Of course. Here is the English translation of the web novel chapter.


The Half-Forced Imperialist

The Utility of Law (2)

2025.09.30 | Views 9,979 | Likes 696

Tick— Tock—

The clock in the interrogation room ticks away. I stare at it intently.

Tick— Tock—

I close my eyes quietly. I try to speak to the being inside me.

Thump— Thump—

There's no answer, but the virus is still pulsating.

Thump—
Tock—

The unit of my pulse is one second.
The two rhythms overlap perfectly.

Creak.
The door opened. At last, Adria emerged from the interrogation room. She smiled brightly as she looked at me.

"You've bagged another one, Knight Maximilian."

Adria is a key agent of the Revolutionary Corps. It seems she tried to get a head start while I was writing up the initial report, but she wouldn't have been able to pull any tricks. Not in the heart of the Sentinel, where even she must tread carefully.

To them, Adria is an asset hundreds of times more important than a mere contact like Daniel.

"Thank you."
"I've poked and prodded, but he's not opening his mouth."

Adria holds a degree in something like social deviant criminal psychology. She probably got it so she could be the first to make contact with the revolutionaries in situations like this.

"Yes. I'll take it from here."
"Good. Get something, anything, out of him."

Adria walked out, and as if switching places, I walked in.
Across the cold metal table, Daniel sat in handcuffs.

"First... we found quite a few pieces of evidence at your place. Everything from encrypted messages that need decoding to high-performance explosives."

“……”

Daniel remained silent.

Tap, tap.

I drummed my fingers on the desk and looked at him. Recalling my own time as an inmate, the most fearsome weapon was always silence.

“……”

Sweat beaded on Daniel’s temple. His lips were parched.
I quietly straightened my clothes.
And then, I opened my mouth.

"The two people who were there were also members of the Revolutionary Corps, weren't they?"

A woman in her mid-thirties and another in her late teens. The Izenheims who were hiding with Daniel.

"No!"

Daniel suddenly reacted with fury. I watched him for a moment. The violent trembling of his pupils was genuinely surprising.

"They are not part of the Revolutionary Corps."

His tone was grating.

"Just me."
"Who said you could speak so informally?"
“……”
"Let's show each other some basic courtesy."

Daniel took a moment to catch his breath. He then spoke in a strained voice.

“……They are not members of the Revolutionary Corps. They are immigrants who don't even speak the Imperial language properly. They were supposed to be deported after their visas expired… so I was using them."

I studied Daniel's expression. The face he made when speaking of the two women. The noble spirit of a man trying to take all the blame upon himself.

“……How strange.”

Come to think of it, his behavior had been bizarre from the start. Losing his senses and firing a pistol at me when all I did was try to open the door to a hidden space. And despite not being an Izenheim himself, he was possessed by a revolutionary fervor too extreme for an ordinary citizen of the Empire.

"Because of you, every worker at that factory will now be under suspicion. Some of them might even be undergoing torture as we speak."

Workers who knew nothing, who toiled away at the factory day after day just to earn a living and feed their families.
The Imperial police rounded them all up. All because of Daniel, who built a secret room in the factory he inherited from his father.

"And yet, you're only concerned about those two?"

He set up the factory as a cover to avoid suspicion, yet instead of worrying about the workers, he's desperate to protect only the two Izenheim women.

“……”

Daniel's expression froze over. I let out a dry laugh.

"What a pathetic emotion. You preach grand ideals like liberation and revolution, but in the end, the only thing that truly sways your heart is just two women."

It wasn't revolution. It was love. Not a grand cause, but a deeply personal affair.
A man who devotes his entire life to a cause, however misguided, earns respect. But a loser swayed by a fleeting, personal emotion deserves only to be covered in disgrace and filth.
Now I understood. The way the Revolutionary Corps looked at me before my regression.
They had respected Zephestian, but they were disgusted by me.

"Unbelievable."

I rose from my seat and looked down at Daniel. He bowed his head, clenching his fists tightly.

"Even if you deny being a member of the Revolutionary Corps, it's useless. The moment I designate you as one, that's what you become."

Daniel lifted his gaze. His eyes were a mixture of resignation and rage.

"In that case, I will not open my mouth any further."

"…Hah."

I let out a small laugh. I slowly approached and leaned over the table.

"Don't be mistaken," I whispered in a low voice.

"I never needed any information you might have."


The Empire has a special judicial body called the 'Knight's Court.' In truth, it's less of an institution and more of a procedure.
When the knight in charge submits evidence and a written opinion on the case to a judge, the judge renders a verdict of guilt or innocence and the sentence based solely on those documents.
Complex and time-consuming processes like legal counsel or jury verdicts are all omitted.
The targets are mainly anti-establishment figures who harbor discontent or pose a threat to the Imperial system.
The power to investigate, prosecute, and even influence the verdict. This is one of the reasons why knights are called the 'Swords of the Empire.'
I drafted the case reports for Daniel and the other two Izenheims.

The charges: Conspiracy to commit insurrection aimed at overthrowing the Empire, illegal residency, membership and activity in the Revolutionary Corps, and the illegal manufacture and possession of explosives.
Recommended sentence: Death.

I scribbled it all down with a certain logic.
I stood up from my chair. There was a window right behind me. A new knight's office was quite small.
We'll probably get a bigger budget from this case, and the space will expand soon enough.
Results are important for a knight. And to inherit Ebenholz in its entirety, Zephestian's assistance is essential.

“……”

I placed a hand on my collarbone.
I thought about the virus pulsating quietly within.
The plane-eater summoned by the Izenheims. A piece of it seeped into me, and we regressed together.
We are together, half-coerced, but I do not know its purpose. I can't even be sure if it's truly a sentient being.
However, I know this being devours Izenheims. It also helps me to 'faintly' understand the world's mana.
It seems its very existence is composed of mana, but for now, it's a cosmic substance I have no way of understanding precisely.
The conclusion is simple.
I need to learn more about mana, and I need to find out more.


Sectors 40-44 of the Empire are slums. This is because they are part of the underground city district. However, right next to the underground city, there exists an autonomous region, as if they were standing back-to-back.
「Zestfol」.
They were originally an ordinary district of the Empire, Sector 39, but a unique concentration of creative mana engineering firms, prestigious universities, and mage towers led to their explosive development. In exchange for the massive taxes they pay to the Imperial Palace, they were granted a high level of autonomy.

In an alleyway there, I found a shabby-looking magic shop.
[Magic Shop, Lorenzo Carrione]

The Empire's 'Integrated Identity Network,' which can be accessed by Sentinel Knights, is quite convenient. As long as you remember a name, you can find anyone, anywhere in the Empire.

The exterior itself is unremarkable. In fact, the wood is so rotten it looks like it could fall apart. It’s so uninviting one might hesitate to enter, but the proprietor is no ordinary man.
He is a 'very' high-level mana wielder.

Kiiiik- I opened the worn wooden door.

"......"

I quietly looked around the interior. A staff member wearing glasses was at the counter, and on the display shelves were not only simple raw materials and herbs but also magitech items made by adding mana stones to machinery.
One of those items caught my eye.
It was a machine that looked like a waterwheel. In front of it stood a boy who looked like a puppy.

"Did you make this?"
"......Ah, yes!"

When called, the boy came forward with a pleased smile. He had quite sharp features. The staff member nearby glanced over with a worried look in his eyes.

"It's a Mana Waterwheel!"
"A Mana Waterwheel."
"Yep. If you place this in an area with high mana density!"

The boy released a burst of mana. The waterwheel, touched by the flow, began to spin with a whirring sound.

"It draws in mana like a waterwheel!"
My eyebrows twitched.

"And it continuously gathers the mana from the air like this!"

As the waterwheel spun with the boy's mana, a grain-of-sand-sized particle materialized in the container below. The circulation and refinement of mana. The principles and flow of how it worked formed an image in my mind.
Is this, too, because of the virus?

"It creates mana stones!"

The boy placed a dust-like mana stone on my finger. The mana stone itself evaporated in an instant.

"Oh, you know, right? Artificial mana disappears! But if you leave it in a place with a lot of natural mana, the mana stone won't disappear!"

Human mana and natural mana are different. Human mana cannot be crystallized into a stone, but natural mana gathers underground, in caves, and within glaciers to become mana stones.
In other words, this Mana Waterwheel is a natural mana stone generator.
I looked at the boy.

"What's your name?"
"It's Armand!"

Armand answered with a face full of expectation. His cheeks were puffed up like steamed buns, and his eyes sparkled like stars.

"The idea is good, but."

There was a part I had to point out. The joint of the waterwheel that draws in the mana—there was a flaw there. At least, according to the virus, there was.
I channeled a bit of mana into that part.

Craaack—!

The entire waterwheel exploded.

“……Ah, no!”

Armand looked as if his world had just crumbled.

"Wh-why would you do that!"

The boy, on the verge of tears, bent down. I looked down at the kid picking up the shattered pieces.

"This waterwheel is meant to be used in a place with high mana density, but in such a place, mana friction would be frequent."

The boy shot a glare up at me.

"Mana doesn't wear down matter. But if you place this waterwheel in a location with mana thick enough to generate natural mana stones, it wouldn't last a single day. In other words, it has no practical use. And more importantly..."

There was a more critical problem, but I didn't say any more.

“……I worked so hard on it.”

Armand's lips trembled as if he were about to burst into tears at any moment.
Suddenly, the boy's face turned red. He shot up from his spot and thrust his palm out at me.

"Please compensate me!"
"Compensate?"
"You broke an item for sale, didn't you!"

"Armand! You brat!"

Just then, someone rushed out, shouting the boy's name.
Lorenzo Carrione. With a thick beard and sideburns, he walked out, leaning on a staff.

"Is that any way to speak to a customer, you rude boy!"

He looks like a rather stern magic shop owner scolding a boy in my place. At least, on the surface.
But in reality, he is a genius professor who went into hiding from the world. A magister with a story so deep that he despises nobles.
Therefore, my criticism of the boy was, to some extent, intentional. If I hadn't done this, he wouldn't have shown his face to me.

"Are you the proprietor?"

I gestured to Lorenzo with my eyes.

“……Yes. I apologize. This boy is my apprentice, and he's ill-mannered. You! Lower your head at once!”

Lorenzo tapped the boy on the head with his staff. But the boy did not bow his head.

"You! Won't you lower your head?!"
“……”

A tear welled up in the boy's eye, but he still didn't bow. He just trembled, his fists clenched tightly.

"That's enough."

I rather liked his defiant attitude. It doesn't matter what his status is, or how old he is. This is a far better posture than those rotten nobles who bow so low their heads might touch the ground.
Above all, he's a talented boy, so I can tolerate this much.

"Proprietor. I am looking to acquire these items."

I handed a list to Lorenzo. It included rare magic tomes from prominent scholars, flasks and syringes for analyzing mana, high-grade mana stones to feed to the virus, and so on.

“……There are many things here we don't have. It will be difficult for us to acquire them.”

Difficult to acquire.
Smiling faintly, I looked back at Armand. I pointed to his reddened face and the wreckage of the waterwheel he had built.

"A machine that artificially produces mana stones could be in violation of the Imperial Mana Stone Management Act, couldn't it?"
“……”

Lorenzo bit his lip imperceptibly, and a look of sudden fear crossed Armand’s face.

"I wonder what they would say if they saw this."

Just like that, I will use any means necessary.
Which is to say, I have no intention of wasting time trying to humor him.

“……We don't have them now, but we may be able to acquire them. It would cost around 100,000 dollars in total."

Lorenzo's words changed in an instant.

"That's a relief. Thank you."

I didn't reprimand him. Instead, I expressed my gratitude and took out my wallet.

"By the way, will a mere 100,000 be enough?"

I signed a check and handed it to him.
Lorenzo's eyes widened when he saw the amount.

"This is 200,000."

I don't haggle.
To those who are worthy of receiving money, and to a talent who will not waste it, I pay them their due—and then some.
"Should you require more during the acquisition process, please do not hesitate to let me know."
This is the Ebenholz way of trade.


Comments (135)

  • Hanna-ssi (2025.09.30 19:20)
    (Thank you, author-nim)
  • MintChocoSalmon (2025.09.30 19:21)
    (This is really fun)
  • k3*** (2025.09.30 19:21)
    (Read and leaving)
  • GrrMak (2025.09.30 19:24)
    Hmm..
  • ro** (2025.09.30 19:25)
    Hehe so fun
  • Bohae-ayoung (2025.09.30 19:25)
    (Read and leaving)
  • beast666 (2025.09.30 19:26)
    Wow!
  • Daos (2025.09.30 19:27)
    (Praying for more chapters)
  • Jjooniyam (2025.09.30 19:28)
    (Read and leaving)
  • gr*** (2025.09.30 19:28)
    The protagonist is so refreshing.
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Pub: 02 Oct 2025 04:38 UTC

Views: 8