9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 163 - The Paradigm of Lies (1)

Thunk!

“Ah, damn it.”

The rabbit bounds away in the distance, hopping through the grass. The stone I threw with all my might, even putting my whole body into the swing, fell pathetically into the undergrowth.

The problem was that I lost my mind when I saw that plump, well-fed rabbit. I should have just ordered Colin to get it, but instead I stupidly grabbed a rock nearby and hurled it.

“Whine…”

When I grumbled and cursed, Colin came over and rubbed his snout against my hand.

“Sorry, Colin! Another miss this time too.”

“Woof! Woof!”

“Shh. You have to be quiet here, ah crap!”

I jumped up in shock as water droplets suddenly fell on my head. Looking up at the sky, I could see dark storm clouds slowly gathering.

“Let’s go, Colin. Looks like it’s going to rain.”

I grabbed Colin’s leash and ran.

Thick piles of fallen leaves and broken branches, muddy earth and animal droppings squished under my feet. I couldn’t help but curse.

“Should’ve been more moderate about it.”

I muttered, wiping away the raindrops that were starting to fall on my face one or two at a time.

“Who could have known he’d go full throttle like that?”

Thinking of Eisler made me depressed again.

It all happened in an instant.

I had shaken and disturbed him. I was only thinking of buying as much time as possible. But suddenly Eisler floored the accelerator.

‘I didn’t know he was such an action-oriented man. But he’s also ridiculously rigid… If he was going to help anyway, he could have at least talked it over with me.’

It’s not that I completely can’t understand it.

He didn’t want to completely ruin the beloved army and homeland. He didn’t want to be complicit in the dictator’s schemes anymore. He wanted to believe in Lucas Redan’s will to eliminate the Supreme Leader.

But to do that, he first had to prevent Lucas Redan from getting his head chopped off. The canil problem also had to be dealt with somehow.

In such a complicated situation, he just chose to charge straight ahead.

That dawn, Eisler appeared after arbitrarily burning the canil and said.

He would take all the blame and buy time, so please hide somewhere until things calmed down. He would frame all the incidents and accidents up to now as things he had done by threatening and detaining the commander.

He said this with such a calm face that my heart nearly stopped. I thought, is this bastard really insane?

“Acting like a true soldier, charging ahead like a wild boar without thinking, ugh!”

Captain Alina Himmel caught me as I nearly fell face-first into the dirt.

“You took quite a while.”

“Whoa, you startled me! Captain!”

“I apologize.”

Captain Himmel lightly released me and continued with what she was doing. Butchering a house-sized wild boar carcass.

I was talking about wild boars, and suddenly a wild boar appeared right in front of me—of course I’d be startled.

“Did you catch this? And you know how to butcher too?”

“I learned it in the army.”

Captain Himmel answered matter-of-factly while skillfully separating bone from meat, draining blood, and cutting the meat into chunks with practiced hands.

I figured I’d just get in the way, so I stepped back.

Thick weeds grew everywhere underfoot, and wherever I looked, I saw trees stretching toward the sky.

The vast border region between Schufaben and Rubellia contains plains, canyons, mountains, and forests.

Among them, this forest—untouched by human hands for over a hundred years of long history, practically no different from a jungle—is cleverly wedged between battlefields, a place no one visits.

That’s what Eisler had confidently said.

“So live as a primitive here until you can pretend to have escaped from captivity? Really insane idea.”

I muttered to myself while wiping Colin’s fur with a handkerchief. Colin’s black fur, which had shaken off the raindrops with a shiver, was completely fluffed up like a sheep.

I wandered through the forest frantically.

I didn’t know how long I’d have to hide or what the hell kind of situation this was, my head wasn’t working, and I was also flustered by Eisler’s sudden charge.

Anyway, in this desperate situation, while looking for a place to hide, I discovered a small cave. It was sufficient for a temporary stay.

In that short time, Captain Himmel had perfectly packed the military gear. Even mine—two sets total.

‘Wow, that’s about 40kg, isn’t it? I couldn’t walk 10 seconds carrying one of those.’

The military backpack contained everything needed to survive in the wild. Sleeping bags and blankets, combat rations, matches, first aid kit, voice transmitter, pistol and ammunition.

I thought I was fortunate that at least I wouldn’t starve. Until I took one bite of the combat rations.

“Bleh! Do these guys have no sense of taste?”

The combat rations were in the form of long protein bars, and when I bit into one, I thought my tooth was going to break. My gums still ache. The taste was naturally garbage.

Even those maggot-infested biscuits that sailors ate centuries ago would be less hard and more delicious than this!

I had to eat that crap for the past several days, so it was only natural that I lost my mind when I saw the rabbit.

I looked at Captain Himmel, who was butchering the wild boar in the increasingly heavy rain outside the cave.

“At least today we’ll eat meat instead of those tasteless rations. But Captain, why don’t you wait until the rain stops?”

“The rain will continue.”

She answered curtly.

“Hmm, didn’t the army teach you the medical fact that you catch colds if you get rained on, even though they taught you butchering?”

“I don’t catch colds.”

“There’s no such thing as ‘absolutely’ in this world.”

“I didn’t say absolutely.”

“So come inside quickly before you catch a cold!”

Only after I lost my temper did Captain Himmel bow her head.

She carefully washed the military knife in the rainwater, drained the water from the stripped hide and dismembered organs, and tied the chunks of meat with string to hang from the cave ceiling.

So in the end, she came inside after finishing all her work.

“May I remove my clothes for a moment? I need to wring out the water.”

“Go ahead. There should be spare uniforms in the gear, oh, hey!! Are you insane!”

Captain Himmel immediately started unbuttoning her uniform jacket to take it off, so I quickly shut my eyes.

“A-are you making advances on your superior?”

“I apologize if I made you uncomfortable.”

“That’s not the point, ugh, never mind.”

I turned around completely to face the cave wall like I was doing wall meditation. I could hear the sounds of Captain Himmel wringing water from her clothes.

Though I don’t understand how that becomes “wringing, splash!”

“…Captain.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“Aren’t you worried about your family?”

“…”

For a moment, the wringing sound became twice as loud.

“I believe they’ll be safe.”

“Right. They will be. They’ll all be fine. Your daughter is seven years old now, wasn’t she? She’ll be starting school soon. When this war ends, I should send your daughter an enrollment gift or something.”

“Your words alone are appreciated.”

Thanks to the rain stopping quickly, we were able to drive away the unpleasant humidity by lighting a campfire.

Captain Himmel made wild boar meat into skewers and grilled them thoroughly. Because there might be parasites.

Even if grilling just meant eating the grilled parasites together, I didn’t care about such things and was busy wolfing it down.

“Wow, this is a delicacy. Captain, ever think about becoming a chef?”

“It’s just half-burnt meat. Commander, you haven’t had proper food for about 72 hours, so your judgment is impaired…”

“I’d appreciate it if you could accept compliments as compliments.”

***

When night comes, we take turns standing watch and catch what sleep we can. At first, Captain Himmel insisted on taking watch alone, but I strongly opposed it.

Feeling sorry was one thing, but if she collapsed, I had no confidence I could survive in this forest alone.

I closed my eyes, warming myself by the campfire. Between the sounds of burning wood, I thought I could hear wolves howling in the distance.

If this were camping, I might have found it romantic. But even when I opened my eyes, all I could see was the dark cave ceiling, not a night sky with the Milky Way flowing across it.

I sighed and shifted position.

“Is something troubling you?”

Captain Himmel, who was leaning against the cave entrance keeping watch outside, asked.

“How could there not be? Everything’s a worry.”

“What is your greatest concern?”

“Hmm.”

I pressed my palms against my eyes. I was tired but sleep wouldn’t come.

“Rather than a worry, if I had to name what concerns me most, it would be Deputy Commander Eisler. He’ll be dead within ten days.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. He risked his life to save me. I never asked him to. No, that’s wrong. It’s my fault. I exploited the weakness in his heart. He wasn’t just longing for power and authority—he was pursuing goodness. What he believed was blind loyalty was actually a desire to follow noble values…”

The words spilled out in a ramble. This was my true feeling.

“Then why did you accept his proposal? Commander, you had ways to prevent the Deputy Commander’s death—”

“I didn’t.”

“Pardon?”

“I didn’t have any, Captain Himmel. Yes, I’m not a stupid fool. The moment I heard Eisler’s plan, dozens of alternatives came to mind. But there was no way to prevent his death. At least the Supreme Leader saw through everything Eisler had done. Purging was an unavoidable path.

No, what if I had gotten on my knees and begged the Supreme Leader? Maybe if I had somehow arranged for Eisler to defect somewhere, it might have been better. But I didn’t do that. Why do you think?”

“Because it was a better path for you, Commander.”

Captain Himmel’s response sounded like she was criticizing me, but I knew she wasn’t.

“Correct. The moment I heard the plan, I realized it was very advantageous for me. The only problem was that Eisler would die, and through a quite painful process at that. That was the only issue. But I still followed the plan.

The excuse that it happened too suddenly and I was confused was just that—an excuse. I had already finished the calculations in my head. He proposed it, he voluntarily risked his life, so it wasn’t my fault—that was the petty rationalization I used to act.

Do you know what the more terrible truth is? I anticipated that I would suffer like this.”

I covered my face and giggled. Colin, who had been sleeping peacefully nearby, waddled over and rubbed his snout against me.

“Then the pain cannot be erased?”

“Right. I made my choice, and because of that choice, I’ll point fingers at myself for the rest of my life. But someday it will get better. I can never be completely okay. But wounds heal. Though they leave scars.”

Captain Himmel listened seriously to my rambling.

“So Captain, what should we do?”

“We must strive not to let his sacrifice be in vain.”

“Excellent! Now I’m going to milk this for all it’s worth—no, make the most of the opportunity. Will you help me?”

“Yes, Commander.”

Only then could I fall asleep.

Though Captain Himmel woke me up after just two hours.

“Commander. You need to wake up.”

“Uh… is it time to change shifts? Why did you put out the fire?”

“Someone is approaching. At least five men, presumed to be soldiers.”

Captain Himmel whispered in the pitch-black darkness where I couldn’t see an inch ahead.

I was instantly wide awake.

***

Captain Himmel was right.

Boisterous voices of adult men were gradually getting closer. I bolted upright.

“Captain Himmel, you have good night vision?”

“Somewhat.”

“Keep a good watch.”

“Yes, Commander.”

We whispered quietly while folding up blankets and sleeping bags and checking our pistols.

The noisy sounds grew closer. They were chattering loudly enough to scare away all the animals in the forest.

‘Is this Rubellia?’

I thought to myself while taking down the wild boar meat from the ceiling.

The excited, raised voices and slurred pronunciation made it hard to understand, but when I listened carefully, it was certain.

“Today’s really jackpot!”

“What jackpot? Our house collapsed!”

“Houses can be found again, right?”

“That’s right!”

“Then when will we cut wood and when will we move stones?”

“Ha, come on, just find a place that won’t collapse in a shower. Like that cave over there…”

“Huh? A cave?”

Captain Himmel quietly reached for the military backpack and aimed her pistol outside.

“Wait, they seem like Rubellia deserters. No need to kill them. Let’s slip away.”

“Understood.”

She obediently lowered her gun and felt along the cave wall in the darkness where we could barely see an inch ahead.

I had spotted a small opening at the far end of the cave on the first day.

Captain Himmel pushed the backpack through the opening first, then crouched down and squeezed through.

The sound and light were rapidly approaching. I hurriedly shoved my body into the opening, but moving wasn’t easy. The more I squirmed, the more cold, damp earth poured into my clothes.

“Captain! Captain!”

Captain Himmel grabbed my hand firmly. When she applied strength, my body popped out, and Colin, who had been quietly pushing my rear from behind, also came out silently.

“Phew!”

The moment I let out a sigh of relief, light flashed through the opening.

“Oh, this looks useful?”

“Pretty good, isn’t it?”

“Really jackpot!”

I lay flat and peered through the gap in the opening. About seven or eight men in dirty Rubellia uniforms stained with blood and mud were giggling among themselves.

“We got lucky! Now, let’s take that out.”

“Yes!”

When a sergeant with a gaunt face gave the order, the privates and corporals put down the loads they’d been carrying on their backs. And then a sweet smell wafted through the air.

‘Canil?’

My face scrunched up at this unexpected development. How did Rubellia soldiers get canil?

“Ahh, now my body’s finally loosening up.”

“I thought I was going to die of hunger.”

“Really jackpot!”

Lighting a campfire and sitting around it, sharing canil and chatting among themselves, the soldiers’ expressions were incredibly peaceful.

But even I, watching from a distance, could tell. Their haggard faces, bloodshot eyes, and weirdly grinning mouths.

They were all abnormal.

“We’ve got work to do.”

I carefully backed away and whispered to Captain Himmel, who was waiting silently.

“What is it?”

“We need to keep an eye on those guys. Where exactly they got the canil, how they ended up deserting.”

“Can’t we capture and interrogate them?”

“We’re in a situation where we can’t be discovered by anyone right now. And it would be too risky to get information and then kill them. Do you want to get blood on your hands unnecessarily? I don’t. I don’t think you’d lose to them just because there are more of them, but let’s set up nearby and observe them for a while.”

“Understood.”

“Hmm… First, let’s find somewhere to rest.”