WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 166

──────

Exploration (3)

I spoke with Zerof about many things at Lobrus's Winter Palace, but there was no substance to any of it. Even so, looking thoroughly self-satisfied, he kept nodding and repeating that he would pass it along.

"I will report everything from this discussion to the General Secretary. He will definitely find it interesting."

Diplomacy was diplomacy, and politics was politics. What mattered was people. In the end, Zerof was nothing more than General Secretary Varmil's loyal pet dog.

"I hope so as well."

There was no need to fear the future drawing near. The General Secretary would make a rational decision. He would accept the deception called non-aggression.

That was why, on this dragging, stagnant chessboard, I held the better position.

Because I knew how history unfolded. Because I had already seen what lay inside Izenheim.

"You will probably stay one more night, and the result should reach you before you return to the Empire."

Zerof suddenly looked puzzled.

"By the way, what model was the craft you came in on this time? It looked like a military transport."

I had expected that too.

"Yes. It was a Kanillan military transport. Shall I gift you one?"

"...Are you serious?"

Zerof's expression abruptly turned hard.

"Of course. It is a gift I would gladly pass along. Would one of the same model as mine be enough?"

Favors bought with money were always the easiest kind. That transport was outdated anyway.

"In that case, we will not refuse. Hahaha."

With that line from Zerof, the meeting ended. I still had one regret. I had not met the General Secretary in person. I was already fairly certain about Izenheim, but certainty felt with my own senses was another matter.

Anyway.

After returning to the hotel, I sat by the window and spread out Eastern newspapers. Most of them criticized the Empire, which was honestly amusing.

Knock knock.

A sudden knock at the door.

I opened it. Yelena stood there quietly. She smiled faintly and handed me a sheet of paper.

"It is the caviar supply contract."

"...That moved quickly. Come in."

I let her in without hesitation.

"I heard you had quite a long conversation with Commissar Zerof."

Yelena brought it up the moment she sat on the sofa. That seemed to be her real purpose.

"Yes. We discussed the bright future of the Empire and Lobrus a little."

I replied calmly and scanned the contract. The numbers were quite reasonable.

As expected of a traditional Eastern Alliance house, there was no trace of vulgar nouveau riche manners.

"Good. May I sign immediately?"

"As you wish."

I answered absently without stopping my pen.

"Who knows."

I handed the document to Yelena. She looked out through the penthouse window.

Sleet scattered in the wind. Under the moonlight, the gray, wavering view looked as if it might shatter at any moment.

"A terribly long and cruel time is coming."

Looking at the blizzard outside, Yelena spoke bitterly.

"...It might be necessary. If it is for cleansing the continent."

Cleansing. I had no choice but to use that word. This continent, this world, was contaminated by Izenheim.

"Ha. Cleansing..."

But Yelena's face hardened.

"I do not think I can divide human value that conveniently, the way you do."

"..."

Instead of answering, I quietly lifted my teacup. Yelena stood.

"Then I will take my leave."

She still did not know the true shape of the hell to come. But would her righteous conviction hold even when she faced the malice of those subspecies with her own eyes?

"Be careful, Commissar Yelena."

Over the rim of my teacup, I looked straight into her blue eyes and warned her.

She left without a word.

* * *

Empire, top floor of the Sentinel Order.

[ Sentinel Order Deputy Commander Kairon von Graf ]

Kairon stared at his nameplate on the wooden desk with entranced eyes. He picked up a cloth and rubbed the surface.

Maybe there was dust on it. Scrub, scrub. Scrub, scrub.

Rub rub. Rub rub.

His hand moved carefully and obsessively, making sure not to leave a scratch, then suddenly stopped.

"...Ah."

It was not dust, it was the engraved pattern. Kairon let out a dry laugh.

"Haa."

With a satisfied expression, he sank into his chair, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

His assessment of himself after seizing this position today was...

"...Perfect."

Anton was gone, and Commander Alberich was an old man waiting for retirement. Before long, he would take the commander's seat.

"Hahaha."

Kairon laughed.

This joy was mine alone. Some people babbled that when they finally achieved the dream they wanted so badly, emptiness came rushing in. Maybe for idiots. Not for me.

"Khahaha!"

There was only joy.

No need to share this ecstasy with anyone. No need to shout it to the world. He would savor this achievement with his whole body.

"Khahahahaha! Hahahahaha────!"

His laughter thundered through the wide office.

"Hoo!"

After that outburst, Kairon steadied his ragged breathing and regained composure.

Still, the mood inside the Sentinel Order lately was nowhere near as bright as he was.

After Anton's fall, the divide between factions had deepened further.

And on top of that...

"..."

Kairon picked up a red-sealed official document laid neatly on one side of his desk.

────[ Imperial Decree ]────

Establishment of the Executive Affairs Minister post and cooperation guidelines for the Sentinel Order.

To strengthen the Empire's military and security capability, a new Executive Affairs Minister post is established to coordinate the regular army's overall budget and personnel authority, as well as police power.

The next Executive Affairs Minister will enhance transparency and efficiency in both the regular army and the Knight Orders, therefore...

───────

Kairon's eyes turned cold.

Those palace bastards were finally trying to place limits on Sentinel authority.

...

Nearly all top-secret documents and confidential historical records produced in the Empire were permanently archived in the palace library, especially in its deepest underground forbidden vault.

A barrier that barred all outsiders was maintained there at all times.

To enter, one had to be of the imperial family, or at minimum hold authority equivalent to the Emperor's closest inner circle.

Creeeak.

Yet someone opened that forbidden vault door as if it were nothing. Because someone had that level of authority.

That someone stepped out with one specific record carefully tucked away, then walked along the marble corridor of the palace.

"Oh? What is this."

Leutern II suddenly appeared.

"Hey, wow, perfect timing!"

He bustled up as if delighted to see her.

The Emperor's eyes and ears, Agentes Sonnet Kandel, only gave a slight nod.

"Hey, hey. Did you hear that rumor? That sneaky bastard Kents Bertem might get promoted to some high post called Executive Affairs Minister this time. Seriously, does that make any sense?"

"..."

"I mean, the guy who got crushed by his older brother and was treated like leftovers in his own house, now suddenly a minister? Are those bureaucrats all high on drugs or what? Total idiots. Oh, and also..."

His whining complaints went on for quite a while.

"First of all, his face itself is the problem. Right? He looks like a frog. Frog faces should never be allowed in key posts. They should make that a law instead, those idiots. Frogs must not hold key office..."

Watching him, Sonnet truly could not understand.

Was this foolish face really all calculated acting, the great actor Leutern?

"If you have that many complaints, submit a petition to parliament."

"...Why would I? I am not crazy enough to do something that exhausting."

At that moment, Leutern II's expression stiffened slightly, for just an instant.

Sonnet did not miss that tiny change.

A chill completely different from the idiot act just now flashed across him.

"I am extremely busy studying tactics and strategy. I am training to be a commander."

At Leutern II's words, Sonnet gave a light bow.

"Yes. I hope you become an excellent commander. Take care."

She simply passed him. She could not continue the conversation any further.

Palace corridors were dangerous.

Someone would definitely be listening in on us.

...

"Hm. Leutern II said that..."

Just as Sonnet expected, their chat reached Grossman.

"Yes, Chief Secretary. He spoke badly about the rumor that Lord Kents Bertem will be appointed Executive Affairs Minister."

"That figures. Those two were enemies from the start."

Grossman lit a cigar and sank into thought. Leutern II's political power had already been proven when he removed Julius.

But if he openly stepped in even on this minister appointment, it would be a huge political risk for the royal side as well.

Creating a new minister post was the imperial family's exclusive authority. If he raised a careless objection, the backlash would hit him instead.

Even so, Leutern's movements were impossible to predict.

"He seems to be trying to cozy up to the nobles for no reason... monitor that bastard's every move thoroughly. Tighten the around-the-clock surveillance net. Report without fail who he meets and what schemes he discusses."

A royal's sphere of life was confined to the palace in the end. Countless eyes and ears in the palace would keep close watch on him.

"Yes. Understood."

After the aide left, Grossman fell into quiet stillness.

At his feet, shadows flickered like embers.

Sssssss...

Soon the darkness peeled away from him and seeped into the palace's many corners of shade.

Kurt von Eus Grossman. He had left his own house and become the Emperor's Chief Secretary. He had not taken this seat through politics and background alone.

Unlike the palace cowards, Grossman did not fear Sebestian.

There was clearly a valid reason beneath that confidence.

* * *

Lobrus military airport.

"Do not lose that paper."

Seeing me off, Zerof pointed at the paper in my hand. It was the draft of the secret pact, bearing the General Secretary's signature.

"Isn't it the beginning of a very important and very costly promise between us?"

Deception, with both sides ready to cut each other's throat at any time.

Still, one sheet both sides needed.

"Yes. Of course."

I smiled lightly and nodded.

"I look forward to what comes next, Commissar Zerof."

"Hahaha. Yes, Sir Knight. I would love to see you again in a better place, more comfortably, where we can throw off these cumbersome uniforms and share a toast."

I answered his cloying flattery with a bow and boarded the transport.

The transport roared to life.

By the time I arrived back in the Empire, it was late at night.

It felt like coming home.

I thought I would finally get some rest.

"Sir Maximilian."

The moment I stepped onto the runway, a man in a suit approached without a sound and spoke.

"From here on, we will escort you."

He even discreetly showed a royal seal.

"...Let's go."

I got into his car. The vehicle left the airport in an instant and arrived at some location.

An old rundown building, like an abandoned warehouse.

"This is the place."

He carefully opened a creaking rusted door. In the middle of a narrow dust-covered room, someone sat quietly.

Wrapped deep in a shabby robe, hidden in shadow, yet carrying a noble and chilling presence that could not be concealed.

It was Princess Justine.

"Maximilian. How did the diplomacy go?"

Justine asked. I gave a formal salute, then handed her the paper.

"I brought back their intent."

She pulled back her hood halfway. She skimmed the contents and spoke coldly.

"...You handled it perfectly. Father will be very pleased."

Her voice was too icy to call praise, but neither of us felt slighted by that.

"Do those Eastern bastards have internal trouble too? If they were willing to hand over a document with the General Secretary's signature."

"I do not know the exact inside story, but they also seemed to need time to settle internal matters and consolidate power."

"Consolidate power..."

The princess rubbed her chin and asked,

"And does our Empire not need that?"

There was a blade hidden in her words. I stayed silent briefly, then spoke.

"...I heard rumors are openly circulating among the top ranks that General Secretary Varmil of the Eastern Alliance is Izenheim."

At that moment, Justine's brow twitched sharply. Intense contempt and disgust flashed in an instant.

She was a woman who treated every subspecies on the continent as insects.

"I do not think that rumor is complete nonsense. Even if he is not Izenheim, the General Secretary's father was a low fishmonger who sold fish guts from the harbor floor, and his mother was a nameless maid."

Izenheim could not claim the status of traditional nobility. Their lineage was only a few hundred years old, creatures that had appeared out of nowhere.

That was why Izenheim clung so hard to finance. Only by buying background with money could they revive their own kind.

"If such base, rootless blood wants to stand at the top of the Eastern Alliance, a power restructuring process is unavoidable. But."

I looked at the princess.

"Our Empire is already united around His Majesty and Your Highness. More than ever, it is taking on the true shape of an Empire."

She seemed to weigh my words in silence, then twisted her lips slightly and exhaled.

"...Yes. That is exactly right. Those Easterners are rootless, disgusting beasts after all."

The princess rose slowly.

"Maximilian. There were many strange parts to your recent movements in various places. To be honest, when you made an exception for that Yaken subspecies, I hated it. Still, I could understand the reason to some extent. Even a hunting dog can be beaten to death after the hunt."

Her cold fingers lightly brushed my uniform collar.

"From now on, report everything you see, hear, and do to me first."

She pulled something from her robe and handed it to me.

"This matter reached you through Grossman this time, but that bastard is hard to trust. No, I simply do not want to trust him. He is a man who raises ten thousand snakes inside himself."

A mana parchment, faintly rippling with blue mana. The princess spoke.

"If you have something to say, use this. If we must meet, meet here."

I looked around this place again, this hideout that looked like little more than rubble. I sensed a flow more mysterious than magic.

According to my virus analysis,

"Arcane."

The princess gave a short smirk.

"Yes. Spatial connection. It is an Arcane your father gifted my father. If I open the wardrobe in my room, it leads straight here."

It was a perfect place for secret meetings.

"Maximilian."

I looked up at her. She looked down at me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Become my vassal."

Justine still lacked a foundation. The entire imperial house was not hers yet. She became true Crown Princess only when the Emperor allowed it.

For the future, she wanted vassals who served only her.

"As your father did."

For me, it felt like I had passed her test.

No, maybe the test began now.

"..."

As an imperialist, could this side of me, the one pretending to be a loyal retainer, truly reach Justine?

Humanity's greatest enemy was outside, but perhaps my greatest enemy was inside.

The Emperor had passed his trust in Sebestian directly to me, his son, but Princess Justine was not that soft.

"Yes."

Even so, I bowed with full courtesy.

"I will give my whole heart and my full strength."

Princess Justine and I were people cut from the same cloth. At least the direction of our grand ambition was similar.

But...

Inside my chest, a darkness even I could not understand kept writhing.

Probably because I am not Sebestian.

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