WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 165

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Exploration (2)

After we finished our meal, we headed back to the Lobrus Hotel.

The air in the car felt even heavier than it had in the restaurant.

“Were you serious when you spoke about harmony?”

Yelena suddenly turned from the window and asked.

I kept my answer short.

“Yes. I was.”

She forced back a dry laugh that almost slipped out.

“So you came here for diplomacy.”

I only smiled.

She seemed to think harmony itself was impossible. That meant that even among the top leadership, they still had not sensed the signs of the Great Purge.

But the bloody storm was drawing closer, quietly and surely.

“What kind of person is Commissar Zerof?”

I changed the subject. In Eastern Lobrus, there were around a dozen people who held the title of Commissar. Yelena was one of them, and all of them were central figures in state power.

“A Commissar, and among them, the head of the police corps. Beyond that, he is exactly what you just saw with your own eyes, Sir Knight.”

Yelena showed a strange kind of disgust toward Zerof.

Understandable. Zerof was a lone climber with no family background. To her, he was a stone that rolled in from outside. A rat who became the General Secretary’s secretary through flattery and politics.

A man like that grabbing real power and strutting around was something a traditional house could never look on kindly.

“Most likely, Commissar Zerof will receive you tomorrow.”

In truth, in the timeline before my regression, Zerof was treated almost like one of the Empire’s war criminals. After the collapse, he was even featured in the Republic’s expert column 「Genealogy of Villains」.

Scholars described his life in nearly the same words: extreme dependence on the strong, and a craving for recognition and display born from deprivation.

“He didn’t leave a very good impression.”

At my comment, Yelena let out a brief laugh of agreement.

By then, the car had reached the hotel lobby.

“Then rest well, Sir Maximilian.”

“Yes.”

I parted with Yelena. Guided by the manager, I went up to the top floor. The entire penthouse floor was a single suite.

“...For state guests?”

It felt like I was being treated well, but there was no way I would trust that.

As I removed my coat, I first swept through the internal flow of mana.

Unexpectedly, I sensed no signs of wiretaps or eavesdropping. Even against Ebenholtz mana, there were no impure waves or traces at all.

Still, rather than assuming there was no surveillance, it was more accurate to assume it was simply very well hidden.

I took a small mana plate from my inner pocket and set it down.

It worked on a principle similar to a recorder, replaying voices recorded in advance.

“Haa. I’m tired. I should wash up and sleep right away.”

Like this, I could fill the room with ordinary sounds arranged by time slot.

Shhhhhhhhhh.

After showering, I changed clothes.

I disguised my identity with black hair and blue eyes, then wrapped my whole body in Ebenholtz mana and erased my presence.

Then I stepped onto the window frame and threw myself out without a sound.

Fwoooooosh!

Jumping from a hotel penthouse could also be called a descent.

Wind cold enough to freeze flesh. I moved through it in silence and reached a back alley in the Lobrus capital.

Thud.

The moment I landed, my heart pounded. As expected, there were quite a lot of Izenheim here.

Far more than in the Empire, those bastards swarmed through this country’s bloodstream like parasites.

“...”

At times, a hopeless feeling rose in me.

I had to kill this many of them. I had to erase them from this continent, from this world.

Killing that bordered on endlessness. That was the purpose of my regression, and the cause called humanity’s survival...

“Sir Knight.”

Schatz stepped out from a dark corner.

“Did you secure the base?”

“Yes.”

Our route was by land. If you wanted to escape the Lobrus capital, walking was the only option.

“Then let’s go.”

The Great Purge ranked among the most dangerous things I had ever faced, so I planned to run a little rehearsal.

* * *

Lobrus, the General Secretary’s private chamber.

Beyond a desk drowned in shadow, Zerof gave a detailed report on his conversation with Maximilian.

“...Was that so.”

General Secretary Varmil Makstun’s voice drifted from the darkness, heavy as iron.

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Zerof nodded gravely.

“A knight of the Empire came all the way here talking about harmony. That means they want it too. If we can seize their urgency and squeeze something out of it, nothing could be better, but...”

The Empire wanted war. It wanted to strike the West and expand its territory. As for reason and justification, honestly, it was hard to see anything rational in it.

Mad acts of a mad Emperor.

“This is my personal view, but I think they crawled in at exactly the right time.”

To wage war, internal unity mattered above all else. The Empire clearly wanted to avoid an all-out war with the Eastern Alliance and strike the West while watching the East.

But in Zerof’s view, the West’s military strength was not so weak that the Empire could dismiss it lightly.

“What is your proposal?”

“First, I think we should proceed in the form of a secret pact.”

A secret pact.

The best diplomatic tool for deceiving one another.

“If we sign a secret pact, those imperial bastards will feel safe in their rear and pour all their forces into the Western Front, sinking deep into a swamp of war.”

Then wait for the war between the Empire and the Western Alliance to drag on, with both sides wearing each other down.

“During that time, we thoroughly purge internal opposition and refine our military power, and when they are at their weakest and most exhausted...”

A cold flash passed through Zerof’s eyes.

“We bite their neck.”

-...

The General Secretary said nothing for a while. Silence pressed heavily across the room, but Zerof took it as agreement.

“You said Maximilian was the one behind the 「Imperial Civil Law」.”

The General Secretary spoke quietly.

“Lately, I have even heard rumors that I am a subspecies.”

Deeply subversive words had been circulating in Eastern Alliance politics. A vile rumor that Varmil himself, General Secretary of Lobrus, was Izenheim.

“They are nothing but petty malicious rumors from reactionaries who envy and seek to check Your Excellency’s power.”

Zerof cut it off without hesitation, killing intent surfacing.

“Which is exactly why the timing is perfect. The chance has come to root out every last one who dares spread those blasphemous rumors and purge them all...”

* * *

Maximilian arrived at the Winter Palace, the heart of Lobrus, still bearing the splendor of the old imperial age.

This grand fortress, where remnants of the former Emperor lingered everywhere, had now become General Secretary Varmil’s residence and the governing headquarters of the Eastern Alliance.

“...Show him the highest courtesy possible.”

Zerof straightened his clothes. Just as the rumors said, all wristwatches were removed. Even minorities like Izenheim and Mer were cleared out from inside the palace. It was to avoid any possible friction.

“No matter how blood-crazed that imperial madman is, he is still a state guest first.”

Clack, clack.

Right then, at the steady footsteps ringing across marble, everyone turned.

“...He’s coming. Why does he look like that?”

A face that seemed completely detached from his violent actions and violent words, both inside and outside the Empire. Some praised him as Aran’s idol, while others ground their teeth in envy and resentment.

Maximilian von Ebenholtz.

The way he walked in was certainly elegant and flawless. His formality was so perfect it looked unreal.

“You are here.”

Zerof greeted him with his attendants.

“Pleased to meet you, Sir Maximilian.”

“Yes. It is an honor to see you again, Commissar Zerof.”

After a polite bow, Maximilian sat across from Zerof.

Both men smiled with teacups before them.

“Then.”

Zerof signaled to his attendants. They cleared out at once.

This kind of instant obedience born from his own gaze gave Zerof considerable pleasure.

“I would like to discuss a little more... in depth, the meaning of the Empire and Eastern Alliance ‘harmony’ you mentioned yesterday.”

Zerof opened in a deliberately weighty tone.

Maximilian nodded calmly.

“Please.”

Zerof disliked that composure, but did not show it.

“I gave this much thought. But, uh, but if you think realistically, don’t you think harmony is quite difficult under the current confrontation between our two states?”

For a moment, his imperial pronunciation tangled. Zerof frowned.

The language was needlessly complex and difficult, but there was no choice. He could not bring an interpreter into a discussion of a secret pact.

“...I’m not sure.”

At the words that came out of Maximilian’s mouth, Zerof’s eyes widened.

“I do not think it is difficult.”

That sentence was not in imperial.

“...You can speak Ro?”

The Lobrus language, commonly called Ro, the unofficial common tongue of the Eastern Alliance.

“Yes. I made sure to learn it. But more importantly for now.”

Maximilian set down his teacup and continued in a low voice.

“Harmony.”

His gaze pierced Zerof.

“The essence of what the Empire intends to convey through this proposal is simple. First, we remove the common enemy.”

“The common enemy... Sir Knight, did you not walk the streets of Lobrus? Every citizen in Lobrus is criticizing the 「Imperial Civil Law」.”

Maximilian smiled.

“Yes. Outwardly, that is what they will say. But Commissar Zerof, deep down, don’t you also strongly agree with at least some parts of it?”

Zerof’s brows tightened. Maximilian leaned forward slightly.

“Izenheim, a leech-like pseudo-group mad for money, sucking the continent’s lifeblood. And beyond them, subspecies and minorities who refuse to cooperate with society at all. Our ‘suppression’ has a long history.”

“In international society, that is called racial discrimination.”

Zerof tried to offer a dignified rebuttal, but,

“I would rather ask you this, Commissar.”

Maximilian shot back coldly.

“If one of your colleagues, or your direct superior, were Izenheim, could you keep that person by your side and tolerate it?”

A loaded statement from Maximilian. But Zerof already knew why he had said it.

He smiled leisurely.

“...It seems Commissar Yelena delivered ‘that rumor’ to you.”

Among Yelena’s Adversaries, several were already Zerof’s.

So the conversation Maximilian and Yelena had that day had all already reached Zerof.

“...”

Maximilian seemed to read that subtext, fell silent for a moment, then muttered and nodded.

“As expected, you are a giant, just as I heard.”

A giant.

Just one phrase. But his voice carried genuine surprise without a trace of pretense.

A proud imperial grand noble of the highest rank, a knight this perfect backed by House Ebenholtz, was acknowledging him, a man raised from the streets, as a giant.

“Well...”

Zerof’s heart thudded for a moment. A hard-to-name sense of achievement wrapped around him. The days when he had crawled like a dog as a low-ranking field hand flashed through his mind, but this was no time for that.

He forced down the swelling superiority and delight, then cleared his throat.

“Ahem. Not at all. In the East, there is only one giant.”

He hardened his expression again.

“But if you say ‘as I heard’... does the Empire know me as well?”

For Zerof, that phrase, ‘as I heard,’ stuck in his mind.

He wondered whether his reputation had reached the Empire, and if so, in what form.

“Of course. Eastern rumors spread quickly in the Empire as well. Lobrus is a great country.”

Zerof sipped his tea, pretending not to care.

“But now that I’ve sat with you and spoken directly, you seem far beyond those rumors.”

“Hmm. Is that so. Far beyond rumors...”

“Yes. If I had to put it in one phrase.”

Maximilian looked him over with interest.

Even that gaze did not feel bad.

No, it felt good.

“‘The sharpest blade.’”

The sharpest blade.

Zerof set down his teacup. Breathing sharply, he leaned back in his chair.

“...”

...Maximilian watched him steadily.

He liked it. Completely.

Diplomacy was business between nations, but in the end, it was done by people.

So what mattered was always people.

“‘The sharpest blade’...”

According to 「Genealogy of Villains」, Zerof was a man with extreme need for recognition and display.

That was why he killed ten thousand when one thousand would have done, then a hundred thousand when ten thousand would have done, and in the end slaughtered a million people.

“What do you mean by that?”

Zerof asked, pretending displeasure.

“There is a proverb in the Empire. If you draw a sword, you should at least cut a radish.”

Maximilian’s gaze returned to Zerof.

“But the General Secretary of Lobrus is holding you, the sharpest blade of all. Surely that is to cut something away.”

“...”

Zerof leaned deep into his chair. The man was certainly quick-witted.

If the General Secretary held the great blade called Zerof, me, and did not swing it at external enemies, then the place that blade would point was naturally inward.

“...Ha.”

Since when had he noticed? Since I rose to a key post? Or from the moment Yelena passed along that nonsense rumor?

Did he see the possibility of a secret pact from that and come personally for diplomacy?

Zerof gave a faint smile and took out a luxury pipe.

“Then let me ask just one more thing.”

Now he could no longer suppress his rising curiosity.

“To you, no, to the Empire, what kind of person am I? Be specific.”

Maximilian watched Zerof as he licked his lips in excitement and blew smoke.

“Was I perhaps mentioned in books or newspaper articles as well?”

Diplomacy was politics, and politics was the act of swallowing disgust again and again.

If swallowing disgust and gilding a bastard like this was necessary, I could do it as many times as needed.

Only for the great cause of humanity...

Maximilian lifted the corner of his lips.

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