WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 36

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The Path I Must Take (2)

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I mounted my warhorse and headed for the western borderlands. The largest boundary between the western kingdoms and the Empire was the Macken Mountains. Cross that range, and you were at the border.

There were several viable escape routes out of the Empire, but this one was also the least likely to succeed.

"......Macken."

The Macken Mountains were an extremely dangerous region crawling with aberrations. Even I had to be careful here. Imperial expansion had not stopped at Macken for no reason.

Beasts, anomalies, and things no human common sense could explain lurked in this place.

Because this path was so difficult, it was the desperate, extreme choice of someone cornered.

And because it was that extreme, before my regression, he had failed to survive in the end.

Swaaaaaa...

Cold wind stirred the fallen leaves. The mountain air was already bitter.

My warhorse suddenly stopped. I dismounted and quietly looked at the sky in the distance.

Today, I killed one of my own blood.

But this was only the beginning. From now on, I would kill countless more people. I had to become that kind of person.

Under the greater cause of humanity's survival, individual sacrifice was unavoidable.

......Yes, unavoidable.

I repeated the words Sebestian used to say.

"It has become unavoidable."

"Sir Knight!"

The cavalry assigned to pursuit rode up soon after.

"It looks like we need to climb the mountain range directly. There are no tracks on the footpaths."

At this rate, they would find Akard before long.

In the past, Akard had failed to cross this range. Whether he died while fleeing the pursuit team or was taken by monsters, I did not know, but they had found only his corpse.

"Keep searching."

I handed a crystal orb to the man who seemed to be in charge of the pursuit team. It was a communication magic tool often used in remote places like this.

"The moment you spot the target, contact me."

"Yes! Ah, Sir Knight."

Still holding my horse's reins, he turned back to me. A greasy smile spread across his face, and his eyes glittered with greed.

"I am Major Hans Kailus. In case you are worried, let me say this. Like Lord Jecard, I too will soon cut off this filthy family name, so you need not be concerned."

Hans Kailus. Jecard had sent his trusted man. He seemed half certain Akard's escape route would be this way.

That was why a bastard was even more troublesome when he was smart.

"......Do so."

I had to hide my true purpose completely. Just as Edmund said, I had to watch out not only for Agentes, but for every eye and ear in this Empire.

I still lacked power, and the imperial court was swarming with treacherous officials hungry for authority.

* * *

......With a mask covering his face and a robe hiding his build, Akard Kailus climbed the rough mountain range wrapped up from head to toe.

Whenever he closed his eyes, he still saw his family's main house burning.

Even now, behind him, they were dying. Because of this absurd plot. Because of the betrayal of beasts he had believed were family.

"Haa......"

Even so, Akard did not look back. He swallowed his fury and moved forward.

He had to survive.

For the family who sacrificed everything for him alone, he had to survive.

"......Haa, haa."

The roads were already blocked by the Imperial Army, and every other route was the same. So he chose Macken, the western border. It was the hardest and most dangerous path, but he had to escape the Empire somehow.

He ran without a moment of rest to avoid the pursuit team. One full cycle of day and night passed, and night deepened again.

Akard hid for a moment in a crack between rocks. He pulled a biscuit from his robe pocket and bit into it.

"Ghk......"

Tears soaked the biscuit. His father's final words, spoken while handing him those rations, echoed in his ears.

"Akard. You must survive. Our will, the vision that will complete this house, rests with you."

Do not cry. Carry us within you. You will be the vessel that reflects us.

Akard accepted that burden, though it was far more than he should ever have had to bear.

Rustle.

In a split second, he caught movement in the nearby brush. Akard hid himself quickly. But the footsteps on the other side stopped in an unnatural way.

Akard was quick to sense things.

He had been discovered.

He made his decision at once. Pulling his sword, he charged at the figure in the dark. He thrust for the heart.

"Kgh!"

His blade pierced the solar plexus cleanly, but he was already too late. From somewhere, countless cavalry rushed in with shouts.

Thud-thud-thud, thud-thud-thud.

Hoofbeats pounded like war drums, and Akard was surrounded in an instant. Holding his sword high, he watched every direction.

"Good to see you, Akard."

Fwoosh.

Torchlight split the darkness as one man stepped into view.

"......!"

It was Hans Kailus, his father's youngest brother.

Akard's brow twitched.

"You too...... You too betrayed Father?"

A hollow laugh escaped him. A streak of blood ran down from his dust-caked brow.

"No. No, that is not it. I......"

Hans shook his head, looking almost sentimental.

"I was never, not once, at your idiot father's side."

"......"

That insult toward his father made his head feel like it was cramping. Staggering, Akard looked around at the cavalry.

There were dozens. He was alone.

Still, he had to survive. He had to keep his promise.

So he could not avoid this fight.

Mana surged into his sword. As he watched blue radiance gather around the blade, Sword Aura, Hans sneered.

"Your idiot father called you this house's talent. Looking at it now, he was right. Sword Aura at only sixteen."

Hans drew his own sword. That was the signal. The cavalry charged all at once.

Akard thrust his blade. He cut down two riders, then released sword wind and dropped several warhorses.

But they fought like guerrillas. They did not close in carelessly, and they focused on deflecting or evading his sword while forcing him to burn stamina.

At intervals, they threw knives.

Clang! Clang!

Compared to the mana wrapped around his sword, Akard's Aura Guard protecting his body was still underdeveloped. Small wounds opened across him.

"Krr, yaaah!"

Akard finally lost patience. He charged at Hans, but the riders dodged cleanly. Instead, they widened the distance and drove him deeper into the mountain. It was cavalry rabbit-hunting tactics.

Hans gave him a sly grin.

"But for all that talent, your head is too stiff. Just like your father whose head rolled off at that castle below."

Rage shook Akard to his core. The mana on his sword wavered. Blood kept leaking from his small wounds, and his strength was draining away.

"......Huh?"

That was when it happened.

In the deep darkness of the forest, Akard's eyes caught a certain "being."

How could he even describe that shape?

First of all, it was grotesque. Antlers like dry branches jutted from its head, and dozens of red eyes flashed on an owl-like face.

"Ha. You idiot."

Hans snickered. Akard had turned his eyes to the aberration, and Hans found it ridiculous.

"Like that trick would fool anyon-"

Kyaaaaaaak!

Hans's words were buried under a horrible scream. "That thing" was already moving.

The aberration stretched out a massive arm and grabbed cavalrymen like toys.

With one hand it crushed a human head, and with the other it swallowed a warhorse whole.

"W, what is that......!"

Hihihihiing!

The remaining horses went wild in terror. They reared up, threw their riders, and bolted.

The aberration kept feeding.

Crunch! Craaack! Kraaagh!

The chilling sounds of blood and flesh tearing apart. Bones ripped open, bodies shredded.

In that bizarre attack, the cavalry were torn like paper, unable even to scream.

"Guh, guhhh-"

Before long, Hans, split in half, stared at Akard and died. A small orb was clenched in his hand.

"Ah......"

Finally, with only Akard left, the aberration raised its giant arm.

---

Moonlight lit this place. At least, that was how it felt. A single flash arrived in silence, without sound or presence. That silver streak sliced off the monster's arm.

■■■■■!

It let out a shriek of pain, and Akard's eyes turned toward it.

A man stood there. The mountain range was drowned in darkness, but faint moonlight shimmered on the longsword in his hand, tracing his figure dimly.

Sentinel uniform, imperial knight.

The knight stood tall and faced the monster. The monster clutched its severed arm and glared at him. The knight did not avoid that murderous stare.

Instead, he took one step forward. The monster staggered back as if afraid.

As it turned to run, the knight swung his sword again.

---

Moonlight raced forward. As if alive, pure white mana split and swallowed the monster.

■■■■■......!

Wrapped in mana, the monster's body burned away. It was cut down to particles and melted white, pure white.

"......"

Akard stared blankly at him. The silver light flowing from the man's sword was dazzling.

But he was not his ally.

"......Akard Kailus."

At last, the knight spoke his name.

"I am Maximilian of Ebenholtz. The knight who beheaded your father and mother, your brother and your sister."

Akard's eyes widened. His teeth knocked against each other.

But his body would not move. He could not step away, as if frozen.

This enemy was far more terrifying than the monster just now.

If he took even one step closer, I would die.

As Akard panted and tried to turn away,

"Will you run from your sworn enemy?"

Maximilian asked. Akard said nothing. His heart dropped heavy in his chest.

Scrrrape. The soles of his feet dragged against the ground.

Clench. He gripped his sword.

He could not back away here. He could not run either.

If showing his back and dying, or kneeling and dying, were both death all the same.

If my failure, if the extermination of my house, was the fixed future......

Akard pointed his trembling sword at the knight. His heart pounded like mad, but the knight only watched him calmly.

He could not win.

There was absolutely no way he could win.

The aura pouring from that man was unlike anything he had ever faced in his life.

"Steady your breathing."

The knight spoke clearly.

"If your mind collapses before your body, you die at that moment."

At those words, the shaking blade became still as if by magic.

"Have you resolved yourself to die?"

The knight was judging him now. Deep golden eyes, eyes he could never dare meet, were weighing his soul.

"I came this far so I would not die."

Akard reset his grip on the sword. He drew up every last bit of mana he had left.

The secret art passed down through House Kailus.

He looked at the knight of Ebenholtz. The knight still watched him without the slightest movement.

Rather than kneel and wait for death, he would aim for that moment of carelessness and seize hope.

Akard thrust his sword at him.

Chaaaaaang!

A razor-sharp sound, enough to tear eardrums, rang through the mountain range. Blue sword energy burst from Akard's blade and swallowed the knight of Ebenholtz.

Whoosh.

Facing him, the knight swept his sword.

Kraaaaaaash!

Sword met sword and mana exploded.

Blue and pure white flooded out.

But his blue was overwhelmed by that light. His mana broke, and his sword energy shattered.

Even so, the knight remained in the same place. Akard had staked everything, yet he had not pushed him back even one step.

"......Resonance, is it."

Maximilian murmured and brushed his cheek with his fingers.

"A sword that resembles the sea."

Akard looked at the knight. He did not avoid his gaze.

If this death was coming anyway, he would receive it with his eyes open.

"......"

For a long time, the knight looked down at the boy. He looked into the boy's strength.

A child completely unlike his own weak past self. The boy had something he himself had lacked. Talent too precious to be snuffed out.

"Sharpen it."

The knight turned away.

"So that one day, you can reclaim what was lost."

After those words, the knight's back slowly receded. Akard watched him in silence.

When he finally disappeared completely, the boy dropped to his knees. Tension drained from him, and his legs gave way.

"Haa, haa......"

Breathing hard enough to collapse, he realized he had survived.

Whether it was the knight's whim or some other reason, he could not know, but Akard stood up again.

A mountain range full of aberrations. This place strewn with cavalry and Hans's corpses.

He still had a path he had to walk.

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