9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 180 - The Abyss (1)

The heat wave began in June.

Sweltering heat combined with a shortage of mana stones. People were trapped in their homes, unable to even use cooling devices, and Lüdelheim’s streets grew increasingly desolate with no one moving about.

The only movement was office workers swarming during rush hour and people coming out for rations. If not that, then the street children busily wandering the downtown area searching for any work that might put food on the table.

“You’ve really hidden yourselves well.”

Nina Perez swept back her unkempt hair as she pasted rough sheets of paper onto the dirty building exterior.

“Isn’t that right?”

She glanced at the straw-haired youth beside her who was putting up papers just like she was.

Georg Roman looked down at the papers filling his newspaper bag.

Wanted posters of criminals not yet caught.

Robbery, rape, murder, arson.

Among those terrible crimes, one oddly stood out.

“Embezzlement, breach of trust, fraud, violation of strategic materials management law, violation of foreign exchange transaction law…”

Georg sighed “Phah” as he read through the stiffly written words and busily worked his hands. Wanted posters with Erika Brightner’s face stuck smoothly to the building wall.

“Say something, kid. Sister’s safe, right?”

Nina’s voice, trying to sound casual as she asked lightly, was trembling slightly.

“Yeah, she will be.”

Georg, now taller than Nina, looked down at her with a slight bow of his head.

“Let’s hurry, Perez. We need to post all of these within an hour.”

The two began walking with their heavy bags.

After the recent ‘Great Purge’—or rather, even before that when the war broke out and supplies became scarce—civil servants had been suffering under increasingly heavy workloads.

Though the civil service was a perfectly systematic organization that moved efficiently, it still had its limits.

The street children were quicker than anyone to catch the flow. They approached civil servants they had gotten to know and landed small jobs.

Tasks that didn’t need direct management, work that could be outsourced without problems. Things like posting wanted flyers in places where people could easily see them.

Originally this would be work for the bottom rungs of police stations or district offices, but they’d be frantically busy now with increased crime and ration management.

Though the pay was pittance or often nothing at all, it was better than starving to death while spacing out.

“General Lucas Redan, who returned home several days ago, announced that he would step down from his commander position and retire. Instead, he will take on a secretary position in the Supreme Leader’s office and assist His Excellency the Supreme Leader in conducting the war smoothly—”

The same news that had been repeating for days was playing again from the radio shop.

After the speech at District 1 plaza, Lucas hadn’t appeared in public. Though articles were buzzing everywhere, no detailed circumstances had been revealed.

But Georg knew.

‘Finally, we’re entering the final act.’

The White Raven Order’s long-cherished goal—the overthrow of Kruger’s regime.

Brother Lucas had walked into the floating castle with his own feet for that purpose. Georg’s job was to help him escape safely without dying. He was prepared.

“By the way, kid. How old are you this year?”

Nina, who had been shielding her eyes from the hot sun with her hand, suddenly asked.

“Eighteen. Why?”

“Ah, right. You’re one year younger than me? You better be careful. It’s amazing you haven’t been dragged away yet.”

She was talking about the military police. Rumors were spreading that under the pretext of catching deserters, they were just grabbing anyone to conscript them.

“Yeah, I’ll keep avoiding them.”

“Your gang too.”

“Thanks for worrying.”

“Do I look like I’m worrying?”

“Ah… weren’t you?”

When Georg asked with a reddened face, Nina let out a snickering laugh.

***

“I’m dying from this heat, first lieutenant…”

“Stop whining and shut up! We’re currently carrying out a noble mission to protect the nation. There’s no room for petty complaints!”

“But first lieutenant, didn’t they say today’s heat wave is the worst ever? My skin is practically cooking. And my throat’s all cracked.”

“So what are you going to do about it? Are you telling us to retreat when there are reactionaries right in front of us?”

“If it’s not too presumptuous, please buy me an ice cream.”

“You idiot! Do you think there are any ice cream shops left when we’re short on sugar and milk!”

On the open rooftop, tarp covering construction materials fluttered.

First Lieutenant Philip Decker, wearing thick cloth and holding binoculars, kicked the backside of his subordinate Ossel who was spouting childish nonsense.

They were currently positioned atop the main building constructed in the center of campus.

Today was the last day of Lüdelheim Comprehensive University’s spring semester. Students would be busy solving exam problems or cramming while eating late lunch.

But Ossel—or more precisely, Lieutenant Colonel Johann Werner—had detected an unsettling atmosphere drifting through the university, so he had sent First Lieutenant Philip Decker and subordinate Ossels to monitor the situation.

Whack! Whack!

“Ugh! It was a joke! A joke! The atmosphere was too heavy, and you looked so menacing, first lieutenant, aaaah!”

Philip’s mood had been terrible lately.

Ever since the day Bletter left the hotel and fled in the night, to be precise.

The elves had left overnight without a word to either the White Raven Order or Ossel. They probably escaped through southern ports. Illegally, of course, disguised as smuggling ships after bribing customs.

「Thank you for helping us, Mr. Decker. Stay healthy always.」

Hannah’s farewell letter was short.

As if they would never meet again.

Philip gnawed his lips and took out his anger by cracking his subordinate’s joints.

“Hiik!”

“First lieutenant, look over there.”

Then another subordinate whispered while handing over binoculars. He accepted them while calming his anger and focused where the man pointed, and something unusual was happening.

Church bells rang.

Students were pouring out of the humanities building as exams gradually ended.

Among the students scattering in groups of three or five or dispersing randomly, artificial movement was felt.

Several students began gathering, then students from the science and arts buildings joined them, quickly forming a group of dozens.

The crowd instantly occupied the plaza-like space in the center of the three college buildings. Then a small youth popped out from the middle of the crowd, raised a large paper sign, and shouted.

“Good day! I’m Christian Wamel, fourth-year law student and student council president from the humanities department! My friends and I stand here today hoping our voices will reach His Excellency the Supreme Leader!”

He bellowed at the top of his lungs.

“Only the truth! Only the truth!!”

“Only the truth! Only the truth!!”

When the youth led the chant, the other students raised their voices in response.

“Stop media censorship!!”

“Stop media censorship!!”

“Give up information monopoly!!”

“Give up information monopoly!!”

The surrounding students reacted variously. Some fled the plaza in terror, others stared as if mesmerized, some tried to stop them.

“Police! Where are the police!”

“They’re subversives!”

And some raged and threw fits.

“What should we do?”

Gone was the ice cream whining—a voice that had become seriously focused spoke up. First Lieutenant Philip Decker gestured to his subordinates watching him.

“Let’s observe for a while.”

His subordinates nodded sharply. An agitated atmosphere was spreading throughout the entire university.

***

‘Protesters begin activities, opposing students surround plaza and clash with protesters. Violence breaks out.’

Colonel Johann Werner briefly absorbed First Lieutenant Decker’s report and stood up.

The number of students brought in from this protest exceeded thirty.

‘There have been protests before.’

As Johann headed down to the underground interrogation room, he continued his thoughts indifferently.

Yes, there had been protests before.

From individual or small group outbursts that could barely be called ‘protests’ to fairly organized movements. As the nation’s situation worsened, the activities of subversives were becoming increasingly frequent.

However, this was the first time protesters of this scale had shouted such blatant slogans—the ‘Lüdelheim Comprehensive University Incident.’

Until now, only simple demands had emerged, like asking for jobs or increased rations.

‘Truth, huh…’

Johann’s lips curved upward.

How many opportunities had those naive kids gotten to face the truth without Ossel influence, without any manipulation?

When he entered the interrogation room, Christian Wamel looked up. Though no hands had been laid on him yet, his face was rigid with tension and fear.

The student council president, he’d said. Clearly the protest ringleader.

“Ready to talk?”

Johann dragged a chair over to sit in front of him, whose limbs were bound.

Christian remained silent.

“Why did you do this? Wanted to die a dog’s death?”

“……”

“You believe this little thing will change the world?”

“……”

“How foolish. Simple-minded. It’s not naive kids like you who truly change the world. Those with that power are—”

“At least.”

Christian spoke. His bloodshot eyes gleamed sharply.

“Someone will acknowledge it. That the people won’t forever endure and stay silent. It was enough just to let them know.”

“All those lives as the price for just that much.”

“I deceived and led them on. I set the slogans and protest date. Those students just followed without knowing anything.”

Christian only repeated those words. No matter how he was provoked or stimulated, he remained unshaken, as if determined to take everything on himself and die.

Indeed, he was worthy of being a leader even among those naive kids.

Getting the truth from his mouth would require bringing torture instruments, but well, there was an easier way.

“Do you know who I am!”

First Lieutenant Decker brought in a student who was noisily raising a fuss.

Barely twenty years old, perhaps.

Covered in dust and bloodied from being beaten, he was pathetically shouting. Christian’s face went deathly pale when he saw him.

“Tom! Stay quiet! Don’t say any— mmph!”

Philip stuffed cloth into Christian’s mouth.

“Who are you?”

Johann looked at the student with a dry, indifferent attitude and asked.

“Tom Mitzfeld! You must have heard of the Mitzfeld!”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Lord Carl Mitzfeld, a lesser noble who was the first to pledge loyalty to His Excellency the Supreme Leader, is our great-grandfather!”

Johann looked pitifully at the youth who was puffing out his chest and bragging proudly.

‘Where do I even begin pointing out what’s wrong?’

How long has it been since the noble class collapsed, yet he’s bringing up some lesser noble nonsense?

How ironic that attitude of being proud of a family that pledged loyalty to the Supreme Leader when he was dragged here for participating in an anti-Supreme Leader protest.

There were many other things to point out.

“Ossel won’t last long! Collapse is coming soon, very soon!”

“Soon everyone will know our cause! At least all our humanities friends agreed with me! It’s only a matter of time before protests spread nationwide!”

“The Supreme Leader is hiding the truth! That broadcast Sophia Kohl relayed from the battlefield! That was absolutely not fabricated! Everyone in the club knows too!”

There was no need to employ advanced interrogation techniques.

The Mitzfeld kid spilled everything once Johann scratched a few itchy spots. The more he talked, the more Christian’s face turned black as a corpse.

Johann suddenly thought of the White Raven Order.

Those shabby, naive idealist nobodies. What allowed them to turn their ideals into reality was clearly one madman.

‘If another madman like that appears, even these clumsy protesters could become a threat that can’t be ignored.’

Mitzfeld was a freshman who entered university this year.

Young, ignorant, a rich boy untainted by dirty reality—a hothouse flower type of person. Someone with no personal opinions who just followed his friends’ views, pointlessly passionate and loud, perfectly suited to be an action leader.

If someone like that was following the student council president in anti-government protests, what might the current atmosphere in university districts be like?

“Is it over?”

“It’s not over!”

When Johann chuckled and muttered, Mitzfeld got angry.

“Even if we disappear, those who will carry on our cause will appear endlessly! Like weeds!”

“Mmph! Mmmmph!”

Christian groaned and struggled. Johann left them be and stood up. He was too busy to be tied up with such an obvious case.

***

Johann visited a tavern in District 13’s red-light district.

The Golden Fox.

The sign’s lights would have once sparkled golden, but now they were darkly extinguished—whether to save mana stones or avoid crackdowns.

He entered without hesitation. The bustling hall was visible, and a woman with tawny hair greeted him.

“Welcome…”

When he cut straight to the point and showed his Ossel identification, Ameli’s face hardened briefly before immediately putting on a business smile.

“What an honored guest. I’ll guide you to a private room. Girls, take care of the hall for a moment.”

Two women with pretty faces wearing provocative dresses smiled and approached. Meanwhile, Ameli linked arms with Johann and led him toward the back of the hall.

‘As expected.’

He had already completely understood Lucas Redan’s way of thinking. Erika Brightner and Oscar Fisher would be hiding here.

A steep staircase hidden in the back of the hall.

The second-floor corridor was narrow, with several doors attached to the worn walls. Ameli opened the deepest door.

“Erika, Oscar. Ossel is here.”

“A bounty has been placed on Brightner.”

“Did you come because of that?”

Johann ignored Erika’s sharp wariness and spoke dryly.

“Let’s have a talk.”