Chapter 42: Drawing the Future with a Pen Lately, I have been thinking about the future.
The future will not be the same as it was before my regression.
No, it must not be the same.
I must make it so. In the catastrophe that leads to total destruction, I am the only variable.
However, history is a massive, surging tide. It will not be easy for me to twist it alone. It will not change in an instant.
Therefore, I must begin opening the sluice gates for change now.
Currently, the Empire and the military give little thought to the prospect of war. More accurately, there aren't many generals who harbor concrete suspicions.
The Empire's stance on war has always been the same:
'If we maintain perfect control over the interior, the exterior will inevitably submit.'
Did the Empire fall because it failed to control its interior?
Hardly.
There were far more complex factors at play. For starters, the Eastern Union across the continent was not a power to be taken lightly.
...To be honest, I don't know the details perfectly either.
Being a regressor doesn't magically make me a genius.
I will, of course, put in my own effort, but there was a text written by a scholar far more brilliant than I in the future.
Several years after the fall of the Empire, a very prominent historian published a work titled The Reasons for the Empire's Fall.
At the time, the book gained immense popularity and was widely distributed in bookstores and magazines, so even I, while living as a fugitive, was able to obtain and read it easily.
"Let's try to remember."
I placed my hand on my collarbone. I demanded the memory from the Virus. The record I had read in a past life...
── 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 occurring when the contradictions of a complex structure reached a critical point. This study aims to analyze its core causes.
1. The Incompetence of the Emperor, the Bloating of the Imperial Guard, and the Fissures in the Military
The last Emperor recklessly expanded the 'Imperial Guard' to strengthen his own power. The Imperial Guard, reigning above the law, committed all manner of corruption and atrocities throughout the Empire. This caused extreme conflict with the traditional military, fracturing the Empire from within...
2. The Illusion of Racial Purity—The 'Aran' Myth and the Failure of Talent Recruitment
In the late stages of the Empire, the 'Aranian Racial Purity' that dominated society was a noose the Empire tightened around its own neck. By calling themselves the sacred 'Aran' bloodline, the Empire excluded and oppressed countless talented individuals of other ethnicities. This self-cannibalized the nation's potential...
3. Technological Stagnation and Economic Rigidity
The Empire was once a leader in magi-engineering technology, but by its end, it had fallen into severe technological stagnation. The high nobility, who held monopolies over core technologies like Mana Stone mines, suppressed new innovations as "profane acts against the laws of nature" to protect their vested interests. They seized the assets of promising companies and buried their technologies...
4. The Knights: The Failure of Asymmetric Power
Knights were the Sword of the Empire. They were human weapons created by consuming nearly infinite resources, a force only the Empire could cultivate. In contrast, the Eastern Union and Western nations developed more advanced mass-produced, single-target lethal weapons such as 'tanks' and 'guided missiles.' While Knights could respond almost invincibly against rifle squads, in the face of tank shelling and anti-personnel guided missiles...
* * *
Knights are not invincible. Neither are mages. Ever since the invention of the simple yet brutal weapons known as 'mana firearms,' the battlefield has been shifting.
A strong Knight can cut down hundreds of soldiers alone. But in a 'war,' a soldier does not stand alone.
Mana easily deflects the physical force of bullets. However, one must dodge tank shells and missiles. Unlike bullets, shells and missiles are significantly larger and contain a meaningful amount of Mana Stones.
In the war against the East, the factors that claimed the most Knights' lives were tanks, anti-personnel guided missiles, and suicide bombings.
Despite this, the Empire focused only on cultivating the 'elite.' Zebestian was the same. Because my father was an aristocrat to his core, and because he had grown too old to chase the progress of the times, he blindly believed in that Iron Man ideology.
...Though, he was also a monster who smashed hundreds of tanks by himself.
As such, the reason the Empire collapsed was not just because of the rebellion.
Fundamentally, it was defeated by its own corruption—by the Revolutionary Group from within, and by the Eastern and Western unions from without.
"And so, the Empire became the defeated."
As I sat in the study muttering to myself, a strange question suddenly occurred to me.
How was the New Cabinet able to take over the ruins of the Empire?
The moment the Empire fell, the nations that had been forcibly annexed and various autonomous regions declared independence, yet the core territory of the Empire immediately fell under the rule of the New Cabinet, to which Edmond belonged.
It was an eerily peaceful and orderly transfer of power.
But think about it.
If I were the President of the Eastern Union, would I have stood by and let a new cabinet take over the vacuum left by an Empire that had sacrificed tens of millions of lives?
At the very least, I would have seized territory as reparations, or more severely, attempted to tear the cabinet into pieces.
That is how the logic of power between nations usually works.
And yet, they withdrew so peacefully.
Why?
Just why?
How could Edmond become the Prime Minister of the New Cabinet, and how could they so harmoniously pick out and crush only the war criminals of the Empire?
"If..."
This might be a premature conjecture on my part.
However, as someone who has personally 'seen' the ruined future, it was a possibility I could not ignore.
"...If the head of the East..."
I thought about the President of the Eastern Union.
Varmil Rextoon.
"If he is an Izenheim."
One very obvious fact:
The Izenheims are not only in the Empire.
"War is inevitable."
That was the conclusion forming in my mind.
* * *
Quieeeeee—
The next morning. A tank was delivered with a thunderous roar. Dieter had managed to purchase a tank and have it brought to my house in just one day.
"...What is this?"
Priya, who had arrived for our lesson, looked at the steel monster in the middle of the yard in bewilderment.
"It's a tank. The latest model from Bertun Industries in Zestpol."
The Zestpol Autonomous Region. It was a very problematic area, but it was also the only place in the Empire capable of producing tanks.
I spoke while tinkering with the tank.
"That muzzle is loaded with 120mm magical shells mixed with highly concentrated mana and armor-piercing fragments. It can blow through most castle walls in a single shot."
"You certainly have a lot of money. Why on earth did you buy this?"
"Shouldn't the Knights of the Empire experience this weight at least once? Before that, I intend to personally figure out a way to deal with this tank. I'd like you to help me, Master."
"...You go first."
I stood about 200 meters away from the tank's muzzle.
"Fire."
No matter how long I waited, the shell did not fire.
"... Yawn."
Priya let out a yawn.
"Fire!"
The tank's hatch opened, and the driver asked with a face that looked ready to cry, "Are you really sure...?"
"There will be a problem if you don't."
He went back inside the tank.
"Fire!"
Kwaaaaaaaa—!
The moment the muzzle flashed.
Tick.
Even within the slowed time, the shell flew in like a bolt of light, and I unleashed my sword.
Sshrk—!
I slashed through the trajectory of the warhead. The shell, sliced in two, slammed into the corner of the yard.
"Oh~ not bad. What do you think?"
"...My mobility is quite fast, so dodging it shouldn't be an issue, but..."
When mana is pushed to the limit, a Knight's body can move at incredibly high speeds. However, the duration is limited. Not every Knight possesses my level of skill, and even I can only use such techniques a few times a day.
"A direct hit would likely result in severe injury or death. However, the shrapnel damage from the explosion can be sufficiently blocked by a Knight's Aura."
If the shell itself directly strikes a Knight's body, the Aura will shatter due to the compressed Mana Stones inside the shell, leading to a fatal wound.
However, in the case of an explosion caused by the shell hitting the ground, the impact and shrapnel are manageable.
"So the actual target area is small. The probability of a tank landing a direct hit on a Knight is low. But battles are prolonged. And guided missiles targeting only Knights will be flying in as well."
Knights are not machines. They slow down as they tire, and thus the probability of a direct hit increases significantly.
However, if a method were invented to perfectly neutralize a direct hit from a shell or missile even two or three times, the Knight could once again become the irregular of the battlefield.
"I think it might work if I control the Aura more efficiently."
"How would you control it?"
"Aura usually clings to the skin like armor, doesn't it? I'm thinking of extending it outward, surrounding the body like a sphere in the form of a wave."
"Are you telling a Knight to perform magic? Aura is manifested through mana circuits. It cannot be maintained if it's detached from the body."
What Priya said was true. But I didn't think so. More accurately, the Virus inside me had a rebuttal.
"It might be possible. If we use high-purity Mana Stones as a medium."
Priya stared at me intently. After looking into my eyes for a while, she asked a peculiar question.
"I'll ask just one thing. What is this for?"
"To help Knights against tanks—"
"I mean, what is all of that for, in the end?"
I looked at Priya.
She was asking for my principle.
However, there was only one answer for all my actions, one answer for all my will.
"Only for the Empire."
* * *
Deploying Aura in a spherical form is entirely possible.
It wasn't logic, but intuition. An instinctive 'knowing' transmitted directly from the Virus within me.
But as Priya said, mana is manifested and controlled through the circuits within the body. Because of this, Aura Shield never leaves the outer layer of the skin.
If there is an external 'medium,' the story changes.
I placed a high-purity Mana Stone—the size of a finger but costing a staggering $300,000—on my palm.
If I infuse my mana into this in a specific [Formula], the flow will resonate with the Mana Stone, forming a spherical Aura centered around it.
For me, this process is understood instinctively, as naturally as breathing. The higher the purity of the Mana Stone, the purer and more solid the Aura formed will be.
The problem is how to 'explain' the principle of emitting Aura through a Mana Stone to others.
I need a mana 'Formula' to transmit the spherical Aura.
To first understand the intuition whispered by the Virus and, furthermore, to convey it to other Knights, I must use the 'language' this world uses to explain mana.
I picked up the professional books I had purchased from Lorenzo. Fortunately, I wasn't a complete novice. In the past, I had been forced to take lessons from a tutor at Empire Point.
"Mana is expressed through precise agreements called formulas..."
A Knight calculates the amount of mana, the flow of mana, and the nature of mana required for the phenomenon they wish to implement. Then, they complete that concept as a 'Formula' within their mana circuits to explosively enhance their physical abilities or manifest Sword Aura and Sword Qi.
All the above processes begin with a pen.
"...First."
I picked up the pen.
Let's write a draft.
Even if it's incomplete, let's at least put this idea into a paper first.
── [ Introduction ] ──
Mana is a powerful force given to humanity, yet at the same time, it is a double-edged sword that is difficult to handle...
Through long years of training and study, the Knights of the Empire utilize 'Aura' wrapped around their bodies, which has made them the masters of the battlefield. However, on the battlefields of the future that we will inevitably face, overwhelming firepower that cannot be blocked by current Aura alone will arrive.
(Omitted)
Accordingly, the author proposes a new mana operation method that utilizes Mana Stones as an external medium to extend and deploy existing Aura into a 'spherical shield' form.
The objective is to maximize the survivability of Knights and secure the Empire's military superiority in the changing battlefield environment...
* * *
Mr. Lorenzo would probably polish it up properly even if I wrote it roughly.
...To be honest, that thought wasn't entirely absent from my mind.
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