WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 54

──────

Favor

In the Knight Order's underground prison, sunk in deep darkness, I looked at the monster that had once been Pexy.

"Brain energy. Quite a few magicians call it a part of the soul..."

──Crk-crk-crack.

Before I could finish, a grotesque sound burst from Pexy's body. Her white skin split like a dried rice field, and black-red muscle tissue and veins bulged through the cracks in a hideous mass. Her glossy hair had already slid off with her scalp. A hot, rancid stench spread through the air like heat haze.

"...That is the side effect of swallowing it by force."

I thought about Izenheim. To wipe out humanity, it had taken on the form of a perfect race. So it had copied human weaknesses too.

Pexy's brain was already ruined, destroyed by the vengeful spirits of the many victims she had devoured.

"Pe, my Pexy, where is she... and that disgusting..."

Jun panicked at Pexy's true form as a monster. He refused to accept that the thing in front of him had ever been her.

"To be honest, Lord Kandel is partly right. That is not the Pexy von Arzen you knew. The real Pexy died long ago, when it ate her brain."

Jun Kandel sank down blankly and stared at it.

"Keep your eyes open and look carefully. That is a subspecies."

I pointed at Izenheim. Skin peeled away, eyeballs protruding, a shape fit for its true nature.

"A monster wearing human skin."

"Ju... Jun... Professor..."

Even in that horrific state, it still spoke as if it were Pexy. A truly grotesque sight.

Its voice grew rougher and rougher. The skin on its wrists peeled away, and the cuffs fell off. It reached through the bars and grabbed Jun by the collar.

"Professor... sir."

Only then did Jun come to his senses.

"L-let go! Get it off me!"

He flailed his arms and legs, almost convulsing. He scrambled backward, nearly on all fours.

"Jun... Professor..."

Even then, it kept calling Jun's name, searching for him, and Jun finally retched onto the floor.

I took the camera hanging from the neck of the reporter Jun had brought.

"This is a sensitive matter, so I'll be confiscating this."

The reporter swallowed and nodded.

* * *

I led Jun Kandel to the knight's office. He staggered into a chair. He still looked like a man trapped in what he had just seen.

"Lord Kandel."

I called him. He raised his head.

"...At this point, calling it Pexy is questionable too."

Jun listened with an empty expression.

"Anyway, you are the one who gifted Kerios Mansion to that criminal. Once the investigation proceeds, that will come out soon enough."

He did not even seem to be listening.

"This is a serious issue. Kerios is a place only Imperial nobles can live in, and she was not just a subspecies but a criminal-"

Knock knock.

A staff officer entered with the knock.

"The lawyer from House Kandel has arrived."

I nodded. I assumed it would be an ordinary lawyer, but...

Click. Click.

Heels struck the Order's marble floor. The door opened, and someone entered with long blue hair neatly tied back. A tall woman in a sharply fitted suit.

"I am Sonnet Kandel."

She introduced herself and sat beside Jun. Jun stared at her blankly.

"May I attend as my older brother's legal representative?"

"Yes. Of course."

I handed Sonnet the related documents.

"Lord Jun Kandel gifted Kerios Mansion to Pexy. Lord Jun Kandel also strongly recommended her for promotion to sixth-rank mage status. If this investigation proceeds, it could escalate into a major issue."

Sonnet read the papers carefully, though she did not need to.

"In a case like this, I will not pursue that kind of liability."

Sonnet looked up. I gestured to Jun.

"Lord Kandel, are you listening?"

"Speak to me. My brother is clearly not in a state to talk right now."

"...Not in a state?"

Jun suddenly leaned forward, sounding irritated.

"Yes. I would also prefer to speak with Lord Kandel directly, if possible."

I handed him a document.

"Jun Kandel was an innocent victim deceived by Pexy, and had no intention whatsoever of obstructing the investigation or hiding her. Of course, Lord Kandel did actively obstruct my investigation and used the media to pressure the Order, but I am willing to let that go."

"..."

Jun stared at me and kept his mouth shut.

"As for everything else, if we shape the history properly, the public will accept it on its own."

Kandel and Ebenholtz were great houses. If the two agreed on something, most people took it as truth.

"This is me giving you the fullest consideration. Just as Lord Kandel showed consideration in the Rodriguez case with a single white porcelain piece."

Jun swallowed. Then he glanced down and squeezed his eyes shut.

There was blood on his collar.

"That filthy thing got on me. I feel sick, Sonnet."

"Yes. I'll handle the rest."

Jun Kandel rose unsteadily. I stood as well and escorted him to the door.

"Get some rest today. We can discuss the details once you've recovered."

"...Maximilian."

At the door, Jun turned back to me. He put a hand to his forehead, like he was about to say something he really did not want to say. He hesitated for a long time, clearly hating every second of it.

"What is it."

"...I offer my sincere apology for my harsh words and conduct."

Jun let the words out like a sigh and held out his hand.

"Yes. I understand."

I shook his hand.

Ebenholtz and Kandel still had no need to point swords at each other. Our true enemy was outside, and in a few years, war would break out.

After Jun left, I returned to my seat. Sonnet reviewed the details in the document and asked,

"Shall we coordinate the finer points now?"

"Let's."

This Head-Eater case was only one incident. But the more people tied to an incident, the more I stood in a position to grant favors.

"First, this Kerios Mansion issue, and my brother's relationship with Pexy, will likely be the main focus."

Sonnet Ensiela von Kandel.

The true core of House Kandel, a major force behind the underground city, and a mage with exceptional talent.

"That's fine. We can build the story as we go."

* * *

Lately, Sentinel knight Kairon had been in an excellent mood. Circumstantial evidence had been secured that Pexy was the Head-Eater, and Sentio Magic Tower had become deeply disappointed in Anton.

No wonder. His last meeting had been very effective. While Anton sat helplessly in place, he had moved personally and tried to mend relations with the Tower.

"Sir Knight. We've arrived."

He also had a second meeting scheduled today with Master of the Magic Tower Nicolaus.

This one had been arranged directly by the Tower side.

He had a strong feeling the conversation would go very well.

[Aurea]

The location was Aurea, the hardest restaurant in the Empire to book.

"Wait here."

"Yes, understood."

Kairon got out of the car and entered through the restaurant's rear door. It was a VVIP passage, with waiters standing by from the entrance onward.

"This way."

At the waiter's words, Kairon straightened his clothes. Hoo. He took a deep breath, then opened the private room door.

"Good to see you...?"

There was one unexpected person inside.

Knight Maximilian was seated with Sentio's Master of the Magic Tower, Nicolaus.

......

I had received word from Sentio Magic Tower. The Master requested a meeting for an in-depth discussion of this matter.

[Aurea]

A private room in a high-end restaurant famous for being nearly impossible to reserve in the Empire.

Sentio's Master of the Magic Tower, Nicolaus, sat there in robes.

"Good to see you, Knight Maximilian. Is this our first time since we met at Ebenholtz Garden?"

I felt like I had met him once before.

That made sense. Countless people came and went through the Ebenholtz main estate.

"Yes. Probably. Good to see you."

"Haha. Sit."

The Tower's lawyer was seated beside him.

Nicolaus glanced at his wristwatch.

"Hm, let's discuss details in a bit. One more guest should be arriving."

"Yes."

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

I drank some water.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

The second hand from a wristwatch kept irritating me.

Knock knock.

Right then, the private room door opened with a knock.

"Good to see you...?"

An unexpected guest stood outside: Kairon.

"...Maximilian?"

Kairon clearly looked flustered, as if no one had told him I would be here.

"Come in, Knight Kairon."

"Ah... yes."

He sat stiffly beside me. Nicolaus smiled and looked between Kairon and me.

"Hm, actually, Knight Kairon helped mediate this time. He said you bear no personal grudge against the Magic Tower, Maximilian?"

No matter how I thought about it, I had never said that to Kairon.

"..."

I turned quietly to look at Kairon. Sweat had formed on his forehead.

Nicolaus raised his brows.

"He said that if we just endured a little in this case, we could settle everything smoothly, without major damage to Sentio Magic Tower..."

I could roughly see what was going on.

Kairon had tried, in his own way, to profit from this situation. Unfortunately for him, Master Nicolaus was well-versed in this kind of political maneuvering.

"Knight Kairon, you definitely conveyed that to us, did you not?"

Kairon gave a strained smile.

"Haha..."

Before the regression, Kairon had borrowed the Imperial Guard's power partly because his own faction was weak, but in the end his background lacked that last bit of weight. His house was newly risen nobility that had exploded in just two generations, basically nouveaux riches. Traditional nobles looked down on him in subtle ways.

Master Nicolaus was old nobility through and through. From the moment Kairon came to mediate, Nicolaus had no intention of treating him with real respect.

If anything, he had probably been angry. Angry at the pathetic attempt to use him.

"Hm? Why that reaction?"

I knew this kind of cheap politics very well.

Not politics for practical gain, but politics that cuts at the other side's dignity and takes pleasure in seeing them crushed.

"Could it be that your view differs from what Knight Kairon told us?"

Nicolaus asked, sounding surprised.

Kairon avoided my gaze and bit his lip. Silence filled the room.

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

The silence grated on me.

To be exact, the watches on Nicolaus and Kairon's wrists grated on me.

"Haa..."

I let out a sigh. A slick smile curled at the corner of the Master's mouth.

Then,

"If your intentions differ from Kairon's-"

"No. His intentions are the same as mine."

The moment I said it, the Master's expression stiffened, and Kairon flinched and looked at me. He was trying not to show his surprise.

"I am grateful to Knight Kairon. When I could not move rashly..."

I met Kairon's eyes for a moment and continued.

"He came to the Master himself and opened the door for this conversation on my behalf."

I was twenty-one. When war broke out, I would still be in my mid to late twenties at most. No matter what I did, someone that young could never become commander of the Order.

But the Sentinel Order had to become mine.

Anton did not belong in the commander's seat. He was too decent, too soft to survive a hellish world like this.

"Thanks to Knight Kairon."

In other words, I needed a figurehead.

I needed to watch him more, but Kairon might not be a bad choice.

For him too, becoming my figurehead would be far better than becoming the Imperial Guard's puppet again, like before regression.

"Because of him, I get to meet you in a setting like this, Master. Thank you."

"Hahahaha!"

"Max, you're giving me too much credit. I only did what had to be done."

"...Haha."

Nicolaus forced a smile as well.

In any case, this was good. I had no intention of turning Sentio Magic Tower into an enemy either.

"Master, Pexy's identity is currently in our custody, but we need the Magic Tower's help to gather definitive evidence."

That thing was still locked in the Knight Order's underground prison, still in that grotesque form.

"Of course, I could ask another tower like Novus instead of Sentio, but I'd rather not. This case needs verification from the Empire's best Magic Tower."

Nicolaus glanced at his lawyer. After a brief look from the lawyer, he smiled and nodded.

"Very well. We will provide all Tower facilities and mages. I never imagined such a horrific breed was in our Tower."

"Also, we're close to an agreement with Lord Jun Kandel."

"Hm. Is that so? Already?"

"Yes. You can hear the details directly from Professor Jun. Sentio Magic Tower will not suffer any damage."

At that moment, Kairon suddenly stood up.

"Ah, one moment. Please wait just a moment."

He stepped out, then returned carrying a very fine liquor.

[Snow Feric 50]

A famous liquor said to be brewed by infusing mana into water from glacial melt in the northern mountains.

It was rare enough to surprise even the Master.

"Oh ho, Knight Kairon, such a precious drink..."

"Haha, I prepared it especially for a day like this."

Kairon seemed to be in an excellent mood.

Pop.

He uncorked the Snow Feric and poured the pale white liquor into glasses for the Master, for me, and even for the lawyer.

"This is exactly what it's for, drinking on a good day like this. What's the point of buying it just to stare at it?"

"Bold. Very knightly, truly knightly..."

"..."

I watched them smile and chatter.

Politics means not making enemies too easily. It means granting favors strategically. It also means accepting and using consequences from your actions that you never anticipated.

With the world on the brink of collapse, living in politics can feel suffocating, but that is exactly why politics is necessary.

Politics, no, only politics can gather the Empire's blades in one place.

In that sense, I held a clear advantage. Compared to Kairon's countless contrived efforts, running around in every direction, the weight of a single word I spoke and a single gesture I made was tens, hundreds of times heavier...

"So, shall we toast, Max?"

Kairon suddenly raised his glass to me.

"Yes."

I raised mine as well.

Clink.

The glasses trembled with a clear, ringing sound.

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried