Chapter 130: The Appearance of the Empire (3) "Haaa."
Hannah Usar let out a heavy sigh. A thick clot of blood, pooled in her mouth, hit the cold cement floor with a wet thud.
"..."
The surroundings were silent. Or rather, they were filled with corpses.
It had started as a stealthy assassination, but reality was nothing like the training at Empire Point. She had been discovered before long, leading to a desperate, gruesome melee where she had cut down dozens of men single-handedly.
"Good grief.........."
Hannah moved with a pronounced limp.
She reached the innermost office and began grabbing documents and machinery indiscriminately. These were the ledgers recording the progression of the 'trade' those bastards had been conducting.
In truth, the details were beyond her. She lacked the expertise to decipher the evidence covered in complex numbers and codes.
Still, she stepped outside, hoping this would be the smoking gun.
Gurgle.
As the tension bled away, hunger surged like a ravenous beast. Hannah pulled a small lump from her breast pocket.
It was a high-calorie energy bar—a mash of butter-preserved meat, sugar, and finely minced cabbage. It was the same recipe they used back in Zerpa.
Hannah bit into it with blood-stained hands, chewing loudly.
".....Ugh."
She groaned as she forced the food down. Her entire body was a map of wounds. It felt as though her ribs were crushed; every breath brought a fresh wave of agony.
But there was no time to rest.
Their reinforcements would arrive soon. They would discover this carnage and come to kill her.
She kept the energy bar clamped between her teeth as she forced her legs to move.
* * *
At 'Lilac Vita,' the finest restaurant in the capital, Arcadia.
I had rented out the entire venue for the night.
"Oh~!"
An exclamation of wonder reached me from the entrance. It was a voice far too innocent and bright for the speaker's character and conduct.
"You've arrived."
"What's the occasion, Max~?"
Reutern II sat in the opposite chair, already licking his lips in anticipation.
"I heard even the high nobility of the Imperial Palace find it hard to book a table here~ What's going on? Tell me, tell me~"
"It was difficult for me to reserve as well."
In fact, I had simply bought out the shares. I intended to use it as a restaurant for entertaining guests, so that both I and my subordinates could use it conveniently in the future.
"Let us eat first."
The waiters began serving the dishes.
"Ah, wonderful! Ooh! Even the silverware is beautiful~"
"You may take them with you if you like."
"Really? I can do tha-at~?"
"...Yes."
"Great~ Let's eat first then. Dig in, dig in!"
It was a marvel how he spoke as if he were the one hosting the meal.
Regardless, the courses followed. An amuse-bouche with a refreshing citrus scent, an appetizer made from North Sea king crab meat, and a wild mushroom soup drizzled with truffle oil.
Reutern worked his fork incessantly while he talked.
"No, so I said, 'What do you think you're doing right now!' and he was absolutely terrified~ Ah~ those bastards at the Palace are involved in way too much corruption, I'm telling you~"
He rattled off trivial gossip from the Imperial Palace—which young lady was having an affair, which fool had gambled away his land deeds only to use the Imperial Guard to seize them back.
I listened with moderate interest until the main dish arrived.
"Lord Reutern. There is something I would like to ask you."
"Hm? What is it?"
He asked, licking wine from the corner of his mouth.
"You are the foremost source of information and the most well-connected man in the Palace, are you not?"
I casually broached the subject.
"Heh. Well, I suppose~"
"Have the Sentinel knights been visiting the Palace frequently of late?"
"Uh..."
Reutern paused his spoon for a moment, lost in thought.
"Now that you mention it, maybe? I think I saw someone in uniform coming and going a few days ago. Who was it again.......... I'll ask around for you later. But why?"
As loose-lipped as Reutern was, his connections spread throughout the Palace, but he never thought deeply about anything.
"Oh, it's nothing major. It's just that I'll likely be heading to Volsk soon."
"Why Volsk? That backwater place."
"A certain commoner is causing trouble."
"A commoner?"
"Yes."
I spoke softly while slicing into the seafood dish.
"No noble would stand by and watch a commoner forget their place. I intend to go and instill some discipline."
I was testing Reutern to see if he was involved in this matter.
"Ah, I suppose so."
...He didn't know.
One hundred percent, he knew absolutely nothing.
He wasn't even interested.
From the start, his eyes had been fixed solely on the food. Having already devoured a large piece of fish, he was already glancing sideways to see when the next main course would arrive.
Come to think of it, there was no one whose lineage was more of a waste than this man. Reutern II was the living embodiment of casting pearls before swine.
"Lord Reutern. How has the Palace been since the last Dream Road operation?"
I subtly reminded him of the debt he owed from that day.
If Reutern wasn't the mastermind, I might need his help.
"Ah~ things have finally settled down. I really saved face thanks to you, Max! I'm truly grateful!"
"I am glad to hear that."
"Yes, yes. If you ever need my help, Max, just say the word! I, Reutern, am a descendant of royalty!"
I smiled.
"Yes. I am well aware."
I'll be sure to hold you to that.
Without even knowing it, he was about to be pulled into the political fray.
"In that case, would you mind signing this document for me?"
"What is it?"
"It's nothing much. Since this is an operation taking place in a foreign nation—and an Eastern one at that—I believe I need an official document requesting cooperation for an incident detrimental to the Empire, signed by a noble of the Palace and a descendant of royalty like yourself."
I intentionally drew out my explanation.
A noble of the Palace held authority, and Reutern II was, in fact, a member of the House of Nobles.
"Oh, really~? But this document is limited only to that commoner case, right?"
Surprisingly, his brain was working. It seemed he wasn't quite the fool I took him for.
"Yes. It is a document limited strictly to the 'Hannah Usar Case.' You can verify it later."
It wasn't a lie. Truly, it would be limited to Hannah's case.
"Then of course. I'll do it. Right after I finish eating this~"
I smiled thinly and raised my hand.
"Waiter?"
"Yes, sir."
"For the main course, increase the portions. Make them generous enough for two knights."
"Yes, understood."
At that, Reutern's face lit up instantly.
"As expected of Max! I was feeling a bit unsatisfied with the portions! We really are on the same wavelength, aren't we?"
Reutern shook his fists cutely and grinned. I simply nodded without a word.
Now, it was time for you to pay for what you've been fed.
......
The very next day.
"Max. I heard you're going to Volsk."
I swallowed a dry laugh at Chiron's words.
That blabbermouth Reutern had already spread my story through the Palace, and it had even reached Chiron of the Sentinels.
He was a strange one. He could keep a secret about bearer bonds that benefited him until the very end, yet he couldn't hold his tongue about this.
However, I had expected this, and it made him useful.
"Yes. I heard Hannah is up to something bizarre in Volsk."
"As it happens, the Direct Agency sent over these documents."
I accepted the papers. They were filled with Hannah's alleged crimes along with evidence. Arms trafficking, collusion with the Revolutionary Group, embezzlement of funds.
"Well..."
It was absolute nonsense. But if I used her as bait, I might be able to identify the real mastermind.
"There is plenty of evidence. I shall agree to this."
While I was at it, I intended to test Hannah's ideology as well.
To see if she was someone who could walk the same path as me.
To see if she could become a knight worthy of my trust and capable of holding onto the Ebenholtz line.
"Agree?"
Chiron asked, sounding puzzled.
"Yes. With the allegations being this heavy, there is no need for hesitation."
"Even so, would a commoner from the countryside really be tainted by revolution?"
I stared at Chiron intently for a moment. He seemed to sense something in my gaze.
"It is precisely because she is a commoner that she is suspicious. If Hannah received help from the Revolutionary Group, it would explain her sudden recruitment into the Sentinels."
I was the one who had pulled strings to get Hannah into the Sentinels, but my name was not on that recommendation. I kept my name hidden from all my actions.
It was both a requirement and a privilege of the powerful. Those who received my orders carried out my will, never knowing whose command they were following.
"Please convey that to the higher-ups."
At my request, Chiron didn't ask further. There was no need for a long conversation. We were both quick on the uptake.
"Will you go alone?"
"Yes. You can simply assign me the tracking mission."
A noble knight going to execute a commoner knight found with evidence of betrayal.
It made for a very convincing picture.
"Please assign the same mission to Leon Askar as well."
The Askar family was a prestigious one. If someone like Leon had been pushed back, it meant the opponent was at least on the level of an Askar or higher.
"....Leon?"
"Yes. I heard he was originally part of this operation."
"I'll do that."
Julian and Leon. Both were the eccentrics of the Askar family. Brothers who reached different kinds of extremes, not seeming like siblings at all.
"However, didn't you have Hannah participate in the Dream Road? How will you explain that to the higher-ups?"
"It is precisely because of that."
I said, rising from my seat.
"If she is a traitor to the Empire..."
As the heir of Ebenholtz, standing at the pinnacle of both the nobility and the Empire—an imperialist possessing the ideology of an Iron Man.
That was how the world perceived me, and therefore, no one would find my intentions strange.
I had no intention of discarding that image.
"I shall execute her with my own hands."
* * *
Hannah opened her eyes. She was in an abandoned house somewhere in Volsk.
"Ah..."
The pain felt like kitchen knives stabbing her body, but it was proof that she was healing.
It seemed the black-market medicines she had bought at a premium were starting to take effect.
"Ugh, it hurts so much..."
Yesterday, she had been vomiting blood all day, but it wasn't that bad anymore. Hannah changed into fresh bandages and stepped out of the abandoned house.
"..."
She was walking, but wow.
No matter how much she thought about it, there was no solution.
That was just how she felt.
"....This is fucking bullshit."
The words tumbled out naturally. Her only crime was working hard. Those goddamn bastards who sold Imperial weapons to terrorist groups to kill subjects of the Empire were the ones who deserved to die.
"Ah.......... This is insane. Ha."
Hannah looked up at the night sky and let out a hollow laugh.
Rustle.
At the sound of a presence, she gripped her sword and channeled her mana. She glared toward the source, ready to draw at any moment, only to see—
"...Sir Gale?"
It was Gale, a fellow commoner knight known for his neutrality within the Sentinels.
"Shh."
Gale placed a finger to his lips and scanned the surroundings.
"Fortunately, I'm not too late."
"What...... How did you get here? How did you know I was here? Gah."
Hannah clutched her wounded side mid-sentence.
"I came in secret."
" Gaaaaah. "
"I'm here. Because you ended up like this..."
"- Urgh. "
"...I came in secret. It's ultimately my responsibility for pushing you into this deathtrap."
Gale sighed and pointed toward Hannah's wounds.
"You escaped well. But you left some traces."
"Traces?"
"Residual traces."
Gale's gaze sharpened.
"Even if the blood stops, mana leaks out. The minute mana fluctuations flowing from your wounds remain like active residual traces."
Hannah flinched. She had only worried about physical bleeding; she hadn't even considered the leakage of mana.
Tracking was Gale's specialty. If he had found her, other trackers would surely arrive soon.
"Follow me. There's no time."
Gale took the lead. Hannah hesitated before following.
Suspicion.
In this situation, there was no one she could trust. The cause of all this was an insider. A leak of classified information by someone unknown.
Gale nodded solemnly.
"A good attitude. But right now, you have no choice but to trust me. The higher-ups are trying to kill you."
"..."
"I'm not the insider. It's a long-standing fact that the Palace wiretaps the Knight Orders. More importantly, did you find the evidence?"
"...Yes. But I don't have it on me."
Hannah spoke firmly.
If she died while holding the evidence, it would be destroyed with her. But if she hid it, it became insurance to guarantee her life.
"Smart. For now, this tracking mission has been assigned to both Leon and Maximilian."
"A tracking mission?"
"Yes. To 'neutralize' you, Hannah."
Hannah's expression faltered. Gale swept his hair back in frustration.
"I'm sorry things have turned out so shitty, but even if you can't trust Maximilian, Leon is reliable."
"Then......"
"We're going to Leon. He's at least someone you can talk to. He'll be able to help you."
She decided to trust him for now. No, she had no other choice.
The checkpoints in Volsk city had already become strict. She couldn't escape this place alone, and since she had hidden the 'evidence,' she likely wouldn't be killed instantly.
"Can you run?"
"Yes."
Hannah shoved a handful of painkillers bought from the black market into her mouth. Crunch. Crunch.
"Let's go."
".....Right."
The two ran through the darkness.
Tap, tap, tap, tap!
The night streets of Volsk. They passed through sewers reeking of rot and cut through entertainment districts where drunks lay sprawled.
As they sprinted through fog-shrouded alleys, damp sand kicked up beneath their combat boots.
"Stop. A checkpoint."
Police and guards were conducting inspections at every intersection. The two hid in the shadows, moving silently to avoid the searchlights.
' ...Urgh. '
At some point, Hannah's wound reopened. Pus and blood seeped through the bandages, but she couldn't stop.
"Just bear with it a little longer."
Following Gale's back, they ran for several hours.
Eventually, the view opened up, revealing the pitch-black sea.
"...There. The tugboat."
Gale pointed to a small boat moored in a corner of the pier.
"I arranged it in advance. If you take that, you'll be able to escape into international waters."
Hannah looked at Gale. He met her gaze and gave a small smile.
A sigh of belated relief escaped her.
"In the end, we're the only ones we can trust. Fellow commoners."
At Hannah's words, Gale gave a low nod.
"Let's go."
"Yes."
The moment the two stepped onto the pier and boarded the deck.
A tiny sound. A minute friction that an ordinary person wouldn't have heard over the sound of the waves. But to the sensitive hearing of knights, it struck their eardrums like a clap of thunder.
"..."
They stopped simultaneously.
Slowly, they turned back toward the entrance of the darkened pier.
Beyond the dark red mist stood a certain 'unit.'
"Oh, for... dammit."
Gale gritted his teeth.
Soldiers clad in pitch-black that seemed to absorb even the moonlight. Mana-infused armor clanked across their bodies, and a red glow flowed thickly through the slits of their helmets.
Silent and eerie, they were human weapons who existed only for the Imperial Palace.
They were the Imperial Guard.
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