9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 40 - Turning Point (2)

“Why are you making me do this kind of menial work!”

“Then who else would do it?”

The letters that Philip had grumbled and painted last night in hushed tones.

“Ugh, what a mess.”

I ran my fingers through my hair with an exasperated expression and looked around.

The street graffiti wasn’t the only problem.

The area around the tavern was in complete chaos, as if it had been bombed.

Small flyers were piled up like mountains along the roadside, and dozens of flyers had been forcibly stuffed into mailboxes until they looked ready to burst. Flyers were hung in the most bizarre places—on rooftops, between shrubs, everywhere imaginable.

People were restless and anxious at this shocking sight, stealing glances at me.

I silently picked up one of the flyers and read it.

「The White Raven Order demands: The brutal torturer and mad dictator Kruger must step down immediately!」

It was propaganda material with powerful text and even illustrations.

“Oh my, what is all this?”

Erika, who had come out late wearing a shawl over her indoor clothes, widened her eyes in shock with perfect acting.

“I don’t know. I think it might be their doing.”

“Them? You don’t mean…”

As Erika’s face hardened, the people who had gathered around looked at her with concern.

Everyone was thinking the same thing.

Those who had kidnapped Miss Brightner to threaten the Supreme Leader. Those who had dared to scrawl terrible curses against the Supreme Leader in every corner of the cave.

The reactionaries called the White Raven Order—a name that sounded holy but belonged to subversives.

That they were targeting Erika again.

I pulled her close.

“Go inside for now. I’ll handle this somehow—”

But under everyone’s worried gaze, Erika, who had been trembling slightly, took a deep breath and looked around at the onlookers.

“Don’t worry, everyone.”

Her calm and composed voice spread an atmosphere of surprise. She continued each word clearly and reliably.

“I’m fine. I’ve already escaped from their clutches once, haven’t I? Neither I nor Owner Redan will bow to these traitors.”

A wave of emotion spread at her truly reassuring words.

“As expected of Miss Brightner!”

Starting with someone, applause and cheers rang out.

‘My, what innocent people.’

I exchanged glances with Erika and smiled bitterly.

The beginning of an intricately planned performance.

From now on, Erika and I would once again take the stage and move exactly as Ossel—or rather, Major Johann Werner—wanted.

And while doing so, we would have to gain our own benefits.

Erika solidifying her image as a steadfast young lady who doesn’t yield to hardships was just a small part of that.

***

“Oh my, what on earth is this?”

“Police! Call the police!”

“What kind of ruffian would do such a thing…!”

The flyers weren’t scattered only in front of our shop.

While we had been particularly heavily targeted by the terrorism, thousands of flyers had appeared throughout District 13 of Lüdelheim.

Ordinary residential areas, schools, factories, parks, shopping districts.

「The brutal torturer and mad dictator Kruger must step down immediately!」

It was an enormous quantity.

District 13 was once again thrown into chaos, and police were dispatched en masse to collect the flyers frantically while questioning citizens.

Two police officers were assigned to Erika for round-the-clock protection. It was quite a significant privilege.

“Isn’t two too few? Those bastards might try to kidnap her again. This time could be really dangerous!”

When I protested with an irritated expression, the police officer struggled to appease me.

“We’re sorry. We’re short on manpower. But we’re keeping a close watch, and we’ll make sure she doesn’t get caught up in any danger.”

The police really looked frantic. From what I heard, the matter had been escalated to the police headquarters again.

Of course it had—this was the big event that Johann and I had thoroughly prepared for over two weeks!

The entire White Raven Order had rushed to copy flyers by hand and spent the night running around District 13 distributing them.

My first role was finished.

Now for the next phase. Time to pass the baton to Johann.

***

“Aaaaaahhh!”

Johann stood in front of a room where terrible screams were leaking out, his face expressionless.

The Colonel must be panting as if he were about to die from rage, relieving his mood with cruel whipping.

All because of the flyer terrorism.

Less than a month had passed since the Colonel had demanded that he bring clues about the White Raven Order. The reactionaries had resumed their activities on a much larger scale than before, as if mocking the Colonel.

In the Colonel’s current state, he would give anyone a taste of hell for even the slightest suspicion.

Regardless of how powerful and influential they were.

That’s how simple-minded the Colonel was, completely lacking any “political sense.” That’s why despite being over forty, he was stuck managing the outskirts of Lüdelheim without any promotion.

While Johann was inwardly sneering, the door burst open and the Colonel came out, drenched in sweat and blood.

“Long live the Great Supreme Leader!”

“Hah… Long live the Supreme Leader. Major Werner, do you have anything to report?”

The Colonel’s voice was edged with anger. Johann quickly presented his documents before the sparks could fly his way.

“I plan to raid the homes of suspicious individuals. Please authorize the search warrant.”

“Good, good. Use any means necessary to catch and kill those bastards!”

“I’ll report immediately if we achieve results.”

The Colonel took the pen Johann respectfully offered and signed the documents without even looking at them properly.

Ossel wielded enormous power, but Johann, being just a major, couldn’t arbitrarily arrest anyone or conduct house searches.

At least, not in principle.

Naturally, higher-ranking Ossels helped their subordinates by granting them authority, ensuring they faced no responsibility even when acting arrogantly.

Of course, there were also higher-ranking Ossels who kept all authority in their own hands and thoroughly controlled their subordinates.

But the Colonel wasn’t one of them.

He was only interested in extracting confessions through torture and somehow repaying the Supreme Leader’s grace, so he granted whatever Johann requested.

So Johann could commit any act without consequence. At least within District 13.

***

Crash! Clang!

“Kyaaah!”

“Wh-what is the meaning of this!”

As the sun moved west and dusk settled gloomily, a mansion in District 13’s wealthy area was thrown into chaos.

Those in black Ossel uniforms stormed in, overturning all kinds of furniture, breaking windows, opening every drawer, throwing items onto the floor, and beginning to dig up the garden soil.

Leading the lower-ranking Ossels was Lieutenant Philip Decker, while Major Johann Werner stood behind with his arms crossed, watching expressionlessly.

The man who came running out in panic at the maids’ screams turned pale as a sheet when he saw Johann.

“M-Major, what on earth is…”

Johann gestured to Philip to continue and approached him.

“It’s been a while, Manager Schäfer. Shall we have a talk?”

Johann’s hand gripped his shoulder as if to crush it. Schäfer’s entire body began trembling as he looked ready to vomit.

His eyes swept over the Ossels hard at work.

They were roughly and diligently searching every corner of the mansion without even glancing at him.

Realizing there was no room for resistance, Schäfer was dragged by Johann’s force to a corner of the reception room.

Bang!

Johann grabbed Schäfer’s head and slammed it against the wall.

“Ugh!”

Schäfer let out a pained scream, but Johann’s face remained expressionless.

“What kind of stupid stunt is this? Did you think you could escape from under me?”

At Johann’s cold words, Schäfer gasped and desperately begged.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I never meant to…! It was a mistake. I never intended to go against your will, Major. Just once, just once, please forgive me!”

Johann watched him quietly.

He released Schäfer’s head that he had been gripping tightly. The man who had been pleading and coughing collapsed limply and looked up at Johann while panting.

“Run away.”

The cold voice settled down.

“If you don’t want to die right now. Run as far away as you can.”

Johann turned around and walked out of the reception room.

“Did you find anything?”

Philip shook his head.

“No suspicious items have been found so far.”

“Search every nook and cranny without missing a spot.”

Schäfer fled.

He didn’t know why Johann had given him a chance to live.

He thought this itself might be a trap, but he instinctively knew. If he didn’t run away immediately, he would really die.

Without even settling his business affairs, he ran endlessly with only his ID, passport, and valuables.

Fortunately, he was confident in his ability to flee. Hadn’t he absconded from his hometown once before?

***

It was my turn to step up again.

I looked up at a mansion that was luxurious for District 13—not quite as grand as the Brightner mansion, but still showing signs of considerable wealth.

The garden was torn up into a mess, with broken windows here and there creating a desolate atmosphere.

Finn Schäfer, was it?

When Johann pointed him out, I could immediately recall his face. He was also a wealthy figure in District 13 who frequented our tavern.

He had a rat-like appearance and was always furtively looking around. I remembered his servile behavior, only agreeing with the stories of those better than him.

‘Though that’s not a crime punishable by death.’

Johann wanted to kill him. He didn’t tell me why in detail, only saying he was “an annoying fellow.”

‘It’s obvious. Some trivial reason like he got out of his control or became an obstacle.’

By using my hands to kill him, he also intended to send me a warning.

‘That if I’m uncooperative, I could end up the same way at any time…’

A sneer escaped me.

I wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Schäfer was probably frantically fleeing for his life by now.

My second role was to set a trap from which he could never escape.

“Hey, let’s go in quickly. This is heavy.”

Oscar’s grumbling voice came from behind. He was carrying a bulging bag.

“Shut up, porter.”

By now, Erika would be holding the police’s attention.

I closed the tavern door as I did every day and returned to the boarding house. After confirming that Mrs. Schmidt was fast asleep, Oscar and I slipped out and walked diligently to this place.

“Let’s go in.”

With the owner disappearing overnight, all the servants had fled as well.

Roughly surveying the dark house, I could tell that the quick-witted servants had taken all the valuable items.

“Where would be good?”

After wandering around the mansion and pondering, I discovered that the floorboards in a corner of the luxurious bathroom were slightly rotted.

“That spot looks good.”

When I scraped the creaking floorboard with a pocket knife, the plank came off.

“Perfect size?”

Oscar put the items from his bag into the hole and fitted the plank back in place.

“But no matter how much we’re cooperating with the Ossel, to do this to a person…”

“I told you. He’s not completely innocent. And you promised not to fear bloodshed, didn’t you?”

When my voice dropped dryly, Oscar seemed startled and hurriedly waved his hands.

“I’m not opposing this plan! Our name will become more widely known, and if we have to be used by Ossel anyway, your idea that we should use them too is right!”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Just, it feels a bit unsettling.”

“…”

I said nothing and met his eyes. He soon sighed and turned his head away.

He had read my expression.

‘You’ll get used to it.’

***

“A radio broadcast?”

I stared blankly at the woman sitting at the bar table in perfect formal attire, smiling.

From the moment she entered, she felt a bit different from ordinary customers, so I had been watching her.

She had an enthusiastic expression with sparkling eyes and looked young, in her early twenties.

She ordered beer and sipped it while staring intently at Erika and me. When I passed nearby, she grabbed my sleeve.

“Owner Redan! I’ve heard so much about you! I’m Sophia Kohl. I work at the National Radio Broadcasting Station. Could you come on our show and tell your story?”

Hmm, this wasn’t part of the plan.