Recommended by Subjugating the Master
When Arleah, the survivor of the fallen kingdom, finally made up her mind, the rest of the procedures went by in a flash. After all, a recommendation letter from the Special Forces existed precisely to skip every annoying formality and absorb a superhuman directly into their ranks. Anyone entering through such a letter had to be exceptional enough that people would think they clearly deserved one, and they needed to demonstrate skills that justified all the extra benefits that came with it.
In Princess Arleah’s case, she was such an outstanding superhuman that there was no need to even mention her achievements.
“The recommendation letter will be processed without issue.”
Those were the first words out of Carla’s mouth when she came to see me the moment the sun rose the next day. She looked utterly exhausted, probably because she’d had to handle a mountain of work after organizing all the superhumans who had gathered in response to the summons. She had originally been appointed as adjutant to help clean up after Scarlet, and she was exceptionally good at this sort of thing, but today seemed especially brutal for her.
“Before we go any further, Princess Raziel. You’re certain you’ve accepted the recommendation to the Special Forces, correct?”
Carla asked with a just-to-be-sure expression. Arleah nodded without a trace of hesitation.
“Yes. I accept.”
Carla let out a huge sigh of relief at the answer and continued.
“As you know, a recommendation letter requires a clear reason why it was written. In Your Highness’s case, there is the achievement of eliminating the contractor who offered their soul to an Outer God.”
“...That’s true.”
Her parents, who had offered their souls to an Outer God. Her relatives. The nobles she had once sworn loyalty to. Perhaps recalling their faces, Arleah’s expression clouded with bitterness. She had dealt with them, but it was inevitable that the memories would linger and leave a sour aftertaste. Still, setting that aside, an achievement of that magnitude should have been more than enough justification for Carla to write the letter.
“This isn’t enough.”
Until Carla spoke those words, I had thought exactly the same thing.
“It’s not enough?”
I asked before I could stop myself. Arleah’s achievements should have been plenty for a recommendation letter. The standards were strict, but being one of the people who had stopped the Outer God descent plan was more than sufficient qualification to join the Special Forces. Her reputation, accumulated feats, and rank all clearly met the requirements. If Carla was saying the achievements were lacking, then the reason had to be...
“Is it because of pressure from above?”
“Yes, you hit the nail on the head.”
An organization like the Imperial Special Forces already possessed enough power to function as a political faction within the empire. Even though it was directly under the imperial family, the Special Forces held too much authority to recruit members carelessly. Every single appointment drew the nobles’ eyes. The Special Forces was the emperor’s blade, a guillotine that could fall on the nobles at any time. It would be stranger if they didn’t stay wary. In an already complicated situation, if a superhuman of Arleah’s caliber entered through a recommendation letter, it would definitely be seized upon as an excuse to cause trouble. That must have been why Carla brought up the matter of achievements.
“While it’s true the Outer God descent plan was stopped, the higher-ups have already received full reports that the scepter which fell to the south alongside the princess has become a problem. They will also know that the ghosts connected to that scepter were the royal family of Raziel Kingdom.”
“So if we issue the recommendation based solely on her achievements without addressing the princess’s mistake, it could invite opposition?”
Carla nodded as if my guess was correct. Even though Arleah herself hadn’t wanted it, the fact remained that she had brought the scepter into the empire. Moreover, since she was a member of Raziel’s royal family, accusations that she had been involved in the incident were bound to surface. Carla’s intention was probably to avoid giving anyone any grounds for criticism if at all possible.
“Then shouldn’t you have created a suitable achievement first before submitting the letter? There isn’t an appropriate one right now.”
Carla had clearly told us moments ago that the recommendation would be processed normally. That meant the letter would soon be sent upward even if it hadn’t been approved yet. If she was going to say something like this, she shouldn’t have submitted it in the first place.
“What? No suitable achievement?”
Carla tilted her head at my question, looking genuinely confused about what I was saying.
“Of course there’s an achievement.”
“What is it?”
“Criminal subjugation.”
Criminal subjugation? Had I missed something? After Arleah fell to the south, I had come straight here after accepting Scarlet’s request. If she had done anything before that, neither Beatrice nor Scarlet would have been unaware of it. Especially not an achievement significant enough to serve as grounds for a Special Forces recommendation letter.
But there had been no mention of it at all.
That meant it had happened after we stopped the Outer God descent plan... Wait, did it even make sense to use the word “subjugation” for a criminal? It wasn’t like they were raiding some dungeon.
Hold on. Criminal subjugation. An incident after the Outer God descent plan. Surely not...
“That criminal subjugation, by any chance...”
When I turned to look at Carla with a sinking feeling, our eyes met. She wore her usual smile, eyes narrowed, and declared,
“Wanted Order Number One. Empire Criminal Classification: Special Grade. The former First Star of the Empire and Special Forces Commander. Kyle Amillan. By the authority of the Special Forces, I designate you as a subjugation target.”
At the same time, the longsword flew out from her waist. The blade, radiating terrifying killing intent, was packed with mana that looked ready to cut me down on the spot.
I dodged her swings left and right before finally managing to speak.
“Hey! What the hell! Is this because I made you handle the cleanup and the recommendation letter...!”
“Criminal scum with nothing but a smooth tongue! Just die already!”
“Oh, fuck.”
The way her eyes had rolled back made it painfully clear whose adjutant she was. This wasn’t an act. She seemed genuinely pissed off about me dumping all those tasks on her. Carla already handled an insane workload as Scarlet’s adjutant, and it looked like she had finally reached her limit. She used to throw these hysterical fits back when I was still in the Special Forces, and I would always call whoever triggered them an idiot.
The problem was that the idiot this time was me. That state of hers would probably last a while, so staying here was the worst possible choice. I dodged her frenzied sword strikes, poured mana into my feet, and ran like hell. When something like this happened, the best solution had always been to get the hell out of there.
“Haa… He really knows how to run.”
Princess Arleah watched the Special Forces agent standing with sword in hand, staring at the distant mountains, and her master disappearing into the horizon. After a normal conversation, the agent had suddenly drawn her blade and attacked her master under the pretext of needing an achievement. For a brief moment, the sight of the agent’s eyes flashing with pure madness sent chills down Arleah’s spine.
“Um…”
“Ah, you were startled because we didn’t discuss it beforehand, weren’t you?”
The previous terrifying aura had completely vanished. Seeing Carla’s bright, sunny smile return, Arleah could only make a stiff expression.
“You must have many questions, but let’s start with proper introductions since we haven’t done them yet.”
“Yes, well… You probably already know, but my name is Arleah de Raziel.”
“I’m Carla. No family name—commoner by birth. I currently serve as adjutant to the Empire’s Second Star, Lady Scarlet Frausia, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.”
Lieutenant Colonel Carla. Arleah slowly spoke, recalling the name she had vaguely heard from Kyle.
“About what just happened…”
“Ah, as I explained, we need an achievement to recommend Your Highness to the Special Forces. And he is the perfect person to create one for us.”
“But you definitely said ‘subjugation’ earlier…”
At Arleah’s question, Carla waved her hand dismissively.
“Sigh, we call it subjugation, but it’s really closer to a chase. In truth, it’s impossible for me to actually catch him. That guy—I mean, that person—is surprisingly good at playing along with this sort of thing. He sometimes mutters that it’s like… WWE?”
“WWE?”
“He says random things like that sometimes. Anyway, the report will include that we pursued him while stopping the Outer God descent plan. If it mentions that you performed quite actively, that should provide more than enough merit.”
Arleah couldn’t quite grasp what the muttered words meant, but she understood that such incidents occurred fairly often within the empire.
“In any case, now that it’s settled, shall we get moving?”
“Moving? You mean heading to the capital?”
Carla tilted her head at the question.
“Huh? Did no one explain it to you? Even if the recommendation letter is approved, it doesn’t automatically make you a member of the Special Forces. You must first have a private audience with His Majesty the Emperor…”
“A private audience… with His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Yes. Especially since His Majesty has rather deep feelings regarding that person, the audience should proceed smoothly…”
Arleah stopped hearing the rest of the explanation. As she listened to Carla, she quietly summoned her longbow. A low, resonant hum filled the air as an arrow formed on the string. It wasn’t the one infused with the Outer God’s power she had fired before, but one created purely from her own mana. Yet the way the wind naturally stirred around her proved why she was called the Divine Archer.
“Uh, um…”
Having gathered her power, Arleah took aim at the distant figure of her enemy—her master—and released the string.
Twang—!
The arrow flew with a deafening roar.
Kwaaaaaang!
Even a superhuman would suffer serious injuries if struck by such a shot. Of course, since Kyle had trained her himself, he would likely be able to dodge it. Still, the casual way she dismissed the summoned longbow afterward was...
“Whoa… Now that’s something.”
Witnessing those ice-cold eyes, Carla quietly tossed the longsword in her hand far into the distance.