Chapter 35: The Path I Must Take | Semi-Coercive Imperialist
The Imperial Army entered beyond the collapsed castle wall. I became their spearhead, cutting a path through, and the private soldiers of the Kailus family were quickly broken. Screams, gunfire, and the sound of magic exploding echoed from all directions.
I struck my sword at the soldiers guarding the inner castle's entrance. Their bodies were torn along with the door.
Kwa-jijijik─!
I broke through inside and ran. Not for a single moment did I stop moving. Like a tank, I pushed forward and reached the center. The Imperial Army scattered in all directions of the inner castle, but I descended alone.
There must be a secret moat under this castle. A passage that leads to the outer coast.
The records from before the regression clearly stated so.
I ran down the stairs and reached the deepest basement.
"...."
However, in the dark depths, there wasn't even a trace of water, let alone a moat. Most of it was a common space used as storage.
Still, it must be here somewhere.
I focused mana into my optic nerves. My retina turned blue.
Suddenly, I caught sight of a particular candlestick on the wall. There were many candlesticks, but only this one was subtly twisted, and there was a circulation of mana around the candle wax.
I grabbed it tightly.
Pazik!
Sparks flew. My palm was badly burned. It seemed there was rather strict magical security placed on it.
But it didn't matter. I just had to cut it down.
I swung my sword.
Seogeok─!
Part of the wall split open, revealing a hidden passage. It was a staircase leading even deeper.
I stomped down hard. At some point, damp air rushed in. There was the smell of water. Then, an open space was revealed.
An artificial waterway where a small boat was docked, and the people standing there.
"...."
I discovered four direct members of the Kailus family. They turned to look at me as well.
I quietly met their gaze and spoke a single sentence.
"By His Majesty the Emperor's command."
There was no reply. In the silence, the sound of the flowing waterway echoed.
Suddenly, I felt a bitter sense about this entire situation. At the same time, I was doubtful.
The decapitation operation had already been carried out. If so, the coastline would naturally have been the first thing to be sealed.
And yet, they were choosing the most obvious escape route.
Are they foolish?
Is it because this is the only path left?
Or,
─Sreung.
The old guard knight of the Kailus family drew his sword. He was a strong man. But his body was already covered in wounds. He was heavily bleeding from gunshot wounds in the shoulder and leg.
A knight who handles defensive energy can, with enough mana, remain relatively unaffected by gunshot wounds.
In other words, his mana had run dry. Even so, he was standing in my way.
"...We never plotted treason or anything of the sort."
Yusuf von Kailus, head of the Kailus family, said so. His calm voice carried a tinge of sorrow.
I looked at him. Yusuf, the current head of the Kailus family, his wife, eldest son, and eldest daughter. Four people in total.
"Yes."
However, this is the irresistible flow of history. Even if I were to let them go here, they would be caught soon after and all killed.
"I know."
At my reply, they let out deep breaths.
"Your name?"
Yusuf asked for my name.
"Maximilian Albrecht von Ebenholtz."
Their expressions suddenly calmed. I maintained courtesy toward them. I did not recklessly thrust my sword, nor did I show aggressive behavior.
They were nobles worthy of sufficient respect.
"Ebenholtz...."
Yusuf gave a faint smile.
What kind of heart accepts death? To me, it seemed they believed in an afterlife. For some reason, they appeared to be expecting some kind of "next".
...Next?
Suddenly, a brief thought crossed my mind. The words of Sebestian from the past came to me.
'It couldn't be helped. That youngest son of theirs seemed quite capable though.'
The youngest son of the Kailus family.
I counted the members of the household.
"...Four."
There were five direct members of the Kailus family.
In the records from before the regression, the direct line of the Kailus family was clearly annihilated. But they were not all killed together in the same place.
Therefore, the conclusion is this.
The four in front of me now had volunteered to be bait.
To draw the attention of the Imperial Army onto themselves, and to protect the last hope of their family at the cost of their own lives. They held the belief that if that boy survived, the bloodline of their house could continue.
There had been far too many who perished this way in the Empire.
They all died trying to protect their own convictions, and the values they tried to preserve were stolen by the wicked.
"One is missing."
At my words, Yusuf's expression turned cold.
Thud thud thud thud thud─
The sound of Imperial soldiers running from above could be faintly heard in the distance. It seemed they had discovered the secret passage I had opened.
"Young knight of Ebenholtz, the most venerable classical family of the Empire, who stood at the beginning of the Empire's founding."
Yusuf spoke in a low and gentle voice.
"Would you allow me to make just one wish, at the cost of our entire household's lives?"
I had a sense of what he was going to ask. There was no need for words.
I simply gave a faint smile and nodded. They, too, understood my intent.
Not only Yusuf, but the faces of his family members also brightened for a moment. The old knight, too, lowered his sword diagonally.
To them, who gladly sought to accept death, I drew up my mana. I raised my longsword.
They were people I did not wish to kill.
Because they were righteous nobles.
But, the world is like this.
We are short on time.
In the torrent of history, I too am swimming desperately, just like them.
"My condolences."
It was the final farewell.
If possible, without pain. So that none would see each other's death.
In that instant, my sword struck forward. A silver flash split through the darkness.
It was silent.
Truly, there was no sound at all.
I naturally cut them down, and they lay down like grass.
"Here! Looks like a secret place…?"
From behind, an officer and soldiers of the Imperial Army rushed in. I turned to face them, wiping the blood off my sword.
"The situation is already resolved. Collect the bodies."
"Ah, yes! Loyalty!"
I passed by the saluting Imperial soldiers.
A once upright family had been ruined by the greed of villains. I was not particularly pleased.
Above all… I still had something left to do.
***
After the decapitation operation ended, a drinking party broke out in the inner castle of Kailus. It was a celebration of the mission's success. On the expensive carpets, bloodstains and liquor bottles were strewn together, and lewd laughter echoed from the portraits hanging on the walls.
"Hahahahaha!"
Faces already flushed red, they drank down the finest wine that Yusuf had collected straight from the bottle. Some secretly pocketed ornaments.
I slowly descended to that place. The soldiers, drunk and distracted by spoils of war, didn't notice me.
"...."
I stood still and looked over the scene. I observed the dozens of soldiers moving about in this chaos.
Thump.
With sunken eyes, I searched for the one my heart was pointing to. Somewhere here, that race was present.
Thump.
Soon, my gaze fixed in place. I began walking across the hall.
──Thunk.
A soldier, stumbling from drunkenness. I deliberately bumped shoulders with him.
The wine glass filled with red wine floated into the air and fell. Drops splashed onto my knight uniform.
"Ah, shit, who the…?"
The soldier turned around. His eyes widened, and he hurriedly bowed and apologized.
"Ah, knight sir, I'm sorry!"
"...."
I silently wiped the wine drops from my chest. A few nearby soldiers took notice, but the party continued. Screeches of laughter were loud.
"I'm sorry! I've committed a grave, grave offense!"
His words of apology slurred and wavered.
I was curious.
Is this an act? Does alcohol affect them the same way it does us?
I still didn't know. Because they were not human.
"...No."
Instead of getting angry, I merely gave a faint smile.
"It's fine."
There was no need to be angry in the first place.
"Ah, sorry! Please enjoy your rest!"
The Imperial Army soldier─ no, the Ezenheim smiled obsequiously and turned around.
At that moment, I gripped my sword.
──
There was no sound at all. The soldier's body and neck simply separated. The Ezenheim's face flew through the air.
Puh-seok.
Blood surged from the headless corpse. It spurted like rain, filling the soldiers' cups.
The soldiers, late to grasp the situation, hurriedly stood up.
"Uh, uh!"
"Kuh, what─ ah, knight sir?!"
"Loyalty! Loyalty!"
"Loyaltyyyyy!"
Everyone snapped to attention. Their drunkenness seemed to vanish instantly, and their faces turned pale.
I spoke to them.
"...We still missed one of the direct line. Therefore, this should still be considered wartime, no?"
Indeed, the battlefield is quite a convenient place. A knight, as the final overseer, has the authority to execute soldiers, and in such 'wartime', there are more than enough excuses to kill whomever you want to kill.
"Who gave any of you permission to laugh and feast while coveting the possessions of Imperial nobles here?"
The reason for the execution was clear. Violation of military discipline. Plundering of noble property. Damage to knight uniform.
The laughter stopped. The screeches that rang in my ears vanished as well. Only still silence remained.
The soldiers had already formed a line. One man chattered his teeth in fear.
Military order had been established.
"...."
Receiving the soldiers' stares, I exited the inner castle.
Fortunately, among the Imperial Army stationed here, the only Ezenheim was the one I had just killed.
"─You didn't have to go that far."
Someone approached from the darkness. I looked at him. It was Jekerd Kailus, the one who had orchestrated this beheading.
"It's an honor, knight sir. I am Jekerd Kailus. Ah, you needn't worry, I'll soon remove that disgraceful surname."
He smiled faintly as he brushed back his long hair.
"You could have let them keep the loot. I was planning to permit it."
He already acts as though he owns the Kailus name.
I said to him,
"I couldn't bear to watch mere commoner soldiers covet the belongings of nobles."
"Indeed... First, allow me to express my respect and gratitude, knight sir."
Jekerd bowed his head.
"To think you discovered a secret passage even I didn't know about. However, as you know, there is still one left."
Jekerd's expression turned cold.
"Akard Kailus. The youngest son, sixteen years old. These lowly traitors were especially fond of him."
There are people who hate seeing harmonious families. There are those who want to destroy them.
Either truly evil, or driven by something even deeper and darker.
"I knew of the passage's existence but not its location. But it was obvious the passage would lead to the coast. And yet, the reason these traitors deliberately chose to use the secret passage was likely to buy time for this Akard to escape."
He's the type who's needlessly good at reading others. One of the sycophants who would cling to the Emperor and become a schemer.
A man I definitely want to kill someday…
No, a man I must kill.
"Yes. I understand."
Today was the first time I saw Yusuf Kailus. Before the regression, even his corpse had been horribly defiled.
But in this life, we made a silent promise. The Kailus family staked their lives on it. They willingly offered their heads.
Solely, to save the last child.
Fortunately, I know the evacuation route Akard took.
[...Including the ringleader Yusuf von Kailus, four direct blood relatives attempted to escape through the underground moat of the main castle toward the coastline but were killed at sea, and the remaining blood relative, who attempted a separate escape, was discovered near the Mekken Mountain Range on the western border... His corpse was found near the ridgeline.]
Western border, Mekken Mountain Range.
"I'll take the Mekken Mountain Range route."
At that, Jekerd's face lit up brightly.