Chapter 164: The Search
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 164: The Search
In the pre-dawn hours, as the sky began to fracture with the first light of day.
Inside his office at the Sentinel headquarters, Chiron was still busily gathering a mountain of documents.
These were the fruits of a relentless pursuit, made possible by mobilizing the decentralized information network he had operated like a sleeper cell for years. The results of the obsession he had built with blood, sweat, and tears would finally, today...
...shine at the public hearing that would judge Vice-Commander Anton Zefren.
Anton's former lover, Martel, who had joined the Revolutionary Group. The miscarriage they had suffered, the doctor's testimony, and the intimate love letters they had exchanged.
Chiron tucked the thick file into a high-quality leather briefcase. As he stood and walked out into the empty corridor of the knighthood, an irrepressible smile spread across his lips.
Once he leaked all of this to the press, Anton would surely be blown to pieces. He would fall into an abyss from which there was no hope of recovery.
—Or so he believed, until he stepped down into the underground parking lot.
"......?"
Under the dim lighting, a figure stood waiting. In the darkness, the man's blonde hair shimmered with a cold luster. Sensing Chiron’s presence, he turned around.
"Sir Chiron."
It was Maximilian.
"Do you have a moment to talk?" he asked politely, a faint smile playing on his lips. Chiron nodded, his mood still buoyant.
"Of course. What is it?"
"......"
Instead of answering, Maximilian stared intently at the briefcase in Chiron's hand.
"Ah, this?" Chiron lifted the bag. "You can look forward to it. It's the final nail in the coffin that will completely finish off that old man, Anton."
Maximilian watched Chiron quietly. This, too, was the result of Chiron's effort—a man who had run tirelessly to grasp what he desired, climbing endlessly toward the heights he craved.
Chiron was a man who did not change. And a man who does not change is, in his own way, special. Even in the waves of war that would soon come crashing in, Chiron would stand firm as himself.
However...
"I don't believe a finishing blow is necessary," Maximilian said, slowly shaking his head.
"...What?"
Chiron's smile froze instantly. He looked at Maximilian with a strangely distorted expression.
"We are Imperial Aranians, and at the same time, we are knights of the Sentinels," Maximilian said, reaching out his hand toward Chiron. It was a silent demand for the documents.
"And, in the end, the Sentinels are the Sentinels."
Chiron's eyes wavered violently. For a moment, he couldn't comprehend it. This was a golden opportunity to trample Anton and excise his entire faction...
Amidst his confusion, Maximilian's voice reached his ears, low and calm.
"Sir Chiron. Was it the dream of a knight named Chiron that led you here, or was it..."
In the dawn of the parking lot, the smell of settled dust and the sound of the wind felt unusually vivid. Outside, snowflakes fluttered, appearing cold yet strangely warm.
"...the emotion you currently find yourself unable to let go of?"
Emotion.
"...It is already over, Sir."
Chiron looked at Maximilian. Standing still, he fumbled through the depths of his own heart, pulling at the sediment that had been lodged there for a long time.
The sense of defeat and inferiority that had accumulated to the marrow of his bones—the result of being ignored and despised as 'nouveau riche' by the traditional nobility. The ugly true intention to drag Anton—who shone from a place higher than himself despite being from a mere fallen noble family—down into the gutter just to compensate for that terrible inferiority complex...
Maximilian's words were the truth. Anton had already collapsed enough. Despite that, this malice, which sought to bury him by scraping together facts entirely unrelated to the hearing, was likely not for the sake of fulfilling a dream, but merely to destroy the man.
"...There is nothing more for me to gain from this."
Just as Maximilian said, Anton was also, in the end, an Aranian and a Sentinel. For the sake of the Sentinels, for the sake of the Empire, and above all, for the sake of his own future that had already surpassed Anton's, there was no need to throw filth or inflict excessive insults.
"......"
A deep sigh escaped Chiron's chest. Pressing his hand to his brow, he eventually handed the briefcase to Maximilian.
"...Take it."
"Thank you for understanding."
Maximilian accepted it politely.
"Let's go. There is someone waiting for you."
He pointed toward a vehicle in the back. An aide sat in the driver's seat, hands on the wheel. Chiron climbed into the back seat, and Maximilian disappeared beyond the parking lot after a short bow.
Vroom...
Inside the car as it traveled the empty dawn roads, Chiron fell into contemplation while observing the cold winter night of the snow-covered Empire. Many thoughts became tangled together. Eventually, they arrived in front of a restaurant where the lights had been dimmed.
"It is here."
In the establishment where only a few people remained after closing hours, Chiron walked in under polite guidance. He reached a deep, private room.
"......"
Opening the heavy oak door and stepping inside the spacious room, he found only one person. Anton Zefren sat there alone.
*
Meanwhile, in a secret room within the Imperial Palace.
Kents Bertem sat across from Chief of Staff Grossman, tilting a glass of premium wine. Pour. The crystal glass, stained red, sparkled under the brilliant lighting.
"It seems Anton Zefren is going to give up on becoming the Commander," Kents said, his voice intoxicated with victory.
Anton had been eliminated, and the Sentinels were divided between commoners and nobles. The benefits the Imperial faction stood to gain from this were endless. For starters, Chiron would be far easier to control than the steadfast Anton. After all, the biggest reason the Palace's politics and capital couldn't penetrate the Sentinels until now was Anton's stubbornness.
"If that's the case, Kents, it seems the time for you to make your move has finally come," Grossman hinted, savoring a sip of wine.
"By making my move, you mean..."
"There is a ministerial position that will be established soon."
At that moment, Kents' eyes flickered with excitement.
"Shouldn't we be the ones to properly handle the regular army and the Sentinels now?"
A key position managing both the regular military and the Sentinels. It was a long-held ambition Grossman had been preparing for. If he could just reach that seat, he could rise higher and faster than even his older brother, the heir to their family.
"Ha, haha, hahahaha! That is indeed good news."
Kents burst into laughter. Grossman maintained a soft smile while swirling his wine glass.
"By the way, regarding that closed hearing. I heard you went out of your way to bring up the miscarriage?"
Just as Anton had experienced, a hearing was mandatory to ascend to an Imperial ministerial position.
"Yes. It was to make sure he was finished."
"Will you be able to handle the aftermath?"
Kents nodded as if it were obvious. "It was a closed hearing, wasn't it?"
The contents of a closed hearing at the Palace were kept strictly secret. While fragments might be passed by word of mouth, no one could state them with certainty. It was a top-secret matter under Imperial law, and disclosing it was a punishable offense.
"Still, people will be able to guess to some extent."
"That's actually better. We can just be the first to mix in lies and leak them," Kents replied nonchalantly, swirling his wine. "The rumors will scramble themselves. I've already made preparations. The story about the miscarriage will likely be attributed not to me, but..."
Grossman raised an eyebrow as if he knew the answer.
"...to Maximilian Ebenholtz. That is how it will be decided."
It was a closed hearing. Maximilian couldn't explain that it wasn't him, and even trying to do so would look strange. Above all, the Sentinel factions who had lost Anton would want to believe what suited them. They would want to hate the person who was clearly on the opposing side.
"This is what politics is all about, isn't it?"
Topple Anton, divide the knights, and tarnish Maximilian's dignity. To Kents, it was a truly beautiful piece of politics.
* * *
The Great Hall of the Sentinels.
A massive crowd had gathered for the confirmation hearing of Anton Zefren as Commander. Hundreds of current and former knights, Palace officials, and reporters from major Imperial news agencies were packed together, watching the podium in silence. The tension permeating the hall was heavy.
But then.
"Urgent news!"
Suddenly, someone shouted and came running in through the entrance of the Great Hall.
"Vice-Commander Anton Zefren has just completely withdrawn his candidacy for Commander!"
At that first sentence—that Anton was giving up—everyone bolted upright.
"And he is retiring from the front lines of the Sentinels!"
At that second sentence, the hearing hall was turned upside down. Reporters scrambled to grab their cameras and notebooks so as not to miss the scoop, shouting and rushing out in a swarm. The Palace nobles looked stunned for a moment, but soon wore satisfied smiles. The commoner knights were in an uproar, their faces etched with fury.
"......"
In the heart of that chaos, I sat quietly, watching indifferently.
"...Hey, Max."
At that moment, Tiana approached me, pushing through the angry commoner knights. "What on earth did you say at the closed hearing?"
There was an undeniable disappointment in her eyes.
"...Me?" I pointed a finger at myself. Tiana nodded as if it were obvious.
"Yes."
"Hmm... that is classified information."
I really wasn't supposed to talk about it. Especially not in such a public place. I responded dryly and stood up, but Tiana grabbed my sleeve and whispered.
"Say something. Do you even know what people are saying you said in that closed hearing? Do you know what kind of dog-shit rumors are circulating?"
This might be unavoidable. Since the 'Imperial Citizenship Act,' my image seemed to have solidified in that way anyway. ...No, wait.
Perhaps someone in the Palace had spread it on purpose. The things I said to Anton in the closed hearing might have rubbed some in the Palace the wrong way. Especially Kents Bertem.
It was likely the kind of politics they were used to, but there was no need for me to correct or explain everything individually. The 'transcript' would be leaked before long anyway.
"Rumors are just rumors. Don't believe what you want to believe; believe only what you see."
Leaving Tiana behind, I walked out of the Great Hall under the cold glares of the commoner knights, which were practically dripping with murderous intent. I still had much work to do.
* * *
Anton Zefren had given up his confirmation and resigned from the Sentinels. As a result, Commander Alberich's retirement was forcibly extended by six months. Alberich, who was desperate to retire—he was over seventy years old—looked miserable, but there was nothing to be done.
Instead, Chiron rose as the sole candidate for the vacant Vice-Commander position. He had finally reached the place he had craved his entire life, while I boarded a state-of-the-art Kanilan military transport plane. It was for my next business trip.
"...I want to jump out."
Inside the transport plane cutting through the distant sky, I had a headache. There was no time to rest. I wanted to eat something delicious. While my body was harder and more robust than ever, I needed some mental stress management. Maybe I should just parajump out...
Thud.
Before I knew it, we had landed at our destination: Robrus Military Airport. As the aircraft settled, the hatch opened. Whoosh! I flinched at the biting wind that rushed in. It went beyond cold; the air itself felt frozen, but I didn't let it show. That is what it means to be a noble. Besides, my mana would soon adapt to the environment. Ebenholtz resembles nature, and cold is just another part of nature.
Whirrrrrrrr!
Amidst the howling gale, a familiar figure greeted me.
"Welcome, Sir Maximilian."
Yelena Yumanov. The power player of the Eastern Union and the People's Commissar for Internal Affairs. Now a familiar face, she stood there in her military uniform.
"You are alone, without even an escort. Is this what it truly means to be a knight?" she asked curiously, looking behind me.
"Yes. I wanted this visit to be quiet," I replied with feigned leisure.
In truth, my greatest asset, Schatz, had already entered Robrus territory under a disguised identity via land. There was no need to show my hand to the Easterners.
"I see. Let us go."
I boarded the waiting vehicle with Yelena. We headed toward the capital of Robrus with a heavy engine roar. Even the cars in Robrus were heavy. It felt like riding a grizzly bear. Which is to say, the ride quality was terrible.
"......"
I watched the scenery passing by the window. The rugged and grand architecture unique to the Eastern Union, the people walking the streets bundled up tight, and also the Izenheims. I planned to establish several bases here in Robrus first.
No matter who I was, there was no way I could safely evacuate her from the vortex of the Great Purge that would soon blow through without a minimum safety net. ...No, first I had to check if Yelena had the will and ability to survive that political strife herself. If she was just going to get swept away and die feebly, I had no reason to save her. I hadn't come to find a frail exile, but a powerful and reliable strategic partner to plot the future of the Empire with.
"We are here."
We soon arrived at a restaurant. I got out of the car. Honestly, I was looking forward to it. I had never experienced Eastern food in my life.
"It is not quite Le Palais-Lermont, but it can be called the best in the East."
If the food was good, my stress would be relieved... When I snapped to my senses, a dish covered in sturgeon eggs was before me. I sliced it with a knife and took a bite. It was certainly a new flavor. It could be called a delicacy.
"...Your formality and manners are truly impressive."
Yelena seemed fascinated by the way I handled the knife and my movements.
"More importantly, what are the ingredients of this dish? I know the caviar."
"Yes. It is sturgeon eggs—caviar—and bear paw."
"...Ah. Bear paw."
It didn't look like it. Yelena chuckled.
"Catching that bear is quite difficult. How is the taste?"
"It doesn't seem to have a particular recipe, but it is very delicious. I'd like to bring this caviar to the Empire."
Yelena nodded. "The Yumanov family manages the caviar. Would you like to sign an import-export contract right now?"
Yelena asked jokingly, but I was serious.
"Fine. Let's write it immediately. I'll take it with me when I return to the Empire."
Gourmet food is my hobby. Eating delicacies from the land, sea, and sky, I feel the meaning of existence in this world. I accept with my whole body the reason why the world must never be destroyed.
"Uh... yes. I will deliver the contract later."
"Ah~ so you were here."
At that moment, the restaurant door opened and another figure appeared. A man with a small build and a not-so-pleasant impression. I recognized his face.
Zerof. The man considered the second-in-command to the Führer. The axis of power leading this Great Purge.
"A knight of the Empire... Your appearance is as dazzlingly enviable as I heard."
Zerof sat in the seat next to us with a smile. Yelena didn't seem to like him much, and neither did I, but meeting like this was necessary.
"Sir Knight."
Zerof stared intently at my face. His gaze was predatory and leering. "I will ask you bluntly."
I set my knife down for a moment and wiped my mouth with a napkin.
"What is the reason you have come to the East?"
For the sake of this man whose personality was so rushed that even his Imperial language was confusing...
"Well, it's simple. I am here to achieve harmony with all of you."
I stated my main point.
Harmony. Zerof hid his expression as if he had grasped something.
"Hmm... harmony..."
He muttered as if surprised, but I already knew his inner thoughts as he prepared for the Great Purge.
They, too, must be desperate for harmony. Therefore, my diplomacy to discuss non-aggression would not be difficult.