WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 116

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The Meaning of Politics (2)

At Prozen National University,

the Liberal Arts and Sciences campus was overflowing with talk about the Empire's cartel purge operation, commonly called Path of Dreams.

Even for the Empire, it was too much, an act of violence that could easily spark a war. Or it was satisfying, drugs had been the problem from the start, those eastern bastards had it coming, the imperial bastards cleaned up the beasts for them......

Amid those clashing opinions, Professor Jean Pierre stood at the podium.

"History has gained one more event."

Newly opened lecture: 「History Continued Through Individuals」.

"And in the end, it is always people who cause events."

With that brief comment on the latest incident, he began class.

On the screen, the Sentinel Order's official statement was projected. In imperial wording, it declared that in revenge for the murder of a knight adviser with Sentinel roots, they had beheaded the cartel's core personnel overnight.

"'Path of Dreams' truly unfolded like a dream. The Berkina government was..."

The Berkina government's incompetence. Their corruption, taking cartel money behind the scenes, had always been notorious, but this time it was on another level.

For ninety minutes, Jean Pierre gave a detailed lecture on the operation's background and progression, layering in his own inferences.

The students were absorbed in his delivery.

"If you have followed me this far."

Jean Pierre suddenly raised a finger.

"Doesn't something feel strange?"

The students looked confused, but the professor continued calmly.

"This operation was like taking just a pinch of salt."

He opened a salt shaker from the cafeteria and pinched some between his thumb and index finger.

"And sprinkling it, tap tap, only on rotten flesh......"

Whish. Whish.

He scattered the salt into the air.

"An extremely restrained use of force. Zero civilian casualties too. They cleanly erased only people tied to the cartel."

Most students still looked lost.

Jean Pierre raised his brows.

"I'll say it again. The use of force was tightly controlled, and there was no civilian damage beyond that. The knights were clearly full of rage, but the execution was highly rational. Because of that, quite a lot of civilian witnesses were left alive."

His gaze swept slowly across the classroom.

"You need to find the common thread here. Only then can you call yourselves students of history. The hint is this spring."

Silence settled for a moment.

Then someone carefully raised a hand.

"......Could it be Gennen?"

Jean Pierre pointed at him and nodded.

"Correct."

The suppression of the Gennen Autonomous Territory, and Path of Dreams.

The nature of those two events was startlingly similar.

They used force the other side could not resist, yet restrained and controlled it to the extreme, maximizing fear alone.

"A commander bears responsibility for designing an operation."

As Jean Pierre continued, a hazy silhouette suddenly rose before his eyes. A Sentinel knight's uniform flickered there.

"Whether one tries to hide it or not, method and pattern always leave a unique signature, like a fingerprint. So if you trace it closely enough."

The figure was hidden in darkness, but if you looked closely......

"The one who designed and executed this operation from the very beginning..."

A faint shape of blond hair appeared.

"You discover a historical figure."

Jean Pierre wrote a name on the board.

[ Maximilian Ebenholtz ]

The Monster of Ebenholtz.

"The Sentinel clearly displayed the power of imperial knights. Not just Berkina, almost every criminal organization on the continent now will not even dare consider touching an imperial knight."

Though a few insane groups, for example Gentra, were exceptions.

"But from here on, will Berkina and the cartel itself really change?"

Jean Pierre was skeptical.

They would not change. Human desire was endless, and the cartel was no different.

In the empty space where one evil disappeared, smaller and more vicious bastards would swarm and pour out drugs again.

"That is your assignment. After this incident, in Berkina where the people who made up the cartel have vanished, how will their ecosystem change? Write your answer from your own perspective."

After ending the lecture, Jean Pierre turned away.

The moment he opened the door and stepped out,

"......!"

he flinched without realizing it. Right in front of him stood a blond student in the corridor. A man about Maximilian's height.

"......Professor? Are you all right?" the student asked.

Jean Pierre shook his head, breaking into a cold sweat.

"Ah, y-yes. I'm fine."

Even now, that day's memory was vivid.

The chill from the instant he offered a handshake and said his name.

The terror from the moment Jean Pierre sensed the darkness lurking under that brilliant, beautiful face.

Something about blond hair seemed to have stayed with him as a kind of PTSD.

With a bitter smile, Jean Pierre walked down the hallway.

* * *

Anton, vice commander of the Sentinel Order, looked out the window. A long line of vehicles stretched toward the Order's gate.

Every one of them carried people summoned in.

"Quite a good thing, isn't it."

It was Kairon's voice.

"The Sentinel has purged imperial corruption and eastern drugs. The Order's standing is higher than ever."

Anton turned toward him. Across the desk sat senior knights Kairon and Adria. Anton answered with a dry smile.

"So it would seem."

"......"

Kairon looked displeased by Anton's lukewarm reaction.

"Vice Commander. What exactly worries you so much?"

"Because they will keep cutting off only tails forever. Isn't that right?"

Adria shot back first. A thin laugh spread across Kairon's lips.

"Tails? Is Goebel a tail?"

"Goebel still hasn't even answered the summons. Even if he does, who knows what kind of deal will be made inside."

It hit the mark, but Kairon just kept smiling.

"Are you jealous? You don't need to be."

"No need for jealousy. You people do not share information in the first place."

"You people?"

Kairon frowned.

"Since when did the Sentinel split into you and us?"

"That is rich. You were the one who first..."

"Adria."

Anton cut her off in a stern voice.

"......"

Adria bit her lip and lowered her head.

"Both of you step back. Commander Alberich also said we cannot ignore this case, so make sure it is wrapped up properly."

Anton waved a hand. Kairon and Adria rose from their chairs side by side. After a polite bow, they left the vice commander's office.

Thunk.

The door shut, and Kairon snorted.

"......Adria. Do not cling to illusions like factions."

"You were the first one to make factions, Kairon."

"Still, we are all Sentinel. I even shared some of the case data from this incident, didn't I?"

Kairon had willingly distributed some of the cartel ledger contents to Adria's side.

Of course, only low-end scraps that were barely worth calling achievements.

"You're shameless. You packed this operation with only your own people too. You thought I wouldn't know? That whole case, from the start, Yulian..."

"How many times do I have to say it was because we feared leaks? Oh, and do you know what this is?"

Kairon pulled out equipment compressed to the size of felt cloth from inside his jacket.

"A wingsuit. The latest model. We used it in this operation."

"One button press and it instantly deploys into a wingsuit."

"......"

"Want me to show you?"

Adria stared at him for a moment with a blank look.

"......Are you bragging?"

"......Ahem."

Kairon coughed awkwardly.

"Just know this much. You don't know what happened that day."

"Hah. Childish as ever. You have not changed at all."

Adria shook her head and left for her own faction, Jerome's side.

Fried, Raynel, and Zionne then approached Kairon, now standing alone.

"......What did she say?" Raynel asked with a grave face.

Kairon slipped the wingsuit into his inner pocket and smirked.

"Ignore it."

It was only a matter of time. The moment Anton was pushed out, their whole line would collapse, and the central axis of the Order would tilt firmly toward us.

......

Using ledger evidence decoded in Kanillan, I kept exercising a knight's authority to issue summons. First came the particularly vile palace piranha nobles and their close circles, then parliamentary officials, then high-ranking bureaucrats in the Empire's east, one after another.

People who lived in the palace but were neither royalty nor true centers of power.

Parasites circling around the powerful, feeding on scraps. In-between status types who were especially vicious toward civilians.

Their reactions were a spectacle.

"I, I, I can explain this money! I swear it is not a bribe!"

"It is completely legitimate, this is valid profit from my private business! Please check the ledger again!"

I listened to all of it.

"I got it from a relative! It was inheritance! Inheritance!"

"I am sorry. I am truly sorry! Please forgive me just once, Sir Knight!"

I also listened quietly to their doglike yapping.

"Ah, this can look confusing. But if you look here. It is different. The funding source."

"I did not know it was filthy money from the cartel, I swear!"

Then I gave all of them the same line.

"--You will be sent to Knight Court."

Knight Court.

Their faces went white in an instant.

Blue lips gasping for air, collapsing to their knees and trembling before fainting, foaming at the mouth in convulsions......

A variety of ugly scenes.

"Take them out."

"Yes, sir."

The practical officers detained them in Sentinel's underground prison.

As I organized the paperwork, I asked,

"Goebel?"

"Ah, we just got word. He has urgent official business and requested to postpone the summons by a few days..."

"Not one second."

It looked like a trick to buy time, and I had no intention of allowing it.

"It cannot be delayed. If he does not appear by the 30th at 15:00."

"Tell him we will go in person and bring him in."

......

"You. Do you know who I am?"

Sentinel, knight interrogation room. Rookie knight Hanna pressed her temple and looked at the nobleman across from her.

"I do. Bersen von Dredik."

"Then change the assigned knight. This is beneath my status."

"I am a knight too, you know? I participated in Path of Dreams too."

The man flicked his head and snorted.

"Commoner, get out. I am not talking to you."

"......"

He had been like this the whole time, and she was boiling over. Steam practically rose from her head. You shove your face full of bribes and still strut around this proud, filthy bastard.

"I said get out."

"......Ha. What the hell."

In the end, Hanna left the interrogation room. Her desk was right outside the door, and practical staff and clerks were clustered beside it, shifting around.

It was cramped because she was a rookie.

"Sir Knight. How did it go?"

"He won't talk at all. I am stepping out for air for a bit."

Grumbling, she went outside and saw people packed everywhere. Summoned nobles, officials, lawmakers, and even their families.

"Damn, this is pissing me off......"

She came out to the Order's back garden and was wondering if she should finally learn to smoke.

"Hanna? Is something wrong?"

Just then Tiana walked up. The only person in this suffocating Sentinel she could lean on.

"Ah, Sir Knight. It is nothing serious, and I am not trying to complain, but......"

Hanna sighed and explained what had just happened. Tiana gave a faint smile.

"Ah, I know the type. Nobles have a victim complex too."

"......Nobles have a victim complex?"

"I am a noble too, but honestly it is stupid. They are the ones who look down on commoners first, then they assume commoners will hate nobles no matter what, so they do not want to be investigated by you. It is not only contempt. They are scared."

Hanna scratched the back of her neck.

"So I am going to ask for reassignment. I cannot deal with this crap anymore."

"Hmm......"

Tiana thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up.

"You are going to run away like that?"

"I would try if he listened to a word. He does not even pretend to listen."

"If words do not work, then make him eat shit."

"Eat shit?"

"Yeah."

She pulled out a notebook and pen and scribbled one line.

"Here. My signature. Go show this to him. Tell him you don't want to investigate him, so you are transferring the case to someone higher up."

Hanna took it.

"He will probably beg you, please, please let me be investigated by you~"

「Case Transfer Request」

Hanna looked at the bottom of that plain sentence.

The recipient listed for case transfer was Maximilian Ebenholtz.

* * *

Knight Court was different from ordinary court. A special trial where, based on evidence and findings gathered by the assigned knight, the judge gave a summary ruling without defense assistance or a jury verdict.

In practice, a knight's will became the ruling itself.

That was why the palace turned upside down in silence. They could not make noise while watching the imperial family's mood, but under the surface, people screamed.

What if money accepted through private favors turned out to be stained with drug money? Or what if they had taken cartel bribes without even knowing it?

Even Goebel, commander of the Imperial Guard most closely tied to the palace, had been served a summons, and the same went for his Imperial Guard subordinates.

At Leutern II's annex.

"......Leutern, I heard rumors you have ties with Maximilian."

Because of that, Leutern II had recently been in a situation that was troublesome and, in another way, flattering.

"What... maybe?"

"I heard you two are close enough to talk often, that kind of relationship......"

Palace nobles were coming to him and begging for help.

Not one or two. If he cracked the door open now, nobles and officials were all lined up without exception.

"If that is the case, then maybe......"

Leutern II crossed his legs, deliberately haughty.

"Please! Then please, just pull some strings once! I lost my head for a moment and made a mistake. I did not even take much! It was really just a little!"

"No, see, Max. That friend Max, well, he is hard even for me to handle. You know that. He is not someone who listens just because I speak......"

He stressed the word Max on purpose.

"Leutern, if you say it, he will surely listen! I trust you-"

"But more than that."

In a flash, Leutern II's brow furrowed.

Shockingly, Leutern had never taken cartel money.

Not because he was clean.

Because those crazy trash bastards had secretly taken and split it among themselves. They never said a word to me.

"......Why did I not know? Such a critical fact, that black money was flowing into the palace."

"Uh, uh-huh?"

"Why did I not know."

"......Huh?"

"I am asking."

"Uh......"

The other man stammered, sweating cold.

"Answer me."

"S-sorry. It was all because of that Roel bastard. He said you......"

"Reason."

Leutern asked again with a hard face.

"I am asking why only I was left out."

"......Roel, that was Roel's words. He said your mouth is loose-"

"Huh! Whaaat!!!!"

Leutern II shook with betrayal. A sudden dizziness hit, and he leaned against the backrest.

How dare they call me loose-lipped, me, the best information broker in the palace?

"......My mouth is loose? Me?!"

"No, no. I do not think that at all, of course. That is what they said! Roel and those Imperial Guard bastards dragged all of us in!"

"Enough. Get out!"

"B-but Leutern!"

"Before I tell my father everything."

With a solemn face, Leutern brushed off the request.

"You're out!"

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