9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 25 - White Raven Order — Richard (3)

“You crazy bastard.”

That was the only thing that came out.

Bring down the Supreme Leader? The Supreme Leader who had been reigning like a king for 18 years already?

“What, you hate Kruger too, don’t you?”

“No, even so… that’s different from this! If we keep doing stuff like this, we’ll all end up dead! Yeah, I quit using you as an excuse. Because I don’t want to die!”

Then Lucas laughed.

“Khup, kuk! Hahaha!”

It was a bizarre laugh, as if his mind had snapped.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Heh, you don’t want to die? I don’t want to die either. That’s why I’m doing this. If we don’t kill the Supreme Leader, someday I—no, not just me, but countless people—will be driven into the pit of death. Believe it or not, I know of an identical case. A catastrophe where an entire continent was crushed and shattered under a war-mad supreme leader.”

The whispered voice rang eerily in his ears.

Richard reflexively racked his brain, but nothing came to mind. What historical story could he be talking about?

Lucas, who had been gasping while holding back his laughter, rushed at him with tears welling up and shoved him. Richard, unable to dodge in time, collided with the scrawny body and ended up smacking the back of his head against the floor.

“Ugh!”

“You’re an elite doctor with money and family, but I have nothing. If I don’t want to die, I have to do things that risk death. Some of those things might involve killing others.”

“Kuk…”

For a moment stars danced before his eyes, then he saw Lucas’s pale face sitting astride him. At the same time, the heavy feeling of a pistol pressing deep between his collarbones made him gasp for breath.

‘He’s really insane.’

“Why are you being so extreme? Let’s resolve this with words!”

“Because the world is extreme! You’re extreme too. You’re just heading in a different direction.”

“So you’re going to kill me?”

“What, you don’t think I can?”

“There’s no way you could. Not someone who wants to survive.”

“I have no choice. I don’t have enough guts to leave threatening elements outside the organization.”

“You’re doing things you can’t handle the consequences of?”

“Did I shoot that Ossel thinking everything would go smoothly?”

Richard stubbornly clamped his mouth shut and had a staring contest with him.

Lucas smiled grimly.

And then.

“Kruuuuuuger! White…!”

Suddenly he began shouting at the top of his lungs with all his might.

The spacious, luxurious room rang with the sound. At this volume, it would definitely be heard outside. Maybe not on the first floor where the orchestra was playing, but it would certainly reach the second-floor corridor!

Richard went pale in an instant.

‘He’s going to get us all caught and killed here just because of me?!’

“Stop it, you maniac!”

He stretched out his arm and desperately tried to cover Lucas’s mouth.

“Mmph!”

Lucas struggled and shook off Richard’s hand.

“White…! Pure white passion! A toast to the Supreme Leader’s great conviction, dedicated solely to the people!”

For a moment he stared at Lucas blankly, then his strength completely drained away and he let his struggling body collapse to the floor.

“Crazy…”

“Puhahahaha!”

Lucas giggled and laughed for a long time. He forgot about pointing the gun and just burst into laughter.

‘Now!’

Richard took advantage of his moment of carelessness and forcefully sat up. Lucas bounced off his body and rolled around on the floor, flailing. The pistol he had been gripping tightly flew far away.

Lucas lay gasping on the floor, looking up at him.

“So now you’re going to come at me? Since I can’t shoot you and you’re bigger than me?”

Richard hesitated for a moment. Then Lucas grinned and opened his mouth wide again.

“Kru…!”

“Stop!”

He lunged forward and covered his mouth with both hands. But the moment he read madness in Lucas’s eyes as he made muffled sounds and struggled, all his will to resist evaporated.

“…”

Richard sighed and let him go.

“Why are you really doing this? Are you genuinely threatened by me?”

Lucas shrugged.

“Of course. Well, there’s also the fact that with only six of us, losing one person would be too big a loss. And most importantly, Erika asked me to persuade you.”

He was suddenly speechless.

Erika Brightner.

The person who knew Richard Enke most intimately and a friend who would never let go of their bond of long connection.

After a heavy silence, Richard asked stiffly.

“If I become a member again, will you trust me? Won’t you try to kill me?”

“I’ll believe you with all my heart.”

“…”

Richard didn’t answer.

When he picked up the pistol that had been lying meaninglessly on the floor, the feel in his hand was… something.

“The bullet…”

“Hahahaha! Yeah, there isn’t one!”

The chamber was completely empty.

“It was all an act. There’s no law saying only you can act, right? If there are people who act like good guys, there should be people who act like weirdos too.”

His legs gave out.

‘I fell for such a shallow trick!’

This was the first time he’d felt such defeat since childhood.

“So, what are you going to do?”

Thwack!

In the end, unable to contain himself, he threw a punch at Lucas’s grinning face.

***

The party grew more heated as the night deepened.

Erika, disgusted by the sight of corseted women sending seductive glances at sturdy military generals, was wandering in the garden when she spotted a light flickering in a second-floor window.

It was the signal she had arranged with Lucas beforehand.

“Uuugh, couldn’t you be a little gentler?”

“Keep your mouth shut.”

When she snuck into the guest room to avoid people’s eyes, she found Lucas with black eyes and bruises being treated by a disgruntled-looking Richard.

As Richard dabbed medicine around his eyes and cheeks, Lucas whimpered.

“Why is your face like that?”

“I got beaten up.”

He answered matter-of-factly.

“What?”

“Richard hit me.”

“You deserved it.”

Erika was startled by the irritation in Richard’s voice.

‘I’ve never seen him speak like that.’

Lucas apparently had a talent for making people reveal their true nature.

“You decided to come back?”

“Well, I suppose I have to. He pointed a gun at me and threatened me.”

Richard spat out coldly with an angry face.

“You deserved the beating.”

“Right.”

Grrrrowl!

Suddenly a thunderous sound rumbled from somewhere. It was louder than the fireworks coming from outside, making Erika and Richard whip their heads around.

“Hey, I’m hungry.”

The skin-and-bones Lucas clutched his stomach and muttered.

Well, he had reason to be hungry. He’d been hiding under the guest room bed since morning.

Erika had helped Lucas sneak in today while the whole house was busy preparing for the party.

Lucas had slipped in through the side door where servants received food supplies, then climbed a ladder the gardener used for pruning to infiltrate the second-floor guest room.

Of course, opening doors and moving the ladder was Erika’s job.

“Where have you been wandering around?”

As soon as she returned to the party venue, a hand grabbed her shoulder.

Her father, President Brightner, looked down at his daughter with a displeased expression.

“There were guests looking for you. Haven’t I never interfered with whatever you do on other days? I told you to properly play hostess just for today.”

“…”

Erika stared down at the marble floor with empty eyes.

Just five years ago, if she’d received such scolding, she would have talked back without backing down. She had fought with her father, raising her voice against someone who found fault with everything and tried to silence his daughter, tried to correct her way of thinking.

But not anymore.

After all, once she graduated from university, she wouldn’t need to see his face ever again. There was no need to make things tiresome by stirring up trouble.

“Are you listening?”

“…Yes.”

Erika answered emotionlessly and did as her father wished.

Men and women giggling drunkenly and flushed, those who groveled before the Supreme Leader’s power and coveted the scraps he threw like charity.

Those who truly believed the Supreme Leader was right disgusted her, but those who knew he was wrong yet still collaborated with him were even more repulsive.

Trash who had thrown away justice and conviction for money.

“It’s been a while, Miss Brightner. Shall we dance?”

A young soldier whose name she’d forgotten took her hand and kissed the back of it. For a moment, feeling like a bug was crawling on her hand, she quickly pulled away.

“I’m not feeling well today.”

“Oh, my apologies.”

“Does Erika look happy to you?”

“…”

Lucas, leaning against the wall of the shabby servants’ passage behind a hidden door in a corner of the party hall, asked mockingly.

Richard was looking away from him with a slight frown.

“I haven’t known Erika as long as you have. But I know this one thing. That girl is very unhappy. She might not like me making such a definitive statement. You’re a doctor, right? Can’t you see Erika’s condition?”

“I’m a surgeon, not a psychiatrist.”

“Even if you’re not, you should be able to tell that much. Surely you don’t think Erika’s bad relationship with her father is just ordinary father-daughter quarreling. Why do those two fight? It’s all because of Kruger. Erika told me. How base and despicable her father was. How many families destroyed by Kruger do you think there are throughout Schufaben?”

Without any response, Lucas clicked his tongue at Richard’s back as he turned and walked away.

“Think about it carefully. I’ll wait.”

It was much later before Erika could secretly gather some food. She saw a human silhouette in the shabby, dim corridor.

“You said you were bringing food, why are you so late?”

“Sorry.”

Lucas instantly chewed and swallowed the apple pie Erika handed him, then asked indifferently.

“Why did you refuse to dance?”

“…Were you peeping from here?”

“I was curious when you’d come. It’s a party, don’t you have to dance? Want to dance with me?”

“Forget it, why would I dance with you.”

“Why? Because your eyes look like you’re about to die right now.”

Erika flinched and unconsciously touched the corner of her eyes.

“And this is my first time at a party like this. I wanted to try dancing at least.”

Lucas shrugged and began dancing in a bizarre way she’d never seen before. It wasn’t really dancing but more like struggling.

She burst out laughing at his flailing arms and legs, not knowing the basics of dancing.

“Don’t laugh at me.”

“Alright. One song, at least.”

Just then, the music seeping through the door changed to a slow tune.

Erika took his hand and led him. Lucas moved his body creakily, working hard not to step on her feet.

It was dancing without etiquette or anything else, but strangely, it was enjoyable.

Perhaps for the first time.

***

“Hello.”

“You came.”

“Hello!”

“Oh, hello there, kid?”

“It’s been a while.”

“Woof!”

It’s the season when white frost falls.

On a day when the fully bloomed autumn leaves were preparing to fall, Mrs. Schmidt left early in the morning after cooking, saying she was going to a relative’s funeral.

A cold and desolate late autumn evening.

The White Raven Order friends, contacted by Daniel, began gathering at Mrs. Schmidt’s boarding house at different times.

“…Is he really not coming?”

Daniel glanced at the clock on the wall and muttered.

“I don’t know. When I called, he hung up without saying anything.”

Just as Erika answered that way.

Knock knock!

Someone knocked on the front door from outside. Lucas ran out and opened the door to find Richard standing somewhat awkwardly with his medical bag as always.

“Good evening.”

“If you were going to come back anyway, why act so precious. Come in quickly. It’s cold out.”

Richard sighed lightly and stepped into the boarding house.

All members of the White Raven Order had gathered.

It had been a full three months since that summer day when they’d taken Lucas to the abandoned house to test him.

The six people sitting around the kitchen table were silent for a while.

Each had different surging emotions, but it was equally difficult for all of them to speak carelessly.

The first to break the eternal silence with a light comment was Lucas.

“…Anyone want dinner?”

The food taken from Mrs. Schmidt’s pantry was very delicious.

Georg practically inhaled it, and even Erika, who usually ate much better meals, made sounds of admiration.

After everyone had filled their stomachs, the atmosphere became a bit more harmonious.

In the fireplace, logs crackled as they burned, and the drowsy air made people’s hearts soft.

“Ahem!”

Daniel cleared his throat and drew everyone’s attention.

“Erika, Richard. Thank you for coming back. And thank you too, Lucas, for your hard work.”

“Well, I’m just fixing my own mistake. So now I’m officially recognized as a member, right?”

“Of course! You’re already our friend. Everyone thinks so, right?”

Oscar said cheerfully, looking around the table. Erika and Georg with bright expressions, Richard nodding as if he had no choice.

“Well, that’s good news. Then, as a newly recognized member, I have something I’d like to say.”

Suddenly, an ominous smile began to play around Lucas’s lips.