9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 177 - Equivalent Exchange (2)

“What?”

Erika’s voice rose sharply.

“They said specialist personnel wouldn’t get dragged into the military!”

Oscar is a supervisor at the airship assembly factory.

Those massive airships I saw on the battlefield were practically born from his hands, and he probably knows every single component by instinct.

That makes him a valuable enough technician to deserve the title. High-level personnel whose defection to the enemy would be extremely troublesome.

But if they’re going so far as to pull out core personnel from the defense industry, just how big a war are they dreaming of?

“They really did screw up the war situation that badly.”

When I muttered this, Oscar shook his head grimly.

“I believed Richard’s broadcast, but is it really that bad?”

“Yeah.”

My face hardened as I gave that short answer—I could feel it myself, but managing my expression was difficult.

Oscar must not get dragged to that battlefield.

“By the way, what was that radio story about?”

“Oh, right.”

Oscar ran to the living room and turned on the radio. The familiar announcer’s voice began flowing out.

“Erika’s been marked as an economic criminal!”

“Important news, we’ll tell you once more. Government corruption has been revealed to be extremely serious. Extensive bribery situations have been discovered across both central government agencies and local administrative organizations.

The government officials indicted this time accepted bribes from high-ranking figures and aided illegal activities. The number of criminals who refused the total mobilization order and fled overseas or hid assets is 50-plus just among those identified so far, with over 300 government officials who turned a blind eye to them. The assets that flowed to foreign countries are estimated to be enormous as well.

His Excellency the Great Supreme Leader expressed great disappointment and ordered harsh punishment for all those involved. He also condemned them for committing the worst possible crime at a time when everyone should unite and face the war together.

Furthermore, shockingly, domestic and foreign elves have been found to be systematically involved. They conducted business under the guise of trade while siphoning off high-ranking officials’ assets. In particular, the recent collapse of the much-talked-about Redan Trading Company is also suspected to be related to elf forces…

The names of criminals who have not yet been arrested are as follows. If you find them, please report immediately to the police or to Ossel. Erika Brightner, Daniel Hartmann, Zeke Otto…”

“Hahahahahaha!”

I burst into laughter at the first name that came out.

“Lucas, what’s wrong with you?”

“No, it’s hilarious! It’s such an obvious scheme, how can I not laugh?”

Oscar looked at me like I was crazy.

“What is? Publicly posting wanted notices for Erika?”

“That’s right! Why wait to arrest her until after we made that deal? Did that bastard really know nothing until things got to this point?

If he didn’t know, it makes no sense—the upper class fled overseas on such a large scale to avoid military service. He definitely waited until now on purpose.

With trade cut off from the entire continent, no matter how much money those greenhouse flower rich boys took with them when they fled, what does it matter if a few hundred of them escape?

He issued the total mobilization order and waited a few months to round up all the traitors and reactionaries at once. Throw the war-weary people some scapegoats and they’ll unite, and purging corrupt officials will increase his own control too.

Plus, it’s probably coincidental, but thanks to Redan Company’s timely collapse, he can use that as an excuse to cut off all of Lucas Redan’s limbs. You didn’t intend this, Erika, but still.”

“Did you know? That I was behind it.”

Erika looked slightly pale.

“You think I wouldn’t know? I figured it out the moment I heard the news. That you must have pulled some strings. Like siphoning off all the funds to avoid losing them… You probably moved them toward the Great Desert, right?”

“Yeah, so I caused the company to collapse and gave Kruger ammunition?”

Erika asked sourly.

“Haha! No, that bastard is just cunning so there’s nothing we can do about it. You did really well. You created economic chaos and protected our funds.”

“Hey, this isn’t the time to be laughing!”

“Listen, I expected the warrant for you, but this is different. If I’m not being overly self-conscious, he’s using both of you as tools to pressure me. I guess you could say he’s really going after the White Raven Order.”

At my gloomy words, Oscar frowned.

“Why doesn’t he just kill you?”

“If he wanted to kill me, he would have done it already. But that wouldn’t be fun, would it?”

“Crazy bastard.”

Oscar made a disgusted expression.

“I don’t want to go to the military! I know how horrible it is just from looking at the people at our factory. When sons and daughters come back with limbs cut off, the parents become almost like invalids. People who received death notices just zone out and disappear at some point.”

Oscar’s eyes had sunk like seawater. I scratched my cheek and turned off the radio that kept spouting the same news.

“Alright, let’s run away.”

Five minutes later, we had gathered all the important materials and left the house.

It was good that we moved quickly. The riot police stormed in right after that.

***

“You really look something else.”

I know District 13’s geography like the back of my hand. As we passed through the spider web-like alleyways, Oscar grumbled quietly.

“What, cough, am I that pretty?”

“You look great!”

I failed to hold back my laughter, but Emma seemed to genuinely think so.

Oscar, wearing Erika’s dress and covering his body as much as possible with a flowing cloak, plus a wide-brimmed hat, looked like a tall woman at a glance.

Conversely, Erika wore Oscar’s shirt and pants with her hair hidden under a bread cap, making her gender indistinguishable from a distance.

Two men and two women, one baby, one dog. We looked exactly like a whole family going somewhere for fun. In these turbulent times, no less.

I just hope no one recognizes Colin.

“Was it really good to go this far?”

Oscar’s voice was full of regret.

“We have to go to crowded places, you know? It’s better than getting beaten up and dragged away because your face is known. Even if someone notices you’re cross-dressing, they’ll just think you have unusual tastes.”

“I really hope so.”

“But Lucas, where are we going?”

“Well, um… I feel like a piece of trash for this.”

I trailed off. I really wasn’t sure if this was okay.

“Where is it that make you acting like this? Fael’s hotel?”

“Get your head on straight, Oscar. The fact that they mentioned elves means they caught wind of the collusion between Redan Company and Fael. That hotel would be lucky if it doesn’t get raided.”

“Then where exactly?”

“Just follow me for now.”

The options we can choose right now are limited.

Our house is obviously out, and going to find Georg or Richard doesn’t make sense. If we asked Ossel for help, well, I don’t know how Johann would react.

When preparing to escape, Emma offered her house, but I declined.

Going to another district right now would be too risky, plus Emma’s house is an apartment where neighbors would easily notice something suspicious. It’s also inconvenient for long stays.

So, a place where we can hide perfectly while also being suitable for long-term residence without consequences…

By the time we emerged from the secluded back alleys, dusk was falling. The gradually darkening, gloomy sky.

The streetlights on the main road were out and shops were preparing to close. I could see buildings with iron plates or boards covering their windows.

“Must be a lot of petty theft.”

“These days it’s not just petty theft but robbery too.”

Emma whispered while tightly holding whimpering Angela.

“Resources are getting scarcer. I put boards on my windows too, but if things continue like this, I might have to tear off those boards to use as firewood this winter.”

“Will we make it through winter?”

When I asked Emma casually, she shook her head.

“I doubt it. That’s why I only trust you, leader.”

“Leader…”

I awkwardly laughed while holding my aching side from walking too fast. I’d gotten good at walking during my wilderness life, but this body is still weak.

More than that, what kind of person am I in Emma’s eyes?

After walking a long detour to avoid main roads, we arrived at a street with a few twinkling lights.

Compared to other streets, you could almost call it dazzling.

Half-dressed men and women smoked cigarettes while beckoning to passersby, and laughter and leisure overflowed from the area.

I also occasionally saw pickpocket kids rifling through the pockets of fools passed out drunk on alcohol and drugs.

“Here? This is where we’re going?”

Erika made a strange expression.

“Yeah, that’s right. We don’t have other options. You remember Ameli, right?”

“Of course I remember.”

Oscar’s face was also stiffly hardened.

My—no, this Lucas bastard’s—ex-girlfriend, Ameli.

One of his ex-girlfriends, or maybe his last love.

The ace of water trading. A woman Lucas couldn’t give up on no matter how much grief she caused him. Someone so caring that when I, having taken over Lucas’s body, pestered her about opening a bar together, she reluctantly agreed.

‘Really, I don’t know if this is right.’

This place is the red-light district called the ‘Heart of the Night.’

The name sounds grand, but it’s just called that because it’s District 13’s most bustling entertainment area. It can’t compare to other well-off neighborhoods.

‘Come to think of it, wasn’t “Heart of the Night” and such also a name that Lucas bastard came up with?’

Lucas Redan, who couldn’t go to university but considered himself an intellectual, made it up trying to sound cool. Since he was quite the social butterfly back then, it spread through word of mouth.

“Why are you standing there spacing out? Let’s hurry.”

Erika whispered anxiously.

“Yeah, we should go—”

“Damn! A raid! Run!”

Suddenly shouts came from nearby, and people’s movements became urgent.

The touts who had been soliciting customers all went inside buildings and lowered their shutters. Red, yellow, and pink lights disappeared one by one.

Everyone with their wits about them, excluding drunks and addicts, scurried into the alleys like cockroaches.

“That’s strange.”

Erika frowned slightly.

“I heard the police had this area under their protection.”

“That’s why they could openly sell alcohol. Since alcohol wouldn’t be rationed, it’s almost all bootleg. Well, since the Supreme Leader declared he’d crack down on officials today, they have to grovel. It makes sense to conduct raids now.”

“Let’s get out of here for now.”

“Just follow me.”

I really lived here for a long time.

I came rolling into this corrupt neighborhood right after getting kicked out of the military for not having a body fit for service, despite rushing off to join up the moment I became an adult.

You could call it my second hometown.

“This way.”

The scenery hadn’t changed much. With streetlights and shop lights all out in the darkness, I squeezed my body into the narrow gap between buildings.

“Too narrow, my skirt’s going to tear!”

“Shh! Shut up for a second.”

I covered Oscar’s mouth as he whispered complaints and pulled him hard. Threatening footsteps could already be heard.

The police quickly scattered to search the instantly emptied street, and soon people who had been trying to flee were caught and dragged out one by one.

“Aaaaah!”

“I was just passing through! I wasn’t drinking!”

“Shut up! You reactionary bastard!”

Thwack!

The sound of someone being mercilessly beaten with a club, like a skull being crushed.

“Kyaaaah!”

“P-please spare me!”

The sound of bar employees being dragged away by their hair, having been ruthlessly locked out by shop owners.

No matter how much bootleg alcohol they made and consumed, this was excessive. There’s no prohibition law, and Kruger never cracked down on prostitution after taking power.

Now it’s just for disturbing rationing order. Maybe it’s just for show, to find people to hand over to the military police to fill conscription quotas. No, definitely.

“Sons of bitches.”

Oscar gritted his teeth beside me. Then a policeman with a bloody club approached and peered into our hiding spot. I pulled Oscar back and held my breath.

If we get caught here, everything about what I, the ‘former commander,’ have been doing will be exposed.

He stuck his arm in and rummaged around the crevice. I could see Erika quietly pressing herself against the wall as his fingertips nearly reached her.

“Rat bastards.”

The policeman who had been groping around for a while clicked his tongue and was about to pull his arm out when—

“Mommy?”

Angela, who had been sleeping soundly in Emma’s arms, seemed to wake up and made sleepy fussing sounds. The policeman who had been about to turn around stopped in his tracks and shone his magic lamp inside. My eyes stung from the flickering light of the mana stone shortage.

“Woof, bark! Bark bark bark!”

“Agh! What is it!”

Colin, who had been lying at my feet, shot out like lightning. The policeman who got rammed by the large dog fell and hit his head on the ground, and I pushed Erika and Oscar hard.

“Run!”

Erika went out first, and Oscar, who barely squeezed his body out, grabbed his skirt hem and started running.

“Requesting backup! Requesting backup! Aaaaah!”

Colin, who had bitten the policeman’s leg, ran beside me. Passing the ominously silent buildings, I navigated the familiar alleys like they were my own memories.

“They’re spread out everywhere!”

Oscar muttered despairingly. The commotion we caused was quite big, so I could sense police searching for us everywhere.

After squeezing out my remaining strength to run, I stopped in a dead-end alley.

“There’s nowhere to go. Should we climb the wall?”

“Wait, huff, just wait a second.”

Running that little bit made me feel like my lungs would burst. After gasping to catch my breath, I looked at the old building in front of me.

Just as I was about to knock on the thick wooden door made of quality timber, the door swung open and a white hand shot out to pull me inside.

In the space of a “huh,” Erika, Oscar, Emma holding Angela, and the growling Colin all tumbled inside one after another, and the door quietly closed.

“What the hell…”

A hand caught me as I was about to fall. Before I could look around the hall lit by dim candlelight, a familiar voice pierced my ears.

“Lucas, what the hell are you doing in this neighborhood? Are you crazy?”

Brown hair and fox-like upturned eyes. Beneath them, green eyes glowed brightly.

The angelic woman who truly loved the human trash Lucas Redan, and the woman who quietly left after noticing what I was plotting.

I let out a sigh of relief and smiled awkwardly at her.

“Long time no see, Ameli.”