Do Your Own Revolution

#145

“Huaaahm~!”

While Eugene was talking with Dr. Lavrenti.

The officers accompanying Eugene were deeply engaged in conversation outside the interrogation room.

“What could they be talking about that needs to be just the two of them?”

“Right? If it’s just about getting information, they could’ve just sent in a torture specialist.”

Matt and Guille muttered while staring at the interrogation room.

Though they were grumbling, none of them attempted to force their way into the interrogation room.

“Eugene decided to do it this way. It’s not our place to question it.”

If he made a judgment and decision, they simply had to follow it.

“By the way, isn’t it unusual for General Keiren to slow down the offensive for a month?”

It would be better to change the subject.

As Guille brought this up, Erich, who was leaning on the nearby railing, nodded and said,

“Our enemies aren’t just in front of us. He’s saying we need to start paying attention to that side too.”

“Ah, certainly.”

Matt shook his head in understanding at Erich’s words.

A month of regrouping and troop reallocation.

This was intended to both stabilize the Republic front and suppress the magic nobles who had become unrestrained due to the absence of the Kalhyram Army.

“The war is almost over. So don’t act rashly… That’s what he’s thinking.”

“But our situation isn’t exactly comfortable either.”

The Republic’s vast territory was both potential strength for the Empire and a major potential risk factor.

“Local security maintenance, occupied territory management, refugee acceptance, and reconstruction plans… The Kalhyram Army’s capabilities are being mobilized to normalize the newly acquired territories.”

“You’re saying that even if we send troops back home, they won’t be able to properly keep things in check.”

“Since they didn’t participate in the war, the Knight Order still has most of their high-ranking mages intact.”

If the magic nobles were to raise an army at this timing, it would be impossible to suppress it with the troops currently remaining in the imperial capital.

This meant that this moment, with the secretary general’s blade at their throat, could become the greatest crisis for Eugene and the imperial faction.

“Then what? Are you saying we have to return to the Empire after coming this far?”

“What about the secretary general? Are we supposed to let go of what we’ve almost caught?”

“No, that won’t happen.”

As the officers’ conversation lengthened, Eugene, who had finished his discussion with Lavrenti, dismissed their words.

“Oh, you’re out now.”

“Got a cigarette?”

“Pay me back tomorrow. You know it’s already three, right?”

“I’ll give you a pack from my room. The expensive kind.”

Eugene put the cigarette he received from Guille in his mouth while saying this.

“What about the doctor?”

“Knocked out and in solitary confinement.”

“What? That’s unusual, you didn’t kill him?”

“He proposed a plea deal, so I accepted. Thanks to that, we were able to learn about the remaining Republican army’s main strongholds and deployments.”

“What? So he gets to live?”

“Of course not.”

Eugene shrugged his shoulders as he said,

“Judgment of war criminals falls under the jurisdiction of the Kalhyram military court. All I can do is make suggestions.”

“That’s right.”

The one who responded to those words was Keiren, who had appeared beside Eugene.

“Marshal, sir!”

“Ah, at ease. And let me have a cigarette too.”

“It’s an honor.”

After hastily accepting the salute, Keiren spoke with a cigarette in his mouth.

“The suggestion from our Special Magical Power Unit division commander will be rejected by me as general. Lavrenti will go through a military trial and disappear like the morning dew in an imperial prison.”

“Then that…”

Looking at my friends who were staring at me, I shrugged.

“I said I’d try my best, but I never said I’d save him.”

Meaning I literally didn’t lie.

My friends let out sighs of relief as they looked at me.

“That’s more like it. I was wondering why that devil-like guy was suddenly negotiating…”

“Getting close as a friend to squeeze out what he needs and then disposing of them, just like with the Revolutionary Army supreme leader.”

Wait, why is Claude being brought up here?

While Eugene and his friends’ conversation continued, Erich looked at Keiren and asked,

“Is it really alright not to return to the Empire? The Knight Order and noble families have been quiet until now, but no matter how you think about it…”

“I share your thoughts. They’re probably storing up their strength and waiting for the most effective time to use it.”

“Then…!”

After catching his breath for a moment, Erich continued,

“Then why aren’t we sending additional troops back to the Empire? Managing occupied territories is certainly important, but right now, the Empire’s internal…”

Just as Erich was about to say more.

“Because it’s an imperial order.”

With those words, Keiren silently handed him a document.

“……”

An order with the Emperor’s official seal.

It contained the command: ‘Until supreme leader Vladimir is killed, all Kalhyram Army returns are forbidden.’

“Huh, not to return until we take the enemy leader’s head…”

“That’s brutal. If His Majesty himself said this, it really means either the Republic dies or we die, right?”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be the Republic that dies, not us.”

Keiren said with a grin.

As if to guarantee those words, Eugene opened his mouth toward his companions:

“The Republic is the Empire’s greatest remaining threat. If we don’t eliminate them now that we’ve cornered them, who knows what they’ll do next.”

At the same time, he was the final uncertain factor that could change this world’s direction.

If they delayed any longer, it would become irreversible.

“Our top priority is the secretary general. Until we take his head, we don’t return.”

“……”

“And after we’ve dealt with the entire Westraine Republic…”

If they succeed in stopping the secretary general’s plans and changing the fate of destruction.

“We’ll purge all the magic nobles and Knight Order from the Empire.”

His friends grinned as if they had been waiting for those words.

Seeing them, Eugene recalled a single piece of paper in his possession.

The Empire Emperor’s will.

The trigger for change designed by the last Emperor of the Kalhyram Empire.

***

While the Kalhyram Army was on expedition to the Republic, the Knight Order stationed within the Empire was busy preparing for deployment.

There was only one reason why the Knight Order, unable to go to the battlefield, was making such preparations.

They were preparing for a coup d’état.

Boom–!

“Damn it, that’s the fifth explosion!”

“Where is it this time?!”

“The 8th military warehouse?! Impossible, inside there is…!”

With successive explosions, the entire Knight Order station was thrown into chaos.

The unexpected bomb terror.

The perpetrator who attacked the train station in Nachtval territory, a major Knight Order gathering point, was destroying all railways heading to the imperial capital while simultaneously destroying the Knight Order’s strategic supplies.

Remnants of the Revolutionary Army?

Or the Imperial Intelligence Department?

The knights who thought this while tracking down the perpetrator soon had to grit their teeth with surprised expressions.

“Young Master Feilun…?”

“Why would the young master do such a thing…!”

What the Duke Nachtval’s Knight Order who had immediately tracked them down encountered was Feilun and his knights and young nobles.

They, known by the alias ‘Youth Faction’, were aiming their weapons with tense eyes.

‘Ten commander-level knights with five stroke imprint, and this many knights…’

While the knights looked at him with surprised expressions, Feilun also broke into a cold sweat seeing their lineup.

Such quick response as if they had been waiting, and a tracking team much stronger than expected.

This wasn’t a response possible without knowing about the attack in advance and preparing for it.

‘He saw through it. That snake-like man.’

Feilun’s eyes narrowed as he assessed the situation.

Judging by the tracking team’s formation, they were being commanded by Duke Nachtval himself.

Though he thought he had hidden it well, in the end, he had been in the palm of his hand.

Just as he was thinking this while facing off against the knights.

“Above Feilun!”

“!?”

As Feilun immediately deployed a barrier upon hearing the warning, a massive beam of light struck down toward his head.

Bam–!

“Kuh?!”

An enormous amount of magical power striking the barrier, and the barrier breaking unable to withstand it.

Even for a high-ranking mage, there weren’t many who could overwhelm him with magical power when he had reached the realm of six strokes.

‘Moreover, this magical power wavelength I’m feeling from the barrier now…!’

Feilun’s face hardened as he grit his teeth.

Penetration technique, [Concentrated Beam]

This technique of firing the highest density light particles was Duke Nachtval’s favorite technique.

“You blocked one shot. Though your qualities and power are regrettably good… It can’t be helped.”

The duke walked forward with a leisurely voice.

Feilun’s expression grew fiercer seeing that face.

“I can’t keep a maggot who betrayed the family as heir anymore.”

“You…!”

Just as another massive light was about to swallow them along with the duke’s immediate hand gesture.

Kiiing–!

A huge rocky barrier that flew in from somewhere blocked the duke’s beam of light.

“W-what?!”

“He blocked His Grace’s magic? How…!”

The knights were filled with shocked expressions.

However, amidst this chaos, there was one man maintaining his composure.

‘Gravity manipulation… Raikard’s magic? To block the family head’s magic means…’

Duke Nachtval frowned and turned his gaze.

A man looking at him with cold eyes

Besides him, who was floating a huge rock, numerous knights were lined up.

“Count Raikard…?”

“Impossible. Why would another magic noble…”

Just as they were about to be confused by the appearance of unexpected reinforcements.

“Why, you ask!”

As he said this, a young mage appeared from behind Count Raikard.

Count Raikard’s first son, Kyle Raikard.

He was Feilun’s junior from the military academy who had also belonged to the ‘Eugene faction’.

“Your Grace. This is…!”

“Things are getting more and more complicated.”

Seeing Count Raikard walk forward among the knights protecting Feilun,

Duke Nachtval roughly clicked his tongue and thought.

‘Right. To gather that many nobles, Feilun’s power alone wouldn’t be enough.’

He thought there must be someone supporting from behind, but to think it would be Count Raikard… A fellow member of the Round Table.

The duke sent a wary look and opened his mouth with a heavy sigh.

“What are you doing! Count Raikard. Are you and the Raikard family betraying the Round Table now?”

“I should be the one asking that, Duke Nachtval.”

Unlike usual, he spoke without honorifics.

Just as he was frowning at the disrespectful tone, Raikard questioned the duke in a stern voice.

“Supporting Prince Meldir and attacking the imperial palace? And contacting Republic spies for this plan? Is this truly fact?”

“Contact? It was merely a political transaction.”

“Transaction? After contacting enemy agents during wartime and leaking imperial secrets, you dare call it a transaction now?”

Count Raikard’s face grew fiercer as his questioning of the duke continued.

“I understood when the Round Table deeply interfered in imperial politics.”

Because if the imperial authority had fallen, a force was needed to maintain balance in its place.

“Even when you did such a despicable thing to Lord Maximilien… Informant M… even when you ruthlessly suppressed the Revolutionary Army, I didn’t raise any particular objection.”

Because even if their cause and revenge were justified, the flames of revolution would inevitably throw imperial citizens into the flames of conflict.

“But now… I regret all that silence.”

“Regret?”

As the duke asked back, Count Raikard who glared at him raised his voice.

“If I hadn’t stayed silent with excuses of having no alternatives. If I had thrown away the rationalization of having no choice and raised my voice! Our Round Table wouldn’t have degenerated into such a vulgar group-!”

“…!”

“Both Buckenheim who commits these acts and Nachtval who supports them are out of their minds! All the other families staying silent too! They’re all crazy!”

Count Raikard’s voice grew more intense as if spewing out long-held emotions.

“The Knight Order is the Empire’s guardian and shield! The sword that protects citizens and the pillar they should trust and rely on! If the imperial family regains its power and authority, we simply return to our original place!”

And yet.

And yet these so-called nobles…!

“How much more power must you covet?! How much more must you tarnish the nobility’s honor before you’re satisfied?!”

Crack.

At the count’s accusations, the duke’s shoulders slowly dropped.

‘How foolish.’

Hearing him speak, it seems there’s no room for negotiation.

Then, I’ll simply eliminate him to prevent future troubles.

“To think there would be a traitor within the Round Table, I couldn’t have imagined.”

“Likewise. The Round Table colluding with the Republic and betraying the Empire. Unimaginable.”

Duke Nachtval and Count Raikard faced each other while speaking thus.

After a moment of silence passed between the two seven stroke mages-

“Release.”

“Crush.”

Kuung–!

As the [Domain] activated by the two absolute beings collided, a storm of magical power swept through the crowd.

“Kuh?!”

“Maintain magical power defense! You’ll be swept away if you lose focus!”

“Magical power synchronization! Hurry!”

A numbing sensation throughout the body just from raising their faces.

Count Raikard, who stepped forward with black energy, looked at the young mages standing behind him.

“Follow the path and you’ll find an armored train. Lead your companions and take it.”

“Father!”

“We’ll join you. If we who caused all this abandon Your Lordship and flee…”

“It’s an imperial order.”

A brief but decisive statement.

“Head to the imperial capital.”

With that, Count Raikard turned back and spoke to the young nobles who would carry on the next generation.

“His Majesty has a task for you.”

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