Of course, here is the translation of the web novel chapter.
< A Future Drawn with a Pen >
Lately, I've been thinking about the future.
The future will not be the same as it was before my regression.
No, it cannot be the same.
I must make it so. The only variable in the catastrophe that leads to ruin is 'me'.
However, history is a great, turbulent current. It will not be easy to divert its course by myself. It will not change in an instant.
Therefore, I must open a new channel for the waters of change, starting now.
The current Empire and its military are not thinking deeply about the war. To be more precise, there are not many generals who harbor any specific doubts.
The Empire's stance on war has always been the same.
'If the interior is perfectly controlled, the exterior will inevitably submit.'
If that's the case, did the Empire fall because it failed to control its interior?
Unlikely.
The factors were far more complex. The Eastern Federation on the continent, for one, was never a power to be taken lightly.
—In truth, I don't know the details either.
Just because I'm a regressor doesn't mean I suddenly became a genius.
I will, of course, make my own efforts, but in the future, there was a scholar far more brilliant than me who wrote about it.
Years after the Empire's fall, a very distinguished historian published a treatise— "The Reasons for the Empire's Fall."
At the time, the book was immensely popular, distributed widely in every bookstore and magazine, so even I, living as a fugitive, was able to easily find and read a copy.
"Let's remember."
I placed a hand on my collarbone and demanded the memory from the virus. The records I had once read...
—「The Reasons for the Empire's Fall」—
This paper defines the fall of the Empire not as the result of a single event, but as an inevitable collapse that occurred when the contradictions of a complex structure reached a tipping point. It seeks to analyze its core causes.
- The Emperor's Incompetence, the Bloating of the Imperial Guard, and the Schism in the Military.
The last emperor of the Empire indiscriminately expanded the 'Imperial Guard' to strengthen his own power. Reigning above the law, the Imperial Guard committed all manner of corruption and evil throughout the Empire, which created extreme conflict with the traditional military, fracturing the Empire from within— - The Illusion of Pureblood Ideology: The Myth of the 'Aran' and the Failure to Recruit Talent.
In the last days of the Empire, the 'pureblood ideology' that dominated society was a noose the Empire tied around its own neck. The Empire called themselves the sacred 'Aran' bloodline, ostracizing and oppressing countless talented individuals from other ethnic groups. This was a self-inflicted erosion of the nation's potential— - Technological Stagnation and Economic Rigidity.
The Empire was once a leader in magitech engineering, but in its final years, it fell into severe technological stagnation. The great nobles who held monopolies on key technologies, such as mana stone mines, suppressed new innovative technologies, branding them as blasphemous acts against the providence of nature in order to protect their vested interests. They seized the assets of promising companies and shelved their technologies— - The Failure of the Knight Orders and Asymmetrical Warfare.
The knights were the sword of the Empire. Human weapons born from the consumption of near-infinite resources, which only the Empire could afford to train. In contrast, the Eastern Federation and the nations of the West developed more advanced weapons of mass, single-target lethality, such as 'tanks' and 'guided missiles'. Knights, who could respond with near-invincibility against rifle brigades, were helpless before the shelling of tanks and anti-personnel guided missiles...
A knight is not invincible. Neither is a mage. After the invention of the brutally simple weapon known as the 'Mana Rifle,' the battlefield began to change, bit by bit.
A strong knight can cut down hundreds of soldiers alone. But in a 'war,' a soldier does not stand alone.
Mana can easily deflect the physical force of a bullet. However, tank shells and missiles must be avoided. Compared to bullets, the significantly larger shells and missiles contain a meaningful amount of mana stone.
In the war with the East, the factors that claimed the most knights were tanks, anti-personnel guided missiles, and suicide bombers.
Yet the Empire focused only on training 'first-rate' individuals. The Zephestian family was no different. My father was an aristocrat to the core; he was too old to chase the progress of the era, and he placed his faith in that iron-clad conviction.
—And yet, he was also the kind of monster who could single-handedly destroy hundreds of tanks.
Thus, the reason the Empire fell was not solely due to rebellion.
Fundamentally, they were defeated by their own corruption, by the revolutionary factions from within, and by the federations of the East and West from without.
"And so the Empire was defeated."
Sitting in my study, I muttered to myself, when a strange question suddenly occurred to me.
How was the New Cabinet established in the place where the Empire had fallen?
The moment the Empire fell, the nations that had been forcibly annexed and various autonomous territories declared their independence. However, the core territories of the Empire immediately came under the rule of the New Cabinet, to which Edmon belonged.
It was a bizarrely peaceful and orderly transfer of power.
But let's think about it.
If I were the supreme leader of the Eastern Federation, would I have stood by and allowed a nascent cabinet to take over the empty seat of an empire that had cost the lives of millions?
At the very least, I would have demanded territory as reparations, or, more severely, tried to sow discord and shatter the cabinet into pieces.
The logic of power between nations dictates as much.
And yet, they withdrew so peacefully.
Why?
Why in the world?
How was Edmon able to become the Prime Minister of the New Cabinet, and how was he able to so amicably and precisely single out and crush only the Empire's war criminals?
"What if..."
This might be a rash assumption on my part.
However, for me, who has personally 'seen' the ruined future, it is a possibility I can never ignore.
"—The head of the East."
I thought of the supreme leader of the Eastern Federation.
Varmil Rexton.
"If it was Eisenheim."
One painfully obvious fact is that
Eisenheim does not only exist in the Empire.
"War is inevitable."
That was the conclusion forming in my mind.
KRRREEEEEEE—
The next morning, a tank was delivered with a tremendous roar. Dieter had managed to purchase and bring a tank to our house in just one day.
"What is this?"
Priya, who had come for our lesson, was stunned by the steel monster in the middle of the yard.
"It's a tank. The latest model from Berton Industries in Zestfol."
The Zestfol Autonomous Region. A very problematic region, but also the only place in the Empire that can produce tanks.
I spoke while fiddling with the tank.
"That cannon is loaded with a 120mm arcane shell, a mix of high-concentration mana and armor-piercing shrapnel. It can blow away most castle walls in a single shot."
"You have too much money. Why on earth did you buy this?"
"Don't the Empire's knights deserve to experience this kind of weight at least once? Before that, I'm going to try and figure out a way to deal with this tank myself. Master, would you mind helping me out?"
"—You go first."
I stood about 200 meters from the tank's cannon.
"Fire."
No matter how long I waited, the shell wasn't fired.
"...Haaah."
Priya yawned.
"Fire!"
The tank's hatch opened, and the driver looked out with a face on the verge of tears.
"Are you... really sure?"
"There will be a problem if you don't."
He ducked back into the tank.
"Fire!"
ROOOOAR—
The moment the cannon flashed.
Tick.
Even in slowed time, the shell flew like a beam of light. I drew my longsword.
Slice—
I cleaved the trajectory of the warhead. The shell, sliced in two, slammed into a corner of the yard.
"Ooh~ Not bad. What do you think?"
"—My movements are quite fast, so dodging it wouldn't be a problem."
When a knight pushes their mana to the limit, their body can move at incredible speeds. But there's a time limit. Not every knight possesses the same talent as I do, and even I can't use that technique more than a few times a day.
"A direct hit would result in serious injury or death. But the shrapnel damage from the explosion could be sufficiently blocked by a knight's aura (罡氣)."
If the shell itself directly strikes a knight's body, the compressed mana stone within will shatter their aura, inflicting a fatal wound.
However, in the case of an explosion from hitting the ground, the impact and shrapnel can be withstood.
"So the impact area itself is small. The probability of a single tank scoring a direct hit on a knight is low. But battles are protracted. There will be guided missiles targeting only knights flying in as well."
A knight is not a machine. The more they tire, the slower they become, and thus the probability of a direct hit rises dramatically.
But if a method were invented to perfectly nullify the impact of a shell or missile even two or three times, the knight would once again become an irregular on the battlefield.
"I think it would work if I controlled my aura more efficiently."
"How would you control it?"
"An aura normally clings to the skin like armor, doesn't it? What if you expanded it outward, creating a sphere around your body in the form of a wave?"
"Are you telling a knight to perform magic? Aura is manifested through mana circuits. It can't be maintained if it's separated from the body."
What Priya said was true. But I didn't think so. More accurately, the virus inside me had a counterargument.
"It might be possible. If you use a high-purity mana stone as a medium."
Priya stared at me intently. After looking into my eyes for a long moment, she asked a peculiar question.
"Just one question. What is this all for?"
"For knights, against tanks—"
"I mean, what is all of it ultimately for?"
I looked at Priya.
She was asking about my principles.
But the answer to all my actions, the answer to all my will, was just one.
"For the Empire, and the Empire alone."
Projecting an aura into a spherical shape is entirely possible.
However, it was an intuition, not logic. An instinctual 'knowing' transmitted directly from the virus inside me.
But as Priya said, mana is manifested and controlled through the body's circuits. Because of that, a protective aura can never leave the shell of the skin.
Unless there is an external 'medium'.
I placed an ultra-high-purity mana stone on my palm—the size of a finger, yet worth 300,000 dollars.
If I pour my mana into this stone in a specific [format], its flow will resonate with the stone, forming a spherical aura centered around it.
I understand this process instinctively, as easily as breathing. The higher the purity of the mana stone, the purer and more solid the aura formed will be.
The problem is, how does one 'explain' the principle of projecting an aura through a mana stone to someone else?
I need a 'formula (式)' for the mana to convey this spherical aura.
To first understand the intuition whispered by the virus, and then to convey it to other knights, I must use the 'language' this world uses to explain mana.
I picked up the specialized books I had purchased from Lorenzo. Fortunately, I wasn't a complete amateur. I had practically been forced to take lessons from my tutor at Empire Point in the past.
"Mana is expressed through the precise promise of a formula..."
A knight calculates the amount, flow, and properties of mana required for the phenomenon they wish to manifest. Then, they complete that concept as a 'spell formula' within their own mana circuits, allowing them to explosively enhance their physical abilities or manifest a sword-force or sword-aura.
All of this process is born from a pen.
"...First."
I picked up a pen.
I'll start with a draft.
It's fine if it's incomplete. Let's just get this idea down on paper first.
—[ Introduction ]—
Mana is a powerful force given to humanity, yet it is also a double-edged sword (利器). The knights of the Empire use an 'aura' that cloaks their bodies through long training and study, which has made them the masters of the battlefield. However, on the future battlefields we are destined to face, an overwhelming firepower will arrive that cannot be blocked by our current auras alone.
(Omitted)
Therefore, this author proposes a new method of mana manipulation that expands and projects the conventional aura into a 'spherical defensive barrier' by using a mana stone as an external medium. The purpose of this is to maximize the survivability of our knights and secure the Empire's military superiority in a changing battlefield environment.........
If I just write a rough draft, Lorenzo will polish it up for me anyway.
—Honestly, it's not like I don't have that in mind.