Semi-Coercive Imperialist

‘Weakling.’

This was the greatest insult my father Sebestian could think of.

Weakness. He despised things that were soft and feeble, and valued things that were solid and strong.

I clearly failed to meet such expectations of my father.

I was never a solid person. I was someone who would bend rather than break, and I had no desire to overpower or dominate others with my own convictions.

That was who I was.

━Hungry. Need to eat a fresh heart to replenish mana. The younger and purer the child, the better. Their life force is necessary.━

━You will be selected as a knight of the Empire, so we will assist you in securing food whenever needed. Lexi will soon come to you. Follow her instructions.━

However, this, these whispers, were by no means human.

As Edmon said, could it be that among us humans, a subspecies of demons had mixed in? Was it no longer the time for me to worry about ‘myself’?

Since when have they been here, and where did they come from?

But questions about their very existence would have to be postponed for now.

Right now, there is a threat in front of me.

Do I have to kill him with my own hands?

……There seems to be no need for that.

After all, according to Imperial law, just the fact that a cadet at the Military Academy has left behind such a seditious cipher is grounds for execution, immediate judgment.

Yes, at the very least, I don’t need to kill him now.

Just in time, the cadets entered. I sat on the desk and scanned them one by one. My gaze stopped at the buzz-cut boy.

From earlier, the black fragment inside me had reacted only to this guy.

“You said your name was Jacob, right?”

“Y-yes! I’m Jacob!”

The buzz-cut boy replied, startled.

Fifteen years old, still with baby fat on his face.

“Everyone except you, get out.”

“……What?”

“Get out.”

They all looked confused but exited. Even the mana science professor who entered late was turned away.

Only Jacob and I remained in the lecture hall.

“Jacob.”

“Yes?”

I picked up the novel book. His pupils shook with anxiety for a moment.

“You know what I’m about to say, right?”

I opened the book and recited the ciphers written on the pages.

“Let’s keep communicating like this. Tell your comrades to do the same. I don’t think we’ll be able to return for the next five years.”

“Uh……”

Jacob’s eyes widened, and he soon lowered his head. A hollow laugh escaped me.

How easy must I have seemed for him to bring something like this here. This place could practically be called the heart of the pureblood nobles.

“You’re not an imperial citizen, are you?”

I can no longer claim that only the Ezenheim race are demons. From the start, the method of racial classification in the Empire is extremely subjective and unscientific, and the external traits of Ezenheim are only minor, not much different from other races.

The most definitive way to distinguish a human race is to kill and dissect the corpse.

Even that is impossible for the average person. Meaningful racial differences stem from the structure of mana circuits and minute traits of the heart.

Each race exhibits unique mana responses and circuit patterns in the process of accepting and circulating mana through the body.

This was once the biggest evidence that humans were divided into elves, dwarves, beastkin, and the like, and it was the logic the Empire used to consider them inferior races.

“If you were truly an Imperial, you wouldn’t be passing around codes like these.”

The problem lies in these impure ciphers. It’s a world where even possessing a subversive book like this can get you tortured for years.

If one were to dig into Jacob’s background, the fact that he’s not a pure Imperial would soon be revealed.

“The Intelligence Bureau will probably investigate your entire background.”

He tried to manage his expression, but his face had already gone pale.

I asked him.

“Which side are you on? Are you Ezenheim?”

There was no answer. Instead, the black fragment inside my body confirmed his identity.

It reacts to a ‘kin’.

“Speak. At this rate, you’ll be detained and executed.”

“…….”

Jacob’s lips remained tightly shut.

Suddenly, a chilling suspicion brushed through my mind.

Is this situation truly real?

Could it be that the black fragment inside my body, the bizarre Ezenheim language I just heard, and even the Regression I experienced, could all of it merely be an illusion? A form of psychotic delusion?

I had to find out.

Whether this guy was truly one of ‘them’, or just a product of my imagination.

“Do the Ezenheim have a hobby of eating children’s hearts?”

──The air shifted in an instant.

Jacob’s shoulders trembled. I noticed the change, but it was still within the realm of an ordinary reaction.

“Who is this ‘Lexi’ you say is coming to offer you a heart?”

In a flash, Jacob snapped his head up. At that moment, I was certain.

This is reality.

Jacob lunged forward in a single step and grabbed me by the collar. His pupils opened grotesquely. A wave like bloody tears flowed from them.

[How dare you steal our language? I’ll rip your heart to shreds and devour it.]

There was language contained within that roar, and it was clearly interpreted by me.

Ch-ch-chk.

Jacob’s mouth opened wide. Still in human form, only the corners of his mouth split toward his ears.

Tick-tock.

A ticking sound echoed from deep within my heart.

Time slowed. The creature’s movement, lunging at me with its maw, became endlessly sluggish.

I don’t know the cause. It simply happened this way.

There was no time to think. I focused my consciousness. Slowly, I moved my body.

It was awkward, like I was submerged underwater, but I kicked him hard in the solar plexus. Using that recoil, I spun my body and snatched the sword by the desk.

I swung the sword upward toward the creature’s retreating neck.

Tick-tock.

The second tick.

The slowed world returned to normal.

Slice!

The blade slashed his neck. His head flew toward the ceiling. Blood spurted from the severed stump, drenching my body.

The boy who had been Jacob collapsed powerlessly.

Ezenheim died like any other.

“Haa, haa…….”

Squirm, squirm.

Then, something wriggled near my collarbone. It was the same black fragment.

Squirm, squirm.

It crawled along the veins of my arm down to my palm.

“!”

It yanked me violently toward Jacob’s corpse.

Gulp, gulp, gulp-! My palm greedily sucked up the blood pouring from Jacob.

“What… what the fuck is this thing.”

Thud.

In the meantime, Jacob’s head rolled across the floor. I stared into his eyes.

Standing on the blood that spread across the floor, I thought.

Squirm, squirm.

The black virus that lived and moved inside my body. Though it was merely devouring something, this thing was the proof.

The proof that what I just did was ‘right’.

Bang!

At that moment, the lecture hall door burst open.

“Uwaaaaah!”

A scream rang out. It was Jacob’s friends. The sound of the guards’ footsteps came rushing in too.

“Haa…….”

I took a deep breath.

I had killed a fifteen-year-old Ezenheim.

The crime for that──in truth, would be completely irrelevant.

I am the sole legitimate heir of the Ebenholtz family, and the son of Supreme Commander of the Empire, Maximilian von Ebenholtz.

One of the highest-ranking nobles in the Empire, a pureblood of a lineage that has lasted half a millennium.

It means killing a minority like him wouldn’t be a problem at all for someone of my status.