WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 132

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The Face of the Empire (5)

On the vast sea off Bolska, Hanna readjusted her grip on her sword on the deck, where the ships were nearly bow to bow.

I looked her over from head to toe. She was bleeding badly, and every breath sounded like broken bone scraping her lungs.

“Is it just the two of us?”

Hanna asked, looking like she prayed that answer was no, though her eyes still burned like a beast’s.

I gestured behind me.

“The Empire maintains order through strength.”

If someone crushes the weak just because they are strong, then one day they must be ready to be crushed in turn. They are not the only strong ones.

Everyone knows that. So within the system, they invented “promises.” Survival of the fittest is beast logic, so they dressed it up with a tidy excuse called “justification.”

“And.”

A faint smile touched my lips.

“We have the justification to set that order right.”

PAAAAAAAH-!

A ship horn suddenly thundered across the sea. The heavy fog churned and slowly peeled away. Beyond the curtain of mist, steel silhouettes emerged.

One, two, three, four......

Warships had surrounded the tugboat from all sides.

Kanillan standard-issue warships. Military force built on pure capital.

“Hanna~ Max~ hi~”

From above, Leon waved cheerfully.

-......

The Royal Guards stayed silent. The red glow behind their helmet slits dimmed.

“From this moment on, I will give you a choice.”

I lowered my longsword diagonally. There was no need to cross blades with them.

“If artillery fires and this ship sinks, can you survive out here?”

Royal Guard armor was special. To prevent capture and stop defection, it was bound by magic they could never remove on their own.

And because of that, they were forced to cling to land. Their armor was denser than water, so if they fell into the sea, they would sink and drown without exception.

“We have already seized the ship you prepared for escape.”

Their retreat was completely cut off.

“So remove your helmets quietly.”

In Royal Guard armor, the helmet alone was an exception. It could be detached for breathing and eating. Even so, losing it was considered a deep humiliation.

“Do you think Ebenholtz can strip a Centurion’s helmet and walk away like nothing happened?”

The Centurion warned me in a restrained voice. It was a pitiful scrap of pride.

I drew a calm breath.

“Listen carefully.”

Wheeeeee-.

Cold sea wind rushed in and stirred my hair.

“I am Maximilian of Ebenholtz. Even if you put together everything all of you have, you still cannot touch me.”

I looked down on them as I said it.

A fact that never changes inside this Empire.

“It means my kind and yours were different from the start. You were born leeches, crawling on the ground.”

As the heir to Ebenholtz, and as a human being instead of a cog, I saw the Royal Guards as nothing more than another pack of commoners raised in the Imperial Palace.

No, maybe slaves was more accurate.

“You lunatic!”

One guard flared up and stepped forward.

“Stop.”

The Centurion held him back.

“......Haa.”

He let out a breath as if swallowing humiliation, then removed his helmet with his own hand.

I looked at his bare face without expression.

“No matter who you are, it would be wise not to interfere too deeply in palace affairs.”

Of course. The palace runs on an entirely different logic and hierarchy.

That was why I had prepared a document in advance.

“Do you still think I am alone?”

Flap. Wind carried the sheet toward the Centurion. It was an official certificate declaring full support for the “Hanna Usar” case and strongly condemning acts harmful to the Empire. At the bottom was the clear signature of Leutern II.

“......”

People often mistake the Royal Guard for an organization that exists for the Emperor alone, but that is not true. They protect the entire den of the palace. They were born there, raised there, and soaked to the bone in noble faction wars and palace politics.

From that perspective, Leutern was a major figure among palace nobles, near the top by influence alone. His bloodline was that pure.

Which meant he had enough power to stab the “Julius” faction to death, including the one this Centurion served.

“Leutern......”

The Centurion’s pupils shook as he checked the document.

He briefly frowned at the “II” after the name, as if something about it felt odd, but he could not deny the weight behind it.

“......Understood. Send us back to the Empire.”

The Centurion removed his helmet, and the rest of the Royal Guards lost their will to fight.

The operation was over.

* * *

This was the Imperial Palace. Leutern I received major news from Bolska.

A report said that his son, Leutern II, had brought a certain “issue” to the surface.

“Duke Leutern. What will you do?”

A close aide asked carefully. The opponent was Julius’s faction, a power bloc with serious influence even inside the palace. Even for House Leutern, a direct clash would be a burden.

Yet Leutern I read the document signed by his son and the circumstances behind it in detail, and his eyes lit up.

“We have ample justification.”

They had used the chaos after the Gigantes terror attack to embezzle weapons behind the scenes, smuggle them, and drain national wealth. Grounds this perfect could easily choke the life out of his enemies.

To be fair, Julius had not originally been their political enemy......

“......Hah. This boy.”

Leutern I suddenly felt emotion rise in him.

Everyone in the palace whispers that my son is an immature, reckless fool.

As his father, I am not ignorant of those sneers.

But Leutern I was not merely a blind father. As a ruler who judged people, he had already seen the ambition carved deep inside his son.

A child who loved toy soldiers and plotting war operations from an early age.

A precious bloodline I had late in life, nearly fifty, after two miscarriages. A brilliant boy who mirrored my younger self.

That was why.

“So you are finally waking up......”

A noble royal bloodline like his could never lack ambition.

Could all that debauchery have been careful camouflage to deceive his enemies?

Either way.

“You are finally breaking out of your shell.”

Leutern I clenched his fist, calming his swelling chest.

“As his father, my duty is total support. Use all royal power and guard his back.”

“Yes. Understood.”

A proud figure, a royal descendant carving out power with his own hands and purging treacherous courtiers.

Father Leutern was moved enough to tear up.

......

This was Leutern II’s luxurious detached residence.

Scratch, scratch.

He lay sprawled on a soft sofa, scratching his belly.

“Ah, I’m hungry.”

He yawned and rolled over.

“......Should I go out?”

Lilac Vita. That place was ridiculously good. Should he go again?

He picked up the terminal on the table and punched in the number.

Riiiing- Riiiing-

Max did not answer.

“Ah, damn it, why isn’t he picking up? I don’t want to eat in the palace.”

People think all kinds of hot delicacies are served fresh in the palace every day. Nonsense. They poke and inspect everything for poison, so by the time it arrives, most of it is cold and shredded, almost like scraps.

“Ah, right. He said he went to Bolkas.”

Bolkas, Bolkas......

For the record, it was Bolska, not Bolkas, but anyway.

“Donkatsu?”

It sounded like donkatsu. A dish that had suddenly come in from somewhere in the west and was becoming trendy.

“Now I want it.”

People outside were raving about how good it was.

“Hm-hm~”

Leutern II jumped up.

“Hey! Get me ready to go out!”

He called in his guard knight and dressed with a grin. Going out just to eat donkatsu felt embarrassing, so he threw on a robe too. He concealed himself and headed out.

“Bolkas. I wonder what kind of food it is......”

......

Meanwhile, in another palace residence.

“Leutern, that little brat-!”

Julius, who had pocketed wealth by writing off Gigantes inventory as a total loss, unconsciously kicked his chair away at his subordinate’s report. Bang! Its legs snapped and it rolled across the floor.

“......Duke Julius.”

On his table lay a document with Leutern II’s signature scrawled across it.

It strongly condemned those who harmed the Empire in relation to this “Hanna Usar” case......

“Why that damned bastard, that loudmouth idiot who did nothing but act like a moron, why the hell is he doing this now?!”

BANG!

This time he hurled the ashtray. Ash and glass shards exploded across the floor.

“That retard dumber than a dolphin, what got into him?”

He gritted his teeth, muttering, and grabbed his hair.

“Goddamn it......”

The palace had rank, a pyramid. Royals sat near the top.

From that perspective, royal Julius and Leutern had effectively maintained an unspoken agreement not to touch each other.

But that bastard had suddenly stabbed straight into the most sensitive weak point, in direct coordination with the knight order.

If Leutern backed Sentinel, that force would not be easy to stop.

“Where did Leutern II go?”

“He just left the palace with his guard knight. He said nothing, and it appears he concealed his identity, so he may already have joined Sentinel completely......”

“......”

Julius fell silent. In that still room, with all subordinates pale and bowing their heads,

“Fucking hell.”

A curse unfit for royal dignity settled like cigarette smoke.

......

At a famous donkatsu shop on the outskirts of the capital, Leutern II held a knife and fork and stared with wide eyes.

“Wow, what is this?”

“This taste is weird. In a good way.”

Crunch.

A remarkable dish, thick pork coated with flour and breadcrumbs, then deep-fried in oil. Who in the world came up with this?

These shabby commoners may be useless at everything else, but when it comes to food, they are incredible.

“Hey! How old are you, huh?!”

At that moment, a vicious shout erupted from one corner of the restaurant.

“You call this service?! You piece of shit!”

A drunk troublemaker had grabbed an employee by the collar and was making a scene.

“Ugh, that idiot. Why is he yelling while I’m eating?”

Leutern II frowned hard and set down his knife. Irritation surged through him.

He jerked his chin at the guard knight behind him.

“Hey.”

“Yes.”

“Throw that bastard out.”

“Yes.”

The guard knight moved as soon as he answered.

“You little, come outsi-, ugh, aaaagh! Khk!”

A wet grinding sound blended into a dying scream. The guard lightly twisted the man’s joint, then tossed his large body aside like baggage.

“Good.”

Leutern picked up his fork again and neatly stuffed the rest of the donkatsu into his mouth.

“Hey. One more plate of this.”

He pointed at the empty plate and ordered the guard who had returned.

“Yes.”

The guard started toward the back of the long line at the counter.

“No, hey! What are you doing?!”

Leutern II shouted irritably. The guard blinked in confusion.

“Pardon?”

“Don’t stand in line. Just tell them to give it. How long am I supposed to wait?”

“......Yes.”

After glancing around, the guard pushed commoners aside and took the front spot. Maybe because he had removed the troublemaker, no one really complained.

* * *

Empire, Sentinel Order Headquarters.

Hanna returned safely with the weapons-smuggling evidence recovered in Bolska.

“Hoo.”

She took a deep breath in front of Maximilian’s office.

-Knock knock.

She knocked and stepped inside Maximilian’s office.

“Sir Knight.”

Without looking up from his papers, Maximilian gestured to the spot in front of him. Hanna stepped forward and stood there.

“Did you submit the evidence?”

“Yes. I handed everything over to the staff officers outside.”

“Good work. Once this case is fully closed, your name will go on the top line of the merit report.”

Maximilian’s dry praise.

Hanna lowered her head.

“Thank you.”

It was proper courtesy toward a superior, but the words in her mouth felt strangely hollow.

“No need to thank me.”

Maximilian lifted his gaze and looked at her. Golden eyes pierced the exhaustion in Hanna’s face.

“In the end, all of it is-”

“For the Empire.”

Hanna recited the rest as if cutting him off. Maximilian gave a faint laugh.

“You know it well.”

“Yes. Um, but......”

She looked at him for a moment.

On the cold sea in Bolska, in that fog-choked space. His silver strike that cut Gale’s neck without mercy. That face on the deck kept flickering before her eyes.

“Then...... what happens to Sir Gale?”

“Everything will be stripped from him. His family will probably have to leave the Empire as well. The end of a criminal. A knight must never submit to the palace, or choose slavery.”

“......”

Hanna lowered her eyes. A senior knight from the same commoner background, someone she had believed would guide her.

But he had pushed a junior into danger for his own advancement, and ended at the bottom of a freezing sea.

“Could there have been...... a better way?”

Hanna murmured with bitter self-mockery.

Maximilian put down his pen. He stared at Hanna.

“......You said that before.”

A fragment from two years ago crossed his mind.

The moment he cut down Jacob, the Izenheim cadet, and seventeen-year-old Hanna said in resentment,

‘There must have been a better way. There had to be.’

Maximilian stood.

Slowly, he walked to her side.

“My answer is always the same.”

Tap. He placed a hand on her bandaged shoulder.

“......”

Hanna looked up at Maximilian in silence.

He was a man who did not waver.

A man who knew where he was headed and pursued only the cause.

A knight who honed blade-sharp conviction through absolute faith in himself.

He repeated those words to her.

“This is that way.”

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