The Reluctant Imperialist - Chapter 92

WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 92

──────

A New Spring (2)

Year 0 in the Sentinel Order, first day on the job for rookie knights.

Step. Step.

Even as Hanna walked down the Sentinel hallway, everything felt unreal.

The whole Order still seemed surreal, and the Sentinel uniform wrapped around her body still felt awkward.

“Follow me.”

“Yes.”

Each Year 0 knight was assigned one mentor.

Royce and Dare Tan, heirs of high-ranking houses, were assigned Year 5 or Year 6 knights.

“...This is kind of surprising. A commoner is one thing, but I didn’t expect you to make it here.”

Hanna’s mentor was Year 2 knight Raynel McQueen.

“Your office is here.”

Raynel opened the door, making no effort to hide his annoyance. It was cramped. The Year 0 office was just enough room for three or four desks, with only a computer and a cabinet.

“Um, Sir Knight. How should I handle my duties...?”

Raynel was already gone.

“...”

Hanna sat down alone and turned on the computer.

──「Sentinel Order Mission Management System」──

Identity Verification: Hanna Usar

Year 0 Knight

────

It was the same system they had practiced with in simulations at Empire Point.

Sentinel missions were assigned through this system, or taken directly. The basic duty assigned to everyone was activated residue analysis.

Hanna had already been assigned one case.

[ Case No. 1039-C-22: Analysis of a Mana Rampage Site in District 24 ]

She stared at the scene photos on the monitor. Activated residue lay scattered in chaotic fluorescent streaks.

Hanna’s eyes widened. It had been one of her A+ subjects at Empire Point, so she started with confidence, but...

“This is hard.”

Was this what real field work was like?

A tangled knot of mana threads. A scene where criminal intent and accidental mana rampage were mixed together was on an entirely different level from textbook examples.

“Ah... um...”

She squeezed out every bit of knowledge she had and moved her fingers.

Tap. Tap.

By the time she forced herself to keep typing, midnight had passed.

“What, already?”

She got up quickly and left for a short break.

Then she came back around dawn, sat in the same spot again, and stared at activated residue until her head felt like it would cramp.

“Wow... this won’t work.”

She could not get a feel for it at all, so she went to her mentor [Raynel]’s office.

“Figure it out yourself. Aren’t you a knight?”

That was all Raynel said as he brushed her off.

“Then could you at least look over what I wrote-”

“Ah, shut up. Go already. Our time is money.”

“...Yes, understood.”

“Damn, does she think this is a daycare...”

Hanna had no choice but to return to her office and keep typing.

Tap. Tap.

Then midnight passed again.

Tap. Tap.

Then midnight passed again, and again.

Like that, she finished one report after almost four days.

“...Hmm.”

Hanna stared at the monitor with hollow eyes.

She had somehow finished it, but the final section of the report, [Knight’s Opinion], scared her.

That section meant her analysis would decide the direction of the investigation and carry legal force.

If her opinion was wrong?

An innocent person could be arrested, or the real culprit could get away.

“Haa...”

But this was not Empire Point. There was no instructor to advise her, no lecturer to judge whether this report was right or wrong.

A completely changed environment, status, and authority all weighed on her.

Hanna stepped outside to clear her head.

In the first-floor main lobby lounge, she heard familiar voices.

“Activated residue is hard by default. It’s normal for it to be hard.”

The speaker was Raynel, and his listeners were Royce and Dare Tan.

It sounded like Raynel was giving them advice.

...He’s my mentor. He told me to figure it out myself.

“Sir Knight, can’t you teach us a little? We seriously can’t get a feel for it. We’re just clinging to the report all day.”

“Hey. That’s how it is in Year 0. What, you thought you’d only be out in the field? You’re knights now. You have to handle this yourselves.”

“Ah, come on, Senior. Please, just once.”

Royce acted cutesy in a way that did not suit him.

“Huh, brat. But activated residue isn’t really my specialty either...”

Hanna poured coffee from the shelf. The three of them glanced at her, then pretended not to see her and kept talking among themselves.

“Most people run two tracks while attending university, you know? Professors even open knight-only classes. Want me to write you a recommendation for one?”

“Ah, I really hate studying.”

“Still mandatory, idiot. Or...”

Raynel lowered his voice and whispered.

“Hire a professional analyst and have them ghostwrite it.”

Royce and Dare Tan clapped when they heard that.

“Ah, so that works.”

“But you still need to pick well. You two still have to understand activated residue at a basic level. Field analysis is basically required.”

“Mmm. Ah, then who’s the best in the Order at this?”

“What are you gonna do with that?”

“I’ll go ask them~”

This time Dare Tan acted cutesy.

From Hanna’s view, it was absurd. At Empire Point, these guys only acted tough.

“Funny bastards. The best, huh... Ah. There is one guy these days who’s practically treated like a specialist.”

Raynel crossed his arms with a smirk.

“Maximilian.”

The way he said that name felt like he was bragging, like, I’m close with him.

“...Sir Knight Maximilian?”

“Yeah. Even on the police side, he’s famous these days for activated residue work. The number of cases he handled in one year is probably more than ten ordinary knights combined.”

Dare Tan and Royce looked impressed. Raynel, apparently irritated for no reason, added one more line.

“Well, he’s rich, so there are rumors he hires professional analysts on a whole team scale.”

Hanna moved with her coffee cup in hand.

“Anyway, go find him if you’re confident.”

“...Nah. Never.”

“He’s scary, really scary. We’ve dealt with him before...”

Royce and Dare Tan shuddered.

“...”

As she walked out of the lounge, Hanna suddenly felt stubborn.

At the corridor that led back to her office, she sharply changed direction.

She scanned the department layout map on the wall.

Maximilian’s office, third floor.

She ran up the stairs and knocked.

Knock knock-

“Come in.”

A wide space opened beyond the door. The interior was sophisticated, nothing like her storage-room office. An administrative officer seated at the counter greeted her.

“What brings you here?”

“I’m Hanna Usar. I’m a Year 0 rookie, and I wanted to ask Sir Knight Maximilian for work advice...”

“Ah, yes. One moment.”

The officer checked the schedule and nodded.

“I can book you a meeting at 10 AM tomorrow.”

“...Thank you.”

“There is one precaution, though.”

The officer pointed at her wrist.

“When you meet Sir Knight, you must remove your wristwatch.”

“Ah, this is my grandfather’s keepsake-”

“There are no exceptions.”

The officer shook his head firmly.

“Sir Knight hates watches.”

“Ah... yes.”

It was one of the few valuables her commoner family had passed down for generations.

Hanna touched the watch and gave a bitter smile.

...

Back in her office, Hanna reviewed her report all night.

Because maybe, just maybe, Maximilian might actually read it.

She analyzed, wrote, erased, and analyzed again.

Before she knew it, the promised time came: 10 AM.

[Maximilian]

Hanna knocked on the door of Maximilian’s office, a place whose name alone felt intimidating.

“Come in.”

A dry voice. A noble accent.

Hanna stepped in carefully. The blond man by the window turned around slowly.

“Hanna Ursa.”

It’s Usar-

She swallowed the words that almost came out.

“What is it?”

“Well... I’m not confident about the activated residue report I wrote for the first time, so I came to ask for your advice.”

“Don’t you have a mentor?”

“I...”

Hanna parted her lips. Maximilian silently held out his hand.

“Ah, yes.”

She handed over the report she had written through the night.

Maximilian took it and flipped through one page, two, three, four...

He scanned it very quickly. His expression did not change.

A moment later, he tossed the report down.

“All of it is wrong.”

Her heart sank.

“Yes?”

It did not even look like he had properly read it.

“Write it again. The report itself is too cluttered, and full of unnecessary speculation. The residue analysis can’t even be called pattern tracking. It will only create confusion in the investigation.”

“...”

Hanna stared blankly at her report.

Honestly, it felt unfair. She was angry too.

He did not even read it properly, just skimmed for a few seconds and... no.

No, that wasn’t it.

She should never have expected anything in the first place.

I’m alone in this Sentinel Order. Maximilian is just like the other nobles. He probably thinks I’m a commoner, or because of Jacob, and that someone like me should not be in the Sentinel Order.

“...Yes. Understood. Excuse me.”

Just as she turned to leave, swallowing her disappointment.

“Wait.”

Maximilian opened a desk drawer, selected several neat bundles of documents, and placed them on the table.

[ Case No. 1038-A-01: Analysis of Activated Residue from Destruction Magic : Maximilian ]

[ Case No. 1038-A-05: Analysis of Blade-Derived Condensation Patterns : Maximilian ]

[ Case No. 1038-B-12: Reconstruction of a Multi-Mana Collision Scene : Maximilian ]

[ Case No. 1039-C-09: Reverse Tracking of Atypical Mana : Maximilian ]

[ Case No. 1038-A-03: Analysis of High-Density Mana Stone Explosion Debris : Maximilian ]

[ Case No. 1038-B-15: Distinguishing Biological Mana from Artificial Mana : Maximilian ]

[ Case No. 1039-C-21: Time-Lag Calculation of Activated Residue : Maximilian ]

[ Case No. 1039-S-01: Mana Forensics in a Special Murder Case : Maximilian ]

“Difficulty goes from bottom to top. Read them and study.”

“Huh?”

Hanna’s eyes went wide.

Activated residue analysis materials were basically a knight’s assets. They were not something you casually showed to others, especially not to a rookie.

“...Is it really okay for you to give me these?”

There was no change in Maximilian’s face. In a flat tone, he only said this.

“If you came looking for me, that means you wanted to learn that badly.”

“Uh...”

“It means I liked your attitude toward effort.”

“Th-thank you...”

Maximilian waved his hand dismissively.

Still dazed, Hanna bowed and carried the stack of documents back to her office.

“...”

She opened the first file.

“Let’s see how good he really is.”

Honestly, she thought it would not be that different from her own work. At least the method of analyzing activated residue would be similar. Maybe the only difference would be know-how in organizing it.

That thought shattered the moment she read the first sentence.

──[ Case No. 1038-A-01: Analysis of Activated Residue from Destruction Magic : Maximilian ]──

■ Types of activated residue

· Red spectrum. Radial scattering traces centered on ignition points.

· High mana viscosity and long residual duration.

■ Pattern analysis

· Unlike standard explosion magic, mana density at the core was lower than at the perimeter.

· This suggested not a one-point compression-and-burst event, but a constrictive ignition form tightening from outside to inside.

■ Magic type inferred from the above

· 「Flame Cage」, or a modified magic of that type.

■ Scene reconstruction

· The criminal did not set the fire with direct intent to kill the victim...

The magic was deployed first to block escape routes, but heat pressure generated in that process likely caused the victim to suffocate...

Therefore, the killing intent was likely impulsive, and priority inquiry was recommended into personal grudges such as romantic conflict or money-related disputes.

────

“Wow...”

It was clean. The logic of mana was tight and thorough, with no wasted parts. More than anything, his way of analyzing activated residue had an excellence she had never imagined.

Maximilian did not observe mana residue as a flat surface.

He treated countless residue traces as points, used concentration and direction to determine which points came first and which came later, then used that sequence to rewind time and reconstruct the scene.

She compared her own case against that report, studied that perfect teaching material, and stayed up all night again.

* * *

...This was probably a temporary adjustment.

Probably just a Ransom problem.

Kanillan, with its towering advanced companies, would surely bounce back.

Regardless of that wishful mood in the market, people inside securities firms already felt it was over.

“...And now?”

At the top of a capital skyscraper in Kanillan, Dayson, managing director of Lekiano Securities, asked with bloodshot eyes.

“They are refusing to meet at all.”

The secretary lowered his head.

“We offered up to five times face value, including penalties and settlement payments, but...”

“You fucking son of a bitch.”

Dayson yanked at what little hair he had left.

This was not just Lekiano’s problem. Merilchi and the rest of Kanillan’s major securities firms and banks were all in the same position.

Astronomical derivative losses from the Ransom shock. On top of that, insurance payouts owed to lunatics who had bet on the crash.

“The others too, right?”

“Yes. Merilchi also tried contacting them and failed.”

The ones who collected those insurance contracts were not only Ebert, that imperial noble.

Hyenas with perfect timing. Bastards praying for a nation to collapse.

“...Hold.”

“Y-yes?”

“I said hold!”

He glared at the secretary with bloodshot eyes.

“Call all of them, banks, credit agencies, insurers, corporations. Tell them if we go down, their money turns to trash too. We all die together anyway!”

“B-but market confidence already-”

“Look!”

Dayson violently turned the monitor around. On screen were Ebert’s estimated profit curve and the costs tied to it.

“You know what money that bastard used to buy insurance? Money he made from Kanillan stocks. He made money in Kanillan and pulled this insane stunt with it.”

He jabbed a finger at the current marked asset value.

“Looks huge, right? But forty percent has already melted into fees. How do you think he covered extra margin? He borrowed from banks. That means interest is bleeding too. That bastard is spilling cash like blood right now.”

The speed of the market collapse, and the speed this imperial bastard’s money burned out.

It was a game of chicken.

“He doesn’t have time either. So what if he has money? How much can one guy really have?”

Bang bang. He slammed the desk and shouted.

“So hold. Hold no matter what!”

It was a game of hot potato.

An individual, the government, or stupid foreign capital, it did not matter. They just needed to dump this rotten lump of bad debt on someone else.

If they held out until that moment, that was enough.

“Control the media too. Never let them mark down corporate valuations. Then those bastards will panic first on their own...”

Dayson muttered like he was hypnotizing himself.

“For sure. For sure...”

Tick. Tick.

The ticking time bomb called Kanillan was still running.

* * *

“...That is how they are moving.”

Dieter’s report through the terminal was calm.

Everything was the future I had seen, and the exact range of struggle Dieter had calculated.

“It’s fine. No need to touch it.”

I had infinite money anyway, and before spring even ended, Kanillan would start a chain of bankruptcies. Countless securities firms and insurers would fail.

At that time, I would realize astronomical profits and scoop up healthy companies for cheap.

“Yes. We will proceed as planned.”

“Good.”

I ended the call.

“...Sir Knight.”

Just then, an administrative officer came in with a dark expression. He was the employee in charge of driving.

“My father right now is...”

He could not finish. His lips moved as he spat out broken pieces of words, but the meaning was clear: his father was very sick.

Unexpected things happened sometimes.

“It’s fine. Go, for as many days as you need.”

I took money from my wallet and gave it to him.

At times like this, there was not much a superior could do. You just gave money. And more money was always better.