WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 78

──────

Before Spring Comes

"Catch that little rat bastard!"

Late at night, in a back alley in Gennen.

Two agents in ash-gray jackets sprinted down a narrow lane.

They chased a man while firing their pistols.

Bang!

A bullet grazed his shoulder.

The man stumbled, and just as the agents rushed in,

another group appeared and blocked their path.

"What the fuck! Who the hell are you?!"

"......Gennen investigators."

Zendo, an investigator from the Gennen Central Police Bureau.

The Imperial Secret Police agent frowned.

"You pathetic pieces of shit. Move. We are on official duty!"

"This is Gennen. It is under the jurisdiction of the Gennen Police Bureau as well."

"Hey, you anteater-looking bastard. You don't know who I am? Do I really have to spell it out for you?!"

One look was enough to tell. Imperial Secret Police agents. Men pumped full of excessive ideology and authority after the Gigantes terror incident.

"If you don't want to die-"

The moment the agent aimed his pistol at Zendo, the Gennen investigators drew their weapons all at once. Some of them were carrying the latest submachine guns.

The agents flinched and took a step back.

Zendo spoke again.

"This is Gennen Police Bureau jurisdiction."

The agent glared at him and let out a dry laugh.

"Hey. You. Name."

"......"

"I said state your rank and name, you bastards!"

"If you tell me your name too, I will tell you mine."

The agent smirked. Murderous intent curled at the edge of his twisted mouth.

"Gennen vermin have gotten bold. See you later. Watch your back at night, yeah?"

Men filled with a strange mix of madness and arrogance.

Ptui! They spat, then left the alley.

Zendo watched them go, then turned his gaze.

"......You there."

He looked at the man pretending to stay collapsed in the corner.

"Get up. Don't you know what curfew is?"

After the Gigantes terror incident, every autonomous territory in the Empire was put under a nighttime curfew.

The man whose shoulder had been grazed crawled out, trembling. He was clutching something precious in his arms.

"......I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Revolutionary Faction? Or the independence camp?"

Zendo pulled out his baton and stepped closer. The man's face went pale.

"No, no! Absolutely not! It's just... my child is sick. The fever suddenly got way too high......"

The man opened his coat a little. In his chest pocket were a few red berries used as fever medicine.

"I'm sorry. My child was in so much pain, I just, I couldn't sit still......"

"......"

Old memories rose in Zendo's mind. His father had been killed by independence militants. A senseless death, dragged into violence committed in the name of a cause.

The man in front of him was also someone's father, and he had almost died the same kind of senseless death because of people rampaging behind some grand cause.

"If your child is sick, you give medicine."

Zendo put the baton away.

"Rexil. Give him medicine and take him home."

"Yes, sir."

A subordinate helped the man to his feet. The man's face brightened. Even as he left, he kept bowing to Zendo.

"Th-thank you! Investigator-nim!"

"......"

Zendo let out a silent sigh. Then, still full of anger, he clenched his teeth again.

"All of this...... is because of those fucking Revolutionary Faction bastards."

You would never know how many people your so-called cause has killed, or how much suffering it keeps creating.

Because you are just idiots, blinded by ideals, who threw away reality.

* * *

Before the new year came, I began my full-scale "operations."

First, I founded the Imperial Soldiers Foundation.

A nonprofit that found jobs for discharged veterans with nowhere to go, and supported medical and living expenses for wounded soldiers.

It was a move to win over the regular army.

Should I call it plunder? In truth, it was an early asset-securing move, one step ahead of the Imperial Guard bastards, a Snatch-First Tactic.

And I was not wrong. The Imperial Guard's greed toward non-Aran asset holders inside the Empire was getting more blatant by the day. After Kanillan collapsed, it would get much worse.

On top of that, a new law would be announced next year.

A bill that imposed punitive transfer taxes on anyone who was not an Imperial Aran when they sold real estate, companies, stocks, and similar assets in the Empire, and banned currency exchange.

Those Imperial Guard bastards, the festering pus of the Empire, would obviously hear that first.

The fortunate part was that they were much poorer than me.

They probably planned to wait until the law took effect, then buy assets dirt cheap when prices crashed or forced-sale orders came down.

That was why this was a Snatch-First Tactic.

[Aurum Logistics]

A logistics transport company connecting the eastern and western Empire. I met the CEO, who owned dozens of large warehouses and countless trucks across the Empire.

"But, Sir Knight, this is......"

He took my proposal and broke into a cold sweat.

"These are terms I cannot accept. You want me to hand over a company I built over my whole life for just this price."

Understandable. I had set it relatively low compared to the assessed value.

"Think it over, carefully."

But he was not an Imperial Aran. He was not even a citizen of an autonomous territory subordinated to the Empire.

The Empire's racial pyramid was clear. Arans at the top, right below them westerners and autonomous-territory citizens, and at the bottom Mer, other minority races, easterners, and subspecies.

"You are not Aran."

The CEO was Mer.

A people so good at business that the Imperial Guard would target them first. In those bastards' eyes, the juiciest cut of meat.

"The Imperial Guard already has its eyes on you. Haven't you seen suspicious people loitering around your factory lately?"

The CEO's pupils shook. He clearly had an idea.

I smiled.

"A new imperial law will be announced soon. When that happens, you won't be worrying about protecting your company. You'll be worrying whether you can get out of the Empire alive."

His mouth shut tight.

I looked at him and asked.

"How many family members do you have?"

"......Twenty-three."

A slightly shocking number. Wife, children, parents, siblings, clearly quite a lot.

"You have far too many weak points."

Gulp. He swallowed.

I tapped the contract with my finger.

"It's a reasonable price. Your family will be able to live well for decades."

"......"

Even so, he still bit his lip, torn with conflict. So for this man,

"Twenty years."

I held up two fingers.

"This contract has a buyback condition. Twenty years. If, after twenty years, you and your family survive and can return to the Empire."

If this world does not end.

If all of us can survive.

"I will gladly return the business."

I meant it.

He looked like he did not believe a word of it, but my plunder was, in the end, preservation. Soon, the raging waves of history would sweep all of us away.

I did not mind being demonized in that process. In fact, that was good enough.

Better for you to be robbed by a devil than torn apart by beasts.

"......All right."

I watched him sign the contract with trembling hands.

The sad face of a man who thought he was letting go of his life.

I handed him one more document.

"This is a gift."

The Ebenholtz seal was stamped onto the finest parchment, finished with mana stone.

On it, I wrote this sentence in my own hand.

「I acknowledge this person as a business owner who contributed to the prosperity of the Empire, and if unfair harm is done to his person, I will hold the responsible party accountable.」

At the bottom, I did not forget the signature of Maximilian Albrecht von Ebenholtz.

"One day, you will consider today's decision fortunate."

"......Yes."

He stood up without managing to say thank you.

"Mr. Jumein."

I called his name, and he turned back to me.

"See you in twenty years."

That was my wish too.

That you and I, and everyone whose property I took, could all meet again that day and face each other.

I hoped, truly, that it would happen.

He forced a nod and left.

I sat quietly in the now-empty CEO office.

Knock knock. Dieter entered.

"Yes."

There were still many companies left to absorb.

Railways, logistics, transport, textiles, communications, storage, and food.

Dieter picked the prime targets, I seized them at the most reasonable price possible, and then technologies developed at Lorenzo Academy upgraded and strengthened those industries.

A very satisfying virtuous cycle.

"As always, I'll leave management to you."

"Yes. Leave it to me."

Clap clap. Dieter applauded. A crowd of employees rushed in.

"These are staff I personally selected through open recruitment."

All of them gave off a similar aura to Dieter. Dry, thorough, and seemingly good with numbers. They even felt a little like clones, which made me flinch for a moment.

"...They look like they'll work hard. Everyone, good work."

After greeting them, I went outside and got in the car.

In the back seat, the Aran Shepherd Leo sat upright, and in the passenger seat sat my executive secretary Yukia, wearing sunglasses.

"We will depart."

While stroking Leo's soft fur, I picked up the buzzing terminal.

It was a call from Schatz.

“Sir Knight. An incident has occurred in Gennen.”

As I listened, my expression hardened.

* * *

Was it true that what was meant to happen would happen no matter what?

In the end, the first spark of that crisis broke out in Gennen at a completely unexpected moment.

The kind of thing I could not stop no matter how much I sent investigators to sweep all of Gennen, no matter how tightly I set up wiretaps and surveillance. An act almost accidental, beyond planning.

For example, a high-ranking official at the Gennen Governor-General's Office shot and killed a Gennen university student after a street argument. Then it was instantly ruled simple self-defense from a quarrel, and he received no punishment.

That became the fuse.

The incident spread through Gennen like wildfire.

Autonomous-territory citizens protested, and during the crackdown three innocent Gennen university students were killed as well. Too much happened in a blink, and naturally all of Gennen boiled over.

Gennen, once a republic, still had not dropped that habit called "protest."

“Sir Knight. Terminal communications will likely be cut soon.”

Schatz continued her report.

“Mana barriers are being installed across all of Gennen. It looks like they are trying to block all information from getting out.”

"......Of course they are."

For a moment, a strong anger surged inside me. The idiocy of a stupid bureaucrat, and the Izenheim that must have exploited that gap, disgusted me.

But I remembered Freya's words.

Keep your posture straight and your mind disciplined.

Always, like a clear mirror.

Nothing changes because I get angry. It only exposes my impatience.

I steadied my breathing and sank back into the chair.

"......"

The people of Gennen, manipulated by Izenheim, gathered in the square and held rallies, and the university students launched protests and street marches.

Very dangerous.

If left like this, thousands, or in the worst case tens of thousands, might die.

The Gennen Spring.

I had to cut the chain that would end on the day blood rained down.

"Schatz."

I wrote a business trip plan to submit to the Order. But the destination was not Gennen. It was Imperial Army Command.

It was time to use the ties I had built with the military through all the favors I had given.

“Yes, Sir Knight.”

What those Izenheim bastards wanted was an incident involving the Imperial Army. Or they expected someone inside the Imperial Army tied to Izenheim to fire a shot and turn this into a much bigger crisis.

If that happened, the Emperor would order a "suppression" of the unrest. He would send the army to trample everything brutally.

"Wait for me."

Before that happened, I would go.

I would willingly become their head and decide the method of suppression with my own hands.

"I'll get there before it's too late."

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