Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: The Gift (4)
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Ever since coming to the Cradle, a corner of my heart had always been uneasy.
It was because of the satellite city's main power unit, which could stop functioning at any moment.
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*The main power unit's damage is extremely severe, and immediate action is required.
*Clumsy attempts at repair have been made on several occasions, exacerbating the problem.
*At present, a crash is unavoidable.
*Current Main Power Unit Durability (999/99999)
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Although the decline had stopped and was maintaining its current state, there was no telling when the durability would plummet again like before.
Sooner or later.
The fall of the satellite city was inevitable; it was only a matter of time.
That fact always made me anxious.
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*Clumsy attempts at repair have been made on several occasions, exacerbating the problem.
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I didn't know who the hell had clumsily tampered with it and made the problem worse, but I was determined not to let them get away with it if I ever found them.
But then.
『Senior Maintenance Technician, Power Unit Specialist, Heidolf』
I thought I had just found the bastard.
The moment I saw the name written in the register, a possibility surfaced in my mind.
The thought occurred to me that perhaps the foretold tragedy of the satellite city wasn't a simple disaster, but a man-made catastrophe intentionally caused by someone under orders.
"Nah, no way."
At first, it was just a possibility.
"...Really?"
Then, it became a suspicion.
"Wow, this person is truly inhuman."
Finally, it became a certainty.
I already knew from Jamal Rudiger that the Empress was smuggling talented individuals out of the Cradle.
The fall of the Empire, the collapse of the Imperial Family.
The Empress, who prioritized recruiting talent over rooting out the traitors who wrote and distributed subversive and audacious documents.
The number of names written in the register was not small.
But even so, the names listed were only a fraction of the total population of the Cradle.
There were far more people in the Cradle who had not yet been swayed by the Empress's persuasion.
If they were to graduate from the Cradle safely, they would be bound to serve the Empire for a certain period.
It was obvious whom they would serve between the Empress and the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince was the legitimate heir of the Empire.
He was the Empire, and the Empire was him.
That was, of course, assuming the Crown Prince safely inherited the throne.
So, to summarize the main point.
"She's going to massacre hundreds of people over a family feud?"
It meant the horrific tragedy to come was nothing more than a part of the future struggle for the right of succession.
"A couple more family feuds and the country will be ruined."
It was a simple metaphor, but on second thought, it was the truth.
In my past life, the Empire had shattered into pieces, leaving not even a trace behind.
"Hah."
It was absurd.
In my past life, I always wondered.
How did the world end up in such a state?
Why did the perfectly fine Empire fall overnight?
But now, I knew.
"The culprit is..."
The Empress.
Rage boiled within me.
I suffered because of the Great War, and I died because of the Great War.
It was a war that would not have happened if the Empire had remained intact.
I couldn't be certain, but the Empress must have played a significant role in the Empire's downfall.
Therefore, the Empress was my enemy.
I was impressed with myself.
Even I thought the conclusion I had reached was so perfectly logical.
"How should I pay her back for this?"
The answer had been decided from the start.
I just had to modify the plan.
If I could just prevent the Crown Prince's death, wouldn't the Empire's future change?
My vague goal became much clearer.
The motive to save the Crown Prince was sufficient.
But that alone wasn't satisfying enough.
I needed something more.
"What could it be?"
I pondered.
The answer came quickly.
"I guess I'll have to wreck her plans."
It would be quite satisfying to ruin the plans of someone blinded by their lust for power.
I intended to interfere to the best of my ability.
And I happened to have a suitable means to do so.
I looked forward.
Perhaps it was my imagination, but the top of his head, which seemed to have become even balder in that short time, caught my eye.
Gleaming.
The moment I saw that shine, it felt like my eyes were wide open.
Jamal Rudiger.
The man who had come to the Cradle under the Empress's orders, but was now forced to stand on the opposite side to survive.
The register he possessed was the best tool I had at the moment.
"Oh dear. I meant to take a short nap, but I slept quite deeply."
Waking up at the perfect moment, Jamal Rudiger shot up.
Then he picked up the scroll he had placed on the table.
Thud.
I grabbed his hand.
"...Why?"
Jamal Rudiger looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"The register."
I demanded of him.
"Could you show me the rest?"
He was puzzled by my sudden change in attitude but didn't bother asking for a reason.
He simply made a demand in exchange for showing me the register.
"I hear you're well-connected with the Iron Cross Order, kid. Could you arrange a meeting for a devout knight to have a meaningful time with the Abbot?"
He was asking me to introduce him to someone else who could be his backer, instead of the terrifying Gaznae knight.
"Is there any reason I can't make the introduction?"
"Then is there any reason I can't show you?"
Jamal Rudiger bared his white teeth.
I grinned back at him.
He extended his hand.
I reached out my own.
Squeeze.
"We have a deal, kid."
After speaking, Jamal Rudiger took out a booklet from his coat.
The booklet, made of high-quality paper, didn't even have a title.
Its contents were far too dangerous to be given a proper title.
"You can only look at the register in my presence."
He was saying he wouldn't allow me to copy the names from the register when he wasn't around.
It was only natural.
The value of information increases the fewer people know it.
If I were to copy the register and run straight to the Crown Prince, Jamal Rudiger would be left high and dry.
Squeeze.
Perhaps belatedly starting to worry, Jamal Rudiger was reluctant to let go of the register.
"If the register is that precious, you should just keep it under wraps."
Only after I chided him did Jamal Rudiger loosen his tight grip on the register.
"But what on earth are you planning to do with this?"
Instead of answering his question, I opened the register.
Then, I checked the names written inside.
While tracing my memories from my past life.
"Let's see..."
I began to compare the names in the register one by one with the memories from my past life that came to mind.
Not long after opening the register, a slew of names I recognized appeared.
"Draymon, the Knight of Swiftness."
I repeated the name written at the very top several times under my breath.
What happened to Draymon, again?
Memories from my past life naturally came to me.
I wrote down the memories that surfaced onto a piece of paper.
Not things that would happen in the future, but things that were already in the past, even at this point in time.
For instance.
『In a secret relationship with a fellow knight from his order, despite being engaged to the daughter of the Lake family, his sponsor』
『The fellow knight in the secret relationship is a man』
The kind of shameful secrets the person involved would want to hide.
"...?"
Jamal Rudiger, who had crept closer to see what I was doing, widened his eyes.
『Lauren the Unfighting』
『A fake knight who imprinted a stigma using a magic tool bought on the black market and poses as a knight』
Pretending not to notice, I continued to write down the shameful secrets of the knights listed in the register.
"What is this...?"
Jamal Rudiger let out a groan.
『Gillian, Knight of the Lake』
『Loses his power if the lake, the site of his oath, becomes polluted』
Regardless, I simply focused on my work.
***
Several days passed after I made the deal with Jamal Rudiger.
I worked through the nights, forgetting to sleep, and was finally able to finish.
"Yaaawn."
After a yawn, I organized the stack of papers on the table.
On each and every page were written the shameful secrets and weaknesses the knights wanted to hide.
"Here."
I handed the organized stack of papers to Jamal Rudiger.
"...?"
"Give these to His Highness the Crown Prince along with the register."
"So, why are you giving this to me."
"Because I can't leave the Cradle."
Jamal Rudiger frowned at my words.
He had a contemplative look on his face.
"...What if I were to omit your name and present this as if it were my own discovery?"
I wondered what he was thinking about, and it turned out to be that.
I replied nonchalantly.
"Go ahead."
"...What?"
"That's why I'm giving it to you."
The truth was, the information I had given Jamal Rudiger was a double-edged sword.
If used properly, it wouldn't be difficult to control the individuals involved, but in the process, it would inevitably create resentment.
And I was still too small and insignificant to handle their grudges.
Jamal Rudiger probably knew that as well.
"...Thank you."
Despite that, he expressed his gratitude to me.
"No need to be so grateful. It's possible His Highness the Crown Prince might see it and think of you, Sir Jamal, as some insidious fellow who goes around digging up other people's weaknesses."
It wasn't just words; no one would like a person who went around exposing others' weaknesses and shameful secrets.
"I'll handle that myself."
Jamal Rudiger took the stack of papers and tucked it into his coat.
Seeing that he had his own way of doing things, I shrugged.
He might seem naive, but he was a man with a knack for navigating social situations; he would manage.
It wasn't a problem I needed to worry about.
What was important to me now was only the fact that a certain madwoman who had driven the entire continent to war over a family feud would be put in a very difficult position because of this.
That was exactly what I wanted.
"Here's a letter for the Abbot of the Iron Cross Order. If you take this, he'll at least treat you to a cup of tea. Their cookies are amazing."
Thinking of the generous Abbot's face, I naturally recalled the taste of the sweet cookies I had been treated to back then.
This damned Cradle is great in many ways, but it absolutely refuses to serve sweet food.
They said sweet foods were excluded from the diet entirely due to their various effects on mind and body, which was a deplorable state of affairs for me.
Anyway.
"Well, whether you receive the protection of the Iron Cross Order or not..."
"That, too, is for me to handle. You've already paid more than enough."
I nodded at Jamal Rudiger's words.
As he said, the deal was just to arrange a meeting with the Abbot of the Iron Cross Order in the capital, so I had fulfilled my part of the bargain.
"You're from the west, aren't you? I heard that Grita Giftrang, the head of a collateral branch of the Komlat Giftrang family, was so fond of you that she willingly wrote you a letter of recommendation."
But it seemed Jamal Rudiger had other ideas.
"Aren't you curious about the news from there?"
Come to think of it, quite a lot of time had passed since I came to the Cradle.
By now, Grita Giftrang and her household should have finished their move to the mountains and started their "business," so I was quite curious about how they were doing.
"To put it simply, Komlat Giftrang no longer exists in this world."
Quietly waiting for Jamal Rudiger to speak, I shot up from my seat without realizing it.
"Because of me..."
A wave of self-blame washed over me.
They must have met with misfortune while recklessly conducting their business in the mountains.
I had incited people who were doing just fine to suffer such a calamity; my karma was immeasurably heavy.
As I was blaming myself like that.
"Instead, new people have settled in the mountains."
Jamal Rudiger spoke again.
"The Relief Knights..."
An unexpected name came from his lips.
"The commander is a woman you know."
A playful smile had appeared on Jamal Rudiger's previously serious face.
"No way...?"
"That's right. Grita, she is the commander of the Relief Knights that have settled in the mountains."