WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 74

──────

What Is Needed Most (2)

──Tick.

I opened my eyes.

Memories of the past rose up as if they were real.

─Clink.

My wrists felt heavy. Cold shackles bit into my skin. Rusted iron bars stood in front of me, and through my wavering vision, I saw their faces.

Ezel Runselot. A noble of a great house who had given up being a noble.

And yet she looked more noble than anyone, while I looked more wretched than anyone.

'......Max.'

Ezel called my name, sounding sad. Edmund, behind her, looked at me with conflicted eyes.

A country where social rank had already disappeared.

I was the one who had thrown away the pride of the great house of Ebenholtz faster than anyone.

I ran without knowing why I was running, and lived without knowing why I was living.

'As for Ebenholtz's disposition......'

Their faces twisted with complicated emotions.

They kept me locked up there while discussing my sentence with officials of the New Cabinet.

Terrified of execution, I could not say a word.

"Haah!"

My heart jolted, and I snapped back to reality.

Someone sat in front of me while I remained cross-legged.

Freya.

"Is it hard?"

She tilted her head.

"You're wavering."

Today's lesson was the entry point of the Ebenholtz Second Form.

I let out a deep breath and bowed my upper body. I calmed my trembling mind.

"......Yes. There was no way I wouldn't."

Freya smirked.

"When you circulate mana deep through the body, the brain sometimes misfires and gets swallowed by strange hallucinations or old memories. You have to endure it. The Ebenholtz Second Form is, in the end, mana assimilation."

Complete assimilation between body and mana.

"The first step of the Second Form is altering vision, so you may have seen things that weren't there."

First, you gather part of the mana spread throughout your body into your optic nerves, then go further and transplant sight into your skin's sensory organs. It erases the very concept of blind spots.

"A noble's chronic weakness is the back of the head. History has always been that way."

Freya idly played with her dagger, then flicked it into the air.

"As time passes, nobles, humans, all of them become arrogant. They fall for the illusion that they are exalted. They grow conceited, believing they were truly chosen by god. That carelessness."

She looked at me and gave the slightest tilt of her head.

Whoosh.

The dagger fell straight toward the crown of her head. The blade skimmed past her earlobe and stabbed into the ground.

Seeing without looking.

No, she had actually seen it.

"People think mana is entirely their own, but it isn't. More often than not, the body's traits and mana's nature do not match. So assimilate your mana with yourself. Stain your mana with Ebenholtz."

I closed my eyes.

Maybe this lesson from Freya was exactly what I needed.

The virus's mana was different from mine. The virus operated in its own way, and that clashed with Ebenholtz.

If I had to compare them, the virus was closer to primitive mana.

Ebenholtz, on the other hand, was clearer, more refined, and far purer in flow.

"......A child of Ebenholtz is soaked from birth in ultra-high-density mana that a human body can endure."

Materials in which natural mana had condensed in pure form were mixed in a golden ratio and fed to newborn children.

Like heroes in myth dipped in an immortal river, the Ebenholtz bloodline was flesh tempered by mana.

"Hoo......"

I steadied my breathing.

I layered the pure silver mana sleeping inside me over the virus, then drew it back up into my optic nerves.

Fwaaaaaa.

In an instant, the world was dyed white.

The flow of the wind, the movement of insects in the grass, even the pattern of leaves swaying behind my back.

I could see what I could not see before, and hear what I could not hear before.

“Where am I now?”

Freya's voice rang out from every direction.

I thrust my wooden sword behind me.

Whoosh!

A sensation that vanished as if it had only grazed.

I missed, but I was close.

“Good. Keep chasing me, Maximilian.”

Her laughter scattered through the air.

In a world washed in moonlight, I swung my sword after her presence as if we were dancing.

Whoooosh!

“Too short.”

I thrust, but it did not reach her.

“Too short. Like that, you'll never reach me. You can't.”

I could never reach her.

To reach her, it had to grow longer.

The moment I understood what she meant.

Tap.

Srrk, something came apart for an instant.

It was her hair.

“......Good.”

Her voice sounded satisfied. I turned back to Freya,

and she was already in front of me.

“Extension.”

The wooden sword I had just swung. The mana blade around it had grown longer.

“Mana assimilated with you becomes your blade. It becomes an extension of your consciousness. It goes beyond simple lengthening and creates sword forms and trajectories an ordinary blade could never imagine.”

On the silver-glimmering mana blade, tap.

Freya placed a finger on it.

“At the same time, it is a first step toward seeing the Heart Sword.”

Freya snatched my wooden sword and suddenly drew a line through the air. It condensed into a strange shape and formed a crescent slash.

A page from the Ebenholtz Secret Sword, Moonlight Slash.

“It is also the path that leads to the secret art of Ebenholtz.”

I stared at her and nodded quietly.

* * *

Early morning, Knight Order office.

I searched Yukia's identity on the computer.

[Profile Lookup: Yukia Tarik]

[Species: Yaken tribe]

[Birth: western border zone, nomad camp]

[Family: father Eric Tarik, mother unknown]

[Special Note: expelled from Imperial Academy]

She was the same age as me. Five years ago, she settled in the Empire after being separated from her father, and her father died two years ago.

[Eric Tarik]

[Species: Yaken tribe]

[Birth: Yuek, a fallen western state]

[Occupation: guide]

Her father, Eric Tarik, was a guide who wandered the continent.

A guide was a specialist profession. This continent still had many unexplored regions. The Arctic glacial zone, the Antarctic frozen lands reached only by crossing the Empire's southern sea, and the vast western canyon crawling with demonic beasts.

Because of that, adventure was practically a coming-of-age rite for imperial nobles, and at Empire Point it was officially part of the curriculum.

I had gone on expeditions too, of course, and the one at the very front was usually the guide.

Yukia's father died while guiding a noble's route.

The related case file was locked as Level 2 classified, but I opened it with knight authority.

[Incident Summary: During an expedition into the western "Aupharan Forest," a guide's route misjudgment caused the expedition team to be isolated in a demonic beast nest. The nobles survived due to the escort knights' hard fighting, but the guide is presumed to have died while fleeing at the site. The body was not recovered.]

[Remarks: Lawsuit in progress for penalty and damage compensation claims.]

It was obvious. The nobles must have brought the crisis on themselves through incompetence and recklessness, then thrown the guide out as bait and run. After returning, they pinned the blame on him and tore apart even his honor.

"Hmm......"

I turned off the monitor.

If you wanted to make someone completely yours, you could not be picky about means. Sometimes you had to play savior. Sometimes you had to dig into wounds. If needed, you had to be willing to use deception close to brainwashing.

I leaned back and closed my eyes.

Then, a faint but foreign sensation brushed my skin.

─Tick. Tick.

A subtle ripple mixed into the absolute regularity of my soul's time.

A tiny wave, but the virus inside me did not miss it.

I smiled silently.

A wiretap.

Stealthy mana with a wild texture. Probably Yukia.

"......"

It was a situation I could exploit, so I chose not to cut it off.

From here on out, my life would be full of wiretaps and surveillance anyway.

Just as I watched them, they would watch me, and someone beside me would watch me too.

I looked out the window calmly.

──Rustle. Rustle.

Before I knew it, heavy snow had settled. With Gigantes destroyed, autumn was over, and winter had come.

This winter... I was thinking of raising a dog.

There had been a famous dog before my regression.

"Heh."

I smiled. Lately, small moments of happiness came to me now and then. Someone besides me could distinguish Izenheim now. That fact alone gave me a clue, and the certainty that I was not wrong.

It was a very good thing.

* * *

An orphanage in Imperial District 42. I went to see Entikkan of the Yaken tribe, Yukia's uncle.

"......Thanks to your help, the orphanage is running well."

I had come to get information about Yukia and her father.

"I see. That's good."

There were many children in the orphanage playground. Their complexions were bright. Their laughter was clear.

Could faces like that exist in a lower district?

The thought came to me suddenly, and I wondered if I was still a noble after all.

Children should be able to smile anywhere. They should.

[Office]

Led by Entikkan, I entered the office. Inside were traditional Yaken objects decorated with rough leather and bone, and several old photos and framed pictures hung on the wall.

One of them was Eric Tarik.

Yukia's father, whom I had seen on the Knight Order monitor.

And Entikkan Tarik's older brother.

"......"

I stopped in front of that photo.

With a faintly sorrowful gaze, eyes full of old memories, I stared at the person in the frame.

I said nothing. I only looked.

Natural acting mattered.

It could not look staged.

Emotion had to live in silence.

If I stared long enough, Entikkan would approach first, puzzled.

"Sir Knight. Why that frame......"

"......Ah."

I pulled my gaze away, pretending to come to my senses, and smiled faintly.

"It's nothing. Old memories came back for a moment."

Yukia's most important person was clearly her father, so from now on I would build connections that did not exist.

The dead do not speak.

"Please, sit."

Glug. Entikkan poured tea into a wooden cup.

I asked him,

"Just in case, Mr. Entikkan. Have you ever smelled rotten, fishy water on a person?"

"Rotten...... what?"

Entikkan blinked.

I asked again.

"Rotten water and fish, or any scent that feels alien, different from other people."

"Uh...... do you mean body odor?"

I did not know. Judging by Yukia's reaction, that smell was clearly different from ordinary stench.

Entikkan shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I have rhinitis, so my nose isn't very good."

How did a Yaken even get rhinitis...?

"Are you perhaps thinking, 'How does a Yaken get rhinitis?'"

"......"

He caught me.

Without a word, I lifted the teacup and wet my lips. Entikkan gave a bitter smile and continued.

"Thank you for taking Yukia in. She has a rebellious streak, but her ability is real, so she'll be useful."

Tap.

I set down the teacup and shifted the topic naturally.

"Did Mr. Eric communicate often with Yukia or with you, Mr. Entikkan?"

I used the honorific on purpose. As expected, Entikkan's eyebrow twitched.

"......No. My brother wasn't a man of many words. Not about others, and not about himself. After he sent Yukia to study in the Empire, we did not even keep in touch for a while."

Fortunate, and typical of Yaken guides.

They were very quiet and steady.

Thanks to that, the blank space I could fill was wider. It meant I could move to the next step.

"......I see."

I was giving a thin smile of understanding when,

"Did you know my brother?"

Entikkan asked with careful certainty. This was the moment I had been waiting for.

But I could not show too much.

As naturally as possible.

I let out a small sigh and sank into the chair.

"Among nobles, adventure is treated as a virtue. To prove their strength, they explore from childhood. I also went on expeditions once a year, whether I wanted to or not."

Honestly, I did not know which guide I had met back then.

But the western border zone, the route imperial nobles preferred, was fixed, and most guides worked there, so the odds of overlap were high enough.

"Then... is that why you helped us?"

Only then did Entikkan look like he understood. His wolf-like air softened another degree.

I shook my head firmly.

"I do not release someone reported to the authorities over personal feelings."

I meant for him to take it as a knight's official duty.

Entikkan nodded.

"......Yes. I will understand it that way."

Then I noticed a small horn whistle on the desk.

"Yaken always make things like this."

Most Yaken made crafts. Wood, stone, whatever. I did not know why. They said it was a tradition passed down.

"Yes. My brother made this."

Entikkan picked up the wooden horn whistle with a bitter smile.

"For Yaken, this object has deep meaning. It proves one's existence and soul, and we believe the mana of spirits dwells in it."

"Do you ever give them as gifts?"

"Rarely. Only to siblings, or someone equivalent, once in a while......"

I listened quietly.

“Only to siblings, or someone equivalent.”

Just now, I got a very important hint.

"Right. Then, now that I've looked around the orphanage."

I took out my checkbook.

"This is a donation."

Entikkan's eyes widened the moment he saw the amount.

"This number... is this truly a donation with nothing expected in return?"

"Yes."

He had more than earned it. Thanks to him, I had just found my direction.

"It's a donation with no conditions. Compared to what I received, this is nothing."

Entikkan stared at me for a moment, then nodded quietly.

"......Thank you. I won't refuse."

I smiled and stood.

Entikkan and the orphanage staff saw me out. As I got into the driver's seat, I called Schatz.

"Schatz. Something came up. Body recovery."

Eric Tarik.

His body was never recovered. It was probably still buried in Aupharan Forest.

"Start by digging into the noble who hired Eric Tarik two years ago. Find out everything, whatever it is, and report all of it to me."

“Yes. Understood.”

It would take time, but it was absolutely necessary.

To possess what I wanted, I would not be picky about means.

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