9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 59 - Catastrophe (2)

The fire spread further and further.

Nearby residents and newspaper reporters ran around frantically, shouting all kinds of things.

I was apprehended by police and subjected to some kind of interrogation, heard precautionary warnings, and signed a statement absolutely denying that I had committed arson.

“Where are the other employees?”

“I don’t know. It’s a day off.”

“Damn it, what kind of fire…”

A police officer cursed as flames suddenly shot up high, carried by the wind.

The surrounding roads were completely jammed due to traffic control, filled with the neighing of horses, and the shouts of people who had lost their homes and shops were deafeningly loud.

However, at some point, a familiar sound had been penetrating through the chaotic din.

“Woof! Woof woof!”

“Mr. Redan! This is your dog, correct?”

A massive black dog was being led by a police constable holding its leash. No, it had followed obediently.

“Colin?!”

“Woof woof! Whiiine…!”

Colin rushed into my arms. I couldn’t understand why Colin, who should have been at the boarding house, was wandering around here.

Colin looked frightened as he bit and tugged at my sleeve. An unpleasant feeling crawled up from my stomach…

“Lucas? Are you alright?”

I snapped back to reality at the voice from beside me.

“Erika.”

My heart, which had dropped to the ground with a thud, climbed back up.

I looked around, then approached a police officer who was giving various instructions.

“I should contact the employees, so I’ll head back in now.”

As soon as permission was granted, I grabbed Erika’s hand and ran. The blanket she had been wrapped in was blown away by the wind and settled into the flames.

After running to a distant alley where the smoke couldn’t reach, I caught my breath while looking at Erika.

“What, what happened?”

Erika shook her head.

“I don’t know. I never used any fire, but suddenly flames spread rapidly from the first floor. The runes didn’t work at all. I was sleeping and barely escaped through the window. The neighbors called the fire brigade.”

We definitely installed a sprinkler-like magical device that detects heat and sprays water when we built the tavern.

I quickly turned my thoughts.

Flames that arose intensely in a short time without reason. Runes that didn’t work.

“An attack…”

Who? Why?

My head began to throb painfully.

But one thing was clear.

“Erika, we need to run.”

“What? What about the others? What’s happening right now?”

“Sorry. I don’t have enough information to assess the situation. But I’m certain. The other side intends to confuse us and scatter us. Then they’ll start hunting.”

I couldn’t tell who was behind the attack. Whether it was a new enemy, or Ossel, and if so, whether Johann had betrayed us, or whether Lieutenant General Kaiser had discovered something.

However, my intuition and the conclusion squeezed from my limited information were saying the same thing.

Run immediately.

“I understand. Anyway, it’s clear we’re in danger. I brought all the important stuff, so we can leave right away.”

Erika showed me an ordinary leather briefcase.

It would contain bank keys and emergency funds, documents, and all the information we’d gathered and organized so far.

To have the presence of mind to grab that in such a situation—truly befitting the clever and quick-witted Erika.

“Then let’s take the streetcar for now. It’s advantageous to go where there are lots of people. And… Colin, stop it!”

“Whiiine…”

Colin, who had been restlessly tugging at my sleeve beside me, looked up at me with pitiful eyes.

“Did something happen to the boarding house too? Don’t tell me it also caught fire?”

Colin whined and acted frantic. I tried to figure out his intentions but gave up. There was no time.

“Let’s go, Erika.”

***

We ran again.

Even while running with all our strength, we kept glancing back to check if we were being followed. We barely made it to the station and boarded a train car packed with countless people during the rush-hour commute.

“So where are we going?”

Erika whispered while I clutched my aching side from running too much.

“The safest place possible. First, we should get out of the capital.”

Erika nodded.

“Let’s get off.”

It was a transfer station for going out to the Lüdelheim suburbs. I held Erika’s hand with my left and Colin’s leash with my right as we exited the crowded train car.

Twisting our bodies through the crowd, we emerged to find the station hall deserted compared to weekends.

“I’ll go buy tickets. Stay in the waiting room with Colin.”

“Will you be alright?”

“If there’s someone tailing us, they’re more likely to follow me. If I don’t come back in five minutes, run away quickly.”

I left Colin with Erika and walked toward the ticket office.

The large stone-built station hall with hardly any people in it.

Step, step.

The sound of dress shoes hitting the marble floor echoed.

Come to think of it, I’d been wearing this uncomfortable formal suit the whole time. I stopped briefly to take off my jacket and loosen my tie.

Snap!

“Gack!”

The tie was suddenly pulled backward past my palm. Along with the shock to my entire body, I staggered and fell backward, beginning to be dragged along. It happened so quickly I couldn’t even scream.

“Gasp! Gasp!”

The tie that had been choking my neck just before I passed out came loose. I gasped for air and struck whoever was behind me in the leg with my elbow.

“Ow!”

Along with a suppressed scream, he hopped around.

“Lieutenant Philip Decker?”

Philip, who had been biting his lip in pain, glared at me, but there was no killing intent in his eyes.

“Why is Johann’s adjutant here? And why did you strangle my neck?”

“If I had called out to you, it might have caused a commotion. With your stupid brain and terrible situational awareness, that definitely would have happened!”

This was absurd. So he attacked me and dragged me behind a secluded pillar without anyone knowing?

I wanted to confront him immediately, but now wasn’t the time to weigh this and that.

“Listen carefully. The Major intends to rescue you lot. We’re going to Rubellia, so cooperate.”

“To Rubellia?”

My stalled thoughts started spinning rapidly.

A neighboring country right next to Schufaben but with intense rivalry—the passionate, cheerful land of Rubellia.

No, that wasn’t important.

It would take several days to reach the nearest border from here. And we’d have to pass through checkpoints… And more than that.

“Why is Johann doing this?”

Questions filled my head.

***

“We’ve been had.”

Johann’s lips twisted.

This was a disaster. Had he underestimated Colonel Eric Klein too much?

He must have been sharpening his blade for a long time already—at least since the White Raven Order’s attack on the Ossel headquarters.

“The fire in District 13 continues to spread without being contained, causing extensive damage, and police suspect it was a planned crime. Meanwhile, after the fire broke out, an anonymous tip arrived at the Lüdelheim Central Police Station. Details haven’t been disclosed, but it claims this fire was the work of the White Raven Order. As you may have already heard, the White Raven Order is—”

Click!

Johann irritably turned off the radio on the table, then put on his Ossel uniform and left the house.

In the distance, he could see smoke rising, and the acrid smell drifted all the way here. With each step he took, the long hem of his coat fluttered in the wind mixed with flying sparks.

In front of his house, Lieutenant Philip Decker was waiting with a carriage.

“Major, what should we do now…”

“Be quiet.”

While the carriage moved quickly, Johann was lost in thought.

The attack had already begun. They might have been captured and killed, but there was no such news from his carefully laid information network yet.

The opportunity would definitely come.

The opportunity to turn the situation around.

But how and where had the information leaked? The lower-ranking Ossels who were supposed to be his hands and feet had all been won over by Johann.

The District 13 Ossel office was filled with an ominous atmosphere.

The lower-ranking Ossels saluted while watching Johann’s expression.

They knew too.

That the Colonel, who had been manipulated by Johann all this time, was now attempting to strike back.

Johann went straight down to the underground interrogation room and found the room the Colonel favored.

A middle-aged woman who was either dead or unconscious, covered in blood. And Colonel Eric Klein sitting in a chair, leisurely reading documents.

“Long live our Great Supreme Leader.”

The moment Johann saluted, he recognized that the documents were investigation reports about the White Raven Order written last year. They should have been shredded.

“Long live the Supreme Leader.”

“You summoned me, Colonel?”

“Yes, the traitor to the nation has arrived. One who deceived his superior out of greed for achievements!”

“What do you mean?”

“White Raven Order? You condoned their atrocities and caused worry to our Great Supreme Leader! And you shamelessly planned to take all the credit by arresting them at the last minute! You’ve committed unforgivable sins as a betrayer of the state!”

The Colonel’s voice, which had started calmly, grew louder and louder, his face turning red and blue with rage.

Johann recalled his old suspicion that some part of the Colonel’s brain responsible for controlling emotions might be damaged.

Crack!

The Colonel who had jumped up struck with his whip. The whip that wrapped around Johann’s face and fell left a red mark.

Johann didn’t even make a sound and stood at attention with his head bowed as he shouted,

“I apologize!”

“How many times did I tell you to bring information about the reactionaries! But behind my back! You plotted this vile scheme!”

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Johann gritted his teeth against the extreme pain striking his back and shoulders. Rage boiled up in his heart.

‘You dare stab me in the back without fear…’

When the whipping stopped briefly, Johann put on a crying voice.

“I never harbored any impure intentions! Colonel, I merely wanted to gather perfect information before the sweep. Those bastards definitely have collaborators throughout the country and are working hand in hand with those mixed-blood scum. Even if we capture Daniel Hartmann and Lucas Redan, they’re just puppet action leaders—there’s definitely a real ringleader somewhere else!”

“Then why didn’t you report this! You must have intended to deceive me and monopolize the achievements!”

The Colonel raged like a madman.

‘The nerve of him trying to steal my achievements while spouting such nonsense.’

Johann muttered coldly and continued his act.

“Th-that’s… I apologize. I couldn’t tell you because—”

“You evil bastard! You’re in league with the subversive elements too!”

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Johann felt his shoulders and back becoming soaked with blood and shouted as if he had no choice,

“It was Lieutenant General Kaiser’s order!”

The Colonel’s whipping stopped.

After a moment of silence, Johann slightly raised his head to confirm the Colonel’s face was filled with bewilderment, and barely restrained his lips from twisting into a smile.

One thread of suspicion.

That was enough.

“…Ha, what a crude lie!”

“I apologize for not being able to tell you the details. But I had no choice due to the Lieutenant General’s instructions.”

Johann felt the Colonel’s piercing gaze as he organized his thoughts.

The Colonel had only gotten his hands on last year’s reports.

So he couldn’t even imagine that Johann had really joined hands with the White Raven Order.

At best, he would guess that Johann had condoned the White Raven Order to inflate his achievements.

Which meant—

‘The traitor is an insignificant one.’

At minimum, his adjutant Lieutenant Philip Decker and the lower-ranking Ossels he used like his own limbs hadn’t betrayed him.

Johann was certain.

There was no need to bow and submit to the Colonel. He just needed to shake him up and buy time to prevent him from seizing the cards.

The White Raven Order cards.

So what should he do now?

‘Kill them all?’

He briefly considered the most brutish method of concealment, then quickly dismissed the thought.

‘I don’t have time to capture and kill them all now that the Colonel has gotten ahead of me. Rather, I’d become the target of attacks from both the Colonel and the White Raven Order. Even if I succeeded, I’d be violating the Lieutenant General Kaiser orders I fabricated, which would raise suspicions. So…’

“You stay put like a dead mouse until I return. I’ll decide your punishment then.”

“I obey your orders!”

The Colonel locked him and Philip in a room on the top floor of the office building and left.

He was probably going to Lieutenant General Kaiser or planning to directly suppress the White Raven Order.

Either way, it didn’t matter.

If the Colonel contacted Lieutenant General Kaiser and exposed Johann’s activities, Johann would report that the incompetent Colonel had recklessly provoked the White Raven Order and ruined everything.

Johann confirmed the Colonel’s departure, then moved quickly.

“Gack! Gasp!”

The Colonel’s bodyguards assigned as guards were instantly struck in vital points and knocked unconscious.

“Lieutenant Decker. Smuggle them to Rubellia. Refer to Plan 31, but you must get ahead of the Colonel.”

“Leave it to me!”

Philip left the room with an excited expression.

Johann ignored the worsening pain in his shoulder and lit a cigarette.

From now on, it was a race against time.

He trusted Lucas Redan. No, he was counting on him.

That he would escape the crude net the Colonel had cast and fly away freely.