Chapter 111
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 111
I woke before dawn. Today, starting at noon, was the street procession of the Crimson Crown Prince, Fransek.
I entered the private training room I had reserved and checked my nervous system, running through my combat arts—starting from basic movements and building up to the complex maneuvers.
A glance at the wall display showed that my execution speed and sense of balance were near my personal best. My condition was excellent.
I threw a punch. It was a movement optimized through the synchronization of flesh and machine.
Weaving my upper body left and right, I unleashed a flurry of punches. As the output of my prosthetic arm ramped up, the punching bag soared higher and higher.
Crack!
Finally, the punching bag slammed into the ceiling before dropping back down. The thunderous impact rebounded off the walls, echoing through the room.
I caught my breath and closed my eyes. My body was warmed up just right.
Next came shadowboxing against an imaginary opponent. It might look foolish, but the effect was significant. By repeatedly anticipating the movements of an enemy I might one day face, I was pre-programming them into my brain. Even without a virtual simulation, this kind of training let me decide and act faster in real combat.
'The enemy is...'
I half-opened my eyes. A faint sliver of light filtered into my pupils.
'...Kinuan, or Heilas?'
When I opened my eyes fully, the figures of the two men overlapped and took shape before me. It was remarkably vivid for mere imagination.
'Another hallucination?'
I blinked.
Since my visit to Director Jin Gau, the hallucinations had improved. Heilas, in particular, no longer appeared as a hairy, bipedal beast.
I wasn't afraid of my mind cracking a little at the edges. What I feared was a brain malfunction during battle—something that would compromise my combat ability.
'As long as I can fight properly, seeing a few hallucinations in my downtime is fine. I came this far prepared to accept at least that much.'
But hallucinations or motor impairment in the heat of battle would be a disaster.
'Kinuan, Heilas... it doesn't matter which. Whoever stands in my way, I will crush them and move forward.'
They would do the same. If they judged me an obstacle, they wouldn't hesitate for a second to take my life.
'I must not hesitate when the moment of decision comes.'
I had to learn from the decisiveness Ilay had shown. Sever all emotion, then act. I could do it too.
Click!
I drew my shock pistol, Ruina, and merely mimicked pulling the trigger. If I fired for real, even an Imperial Guard training room wall would be blown apart.
Hummm!
The high-compression heavy weapon, Crucis, still boasted its pristine form. Despite several real battles, its blade remained as polished and gleaming as new.
Whoosh!
I swung the heavy Crucis. Its sheer momentum felt like it might drag my whole body along with it.
Wielding the Crucis demanded attacks that flowed seamlessly, one into the next. Even with a high-output prosthetic body, trying to resist the kinetic energy of a heavy weapon like the Crucis would shatter my wrists and elbows.
That was what made the Crucis so difficult to master. To use a cliché, it was like a bucking wild stallion.
I looked ahead. The imaginary enemy—Kinuan or Heilas—was dodging my strikes with ease.
Whirrr!
As the momentum built, the Crucis and I moved faster. Spinning like a top, a sudden idea struck me.
Whoosh!
I spun, swung the blade, and released it low, letting it scrape the floor. Leaving my hand, the Crucis flew low like a boomerang.
The imaginary enemy took the blow and dissolved into thin air.
Screeech!
The spinning Crucis tore through the training room wall and climbed all the way to the ceiling. Exposed wires and circuits sparked as current surged through them.
Having chewed its way into the ceiling, the Crucis finally ground to a halt, buried in the steel framework. I reached up and yanked the weapon free.
Riiip!
A tangle of complex components came tumbling down from inside the ceiling along with it. I took a step back and shrugged awkwardly.
"...Surely the Guard's maintenance budget will cover this."
I walked out of the ruined training room.
Dawn was breaking. Sunlight spilled through the gaps between the haphazardly constructed buildings. I chose not to wash up right away, opting instead to walk and feel the early morning breeze.
I liked the feeling of my sweat cooling in the crisp wind after a workout. An indescribable sense of refreshment washed over me.
'Sensations and emotions that will soon disappear.'
The feelings I was experiencing now could never be felt with a full-body prosthetic. Today's memories would become a relic of the past, never to be lived again.
'A world full of contradictions.'
I had replaced my limbs with machinery to grow stronger. Yet to remain human, I now had to fight against machines.
Kinuan, Heilas, even Iskan... they had all urged me to cherish the sensations and memories of a biological body, to experience as much as I could while I still had it.
Step, step.
I took my time, letting my body cool down slowly. I even stared directly into the sun, despite the sting in my eyes.
'Will I too eventually yearn for the flesh and blood I've lost? Or will I live out my days envying those who still have theirs, like the beasts in the torture facility?'
There was no way to know. For now, as long as it made me stronger, I felt I could discard things far more precious than flesh and blood.
Lost in thought, my feet carried me to my door. I was back at my room.
Pshhh.
Even before the door slid fully open, I sensed someone inside. Recognizing the presence, I frowned.
"What brings you here?"
Ivan Cracia sat on the edge of my bed, watching me with a relaxed gaze, his legs crossed.
"You should greet me first. Good morning, Luka. I hear you've been assigned to Fransek's security detail?"
Ivan spoke with an amused smirk.
"I am merely performing my duty as a member of the Guard. It is not a personal security detail."
"No, Fransek will definitely keep you right at his side."
I shared that suspicion. There would be no reason to summon me if he didn't intend to keep me close.
"...And thank you for the warning last time. It saved my life."
I offered my sincere gratitude. Had I not been prepared for that armed helicopter, I would have lost a limb—or worse, my life.
"Even without my warning, you would have managed. I simply wanted to put you in my debt. You've always had a soft spot for those you owe."
"That's true."
"By the way, Heilas is quite impressive. I didn't expect him to seize the rights to the Catacomb Mine. It's made him much harder to squeeze. If we were to move against Heilas and the military now...?"
Ivan trailed off, waiting for my response. His eyes sparkled with the innocence of a young boy.
"Because he redirected the Catacomb Mine's profits into the Wounded Soldier Fund, any move against Heilas would look like persecution."
Ivan clapped his hands in satisfaction.
"Haha, brilliant as always. Truly worthy of a Watcher. It proves Heilas's uncanny ability to slip our traps wasn't just luck. He always seemed on the verge of getting caught, yet he never did. Who would have thought he was lining his own pockets? The same goes for those other old geezers strutting around with their medals. Running an empire is no easy feat. The moment they get a taste of power, they all try to bite the hand that feeds them."
A wave of complicated emotions washed over me.
Heilas was far more than a loyal soldier. As one of the military's top brass, he was highly skilled in scheming and political maneuvering. Now that he had shown his hand, Heilas wouldn't go down quietly. He might even launch a counterattack.
Yet the longer Heilas held out, the higher the odds of the Custoria family's total annihilation.
"Your Highness..."
"Call me Ivan. Address me by that title again and I'll get angry."
"Ivan, your thoughts seem to differ from His Majesty's."
I spoke boldly. Ivan had hinted at this during our last meeting.
'Luka, I'm not like my father. My father is my father, and I am myself. This current plan is my father's will.'
I chose to believe those words had been genuine.
A faint smile played on Ivan's lips as he spoke.
"My father is old. Like all emperors and kings, his judgment has clouded and he has grown weak in his twilight years. Even a supreme emperor of divine blood is no exception. I, on the other hand, am just entering my prime. Even now, countless plans surge endlessly through my mind. I need the power and authority to bring them to life. I can't bear to wait another year—let alone ten."
Ivan extended a slender hand and clenched his fist, as if seizing the empty air. His eyes shone with a brilliant intensity, seeming to draw in the very light around them. The room dimmed until only his pupils remained, glowing like the sun and moon.
...It was staggeringly bold. It made my own earlier declarations feel utterly trivial.
I was speechless. If anyone but royalty had spoken those words, summary execution would have been a mercy. Not just their entire clan, but everyone they had ever known would have been put to the sword.
'He intends to depose his own father and take the throne.'
This ambitious boy clearly had no intention of walking the path his father had paved for him.
I answered with silence. I could not afford to voice even a hint of agreement.
"Luka, this isn't a test of your qualifications as a Watcher. I swear it on everything I have."
He was telling the truth. My intuition screamed it. Yet my lips stayed sealed.
Ivan sighed and rose to his feet. To my astonishment, he walked straight up the wall and stood upside down on the ceiling, his bare soles clinging effortlessly to the surface.
With his hair hanging down toward the floor, Ivan came to a stop directly above me.
"Akies Domini, the Emperor's Watcher... let me tell you one of the requirements. A Watcher must not be crushed by authority. He must be someone capable of offering a dissenting opinion—even when facing the Emperor himself."
My eyes widened. Only then did everything click into place.
A Watcher required the mindset of the Akies Victima. They existed to assist and refine the Emperor's thoughts and judgments. Even without explicit orders, a Watcher had to identify the Emperor's blind spots and cover them.
"There is no absolute truth in this human world of ours. Now, as in the past, conflict and dialectic are what spark higher thinking and better judgment. Yet on the surface, the Emperor must remain a divine, infallible figure. He cannot afford to appear capable of error."
Ivan dropped from the ceiling, landing silently behind me. I didn't turn around. I felt that if I met his eyes right now, I would find myself dropping to my knees, swearing absolute, heartfelt loyalty to him.
There was an indescribable quality to Ivan. People probably called it an aura, a presence—charisma.
"Normally, a Watcher trained in the Akies Victima must erase his own presence and support the Emperor from the shadows. But my father has grown weak, and Kinuan has crossed the line. The plan to assassinate Fransek was conceived by Kinuan long ago. A brain-damaged cripple... proposing the murder of imperial royalty."
I couldn't see Ivan's expression. I could only feel the crushing weight of his gaze burning into the back of my neck.
"Is the problem that they're trying to kill Prince Fransek?"
I asked, breaking the silence. Did the monster standing behind me actually possess some shred of familial affection?
"No, the plan itself is brilliant. The problem is that it came from Kinuan's mouth, and my father accepted it without a second thought. That is not how a healthy relationship between an Emperor and his Watcher works. It wasn't a conclusion forged through a clash of opposing views—it was the result of Kinuan quietly manipulating my father."
I had been a fool to hope for brotherly love. Of course that wasn't it.
"I understand why you can't say anything. There's no need to answer, either. The bond between an Emperor and his Watcher is forged in silence. Listen, Luka. I need chaos. And I must wreck my father and Kinuan's plan."
Ivan had sought me out right before Fransek's procession. Starting from that premise, my mind automatically began tracing cause and effect, piecing together my mission and my role in all of this.
"...When the time comes, play your part. You are my Watcher, and no one else's."
The door slid open, and Ivan's presence vanished with it.