Chapter Title:
If You Ask of the Empire's Future (2)
Novel Text:
Inside the office of Cadet Commandant Dane.
“Knight Maximilian, were you acquainted with Cadet Lukas?”
Dane asked me. As the man who managed the cadet corps of Empire Point, he was, of course, an old acquaintance of mine.
“Yes. I have a slight connection with Lukas’s father.”
Putting down my teacup, I picked up the cadet roster he had handed me. For reference, Leon and Tiana were currently helping with the cadets’ training.
“His grades are certainly excellent.”
…
【2】 Lukas Limperk
ㆍ17 years old, born in November
ㆍSwordsmanship Ability: A+
ㆍPhysical Ability: A
ㆍMana Aptitude: A
ㆍMental Ability: B+
ㆍStrategy Execution Ability: A
……
ㆍOverall Evaluation: B+
“He’s on the elite track. His scores are more than sufficient, but the instructors’ evaluations are cutting it close.”
“Then he is certain to be accepted now.”
He gave a bitter smile, as if he understood the meaning behind my words.
“...However, that’s not why I called you here.”
My title, which was ‘Cadet’ just a year ago, had changed to ‘you.’ He was a man who clearly recognized the change in circumstances. That was how worn down he had become. The spirit of the North had long since rusted away beneath the empire’s corruption.
“Jacob Mac, do you remember him?”
“Yes, the sub-species I dealt with.”
“And his classmate, Hanna.”
“…….”
I silently flipped through the roster. Her name was found in an instant.
【3】 Hanna Usarr
ㆍ18 years old, born in January
ㆍSwordsmanship Ability: A+
ㆍPhysical Ability: A+
ㆍMana Aptitude: A+
ㆍMental Ability: A+
ㆍStrategy Execution Ability: A+
……
ㆍOverall Evaluation: A+
A+'s across the board. She was on par with the Tiana of the past.
For a commoner to become an elite knight, they needed this level of skill.
And yet, before my regression, such a talent had never come to the Sentinel. This was the first time I had even heard her name.
“Impressive. With this level of competitiveness even among the elite…”
“Indeed. However…”
“Is there something else?”
The Commandant pulled a worn leather notebook from his drawer.
“This is a diary found among Jacob’s belongings. Have a look.”
I took the diary. The first few pages were filled with mundane entries about trying harder and what he planned to do.
Then, from a certain page on.
[…It was the last night of our leave. While everyone was excited, I saw Hanna leaving the dormitory alone. I followed her cautiously. To be honest, I was just thinking of sneaking up and giving her a scare. Hanna headed to an old pier by the river, quite a distance from the school. A figure in a black robe was waiting for her there. I hid and watched them. I couldn’t see the other person’s face, but the items they exchanged didn’t seem ordinary. Words like ‘avoiding surveillance,’ ‘before dawn,’ and ‘comrades’ drifted faintly on the wind…….]
There were numerous other entries pointing out Hanna’s ‘suspicious activities.’
Izenheim does not discriminate between means and methods, and they are meticulous. This diary must be a trap designed by Jacob to one day bring Hanna down. A way to sell out an ally to build his own record, ensure his safety, and infiltrate deeper.
Perhaps this was the reason Hanna disappeared before my regression.
“…….”
Dane watched me in silence. I closed the diary.
“Why are you only showing me this now?”
“I was conflicted. But in the end, I decided to leave the choice to you. Hanna has already earned the enmity of Ebenholz, and the matter with Jacob was your case to begin with.”
He was studying my expression.
Back in my cadet days, I thought of Dane as someone far above me. But in just one year, we had gone beyond equals to a point where I held the upper hand. Such was the weight of the name Ebenholz.
“Who says she has earned the enmity of Ebenholz?”
“Among the cadets, rumors might as well be truth.”
It meant they were spouting nonsense.
“If you wish it, I can have Hanna expelled from Empire Point.”
Jacob’s diary was enough to be the death of a commoner like Hanna, yet Dane had specifically limited the consequence to expulsion from Empire Point.
Dane wanted to save Hanna, too.
I asked him.
“Your voice sounds weary. Are you perhaps thinking of retiring?”
“…It wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
Dane was old and tired. The wrinkles of a man worn down by the world were etched deep into his face.
“There are too many vultures eyeing my position.”
The Cadet Commandant, who manages the entire cadet corps of Empire Point, is a very desirable post. Bribes and requests for favors pour in endlessly.
If Dane were to retire from this post, and someone who prioritizes money over skill and background were to take his place, it would lead to a breach of security far worse than simple corruption. It would mean playing right into the hands of Izenheim and the revolutionary factions.
That could not be allowed to happen.
As a famous saying goes, the future of the empire lies right here.
“In that case…”
I looked at Dane. In him, I saw the reason the empire had rotted away. The corrupt clung desperately to their connections to survive, while the righteous were worn down until they faded away. It was a case of the bad driving out the good.
I picked up Jacob’s diary.
…
Philip, an instructor at Empire Point, was a man in his mid-thirties who was loyal to the empire. Though born a commoner, he became a knight of the empire through ceaseless effort and was inspired by his former superior, Dane, to become an instructor at Empire Point with the goal of discovering commoners just like himself.
Jacob had been one of the cadets Philip had his eye on. But he was a sub-species. As he was not an imperial Aran, he met his ‘rightful’ end at the hands of Maximilian.
However, after Jacob’s death, Philip was cleaning his room when he discovered the problematic diary hidden under a floor tile.
He agonized as he read it.
Is Hanna really this kind of person?
No, that can’t be. But whether it’s the Royal Guard or the Knightly Orders, if they see this diary, they’ll be chomping at the bit to implicate Hanna. They would never let go of such a tempting piece of bait.
Should I destroy it, then? If I do, will Hanna be able to survive?
Hanna was too precious a talent. Putting aside the kinship he felt for a fellow commoner, he himself had a daughter around Hanna’s age.
His 고민 was long, very long, but in the end, Philip fled. He passed the heavy burden to his superior, Dane.
By now, he was probably with Maximilian of Ebenholz…
…This was the field training ground of Empire Point.
Philip watched Hanna rolling in the mana-infused mud. Since the day of Jacob's death, she had thrown herself into training as if possessed. All her scores soared to the highest ranks and beyond. She was deserving of the envy from noble cadets for being a 'mere commoner,' but most of them just scoffed. There were no of the usual checks or hindrances.
The rumor that she had been marked by Ebenholz was already widespread.
“Training complete!”
At the instructor’s shout, nine hours of physical conditioning came to an end. After that was the time for cadet counseling.
Philip summoned Hanna to his tent first.
…
He watched her quietly. Caked in mud, she sat perfectly upright, showing no signs of exhaustion.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“…Hm?”
“It’s fine. I know. Still, all I can do is my best.”
“…You answer before I even ask.”
A faint smile touched Hanna’s lips. She seemed mature beyond her young age.
“Are you feeling any better now?”
“I won’t lie. I still think about that day. The day Jacob died.”
Originally, Jacob should have been a cadet in the elite division as well.
…No.
Jacob should never have been here in the first place.
“Hanna. He was not our friend.”
“Yes. I know. But I can’t help thinking there might have been a better way—”
“Then stop thinking that.”
Hanna bowed her head, silently biting her lip.
Philip asked her.
“Cadet Hanna Usarr. You said your dream was to become a knight.”
“Yes.”
“And the reason?”
“I wanted to become a sword of the empire. I believed that being a commoner was no reason one could not become a sword of the empire.”
It was the exact same reason Philip himself once had.
“…Yes. That’s right. I know well. I’m a commoner, too.”
The corner of Hanna’s mouth twitched slightly. A smile peeking out.
But Philip’s heart only grew heavier. The world now was different from when he had become a knight.
He could feel it in his own skin—the discrimination based on status and race had intensified dramatically.
“But even if you can’t become a knight, it’s not the end of the world.”
“I know. It is merely the loss of one dream.”
Even so, Hanna remained composed.
“My dream for now is to be a knight, but one day, I will find another dream. A different way to be of service to the empire…”
Her words trailed off. There was a presence outside the field tent.
“Who is it?”
Philip asked. The tent flap was pushed aside, and Cadet Commandant Dane entered. Dane glanced back and forth between Hanna and Philip, then gestured with his eyes.
“Could you excuse us for a moment?”
“Of course. Cadet Hanna, you may leave.”
“Yes, sir! My loyalty!”
After giving Dane a salute so sharp her fingertips trembled, she quickly left the tent.
Dane sat down across from Philip.
“…Philip.”
“Yes, Brigadier General.”
“I’ve delivered the diary to Maximilian.”
In that moment, Philip’s heart sank.
“What happened?”
“Are you curious?”
“Yes.”
Dane took a cigarette from his inner pocket and put it to his lips. Philip hurriedly lit it for him.
“When I handed him the diary, Maximilian said…”
He exhaled a long stream of smoke, a faint smile on his face.
His gaze, lingering in the air, rewound time to that moment.
‘…Commandant. I believe this is a matter of trust.’
A matter of trust.
Maximilian, who had once been a cadet at Empire Point, had begun that way.
‘Trust?’
‘Yes. In this chaotic world, it is a question of who to trust, and how.’
Maximilian looked out the window on the far side of the office.
‘People you can trust and people you can’t are clearly distinguished. And those you can’t, you don’t trust them to the very end. To selectively trust only parts of them and then be betrayed is unacceptable.’
His voice was calm, but his words were sharp as a blade.
‘Jacob Mac was a sub-species. A vermin-like creature that dared to infiltrate Empire Point and deserved to be slaughtered. A diary from such a creature holds no credibility whatsoever.’
Dane found himself momentarily trying to superimpose the images of Knight Maximilian and Cadet Maximilian.
It was impossible. They didn’t overlap.
He wasn’t like the cadet from those days.
‘On the contrary, this is nothing more than a cunning trick to stir internal division.’
Maximilian gave a small smile and waved the diary back and forth.
‘On the other hand, Cadet Hanna’s origin has been thoroughly verified by our Ebenholz. She is a true Aran, born and raised in the heart of the empire.’
Even as he spoke, he did not breach a single shred of etiquette with Dane. He did not show any insolence. He sat with his back straight and never once crossed his legs.
‘Therefore… a talent of this caliber is more than qualified to enter the Sentinel.’
At that, Dane let out a hollow laugh.
If they are an imperial citizen, and if they have talent, they are judged fairly. But if they are a sub-species, their throat is slit without a second thought.
Maximilian was authoritarian because he was an Ebenholz, and deeply aristocratic.
But not all aristocrats are truly aristocratic. To be aristocratic ultimately means possessing the ‘qualities of an aristocrat.’
“And then…?”
Instructor Philip’s face was blank.
“He suddenly asked to borrow my lighter. I thought he’d picked up smoking. But then…”
Fwoosh!
Maximilian, after lighting it, brought the flame to the diary without hesitation.
“He burned the diary.”
He cleanly burned away the evidence that could have become his own personal achievement.
“And then, he said this.”
—Commandant Dane. This is my way of trusting people.
Facing that Maximilian, Dane felt a rather poignant sentiment. A fire that hadn’t cooled even in the blizzards of the North during his own youth. A feeling similar to that, which he had lost somewhere along the way in this desolate capital.
“Then, Cadet Hanna…?”
“If she maintains her current grades, she’ll become a knight without issue. If she does better, she might even get into the Sentinel. Ebenholz has given his approval, after all.”
“Heh.”
A dry laugh escaped Philip’s lips without him realizing it.
“Ha… haha.”
It soon turned into a relieved, beaming smile.