Chapter 316
Chapter 316
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 316
Chapter Title: I'll Prove It
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“They tried to kill him. If Lucas hadn’t kicked their hand away, they would’ve shot more.”
Heike’s dry voice shattered the silence.
The eyes of all the friends gathered here, except for Lucas and Leo, turned to him. The 101st batch was quiet after receiving their lecture. Getting scolded wasn’t a big deal in itself, but the 98th batch’s attempted murder wasn’t something they could easily forget.
“I fully understand the risks of disarming activities, and I have no objections to the punishment.”
Ullrike, who had been listening quietly, was a bit taken aback by Heike’s impassive expression. He rolled his eyes before responding.
“…Yeah, we got off lightly. But that’s not the issue…”
“But we were taught to rescue people, so why did they try to kill him?”
Heike wasn’t indignant or incredulous. He wasn’t feeling wronged from the lecture either. He simply had doubts about the seniors acting contrary to their instructions. Yulia, who had been calmly sipping her tea with an expressionless face, spoke evenly.
“The state is turning a blind eye. With things escalating this far, they probably don’t want to waste manpower. Even if they use the same 15th Squad, killing with firearms reduces fatigue on our wizards, allowing them to be deployed on other missions, and it cuts treatment costs too.”
“Then they should just order us to kill from the start.”
Heike asked matter-of-factly, as if he could kill on command without fail. Yulia, who had fallen silent, smiled faintly and replied.
“They want to catch both rabbits.”
“……”
Ullrike, grasping the meaning, clutched his face and said.
“This isn’t right. Have those seniors been killing people like that all this time? Really? If this is what imperial wizards are like, it’d be better to leave this organization altogether.”
At his words, everyone’s gazes turned to him. Ullrike thought for a moment longer before adding.
“…That said, we can’t just curl up and quit. …Elias mentioned training earlier. I was too complacent. Let’s go grab some mimesis right now.”
“Agreed.”
Elias replied without expression and stood up.
If rescue operations are inefficient and killing is necessary, then there’s no alternative but to increase efficiency. Elias harbored other intentions inwardly, but he couldn’t voice unrealistic plans like overthrowing the batch system in front of them. The other friends all grabbed their training gear and headed out of the dorm.
However, two of them couldn’t finish training before being called out by Leo, and eventually all five had to do the same.
* * *
“He was an outstanding student. Graduated with top grades.”
4 a.m.
I was in the 2nd Imperial Academy’s records archive with Narke. Naturally, this was right after wrapping up meetings with my Eschet friends.
“Oh, and you should know this. It’s not usually allowed, but since you’re students, I’m making an exception.”
Our homeroom professor suddenly turned to me and Narke, cautioning us. He carefully rummaged through a drawer and shoved an imperial 2nd Academy ranking sheet from a few years back at us.
‘Hm.’
1st place.
Adrian Ascanien. Not surprising. Who else would take 1st if not him?
And 2nd place.
Albert Mecklenburg.
“……”
Why I ended up holding that revolver. Unable to shake off that question, I came to the records archive before diving into serious work, to gather intel on how to design the game board.
Narke and I exchanged wordless smiles, and the professor grinned back as he said.
“Albert Mecklenburg got along well with your brother. Both were so exceptional that they only had each other to talk to.”
The professor pulled out a group activity photo album. There was a photo of Adrian Ascanien and Albert Mecklenburg with arms around each other’s shoulders.
‘They only had each other to talk to, so they got along….’
A fine interpretation. In truth, Adrian Ascanien wouldn’t have connected with his peers. For any kind of outlier to communicate without drawing resentment from classmates, they need to learn their peers’ perspectives. In such cases, a friend who doesn’t take offense no matter how straightforwardly you speak or act is invaluable. But how far each deviated from the norm is crucial. It determines how they viewed each other. I flipped through the transcript and asked indirectly.
“His Excellency Mecklenburg must be a fine character.”
“Very polite and kind-hearted. He’d always check on isolated classmates, mediate fights before they started. He’s still in touch with those friends he bonded with that way.”
Entirely plausible. Shooting someone you’re supposed to rescue without qualms is a different dimension from this. The professor, clearly fond of the student, continued smiling.
“Great leadership, polite to everyone, courteous…. If I had a son, I’d want to raise him just like that. Oh, your brother was excellent too, of course.”
“I know. I can see why you’d say that, Professor.”
I smiled playfully. He didn’t think my intent was malicious and nodded with a chuckle. Then he spotted another document and showed it to me.
“This student had the best volunteer record on campus. Right… I remember him leading the class to the poorhouse every break.”
“Having such a fine person as my direct senior warms my heart.”
“Heh heh. Yes. You resemble Adrian in many ways…”
The professor brushed back my bangs, studied my face, grinned, and patted my shoulder.
“Albert will feel a fresh nostalgia too, paired with a student like his one-and-only friend.”
* * *
The professor’s words were like a declaration.
You’re marked, marked again, and marked once more. Every time Albert Mecklenburg sees your face, he’ll think of Adrian Ascanien and do to you what he wanted to do to his brother.
‘Fun….’
Not teasing—this was genuine amusement. Who wouldn’t react the same in my shoes? I expect most would.
The revolver he handed me before time rewound wasn’t coincidence.
Even without me, plenty could’ve been ordered to shoot, and if he had to pick, he’d go for Leo, the fellow squadron leader. To crush a batch’s spirit, start with the head, right? Especially since Leo openly irked him, making it even likelier.
Yet why me? If it’s about picking someone unlikely to shoot, my face isn’t particularly off-putting, and tormenting pliable types like Ullrike or Heike would’ve been optimal for him.
In the end, my predawn investigation solidified this hypothesis.
He sees me not as Lucas Ascanien, but as Adrian Ascanien’s little brother. He must’ve sensed the same wall from me that he felt from Adrian, and ten-plus years of academy instincts from his 3rd Academy days screamed to stamp out this other Ascanien early—especially the second son now showing signs of treading his eldest brother’s path after resolving the Pentaron terror.
“How’s your thinking? Changed at all?”
After moving into the quarters assigned this morning, we assembled in front of the 98th batch quarters as expected. Mecklenburg approached and asked.
“Yes.”
Unlike yesterday, Mecklenburg nodded as if he’d anticipated it, gesturing for the vice leader to handle things. Before he turned, I spoke.
“But I know exactly what you intend by ‘teaching’ the 101st batch.”
Mecklenburg slowly turned back to me. With a mild face yet an incredulous smile, he replied.
“To me, it doesn’t seem to have sunk in. What do you think?”
“I’ll prove it to you, Your Excellency.”
“……”
Even without getting to the main point, his eyes narrowed slightly and his lip twitched. Fleeting, so no one else noted it, but the meaning of that facial shift was clear to me.
‘Yeah, good. …Satisfying words.’
It might’ve boosted his self-efficacy more if it came from Adrian Ascanien vowing to prove himself, not Lucas, but right now, in this spot, I’m the one he inwardly wants to crush.
“I want to prove it. Assign all berserker reports slated for the 98th batch’s A Team today to the 101st batch.”
“…….”
A transparent request.
It clearly shows intent to prevent the 98th from using firearms, plus the hope that ‘if we handle today well, you’ll allow no firearms.’
I said it knowing full well how it’d land. Now that I know his reverse scale, and until the basics wrap up, he needs to stay ahead.
In short, they won’t accept ‘proof.’
Instead, they might think indulging our hope is fine. How naive must we look, begging to prove their choice right? Even seeing our proof, they’ll refuse.
My bomb of a request drew no reaction from my friends; they stared ahead. We’d discussed it with all six at dawn, so naturally.
“Do as you like.”
Mecklenburg’s eventual reply was curt. He left his colleagues behind.
Time passed—I couldn’t tell how much. Shadows shortening meant noon had come. Mecklenburg skipped lecturing again today; the 98th vice leader handled it all.
“Stand.”
The 98th vice leader snatched the artifact from my ear, handed me a comms artifact. My artifact had signaled a 101st dispatch, so he was telling me to get up.
Thud—
I stomped to greet them and dashed out.
“Luca!”
Friends waiting at the quarters’ main gate grabbed me. I roughly wiped sweat with the towel they offered and brushed dirt off my clothes.
“…You okay?”
Ullrike had been asking this since our dawn meeting.
There’s reason for it. Between reports, I’m being hauled off for mental conditioning. At least only I’m targeted, which is fortunate—disobeying orders outright before basics finish would ruin everything, so better me alone than dragging everyone through it.
“Of course. If anything, I should ask you guys, now deploying multiple times.”
“What the hell are you saying.”
Leo cut in coldly before I finished. It was politeness, so no need to argue.
With friends’ help, we warped to the headquarters berserker control center. A wizard who’d received the police wire eyed us dubiously.
“Feeling unwell anywhere?”
“No.”
Fair question. Even I could tell I looked rough. No time for a shower, so I ignored it, but Ullrike assumed I was offended, cast a sound barrier, and railed against the 98th.
“…Why do this right after a dispatch? Already drained, and now…”
“It’s to screw up the next report.”
Elias, standing coldly, interrupted.
“If we’re too exhausted to stand, they get to use firearms as they want.”
Spot on. This strategy aims to wear me down into using weapons. Whatever grudge Albert Mecklenburg holds, they’ve pushed firearms from the start. Same before time rewind.
Sparing the other six conditioning is their escape hatch—if over-lecturing causes on-site safety issues, they need an out.
Despite our dawn meeting, Elias’s stiff expression softened when I kept staring; he patted my back.
“Luca, hop on!”
“So kind….”
Kindness in the wrong direction. I tussled with Elias trying to drag me, dispatched to the final site, then hit the hospital with friends exhausted from three berserker takedowns.
Now, time to slip away for work. Timed for peak berserker reports, it matched perfectly.
“Let’s go.”
Leo, to dodge suspicion, dragged Narke to Bayern. I passed Bayern checkpoint disguised as Nikolaus, warped swiftly to the meeting room. Inside sat ministry vice ministers and provisional committee officials I’d asked Leo to invite. I shook hands one by one.
“Long time no see.”
“Indeed. Hard to meet these days.”
The Bayern Finance vice minister said during our handshake. If I had leeway, I’d visit states twice weekly, but barring Magic Ministry or provisional committee, face time was scarce, so fair comment. No rebuke in his tone, so I smiled, took my seat, met their eyes, and said.
“Thank you all for making time. I’ll now propose additions to the Bayern citizen response plan draft.”
I had five minutes.
An impromptu morning meeting, not scheduled—I couldn’t hold these top politicians long. Nor could I linger, with a Prussia advisory visit after.
“First, much berserker and Pleroma terror data remains classified, as you know. The decision stemmed from fears it’d fuel public anxiety and worsen rampages.”
The politicians nodded lightly.
“With neighboring tensions rising, a mass wizard disappearance prompted national emergency declaration. Ongoing terrorism without abatement has left Bayern citizens gripped by chaos and fear. I judge current responses, including partial info curbs, fail to quell anxiety and won’t suppress rampages. Please review the analysis report I sent earlier for details.”
Not just pretext for my goals—statistically true. Prussia’s lower trust in government from info suppression versus Bayern bears it out.
Bayern holds a strong info openness edge; no stats would now spike anxiety unduly. I scanned them and continued.
“Here, I propose expanding disclosures from Bayern National Medical Center, public health bodies, institutions, and berserker handling/terror prep status.”
This would be the first step toward usurpation.
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