s not like that now!”

Oscar snapped, and Erika, wiping her face with the handkerchief he handed her, spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Too much has happened. Everyone has changed. Lucas, we’re too different. But are you going to quit here? It’s already too late for that.”

“We’ve come too far to turn back. So let’s keep going.”

Daniel said while pressing the ice pack firmly.

“We don’t know what’s at the end of this road, but we have no choice but to see it through.”

“……”

A long breath escaped from my mouth. The tears had already dried, and my tightly clenched heart slowly relaxed.

I was happy with relief. Damnably so.

“You’ll really stay with me? You’ll enter that abyss? You’ll face terrible and horrific things, abandon your conscience? Think about how painful it will be. If you want out, say so now.”

My friends’ expressions each changed in subtle ways.

“Of course!”

“Yeah, I’ll do it.”

“Let’s see it through to the end, Lucas.”

“I’m already prepared.”

Georg, Erika, Daniel, and Oscar answered without hesitation, all looking at Richard.

“……It’s been enjoyable so far.”

Ah, right.

Because it’s Richard.

“I’m not as passionate as the rest of you, nor do I hate Kruger as much. I don’t think I could endure what’s to come.”

“Richard, you too!”

“Are you serious?”

Even as Erika and Georg expressed their sense of betrayal angrily, he just smiled and asked me.

“You understand, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do.”

I no longer have any justification to hold Richard back.

I originally forced him to join because there shouldn’t be anyone outside the organization who knows our identity, but since Kruger found out everything anyway, what’s the point.

Everyone just stared at the door Richard had left through. I clapped my hands to break the silence.

“That’s Richard for you! Cool. Now, anyone else want to leave?”

No one answered.

“You’re all really crazy. Actually, I was hoping for this. For you to get blood on your hands, become corrupted, and roll around like trash with me. That’s how we’ll be able to take Kruger’s head. But now that this moment has come, I feel terrible.”

“Is that something you should be saying?”

Erika asked irritably.

“I should be saying it. You all love Schufaben, love the people of Schufaben. The truly great path for Schufaben would be to help Kruger swallow the entire continent and build an empire.”

“No, we don’t love that kind of Schufaben.”

***

Alone in the quiet hospital room, I looked at the newspapers Georg had left behind.

「White Raven Order Surrenders!」

「The Process Leading to Voluntary Dissolution? A Wise Decision by Our Merciful Supreme Leader」

「White Raven Order, All Members Given Exile. Identities Classified」

Seeing the articles praising Kruger as expected, I started giggling, and it soon became full laughter.

“Ehihihik! Huhahaha! Hahahaha, ha! Cough! Cough!”

I can’t put strength in my stomach, I’m gasping for breath.

“Huhihi, I won!”

It’s a mistake. Letting me live was a mistake from the start!

Even if I can’t do anything, just being alive is already a mistake.

Keeping alive someone who tried to kill you—what could be more of a mistake than that?

Arrogance is the enemy of all those in power.

I clenched and unclenched my strengthless fist with a fierce grin.

‘You’ll shed tears of blood.’

I have one secret.

I’m not from this world. I feel no affection for this world whatsoever.

This is my secret alone, one that not even Kruger knows.

So I win.

***

Beep—.

Beep—.

Beep—!

“Long live our Great Supreme Leader! Greetings, listeners. This is Schufaben National Radio, always quick with the latest news.”

“Waaaah!”

“Shh, shh, Angela, good girl? Let’s eat, let’s eat.”

In a shabby apartment in Lüdelheim. A woman whose cheeks had sunken from thinness was soothing her child while preparing breakfast.

The cradle where the child lay was made of patched cloth, and the old wooden floor creaked ominously every time the woman moved.

From the kitchen knife in the woman’s hand to every piece of furniture in the small one-room building, everything was worn out and pitiable.

However, the woman began cooking with a bright expression, taking vegetables and eggs from the food storage.

Meanwhile, the morning news was starting on the radio.

“Today we bring you tremendously joyful news from our very first story! Citizens of Schufaben, please rejoice! The infamous reactionary organization White Raven Order has finally knelt before our Supreme Leader!”

The cheerful sound of chopping suddenly stopped. The woman turned to look at the radio on the kitchen table with her smile gone.

“One week ago, the Ossel raided a building in Lüdelheim District 3 and arrested all members of the White Raven Order.

At the time of arrest, they were reportedly plotting an assassination. However, when the organization members were brought to the Supreme Leader’s residence, they shed tears of repentance at our Supreme Leader’s persuasion. They acknowledged their crimes and immediately disbanded their organization.

All the dissidents were secretly tried, and the court, following our Supreme Leader’s wishes for mercy, sentenced them to life imprisonment without parole instead of death. Also, to prevent social unrest, their identities will remain undisclosed.”

“Ah… Aah…”

The woman’s hands trembled.

Clang! With a piercing sharp sound, the kitchen knife fell to the floor.

“Citizens of Schufaben, now you can enjoy peace with confidence! The threat has been eliminated!”

“Aah! Aaaaaah!”

The woman screamed in despair and staggered before collapsing to the floor.

“Waaaah! Waaaah!”

Her young daughter began crying again, but she couldn’t hear it.

Tears dripped down, leaving marks on the floor. On the hands that touched that floor, countless scratches and scars were visible.

Not just her hands but scars extending to her arms and legs, neck and back, even her hips.

When she met someone she loved, got married, became pregnant, and obtained a small house and was happy—that’s when the Ossel destroyed everything she had.

Right after her husband went missing, the Ossels who broke into her house questioned her about her husband’s whereabouts. Even though she said she didn’t know hundreds of times, they dragged her somewhere and did unspeakable things. Stabbing and beating, and also…

“Urk! Ugh! Uuurk!”

The woman began dry heaving. The smell of that concrete cell lingered at the tip of her nose.

She thought she would die there with her baby.

But there were benefactors who saved her life and allowed her to breathe fresh air again instead of the damp, blood-stained air.

Yet the radio was chattering that they had voluntarily disbanded the White Raven Order.

“Huk! Huuuk!”

The woman clawed at her chest and wept.

When she expressed her gratitude and said she wanted to join them, what had the masked woman said?

“You should think of your child first. Just please don’t forget us. The White Raven Order.”

The people who said they might meet again someday and clasped her hands tightly. The people who embraced and comforted her, saying she had protected her child despite terrible torture.

“We report once more. The rebel organization White Raven Order has…”

Through the woman’s sobs, the voice filled with joy echoed endlessly.