The Reluctant Imperialist

https://m.munpia.com/novel/detail/503857
Chapter 1: https://rentry.co/3ioosho3
Chapter 1 (better mtl) : https://rentry.co/4aqd7yu6
Chapter 2: https://rentry.co/wqfxnhhw
Chapter 3: https://rentry.co/4g94srva
Chapter 4: https://rentry.co/m9i9h4ub
Chapter 5: https://rentry.co/hiv8wyau
Chapter 6: https://rentry.co/9rv6ec66
Chapter 7: https://rentry.co/w69vkn37
Chapter 8: https://rentry.co/5siifqmp


Chapter 9
The Reluctant Imperialist
A Blade Looms Beneath the Neck (2)

From the next day on, I was constantly on the move. For the first time in my life, I was doing it for my 'independence.'
In my past life, I had always felt a suffocating pressure in the family home, yet I never thought of leaving. I thought that if I ran away from that place, I would be out of my father's sight forever.
What a fool I was.
First, I checked my personal bank account.
There was more money than I expected.

"How is there this much?"

18.7 million dollars. That's about seven to eight years' salary for a decent knight.
It was likely a legal inheritance. Money left to me by my late mother, combined with a formal gift from the family to commemorate my coming of age. My father may not have cared about me, but he wasn't the type of man to disregard the family's honor.
More money is always better, and that was truer now than ever. I needed far more of it to change the future.
Right now, I lacked power, and money is a component of power. Not even the Ebenholz family has an infinite supply of it. In fact, compared to the other 'Pillars' of the empire, our liquid assets are on the lower side.

"The greatest advantage of regressing…"

My greatest weapon is information. Therefore, I'll leave half of the account for investments and use the other half to buy a house.
Decision made.
I immediately drove to a real estate office.

[Empire Realtor Office R]

"...Welcome."

The owner, who had been eating lunch inside the office, scrambled to his feet. I looked around at the maps of the capital that filled the walls.

"How can I help you?"
"I've come to purchase a house."

I wanted a mansion not far from the Sentinel Knights' headquarters. While apartments and condos were among the options, I needed my own private space, one I wouldn't have to share with anyone.

"Ah, is that so."
"Kleinschmidt. This area seems to be the best."

I pointed to a specific part of the map.

[Imperial Capital Arcadia, District 3, 13 von Kleinschmidt Street]

It was an excellent location with a clear view of the Empire's Ipsilon River. As such, properties in this area didn't come on the market easily, but with the Empire's recent policy changes, there was bound to be someone looking to sell their real estate.

"Oh... uh, there are no listings in that area."

He’s lying.
His tone of voice reeked of deceit.

"There aren't?"

I deliberately cut my words short, staring down the owner as I asked again.

"Why don't you check one more time?"

At that, the owner scanned my appearance again.
I might be in casual clothes, but my fashion was the latest trend in the Empire. Even if he didn't recognize the face of a man named Maximilian, he would surely recognize the luxury brand, Geronimo.

"Ah... well. There is one place that came on the market in a hurry."
"Show it to me."
"Yes. It's a mansion right in that area. This photo was taken recently."

The realtor trailed off as he pulled out a photograph of a certain mansion. The windows were broken and a part of the wall was damaged; it bore the marks of a rather violent struggle.
Aha.
I understood immediately.
The owner of this house was likely not a pure-blooded Imperial citizen. And they must have committed a 'very minor mistake.'
The Empire's racial policies had been growing harsher by the day. The blade was now even pointed at the descendants of foreign families who had been naturalized for generations and had sworn loyalty to the Empire.
The wealthy merchant clans of Mer descent were a primary target. A newly emerged power faction, the Imperial Guard, was particularly covetous of their wealth.

"...As you can see, it needs a lot of work."
"That's fine. I'll purchase it."

The realtor scratched his head, looking flustered.

"Where is the owner?"
"Ah... about that... um..."

The realtor glanced at my face before letting out a deep sigh.

"To be honest, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but this mansion is tied up in a complicated situation."
"Tied up?"
"There is someone who is already claiming the right to confiscate this mansion..."

Just as I expected. I let out a faint smile.

"And who might that be?"
"Ah, that would be... a man named Viscount Rodrigues. He's a member of the Imperial Guard."

The moment I heard the name, a throbbing pain shot through my temples.
I knew that name.

It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Maximilian. I am Rodrigues.

He was a high-ranking officer of the Imperial Guard from before my regression. A man who had climbed quite high by extorting and amassing wealth through all sorts of methods.

"I see."
"Yes. It would be best if you avoided it..."

The realtor still hadn't recognized my face. He hadn't even asked for my name. He probably just thought I was some rich kid from a noble family, given my expensive clothes.

"If you'd just head home for today—"
"Listen carefully. My name is Maximilian Ebenholz."
"...Excuse me? Max... Eben... Eh?"

The owner's eyes and mouth went as wide as a full moon.
In the Imperial Capital of Arcadia, the name Ebenholz was nigh invincible. At the very least, it was beyond the reach of some despicable, low-ranking noble scrounger who coveted the property of others.

"I am also a new knight of the Sentinel Knights."

Rodrigues is a piece of filth. Most of the members of the Imperial Guard are. They are vermin who, infatuated with the Emperor, have hastened the Empire's downfall. They must be cut out at the root, whenever possible.

"A knight's duty is to maintain the security of the Empire. However, this claim of a 'right to confiscate' is something I cannot comprehend, no matter how I think about it. I will have to investigate what has happened."

One of a knight's duties is to maintain the security of the Empire.
That man is the very eel muddying the waters of Imperial security. I'll just have to wrap this up and claim it as my own achievement.

"However, you must never reveal my name."

It was a kind of undercover operation. Cockroaches, after all, hide the moment a person appears.
And Rodrigues was exactly that kind of cockroach.


Viscount Rodrigues was a noble who had recently been gaining considerable attention in the Empire. Originally from a provincial family, he had distinguished himself several years ago by capturing an executive of the "Revolutionary Army," a rebel faction. For this achievement, he was selected for the Emperor's Imperial Guard and entered the central political stage. From that point on, he put his particular talents to use. He tracked the cash flow of foreign-born capitalists within the Empire—that is, those who were not pure-blooded Aran—and exposed their tax evasion and illegal activities. He created problems where there were none. The Imperial Guard wanted this, and Rodrigues's career skyrocketed.

"The mansion?"

Rodrigues asked, barely glancing up from the report his butler had handed him. His office was filled with expensive works of art he had either seized or bought for a pittance.

"Yes, someone has appeared expressing intent to purchase the mansion on von Kleinschmidt Street."
"Who is it?"
"According to the realtor, he just seems to be the son of a noble family..."

It was a prime piece of real estate. It had greatly pleased Rodrigues, so the groundwork had already been laid. He had framed the original owner, a Mer merchant, with charges of funding treason, rendering him practically a dead man walking. All that was left was the formality of swallowing the property whole.

"What are the details on him?"
"Well... they didn't ask for that much. But judging by the fact he was looking for a mansion near the Knights' headquarters, he seems to be a new knight who has come up from the provinces. The Knights have been holding initiation ceremonies all over the place recently, haven't they? The Sentinels, the Lotus—"
"Hmph, ridiculous."

Rodrigues scoffed.
Of course, the Knights' prestige in the Empire is high. But that is merely a matter of external honor. Real power would soon shift to the Imperial Guard. That was the Emperor's goal from the start.
If the Knights are the Empire's sword, the Imperial Guard is the hand that holds its hilt...

"That Merlin fellow, or whatever his name is, is he still holding out?"
"Yes. He has not confessed."

The owner of the mansion, the Mer entrepreneur Merlin. His act of putting the mansion up for sale was merely a formality carried out under pressure from Rodrigues.
No one would dare buy this house. Its price would plummet, and later, it would be handed over to him for a pittance at a fixed auction.

"I have a full schedule this week. I'll deal with it next week."
"...Do you intend to go yourself, my lord?"

The butler asked, surprised. It was rare for the Viscount to personally attend to such a trivial matter.

"Of course. He's a knight, isn't he? It never hurts to make an acquaintance. And if we clash too harshly, it could become another problem. I'll go myself and persuade him appropriately."
"Yes, my lord. Then, please rest well."

The butler departed. Rodrigues poured himself a glass full of red wine. His eyes, watching the shimmering liquid, were stained crimson.
A smile crept across his lips.
This was going to be quite fun.


The meeting was set for the following week. I didn't rush things.
Rodrigues owed me time, and I would be sure to collect on that day.
In any case.

"...These people are all my instructors?"

Today was a day for receiving gifts. Ten swordsmen were lined up in the Ebenholz family's grand training hall. They were the 'new sword instructors' I had previously requested from Jefestian.

"Not all of them. You may choose one from this group."

Enji smiled brightly. I looked over their faces. They were all individuals who radiated the aura of the powerful.

"They are candidates who have been carefully selected through a screening process. They have all passed both a document review and a practical interview."

I recognized nine of the ten.
Seven of the nine were former knights who had shown excessive loyalty to the Empire in my past life. The remaining two were faces I had seen countless times on the society pages of the newspapers before my regression.
The Empire's enemies—executives of the Revolutionary Army.
Those two were dangerous individuals I couldn't afford to get close to right now.
The other seven were a group I had no desire to get close to.
Naturally, my gaze fell upon the one remaining person.
It was a face I was seeing for the first time. My memory wasn't particularly exceptional, but I had a knack for remembering faces.
I had to. I had spent so long living as a fugitive, needing to remember and distinguish between countless faces.

"Hmm..."

She stood there empty-handed, without a single sword, dressed in a plain training uniform. She seemed a far cry from the splendid careers and powerful auras of the other candidates. She was a woman, but she wore a robe with the hood pulled up. The face revealed beneath the hood was unremarkable. In fact, it was deeply wrinkled.

"What is your name?"

The elderly and the young encountered on the battlefield are dangerous.
Similarly, in a gathering of the powerful, the person no one knows is the strongest.

"Priya."

I decided to choose her.

Edit

Pub: 08 Sep 2025 08:07 UTC

Edit: 08 Sep 2025 08:35 UTC

Views: 9