Chapter 122: Life Itself Might Be a Play (2) The curtain rose on the opera.
The audience's reactions were varied. The nobles in the VIP boxes wore expressions of deep composure, while the commoner bourgeoisie blinked, looking out of place in the opulent setting.
On the other hand, the commoners who had come with their spouses to celebrate an anniversary simply savored the moment.
Rather than the high-brow culture of the 'opera,' they were enjoying each other's company.
Watching them, I realized it once again.
Time.
Yes, it was time.
The one thing I had to earn, the only thing I could save...
Was our time.
— Ah, my love! A world without you is nothing but pitch-black darkness!
At that moment, Reynold's voice boomed. I glanced toward the stage, startled.
He sang far better than I had expected. Then again, he was a great actor who would eventually master the musical genre—a fusion of opera and theater.
"...His skills improve by the day," the Princess whispered beside me.
I glanced at her. "Aren't you being a bit too reckless?"
"It can't be helped. You can't see well from the balcony seats," she replied without taking her eyes off the stage. "Besides, my escort knight is right next to me."
I looked to her left. The fierce gaze of the escort knight pierced me for a moment.
He was likely from the Imperial Guard. Those Imperial Guard bastards didn't care about the Ebenholtz name or anything else. They didn't even try to know, despite the fact that the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Military and the official Captain of the Imperial Guard was Zebestian Ebenholtz.
"I hate being up there. The actors' faces, the progression of the play... it feels like I'm just watching from a distance."
Where she was looking, Leonard stood.
His handsome features shone under the stage lights, his acting resonating through his entire body.
"Do you like that actor?" I asked suddenly.
"..."
The Princess remained silent. She neither affirmed nor denied it, simply staring at him on the stage.
"I could arrange a meeting for you if you wish," I suggested subtly.
With the Ebenholtz name, arranging a meeting with a famous actor wouldn't be difficult.
"...It's fine," she said, shaking her head.
Thump—
Suddenly, my heart raced. The actor who had just stepped onto the stage was Izenheim.
No, Izenheim was hidden in the darkness behind the stage, and even among the audience surrounding us.
"...Are you nervous?" Princess Justine asked suddenly.
"Your heart is racing." Her gaze lingered on my chest. "My senses are quite sharp."
"...It's nothing," I replied calmly, but my mind was in turmoil.
— Life is a play, and death is the only reality...
Just like the lyrics Leonard was shouting, life might truly be a play. After all, the 'development' was already somewhat determined.
Thump—
The terror attack.
A terrorist attack would soon occur in this theater. I even knew the exact date.
However, rather than preventing the attack itself, I thought about the value I could gain by joining that flow.
Thump!
My heart leaped violently once more.
"..."
The Princess stared at me intently. Her gaze was peculiar.
As far as I was concerned, the Virus was being stingy, but it would be even more suspicious if I stood up and left immediately.
"How could I not tremble when such a noble person is by my side?"
I forced myself to watch the opera with a brazen, thick-skinned expression.
"...Yannick. Shall we switch seats?"
Perhaps feeling burdened herself, the Princess swapped seats with the escort knight on her left.
"Nice to meet you."
I nodded to the man I wasn't at all pleased to meet, and he seemed to feel the same.
*
Chiron had obtained Maximilian's [Audit Report]. In fact, it wasn't even a matter of 'obtaining' it. Maximilian had transparently disclosed the audit details to the knights involved.
"...There wasn't a shred of personal bias."
To Chiron, it was honestly surprising.
"Even after enduring such humiliation."
The reason Chiron had entrusted the task to Maximilian was, in truth, to let him vent his anger.
The heir of Ebenholtz had been summoned to the Imperial Guard Headquarters, that den of rats. Rumors that he had been made to wait there for hours had already spread throughout the Knights.
Despite being treated that way, Maximilian had not been swayed by anger. Instead, he had untangled the knots more coolly than anyone else and had even extracted suspicious 'gifts' from Goebel and the Imperial Guard.
If it had been Chiron himself, he would have found any excuse to drag Adria's reputation through the mud.
"..."
Setting the documents down, Chiron suddenly recalled his own beginnings.
Chiron, Adria, and Julian.
Though their entry years differed, they were all the same age. This was possible because the timing of admission to Empire Point varied based on several conditions.
From the day he joined the Sentinels, Chiron had worked tirelessly to survive and, further, to build his own faction.
He had looked toward the very top from the start. Even while being despised as a member of a nouveau riche family, he had steadfastly climbed the ladder of ambition.
'Chiron. You never change.'
The words Adria had left when she handed in her resignation echoed in his ears.
'But, I respect you. Perhaps a person who doesn't change has value in themselves.'
Chiron stood up from his chair and looked out the window. The man reflected in the glass was much different from his twenty-year-old self, but his heart remained the same.
'Unlike you, I've changed. I've grown dull and tired.'
But Adria's spirit had broken.
She had admitted defeat.
'...I thought about clinging to the Sentinels, even if it meant getting dirty. I thought about fighting to the end, if only for the knights who believed in and followed me. However, a conclusion quickly formed in my heart.'
Chiron placed both hands on his face.
'I've grown too old for that. Besides, only if I leave will they be given a chance.'
She had said she would take all responsibility and leave, so he should ensure no unfairness befell the knights under her command.
As Chiron recalled that voice, something leaked through his fingers.
"...Ha."
His emotions.
"Hahaha..."
This laughter was uncontrollable.
"Hahahaha!"
A sincere, booming laugh erupted.
"Khahaha—!"
The genius of Hardenberg. You, the child of a prestigious family, have lost to me.
"When you chose Anton... I was pleased."
Because it was no different from throwing your own family into the trash.
"You were right."
Yes. I haven't changed. I have always been the same, then and now. I craved higher ground and harbored the spite to never be trampled upon.
And what was the result?
The bastards who called me nouveau riche now look up to me. The children of nobles who ignored my family's meager history now swear loyalty as my subordinates.
"I will..."
Chiron clenched his fist.
Adria, Anton's right arm, had been cut off.
Now, only one old lion remained.
"Become the Knight Commander."
*
The office of Jerome, Sentinel Knights.
"The evidence against Werner and Muller was damning."
Several knights from Adria's faction, including Jerome and Tiana, were gathered with grave expressions. Spread out on the table were the 'materials requiring explanation' distributed by Maximilian.
Most were minor regulatory violations or slight operational errors. They were at a level that could be tolerated, ending with a warning rather than disciplinary action.
In fact, Maximilian had shown leniency.
However, for Werner, a 6th-year knight, and Muller, a 7th-year knight, that did not apply.
"The two of them have already confessed. Bribery and destruction of evidence. The charges were so clear there was no room for excuses. They're expecting at least a six-month suspension, or even dismissal in the worst case."
Mila, a 6th-year knight, let out a pathetic sigh.
"Why did those idiots... do something like that?"
"..."
Tiana felt a sense of relief inwardly. Her records were clean.
To a knight, performance and reputation are their lifeblood. Especially within the practice that had emerged of concentrating work or covering up mistakes based on factions, a six-month suspension was practically a death sentence.
The ladder of promotion—from ordinary knight to senior knight to high-ranking knight—would be shattered, and they might have to live with the stigma of being a 'corrupt knight' for the rest of their lives.
"...Is Sir Adria's mind still unchanged?" Tiana asked cautiously.
Jerome shook his head.
"There was no room for persuasion from the start."
Adria had taken all the responsibility herself. In truth, the knights already knew. The moment the 'detention authority' failed, her political life as a knight was over.
Rather, staying in the Sentinels would be painful for her, and an even more grueling torture for those under her.
"She sacrificed herself to protect us. And the path to do so..."
Maximilian had opened it.
That was why Jerome couldn't understand it even more.
Why did he—a man dragged away and humiliated by the Imperial Guard because of our blunder—do this?
Why, why, why...
Maximilian was a man who, the more one thought about him, was defined by the word 'why.'
*
Special Inspection Department, a direct agency of the Imperial Palace.
Agents thoroughly re-examined the 'audit results' received from Maximilian. They glared at the documents as if looking through a microscope, trying to find even a single speck of dust.
"...There is nothing here worth nitpicking."
That was the conclusion of the department head.
"..."
Grossman, the Chief of Staff, sat in his chair and set down the report.
"It looks that way to me as well."
This was the result of an audit conducted by Maximilian himself.
It was clear that he had flexibly overlooked minor issues that technically violated the law. However, to find fault with such things, the backing of the Ebenholtz name was too massive.
Grossman let out a hollow laugh.
"I underestimated my opponent too much."
"Chief of Staff."
Suddenly, the department head made a serious suggestion.
"How about exposing that Maximilian intentionally planted fabrications to help Goebel? We could bring Adria back and make them keep each other in check—"
"Doing that won't solve anything. Instead, it might only serve to strengthen the relationship between the Imperial Guard and Maximilian."
Grossman shook his head, fiddling with a cigar. Goebel was already indebted to Maximilian. If they made that fact public now, Goebel would instead completely align himself with Maximilian just to survive.
"Find an opportunity to kill Goebel."
Grossman's voice wavered coldly.
"I have no use for someone on a leash. It doesn't have to be right away. When he lets his guard down, dispose of him quietly."
Goebel was exceptionally skilled at rallying the Imperial Guard. It would be difficult to find someone to replace him, but it wasn't impossible.
"We can find at least one person to succeed him."
Grossman lit his cigar.
Fsssh—
Exhaling pungent smoke, he thought about Maximilian.
The second youngest recipient of the 2nd Class Golden Lion Medal, and at the same time, a pure imperialist. A knight of the Sentinels and the monster of Ebenholtz.
However...
"He is a man I simply cannot fathom."
Only questions swirled in Grossman's mind.
If he wanted power, it would be right for him to step forward and aim for the position of Knight Commander. The usual path would be to wipe out Adria's faction entirely, then suppress or absorb Chiron to stand at the pinnacle.
Yet Maximilian seemed to be completely yielding that position to Chiron, and was even making gestures as if to forgive Adria's forces.
"Maximilian Ebenholtz..."
A name mixed with chaos. Grossman whispered that rhythm into the thick haze of smoke.
*
Adria's resignation was processed. Her title as a knight was maintained, but she was no longer part of the Sentinels.
"Yes. I see."
I nodded calmly. Adria had left the Sentinels with Anton before the regression anyway. The grand cause she held as a member of the Revolutionary Group was 'not starting a war.'
"Well, it worked out for the best."
A knight whose strings have been cut is of no use to the revolution, even if they remain in the Sentinels. Instead, she would act as an individual knight, secretly releasing or protecting those related to the Revolutionary Group.
If I kept a steady eye on her, I might be able to catch the tail of the Revolutionary Group.
"Also, it seems the Imperial Palace will formally grant you 'Permanent Audit Authority'," Chiron added. "Anton will likely notify you directly."
He had already dropped the formal title for Anton. For me, I had gained almost perfect authority.
Before the regression, the Sentinels had been swallowed by the Imperial Guard, and noble scoundrels who had been rotten since their Empire Point days ran rampant.
The accomplice in the destruction of humanity who released Izenheim for money, the traitor who turned a blind eye after taking bribes from the Revolutionary Group, the idiot who did favors for the Imperial Guard...
As the knights were reduced to mere figureheads, becoming targets for shells on the battlefield, many turned their hearts toward the revolution.
"Yes. I understand."
In the Sentinel Knights of this life, there is no such trivial and pathetic future.
The authority of the knights will rise day by day.
I will make it so.
The more thorough the Order becomes, and the sharper its blade grows, the stronger my power will become as well.
"In the future, I will gladly strike off the heads of those who are unfit to be Sentinels."
Sentinels.
This group, where the martial power of the Iron Man is concentrated, will become the most solid foundation to support me in the future...
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