WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 12

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My House and I (3)

I checked the information on the ‘Head-Eater’ on the computer.

[Head-Eater]

[Incident Log]

1. March 9, 1037

2. July 3, 1037

3. August 5, 1037......

So far, that bastard had killed eight Imperials in total, and the latest was three days ago.

“If it was three days ago.”

That was the day I killed that Izenheim brat.

A pretty interesting coincidence.

“Let’s move.”

I got up and left the office.

In the first-floor lobby, I ran into Yulian, who looked like he had just finished a mission. Green blood still wet on his armor, and Tiana stood beside him.

Yulian was a senior knight. He could bring whichever knight he wanted on whichever job he wanted.

He was my assigned senior, but this time, he did not pick me.

“Where are you going, Max?”

Yulian asked casually.

“I accepted a separate mission.”

He tilted his head.

“May I ask what mission?”

“Head-Eater.”

At my answer, Yulian’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

He probably knew Head-Eater well too.

“You picked that one? There’s a reason old missions like that stay old.”

Knights had records for accepted missions and failed missions. Most hated leaving behind the stain of failure. It affected their careers.

“It means the difficulty is too high for a rookie.”

“I’m fine.”

“......If you need support, ask anytime.”

“I will.”

After that short exchange, Yulian got on the elevator. Tiana, on the other hand, looked like she still had something to say to me.

“Hey. Do you even know what Head-Eater is?”

“I know.”

Eight victims in three years. A thing that would devour four more over the next year.

Before my regression, Head-Eater had operated in the Empire for quite a while, then vanished one day without a trace. The case remained permanently unsolved.

“For three years-”

“I know.”

I knew Tiana. She was from a minor noble house.

Before my regression, her family got wiped out after being dragged into political infighting, and Tiana herself became a fugitive.

I owed her a small debt. The house that broke hers had been Ebenholtz.

“......Yeah, whatever. Do what you want.”

Tiana brushed past me.

I left the Order headquarters, got in a car, and headed to the scene.

The site of Head-Eater’s latest crime was a run-down back alley in the capital. Trash rolled around the narrow passage, and chaotic graffiti covered the walls of old buildings.

“Sir Knight, you’re here.”

“Yes.”

“For now, this is the scene......”

In the deepest part, beyond the police tape the Imperial police had set up, bloodstains still had not been cleaned.

──Squirm!

The moment I got close, the black fragment inside my body reacted. It had caught the scent of its own kind.

“......As expected.”

Suspicion turned into certainty.

This one was Izenheim too.

I tapped the black thing near my collarbone and said,

“Remember this well. We need to follow this trail, ngh!”

Suddenly, the virus moved. It yanked me hard, and my body slammed to the ground.

Thud!

Asphalt hit my face. Filthy grime and dust stuck to me.

Still, the virus kept moving. It slowly absorbed the energy wave lingering in the blood. Strange sensations seeped into my mind.

“S, Sir Knight? Are you all right?”

A detective asked, alarmed.

“......It’s nothing.”

I hurriedly stood up.

Thump, thump.

I could feel the virus pulsing.

This thing wanted to tell me something.

“Yeah. Where is it? Show me.”

I wanted to listen too.

We were bound by fate now.

* * *

I moved using the virus’s faint energy waves as a compass. The location was in front of a classic mansion in one of the capital’s traditional noble residential areas.

“......Here?”

I looked up at the broad six-story mansion and asked. The virus squirmed.

According to it, Head-Eater was inside.

But this place was...

“Only nobles can live here.”

An Izenheim was an Imperial noble.

Was that possible?

Not impossible. Status and origin were paper and ink in the end, easy enough to forge.

“......”

Still, I could not move carelessly. Head-Eater had devoured eight people and left behind not a single piece of evidence.

That meant it was meticulous.

And the other important question was whether I could beat it.

Jacob had been young and immature. The kid in the park had accepted death willingly. It had practically been suicide.

If this Head-Eater was Lexi, the one Jacob mentioned, I needed to be as careful as possible.

“I’ve confirmed it.”

I had already pinpointed the location, so there was no need to rush.

What I needed now was the skill to kill Izenheim for sure.

And to build that power, I needed that person.

Freya.

She was a far better instructor than I had expected.

She might even become my master.

......No, I wanted her to become my master.

* * *

“Haa......”

I closed my eyes.

I steadied my breathing.

With each inhale and exhale, mana pulsed inside my body.

It was House Ebenholtz’s unique mana breathing method, passed down through generations.

At least this way of breathing was something I had practiced since I was three.

Now I did not even consciously think about how to do it. Like breathing itself, I simply did it naturally, the way I had learned.

“Hoo......”

This was fundamentally different from modern mana breathing methods that drew external mana into the body and circulated it.

Ebenholtz did not care about the outside. It focused only on refining internal mana to be cleaner, purer, and denser.

That was a huge environmental advantage.

If you were a rich kid raised on spirit medicine like water and buried in mana training rooms and mana-breathing machines, there was no need to pull mana in from outside.

It was an extremely noble way of doing things: use what was already stored in your body properly.

Of course, Ebenholtz’s enemies criticized it as outdated.

“Classic.”

That was what the person who became my instructor called it.

“Ebenholtz breathing has subtle details. You can only learn it fully in childhood, and if you miss that window, you can’t learn it. It also costs a ridiculous amount of money. The medicine poured into your body alone probably cost at least fifty million.”

Its cost efficiency was terrible, but cost itself was not a problem. Others spent 100 to get 100 efficiency. Ebenholtz spent 5000 to get 130. They knew exactly how much that extra 30 mattered.

I wiped sweat and opened my eyes.

“But why do you know so much about Ebenholtz?”

“A teacher is supposed to know a lot.”

She shrugged like it was nothing.

“Now pick up your sword.”

Mana breathing had only been warm-up.

My master held out a long sword. The blade width was similar to a normal sword, but the full length reached 1.6 meters. It was House Ebenholtz’s long blade.

“Ebenholtz swordsmanship is, at its core, a noble’s sword. Instead of raw power, it pursues smooth elegance like flowing water. That’s why it loves the cut.”

I gripped the sword and took the standard stance from the Ebenholtz manual.

“As expected, straight from the manual. But your body is stiff. Don’t keep your waist ramrod straight. Hold the sword as comfortably as possible. What do you think a noble is?”

“What do nobles have to do with this?”

“Ebenholtz is the most noble sword there is, you idiot. Pay me more.”

“......”

I loosened my body. My master frowned.

“No. That just looks shabby.”

“Then what do you want me to do?”

“Think. Does a noble always keep their body rigid, like an angry cat? No. Then do they flop around like a beggar? No.”

I suddenly thought of my father, Duke Sebestian.

Formal, but not stiff. Firm, but not stubborn. Relaxed, but not lazy. Dignified, but not arrogant.

He was a man whose contradictory qualities formed a perfect balance. If a soul had weight, his had been forged endlessly heavy.

A man of high class.

A real noble.

Could I become that kind of person too?

......I was his child.

Like it or not, I was Ebenholtz seed, Sebestian’s son.

Blood was thicker than water, and you could not defy inheritance.

Ebenholtz, the thing I once fought to escape, had come back to me again.

“Haa......”

Quietly, I relaxed the hand gripping the sword.

I kept just enough grip strength not to lose it.

I settled into a stance where I could feel every part of it.

“......Yes. That’s it. You have the face and bearing, so your line comes alive. Also, just because it’s a long sword doesn’t mean you have to grip it with both hands, as long as you can control it perfectly.”

I lowered my left hand and held the long blade with my right hand only. Its heavy weight traveled through my whole arm.

“Now swing. Don’t think about anything else. Think only of one perfect cut.”

I swung the sword with everything I had.

Shaaak!

The long sword sliced through the air with a sharp sound. I put my whole body into that one cut.

Freya said,

“Moron.”

“What now?”

“I said swing while thinking only about one perfect cut. You’re putting way too much into it.”

“If it has to be perfect, of course it takes effort.”

“Tsk. You still don’t get it.”

She shook her head.

“Can’t be helped. Keep repeating it. Get to where you can swing at least ten thousand times a day. That is Ebenholtz, first movement.”

“How do I swing ten thousand times a day? My arm will fall off.”

“You can’t if you keep forcing it like that. Keep your mindset clear at all times. Be a real noble, not a fake one. Through tens of thousands of repetitions, make one perfect cut.”

“......”

“What are you glaring at? Do it, punk!”

Whoooom!

I swung.

Whoooom!

I drove the long blade through empty air. Every time the sword moved, it felt like I was being dragged along with it.

From way back, this Ebenholtz long sword had always been so damn needlessly long.

Whoooom!

I was out of breath in no time.

“Haa, haa, haa.”

My heart hurt. Muscles all over my body screamed and felt like they would tear apart.

After around 300 swings, I collapsed to the floor.

“Get up.”

My master grabbed my arm and pulled me up.

“......Hm.”

She touched around my body, then muttered with a dry laugh.

“Sure enough, you recover fast.”

I frowned, but before long, the fatigue and pain vanished. My body felt light again.

It was probably the effect of the Mana core.

Thanks.

“......Yes. Understood.”

This woman was strange. She looked like she was openly taking easy money, but she did not feel like a hack.

Riiiiing-

The usual lesson-end alarm rang. Freya asked,

“Got another schedule today?”

“Yes. I have a real estate appointment. I’m planning to rest for a bit, then go.”

“Mm, really? Must be nice being rich. Jealous.”

“Then I’ll get going first.”

I tried to head outside, but she blocked the training hall door.

“What now?”

“Kids these days don’t prepare a little gratuity?”

“......What?”

With her arms crossed, she narrowed her eyes.

“Hey, punk. Show your respect for your master properly and sincerely.”

“You get paid by my father.”

“Are you a papa’s boy? You should have your own standards!”

“......”

I pulled my wallet from my coat’s inner pocket and handed her a few bills. Her face crumpled. I took out three more. She looked a little better, but there were still creases. So I just pulled out all the bills and shoved them into her hand.

“Good. Nice work. Go rest well~”

Her smile was bright.

Crazy bastard.

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