9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 195 - Hatred and Trust (4)

Johann opened the door without hesitation. However, the attack he had prepared for didn’t come.

“……”

Instead, even someone as composed as him found his body stiffening momentarily at the bizarre sight that unfolded.

What he saw the moment the door opened were tanks filling the walls.

Dozens of tanks large enough to contain a full-grown adult male were attached to the walls.

“Ahhh!!”

Philip, who had shone his lantern inside, let out a startled cry and stumbled backward.

“M-merpeople?!”

“They have legs, don’t they.”

Something that appeared to be human children—or rather, something questionable whether they could even be called human—floated in each tank as corpses.

To describe them, they looked like fetuses that had been crudely enlarged in size without properly developing.

Whether their growth rates had differed individually, or they had been researched in stages, the degree of completion of each ‘fetus’ varied.

Some hadn’t even formed proper shapes yet, others barely had heads and limbs grown, some had wing-like appendages sprouting from their shoulders, others were nearly fully developed with eyes, noses, and mouths attached.

In any case, it was quite a disgusting sight.

And the growling sounds were coming from a corner of the room where one tank seemed to have broken, spilling water everywhere.

“Ugh! The smell!”

Philip, who had approached while trembling, covered his nose.

In the puddle lay one elongated ‘fetus,’ gasping as if about to breathe its last. The water gave off a terrible stench.

“It doesn’t seem to be ordinary water. Is it absorbing nutrients from the water instead of through an umbilical cord?”

Johann considered several theories, but soon realized it was pointless and shook his head. What interested him wasn’t the contents of the tanks.

He approached a small table placed in the center of the room, positioned to overlook all the tanks.

A thick file folder was displayed prominently. The moment Johann opened the cover, one corner of his mouth curved upward.

「I have failed.」

After confirming the confession written in large letters on the first page of the research journal.

***

The only sounds in the silence were the dying fetus’s gasping and Philip’s tense breathing.

“……First Lieutenant Philip Decker.”

Finally, after tucking the research journal into his jacket, Johann spoke.

“Yes sir!”

Philip stared intently at Johann.

The cigarette butts piled up beneath his feet and the smoke filling the secret room.

These were traces of chain-smoking for thirty minutes without saying a word. Just as Johann always did when he was extremely tense.

“Earlier you asked if I trusted Lucas Redan.”

“That’s right, sir!”

“I don’t like gambling. But right now, I have no choice but to bet on him.”

Johann’s expression as he spoke looked somehow pleased, which sent chills down Philip’s spine.

“From the moment we leave here, consider ourselves hunted.”

Yet Johann’s voice remained dry without any hint of tension.

“We’ll be living as fugitives until this regime falls. What do you want to do?”

“……”

He remembered Johann’s cold face from twelve years ago, pointing at him.

He also remembered the hypocritical voice that laughed cheerfully, saying he was a sturdy boy who could run fast.

The orphanage director, called the ‘witch,’ pressed down on Philip’s shoulder, pushing him forward like a sacrificial offering. Her long nails dug into his shoulder, causing pain.

The extremely handsome but coldly impressive man asked with completely disinterested eyes.

“Is he smart?”

“Well……”

“If you lie, I’ll rip your throat out.”

“N-no! He’s about average, I’d say! A bit slow-witted, but decent enough……”

“Physical abilities?”

“Oh, that’s where this facility—I mean, this whole neighborhood—would say he’s the best! Philip is fast at running and strong too!”

“I’ll take this one.”

“Thank you! Thank you! I’ll prepare him right away!”

And that hand.

“Who are you, mister?”

“Follow me.”

The grip that seized him as they left the orphanage.

Unlike his mother’s small, warm hand that had abandoned him, that large, cold hand still seemed to be holding onto him.

“Choose.”

“……I’ll follow you.”

Philip could never betray his superior.

***

It was a moonless night.

“Secretary.”

Someone whispered while shaking my body. When I opened my eyes slightly, a slender man stood in the darkness.

“Julian? What is it?”

Julian Kaschtel. A Supreme Leader Department civil servant who had become my ally first. Which means he was the quickest to read the situation and had the sharpest mind.

“Communication from Colonel Werner.”

He held out a small voice transmitter. It was a device I’d had him make by slowly stealing parts over more than a month to avoid surveillance by the floating castle’s mages.

I took the voice transmitter and gestured to Julian. He quietly put in earplugs and stepped back.

“Speak.”

“Is this definitely free from wiretapping threats?”

Johann’s voice was quite low and intermittent. Since it was a makeshift device cobbled together by civil servants rather than technicians, it couldn’t be helped.

“There’s no such thing as absolute in this world, you know? But at least for now, yes. It won’t be caught by wiretapping. What’s going on?”

“Your guess was correct.”

The moment I heard that brief answer, complex thoughts raced through my mind.

“The knight order was officially disbanded in 1882, immediately after the Supreme Leader took office. And in 1890, Ferint was established.”

“What happened in those eight years? Did the knight order members change their identities?”

Even as I asked, I knew it was a stupid question.

I thought of Damier.

It was hard to say he was at least over forty, a former royal knight order member.

Even if he maintained his youthful appearance through magic, the atmosphere Damier projected absolutely couldn’t be called middle-aged. He was closer to a naive child who knew nothing of the world.

Also, the individual physical capabilities of Ferint, who were no different from living weapons, were highly suspicious.

‘The knight order I saw in Kruger’s memories was certainly powerful, but not to that extent.’

Kruger had been exceptionally outstanding, but on average, Ferint was several times stronger than the knight order.

Having observed both, I could only reach that conclusion.

If the knight order hadn’t simply changed names to become Ferint but the members had changed too, then where the hell did Ferint come from?

After seeing Kruger’s memories, what remained strongest in my mind wasn’t that bastard’s tragic childhood or his dangerously twisted ideology.

It was that one question.

The question grew larger and larger, snowballing.

Where did the knight order disappear to?

Why did Ferint begin operating eight years later?

Why did Kruger, who trusted no one and was more skilled than anyone, create something like a personal guard?

Plus, I had a tickling premonition that investigating that side might yield clues to shake Kruger.

In the end, I met with Johann and entrusted him with the investigation, despite the risk of being discovered. And now it was time to open the box of truth.

“Are you seriously asking that?”

“No, I was just butting in unnecessarily. So what is it? What are Ferint’s roots?”

From the device came the sound of Johann clicking his tongue.

“Ferint’s members aren’t naturally born humans. They’re creations that the Supreme Leader ordered Moritz Riepen and his research team to make.”

“So you’re saying they’re artificial humans or something?”

“That’s right. More precisely, it started in 1870.”

1870. The year the revolution occurred.

“The Supreme Leader—no, he would have been knight commander then. He secretly sought out Dr. Moritz Riepen and established a research facility. Dr. Riepen was researching ways to enhance human bodies and utilize magic in combat.

The Supreme Leader had knights come and go from the research facility, and Dr. Riepen and his research team selected those with the finest genetics among them to create children.”

“What……”

For a moment I was speechless, but Johann’s calm explanation continued.

“Approximately 100 knights frequented the research facility. They changed partners repeatedly to bear children. They had to find the most perfect combination, you see. The research team artificially injected magic power into these children to make them grow. Failed specimens were disposed of during the process. Only the highest-quality talents, carefully filtered through stringent selection—”

“Wait, hold on.”

I interrupted Johann as nausea rose up. I put down the device and covered my mouth. Julian was still facing away with his earplugs in.

‘What the fuck is this?’

A feeling of uncontrollable disgust spreading throughout my body. The target I already despised to death became even more loathsome with this unpleasant sensation.

My heart was beating like mad.

I briefly covered my mouth with my hand and bit my fingers and the back of my hand roughly.

I wanted to grab anything within reach, throw it around and smash things while going wild, but that was impossible.

“……Fine, continue.”

I barely managed to calm myself and muttered. Johann clicked his tongue again and continued.

“Only the selected talents received strict training and brainwashing education to become Ferint. Human growth couldn’t be accomplished so suddenly. Training and education were the same. The twenty years from 1870 to 1890 were required for that reason.”

“Then what happened to the knights who bore the children?”

“After the Supreme Leader came to power, they ostensibly received substantial compensation and retired. Afterward, they met their deaths through various causes. Not one remains now. Most are presumed to be assassinations, but there were suicides too, so it might have been simple obedience to orders.”

“The assassinations—surely Ferint didn’t personally handle disposing of the knights?”

“At least Ossel never assassinated knights, so it must be assumed so. Considering that Ferint erased records of the knight order, it’s certainly possible.”

“They erased records?”

“Ferint’s first task was disposing of records about the knight order. They seemed to have traveled the entire country, burning all books. Measures to cover up the knight order’s activities and suspicious deaths, it appears.”

“Did you hear this story directly from Director Riepen?”

“How could that be possible?”

Johann replied bluntly, as if scolding.

“Riepen is already dead. Until a few days ago, he was researching to create second-generation Ferint, but ultimately failed and committed suicide out of fear of the Supreme Leader’s retaliation—”

“Second generation? So Ferint made children with each other again?”

“No, they tried to cultivate humans using magic with their genetic material extracted.”

I thought of the biotechnology that had existed on Earth. Those endeavors that claimed to surpass divine power through highly advanced science. Here, it was trying to manifest through magic.

“Anything else you found out?”

“Whether first or second generation, they made bodies optimized to respond to canil components. That means canil research has been going on for about twenty years too. That’s about it.”

“Ugh……”

I clutched my head and groaned. My forehead was throbbing and things were spinning before my eyes. The truth was more toxic than expected, making it hard to keep my senses.

But falling into thought with this information was for later. I barely managed to suppress my headache and opened my mouth.

“What about the research materials?”

“I burned them.”

He said that, but he was probably treasuring them somewhere.

“Johann, were you the first to discover the research team’s deaths?”

“Seems like it.”

“Ah, right. Obvious question, but run away immediately. If you want to live. The call has gone on quite long, I should start preparing too.”

“Lucas Redan.”

Suddenly Johann’s voice dropped low. Already low-pitched, but now it sounded almost threatening.

“Do you trust me?”

“……What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said.”

“You’re talking nonsense. Would I trust you personally? But I trust your judgment. You’ve been straddling the fence between me and Kruger all along anyway, haven’t you? Not abandoning me as a card. And by now I thought you’d know which card has a higher probability of winning.”

“Is that so.”

“Any more questions? We won’t have the chance to communicate again. So handle things well on your own.”

“Obviously.”

“I’m hanging up now. Take care of yourself.”

I turned off the voice transmitter’s power. Then I stomped on the part where components were loosely attached, smashing the device completely.

When I tapped Julian’s shoulder, he removed his earplugs and turned around.

“Your orders.”

“Burn these components.”

“Understood.”

After Julian left the room soundlessly, I lay back down on the bed.

‘Believe, believe.’

What choice do I have but to believe at this point?

***

“Ossel has collapsed.”

Even at my report, Kruger showed no surprise.

“I know. More importantly, that report—did it come through you?”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

I bowed my head while sneaking a glance at Eve Clothier. Her face was subtly hardened.

That would be natural, since such an important report had come to me first.

“What should we do?”

“Don’t worry about it. Ferint will handle it.”

“Understood.”

Something I noticed while following Kruger around.

Neither I nor Eve Clothier could access even a single word of reports about Ferint.

‘Do they deliver through a different route? Probably from the Ferint side.’

And the Supreme Leader would also give orders directly without going through anyone else.

After hearing Johann’s information, I spent the whole night analyzing. My conclusion was this.

‘Ferint wasn’t simply created for security purposes. They’re Kruger’s true hands and feet, and secret weapons for war. They would have continued going in and out of battlefields even after I stepped down as commander.’

This was a race against time.

While I was lost in leisurely thought, I saw Kruger nod lightly. Two sturdy civil servants approached and grabbed my arms.

“Where are you planning to confine me this time, Your Excellency?”

“Somewhere you can neither die nor kill me, Lucas.”

When I threw him a sarcastic question with a grin, Kruger also smiled in response.

Perhaps because of tetanus concerns, this time they safely carried me inside, changed me into clean white clothing.

With restraints on my arms and legs and neck, a black blindfold over my eyes, I was secured to the wall of some unknown space.

‘Ah, this is going to be rough.’

How long do I have to stay like this? My friends better come through before I go insane.

‘It won’t take long.’

I believed that.

Actually, there was another report that came in simultaneously with the news of Ossel’s collapse, which I deliberately didn’t relay.

「Elven Federation Declared in the Great Desert」

And

「King of Cortana Missing」