Chapter 18: To Kill or To Let Live (3)
Chapter 18: To Kill or To Let Live (3)
Wreeeeeeee—!
"Aaaargh—grab him, fuck—!"
Wreeeeeeee—!
Sirens, screams, and shouts tangled into a chaotic din echoing through the streets of Genen.
"Shit, who the hell set off the bomb?!"
The leaders of the Independence Faction fled as far from the bridge as possible. They had spearheaded the protest, but the bombing itself was unexpected. It hadn't been part of the plan. The damn thing had just gone off out of nowhere.
"I don't know which son of a bitch did it, but—"
"It just goes to show how desperate they are."
It was Sage who spoke. As a high-ranking member of the Independence Faction with ties to the Revolutionary Group, he had always been a target of caution for the leadership. Some within the faction warned that 'accepting help from the Revolutionary Group would tarnish their pure intentions,' and Sage loathed those leaders, calling them cowards.
"Sage, you don't mean..."
In the midst of their flight, they reached an alleyway.
"This is it."
Sage checked his wristwatch—a state-of-the-art terminal embedded with a mana crystal. He had already requested backup.
"Here? It’s a dead end!"
"If we wait, support will—"
Step.
A sudden, chilling sound of footsteps drifted in. Everyone’s gaze snapped toward the source.
Step. Step.
Blonde hair and golden eyes. A Sentinel uniform of navy blue embroidered with gold thread.
It was an Imperial Knight.
He scanned them, a sword gripped in one hand.
"Don't come any closer!"
They all drew their weapons simultaneously.
"We’ll hold him off! Sage! Go!"
Sage was a leader. The rest were merely compatriots. If people had to be divided into those who must not be caught and those who could afford to be, Sage was the former, and they were the latter.
"...Thank you. I’m sorry, everyone."
At Sage’s words, his comrades managed a smile.
It’s okay. We were prepared for an ending like this.
"You’re not getting through."
They stood their ground resolutely, blocking the path.
Vrooooom!
Just then, a Revolutionary Group hoverboard appeared. The moment Sage reached out to grab it—
Swoosh—!
Something surged forward. It was too fast for the naked eye to track. A gale-like shockwave erupted between them, sweeping through the entire alley and shattering the hoverboard into pieces.
Everything collapsed.
"..."
Silence flooded the space. Trembling with unease, they turned to look.
In the blink of an eye, the knight had bypassed them all. Sage’s face was now 'held' firmly in the knight’s grasp.
"Sa—Sage!"
"You bastard—!"
One of them fired a revolver. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. He emptied the cylinder, but the bullets fell powerless, unable to pierce the knight's longsword.
Rustle.
The hem of the knight’s coat swayed faintly. He stood there without a word, yet his mere presence radiated an overwhelming pressure.
Gulp.
The remaining independence fighters swallowed hard. A suffocating tension gripped their bodies—
—Hey! Over here!
A shout suddenly rang out from above. A hoverboard, far more specialized than the last, carried a figure wearing a unique Rabbit Mask. The revolutionary—gender unknown—pulled a ball the size of a ping-pong ball from the air.
Whiz!
They hurled it toward the ground while simultaneously firing a wire.
Pop—!
The ball erupted in a flash of light and smoke, and the wire pulled the four surviving independence fighters into the sky.
"Aaaaaagh!"
"Gyaaaaah!"
The fighters let out grotesque screams as they dangled from the hoverboard. Rabbit Mask swerved sharply, looking down at the ground while speeding away. The knight stared intently in their direction before sheathing his sword.
Fortunately, it seemed he was letting them go.
"S-Sage is..."
"I know. I saw a glimpse from a distance. He looked like a real Sentinel. A monster."
A navy uniform with a golden eagle crest. From the Revolutionary Group’s perspective, those were the most terrifying ones. Unlike the Imperial Guard, who relied on numbers, every single one of those men was a high-born elite.
Even that knight’s hair and eye color were exceptional. Anyone could see he was a high-ranking noble.
"When you see guys like that, just run. Don't try to be a hero. Not only is it nearly impossible to win, but it’s even worse if you actually do. More importantly, why did you use a bomb?"
"It... it wasn't in our plans."
Rabbit Mask clicked their tongue.
"Ah~ of course. Fuck. These guys can never stay united."
It was one of two things: either the work of radicals who wanted the Genen independence fighters to fully merge with the Revolutionary Group, or a setup by Genen imperialists who wanted an excuse to wipe out the Independence Faction entirely.
Either way...
"Everything is a goddamn mess. Hold on tight if you want to live!"
The hoverboard roared as it streaked through the air.
* * *
"Salute! As expected of a Knight!"
By the afternoon, once the commotion had somewhat settled, the police received the high-ranking official from a Sentinel knight.
The knight asked, "Is this the man?"
"Yes! That’s him! Sage Zen."
The face and features matched the wanted poster perfectly.
"A high-ranking member of the Independence Faction with ties to the Revolutionary Group—"
"A piece of vermin, then."
"...Yes, sir!"
The knight nodded and walked past them.
"Thank you for your hard work, sir!"
"Safe travels, sir!"
The police saluted as the knight departed. Only after he had completely vanished did they run their hands through their hair and let out long sighs.
"What a mess. All because of these idiots..."
...
Immediately following the bridge terror incident, investigators from the Genen Police Station were mobilized in full force.
Based on previous wiretaps and tips, they tracked the locations of the independence fighters suspected of the crime.
"...Ready."
In the darkness, a total of nine officers waited by the entrance of a stationery store, having attached a breaching charge to the door.
"Go!"
Boom—!
The door exploded, and the police stormed in instantly. Inside, the independence fighters were huddled together like rats.
The suppression team led with their batons.
"You rats! You little shits who haven't even dried the blood behind your ears yet! Round them all up!"
Aaaaagh—! Nooo—!
They beat the independence fighters into submission, quite literally. Many of them had youthful faces, but it didn't matter.
To them, every member of the Independence Faction was no better than livestock.
Crash!
Just then, a boy tripped over a bookshelf. He couldn't have been more than thirteen or fourteen. His face covered in blood, the boy trembled as he wept.
"Oops."
Investigator 'Zendo' approached the boy.
"That looks like it hurts."
Notorious as a specialist in this field, Zendo grinned and kicked the back of the boy's head.
...
"We’ve rounded up about two hundred people from fourteen different locations. These ones here were the most fervent."
"Looks like it."
Investigator Zendo nodded as he listened to his subordinate's report. Eight people were lined up before him like slaughtered pigs. Bags were pulled over their heads, and their hands and feet were bound in cuffs.
"Their names are Bell, En, Kelio, Sato, Yan..."
Zendo scanned the faces and stopped in front of Yan.
"How many times has it been for this little brat?"
He smacked the boy's head hard. Yan’s body convulsed in pain.
"Hey~ you lunatics. Do you have any idea who was there when you attacked that bridge?"
Zendo spoke as he paced slowly around the room.
"Maximilian was there. Maximilian. Do you idiots know the name Ebenholtz or not?"
When no answer came despite his waiting, Zendo’s face twisted in irritation.
"I asked if you know or not—!"
The 'pigs' shuddered violently. A chorus of hoarse voices replied, "We know..."
"Right. A man more precious than ten million of you combined was caught in that terror attack. So."
Zendo tapped his baton against his palm.
"You’d better talk. If you don't, you probably won't leave this place alive."
The Genen investigators interrogated the independence fighters.
They placed wet towels over their faces, hung them up like roasted pigs, and threatened their families... It was, for all intents and purposes, torture.
"It doesn't even have to be about this specific attack. Just tell us about the 'shining stars' among the people you know. You know, guys like this."
Zendo shoved several photos in front of a man. They were pictures of Independence Faction leaders.
"We don't want to do this. But it’s for public safety. When you go around blowing up bridges, hey, even the people who liked you are going to turn their backs."
The man said nothing. He only gasped, his entire body trembling.
Zendo tapped the man’s head with the photos.
"Don't you guys get angry? These 'leaders' are hiding in luxury while you're the only ones caught here suffering."
"..."
"Huh? Not mad? They used you as meat shields—!"
Zendo grabbed the man by the hair and yanked his head up. A bloodied face wheezed in front of him.
"...You lot don't seem to understand the situation. You aren't leaving until you confess."
Zendo’s expression darkened chillingly.
"I don't care who did it. Even if you have to make it up, confess."
...
Yan endured the investigators' torture. He was hung from the ceiling and beaten in the stomach with batons; his head was shoved into toilet water until he lost consciousness; and when they threatened his younger siblings, his very core quivered—but he still held on.
—You must hide it. Until you are strong enough.
It was because of those words from the nameless knight who had saved him.
The bourgeoisie of Genen and the Empire feared talent blooming from the bottom more than anything. If he revealed his abilities, he would surely be killed.
"Wow. This brat is really stubborn."
Someone muttered with a hollow laugh. Yan, with the bag over his head, could see nothing.
"Let's see his face."
The bag was ripped off. The sudden light blinded him. Yan hung his head, gasping for air.
"You foolish brat. Don't you know that in a place like this, the one who holds out until the end is the one who gets screwed?"
The man crouched down on one knee. Yan lifted one eye to look at him.
It was Zendo. A devil to the Independence Faction. He picked up a piece of paper and shoved it in front of Yan’s eyes.
[The culprit who instigated the terror attack is Yan Novak...]
It was a handwritten confession from his comrades, naming him as the perpetrator.
"...You're taking the fall for everything. Every single one of them betrayed you. Do you know why?"
Yan’s mind suddenly went blank.
"Because you're the poorest. Because you're the youngest. Because you're the... weakest."
A surge of heat rushed through him. He grit his teeth in betrayal. Rage reached the very marrow of his bones. His whole body heaved as he exhaled ragged breaths.
It felt as if his veins were throbbing, and yellow particles flickered at his fingertips, but—
—You must hide it.
The knight’s voice echoed through his body. The cold echo calmed his boiling insides.
Yan shut down his mana circuits.
"...Ugh, hic."
He suppressed himself with a sob.
He hid who he was.
Zendo smirked.
"Pathetic brat. Hey. Lock him up. It’ll be our loss if he goes and kills himself, so feed him something."
As Zendo walked away, the investigators shouted at his back.
"Yes, sir! Understood!"
...
Thirty-six hours since the terror incident.
"...Ah~ Director. That’s right. We got the confession."
Zendo stood before a large telephone, wearing a slick smile as he spoke to the Director.
"Yes, yes. Send an official notice to that knight as well. Tell him we caught the culprit."
In less than two days, they had identified the culprit and extracted a confession.
It had been quite a struggle, but it was rewarding.
"Yes~ Director. Thank you! Salute!"
Clack.
Hanging up the receiver, Zendo looked at the black telephone and let out a dry laugh.
"Wow, technology really is something. I feel like I’ve become a wizard."
Crystal balls were communication devices permitted only to wizards and knights because they required the ability to manipulate mana.
But this telephone could be used by anyone with a finger, an ear, and a mouth—no mana required.
"It really is great."
He tapped the device and shouted to his subordinates standing behind him.
"Let's go get some dinner!"
He had to buy meat for the guys who had worked so hard for the past two days.
* * *
Clap, clap, clap, clap.
The sound of applause echoed. It was mingled with aristocratic laughter and the clicking of camera shutters.
I was standing on a podium, receiving a medal. For the merit of capturing Sage—one of the young leaders of the Revolutionary Group suspected of masterminding the bombing—the Imperial Military was personally pinning a medal on me.
The Golden Lion Medal 3rd Class. The Empire’s medal system was quite strict, so receiving a 3rd class at my age was a significant achievement.
"Sir Maximilian! Please look this way!"
Flash! Reporters took photos of me shaking hands with a Lieutenant General of the military.
"Your father will be very proud."
I smiled at Lieutenant General Walter’s words. In the past, I hated nobles who brought up my father. Or rather, I found them ridiculous.
But now, I needed social grace. I was still just a small whale, and the Ebenholtz family was not the Imperial Family.
"Thank you."
"Indeed. Were you going through a bit of a rebellious phase during the Empire Point incident?"
"...Yes. I was contemplating what I ought to do, but to be honest, I’m still not quite sure. This capture was honestly just a stroke of luck."
I must not appear to be a dangerous blade to anyone. It was better for me to be perceived as a somewhat naive, somewhat useful twenty-something.
"As expected. Like father, like son."
"Thank you. I will be sure to pass your kind words along to my father."
"Hahahaha."
"Hahahaha."
We laughed, facing each other.
"Hahahahaha."
"Hahahahahaha."
"Hahahahahahaha."
"Hahahahahahahah."
How much longer do I have to keep laughing, fuck.
...
"Ah, my face hurts."
I returned to my office as soon as the ceremony ended. I took off my coat and sat in my chair. Today’s newspaper was sitting on my desk.
[Mass Arrest of Suspects in Genen Bridge Terror Incident]
The investigative authorities announced that they had captured the criminal organization in record time, and they had sent a separate letter to me as the knight on the scene who had apprehended a suspect.
[To the Honorable Sir Maximilian,
First, on behalf of the Genen Police Station, I wish to express our deepest gratitude. Had you not been there, countless lives would have been lost...
The culprits who planned the bombing are a total of seven fervent independence activists, including 'Yan Novak,' 'Jason Cole,' and 'Tom Lane'...]
"Yan?"
My brow furrowed at the name.
An investigation that moves like lightning is always suspicious, but the name 'Yan' made it even more so. The young man who had desperately tried to save a child was not the kind of person to commit an act of terror.
No, even if by some miracle Yan was the true culprit and the investigators who caught him were diligent and clean, the value of a Yaken like Yan was far greater than a dozen, or even hundreds, of police officers.
At the very least, that was my value judgment as Maximilian.
"...Tsk."
Another annoying task had cropped up.
I threw on the uniform coat I had briefly set aside and headed out.