WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 43

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Drawing the Future with a Pen (2)

I studied mana. I reviewed everything I had never known, or had learned once and forgotten.

Empire Point's mana curriculum followed orthodox standards. The same was true of every university-published mana theory text, and private tutors as well.

But I was fundamentally out of step with all that orthodoxy.

The flow of mana transmitted by the virus was completely different from what the textbooks taught.

Then how did knights handle mana?

Through "spell formulas" manifested through "mana circuits" inside the body.

Those formulas were entirely distinct from magic.

Mana was the source energy that made up the world. Magic, on the other hand, was a technique created by combining human mental imagery with mana.

So mana was part of nature from the beginning, while magic was an invention made by humans.

That was why formulas took a far more primitive form than magic circles. Straight lines and curves tangled together in a much more chaotic, disordered flow. That internal flow of mana, linked through bodily circuits, created Sword Aura, formed Aura Guard, and strengthened a knight's body.

Textbooks were the medium that presented the standard process for constructing those formulas. They always emphasized orthodoxy, fixed order, and fixed routes. It was easier to read, easier to follow, and safer.

Not for me.

The virus inside me always searched for another path. Even with sample formulas from textbooks, it bent every circuit into the shortest route. Sometimes it merged four or five circuits and created an entirely new one.

That removed unnecessary waste in mana circulation.

Mana control became far more efficient.

Because of that, I could imagine techniques that were hard to conceive through textbook logic. For example, if internal circuits were connected to a high-purity mana stone and emitted while "keeping the formula active," it might create a spherical Aura Guard that greatly improved a knight's survivability.

Scratch, scratch.

I etched those new concepts onto paper, one line at a time.

Scratch, scratch.

I was writing down formulas the world had never seen before.

* * *

For a week, I repeated work and study. I studied mana in every spare moment while reporting to the Order, and after work I stayed up nearly all night writing the paper. Progress was not easy, but I had known from the start it would take time, so I did not rush.

Knock knock.

Dieter came by.

"Sir Knight. This is the base plan for the new city district in Zone 35... but."

Zone 35. The abandoned wasteland that had once been military land held only Schatz's official residence for now.

I planned to build a new city around it. Creative and lively like Zestpol, but far better structured and orderly.

"Are you feeling unwell, by any chance?" he asked, studying my face.

I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair had grown shaggy, and dark stubble covered my jaw.

"Ah. I've been staying up writing something lately..."

Then it happened.

Tock, tock.

With the sound of a cane, Mr. Lorenzo finally appeared.

"Mr. Lorenzo!"

I was so glad to see him I almost hugged him without thinking. Even Lorenzo seemed briefly flustered by my reaction.

"Come, let's go up to the study."

As I guided him, I talked through my concept.

"You've probably heard of Aura Guard too, Mr. Lorenzo. It's a knight's formula. I'm considering a way to 'spherize' it. Ah, not concretize as in making it concrete, I mean turning it into a round sphere, like a ball."

I threw open the study door. My notes were scattered over the desk and floor. I grabbed the sheet where I had organized the core idea.

"This one."

"Ah... yes."

Lorenzo took the paper. At first he looked uninterested. I could almost read his thoughts: I should humor him at least. Even after softening, he was still a scholar with strong pride.

"..."

Not long after, he fell silent. The corner of his eye twitched as he skimmed the paper. His expression gradually turned serious.

Rustle, rustle.

He kept reading for a while, turning pages. I sat in a chair and waited.

Rustle, rustle.

I watched him read each line in detail. The corner of my mouth kept lifting on its own.

Then, at last.

"This..."

His eyes left the paper and turned to me.

"Did you truly come up with this yourself, Sir Knight?"

"Yes. It's still only a draft."

"Ha!"

Lorenzo let out a dry laugh. Admiration rose to his lips.

"This is certainly a completely different way of thinking from us mages and scholars. It looks like a mana formula that uses only pure mana."

An accurate assessment. My virus handled mana as mana itself.

"Yes. What do you think? Is it feasible?"

"A formula completed inside a knight's body, transplanted into an external mana stone, then emitted. This is absolutely worth refining."

Lorenzo gave his confirmation. He was far more reliable than the vague instincts delivered by the virus.

"Then let's write it together."

"...Together?"

"To be honest, my head hurts now. I'm not a scholar, and I don't have time to cling to this one paper."

I had other papers to write too. Methods for properly using knights, for one. The shape of modern warfare that would arrive soon, for another.

Time was what mattered. For me, for us, for this world, time was limited.

I held out my hand to Lorenzo.

"Mr. Lorenzo Carione. Please become the co-author of my paper."

As someone who was not a scholar, I could not convey my virus's instincts in proper language.

Lorenzo could.

I still could do nothing alone, but with my people, I could.

"...Helping is fine, but co-author is unnecessary."

Lorenzo gave a faint smile and shook his head.

"This already looks like a completed technology. I don't want to put my old name out front for no reason. Still, I can refine it into proper language."

He took my hand.

* * *

Empire Point's budget had many problems lately.

In truth, it was not only Empire Point. As the Empire's overall situation worsened, total tax revenue shrank, and as the Emperor's Imperial Guard bloated, funding was split in many directions.

With all those factors overlapping, Empire Point was now burdened with problems that did not match its reputation as "the Empire's best officer academy."

"...I should just get cancer so I can quit."

Commandant Dane was buried in deep worry over all of it.

What stressed him most was pressure from above. More precisely, pressure from Headmaster Lieutenant General Litruman.

To secure budget, they had no choice but to cut spending on cadets while also making money off cadets. Three years ago, a system had been established where those cadets, as combat resources, were sent to dangerous missions under the pretext of "practical experience" and used like mercenaries to earn operating funds.

From then on, students in the "elite division," who aimed to become knights, faced major expenses. Empire Point tuition, room and board, and medical care were all free, but personal equipment like weapons fitted to their own bodies had to be bought out of pocket.

Because of that, commoner cadets in the elite division lived on loans taken against their own status, and the scholarship system run by graduate donations had become meaningless. Most of it was split among noble children themselves.

Those people had no noblesse oblige.

Knock knock.

Then one day, just before summer break.

The door opened with a knock. The visitor was Maximilian.

"Good to see you, Commandant."

Dane greeted him with a puzzled look.

"What brings you here this time?"

"Nothing much... but first, I believe this is a duty I should fulfill as an Empire Point graduate."

Maximilian held out a check.

A donation.

Dane checked the amount before he even realized he was doing it.

After begging for budget for so long, he had become vulgar without noticing.

"...?"

Dane closed his eyes, then opened them again. He rubbed his eyelids with both hands. The number on the check had not changed.

"...Looks like you added one or two zeros by mistake."

"No. It is correct."

Maximilian smiled lightly.

"And... ah, right on time, there they are."

He pointed at the training grounds outside the window. Massive trucks rolled in one after another, unloading stacks of crates.

"Those are goods imported directly from the Kanillan Independent State. The latest computers and terminals. Please use part of this donation to hire specialist instructors who can teach them, and to expand related facilities."

Many knights were not familiar with computers. Keeping up with trends, science, and technology was never easy. The older they were, and the poorer they were, the harder it got.

They needed to learn as early as possible.

"This is a separate scholarship."

He held out a second check. Once again, the amount was beyond common sense.

"The scholarship criterion is grades. If grades are similar, give it to the one in worse financial circumstances. Please do not consider any other status at all. I hope it does not get spent on nonsense."

"..."

Dane alternated his gaze between the two checks and Maximilian. Graduate support was usually goodwill, but support that far outside common sense always made you suspect a motive.

"This support from me is not without conditions."

As expected.

"...Go on."

Normally he would have rejected it, but this amount was enough to at least hear him out.

"Empire Point is old. Some training facilities are still from a hundred years ago. The cafeteria and east dormitory especially need large-scale improvements. Please use it there."

Empire Point, with its 300-year tradition, was another word for junk.

Most manuals and doctrines were also stuck in old classics from decades ago.

"And... I am thinking of writing new manuals."

"Manuals?"

"Every time I attended classes at Empire Point, I thought this. The Empire's strategy for using knights is too old. It is time to change."

"...That is not old, that is tradition. The headmaster thinks so, and your father Sebestian thinks so too. Are you saying their thinking is wrong?"

"Yes. It is wrong."

Dane stared blankly for a moment at Maximilian saying his own father was wrong.

Then again, he was young. This kind of boldness was only possible at that age.

"Regretfully, cadet education-"

"That is why there is donation money. I promise, over three years I will donate ten times this amount."

"...Ten times?"

"Yes."

Compared to House Ebenholtz's wealth, it was still a drop in the bucket. But Sebestian would never hand that over.

Had Maximilian opened his own business route?

"With that much, Lieutenant General Litruman will approve too."

As he said that, he handed over two boxes containing fountain pens. Dane understood at once. They were made of top-grade mana stone, worth roughly five hundred thousand dollars on the market.

"It is nothing major. I simply want to suggest a small revision to the role of knights on the battlefields ahead."

"If I read your proposal and neither I nor many instructors want to accept it?"

"Surely that will not happen."

Dane thought of the scale of the donation.

At ten times this amount, it was no joke. They could renovate all of Empire Point's facilities.

"I will accept the manual."

"Thank you."

After nodding, Maximilian handed him another document.

"Read this when you have time. It is still a rough draft, but Brigadier General Dane, you should be able to understand it."

"What now? Looks like you are writing many things."

"Because in the end, the future is drawn with a pen."

[Knight Formula Theory: Spherical Aura Guard]

"...Spherical Aura Guard?"

"Yes. It is called Aura Body, a further development of Aura Guard... it contains my thoughts on how knights should move forward in modern, changing warfare, and how they should be used. Once this paper is completed into a full theory text, I will donate it to Empire Point first."

"As a theory text? Huh. Fine. I will read it when I have time."

"Thank you."

Maximilian stood up.

"I will take my leave now."

"Go on."

After giving a polite bow, Maximilian left the office. Dane toyed with the checks and smiled in satisfaction.

Only afterward did he notice the paper Maximilian had left behind.

"Spherical Aura Guard."

He was curious. It sounded absurd, exactly the kind of fantasy someone in their early twenties would have.

Talking about a "theory text" was almost cute for his age.

Dane picked up the document.

Rustle. He opened the page.

After the introduction, lines of mana formulas followed.

"Hm."

By page five alone, he could already tell the framework was quite solid.

After ten more pages, his eyes widened without him noticing.

A little later, he was fully absorbed.

The method of constructing formula circuits was excellent, and the structure linking formulas was elegant. The conclusion, formed by layering multiple mana equations and emitting the entire Aura Guard through mana stone, was...

"Can this really work?"

In theory, it looked too possible, which made it feel unreal instead. The condition did include needing expensive ultra-high-purity mana stone, but even then he was doubtful. He had no mana stone on hand right now, so he could not test it.

...No, he did have some.

Dane picked up one of the mana stone fountain pens Maximilian had left as a gift for the headmaster.

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