Chapter 18: Kill or Save (3) | Semi-Coercive Imperialist
Wiiiiiiiiiing──!
"Aaaaaargh─ Grab him, fuck─!"
Wiiiiiiiiiing──!
Sirens, screams, and shouts loudly mixed together, echoing through the streets of Genen.
"Fuck, who the hell set off the bomb?!"
The Independence faction leaders had fled as far from the bridge as possible. They had led the protest, but the bomb itself was unexpected. It wasn't in the plan. It just suddenly fucking exploded from somewhere.
"Don't know which asshole it was, but-"
"That's how desperate they must've been."
It was Sage who spoke. As a leader of the Independence faction who also had ties with the Revolutionary forces, he had always been under watch from the leadership. Some within the faction had warned, "Receiving help from the Revolutionary forces taints our pure intentions", and Sage despised those higher-ups, calling them cowards.
"Sage, don't tell me you...."
They had reached an alley by then.
"Here."
Sage lifted his wristwatch. A cutting-edge device with an embedded mana crystal. He had already called for support.
"Here? It's a dead end."
"If we wait, support will-"
──Thud.
Suddenly, chilling footsteps echoed. Everyone's gaze turned that way.
Thud─ Thud─
Blond hair and golden eyes. A Sentinel uniform embroidered with gold lines on a navy base.
An Imperial knight, name unknown.
He scanned them while holding a sword in one hand.
"Don't come any closer!"
They all drew their weapons at once.
"We'll hold him off! Sage! Go first!"
Sage was a leader. The rest were just fellow comrades. If there were those who must not be caught and those who could be, then the former was Sage, and the latter, us.
"...Thank you. Sorry, everyone."
At Sage's words, the other comrades smiled.
It's okay. We were ready for an ending like this.
"You're not getting past."
They stood firmly in the way.
Vwoooooom!
Just in time, a hoverboard from the Revolutionary forces appeared, and as Sage grabbed it without delay.
Swaaaaaaash───!
Something surged forth. It couldn't even be registered with the naked eye. Suddenly, a blast of wind tore through between everyone like a shockwave, sweeping through the alley and shattering the hoverboard.
Everything collapsed.
"...."
The space was filled with silence. Wrapped in unease, they looked around.
In the blink of an eye, the knight who had passed through them was now holding Sage's face in his grasp.
"...S-Sage!"
"You fucking-!"
The revolver fired. Bang bang bang bang bang bang. The magazine was emptied, but it couldn't penetrate the long sword and fell.
Srrrk.
The knight's cloak fluttered faintly. He just stood there silently. Yet even that exerted immense pressure.
Gulp.
The remaining members of the Independence faction swallowed. A suffocating tension wrapped their whole bodies.
──Hey! Over here!
Suddenly, a shout rang out from the sky. A slightly more special rabbit mask, and a much more special hoverboard. Whether it was a he or a she, the Revolutionary member pulled out a ping-pong ball-sized orb from above.
Whooosh!
As they threw it to the ground, a wire shot out.
Pop─!
The ball emitted a flash and smoke, and the wire pulled the four remaining members of the Independence faction into the sky.
"Kyaaaaah!"
"Gyaaaaaaah!"
The members screamed bizarrely as they clung to the hoverboard. The rabbit mask quickly changed direction. As they flew away, they looked down at the ground. The knight was calmly watching this way, then withdrew his sword.
Fortunately, it seemed he intended to let them go.
"S-Sage, he's..."
"I know. I caught a glimpse from afar. He was definitely a Sentinel. A monster."
A uniform with a gold eagle emblem on a navy blue background. From the perspective of the Revolutionary forces, those were the scariest ones. Unlike the Imperial Guard, who overwhelmed with numbers, each one of those was a priceless asset.
And that knight had unique hair and eye color. Clearly a noble, anyone could tell.
"If you see bastards like that, just run. Don't act brave. Most of the time, it's hard to beat them, and if you win, it's even worse. More importantly, why the hell did someone use a bomb?"
"That wasn't part of our plan."
The rabbit mask clicked their tongue.
"Ah~ I knew it. Fuck. These fuckers can't ever stick together as one."
It's one of two things. Either it was the act of a radical faction hoping the Genen independence activists would fully join the Revolutionary forces, or it was a setup by Genen imperialists who wanted to use this opportunity to wipe out the independence faction altogether.
Whichever it is....
"Anyway, it's all fucked up. If you wanna live, hold on tight!"
The hoverboard roared through the air.
***
"Loyalty! As expected of you, sir knight!"
By the afternoon, once the chaos had somewhat subsided, the police handed over a key leader to a Sentinel knight.
The knight asked,
"This one. Is it him?"
"Yes! That's right! Sage Jen."
His face, every feature, matched the wanted poster's sketch exactly.
"He's an Independence faction high-rank, with ties to the Revolutionary-"
"A vermin."
"...Yes, that's correct!"
The knight nodded and passed by them without another word.
"Thank you for your service!"
"Thank you for your service!"
The police saluted as the knight departed. Only after he had completely disappeared did they brush back their hair and sigh.
"What the hell is this mess. Because of these dumbass bastards..."
....
Immediately after the bridge terror incident, the entire Genen Police Bureau mobilized.
Using intercepted communications and tips, they tracked down the suspected location of Independence faction members.
"...Ready."
In the dark, nine officers waited with explosives attached to the entrance of a certain stationery store.
"Go in!"
Bang──!
The door exploded, and the police stormed in immediately. Inside, the Independence faction members were huddled together like rats.
The suppression team raised their batons.
"You rat bastards, still wet behind the ears, arrest them all!"
Kyaaaah── Gaaaah──
They literally beat down the Independence faction. Many of them had baby-faced looks, but it didn't matter.
The Independence faction, to them, were no different from dogs or cows.
Crash crash─!
At that moment, one boy tripped over a bookshelf. Maybe 13 or 14 years old at most. His face covered in blood, the boy trembled as he cried.
"Well well."
Investigator Zendo approached the boy.
"That's gotta hurt."
Infamous as a specialist in this field, he grinned and kicked the back of the child's head.
....
"We arrested around 200 people from a total of 14 locations. These guys were the most intense."
"So it seems."
Investigator Zendo nodded as he listened to the subordinate's report. In front of him, eight people were hanging like pigs. Their faces were bagged, and their arms and legs cuffed.
"Their names, in order, are Bell, En, Kellio, Sato, Yan...."
Zendo scanned through the names and stopped in front of Yan.
"How many times is this now for this little punk?"
He smacked him on the head. Yan's body shook in pain.
"Hey~ you psychos. Do you even know who was there when you carried out that terror attack?"
Zendo strolled casually as he spoke.
"Maximilian was there. Maximilian. Ebenholtz, you know him or not?"
As no answer came, Zendo's face twisted in irritation.
"You know him or not──!"
The pigs trembled hard. Hoarse voices returned with answers like "We do-".
"Right. That man's worth more than ten million of you fuckers combined, and he got caught up in a terror attack. So."
Zendo tapped his palm with his baton as he spoke.
"Confess if you know what's good for you. If not, you're probably not leaving here alive."
The Genen investigators interrogated the Independence faction.
Placing wet towels over their faces, hanging their bodies like roast pigs, threatening their families... in practice, it was torture.
"It's fine even if you're not directly tied to this bombing. You all know someone who shines a little, right? You know, guys like this."
Zendo shoved several photos at one man. Faces of Independence faction leaders.
"We don't wanna do this either. But it's for public safety. If you guys go around blowing up bridges and shit, hey. Even people who like you will turn on you."
The man remained silent. Just panting and trembling all over.
Zendo tapped him on the head with a photo.
"Aren't you pissed? These assholes are living it up in hiding, calling themselves leaders. And it's just you guys getting caught and suffering like this."
"...."
"Huh? You're not angry? They just threw you out there as meat shields──!"
Zendo grabbed the man by the hair and lifted his head. The blood-covered face panted raggedly in front of Zendo.
"...You guys. You must not understand the situation. You're not leaving until you confess."
Zendo's expression darkened menacingly.
"Whoever did it, make something up and confess."
....
Yan endured the investigators' torture. He was strung up from the ceiling and beaten in the stomach with a baton, his face was dunked into filthy toilet water until he lost consciousness, and when they threatened to harm his younger siblings, his gut twisted, but still, he held on.
──You must hide it. Until you become strong enough.
Because of the words spoken by the unknown knight who had saved him.
The bourgeois of Genen and the Empire fear most the talent that rises from the bottom. If he revealed his abilities, he would undoubtedly be killed.
"Wow. This kid's a real tough one."
Someone muttered with a half-laugh. With a bag over his face, Yan could see nothing.
"Let's take a look at this kid's face."
The bag was removed. The sudden light blinded him. Yan gasped and lowered his head.
"You dumb bastard. Don't you know? In places like this, the one who holds out till the end is the one who gets screwed."
The man crouched on one knee. Yan lifted one eye to look at him.
It was Zendo. A man like a devil to the Independence faction. He picked up a sheet of paper and thrust it in front of Yan's face.
[The mastermind behind the terror attack is Yan Novak...]
A handwritten statement from his comrades, confessing Yan as the perpetrator.
"...You're taking the fall for everything. Every single one of them betrayed only you. Know why?"
Suddenly, Yan's mind went blank.
"Because you're the poorest. Because you're the youngest. Because you're the most... helpless."
A surge of hot emotion rose up. He gritted his teeth at the betrayal. Anger reached his bones. His entire body trembled, exhaling rough breaths.
It felt like his veins were writhing, and yellow particles flickered at his fingertips.
──You must hide it.
The knight's voice echoed through his entire body. The cold reverberation calmed the rage boiling in his gut.
Yan shut down his mana circuit.
"...Hrk, nghhh."
He suppressed himself with sobs.
He hid himself.
Zendo sneered.
"Stupid little bastard. Hey. Lock him up. If he offs himself, that'd be a loss for us, so feed him something."
As Zendo walked away, the investigators shouted after him.
"Yes! Understood!"
....
36 hours after the terror incident.
"...Ah~ Chief. Yes. We got the confession."
Zendo wore a slick smile as he spoke on a large telephone with the Chief.
"Yes, yes. You should also send an official letter to that knight fellow. That we've caught the culprit."
In less than two days, they had identified the suspect and extracted a confession.
It had been tough, but it was rewarding.
"Yes~ Chief. Thank you, sir! Loyalty!"
Clack.
Zendo set down the receiver and chuckled dryly as he stared at the pitch-black phone.
"Wow, tech these days is nice. Feels like I've become a wizard or something."
Crystal orbs are communication tools permitted only to wizards and knights. Because they require mana to operate.
But this telephone needed no mana, just fingers, ears, and a mouth.
"Really nice."
Tap- he knocked on it, then called out to the subordinates standing behind him.
"Let's go get some drinks!"
Gotta treat the guys who busted their asses for two days.
***
Clap clap clap clap. Clap clap clap clap.
Applause echoed. Noble laughter and the clicking of camera shutters mixed in.
I was standing on a platform, receiving a medal. For capturing one of the suspected Revolutionary youth leaders involved in the bombing─ Sage─the Imperial military was awarding me a medal directly.
Third-Class Gold Lion Medal. The Empire's medal system is pretty strict, so getting third class at my age is considered quite impressive.
"Sir Maximilian, this way please!"
Click! The reporters photographed me shaking hands with a lieutenant general from the military.
"Your father would be very proud of you."
I smiled at Lieutenant General Walter's words. In the past, I used to dislike nobles who brought up my father. Rather than dislike, I found them laughable.
But now, I need to know how to conduct myself. I'm still just a small whale, and the Ebenholtz family is not part of the royal bloodline.
"Thank you."
"So, was Empire Point just a bit of a rebellious phase?"
"...Yes. I was contemplating what I ought to do, though honestly, I still don't quite know. This time, too, I caught him more by coincidence than anything."
But I must never appear to be a dangerous blade to anyone. It's better that I still come off as a somewhat naive, somewhat useful twenty-something to them.
"As expected. The saying like father like son fits perfectly."
"Thank you. I'll make sure to relay your kind words to my father, Lieutenant General."
"Hahahaha."
"Hahahaha."
We laughed facing each other.
"Hahahahaha."
"Hahahahahaha."
"Hahahahahahaha."
"Hahahahahahahaha."
How long do I have to keep laughing, fuck.
....
"Ugh, my mouth hurts."
As soon as the medal ceremony ended, I returned to the office. I took off my coat and sat in my chair. Today's newspaper was placed on the desk.
[Suspect group in Genen Bridge terror incident apprehended]
The investigative authorities announced that they had swiftly captured the terrorist group, and they had sent me a personal letter as the knight on the scene who apprehended one of the suspects.
[To the esteemed Sir Maximilian,
First, on behalf of the Genen Police Bureau, we express our heartfelt gratitude. If you had not been present at the scene, countless lives would have been lost....
The individuals who planned the bombing are seven fervent independence activists, including 'Yan Novak', 'Jason Cole', and 'Tom Lane'...]
"Yan?"
My brows furrowed at the name.
Investigations wrapped up in a flash always raise suspicions, but the name "Yan" makes it all the more so. That young man who desperately saved the child was not someone capable of committing a terrorist act.
No, even if by some chance Yan is the real culprit, and even if the investigators who caught him are honest and upright men, the value of Yan, a member of the Yaken race, is far greater than that of a dozen, or even hundreds, of police officers combined.
At least, that is the value judgment of Maximilian.
"...Tsk."
Another annoying matter has come up.
I put back on the uniform jacket I had taken off for a moment and stepped outside.