Chapter 298: Escalation (3)

Fsssssh.

The wind howled.

Slush drifted like sparks through the swirling currents.

Whoooosh...

This was Finnomia, a mountain ridge leading toward the isthmus, where the world before one’s eyes blurred white.

A sniper lay prone in a snow camouflage uniform, holding their breath. Covered head to toe in snow, they looked like part of the ridge itself.

Their only equipment was a sniper rifle. They did not even use a scope, lest the lens reflect sunlight and reveal their position.

They merely watched the farthest point their own eyes could reach.

A unit advancing along the mountain trail. The dark column of the Eastern Union.

"..."

The sniper held their breath and observed them. Then, as they searched for a target, a soldier presumed to be an officer raised a hand and pointed somewhere.

Bang!

They pulled the trigger. The bullet’s path vanished into the snowstorm, but soon afterward, the officer fell.

The remaining soldiers moved in haste. Their voices were swallowed by the snowfield.

The sniper pulled the trigger again.

Bang!

One shot at a soldier running to find the sniper’s position. One shot at a soldier turning to point toward the forest. One shot at a soldier trying to take a map and compass from the fallen officer.

After quickly firing three shots in total, the sniper hurried away just as the soldiers began to spread out.

They strapped hidden skis back onto their feet and raced through the mountains.

Whoooosh!

Finnomia’s snow-covered mountains looked identical in every direction, but one could still tell them apart.

The shape of snow-covered rocks. The direction in which conifer branches had broken. The height of the mountain range. A maze-like landscape made of tiny details.

The sniper, Toibo Hakae, possessed a very special eye for distinguishing those differences.

Fsssssh!

They stopped skiing somewhere. It was one of several places they had marked. They cleared away the snow concealing the entrance.

Rustle.

A pure white tent collapsed, revealing the inside. It was a small cave, just large enough for two or three adults. Inside were the necessary supplies, such as utensils, bedding, and flint.

Hakae covered the entrance with the tent again.

Crackle!

They lit a small fire and roasted and ate some meat. After quenching their thirst with melted snow, they leaned against the wall and closed their eyes.

"No! Please, please, at least spare the child!"

"Mom, Mom, Mom!"

"Please, save us! We didn't do anythi-"

Bang!

Their eyelids trembled again almost at once.

Toibo Hakae could not fall asleep. They kept remembering those trampled by the eastern soldiers.

Villages destroyed, civilians who had failed to escape murdered, people crushed beneath Lobrus tanks. The images kept flickering before their eyes.

Crunch.

Hakae suddenly looked at the sniper rifle resting against their chest.

A barrel whiter than snow. It had been designed not to stand out against snowy terrain, for its lubricant not to freeze in extreme cold, and for its zero not to shift even if the barrel contracted.

A masterpiece that seemed coated with ground top-grade mana stone, made with both immense wealth and a master craftsman’s skill.

"..."

They looked at the inscription engraved on the barrel.

"‘Finnomia, I respect your people and your convictions...’"

Maximilian Ebenholtz. The sniper rifle that the Knight of the Empire had left behind for Finnomia, for them.

Hakae silently repeated those words, then slowly rose.

With ammunition wrapped around their body and the rifle slung over their back, they once again set out.

To hunt.

...

The Empire had brought Yursled, Bolska, and the western front to their knees at once. By displaying the power of knight drops and Aternum tanks to the entire world, it had made the continent tremble in fear.

"Not much has been destroyed."

On a boulevard in the Bolskan capital, Edmund Bwindol walked through streets that had now become "imperial territory," feeling rather puzzled.

Had Schweitzer’s nature changed? Normally, he would have set the place on fire.

"Move! Move!"

Soldiers selected some Bolskan citizens and loaded them into trucks. They were sent inside a wall.

It was where they, no, where we separated races. A space divided by thick walls, barbed wire, and watchtowers.

The Imperial Guard called the area enclosed by lines drawn through the middle of the city a "Zone." Heterogeneous bloodlines could only carry out their daily lives within it.

"Have you arrived, Colonel Edmund?"

A soldier saluted Edmund. Edmund gave a small nod and pointed toward the other side.

"Why are those people being taken away? They do not seem to be subspecies."

Several Bolskans were being loaded onto a truck.

"Ah, they are rounding up people who were taught wrongly."

People taught wrongly. Did that mean intellectuals?

Edmund Bwindol watched those being dragged away, then started walking again.

Step. Step.

He passed the gazes pressing against him from behind the barbed wire, from children, old people, and young adults alike...

"Colonel Edmund Bwindol!"

Someone called out to Edmund.

"...Kaido?"

It was Kaido Hoess of the Imperial Guard.

The Imperial Guard Security Bureau’s officer in charge of occupied territories. Someone who strutted about claiming to rank as a brigadier general in the regular army.

"Well, it has been a while."

The former regular army officer who had transferred to the Imperial Guard puffed out their chest as if showing off their uniform.

"How is the regular army these days?"

Edmund merely shrugged.

Kaido gave a short laugh.

"Well, they cannot be free of complaints."

Kaido interpreted Edmund’s silent gesture as whatever they wanted to hear.

"It was something we all accomplished together, but His Majesty only looks after us."

The Imperial Guard took full responsibility for security in occupied territory.

Which branch of the Imperial Guard it was, I did not know. The Imperial Guard was now made up of something called the Security Bureau, a combination of Georgen and the secret police, something called the Guard Bureau, something called the Frontline Imperial Guard. In any case, its structure was incredibly complicated.

The Imperial Guard members themselves probably could not remember their own organizational chart.

"And there are the decorations. Soon, a list will be released of those who contributed to this war..."

Kaido went on and on about decorations, Camp jurisdiction, and how dearly His Majesty loved the Imperial Guard.

Then it happened.

Thud.

A young Bolskan man lost his footing and fell.

Splatter.

Something splashed up from the road and stained Edmund’s and Kaido’s trouser legs.

That was all.

"...How noisy."

Yet Kaido saw the armband around the man’s arm, the symbol of a subspecies, and immediately drew a pistol.

Bang!

They pulled the trigger. The bullet punched through the civilian’s forehead. Blood sprayed like a fountain.

"Hey! Take away the body!"

Kaido called for the Imperial Guard and stuck a cigarette in the corner of their mouth.

"These heterogeneous bloodlines have no manners these days. No caution, no awareness. Even dogs are better than those Izenheim bastards. Don't you think?"

Crackle.

Kaido lit the cigarette and smiled with that revolting face.

Edmund stared expressionlessly.

"Edmund. Why didn't you come to the Imperial Guard? Back then, I was far below you..."

When Edmund had become a colonel, Kaido had merely moved their lips as a major.

"..."

Edmund did not answer.

He merely barely endured an odd sense of alienation.

...

Sentio. A tower of intellect built in the center of the Empire to study mana and magic.

Ezel Runselot stood on one of its upper floors.

"..."

Today, she had conveyed to the magic tower a decision she had delayed for quite some time.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes."

Jun Kandel, Sentio’s vice tower master, looked puzzled by Ezel’s letter of resignation.

"Will your house allow such a decision?"

As a direct descendant of House Runselot, a prestigious magical family, she had presented many magical papers to academia and was already recognized as one of the era’s great minds.

"...That's why I would like to ask for a favor."

"A favor?"

Jun’s brow briefly furrowed.

"Yes. Vacation leave, a leave of absence, and a research trip as well."

She could take at least three or four months off. Consecutive leave required approval at a superior’s discretion, so she had deliberately come to see him.

"Once all that is over, I would appreciate it if you would accept my resignation then."

That way, her main house would learn of it as late as possible.

"The reason?"

"...I'd like to travel."

Jun Kandel’s brow furrowed even more. Brushing aside hair that touched his shoulder, he spoke again.

"No. Why should I grant your request?"

"...Ah."

Then again, Jun Kandel was not someone who worried or thought for others in the first place. To ask Jun for anything, one needed a proper weapon or price.

Ezel Runselot smiled faintly.

"Chimera Brain."

Pexi, the serial killer who had once been Jun Kandel’s lover.

If Maximilian had been the knight who suspected her identity, Ezel had been the mage who uncovered it.

"That Pexi and the vice tower master were lov-"

"Fine."

Jun Kandel immediately stamped the leave request. His expression said he did not want to hear another word.

"Don't ever return. I won't allow it."

"Yes. Thank you."

Ezel turned away with a smile, but her expression soon darkened. Her heart sank as heavily as a lump of iron.

Ezel Runselot now intended to go elsewhere.

Not following the Empire’s ideology, but her own convictions and values...

I will pursue the “rightness” I believe in.

...

Balkania’s prime minister. Agento, who had somehow become an “anti-imperialist” of the age.

At the Prozen Assembly, where the alliance of Prozen, Hailand, and Balkania had gathered, Agento stood at the podium.

"The Empire will surely pay for its aggression!"

Agento delivered the speech forcefully. Gripping the podium with both hands, Agento paused after every sentence and demanded attention. It was charisma that held the audience rapt.

"Those who divide races by bloodline and rank, who have created an imperialism no different from that of beasts!"

Before Agento, veins standing out, were many assembly members, reporters, and radio microphones.

"With a single insane family register, they distinguish the worth of bloodlines. Drunk on the illusion called ‘Aran,’ they call every human being unlike themselves livestock!"

The situation in Bolska and Yursled, made public through Prozen’s free press and accounts written by citizens who had barely escaped.

The Bolskan government in exile’s report had revealed the Empire’s atrocities without censorship, and anger and fear toward the Empire already hung heavily over the assembly.

"...We will ultimately win! Because they were born unable to win!"

Bang!

Prime Minister Agento struck the podium with a fist.

"Everyone on this continent must join forces and defeat this great evil!"

Agento shouted loudly.

"We must stop the slaughter that a crippled emperor, old and sick and desperate to hide his face, and a little girl who only watches sword dances in the shadow of such a father intend to unleash!"

Words that scorned and disparaged the Emperor and Imperial Princess.

The assembly stirred briefly, then applause broke out. No one knew where it had begun. The sound simply spread, shaking the hall.

Agento spread both arms wide and shouted.

"I declare here today! If we cannot win, we will die, and if we die, we will die standing! Free people of the continent, march with the continent! History belongs to us!"

* * *

The war proceeded in each side’s own way.

Finnomia held back the Eastern Union’s advance, while the Empire conducted diplomacy.

...Though it could hardly be called diplomacy.

The Empire sent proposals to numerous neighboring weak states across the continent, telling them to become protectorates.

Naturally, they answered, "No."

The Imperial Guard immediately began planning invasions.

Thus, nearly all of the Empire’s diplomatic relations had already plunged to their worst point, but it was not entirely alone.

Because of Zerpha.

Zerpha’s crown prince had consistently expressed support for the Empire’s intentions and actively promoted an Empire-Zerpha alliance. Every imperial-style book and news outlet published in Zerpha was presented to the Emperor.

Still, perhaps that was the price of gaining one ally.

[ Prime Minister Agento: "The Empire Is a Nation of Beasts." Standing Ovation at the Prozen Assembly ]

Balkania, which had been the Empire’s ally before the regression, had become its complete enemy.

[ Agento: "Old, Sick, Ugly Cripple"... Balkanian Radio Condemns Empire Day After Day ]

They continued to mock the Empire. Despite the Empire’s warnings to Agento, Balkania only raised its voice further, until it finally crossed the line.

"...Balkania has been rather talkative lately."

The Imperial Princess’s hideout.

When I raised the matter, Justine nodded as she read the newspaper.

"Maximilian. Isn't this what you wanted?"

Balkania, a peninsular nation in the southwest.

Before the regression, its army had been weak. Its government had lacked resolve as well.

However, there had been a butterfly effect I had not expected.

Balkania had blamed its failure to conquer the weak nation of Mekerel entirely on the Empire’s support. Nurturing resentment and hostility toward the Empire, it had developed its military in its own way.

"Yes, it is."

The problem was its naval fleet and ports. They were more troublesome than expected. Balkania alone was not a threat, but it could embark troops and reach Hermes in the south.

"Why?"

Still, it would not be a match for the Empire. Its military strength might have grown, but the incompetence of its command, the most important factor, would remain unchanged.

"Because even if we brought them in, they would only become baggage."

As an ally, Balkania would require constant attention like a child left near water. Now that it had become an enemy state, we could simply strike it and sink it.

I said to Justine,

"I will strike Balkania."

There was no land route leading to Balkania, but I had a plan.

"...Then."

Resting her chin on her hand, the Imperial Princess looked at me.

"This time, write and send the words you wish to say."

She slid the newspaper toward me with a finger.

"Agento always speaks on the radio. Then it reaches us through the newspapers. Agento called me a little girl. That incompetent bald bastard."

A soft laugh escaped her.

But she was not smiling.

"Maximilian. What will you say to them?"

I picked up the newspaper.

Agento’s words were filled with every sort of condemnation and blatant insult, but...

"I don't think we need to descend to the same level."

"Why?"

"The more words one uses, the uglier they become. Especially the words written in this newspaper are too..."

Meeting the Imperial Princess’s eyes, I added,

"Much like a dog barking."

A frightened dog barks. A scared dog barks.

But a strong dog does not bark. Just like my Leo.

"I will only send this."

Therefore, the Empire had only one thing to say to Agento, who had insulted the imperial family.

"I am coming to see you now."

A lotus-like smile bloomed across the Imperial Princess’s face.

...

The Sentinel Knights devised their next operation.

Operation Name: "Silence for the Chickens."

In truth, Prozen and Hailand should have taken priority over Balkania, but the Emperor’s fury was deep enough to change the order.

"The operation is as follows."

First, Imperial special forces disguised as fishing villagers would deploy wooden fishing boats around the harbor and wait.

Once all preparations were complete, the Imperial Navy would first draw their attention, whether by firing artillery or approaching them.

Taking that opportunity, the Sentinel Knights would drop onto the Balkanian coast.

The Balkanian main fleet would be moored at the military harbor there. The Knights would blow up the harbor and carry out sabotage, crippling the fleet, then escape in fishing boats.

"Afterward, the Imperial regular navy fleet will sortie, land on the Balkanian mainland, and crush their heart. All of this will remain strictly confidential until the operation begins."

I slowly looked around the room.

The Sentinel Knights’ secret meeting room, steeped in darkness. From my classmates, including Leon and Tiana, to Hanna, Royce, Dare Tan, Zionne, Cliff... quite a few Knights had their eyes on me.

I told them,

"We will give Balkania, which dared insult the Empire..."

"Silence."