9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 194 - Hatred and Trust (3)

“You’re here.”

Supreme Leader Friedrich Kruger greeted the two of them while lounging sideways in his armchair as always.

Behind him stood secretaries in neat posture. Eve Clothier and Lucas Redan.

“Are the noise control operations going well?”

At the Supreme Leader’s question, Johann and Police Chief Mates took turns giving their reports. How frequently the protests were occurring, how they were controlling the demonstrators.

“Your strategy is working excellently, Lucas. Congratulations. Fighting fire with fire, brilliant!”

“As I always say, I merely voice Your Excellency’s will.”

When the Supreme Leader praised him with laughter, Lucas replied with an arrogant attitude. Police Chief Mates flinched slightly, still unaccustomed to witnessing that scene.

“Then read my mind. What will happen next?”

“You’ll restrain violent suppression while controlling the protests from spreading further, and spread distorted fake news to mix truth with lies. Of course, it’s just emergency treatment. On the surface it’ll be peaceful, but discontent will slowly accumulate internally. And when it reaches a critical point at some moment—”

Lucas clapped his palms together forcefully.

“Bam!”

“What needs to be done to prevent that?”

“There’s only one method. Winning the war.”

“Hahahaha! You know well!”

Kruger burst into loud laughter.

***

After the audience with the Supreme Leader ended, it was time to descend to ground level.

“This way.”

The civil servant in charge of guidance led him down a different path than when they’d arrived. Rather than going outside, it was a narrow alley beside the spire that twisted deeper and more complexly inward.

“This seems like the wrong path.”

“Secretary Redan is waiting for you.”

At the civil servant’s barely audible words, he casually glanced around. Not a single passerby, and it was a side path blocked by high walls where surveillance would be difficult.

‘Has he already seized control? He must be grasping and utilizing the structure of this castle.’

He calmly pieced together the situation and waited briefly when Lucas came running with quick steps.

“What?”

“What do you mean ‘what’? We don’t have time, so let’s handle just the main points. Are the kids doing well?”

“They’re doing very well. Nothing special to report except that Ian Keller and Nina Perez have joined.”

“That worked out quite well. Next, I found a method to discover his weakness.”

“You didn’t discover it, but found a method to discover it, which means you have something to negotiate with me.”

“Exactly. Dig into Ferint.”

“Are you insane?”

“I know it’s difficult. That’s why I can’t touch them directly myself. You should start with the knight order from the kingdom era if possible. Since that’s Ferint’s predecessor, there should be some clues. And that canil factory we raided before, no, the research facility too. Looking through the materials, that director of the national research facility, what was his name, Moritz Riepen? That man seems to have carried out all sorts of dirty experiments. Think of him as the Supreme Leader’s hidden hand and foot, so to speak. And… what, what’s with those eyes?”

“You.”

Johann lowered his already mosquito-like voice even further to whisper.

“What did you see that day?”

That day, afterward.

He had been continuously consumed by suspicion.

The bizarre cube filled with blood.

That thing called the royal treasure never opened in the end, and the Supreme Leader simply handed it to Lucas telling him to keep it safe.

But the undercurrent felt for a moment when they exchanged it and the strange look the two shared as they watched each other.

‘He saw something. Or experienced something.’

Johann was certain of it.

“Perceptive.”

Lucas’s lips twitched.

“I did see something. If I tell you that seeing it is how I can now dig for his weakness, will you believe it?”

“If I say I believe it right now on the spot, would you be able to trust that answer?”

“That’s true too. I’ll tell you for now.”

He stepped closer to Johann and whispered.

“I think I can kill him. Finally.”

A thrilling exhilaration flowed up Johann’s spine.

***

Touching Ferint was truly insane talk. But the advice to investigate starting with the knight order made sense.

The knight order was an organization with over 300 years of distinguished history.

Originally the Royal Knight Order, it became simply the Knight Order when the kingdom fell through revolution, and after the Supreme Leader’s coup became Ferint.

Given that long history, related materials should be abundant.

Heroic tales, novels, letter collections, research papers, memoirs.

That should have been the case.

“You’re saying everything has disappeared?”

“Yes! That’s correct!”

Ten days had passed since meeting Lucas Redan.

If Johann left his post it would be too suspicious, and increasing the number of people involved would increase the danger, so he couldn’t entrust it to lower-ranking Ossels. In the end, First Lieutenant Philip Decker traveled throughout the country conducting secret investigations.

And today, Johann was dumbfounded listening to Philip’s words.

How could it be such a coincidence.

Starting about 14 years ago, materials about the knight order began disappearing from libraries nationwide.

14 years ago would be 1890, eight years after Kruger’s coup.

That was when Johann was entering Ossel and building his career in earnest, when the economy was growing explosively and everyone was drunk on happiness.

“Certainly, information was easy to find before then.”

Johann hadn’t attended school properly. To overcome that weakness, after being selected for Ossel, he frequented libraries absorbing knowledge in various fields.

He read an enormous number of books especially to understand this country’s power structure. Naturally he’d seen history books dealing with the knight order. He’d even memorized their chronology. He definitely remembered it.

“That’s right! When I was little, my mother used to read me fairy tale books with knights!”

Philip said energetically.

‘Why specifically starting 14 years ago?’

Johann recalled that period, trying to remember events that had occurred then, but there was nothing special.

It was an era overflowing with hope, so ominous incidents were much fewer than now. Of course, anti-Supreme Leader forces appeared steadily, but they wouldn’t have committed such strange acts.

No matter how he thought about it, the conclusion was singular. The knight order was already smoothly being forgotten as ‘relics of the old generation’ at that time.

‘They were beings who would have been buried in history even if left alone. If they went to such thorough lengths to erase them, it definitely means there’s something they wanted to hide.’

It would be natural to think it was the Supreme Leader’s order. But doubts nagged at him.

If such a nationwide record erasure was implemented, Ossel must have been involved, but Johann had never heard any related stories.

The only group that moved actively as the Supreme Leader’s hands and feet at that time was Ossel alone. The police were too exposed to civilians for such secret missions, and Ferint would have been before its systems were established.

No, at least as far as Johann knew, they had just begun activities around that time…

“Is that it.”

Johann sneered coldly.

“Ferint revealed itself around 1890. That timing matches exactly with when the records began disappearing. Then the culprit is obvious.”

The wind, beginning to turn chilly, knocked at the windows. Johann threw the materials into the fireplace. The rough wastepaper crackled as it burned.

The problem was why Ferint had deliberately destroyed materials about the knight order.

If they really wanted to hide their roots, they wouldn’t have left rumors that they were the knight order’s successor to spread unofficially.

And to begin with…

“Why did Ferint take eight whole years after the Supreme Leader took power to reveal itself? The Supreme Leader had the knight order completely under control. Yet it took so long for Ferint to become active, which means some preparation was necessary.”

“Perhaps it was established earlier but news leaked out belatedly? Or they might have spread false information.”

Philip’s question was reasonable.

“That might be so. It’s just that we can’t confirm it because of that stupid Lucas Redan.”

The old Ossel headquarters, which Lucas Redan and the White Raven Order had blown up, had vast materials stored in its basement. They were all ashes now.

Perhaps clues had been contained within them, but it was meaningless regret now.

“The blank eight years. Redan must have had the same question. And he already showed the way.”

“Do you trust him, Colonel?”

“……”

Johann briefly looked back over the past few years.

‘Do I trust Lucas Redan?’

The conclusion came immediately.

***

Nighttime Lüdelheim was no longer as quiet as before.

“We want to know the truth!”

“Kill the reactionary bastards!”

Even after dark, protesters clashed with each other, and crimes like theft, arson, robbery, and murder occurred taking advantage of the chaos.

This confusion was advantageous for people wanting to move in secret. Like fugitives, like the White Raven Order, like Johann and Philip walking through alleys in shabby, inconspicuous clothes.

Since it had to be handled with utmost secrecy, they brought no other subordinates. Trains had stopped running and carriages might attract attention. They simply walked silently.

Johann, who knew Lüdelheim’s geography inside and out, headed for District 16 where the national research facility was located via the fastest route.

The problem was…

“G-give me money!”

These annoying incidents could occur.

“Just throw your wallet and stay quiet, then I won’t hurt you!”

The robber’s timid, hesitant tone, pale trembling hands, bloodshot hollow eyes and drool dripping from his mouth.

Johann slowly raised his hands.

Bang!

“Aaaahhh!”

He didn’t even need to give orders. In an instant Philip’s body disappeared from view, then he grabbed the robber’s neck and slammed him to the ground.

“What should we do?”

Philip, who had kicked away the knife after violently stomping on the robber’s wrist, asked quietly.

“Just leave him. We don’t have time.”

After kicking the groaning robber with his cracked skull once more, the two resumed walking.

“For even college students to be so addled by canil that they resort to robbery, it’s the end times.”

“Indeed.”

Johann muttered without any emotion and Philip thoughtlessly agreed.

District 16 was desolately empty.

This outermost region of Lüdelheim was one giant industrial complex, but now that companies had gone bankrupt in succession, it looked half like ruins. Only munitions factories operated day and night.

“No one around, as expected.”

Lüdelheim First Research Facility.

The main gate sealed with chains and high walls, with only steel frames remaining of the abandoned building inside. Just as it was before.

When they’d come previously, lower-ranking Ossels following Lieutenant General Kaiser had been shooting wildly while high on canil, but now the building site was utterly quiet.

‘Should I have made a move then?’

Johann had killed Lieutenant General Kaiser and absorbed his entire faction. But he’d left this research facility alone without doing anything.

Not because he lacked interest, but because he’d instinctively sensed it was territory he shouldn’t touch.

Even if he’d known things would turn out like this, it would have been the same.

Johann had no intention of choosing between Lucas Redan and the Supreme Leader until the very end.

“Let’s go.”

When Johann gestured, Philip ran quickly. After a running start, he leaped through the air and lightly cleared the wall. Johann similarly jumped over and landed softly.

He knew where the door was hidden. Crossing the vast empty lot with long strides, he swept away dirt where the footsteps sounded different.

“No one has entered for at least several days.”

“That’s right.”

Philip grasped the heavy rusted handle of the iron door embedded in the ground and pulled it open. With a grinding groan, the iron door creaked open.

They climbed down the ladder, but unlike before, the lights didn’t turn on automatically.

The corridor’s air, having cooled completely, engulfed the two men. Johann lit a lantern without being flustered.

“Take the lead.”

“M-me, sir?”

“……”

“Yes sir!”

The somewhat cowardly Philip slowly began walking.

***

The research facility’s interior was intact except for some accumulated dust.

‘That’s the most suspicious part.’

The research rooms visible through glass were empty.

It had been over a year since Johann and Lucas Redan raided the research facility. The director had said they’d soon move to a larger factory, so closure procedures should have been completed.

But why were there traces of recent human activity when only the equipment had been removed from the corridors and rooms?

“It’s a dead end.”

Philip, who had been walking straight, said. A white solid wall appeared before them.

“That can’t be right.”

Bang!

Johann pulled out his pistol and shot the glass window. With an ear-splitting crash, the window shattered.

Beep beep beep!

But no security guards came running or researchers emerged. Only alarm sounds echoed hollowly in the quiet corridor.

“It wasn’t an abandoned facility after all.”

“Why not?”

“If it was, they would have taken all the mana stones. These days when even one piece is precious, they wouldn’t have left them like this.”

“As expected of the Colonel!”

Philip’s eyes sparkled at the simple deduction. Being so accustomed to it, Johann moved on without comment.

Instead he looked at the white wall before him. When he knocked it with his knuckles, it made a hollow sound as if empty inside.

“Is there magic on it?”

He pressed his palm flat against the wall and pushed. With a smooth sliding sensation, the wall moved sideways and space appeared.

The lock seemed to have been released along with the alarm. Probably an escape measure.

The secret space inside the wall was pitch dark, but it was much larger than outside.

The large room contained nothing but the corpses of about twenty people.

“Hmm.”

Johann rolled over a corpse with his foot and shone the lantern on its face.

“All researchers.”

People in white coats were all lying peacefully as if asleep. Syringes were scattered nearby.

The sweet smell floating in the air. No need to think about what it was.

“Canil overdose. Suicide?”

“The research director is here.”

The corpse Philip pointed to was definitely Research Director Moritz Riepen. Johann stepped over his body and headed for a door deeper in the room.

For some time now, a strange growling sound had been leaking out, muffled by the alarm noise.