Chapter 37: The Path That Must Be Taken (3) The sun rose. I looked up at the sky, stroking the longsword of Ebenholtz. The blade, the edge, and the hilt were all worn, yet they remained unnervingly sharp. The material it was forged from possessed a depth I couldn't fully comprehend.
It was a magnificent sword, one that not only elevated a swordsman's ability by two or three stages but also proved exceptionally lethal against 'Aberrations.'
Akad's sword, which had clashed against this one, had been a fine weapon as well.
I did not know whether Akad had survived Mecken or not. However, anything beyond this point was no longer my concern. He would now have to prove his talent through the simple act of survival.
"······."
I gazed at the filtering sunlight. The once-dark mountain range was now bathed in a brilliant glow.
"······Sir Maximilian. May I ask for an explanation of the situation?"
Jekard returned with his private soldiers. I addressed him.
"The bodies of the pursuit team, including Hans, have been found. I do not know if they managed to intercept Akad, but it appears they were all slaughtered by the Aberrations of Mecken."
"Was Akad's body confirmed?"
He didn't seem to have even a shred of interest in the death of his own brother, Hans.
"No. However—"
"It must be confirmed."
Jekard furrowed his brow, going so far as to cut me off.
I looked at him. My gaze sank into a cold chill.
"······Mr. Jekard."
I called his name and took a step closer.
"Akad Cailus is a mere boy. A small child from the West who hasn't even received knighthood."
I placed my hand on his disheveled collar. Jekard flinched, his body trembling.
"It is highly unlikely that such a child could survive here in Mecken. And even if, by some miracle, heaven's luck allowed him to live..."
I straightened his dusty attire—he looked as though he had been running quite busily—and offered a low smile.
"A man with a promising future like yours shouldn't be frightened by a mere child, should he?"
You are a noble of the Empire. A villain who struck down his brother's neck and stole everything. So don't be a nuisance, and handle one child on your own.
You pathetic piece of shit.
"······Yes. You are right."
Jekard forced a groveling smile. He didn't utter another word of nonsense. Instead, he offered me a chest filled with what appeared to be treasure, calling it a gift.
"Give it to the soldiers who suffered. They deserve it more than I do."
I rejected the offer and departed from Mecken.
* * *
Having traversed the Mecken Mountains, the boy reached a small riverbank. He stared across the river, toward the border of the Western Kingdom faintly visible through the mist.
Whish...
A cold wind whipped the hem of his tattered robe. The soft sunlight caught the glint of tears on his cheeks.
"······."
Akad had survived.
It was something he could have rightfully rejoiced over.
His life, which he would now live in this world—it was the most precious achievement he had ever earned.
"······Father."
He had kept his promise. He had finally fulfilled the one promise he had shared with his entire family.
Though there was no one left to boast to about this achievement, and no one left to warmly stroke his hair and praise him...
"I survived."
The boy fell to his knees. Clutching handfuls of the damp mountain soil, he cried out in a stifled voice. The final images of his family, his burning home, and his own helplessness surged over him all at once, tearing at his heart.
'Hone yourself.'
At that moment, a voice still echoed clearly in his ears.
The Knight of Ebenholtz. He was the very person who had decapitated his family. Yet, at the same time, he was the savior who had plucked him from the jaws of death.
The man who killed my family saved me.
Akad felt a strange sense of confusion.
Simultaneously, he recalled the knight's retreating back.
'So that one day, you may reclaim what you have lost.'
A knight was one who carried out the will of the Empire, and this purge had been a conspiracy born from Jekard. Nevertheless, the knight had not killed him, a blood relative of the Cailus family.
Instead, he had given him a priceless lesson.
What was the reason? Was it a simple whim, or was this, too, a part of the deception?
Akad still did not know.
"What I have lost······."
However, there was a path he had to take.
That path lay behind the contradictory back of that knight.
There were things he had to return and reclaim.
The tears wetting his cheeks were no longer born of sorrow alone.
* * *
Following the decapitation operation, the military settled the accounts for the merits achieved. While the word 'settlement' sounded somewhat cynical, it was a vital process for both soldiers and knights. Some risked their lives for it, while others harbored grudges and sought revenge over it.
However, today, regarding this operation, no one would raise an objection.
"Congratulations, Knight Maximilian."
In the grand conference room of the Imperial Military Headquarters, standing upon a platform covered in red carpet, I was awarded a medal.
However, since the essence of this operation was a 'purge' rather than 'suppressing a rebellion,' there would be no large-scale promotion or media announcement.
"One more 3rd Class Medal and you'll have the 2nd Class Golden Lion Medal. You're moving at an incredible pace for your age."
"Thank you."
The Empire's medal system was as intuitive as it was strict.
Receiving the 3rd Class Golden Lion Medal three times promoted one to the 2nd Class. After performing enough merits to receive that 2nd Class medal roughly nine times, one could receive the 1st Class.
It bore the glorious name: [Imperial Hero Golden Lion Medal].
"Congratulations, Sir Maximilian."
As I stepped down from the platform, officers approached to offer handshakes. I did not go out of my way to refuse their goodwill.
Click.
As I took the usual commemorative photos, I scanned the individuals filling the room.
Click.
Suddenly, the 'Agentes'—the Emperor's closest confidants that Edmond had mentioned—came to mind.
Click.
A madman born with the most perfect legitimacy in the history of the Empire, who hallucinated himself to be a god. He was surely monitoring this entire system. Eyes watching me existed somewhere, even at this very moment.
"Knight Maximilian."
A soldier in uniform approached. A bald man in his sixties, a one-star Brigadier General. It was Deputy Chief of Staff Jens, Major Han's former superior.
"I received the gift well."
I understood his meaning immediately.
Even if he appeared to be a mere greedy human, a general has a general's own set of skills. In the military, being old meant one had survived, and surviving meant one was strong in a different sense of the word.
It was a realm that a young officer like Major Han—no, a man as honest as him—could never reach.
"It seems Major Han has moved to a new place."
I searched my memory for Jens. He was a fairly famous politician. He had been passive in all the Imperial Military's schemes, a fox-like man who always created a loophole for himself. Thanks to that, he was someone who had survived and maintained his wealth even after the Revolutionary Group rose to power.
Could this man become my ally?
Could I trust him?
However, he was one of the essential figures for Major Han to rise to the upper echelons of the Imperial Guard. Furthermore, he was a man who excelled at social conduct as much as politics. Excelling at social conduct meant knowing exactly when to step back.
"Brigadier General Espe. I look forward to your continued guidance."
Mutual trust is unnecessary. This is nothing more than a transaction.
Jens will help while feigning ignorance of the relationship between Major Han and me, and he will gladly depart once Major Han is on the right track. I desire that as well.
The gifts I will pay him in the future are nothing more than 'tuition fees.'
"Yes. Of course. Leave it to me. Hahahaha."
A man who knew how to lower himself infinitely—the bald fox, Jens.
I shared a faint smile and shook his hand······.
──「Imperial Military Commander-in-Chief's Office」──
After the settlement of merits was finished.
I stared at the nameplate deepest within the headquarters. As a knight who participated in the decapitation operation, I now had to report directly to the Commander-in-Chief.
"······Whew."
My heart pounded.
It wasn't because my father was Izenheim.
Even at this stage, the man named Zebestian still made me nervous.
"I'm coming in."
I opened the door.
Beyond the sunlight streaming through the window gap stood Zebestian.
A giant standing over two meters tall. A body perfectly sculpted even beneath his thick military uniform. A beard always kept clean as a noble, and hair slicked back without a single strand out of place.
I approached him.
Come to think of it, this was the first time I had faced him at such a close distance since my regression.
"······."
Zebestian looked toward me. He said nothing. Nevertheless, the dignity radiating from him was overwhelming. It was the reason even the most prominent generals of the military felt intimidated in his presence.
I gave him a slight bow. However, the first part was not my turn. Zebestian also acted as if he barely noticed me.
First, the military officers handed documents to Zebestian.
Zebestian read through the contents. Other than that, there was no sound. A heavy silence dominated the entire space. An absolute hierarchy and rank pressed down on the interior.
The bodies of the officers, already small compared to Zebestian, seemed to crumple more and more as time passed. They crumpled and crumpled until only Zebestian was visible.
The Commander-in-Chief scribbled his signature on the final page of the document.
"Loyalty!"
As soon as they received approval, everyone fled the Commander-in-Chief's office as if escaping.
However, I remained.
As a knight and observer who participated in the decapitation operation, it was the rule to give the final report verbally.
"······We secured the heads of the four direct descendants, including the head of the household, Yusef von Cailus, who planned the rebellion, and annihilated all collateral relatives and private soldiers who resisted. However, the body of one person, the youngest son among the direct descendants, was not found at the scene."
"Did the boy escape?"
"It is not yet certain."
"I am asking for your opinion."
"······If he is ultimately not found, it means he decided to climb Mecken. And if he decided to climb Mecken, he will live or die depending on his own ability."
Zebestian looked at me.
"Knight Maximilian."
I met Zebestian's gaze. I did not avoid the eyes of the monster who had never been like a father, and who still didn't feel like one.
Suddenly, his face from before my regression overlapped. To the me who had failed to achieve any merits, he had said this:
'But why did you even go there?'
"It was a mission that had to be completed as a knight. Nothing more, nothing less."
That future had changed. It wasn't praise, but it wasn't contempt or disdain either. It was a statement that I had simply done what I ought to do.
A dry conversation that could hardly be seen as one between a father and son.
Yet, even a moment like this was a first for me.
"Yes."
After saluting with the etiquette of a knight, I walked out.
Thud. Thud.
I walked down the long corridor in front of the Commander-in-Chief's office.
Thud. Thud.
Suddenly, unable to bear it any longer, I slumped down right there on the empty stairwell landing. I raised a hand and covered my face.
"······Ha."
Emotions surged up from within my heart.
Tingle. Tingle.
A sensation that made my toes go numb vibrated all the way to the top of my head.
It was a strange feeling I had never experienced in my entire life.
Perhaps it was joy.
Simply because I had changed that one sentence of his, I was feeling such a peculiar euphoria. An uncontrollable laugh escaped me like a fit of coughing.
It was ironic.
After returning to this godforsaken world, the person who made me truly laugh for the first time was Zebestian, the man I had feared so much.
It was you, the man I had hated so much.
And so, I am still bound to you.
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