Semi-Coercive Imperialist

──Chik! Chijijik!

The once dark interior of the house lit up brightly. Instead of the soot-covered candle, a mana stone hanging from the ceiling emitted a white radiance.

“It’s done.”

It was a lamp made of a mana stone. The structure was simple. Just a well-carved stone shelf, and a high-purity Mana Stone carefully placed on top of it.

I always carry spare Mana Stones with me. Thanks to Virus’s intuition, I can perform these kinds of tricks.

“It should last a long time.”

The mana stone itself isn’t omnipotent, but when an impromptu circuit is carved into it and it’s supplied at optimal efficiency like this, it functions quite well, almost like a finely crafted machine.

“As long as the lamp doesn’t break, it should last at least ten years.”

The family head opened his eyes wide. For reference, the front door I had broken had already been replaced by the soldiers.

“Thank you.”

──Fwoooosh!

The sound of a fire being lit came in from outside. The soldiers were currently having their meal out there.

“…….”

I sat at the table. The family still seemed afraid of me, and the family head was clutching the check tightly to his chest without letting go. That sight felt rather endearing.

“Any bank will exchange it. Don’t worry.”

I picked up the steaming black tea. It was a crude mug, but the tea had a deep aroma.

“The meal was delicious. The roasting was just right.”

Even to someone like me who eats top-tier ingredients prepared by chefs every day, the local flavor felt refreshingly new.

It made me realize once again that the world of gourmet food knows no bounds.

“……Th-thank you.”

The wife shyly lowered her head.

The family head cautiously asked,

“But… how did a noble such as yourself come to speak Zerphan so fluently?”

To them, an imperial citizen, especially a noble, speaking the language of a foreign nation fluently would be quite rare.

Over the last 100 to 200 years, imperial nobles have frequently appeared as villains in various novels and plays of other nations. When it comes to masterminds or villains, it’s always those types of nobles.

It was partly due to Ezenheim’s scheming, but the corruption within the noble society was also a significant reason.

“Hmm…….”

I set down the teacup and looked at the Zerphans.

Before my regression, one of the biggest reasons the Empire’s war failed was its disdain for the local population. They engaged in rampant plundering, which caused public sentiment to hit rock bottom. Even in the western nations we managed to occupy, resistance movements sprang up wildly.

“Learning languages is a hobby of mine.”

Fear is necessary when it’s needed, and I must be the most ruthless then, but there’s no need to ‘go out of my way’ to make enemies.

That’s my belief.

“They say it resembles the song of birds.”

I answered gently.

“The Zerpan language has a uniquely beautiful rhythm.”

Even I feel a bit embarrassed saying such things. My linguistic ability is really purely thanks to the virus.

Because of Virus, my memory became as accurate as a photograph, and with that improved memory, I naturally became good at things I’d never even considered before. As I got better, they became fun, and as they became fun, I learned them more thoroughly.

A continuous cycle of positive reinforcement.

“The intonation is like singing, so I enjoyed learning it the whole time.”

A subtle smile spread across the lips of the family head and his wife.

Language comes from the mouth. Perhaps nearly everything a person speaks is rooted in their native language.

Pride in the language that nourishes one’s roots is something that resonates with everyone, regardless of borders.

“……Also.”

My eyes turned to the staff displayed in a frame above the fireplace. It was a shepherd’s staff, worn smooth and glossy at the end from use.

“I’ve heard that the shepherds of Zerpha are those who follow the path of kings.”

“Ah… yes. Th-that’s right.”

The family head scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish.

“O-our family has been shepherds for generations… Even the royal family makes rounds here every few years, so in this region, we’re considered a fairly old lineage……”

He suddenly cut off his words, flinching. Seeming to realize something too late, he glanced at me nervously.

I waved my hand.

“Any household that holds onto its family motto, preserves its trade, and passes it down through generations is a true lineage. You may take pride in that.”

“Haha…….”

The family head smiled shyly, but his shoulders had straightened a bit. I looked at them and spoke softly.

“I’ll give you one piece of advice.”

Tuk. I set down the teacup.

“Just as I’ve learned your language, you should learn the Imperial language as well.”

Locals who can speak the Imperial language, at the very least, won’t die a pointless death. On the contrary, they’ll be treated with respect.

“In the not-so-distant future, it’ll likely come in very handy.”

I motioned with my eyes toward the children peeking at me from behind.

The family head quietly nodded.

“Y-yes. N-now that we have money, I’m thinking of sending the kids to school……”

“That’s good to hear.”

I smiled and stood from my seat.

“I hope it continues for a long time. Your tradition.”

That was a wish I meant sincerely.

May the children’s children, and their children’s children too.

May this world continue.

May this tiny family’s line never be cut off, and may they never face ruin……

***

The Berton unit slaughtered a cow.

A thick soup made by thoroughly boiling fresh meat and bones was served, and the remaining meat was salted and preserved as food for future operations.

It was a moment of rest after an extreme march.

“……No, but seriously, that doesn’t make sense.”

Royce, using his personal silver knife, one he had hidden in his coat to avoid being caught during the gear inspection, sliced up a steak and dipped it into a special sauce, also smuggled in, and chuckled incredulously.

“How, no seriously, how?”

“What?”

Dare Tan, sitting beside him, sliced his steak as he raised his eyebrows.

“What he just said didn’t make any damn sense. How can it be?”

Royce simply couldn’t wrap his head around it.

Maximilian’s learning… no, was his linguistic ability a form of refinement?

Either way, it had been unexpected.

“Honestly, I don’t think his grades were even that good back during Empire Point.”

Royce murmured with a tilted head. Dare Tan nodded.

“True enough.”

“We were all shocked when we saw his transcript. It was so… average.”

“Yeah. But today, he was kind of impressive, wasn’t he? Like, speaking in a foreign language and stuff. What was it… shala shyon make depassifrom?”

Dare Tan muttered the bits of Zerpan he vaguely remembered.

“Maybe I should try learning a language too.”

Maximilian’s foreign language skills were extremely fluent. At least, that’s how it sounded to them.

“What nonsense. The Imperial language is the common language of the continent, why bother with other languages? Just speak the Imperial one well.”

Royce grumbled as he chewed through the meat heartily.

“──Knights.”

Just then, Leon appeared. As always, he wore a cheerful smile.

“Once you’re done eating, head to the barracks. Meeting in 10 minutes.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Yup!”

Both of them shot up and saluted. Leon waved his hand and headed into the barracks.

As soon as they sat back down, Hannah returned with an armful of ingredients.

“I got some cabbage from nearby. Do you guys want some too?”

“…….”

“…….”

Royce and Dare Tan made disgusted expressions. Hannah’s nose wrinkled in displeasure.

“Don’t eat it if you don’t want to.”

Hannah finely chopped the cabbage and tossed it into the pot. The crunchy texture added to the thick meat soup. It definitely looked more appetizing.

Maybe it’s because she’s from some rural backwater. She actually knows how to make things taste good.

Royce and Dare Tan quietly held out their soup bowls. As she served them, Hannah mumbled,

“But… doesn’t Sir Leon seem really nice?”

“…….”

“…….”

That statement was, quite frankly, beyond ridiculous. Royce and Dare Tan looked at each other with incredulous expressions.

“What. Again. Why?”

Hannah’s brows furrowed.

“You… don’t know?”

Leon von Adolf Ascar.

He looks gentle. He looks kind. His behavior and tone are both gentle.

However, his family, the Ascars, are very notorious.

Even within the Empire, they’re known as one of the most famous dens of supremacists. They don’t even consider subspecies to be human, and they’re extremely strict about one’s origin even within the Empire.

Hannah, a commoner, probably can’t even imagine what kind of darkness might be lurking behind Leon’s smile, but to Royce and Dare Tan, who are both nobles in their own right, it’s something they instinctively sense.

To be precise, it ’emanated’ from him.

“……Forget it. Just eat your food.”

Royce didn’t bother explaining.

“God, you guys are jealous all the time, huh. Sigh.”

At Hannah’s nonsense, they could only give a hollow laugh.

Royce was scooping up the cabbage and meat from his soup together when suddenly, irritation surged up.

“Hey. Be honest, I’m better looking, right? I’m objectively the best-looking one, right? So what the hell would I be jealous for-”

…….

The knights gathered in the commander’s tent.

At the center, Lieutenant Colonel Kai Han had spread out a map, with Maximilian and Leon stood on either side of him.

“Our current location is here.”

Lieutenant Colonel Han planted a blue flag on the hilly area not far from the canyon exit.

“General Richter is likely here.”

He placed a red flag much farther up, at the bypass route along the mountain range.

“He’s probably realized that he’s lost his tactical advantage.”

Tactical disadvantage. Royce rolled the words around in his mouth.

It sounded pretty refined. He’d have to remember that one for use when they got back to the Empire.

“The Royalists are currently holding out against the Republicans inside the Capital. However, if we recklessly march to rescue them, we may find ourselves surrounded instead.”

Lieutenant Colonel Han drew a line across the map’s midsection with his pointer.

“Our main force doesn’t have the numbers to crush them outright, and it’s obvious that General Richter would turn back and strike us from the rear.”

He then scanned the five knights in the room.

“Therefore, from this point forward, the knights will be conducting solo operations.”

He pointed to the enemy encirclement that blocked the path between the Capital and the main force.

“First, penetrate the enemy encirclement and make contact with the Royalist command in the Capital. Inform them of our arrival and coordinate the timing of the link-up operation. In other words, act as ‘messengers’.”

Collecting mana waves during a siege is one of the most basic principles.

In situations where communication is likely to be tapped or blocked, there’s no more reliable messenger than a knight.

“Second, disrupt the enemy by striking their supply lines and other facilities.”

A rear disruption operation using knights as asymmetric assets, far faster and stealthier than ordinary reconnaissance units.

“The goal is to prevent the enemy from focusing entirely on our main force and to buy time for the Empire’s reinforcements to enter more easily.”

The Berton unit wasn’t the only Imperial force deployed for this civil war. In fact, they were just a small mobile unit.

A total of 20,000 troops would be advancing through the plains of Zerpha, and reinforcements would also come through the canyon path that this unit had cleared.

But not a single one of them could be counted on to fight with their ‘all’.

Even before the regression, they were the ones who massacred innocent civilians while testing new tactics and weaponry.

“Our main force will form a defensive line here and prepare to break through the encirclement later.”

***

Late at night. On a ridgeline shrouded in darkness, with even the moonlight hidden by thick clouds.

“The communication range of this device is 20 kilometers. In high terrain, it can extend up to 1.5 times that. If you directly infuse mana and forcefully amplify the output, you could push the signal to as far as 2.5 times the base range.”

Before deployment, I carefully explained the equipment to the knights.

Everyone nodded as they inserted the communicators into their ears.

“In dangerous situations, you must make contact. A knight is one of the Empire’s highest-priority assets.”

To be honest, though I don’t want to admit it, from the Empire’s perspective, losing one of these zero-year knights would be more painful than losing the entire Berton unit.

“The strike points are four bridges and one tunnel.”

The Kingdom of Zerpha has an unusually high number of hills and rivers, so destroying even a single bridge would force a supply unit to detour dozens of kilometers. The strategy was to exploit this geographical feature.

“Each of you will take responsibility for one bridge. After its destruction, proceed to the Capital, where the Royalists are are holding out. If the route to the Capital is completely blocked and you can’t get through, return to the Berton main camp.”

I pointed to the red markers on the map as I issued a warning.

“Also, don’t get fixated on the destruction of facilities itself. What’s important is to make the enemy aware that a guerrilla unit exists.”

When the rear is attacked, the enemy grows unsettled. They’ll tighten their defenses through internal communication, and once a unit’s alert level rises, they remain fixed in place, unable to move.

For Lieutenant Colonel Han, that much is sufficient.

“What about the tunnel?”

Leon asked. It was the deepest point, and the most heavily guarded.

“I’ll take it.”

The person in charge takes the most difficult part.

It’s only natural.

In my pre-regression days, I neglected those responsibilities out of fear. Now, at last, I would begin to take them on again.

“Confirmed.”

Everyone nodded, faces covered with black masks.

I looked at the youngest, Dare Tan.

“And you, 19-year-old?”

“Confirmed!”

Dare Tan straightened his back as he responded.

“Max, if someone heard you talk, they’d think you were thirty.”

Leon quipped lightly from beside me. I furrowed my brows.

Leon quickly looked away and scratched his cheek.

“Sorry.”

I’m already past thirty.

“Begin.”

At my signal, we scattered into the mountains.

From this point on, it was individual combat.

Fweeeeeeee──.

I ran through the highlands. The night wind brushed against my cheeks. My legs wrapped in Mana moved quietly and swiftly up the steep terrain.

There is no noise in Ebenholtz’s movements.

Though my feet stepped on grass and fallen leaves, not a single sound leaked out.

This was the effect of Ebenholtz’s mana “attribute”. Perfect for stealth.

“…….”

Running at full speed, suddenly.

In the distance, a beam of searchlight cut through the darkness.

It was the tunnel, my target location.

I stopped at a vantage point within visual range.

A checkpoint was set up at the tunnel entrance. On either side were heavy machine gun emplacements, and armed soldiers stood on alert behind mana stone shield walls.

──Thump.

The moment I laid eyes on them, my heart pounded violently.

A familiar pulse.

A repulsive energy.

Among them, there was an Ezenheim.

“……Haa.”

Letting out a deep breath, I drew my long sword. The cold blade shimmered with silver light.

I quietly lowered my stance. Focused mana into the tips of my feet.

I step on the ground, without truly stepping.

Silence the sound. Erase the presence.

Simply, quietly, become a part of the darkness…….

──Tick.

Time slowed.

My soul accelerated.

──!

I shot forward at a speed the wind couldn’t catch.

Before the searchlight could even reflect a trace, I had already flown over the outpost.

Srrrrrk…

The bandages wrapped around my long sword scattered, and countless silver trajectories radiated outward.

Like petals falling in the night sky. Dozens of slashes spread out.

───Slice.

The gunner holding the machine gun lost his head. A patrolling soldier’s chest was split open. The watchtower collapsed without a sound, and the neck of a young man whose eyes widened at the sight of me soared into the air.

Although these were not Ezenheim…… it couldn’t be helped.

As blood sprayed like a fountain, my feet touched the ground at last.

Tuk.

The moment I landed, I leapt again.

Ezenheim.

I pierced the heart of the one wearing a commander’s hat.

──Tick.

The acceleration ended.

Kwahsssssh──!

Behind me, a soft wind burst with mana, reverberating through the tunnel.

“Gu-ghk……”

The Ezenheim let out a choking, rattling groan, and then stopped breathing.

I struck once more, cleanly severing his neck.

Then I took a deep breath and reined in my mana.

─Thump.

But my heart didn’t stop pounding.

There’s still one more.

───Thump!

This time, it might be a fairly strong one.