9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 171 - The Paradigm of Truth (3)

“What a headache.”

Colonel Johann Werner muttered, twisting one corner of his mouth.

The top floor of a building disguised as a waste treatment facility at the Ossel headquarters in Lüdelheim District 1.

He tapped the phonograph. A record that had recently spread rapidly through universities and upper-class circles was playing. The poor-quality radio recording contained a single voice.

A youthful but rough woman’s voice. Provocative and filled with sincerity.

People whispered while sharing embellished stories passed from mouth to mouth.

About the battlefield situation, about the massacre happening on the southern front, about guerrilla activities in occupied territories.

The culprit had been quite amateurish. Perhaps he hadn’t even thought to hide his tracks. He was captured within three days.

Why did the culprit have to be that guy?

Among the thoughtless troublemakers who had been running wild, Richard Enke was the one with the faintest presence and no particular role.

And why was he captured by the police, of all people?

“Pathetic.”

“I’m sorry!”

Philip shouted loudly and pressed his head to the floor.

As the war dragged on, the country was creaking everywhere.

Criminals and dissidents had rapidly increased. Whether that was the truth or a manufactured truth.

The police, who had been suppressed by Ossel for over ten years, were suddenly obsessed with arresting criminals and running wild.

The operation to arrest Richard Enke was the same. Originally it had been their job, but the police had basically gotten there first.

It would have been unimaginable before. The Supreme Leader was probably backing the police organization.

Since Johann’s rise to leadership, Ossel had become even more bloated. The number of lower-ranking Ossels had increased dramatically, and the surveillance network grew tighter by the day.

Had that bothered them?

It didn’t make sense for the nation’s security organizations to be split in two, fighting each other for the favor of those in power.

‘Ridiculous.’

Johann twisted his lips.

A life that felt like walking on knife’s edge at every moment. The time had come to struggle to survive once again.

“White Raven Order.”

At Johann’s thoughtful words, Philip slyly raised his head.

“Any connection?”

“From the information gathered, none! It was a solo crime!”

A solo crime.

Johann stood up from his seat and muttered briefly.

“Field work.”

“Yes!”

***

The scene at Redan Trading Company was almost identical to what it had been months ago. Families with numbered tickets waiting anxiously for interviews.

“You reactionary bastard!!!”

A rough voice echoed from beyond the office window. Erika, who had been reviewing documents, looked up with a start.

A young man was running desperately down the road in front of the building.

“Ahh!”

A military policeman who had caught up struck his shoulder with a club.

“Arresting a deserter.”

The young man let out a pained groan and collapsed, but when the military policeman glared at him, passersby pretended not to see and went their own way. The military policeman soon dragged away the barely conscious young man.

It was a scene they’d been seeing frequently lately.

February 23rd, 1904.

National Total Mobilization Order enacted.

From that moment, everything on Schufaben soil was controlled.

All materials and food were converted to a rationing system, and all industrial facilities were placed under state surveillance.

Hundreds of thousands of young men were dragged to training camps, and some fled to avoid conscription.

Great Desert expedition applicants began flooding in at two or three times the previous rate.

Even if people didn’t openly say they wanted to avoid military service during interviews, when a young man with no family wore an anxious expression, well…

A few lucky ones actually made it to the Great Desert, and military police had raided the company once.

They had a big fight with Erika and eventually retreated, grinding their teeth.

“That’s ending now too, though.”

Erika muttered and closed the window.

Starting today, they would no longer accept applicants. The newspaper advertisements were still running, and they hadn’t announced it publicly anywhere, but the decision had been made internally long ago.

After all, Redan Company would soon collapse anyway.

6 PM.

A staff member came to make a report.

“Director, the applicant interviews are finished.”

“Good work. Once we send the last group next week, things should get easier. You can go home now.”

“Oh, a visitor has arrived. He says he received a letter from the president…”

Erika’s hand, which had been organizing documents, stopped. Her eyes narrowed slightly and trembled.

It had been over three months since Lucas’s letters had stopped coming.

More precisely, the letters had stopped as soon as he arrived at the eastern front. The censorship had been strengthened around that time, so he probably chose not to send them.

Then, not long ago, news finally came.

The commander had gone missing!

When Georg brought this information, the White Raven Order fell into panic.

Between Georg, who couldn’t sit still, and Oscar, who was raging furiously, Erika found her mind blank and could only say this after freezing for a long time,

“Let’s wait a little longer. We know too little right now.”

That night, when she returned home staggering, Erika discovered an envelope in her mailbox.

A record with no markings. When she put it on the phonograph, terrible sounds burst forth.

Only then did tears flow.

The young woman’s voice crying out about the horrors of war pierced her ears painfully.

That had been just three days ago.

After that, she had contacted Assad and Hannah, gathered information, and tried to somehow uncover the truth.

‘A letter?’

Suppressing her burning eyes, she stood up. After a knock, an ordinary-looking man entered, holding a young daughter’s hand.

She had expected someone from Ossel, or a messenger sent by Lucas.

“Director, I’m Thomas Himmel. This is my daughter Lucy.”

Himmel.

Erika immediately thought of the woman who was supposedly Lucas’s adjutant. It was a name she was familiar with, as Lucas had always written about her with apparent enjoyment.

“You brought a letter?”

“Ah, yes.”

The gentle-looking Thomas pulled an envelope from his coat.

“Someone pushed it through our front door last night.”

Erika opened the paper with slightly trembling hands.

「Greetings, Mr. Himmel. This is Lucas Redan. As the eastern front commander and your wife’s superior, I’m sending this letter at your wife’s request.

If you receive this letter, please visit Redan Company as quickly as possible. I’m sorry. Due to circumstances, it’s difficult to write everything down.

Do you like the Great Desert? Your wife misses her husband and young daughter very much. Please trust us and make a wise decision.

Erika, I’m sorry.

I’ll come soon.」

Erika’s face was expressionless as she set down the letter, showing no readable emotion.

“Will Lucy and I be going to the Great Desert?”

Himmel asked innocently.

“…Are you prepared?”

“I trust my wife. And Commander Redan too.”

The smile he gave was infinitely harmless and pleasant.

“My wife doesn’t give her heart easily. If she’s someone my wife offers her loyalty to, she wouldn’t harm me.”

Solid trust was evident in his voice. Erika found herself smiling slightly without realizing it.

“Very well.”

She nodded and added a few more lines to the documents.

「Additional personnel +2.

Thomas Himmel, Lucy Himmel.

Final approval.」

“Mr. Himmel, when you arrive, look for Daniel Hartmann and tell him Director Redan sent you. And…”

Erika looked at the girl nestled in Himmel’s arms, looking up at her with bright, sparkling eyes, and stopped speaking.

What kind of creatures were children, exactly, and how should one treat them?

“…Would you like some candy?”

When she held out the candy basket, Lucy broke into a beaming smile.

“Thank you!”

“It’s fine, Director. It must have been difficult to obtain.”

Thomas waved his hand.

Before the war, sugar and sweets had been overflowing everywhere, but they became increasingly rare, and after the Total Mobilization Order, they were practically extinct.

Erika could easily get them because she had connections everywhere.

“No, please take them. You’ll have to travel a rough road to the Great Desert.”

Erika gave Lucy a handful of candies while she smiled brightly, then rang the bell to call a staff member.

“That person will guide you. Well then, Mr. Himmel, take care of yourself.”

“Thank you. Lucy, say goodbye.”

“Goodbye!”

***

After the two left, Erika sat there blankly for a long time.

Her desire to go home had already disappeared, and her mind was impossibly complicated.

She suddenly looked down at the letter.

“Sorry, he says…”

She bit her lip and stood up.

It was just one staircase from the executive office corridor to the rooftop.

She crouched on the desolate rooftop and burned the letter. It had to be destroyed to prevent leaks anyway.

The acrid smoke scattered with crackling sounds. Her eyes and nose stung, making her sniffle as she waved her hand.

“Sorry for what?”

The words spilled out involuntarily, grumbling.

Erika was used to hiding her emotions but didn’t know how to express them naturally. Lately, pieces of her heart kept popping out unexpectedly, leaving her awkward and flustered.

She stirred the flames in the tin can pointlessly. The word “sorry” crumbled into ash.

“Are you done with your pathetic display?”

“…!”

Startled, she trembled and stood up, only to see Colonel Johann Werner walking out from a corner of the rooftop hidden in the night’s darkness.

Erika’s eyes sharpened like a cat’s.

“How did you get here? The alarm magic should be active.”

“It was turned off due to lack of magic stones.”

He ran his hand through his golden hair blowing in the wind and raised one corner of his mouth.

At that somehow twisted smile, Erika took a step back.

“What business do you have here now?”

After the White Raven Order was disbanded, the relationship between the White Raven Order and Ossel had ended too.

From the beginning, they had no fondness for each other. That’s how relationships formed for mutual benefit always end.

However, both Lucas and Johann had left a tiny, thread-like possibility open.

Lucas hadn’t tried to kill Johann, and Johann had overlooked Erika’s bribing of corrupt officials or meeting with elves.

That was their way. Leaving room to extend a hand when they needed each other.

“Just now.”

Johann lit a cigarette and asked leisurely.

“Did Thomas Himmel visit here?”

“Why do you ask?”

“He’s been a surveillance target. Ever since Alina Himmel was assigned as Lucas Redan’s adjutant.”

“…”

For a moment, Erika ran many calculations in her head. How much did that person know, and how much should she reveal?

“Will you kill the Himmels if they escape surveillance?”

“That’s up to you.”

Strength entered Erika’s hand thrust deep into her coat pocket.

“No need to draw your gun.”

“I know. You want to make a deal, right?”

After hesitating briefly, she spoke. If he’d meant harm, he would have done it already.

“Lucas sent a letter.”

Johann remained silent. Instead of his unchanging gaze, his cigarette burned rapidly.

“Telling me to evacuate the Himmel family.”

It was a simple statement, but.

“Lucas Redan is alive.”

Johann muttered.

“Lucas Redan is alive.”

The corner of his mouth stretched as if it might tear. As if he was going crazy with joy. Like someone who had found a way to live on the edge of a cliff.

“If Lucas is alive, what’s good about that for you?”

“The possibility that this country won’t collapse emerges.”

“But Ossel will definitely collapse.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with me.”

“…”

There was nothing to refute.

In this insane war, Schufaben’s fate was unclear.

But if Lucas’s plan succeeded, at least the great disaster of the entire nation becoming a sea of flames could be prevented. He would cut off Kruger’s head first, before other countries could interfere.

If the Kruger regime fell, Ossel would fall too. But at least Johann would survive tenaciously.

From the very beginning, that had been their unspoken agreement.

“Fine. So what happens to the Himmels now? What about Lucy?”

Even as Erika glared with intensity, Johann only slowly smoked his cigarette.

“Robbery murder.”

“Will that be believable?”

“If you don’t believe it? Isn’t it common enough?”

As living conditions tightened, public safety had also become dangerous.

The black market trading canil, magic stones, and food in secret continued to grow to avoid crackdowns, and crime rates were soaring.

Robbers looting middle-class homes and setting them on fire was no longer even newsworthy.

“Thank you.”

Erika reluctantly offered her gratitude.

“Not something you should say to me.”

“I agree with that, though.”

Johann stubbed out the cigarette butt and gestured to Erika.

“Do you remember Richard Enke?”

“…!!!”

For a moment, it felt like she’d been struck hard in the back of the head.

That name.

She hadn’t thought of it once since he left.

“Save him.”

Johann left only that unilateral notification and turned around to disappear.