WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 119

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The Meaning of Politics (5)

──October 31, 06:00

"Ha, fuck... so is this happening or not."

A luxury hotel near the Sentinel Order. In the lobby of an entire top floor they had rented out, Imperial Guard officers under Goebel had gathered.

Puff. Puff. Cigarette smoke hung thick as fog, and every one of them, majors, lieutenant colonels, colonels, all wore tense expressions.

"...Let's wait for now."

"Did you hear the rumor?"

"What rumor?"

"They say Kairon and Maximilian clashed hard. Kairon stepped in and said he'd persuade him somehow."

No one knew whether Maximilian had been swayed or not.

But Kairon had been the overall commander of Operation Path of Dreams...

Then it happened.

Bang-

The penthouse room door flew open. Brigadier General Alfred, Major General Martin, and other men from Goebel's innermost circle walked out with bright smiles.

All the Imperial Guard officers stood and saluted them.

"We got word from Sir Kairon."

"H-how did it go?!"

"Looks like it worked out. They said negotiations were settled."

Waaaaah!

The guardsmen burst into cheers. They hugged each other, slapped backs, and clapped.

"We're heading out. To escort Commander Goebel."

Major General Alfred put on his coat and smiled.

"Yes, sir! Loyalty!"

The men hurriedly lined up and cleared a path for them.

......

──October 31, 07:00

Adria had seized the painting at Goebel's mansion, then returned to her office and cross-checked cartel money flows against art auction records.

There was a clear record that Goebel had personally won the bid for the painting.

"This is so damn ridiculous. What, nobody recognized a Van Helsing painting, so it sold for thirty thousand dollars?"

Tiana could only laugh in disbelief. That was how the auction had gone, and after reappraisal the same painting had been valued at thirteen million dollars.

"It's a solid record."

Adria leaned back deep in her chair.

Would this be enough to tighten the noose around Goebel's neck? Enough to hang him, or kill him with this case?

"Knight. Just give the order."

Jerome spoke. As Adria's closest aide, he was ready to take the fall himself.

"...Wait."

Adria stood and went outside. Tiana followed her.

The two women stood in a park where dawn light was starting to spread.

"Tiana. Are you on bad terms with Goebel?"

At Adria's question, Tiana nodded carefully.

"Well, it's bad blood between houses."

"You said your father was a soldier, right?"

"Yes."

Tiana gave a bitter smile.

"He served in the Imperial Guard, though he started in the regular army."

He had been respected by subordinates and had a strong reputation, but he lost out in political and factional fights, was forced into disgraceful retirement, and the shock left him half-paralyzed.

"He still only thinks about entering politics. His body's broken, but his ambition is still alive."

"That's dangerous."

"Yes. Dangerous. He's blinded by revenge."

Tiana closed her eyes and breathed in the smell of the park.

"What are you going to do now?"

At that, Adria looked toward the Imperial Palace under the morning sun.

"We have to take Goebel ourselves. If not now, we may never get another chance to bring him into the Order."

"But can we internally take over custody of someone who's already been summoned?"

It was a perfectly natural procedural question, and then suddenly,

Adria took a deep breath and spoke.

"Detention authority."

Tiana flinched and turned to her.

For someone presumed to be a threat to the Empire, a knight held authority to detain them without a warrant for up to 35 days.

Using that power also meant staking your political life as a knight.

"Looks like I'll be using it again after five years."

Adria smiled and said it quietly.

Meanwhile, in a private reception room inside the Order.

Goebel, now out of the interrogation room, opened the door. Familiar faces were already inside.

High-ranking Imperial Guard generals. Goebel's closest people.

"Commander of the Imperial Guard, you've worked hard."

"What hard work? As commander, I should go through at least this much."

He was patting their shoulders as they approached and bowed with concern when-

"Get some rest before you head back."

A voice came from behind. It was Kairon.

Goebel smiled.

"Thank you. I heard you put in a lot of effort?"

"...To be honest, it was very hard."

Kairon put on a tired expression.

"You know what Maximilian is like. I worked up a real sweat trying to persuade him."

"...Now that I've dealt with him myself, I see it. He's not easy."

Goebel sank into the sofa and gave a heavy laugh.

"I should think about what gift to give you. Anything you want?"

"For now... I'll have refreshments brought in."

Kairon answered politely and had cigars and liquor prepared.

"Oh, thank you. I was just getting tired. How many hours was I in that interrogation room?"

"Sixteen hours. I'll take my leave now."

Sixteen hours. Goebel let out a dry laugh, and the generals quickly clapped.

"Impressive."

"And still this strong... are you made of iron?"

"You really don't age at all, sir."

Even after Kairon left, they wasted time in that reception room.

"Whew... still, it was entertaining."

Drinking top-shelf wine and blowing cigar smoke, Goebel told his war stories. His memory of facing that "brat" Maximilian. Bold, certainly, but not beyond control.

"Then... unfortunately, we need to decide now."

They moved on to discussing who to cut loose and who to save, choosing scapegoats.

They wrote names of subordinates to be sacrificed on paper, marked one with an X.

Changed it back to O.

Marked another name with an X.

Not one trace of guilt showed on their faces.

"This should do."

"Yes, understood. We'll lose at least one finger too."

When they lifted the list with satisfied expressions-

──Bang!

The reception room door burst open as if it would break off. Adria stood beyond it. A document was in her hand, and knights stormed in behind her.

"W-what... Adria?"

Startled, Goebel called her name.

"Commander Goebel of the Imperial Guard."

Adria's voice rang out cold.

"By knight's authority, I am placing you under forced detention."

She thrust the document forward.

[Emergency Detention Order], issued under a knight's special authority. It was both one of the greatest powers a knight could wield and one of the greatest risks.

Goebel's face turned deathly pale.

──October 31, 20:00

Crash!

The door to Adria's office flew open so hard it almost broke. Adria lifted her brows as if she had expected this, and Kairon planted both hands on her desk.

"You've finally gone insane, Adria."

Adria looked up at him. His brow was tightly furrowed.

"You want to detain the Imperial Guard Commander under emergency detention?"

"That's right."

"Do you have evidence?"

"Of course."

Adria nodded confidently. A hollow laugh spread at the corner of Kairon's mouth.

"You have evidence?"

"Yeah. The most solid evidence."

She answered while signing a document. Kairon sat across from her.

"I, I mean this. I'm genuinely worried about you, Adria."

Adria's lips twisted. Worried, my ass.

"I'm genuinely dumbfounded. Since when did you ever worry about me?"

"If you detain the Imperial Guard Commander without evidence, that's war. Up to what we did earlier was exactly the limit Sentinel rage could still tolerate."

"It's fine. The evidence is solid. We seized it from Goebel's house."

Kairon suddenly froze stiff. He licked his dry lips and asked again.

"Seized it? The evidence?"

"Yeah. Goebel already signed the seizure warrant. You took it, remember? No, 'we' took it."

On the day he was summoned, Goebel had agreed to seizure, but Kairon and his knights had not bothered taking action.

Because it had been treated like a formality.

"...You crazy bitch."

Kairon's gaze turned murderous. Adria did not back down.

"Kairon, you said it yourself. Sentinel is Sentinel. No your side and our side. I just followed that exactly."

A cold smile spread across her face.

"Isn't that right?"

"..."

Kairon had no answer.

He genuinely wanted to punch her in the face, but if he lost his temper, he lost.

"If you're confident, then do it."

Kairon stood up.

Bang-

Crack!

The hinges shattered and dropped off.

"You really shut doors hard."

She should bill him for repairs later.

"...Hoo."

Adria took a deep breath.

This was the best timing to catch Imperial Guard Commander Goebel. The reason she had used special detention authority was simple, there would never be another opportunity like this.

Even with conclusive proof, if he stalled and stalled, then a war broke out, everything would turn to trash paper.

"Tomorrow."

The appraisers had already been contacted. Verification would begin first thing tomorrow morning.

"Tomorrow..."

One of the biggest reasons this Order had stayed relatively sane was Anton.

They could never lose him.

──November 1, 09:00

In the Order's grand hall, with Vice Commander Anton, Sentinel leadership, and senior palace officials in attendance, Adria presented evidence.

"It is an artwork. The title is Tears of a Woman. A piece by the master Van Helsing."

Van Helsing. A Prozen master who died over a hundred years ago.

"We will open this painting that Commander Goebel clearly won at auction."

She exposed the back of the canvas. All eyes gathered, and an appraiser sprayed solution with an atomizer.

Pssss.

Like activated residue, certain letters glowed blue.

[From Pellier of Benikia]

[To Goebel, leader of the Imperial Guard]

It was a handwritten signature and message left by Pellier, Capo of the Parmano Cartel.

"This is proof it was given to Goebel by Pellier as a bribe."

Kairon's faction stared blankly at the painting, while strange excitement rose on the faces of Anton's faction.

The Imperial Guard and palace people looked half dead.

"Now we will begin public verification of this evidence item."

At those words, the Empire's best appraisers came forward, one, two, three, four, five, six.

All six gathered and studied the painting with magnifiers.

"..."

Tense silence spread. It was the same for everyone. Kairon, Adria, and probably Goebel in the underground detention cell, all waited with hearts about to burst.

"First, I will explain the signature itself."

After a long while, the most authoritative appraiser spoke carefully.

"It is indeed made by mixing finely crushed mana stone with a special pigment produced only in Benikia. The mana stone type itself is also estimated to be Tunic, the highest-purity mana stone from Benikia, in other words, from the southeast."

Adria clenched her fist tight. Beside her, Tiana's heartbeat came through clearly.

"But more than this signature..."

Suddenly the appraiser tilted his head. He looked to the appraiser beside him, that one looked to the next, and the next one looked over as well.

They exchanged awkward looks with one another, then reached a conclusion.

"This painting itself... is a forgery."

"...What?"

Adria's eyes widened. So did everyone else's. A wave of noise shook the whole hall.

"It is an extremely sophisticated forgery. The brushwork and color feel resemble the original, but they are clearly different from Van Helsing. Even the dating materials were mixed in a way that makes analysis difficult... yes. It is a fake good enough to fool most appraisers."

The appraiser continued.

"And if the piece is not genuine, this signature could have been forged and inserted at any time... does anyone disagree?"

The appraiser asked the others. They all shook their heads, as if to say they held the exact same view.

It was unanimous.

"...The painting itself is fake?"

Adria felt a cramp-like pain stab through her head.

Did someone swap out the painting? Was this a trap from the start? Or did those cartel idiots try to save money?

No. That made no sense. This artwork had been verified at auction and had an actual winning-bid record...

Amid the spreading questions, she suddenly felt someone's gaze.

Adria slowly turned her head.

The grand hall swayed with voices full of confusion. Even Kairon looked baffled. In this chaos, among so many disoriented faces, one man stood out with striking golden eyes.

Maximilian.

He was watching her with an emotionless face.

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