Chapter 24: What It Means to Be Different (2) Slash—!
Once the wall was breached, Julian moved. Despite the Cartel's forces being deployed throughout the building, he maneuvered like the wind. He showed no mercy. It took him all of ten minutes to clear dozens of syndicate members from the first floor to the third.
"······."
I sheathed my longsword at my waist. There was nothing left for me to do. Trudging up to the third floor, I found Julian sitting on a crate, wiping the blood off his blade with a handkerchief.
"Good work, sir."
In the meantime, the police arrived.
"Loyalty! We will begin the search!"
After saluting, they began turning the building inside out.
"There's a suspicious passage here!"
Another space was revealed in the basement. I headed down there as well. It was a secret room permeated by a nauseating stench, where people kidnapped by the Cartel were imprisoned.
Thump.
The virus gave a faint reaction.
"······?"
Could Izenheim be among them?
I peered around, but it wasn't Izenheim. The cause was a sofa placed in the middle of the secret room. I looked closely at the piece of furniture.
"Max. What are you doing?"
Julian, who had come down at some point, asked.
"I think I've found something."
I pointed at the sofa. Julian sliced it open, but there was nothing inside but cotton and dust.
"What exactly did you find?"
"······Perhaps."
I placed my hand on the sofa's leather and channeled mana into it. The outer hide melted away like liquid, condensing into strange crystals. It was a significant amount.
Julian's eyes widened slightly.
"Drugs. The purity is extremely high."
"Yes."
I picked up a fragment of the crystal. At that moment, the virus reacted. Information about the mana compound flooded into my mind.
In numerical terms, the purity was over 97%. The structure was a double helix. Extremely addictive.
"······."
It seems my virus has a knack for identifying the nature of 'mana' as well.
"They used mana to rearrange the material's structure to hide it. Whoever did this—"
Julian was uncharacteristically at a loss for words. It seemed the technique was that revolutionary.
The culprits were undoubtedly them. The ones who would do anything to cause chaos in the Empire—the other-species, Izenheim.
"Max."
Julian suddenly turned to look at me.
"Well done."
It was praise from my senior. It didn't feel bad to hear. I suppressed a smile and gave a small nod.
Just then, the police appeared. Their eyes went wide when they saw the brilliant drugs inside the sofa.
"May we seize this?"
"No."
I turned them away.
"We will handle the seizure."
"Yes, sir!"
Julian watched me quietly.
"Sir, don't trust the police too much."
This amount was enough for tens of thousands of people. Stealing even a tenth of it would change a person's life, and the police station is crawling with rats.
Julian let out a short laugh. He looked like he agreed, but he asked me as if to test me.
"Then who should I trust?"
The answer was already decided.
"Only yourself."
Julian nodded. It meant I had given the right answer.
* * *
Inside a room at the official residence, Schatz regulated her mana through rhythmic breathing. It was a meditation to organize the flow that had been suppressed by restraints for years, and a training session to fulfill Maximilian's command to 'get stronger.'
Knock, knock.
With a sudden knock, a man entered.
"Pleasure to meet you. I am Dieter Schmidt."
Dieter scanned the interior. A mattress, a small refrigerator, bedding, personal belongings. There was nothing else.
"Since this is a temporary residence, there are many shortcomings. Please bear with it for a while. Our finances are not yet abundant."
Schatz tilted her head.
The Ebenholtz family's finances aren't abundant? Those words didn't seem to fit together.
"······Ah. I understand."
Treatment varies according to skill.
That was how Schatz interpreted it.
"Yes. Would you mind coming outside for a moment?"
Dieter led Schatz out. The two stood side by side in an empty lot behind the building.
"Please show me your mana."
Dieter held up a notebook, requesting a demonstration. Accurately identifying and noting an employee's abilities was also an important task.
"Yes."
Schatz gathered mana at her fingertips. Blue sparks crackled and surged.
Zap, crackle!
The moment she thrust her arm forward to discharge it, electricity surged ten meters and struck the ground.
"Hmm. Electromagnetic type? Good. You were born with a very rare mana property."
"Thank you."
"Yes."
"······."
"······."
She was originally a woman of few words. Dieter was also the type to speak only when necessary.
The two quietly looked around the empty lot for a moment.
"There is nothing around here."
At Schatz's remark, Dieter replied.
"Yes. It is currently a blind land, but we are in the process of purchasing the surrounding plots one by one."
"—I intend to build a city here in the future."
A voice suddenly came from behind them.
It was the Knight Maximilian. Schatz quickly straightened her posture.
"I stopped by on my way. Dieter, what do you think? Can this place become a city?"
"It seems feasible."
"You can be honest."
"It's not far from the center, but the transportation is cut off, so it might as well be distant. Also, monster appearances are frequent, so the conditions aren't ideal."
That was the reason this vast land remained a blind spot. Monsters were the greatest enemy of construction. If monsters attacked at night, everything would be demolished, and deploying extra personnel for defense would cause costs to skyrocket.
"Ebenholtz can make it happen."
"······Above all, we lack the finances to establish a city."
"What about the mine?"
"The results should be out by next week."
"Trust me and wait."
Maximilian turned to Schatz.
"Are you still thinking about Mason?"
Schatz gave a short reply.
"······Yes."
"There's no need to be consumed by it. If you wait, the opportunity will eventually come."
The founder of Mason Industries is not a pure Imperial. He is a half-blood who will eventually be exposed, no matter how well he 'disguises' himself. That single fact alone will lead Mason Industries to ruin.
Such an era is waiting for us.
"And, this is your first mission."
Maximilian handed over a document containing someone's personal information.
"Find this person."
"Yes. Understood."
"Aren't you curious who it is?"
"What kind of person are they?"
Only then did Schatz show curiosity, and Maximilian answered briefly.
"A member of the Revolutionary Group."
* * *
Summer hadn't even arrived, yet my peers had already formed factions.
Tiana and Leon had aligned themselves with the senior knight, Jerome.
If you follow Jerome's line up, it leads to Adria, and from Adria, it goes up to Anton.
In other words, they were part of Vice Commander Anton's line.
Anton enjoys significant public support. Because of that, the Revolutionary Group gravitates toward him.
As I've mentioned before—the high-ranking knight 'Adria' was a spy for the Revolutionary Group.
"Sir. This arrived from Empire Point."
An employee handed me a letter.
He was a guard I had brought from the Western Prison. One assistant director and two guards who had played a major role in saving Schatz. All of them had been hired as my knight administrative officers.
I picked up the letter. It was high-quality parchment stamped with the crest of Empire Point.
[To Knight Maximilian von Ebenholtz of the Sentinel Knights]
[For the sake of our academy's excellent cadets, we politely request your attendance and evaluation to share your noble experience and knowledge······.]
Empire Point often asks Sentinel knights for guidance. It's a sort of master class.
"······I'll have to go."
It would be the worst-case scenario if Izenheim were at Empire Point. That place is the shortest path to rising into the heart of the Empire.
Furthermore······
'There must have been a better way. Surely.'
Jacob, the first Izenheim I killed. I was also curious about what his classmates were up to.
Whir—
My terminal buzzed.
—This is Schatz. I have located the target's position.
Already?
No. Her skills are as good as I expected.
I left the office. My body felt stiff after sitting around analyzing Active Residual Traces all day.
"Maxi··· milian!"
As I was about to take the elevator, some knights called my name.
They were knights of noble status. Reynel, Zionne, and their leader, Chiron.
"Sir Chiron wishes to see you."
Reynel pointed to Chiron behind him.
Chiron smiled at me.
"Maximilian. We finally meet face-to-face."
"······Yes. Hello."
I bowed my head to him.
Memories from before my regression flashed briefly.
Chiron. A noble from the capital, he seeks to pull down Vice Commander Anton.
However, Chiron lacked a foundation. Anton was a fallen noble, but knights flocked to him because of his unique popularity, while Chiron came from a sort of nouveau riche family that had achieved success relatively recently.
The reason Chiron was able to succeed in his coup was his cooperation with the Imperial Guard.
"Lately, there has been a lot of talk about you in social circles."
The Imperial Guard is power. The Knights are honor. Both exert immense authority, but their methods and nature are different.
The Imperial Guard will trigger a racial purge, and the Knights will trigger a war.
Both······ are perhaps a necessary evil for me.
"A 3rd Class Golden Lion Medal. Did I receive mine at twenty-two?"
Chiron smiled as he looked at my chest.
"Can we talk for a moment?"
"Certainly."
Chiron gestured to his subordinate knights. They took the hint and excused themselves.
"We'll talk as we head down. I'm sure you're busy."
"Yes."
We boarded the elevator together.
The moment the doors closed, Chiron spoke in a low voice.
"Maximilian. The world is changing. It will change even more drastically in the future. Probably much more than you can imagine······ the central political scene is already in a state of upheaval."
He had a face like a snake, and a voice to match.
"However, I am always concerned. I wonder if our Sentinel can respond to such a massive wave."
Chiron had made a similar proposal before my regression.
At the time, I didn't even properly understand what he meant.
"Are you referring to Vice Commander Anton?"
Now, I had enough knowledge to get straight to the point.
"······You're quick-witted. Correct. The election for the next Knight Commander isn't far off. At this rate, Anton is the favorite."
"Yes. I am aware. Many people seem to like Vice Commander Anton."
"Are you one of them?"
Ding.
The elevator stopped. I thought as I walked toward the parking lot.
Vice Commander Anton Zefren.
He is a good person.
······He is merely a good person.
"How could that be?"
"Then, what is it that you don't like about him?"
Chiron asked back. I raised my head and looked into his eyes.
"He seems to believe too excessively in the good nature of humanity."
Anton was a man who valued the outdated romance of 'chivalry.' Because of that, he was concerned when I killed the young Izenheim.
I will continue to kill Izenheim without end, and Anton will become an obstacle in my path.
"He doesn't seem to fully understand a knight's duty or reason for existence."
At my following answer, Chiron's face began to twitch.
It was the expression of someone trying to suppress a laugh.
"He tries to look only at the good side of this world."
Destruction blooms from a broken Empire. The Empire must function as the lesser evil, and the racial purge must proceed.
"In that regard, he is no different from a blind man."
An old man trying to plant a single flower in this hellish world.
That is Anton.
"Hahaha!"
Chiron laughed boisterously. He clapped his hands and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"You're right. You're absolutely right. My, I've been outdone by a rookie. No, it's awkward to even call you a rookie, Maximilian. You are the heir of Ebenholtz, after all."
Chiron's expression quickly turned serious again.
"Maximilian. The Imperial family will likely conduct a steady investigation regarding Anton. They will visit you and your father to ask many things."
"I don't think my words will carry much weight."
"Why such modesty?"
Stopping his words, Chiron curled up one corner of his mouth.
"I hope you will speak as honestly there as you are now, and simply remain silent no matter what other rumors may surface."
He was openly stating his intention to fabricate a connection.
Chiron raised his eyebrows with a peculiar expression.
"A noble who isn't even like a noble, who used to sell mats, becoming the Commander of the Sentinel Knights······ that shouldn't happen, should it? I'm sure your father thinks so too."
I nodded. I didn't like how he kept bringing up Zebestian, but I needed to play the part.
"Yes. Speaking honestly is easy enough."
"······Haha."
Chiron let out a low chuckle.
"Good, I'll see you later. Go on. You seem busy."
"Yes."
With that, Chiron left, and I got into my car.
I let out a sigh as I stepped on the accelerator.
"There are so many people who don't know their place."
The fact that he dared to mention Zebestian so casually meant he looked down on me, but I have to endure it for now.
I am still nothing more than Zebestian's young pup. Being seen that way is beneficial for the time being.
······.
"······Sir. Do you think Max will be of any help?"
In the Sentinel Knights' parking lot, the noble knight Reynel asked with a dissatisfied expression.
"Max is already out of Zebestian's favor. There are even rumors that he's going to adopt Edmond as his son. You saw it yourself, didn't you? He's incredibly stubborn."
At that, Chiron furrowed his brow.
"Watch your mouth. Stubborn?"
"Ah, yes?"
"And why would Zebestian adopt some half-blood? He's a man who values blood purity more than anyone."
"······I apologize."
Reynel and the other knights quickly bowed. Chiron clicked his tongue.
"Don't treat him carelessly. Maximilian is someone who can be reasoned with."
"Ah······ is that so?"
"Yes. How long are you lot going to hold a grudge? You were the ones in the wrong in the first place. Maximilian was absolutely right. No matter how well you knew him privately, you shouldn't call him Max in a professional setting."
'—Don't call me Max.'
The senior knights had developed ill feelings toward Maximilian because of those words he had said once.
"He is an Ebenholtz. He is a noble whose position is already different from yours, and whose accumulated history is on another level."
Even if they were his seniors when they were cadets, they were in different leagues from the start.
And yet, these fools were trying to treat him carelessly, remembering their days at Empire Point.
"I'm telling you not to provoke him for no reason."
"······Yes. We apologize."
The knights bowed their heads.
"—Oh my. It seems there's a gathering in the parking lot?"
Everyone turned around with a start. Chiron glared at her.
Adria von Hardenberg.
One of the core members of Anton's line, and the knight Chiron found most detestable.
"It looks quite undignified. Knights swarming around together like this."
"We were just discussing the lunch menu."
Chiron swallowed a curse and forced a smile. Adria also gave a small laugh.
"I see. Well, you do like to do everything grandly. Carry on."
Adria got into a knight's vehicle. Chiron watched her before gesturing to the knights.
"Let's go."
"Yes, sir."
Chiron had confirmed that he and Maximilian of Ebenholtz were of the same mind. That was enough.
After all, there was no way someone raised in the highest nobility would take a liking to a lowly wretch like Anton.
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