WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 19

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Kill, or Save (4)

Gennen Central Police Station was notorious throughout all of Gennen. Not only for the violent conduct of its officers, but also for its tight Link to the Imperial Guard Intelligence Bureau.

It was also famous for never bowing easily, yet for some reason today, even the chief had come out in person to receive a guest.

"Knight Maximilian. It is a great honor to have you visit us in person......"

Maximilian von Ebenholtz. A Sentinel knight, and the heir to one of the Empire's three pillars, had come in person.

"But may I ask what brings you to such a humble place......"

Maximilian sat in a chair while the chief and every other officer stood with their heads lowered before him.

Maximilian said, "I received a letter saying you captured those who led this terrorist attack."

The chief gave a faint smile.

"Ah, yes, yes. Our investigators caught them."

"Are you certain?"

Maximilian looked at the chief. His gaze was hard to read.

"......Pardon?"

The chief tilted his head, and Maximilian calmly asked again.

"I mean, are they truly the real culprits?"

"Ah, yes! They are!"

The chief answered brightly. The investigators coughed and hid their smiles. They were probably expecting praise.

"In that case-"

"We are certain!"

One investigator raised his hand and stepped forward.

"We got confessions."

It was Zendo, wearing a look of complete confidence. Maximilian looked at him. The man held his neck as stiff as bamboo.

Maximilian asked, "Evidence."

"......The confessions. Confessions we got from independence faction demonstrators."

"Confessions?"

"Yes. We got confessions."

Confessions, confessions, confessions. Zendo repeated the same word again and again. Maximilian's gaze tilted quietly as he watched him. Even then, Zendo did not bend.

"It seems you are mistaken."

The knight's voice suddenly turned cold.

"When I say evidence, I do not mean records beaten out of people. I mean hard physical proof."

"Ah, Knight Maximilian."

The chief laughed awkwardly.

"Well, you see, these independence faction people are very secre-"

"At what time and place did they plant the bombs? How did they obtain the materials? And what circumstances proved they planted them?"

Cutting off the chief's excuse, Maximilian continued.

"I mean precise evidence that cannot be tainted under any circumstance."

"......"

The chief fell silent. The room was suddenly still.

Maximilian sat with one leg crossed, while investigators stood around him in near formation. Not one stepped forward. They stayed silent, only watching one another.

From their perspective, they had no idea why Maximilian was acting this way. He should have had no connection to the independence faction.

Maximilian looked at the chief. It was a look demanding his name.

"Ah, Elon. I am Elon."

"Chief Elon."

As he said the name, Maximilian lifted one eyebrow.

"I was there."

"......"

Only then did the investigators understand the source of that cold anger.

"Not anyone else."

Right now, Maximilian was furious about the case that had dragged him in. He had come here not as a knight, but as a noble.

"Me."

If they failed to identify the real culprit who had nearly harmed him, it became a matter of pride. And the pride of an Imperial noble was beyond anything people in an autonomous territory could imagine.

"Uh...... well......"

Sweat gathered on Chief Elon's clasped hands behind his back. His fingers kept slipping.

"I want the complete truth. Not a made-up story."

Maximilian, by contrast, remained calm. As if handling a purely administrative matter, he controlled the room and the moment without showing emotion.

"So I will personally question those you claim are the culprits, and expose whether there was false testimony."

Maximilian swept his gaze across the room and asked, "Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes. I understand what you mean."

The chief bowed ninety degrees. The investigators stayed still.

"No. It does not look that way at all."

Seeing them, Maximilian gave a cold wave of his hand. He signaled to the investigators in the back.

"I clearly told you to bring out the suspects."

Maximilian did not raise his voice. From the moment he arrived until now, his tone had stayed even. It never rose once, and there was not a trace of emotion in it.

He only stared into the chief's eyes.

"Now."

He gave a very small warning.

"Immediately."

* * *

On the floor of Central Police Station, the suspects were made to kneel one by one. All their faces had been beaten so badly their features were barely intact, and Yan Novak, identified as one of the main culprits, was half unconscious.

"......Article 5, Clause 3 of the Autonomous Statute. All investigative agencies in the autonomous territory must conduct investigations in accordance with due process guaranteed by the Imperial Constitution and this statute."

While reciting the statute, Maximilian read the barely legible reports the officers had written.

"Excessively coercive investigative methods must not be used in that process."

He turned his gaze to the officers.

"A dead letter. With this, does Gennen really need autonomy?"

"I am sorry."

The chief lowered his head. He had apologized so many times he had lost count.

"There is no need to be sorry. I expected nothing from the start."

Maximilian's voice was clear, sharp enough to feel like a blade against the ear. It was likely his deep tone and the distinct diction of a noble.

"The reports are full of fabrications, there are no proper witness statements, and of course there is no physical evidence...... At this level, no wonder this is all you can do."

The investigators pressed their lips tight, pride wounded.

"Send these lowlifes out."

Maximilian glanced at the independence faction detainees.

"If torture only got you this much, they probably do not even know anything useful."

"......I"

At that moment, Zendo stepped forward.

"Investigative authority is independent in the autonomous territory. So we have the right to conduct our own investigation."

"If this can even be called an investigation."

At those words, Zendo's expression hardened. A heated sigh escaped him.

Maximilian nodded as if he understood.

"You still have not come to your senses."

He slipped a hand into his inner pocket. A terminal glinted outside his uniform.

"K, Knight Maximilian!"

In an instant, the chief's face went pale and he dropped to his knees.

Maximilian and House Ebenholtz's connections reached the very top of the Empire.

One word from him, and the neck of some autonomous territory chief could be gone in an instant.

"I am deeply sorry, truly! You, you little, you bas-!"

The chief glared at Zendo and cursed with his eyes. If Maximilian had not been there, he would have spat every vulgar word he knew.

"Why are you not all on your knees!!"

"We are sorry!"

"We are sorry!"

At the chief's outburst, every investigator dropped to their knees. No, they slammed their foreheads to the floor. Maximilian skimmed his gaze over the tops of their heads.

Flatly, he pointed to the fake culprits.

"Send them out."

"Yes, yes! What are you doing, untie them now!"

The investigators hurriedly pulled the suspects to their feet. Those taken unjustly staggered out of the station. Maximilian watched Yan Novak's back among them, then nodded.

His initial objective was complete, but there was still work to do.

"From now on, I will give you a chance to make up for this."

He stood and shoved the torture-filled reports into a trash bin.

"Find the real culprits."

They were incompetent fools who could do nothing but threaten the powerless, but he had no intention of crushing them completely. In the end, they were still field workers, small people.

"I will say it again. I want the truth."

Izenheim was surely involved in this case.

Sage's comrades, the ones I cut down that day, were hiding somewhere.

The Gennen Spring. That incident where tens of thousands died was probably driven by their agitation and incitement.

"If you bring me the true ringleaders who planned this terror."

I will find them and kill them.

I will cut off the sprouts early, twist their necks, and leave no future trouble behind.

"My evaluation of you might change."

"Yes! Loyalty!"

The chief shouted and saluted.

"We understand everything!"

"Loyalty!"

The investigators copied his salute. Maximilian gave a small nod, then left the police bureau with the measured stride of a noble.

The chief and investigators held the angle of their salute until he disappeared.

* * *

Released from the station, Yan wandered along a main road in Gennen with nowhere to go. His mind was hazy. He did not know where he was, and he did not know where he was walking. He only staggered forward.

Screeeech-

Just then, a car stopped in front of him. The window rolled down, and a low voice came from inside.

"Are you Mr. Yan Novak?"

At the same time, the car door opened. Yan hurriedly waved his hands.

"I, ah, no. I did not, I did not do anything."

"It is all right. I am not police."

Only then did Yan look at the face calling him.

A man with rimless glasses and a rigid, old-fashioned look. At least by his clothes, he was not police.

"Please get in."

Yan swallowed. He hesitated, then climbed into the passenger seat.

The man's overall presence did not feel threatening.

"Um...... who, who are you......?" Yan asked carefully.

"You do not need to know, but if I must explain, I am a company employee. I am also an administrative officer. I handle many tasks."

The man adjusted his rimless glasses and handed Yan an envelope.

"This is......?"

"Check it yourself."

Yan opened the envelope. Inside were several documents, laminated papers, and even a bundle of cash.

"Wh, what, this-"

A stack of one hundred 100-dollar bills. Ten thousand dollars, an amount he had never touched, never even seen in his life.

"Your sponsorship funds and your new identity. A recommendation letter is included as well. You should be able to pursue whatever education you want, anywhere."

"Sponsorship? For, for me?"

"Yes. I was told Mr. Yan has potential."

"Wh, who......"

Someone suddenly came to mind.

Hide it, until you are strong enough.

That day, that Sentinel knight. The blond man who had saved him during the bombing.

"......Why, why me?"

"I only carry out orders. I do not deliver meaning beyond that. You must find that meaning yourself, Mr. Yan."

Vroooom. The man drove off.

Soon they reached a familiar alley, and before long the car stopped.

Yan flinched in surprise. It was right in front of his home.

The man asked, "How was the drive? It has only been two days since I started learning."

"Ah. Ah. Yes. Very. Very good."

"Then get out."

"......Yes. Thank you."

Yan got out of the car. He started toward the house, then turned back and asked the man in the driver's seat, "Could I ask your name......?"

Adjusting his rimless glasses, he answered, "Dieter. Dieter Schmidt."

A very businesslike, weary face. A voice that matched it.

"Lastly, there is a message my boss told me to pass on."

Ahem. He cleared his throat and delivered it in a low voice.

"If you keep striving where you stand, someday we will meet again..."

"Ah...... yes."

Yan nodded blankly.

"Then goodbye. Do not miss this chance."

Dieter drove away. Yan Evok watched him disappear through the winding slum roads for a long time.

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