The Reluctant Imperialist - Chapter 14

WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 14

──────

One Step (2)

It was a dark night. An old car sped down a dark road on the outskirts of the capital. Inside were Arman and his family, fleeing the city.

"They're coming."

Rodriguez's masked underlings watched them from the woods.

"The major gave the order."

The Imperial Guard trooper Rodriguez trusted most raised a hand. Dozens of eyes glinted as they tracked the car.

"Those mongrels made fools of us and think they can leave safely."

A nasty smile spread across their faces.

"Erase them without a trace."

They were going to wipe them out as if they had never existed.

"Ready."

They lowered their bodies and prepared to leap.

The car rounded the corner and came into view.

"Move."

They burst out. Dirt flew under their pounding steps.

In an instant they surrounded the car, drove swords into the tires, then stabbed through the hood and destroyed the engine.

Kiiiiiik!

The car shrieked to a stop. Inside were Arman and his wife, and their three terrified children.

"Kill them all."

The children screamed. Arman begged them to spare at least his kids. The more he begged, the wider they sneered.

Crack!

They tore off the door and thrust their blades in, then.

───Swoooosh!

An arrow split the night. Sharp steel buried itself deep in a man's throat.

They turned, and figures in dark clothes appeared in silence.

"What the..."

Before they knew it, they were surrounded. It happened in an instant. They raised their swords on reflex and braced themselves, but killing intent brushed their skin. Their arms and legs trembled on their own. Even the mana they gave off made the gap in level obvious.

"W, who are you people."

No answer came. A man simply walked forward between them like a ghost. Narrow, long eyes, a gentle look with something chilling beneath it.

His cool voice settled over the air.

"I have a message."

The dagger in his hand flashed coldly under the moonlight.

"Just one line."

Then his narrow eyes curved like a crescent moon.

"Don't overstep your place."

That was the signal. Many blades flashed at once. The clash of steel split the silence, but only for a moment. Soon human screams burst out, blood and flesh tearing wetly.

Engi slaughtered Rodriguez's men.

It was a massacre.

"Butler-nim, Major Rodriguez himself is not here."

"I know. He never had the guts to begin with."

Engi checked Arman's condition. The three children and his wife had fainted, but thankfully none of them were in danger.

"The car is wrecked."

"..."

Arman could only swallow. Words would not come. Even his thoughts had stopped. It felt like the folds of his brain were tangled together.

Engi smiled softly.

"Please don't be too alarmed. This is Sir Maximilian's small token of thanks for giving him such a fine estate."

As he said that, he glanced over the scattered corpses.

"As you can see, fools like these do not let go of grudges easily. They always try to vent their anger somehow."

"Th, ah... tha, thank you..."

"I will gladly pass that on. A new car will arrive soon, so please leave in that one."

Grrk...

At that moment, bloody foam bubbled up from the ground at their feet. One of the men had survived by luck.

Arman flinched.

"Ah, don't worry too much. I left him alive on purpose. The message has to be delivered."

It was both a threat and a statement of intent. The meaning was simple.

“Leave the capital, and live as quietly as a dead mouse.”

It was basically an intelligence test. The smarter they were, the better they would act and keep themselves alive. The dumber they were, the less likely they were to give up.

"Then we'll be going."

Engi signaled his subordinates with his eyes. They melted into the darkness of the night. Engi followed, disappearing without a trace.

"..."

In the middle of a heap of corpses, Arman sank down blankly.

* * *

Morning. I arrived at the Order office and found a delivery document on my desk.

──────

[To the Imperial Judiciary]

[Criminal Complaint]

１. Complainant

Name: Giovanni von Rodriguez

２. Accused

Name: Maximilian von Ebenholtz

３. Purpose of Complaint

I hereby file criminal charges against the accused, Maximilian von Ebenholtz, for murder and for ordering an illegal use of force, and request a strict investigation and punishment under the Empire's law and justice.

４. Details of Complaint

On March 17, Imperial Year 1038, on an outer road near Arcadia, the imperial capital, the accused brutally murdered my loyal retainers, "Yuton Bill," "Cassio Veron," "Ten Ishin," and 7 others (10 total), by mobilizing an unidentified armed group.

This is a clear act of murder, and a grave crime that ignores the Empire's legal order and abuses private force.

Such instigation by the accused not only severely damaged the dignity expected of an Imperial knight, it was also a direct challenge to the authority of the Imperial Guard, which enforces the law in the name of His Majesty the Emperor, and cannot be overlooked.

Accordingly, I strongly urge the Imperial Judiciary to swiftly and fairly uncover the truth of this case and impose severe punishment on the accused in proportion to his crimes.

５. Evidence Materials

Sketch map and photographs of the crime scene (submitted separately)

Complainant Giovanni von Rodriguez (signature)

──────

Rodriguez had filed charges against me. He claimed I killed his men.

"Heh."

I let out a sneer.

"So this backwater idiot from the east really knows nothing about how the world works."

Before I regressed, trash like this became Imperial Guard executives and threw around power as the Emperor's close aides. He was proof of just how rotten the Empire had been.

Of course, he must have run his own calculations in his own way. Ebenholtz did have enemies.

Right now there was Kandel, competing for the Emperor's favor, and Zetz, the Empire's richest tycoon, both on bad terms with us.

The Imperial Guard had fairly close ties with House Kandel, so if he leaned on them and stirred public opinion, maybe he could at least hold Ebenholtz back.

That was his shallow thinking.

Only a provincial fool who knew nothing about power in the capital could imagine that.

I crumpled the complaint and tossed it in the trash.

Even this was probably part of Engi's calculations.

He could have handled everything without leaving evidence, but he deliberately left a survivor so Rodriguez would build his own "justification."

"Farewell."

This complaint would become his will, and I had something far more important than this idiot to handle.

A staff interview.

I needed to secure my own people.

A knight was the Empire's sword, but alone, he could do nothing. That was why modern knights had many attachments, administrative officers, intelligence officers, aides, and more.

An administrative officer was both secretary and steward, handling a knight's administrative work. Budget management, report drafting, supply procurement, schedule management, they took care of every chore so the knight could focus only on missions.

An intelligence officer gathered and analyzed all information tied to a case, then provided it to the knight. Field evidence analysis, suspect identity checks, record access, they became the knight's eyes and ears.

But I wanted more than that.

This was the first step in building a "private organization."

I hated factions, but now I had to build one.

I needed talent. Not just people with skill, but people who understood what I wanted and followed quietly.

People like that usually did not come to me. I had to go find them.

For me, that was a huge advantage.

Because I was a regressor.

"Let's see..."

I opened the Order's [Profile Lookup System].

In a fringe area of Arcadia, the imperial capital, there was a street lined with low buildings called Berihol Street. On one corner sat a tiny company with a faded signboard.

"Veritas Trade"

I had no idea what they bought or sold, but inside this place was the future chancellor who would one day hold up the Empire's collapsing finances all by himself.

I walked into the office.

Near the counter sat a thin man with glasses who looked to be in his early twenties.

His name was Dieter Schmidt.

I stood in front of his desk and quietly watched him, buried in paperwork.

"...?"

As if he sensed someone, he looked up.

"What can I do for you."

He pushed his glasses up on his nose and asked in a flat tone. His face was full of fatigue from paperwork and indifference toward the world.

"Nice to meet you."

Before I regressed, Dieter was a finance secretary of the Empire. A pure Imperial with no special background, he entered the imperial bureaucracy on skill alone, then managed failing state finances with astonishing efficiency and delayed the Empire's bankruptcy by one to two years all by himself.

"I'm Maximilian, a knight of the Sentinel Order."

I had come here to use that man as my personal administrative officer.

My group would definitely grow larger, so I needed the most capable person.

"Yes. Nice to meet you, Sir Maximilian."

Dieter replied calmly. The Revolutionary Faction had evaluated him as a one-track mind.

Even right before the Empire fell, he clung to only his own work in an almost strange way.

"...Maximilian Ebenholtz."

I shook his hand and gave my full name.

It felt a little lame, but this man was so dry.

"Ah, I see."

Still, his reaction stayed lukewarm. The name Ebenholtz clearly meant nothing to him.

"I'm Dieter Schmidt. An employee of this company."

"..."

No doubt about it. Even if I reached out right now, this man was not someone I could win over directly. He had even rejected relentless offers from the new cabinet and chosen execution himself.

Calling that a "track record" sounded weird.

Anyway, asking him to become my administrative officer at first meeting would be strange.

"...Excuse me. What brings you here?"

At that moment, a potbellied middle-aged man quietly appeared from deeper inside the office. I took my eyes off Dieter.

"Are you the owner?"

"Yes, I am, but..."

I approached the owner and took out my knight identification.

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Maximilian von Ebenholtz."

"...What? What? Eben, Ebenholtz?"

The owner's eyes widened instantly. I glanced at Dieter.

He had clearly said he belonged to this company, so the best way to get him was already decided.

"I'm here to acquire this company."

It was also the method the Empire's Imperial Guard liked. More than hostile, it was coercive M&A.

But I was different from them. At least I would not take it for free. I would pay full price.

"Please make some time."

I happened to need a corporation anyway.

"Ah, this is too sudden. I'm sorry, but I have no intention of selling this company-"

"No."

I smiled faintly and held out my hand to the owner.

"Do not misunderstand. This is not a request."

If I had one thing in common with those Imperial Guard bastards, it was this. The other side had no right to refuse.

If I tried to accommodate every single person, the world would end.

* * *

Inside the building, cold marble and hard straight lines shaped everything. Black-uniformed personnel stood in the corridors without the slightest disorder in posture. The high, empty hall was so cold it felt like even the air could freeze.

It was the headquarters of Imperial Guard KS.

"Hmm..."

In Lieutenant General Strassen's office, he kept his eyes on the papers and spoke to Major Rodriguez across from him.

"I heard the report, Rodriguez. You filed a complaint."

"Yes, Your Excellency. This is a direct challenge to the authority of both the Empire and His Majesty the Emperor."

Rodriguez raised his voice as if wronged. Strassen's brow twitched.

"I know. I saw the scene myself. It would have been better if you had given me a heads-up before filing."

Rustle. He turned a page without lifting his eyes from the documents.

"It was that unacceptable. Formal Imperial Guard members were killed. Ebenholtz and our Imperial Guard were never on the same path to begin with. We should use this chance to break their arrogance."

"Uh... I do understand. Ebenholtz can be... a bit pompous."

Strassen finally looked up. His eyes were dry, but Rodriguez took strength from those words and smiled.

"Yes, thank you. Then I'll contact Duke Kandel and bring this issue into public debate..."

"No, no need for that."

The lieutenant general cut him off. He stood and walked to the window with a faint smile.

"I'll handle it myself. Aren't you the Imperial Guard's rising new star? You do not need to worry about this kind of noise."

The corner of Rodriguez's mouth twitched slightly. He liked hearing "new star."

"Troublesome conflicts like this are for people like us to handle. That's why ranks like this exist."

Strassen tapped the golden lion insignia on his chest.

"You should focus on bigger matters. Go get some rest."

"...Thank you, Your Excellency. Loyalty!"

Rodriguez saluted with a moved expression and left the office.