Semi-Coercive Imperialist

“Worked out well, didn’t it? You even exchanged numbers.”

On the way back after leaving the restaurant, the night market glittered along the night street.

At Ezell’s words, I shrugged my shoulders.

“What’s good? It’s just getting started.”

“Come on. That Brain-Eater thing, you were faking it, weren’t you?”

“It’s real. I really took the case.”

Ezell walked with quick little steps and pulled up the hood of her robe. She vanished somewhere in a flash, then reappeared with a fruit skewer that looked like candy in one hand.

“And still, you’re more interested in the chaff than the incident?”

“Well… yeah.”

Crunch. Ezell bit into the fruit. The fruit made a candy-cracking sound. She chewed like a squirrel and then covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

“…So, am I supposed to keep playing along?”

I flinched at her words.

“What are you talking about?”

“Hey. You think I don’t know you?”

“I’m asking what you’re talking about.”

Crack. Crack. Crick-crack. The candy shattered in Ezell’s mouth. She waved the now-empty skewer and said,

“Max. When you like someone, or when you’re happy or excited, you don’t shake your hands or anything like that. On the contrary, you become calm on the outside. But instead, you can’t hear what people are saying. Guess your ears shut off while you’re trying to cool down the heat inside.”

“…….”

My steps halted. Ezell twirled around one step ahead of me.

For me, it was just ridiculous.

“So you knew all along?”

“Knew what?”

“That I liked you.”

“I’d have to be an idiot not to know. Not like it matters now anyway. More importantly.”

Ezell asked,

“Why are you getting close to Pexi?”

Suddenly, her gaze sharpened.

I hesitated, but I felt like I could tell her my true intentions.

“I’m suspicious. Of that person.”

“…As the Brain-Eater?”

“Yeah.”

Ezell went silent for a moment. Arms crossed, she fell into deep thought.

She never jumps to conclusions. That’s just her nature. She doesn’t say it’s not true, and she doesn’t say it is either.

“Do you have a reason? I don’t get it at all.”

“A hunch.”

“…Excuse me?”

Ezell narrowed her eyes. I let out a soft laugh.

“Pexi von Arzen first came to the center three years ago. Coincidentally, that’s when the killings started.”

“That’s it? Could be a coincidence.”

“The murder method was extremely unusual.”

At those words, Ezell nodded quietly.

“The heads were abnormally severed, so there’s a high chance it was a wizard. And since there are few wizards, it’s relatively easy to narrow down suspects?”

“Yeah.”

“Could’ve been a swordsman, a mercenary, or a vagabond who learned mana on their own. Especially swordsmen, if they use something like Sword Aura, that level of cut-”

“I’m a knight. The traces of sword aura are distinct from magic or mana, so they’re easy to identify. And it’s not a vagabond either. From the first murder to the most recent, the condition of the corpse cross-sections has changed.”

“The cross-sections?”

“At first, it looked messy like an animal had torn it up, but recently, it’s become as sharp as if sliced with a razor blade.”

“They leveled up while committing murder.”

“Yeah. Vagabonds who learn mana in the Underground City struggle to grow. Their mana properties remain fixed… If it were one of those vagabonds, it would’ve actually been easier to identify them. You can’t hide for three years.”

“True.”

We resumed walking down the street.

“And there’s no noble family named Arzen in the East.”

“Huh? Are you sure?”

“There was, but they all died. Of course, on paper, Pexi von Arzen is listed as the only bloodline of the Arzen family, and her parents’ birth and death dates match perfectly.”

“But?”

“That much can easily be forged. After all, everyone who could verify her identity is dead, right?”

Ezell rubbed her chin and muttered.

“…Honestly, I can’t believe it.”

“Of course not. She must be completely different from the Pexi you know.”

“No-”

Ezell furrowed her brows.

“Who said I don’t believe that? I’m talking about the evidence.”

“…Evidence?”

“Does it make sense that not a single piece of evidence came out after killing nine people? There must’ve been something. Even the tiniest clue would’ve been left behind. It’s just that the regular investigators or knights didn’t catch it.”

Then suddenly, she opened her palm toward me.

“Share it. The case files.”

“You’re always saying you’re too busy with your thesis.”

“Friends should help each other out at least this much.”

Friends.

At the word ‘friend’, suddenly, I find myself doubting you. If we become people who help each other and share case information like this, wouldn’t you try to use that information to benefit the Revolutionary forces?

“If Pexi the wizard really is a serial killer.”

There are those in this world who, while enduring the pressure of the Empire, have forged even stronger convictions. There are those who have risen up for a greater cause.

Like Julian, Edmon, and Ezell.

If not for the Ezenheim race, they would have been long remembered as pioneers and heroes of history.

“Because she’s someone who shouldn’t be in the Magic Tower.”

I nodded.

“I’ll send it to you. Come by my office later.”

“Okay. I’ll have my secretary-”

“Come in person.”

“……”

Ezell looked at me quietly. At some point, the wind that had begun to blow pulled back her robe’s hood. Her black hair, tinged with blue, fluttered. In a scene that looked strangely like a painting, she raised her middle finger.

I smiled.

“I’ll break that finger.”

“……Come on, I really am busy with my thesis, why should I come in person? Do you still like me?”

“Got it, now fuck off.”

Just in time, we had reached the front of the Sentio Magic Tower.

As Ezell turned away, light and cheerful, I asked her,

“But, are you gonna be okay?”

“About what.”

“I’m almost certain about her. You might be heartbroken.”

Ezell looked at me with clear eyes, then slowly tilted her head.

“Why would I be heartbroken if Pexi the wizard turned out to be a murderer?”

“……Weren’t you two close?”

“Come on. I only knew her for six months, how close could we be. It’s just……”

Ezell gave a bitter smile.

“Just pretending to be close.”

Well, she’s not ordinary either. If she were, she wouldn’t have been born into the great Runsellot Family and dreamed of revolution.

“Right. We all live pretending. I’m off.”

I turned away, waving my hand.

“Max.”

Ezell called after me.

“But you’re different. With you, I’m really friends.”

As she said that and smiled brightly, I smiled back at her, gladly.

And raised my middle finger.

Ezell’s face instantly turned snarky.

“……I’ll break that finger.”

I quickly turned away from her, who looked like she might actually fire off a spell. Even as I walked away in a rush, I couldn’t stop laughing.

Today, I learned one more thing from Ezell.

Never judge a person too easily. Even if that person is Ezell, I must always be suspicious. Never let my guard down.

Because we’re walking different paths.

Dding─

Right then, a message came from Schatz. It was in code.

[Successfully rescued Lorenzo. Fleeing south.]

***

“How dare they! What kind of fucking bastards!”

Valerius of Listmann received an urgent message while on a business trip. Lorenzo had escaped.

“We’re pursuing him with everything we’ve got, but the mercenaries we hired are all……”

The mercenaries had been taken down and rendered unable to fight. It had been executed with remarkable precision.

“That vermin bastard. Daring to lay a hand on Listmann?”

He stood up, feeling as though the blood in his whole body was boiling with rage.

“Send a message to Akarius.”

Akarius. A mercenary group that operates not only within the Empire but across the entire continent.

“Y-yes. And the mission details……?”

“Bring him in alive, 1 million.”

He didn’t know what confidence that old has-been had gained, but it was a foolish choice.

This is why when you coddle them, they think you’re a tree and climb up. He should have crushed him from the start. He should have kept him imprisoned and only made him research.

“Tell them he doesn’t need to be in one piece.”

“Yes. Understood.”

He must have gotten too merciful as he aged recently. There was no need to respect him this much.

Valerius pulled out a cigar and bit it to cool the rising heat within him.

“…….”

Suddenly, he noticed a crumpled photo in his drawer. It was a picture taken during his days as a researcher, together with his thesis advisor, Giorgio Chirico.

“……No.”

Valerius stared at it for a long moment, then changed his mind.

“Tell them both arms and one leg must be intact. If the body’s in pain, the brain might get dull too.”

***

Before I began the reinvestigation of the “Giorgio Chirico” case, I first summoned witnesses from the past.

The first was Jerome, a wizard who had once been Lorenzo’s colleague.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Jerome.”

“Yes. Hello.”

He was living a prosperous life in a rather fine mansion in the 4th District of the Capital. Though he had left the Magic Tower, he seemed to have acquired the wealth and fame he wanted as the head of a successful magical business.

“What brings you here, sir knight?”

“It’s nothing much.”

Nothing much.

At least, not yet.

“Do you remember the name ‘Giorgio Chirico’ from 15 years ago?”

“…….”

At that moment, Jerome’s expression hardened. I handed him a document containing Giorgio Chirico’s brief biography.

“He was likely your classmate during your time at the Magic Tower.”

“Yes. Of course, I remember. But that guy…”

Jerome gave a bitter smile.

“He was dishonorably dismissed after trying to steal the theory of a magi-scholar under his command. I have no idea what he’s doing or where he is now. I haven’t heard from him even once since then.”

It seemed he was under the impression that I was chasing Lorenzo.

“No. I’m not interested in Giorgio Chirico’s whereabouts. I intend to reinvestigate the entire case.”

“…Reinvestigate, you say?”

“Yes. Upon close examination, the contents of the testimony at the time and the internal records of the Magic Tower do not align at all.”

Jerome’s eyes blinked. He looked quite flustered.

“There are records showing that Giorgio had been researching and experimenting with the theory of [Mana Electromagnetic Induction], which connects directly to the mana coil, long before Valerius Listmann ever published it.”

“Ah~ well, those are records that could easily be fabricated?”

Fabricated. He’s brazenly lying right in front of me, but this was already expected.

I placed a file folder on the table. Thud. I pushed the thick stack of documents toward him.

“What is this?”

“Jerome-ssi. You’ve recently done a bit of money laundering?”

“……Excuse me?”

His face turned stone-cold and black. My officer, Dieter, was a master at tracking money. Just by looking at the documents, those flows visualized and diagrammed themselves in his head, it seemed.

“Well now, I guess selling out your old colleague has improved your household finances?”

“S-Selling out? I simply testified to the truth.”

“You were a little jealous too, weren’t you? That a mere commoner was always above you.”

I leaned back in my chair and gestured at the documents.

“Go ahead and read them.”

“…….”

Jerome didn’t move. He just sat there, frozen like a snowman. My brows furrowed.

“I said read it.”

Only then did he reach out and take the documents.

The Empire was obsessed with securing tax revenue, and money laundering was one of the most dangerous crimes in times like these.

“You set up a paper company and diverted funds by pretending to purchase artworks abroad. A classic method. But if even one of the many firms involved in this money laundering has the slightest connection to a ‘subversive group’. ”

Money laundering is a complex process. Not even the person who ordered the laundering knows exactly which companies are involved or what path the money takes. You just keep digging until something comes up.

That’s why the Imperial Guard had a favorite tactic.

“For example, if your money passed through a company that supports the Revolutionary forces behind the scenes.”

Jerome’s face turned pale as a ghost.

It must have felt good to sell out a colleague. Must’ve been satisfying to take the payout. Felt righteous, even, thinking that a lowly commoner had finally been put in his place.

“I swear on the name of Ebenholtz.”

I said to him.

“You won’t go to prison. You’ll quietly disappear from this world.”

Now, it’s time to repay the debt.

…….

Thunk── thunk── thunk──

In the southern Hermes Province, in a factory where machines refining mana stones rumbled dully.

Dieter guided Lorenzo and Arman inside as he asked,

“By any chance, do you see a way to further improve the efficiency of this refining process?”

Lorenzo closely examined the structure of the machinery, while Arman, visibly excited, darted around from place to place.

“The current method is focused solely on increasing mana purity. If we apply the ‘Phase Conversion Catalyst Theory’, we could reduce mana loss by over 30% while doubling production speed. Of course, further detailed research would still be necessary.”

“Yes. I’ll report it to the president exactly as you said.”

Dding- Ddiriring─

Just then, a call came from Maximilian.

“Yes. Yes, understood.”

After exchanging a few words with him, Dieter handed the terminal to Lorenzo. Lorenzo cleared his throat nervously, his expression tense.

“Yes, this is Lorenzo speaking.”

─How’s the factory? Do you see potential for advancement?

“I still need to examine it more thoroughly, but─”

─Do whatever you want freely. There are no restrictions. Whether it’s millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, use as much as you like.

At Maximilian Ebenholtz’s words, casually mentioning hundreds of millions, Lorenzo’s mind briefly went blank.

“Wow! Woooow!”

Arman’s gasp of amazement snapped Lorenzo out of it. He still didn’t understand why that little kid liked machines so much.

“Oh right, and there was something you said before, sir Knight. Arman’s invention, the mana stone waterwheel. It looks like it could be usable to some extent in the mines here… but would it potentially violate any laws?”

A soft chuckle came in response.

─No. It shouldn’t violate any laws. Research and install it as much as you like. I’ll also have a workshop built for you both in no time.