WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 83

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Before Spring Comes (6)

The Gennen Autonomous Territory was still ringed by layer upon layer of tanks. The directors of the Gennen Governor-General's Office drafted a letter to send to the Imperial household.

[......As the suppression of the riot that broke out in Gennen has now been successfully concluded, we request that the troops and tanks be withdrawn. Also, as this incident stemmed from the Gennen Governor-General's Office's lack of authority and manpower, and from insufficient oversight, we ask that the Office's control be strengthened further in order to prevent such incidents in the future......]

Director of Internal Affairs Erio sent out a messenger through his secretary.

A single car left the Gennen Governor-General's Office and drove down the road.

It did not get far before stopping. Military barricades had been set up at every approach.

"Stop."

Soldiers stood in front of the car. The secretary rolled down the window and said irritably,

"Right, yes. We're a messenger team from the Gennen Governor-General's Office. We are carrying a confidential letter to the Imperial household, so open the way."

"..."

The soldiers did not answer. They only stared into the car.

"Excuse me?"

"Curfew."

"What do you mean, curfew? We're from the Gennen Governor-General's Office. Communication is completely blocked right now because of the mana barrier, so we're delivering it in person. Move."

"..."

Even with the secretary pressing them, the soldier said nothing. He went into the guard post and radioed someone.

Even under the mana barrier that had knocked out radio and mana-wave communication across all of Gennen, one thing still worked: the band-resonance communicator. A short-range military radio built with finely crushed mana stones whose frequencies and mana wavelengths were perfectly matched at the manufacturing stage, designed so only pre-designated paired devices could resonate with each other.

A moment later, the soldier came back out.

"Excuse me? Can you hear me? We need to get moving now!"

The secretary shouted, tapping his wristwatch. The soldier gestured, and nearby troops rushed in.

Bang!

They yanked open the car doors without warning.

"Step out."

"What is this? We told you we're from the Gennen Governor-General's Office. Do you even understand how important this letter is-"

"I said out!"

One soldier grabbed the secretary by the collar and dragged him out roughly.

"Ugh, hey, damn it, what's your name! I'm a secretary to the Gennen Governor-General's Office! How dare you touch me!"

"Drag them out!"

The soldiers subdued the secretary and the driver, then confiscated their letter.

......

On the outskirts of the Gennen Autonomous Territory, inside a shabby family house.

Alphonse sat at the table with the family. They were kind people who had let him stay for several days and nights.

"Thank you. For taking such good care of us."

But now it was time to leave. Alphonse took out an envelope he had prepared in advance and slid it to the corner of the table.

"No, no. That's not-"

"We're leaving now!"

Before the family could finish refusing, Alphonse hurried to his feet, hoping the small amount of money would help their household.

"Let's go."

He looked at his companion, a Gennen man who had served as their guide from inside the Empire.

"Ugh, it's cold."

The man pulled his coat tight. Deep in his inner pocket, right against his heart, the film canister felt heavy.

Roads crushed by tank treads, bleeding students, an interview with Adeline's father, photos of her when she was alive, the truth of Gennen that the Imperial press was trying to hide, and everything about that shooting incident, all of it was packed inside that tiny roll of film.

"...Please get us out the way you got us in."

Alphonse bowed to the man.

"Yes. Let's move."

They got on the truck. The engine sounded unusually loud, but thankfully the streets were empty. The truck drove through darkness without even streetlights.

They took a twisting mountain road to avoid downtown. It was a rough route only Gennen locals knew.

Rattle. Rattle.

Every time the truck jolted, Alphonse gripped the camera inside his coat even tighter.

Hours passed, and cold sweat ran down his back from tension.

"...We're almost there. Once we get over that ridge-"

The driver smiled in relief for just a moment.

Flaaaash!

A powerful searchlight blasted on. A wave of white light swallowed the truck's windshield.

Screeeech!

The driver slammed the brakes.

"Stop."

Hard silhouettes stepped out from beyond the light.

Imperial regular army soldiers, helmets pulled low, rifles in hand.

Step. Step.

One soldier came up and knocked on the truck window.

Knock knock.

"Inspection."

Alphonse swallowed. His heart thrashed like it might burst, but he forced his shaking hands still and lowered the window.

"Please show your identification."

A dry, businesslike tone. The soldier's flat gaze slowly swept the inside of the truck.

"Sir. Your ID."

"Y-yes."

Alphonse slowly reached into his coat. He brushed past the film canister and pulled out a leather wallet.

"Here......"

He handed over the ID of Imperial noble Alphonse von Stauffen.

The soldier's eyes narrowed slightly as he checked it.

"...One moment. Hey, come over here, please!"

He called another soldier, one slightly higher in rank.

They compared the ID and Alphonse's face back and forth, muttering in low voices.

“Looks right, doesn't it?”

“Yes. I think so. Features match too.”

“Hm. Then......”

The murmurs felt ominous.

Alphonse quietly slipped the film canister out and nudged it toward the driver's thigh.

"Listen. If we get blocked, I'll draw their attention. You know what to do, right?"

If he caused a scene, all eyes would turn to him. Then maybe the film could at least get through.

Thump. Thump.

Hoo. He took a deep breath and primed his mana. He had not used it in so long that the sensation felt strange. His heart pounded.

Thump. Thump.

While he did that, soldiers adjusting their rifles came right up to the truck door......

Knock knock.

They knocked on the front door of the truck.

Thump. Thump.

Alphonse readied himself to throw the door open and run at any moment.

As a noble, mana was basic training. I can at least run very fast when I deploy it.

"Yes. You're clear."

Just as they were about to return his ID.

Bang!

"Go on."

Alphonse swung the door wide open.

Wait, go on?

The timing between what he heard and what his body did slipped out of sync, and his whole body skipped across the ground like a flat stone.

"...Ghk!"

Roll roll roll. He rolled four or five times.

"Khrrk! Hrk!"

"What are you doing?"

"Gah!"

"..."

The soldiers stared at him like he was ridiculous. Alphonse laughed awkwardly, then sprang back up.

"Ahem. I, I missed my footing. B-but what did you say? You said go?"

"Yes."

It did not look like a joke. The soldiers actually opened the barricade.

"You may proceed. But what brings an Imperial noble to a place like this?"

"Well...... I had some business. Someone I needed to meet."

"Ah, yes. We received a radio message from that person at the garrison base."

"...That person?"

Alphonse tilted his head.

"Yes. Said the night is cold, so why rush. Told us to tell you to travel comfortably."

Alphonse's expression stiffened at once.

He did not need to ask who that person was. That distinctive voice played in his ears.

“The night is cold, why hurry so much. Go in comfort......”

A knight of Ebenholtz, Maximilian von Ebenholtz.

......

Before the directors at the Gennen Governor-General's Office could fully question why no reply had come back, the suppression force requested a meeting first. The location, however, was the garrison base, not the governor's residence.

"The garrison base......"

"Well. Security should be tighter there."

They saw no reason to refuse, and the high-ranking officials of the Gennen Governor-General's Office headed over.

"Welcome."

Gennen garrison base.

The directors entered the conference room and were greeted by Maximilian, seated at the head.

Around him sat Major General Maut, commander of the suppression force, along with other generals.

"Please, sit."

The directors sat down with relaxed smiles.

Maximilian spoke first.

"It seems the suppression is now in its final stage."

"Haha. Yes. Thanks to your tank force, Sir Knight."

Treasury Director Kalts replied.

A noble who embezzled taxes through shell corporations during a term obtained by bribery, and exploited legal loopholes to swallow commoners' real estate.

"You swept through everything very cleanly."

Land Director Molt.

A villain who drove Gennen residents out under the name of redevelopment, then privatized the land at giveaway prices.

Hahahahaha.

The directors laughed, but the soldiers did not.

The generals' eyes were barren and cold.

"...?"

A chill suddenly climbed their spines. The laughter died out, and heavy silence filled the conference room.

"In that case."

Maximilian's golden eyes stayed flat and dry. His gaze, like burning desert sand, rested quietly on the officials.

"One final step remains."

The justification had been built. Now it was time to swing the sword.

Thud!

The conference room door shut. The loud clack of the lock sounded strangely sharp.

Flustered, the directors looked around.

"Now, you must take final responsibility for this riot."

Silence sank.

The directors' eyes, noses, and mouths twitched as if testing whether they had heard correctly. Yet the thought itself seemed impossible to accept, and everyone except Erio forced out shaky half-laughs.

"...Haha. Sir Knight, you really are full of wit. Hahaha."

Even at that denial of reality, Maximilian remained still.

The generals did not move at all, as if frozen. This was no mood for exchanging jokes.

One by one, the directors' faces turned gray as they grasped the situation.

"Your joke goes too far, Sir Knight. Responsibility for the riot? That belongs to the rioters out there-"

"-You."

Maximilian cut them off coldly.

"You stained the Empire's face. Your petty greed ran wild, and your stupidity, incompetence, and filthy corruption shook the Empire's prestige. So you should stand judgment."

"W-what!"

Judicial Director Vango shot to his feet.

His face flushed red. He was the very ringleader who had forced through the rushed ruling in Adeline's case.

"This is impossible! We are directors of the Gennen Governor-General's Office appointed by the Imperial household! We did everything we could to contain the situation, but it got out of control because of those rioters! And now you're saying we should be tried!"

Maximilian turned his gaze to Director of Internal Affairs Erio. He might have expected some of this. Contact with nearby Izenheim must have already been cut.

"...It seems you are mistaken. There will be no trial."

No matter what those damned Izenheim thought,

no matter what these directors held in their hearts, none of it mattered.

"Judgment is passed where I stand."

They were not going to last long anyway.

Tick.

Time slowed.

Maximilian gripped the sword at his back.

The blade bloomed in an instant and drew an elegant arc. Moonlight scattered like shards, and bright red lines sprayed in a rushing fan.

* * *

Blood pooled across the conference room floor. Headless bodies lay sprawled, and severed heads rolled in the corners.

The room reeked of blood.

Yet not a single drop had stained Maximilian, who stood in the center. He only surveyed the room upright, mysteriously calm and clean.

Crackle.

Major General Maut took out a cigarette and put it between his lips. Blowing thick smoke, he asked Maximilian,

"Want one?"

"No. I'm fine."

Maximilian shook his head. The generals exchanged glances. Aside from wartime summary execution, they were now feeling practical concern about the aftermath.

"But......"

Maut began carefully.

"These men were officials appointed by the Imperial household. Will this be all right?"

Maximilian shrugged calmly.

"Don't worry. Autopsies will produce results."

He jerked his chin at the corpses.

"Some of them will turn out to be subspecies."

The corner of Major General Maut's mouth twisted. Well, if it was Ebenholtz, of course he could carry this.

"Some will be traitors who used the Revolutionary Faction to lock in their own interests, and-"

Some, no, all of them were criminals who deserved death anyway......

A faint sneer touched Maximilian's face.

"This sentence was all for the Empire."

Slide.

Maximilian opened the window at a slant. Cold night air flowed in.

"His Majesty will understand our intent as well."

Major General Maut watched him while exhaling a long stream of smoke.

The silhouette of a young knight standing with moonlight behind him.

It was not an unfamiliar sight. If anything, it felt like something he had seen once before. It overlapped with the back of a giant he had faced in childhood, long ago.

Sebestian.

So his son had grown this much already.

"Now, let's go."

Stepping through blood, Maximilian walked forward and opened the conference room door.

"To where we must go."

......

Around dawn, the commanders came outside the garrison base.

It was a spectacle. Hundreds of tanks occupying Gennen's streets growled with engines running, and armed soldiers stood in formation beside them.

Snap!

The soldiers saluted the generals all at once.

"Loyalty!"

A road made by tens of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of tanks.

Maximilian walked down the dead center of the empty road, watched from hiding by Gennen civilians. Major General Maut and the other generals followed behind him.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Military boots struck the asphalt. Moving between rows of salutes, Major General Maut felt an unexplainable emotion rise from deep in his chest.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

It was not only him. In the eyes of the following generals as well, a glint from their youth had returned.

A surge they had forgotten long ago, or that had worn down after being pushed aside by those unfamiliar bastards in the Imperial Guard.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

They watched Maximilian's back ahead of them.

He was clearly a young knight, yet following behind him felt completely natural. It did not wound their pride.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Decisive judgment. The strength to ignore means and methods for the sake of purpose.

Most of all, perfect bloodline and dignity, as if molded directly from the ideal of Imperial Aran.

Standing in front of him would have been what felt strange. Following behind him felt like the natural order, and being able to match steps with him felt like a privilege.

And so, they arrived at the governor's office building in Gennen.

A man stood there.

The governor of the Gennen Autonomous Territory. A high-ranking post equivalent to vice minister in the Imperial bureaucracy.

His face was stiff, as if he had already heard the news. Maximilian walked up and held out his hand.

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