The Reluctant Imperialist - Chapter 73

WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 73

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What Is Needed Most

The Imperial Household went through a fierce internal debate. Palace nobles demanded compensation for their own "losses" from Gigantes's destruction, but by imperial decree, every single request was denied without exception.

“Even if full recovery is impossible.”

In the deepest Most Holy Sanctum of the Imperial Palace, beyond layers of red drapery, the silhouette of the Emperor seated on the jade throne spoke.

“In the Thousand-Year Grand Plan soon to come, not even an inch of retreat will be tolerated.”

The voice was low and devoid of emotion, yet it carried crushing weight.

“Adjust everything accordingly, no matter what it takes.”

The ministers, cowed by the razor edge of imperial command, backed away. Only one man remained where he stood.

Imperial Army Supreme Commander Sebestian.

“Sebestian.”

The Emperor called his name. Only then did Sebestian incline his head and bow.

“It seems I will benefit from your son after all.”

The Emperor seemed to be recalling the figures Maximilian had presented. The terms for partially filling Gigantes's void were astonishingly rational.

They did not drain the imperial treasury in the slightest, and even included a pledge to return part of the profits to society through imperial relief to calm public sentiment.

Sebestian answered evenly.

"He is an unreliable son, but even so, he is an Ebenholtz."

At those words, the Emperor's silhouette shifted faintly. A dim smile slipped out from beyond the curtain.

Such a precious sliver of laughter.

“Even amid the schemes of traitors trying to defile the Empire's long history, I can finally smile because of loyal subjects like you.”

You may go.

Sebestian left the imperial chambers with composed dignity.

Cold wind brushed his uniform. Before he noticed, Engi had approached.

"Was the mana stone reserve in the mine that boy bought really that large?"

At Sebestian's question, Engi tilted his head as if he did not know.

"Who can say. I do not know the details either."

He clearly knew everything and was pretending otherwise.

Sebestian shot him a brief, displeased glance. Engi met it and smiled gently.

"Shouldn't I protect young master's secrets?"

"......"

To Sebestian, Engi was more than a trusted aide. To Maximilian, he was more than a butler.

Without another word, Sebestian turned toward his official residence.

From Engi's point of view, that retreating figure looked a little lighter than usual.

* * *

Kanillan Independent State. Akarius Mercenary Corps headquarters.

"Wow."

News of Gigantes had reached this island nation as well. It took up a large section of the morning paper, but people's attention was fixed elsewhere.

[ + 8.19% ]

Money was practically printing itself. Money begot money, and that money begot still more.

Bank loans were pulled to the limit and poured into stocks, then the profits flowed into top-tier champagne, luxury goods, theater, and film. The whole city was dyed bright red with frenzy.

"Ah, I should've started a little earlier."

Ren smacked her lips.

What a shame.

If she had jumped in two years earlier, no, even just one year earlier, her assets would have at least doubled by now.

Just then, the deputy commander entered her office.

"Oh, you're here."

His face was all smiles.

"Commander. With Gigantes destroyed, the Empire and surrounding states are on edge. Mercenary demand has exploded, and contract fees are insane right now."

He handed her the requests. The amounts were far higher than they had been just a month ago.

Ren nodded, quietly intoxicated by the feeling.

"Ha... moving here was the right call."

They said good things came all at once.

She rose from her chair and looked out the window. The glittering heart of Kanillan's capital filled her view.

Truly, this independent state's wealth and glory would last forever.

If capital kept piling up and military power kept growing, she could take one more step toward the dream she had longed for.

She had a dream more desperate than money.

One day, if she kept sharpening herself and never neglected discipline and training.

She would drive a blade into Sebestian's heart.

......

[ +54.3 % ]

Kairon checked his account return rate on his terminal. Kanillan's returns were already far higher than last week.

The temptation to put in more crossed his mind, but he shook his head.

[Sell all order]

He had earned enough to buy buildings and land in key areas of the capital. Now it was time to take profit and secure tangible assets.

After placing the sell order, he looked over the knights gathered in the garden.

"Is everyone here?"

"Yes, sir."

Sentinel Kairon's faction. It had started with barely three members, and now it had grown to over twenty.

"I called you here for another reason."

For knights, time was money. Call them in for pointless lectures and they would curse you behind your back.

Kairon was perceptive enough to know that.

"Starting today, for one month, any knight who shows major achievement will receive this as a reward. A premium mana stone reservation ticket."

He held out a luxuriously wrapped ticket.

Premium mana stone. The knights' eyes flickered.

"Yes. This is exactly it."

Kairon pulled out his cube.

Viiiiing.

As mana flowed into the cube, the air vibrated, and a translucent sphere formed around his body.

Versatility and stability on an entirely different level from conventional Aura Guard.

A knight's new shield that could handle bullets, tank-shell fragments, even destructive magic: Spherical Aura Guard.

"This is a reservation ticket for that. Through normal channels, you probably would not get your turn even by the end of this year. Even the old men in the palace recognized its true value, so now it is practically unobtainable."

The palace crowd had always gone mad for anything expensive and rare.

"Sir, what exactly counts as achievement?"

At young knight Raynel's impatient question, Kairon gave a benevolent smile.

"Spherical Aura Guard, of course. At minimum, you should be able to manifest this sphere even during descent."

From Kairon's own brief market check, this premium ticket was something money alone could not buy.

"I want you, my people, to grow stronger. Only then will it help me, help you, and help all of us more."

And yet he framed it as though all he wanted was their growth and their bond.

"Understood?"

"Yes!"

The young knights answered with burning enthusiasm.

* * *

Southern Hermes Province.

After Gigantes collapsed, workers flooded in from there. Whenever possible, I selected those with families. They could not betray easily.

To me, the Revolutionary Faction was as dangerous as Izenheim. Armed with ideology, they would see me too as an imperial lapdog that had to be brought down, so I could not lower my guard.

"Line up and come inside!"

The workers looked frightened.

They might have been expecting labor conditions equal to Gigantes, or worse. To fill Gigantes's gap, they would be worked even harder, that kind of fear.

In fact, many workers had already fled.

"Line up and come inside!"

Just as they expected, I was going to work them hard.

I was going to extract brutal efficiency.

"Thirty at a time, line up!"

The barrier at the "quarantine station" lifted, and workers filed in with tense faces.

I spread them out before me.

"Jason Miller."

"Y-yes."

"Kyle Hunt."

"Yes."

"Roman Pierce."

"Yes. That's right."

Sniff.

I heard someone draw in breath behind me. It was my executive secretary, Yukia.

Thump.

At the same moment, my heart reacted.

I took one more step and identified the Izenheim hidden in the formation.

"Makian Jace."

"Yes."

Check.

I did not kill him immediately. The virus inside me could clearly distinguish Izenheim, but the fact that I could identify them had to remain completely hidden.

I would dispose of them quietly, under proper circumstances, with proper reason and pretext, leaving no suspicion behind.

"One son under your care."

"Yes, that's correct."

Shockingly, even those Izenheim bastards had children. On paper, they were perfect families.

Could Izenheim reproduce with each other?

Or did they summon children from somewhere, or create them through cloning?

I still did not know.

The quarantine gate opened again, and a staff member brought in a new line.

I matched every face to every name.

"Thomas Ben."

"Yes!"

"Ricky Meon."

"Yes."

"Hans von."

"Yes."

Thump.

The virus reacted to the man named Hans von.

The moment I checked his name on the roster as if it were nothing.

Sniff.

That sound overlapped again. It was Yukia. She inhaled more sharply this time.

I ignored it and checked the list.

Thirteen in total, including Hans von.

Given that I had accepted three thousand workers so far, it was not a high ratio, but those thirteen tumors could ruin the whole group.

......But.

Sniff.

I turned to Yukia, who had been smelling the air this whole time. Her brow was slightly furrowed.

"......"

Thinking back.

Now and earlier, clearly.

Every time Izenheim came in, Yukia sniffed. My heartbeat and the sound of her nose had always overlapped.

Was that a coincidence?

"Get everyone inside, then hold."

"Yes. Move in!"

All the workers went inside, and I paused my pen for a moment.

I turned to Yukia with unusually serious eyes.

"Yukia. Why do you keep smelling the air?"

"......"

She blinked without a word.

"I'm asking you. Why are you smelling?"

At that moment, something old Edmund had said before my regression came back to me.

'With help from the Yaken tribe, we held out to some degree in the early phase. They had power that could oppose the Dimensional devourers......'

What kind of power could oppose Dimensional devourers?

In war, one crucial ability was identifying the enemy's position and presence, friend-or-foe recognition.

If so, was it the talent to distinguish those monsters wearing human skin, monsters indistinguishable from humans in appearance?

"Did you smell something from people?"

Yukia stayed silent.

This dog-faced woman, who was supposedly only weak at Imperial language, suddenly left me breathless.

"I'm asking, answer me-!"

My voice rose before I realized it. I shoved my hand onto Yukia's shoulder as I pressed her.

"Just now. What smell was it?"

Pressed by me, she flinched, then finally spoke in a small voice.

"...Rotten, fishy water."

"From the man named Hans von?"

"......"

She nodded silently.

At that moment, an indescribable thrill ran through me. A strange pleasure that made my hair stand on end. It was pure kinship, and joy rising from deep in my chest.

"Ha."

I still did not know whether every Yaken had this ability, or if it was Yukia's unique gift.

But at least one fact was clear. There was someone else in this world besides me who could sense those bastards.

She could not "explain" them the way I could, but she could instinctively distinguish humanity's enemies.

That was the truth.

"...I see."

I curled one corner of my mouth and brushed Yukia's shoulder. After straightening her clothes, I spoke to the staff.

"Bring the workers in again."

Unfortunately, Hans von was a Revolutionary Faction member.

No matter what, I had to make her one of mine.

* * *

"Welcome, everyone. I am General Supervisor Aizen. Welcome to Aternum, the factory that will become Hermes's new heart."

Three thousand workers, tense, rigid, and gaunt, gathered in the factory lobby.

"Knight Maximilian will personally explain your work rules and treatment going forward."

With that introduction, Maximilian stepped onto the second-floor balcony.

The three thousand workers who had flowed in from Gigantes, and the Revolutionary Faction and Izenheim mixed among them, all raised their heads and stared at him at once.

Maximilian's voice rang through the factory.

"The basic schedule is five days a week. Daily working time is eleven hours, including one hour for lunch and separate break periods."

Five days a week. Eleven hours a day.

The workers' eyes trembled. Some even counted on their rough fingers, trying to confirm the numbers they had just heard.

"In addition, you may use a total of twelve paid annual leave days each year."

At those next words, everyone just blinked with dazed faces.

For people who had spent their lives working like slaves six or seven days a week from before sunrise to sunset, those words sounded almost like an alien language.

"If you fall ill, use sick leave and focus on treatment."

These rules were based on the theory Maximilian had read before regression, 「Labor and Recovery, Correlation of Efficiency」, said to have greatly increased national productivity.

Humans were not machines. They had emotions and physical limits. Without rest, efficiency dropped instead, and workers who broke down that way did not come back.

What mattered was that skilled workers could remain healthy and work for a long time. That reduced the waste of recruiting and training new hires.

Proper rest and compensation therefore increased output dramatically over the same period.

"During working hours, you must focus only on your assigned duties. On days off, you must focus only on your own health, your family's health, and the recovery of body and mind. I will not tolerate nonsense."

Then Maximilian's expression abruptly hardened.

"But as you all know, Gigantes was destroyed by an unidentified traitorous organization."

His golden eyes swept over the crowd like ice.

"So if anyone here at Aternum cooperates with traitorous groups, or if subversive signs are detected, under Imperial special law you may face immediate summary judgment at the maximum penalty, and anyone who reports it will receive a reward."

The air inside the factory froze in an instant.

"Rest during work is clearly necessary. But I will not tolerate any intent to break factory order and discipline. To protect your own rights, you yourselves must reject impure elements."

This was to sift out the Izenheim who might be hiding among the workers.

The Izenheim Maximilian had already marked on the roster would be dealt with, one by one, through "immediate summary judgment."

"That is all. Begin job training now."

When Maximilian stepped back, the supervisors and instructors in charge of technical training came down to the floor.

"We will begin with equipment operation training. These are state-of-the-art facilities brought in from Kanillan, so they are very different from the methods you used before."

Training began. The instructors demonstrated first, then it was the workers' turn.

Viiiiing!

Amid the taut tension, one worker made a mistake. The machine sounded a warning due to improper handling.

Flinch.

The worker hunched his shoulders and squeezed his eyes shut. At Gigantes, this would have been when clubs or whips came flying.

"...It's alright."

But no beating came. Instead, the supervisor took his arm and guided him.

"This machine is sensitive, so you cannot handle it by force. Like this, follow the flow of mana and guide it gently. Then it slices cleanly in one pass."

He explained the operating method again. It came from the training manual Maximilian had distributed in advance.

No one gets better by being beaten. At the same time, there was no need to be overly kind. Work-focused training alone was enough.

"You are selected skilled workers. You will have to pass this on to new workers who join later, so please become proficient as quickly as possible."

"Ah... yes."

The worker stared blankly back and forth between the supervisor's face and the advanced machinery. The other workers wore similar expressions.

Only then did they realize it.

This place was not Gigantes.

It was far more...

Human.

"Announcement. In thirty minutes, there will be a ten-minute break."

"Yes!"

A faint spark of life had appeared on the workers' once-desolate faces.