Chapter 185: Aftermath (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 185: Aftermath (4)
A childhood sanctuary.
Moonlight rode the wind, seeping through the thorny thicket that enclosed the cozy space. The bushes rustled, swaying gently in the night breeze.
In the strangely heavy silence, Schatz gazed at the man standing across from her.
"...Sir Knight."
Her voice trembled faintly.
Maximilian met her gaze without a word.
—In the face of power’s temptation, even the Maximilian you serve will inevitably be swayed.
Falkenrat’s sneer echoed in her ears.
Schatz clenched her fists, her thoughts turning inward.
Am I doubting Maximilian now? Fearing him? Or am I just hoping, praying, that he, at least, is different from those monsters?
But then, what was the true definition of a 'monster' in the first place?
"Schatz Heizen," Maximilian said, speaking her name.
"...Yes."
Schatz recalled the day she first stepped foot in this place. She thought about the reason she had finally been able to achieve her revenge.
Maximilian.
It had all started with him.
But now, Schatz was afraid. Was she terrified that Maximilian might become a man like Hector? That he might lose himself to the intoxicating allure of power?
...No.
Hector had been a villain from the very beginning.
Maximilian, however, made no distinction between good and evil. He was neither a righteous man nor a wicked one.
He looked toward horizons no one else could see and advanced into realms no one else could reach.
That was why he could strike Hector across the face, and why he refused to bend his will even to the Emperor’s absolute command.
He was the most noble, yet also the most Imperial, of knights...
Schatz raised her trembling arms, offering him her father’s box.
Maximilian took it impassively and opened the lid. The contents were finally revealed.
"...Ah."
Schatz let out a soft gasp. A small mana sphere, radiating a pulsing red glow, floated up from the box and into the air.
It was a bizarre power source, practically bleeding mana. Her eyes trembled as she watched it hover.
"Is this your father's work?" Maximilian asked.
"...Yes. I believe so."
How many people had been sacrificed to complete this single sphere? How many human bodies had been dissected and ruined?
Had Schatz’s own father, Arthur Heizen, willingly participated in that gruesome process?
Even now, she couldn’t be sure.
Schatz had taken her revenge on Mason, the man who murdered her father, but the desperate, lingering hope that her father had been an innocent victim had long since shattered.
However...
—That arrogant knight will choose the 'power' we offer over the loyalty of a hunting dog like you.
The reason Falkenrat’s taunt kept echoing in her mind was likely because she had caught a glimpse of Maximilian’s deepest, most fundamental nature.
She knew of his 'heart'—a heart that utterly despised sub-species, especially those from Izenheim.
"Sir Knight... do you intend to use this?"
Her voice trembled pitifully. The crimson sphere reflected in Maximilian’s cold eyes. Schatz reached out a hand, then hesitated.
She wanted to erase that sphere from his sight. She wanted to hide it away where he could never find it.
—In the end, he’ll become a monster who looks toward the exact same place we do.
Maximilian gazed at the sphere in absolute silence. He watched it float gently before his eyes, dancing as if to tempt him with its boundless power, and then...
Crack!
He clenched his fist tightly around it. Silver mana flared violently in his grasp.
Pzzzzzt!
The sphere crumbled in an instant, shattering like fragile glass.
"...!"
Schatz’s eyes flew wide open. Her father’s legacy, that absolute crystallization of mana, had vanished in a single heartbeat. Red ash trickled meaninglessly through Maximilian’s fingers, scattering into the wind.
"Schatz."
Stomping on the crimson traces that fell to the ground, Maximilian spoke.
"We are Aran."
The word Aran. The word we. Those words flowed into Schatz’s ears, sinking past her heart and settling somewhere far deeper. An indescribable emotion coursed through her entire body.
"..."
Schatz could only stare in stunned silence as Maximilian lightly dusted the remnants from his hand.
Still utterly immaculate, he placed a hand on her shoulder.
And then—
"I am not so weak as to rely on such a foreign object."
He offered his brightest smile against the vast backdrop of the night sky. The moon's silver light poured down, illuminating his golden hair. Looking at the almost fantastical sight, Schatz was struck by a sudden premonition.
I will probably...
No, I will definitely.
I will never be able to forget this moment for the rest of my life...
*
On the way back to the Imperial Central District, I sat in the back seat of the car.
I stared blankly at the back of Schatz’s head as she gripped the steering wheel. Perhaps because the roads were in poor condition, her head bobbed slightly with every turn.
"..."
Schatz had doubted me. She suspected that I might be captivated or corrupted by the mana engine.
But I had doubted Schatz as well. In fact, my suspicion had been far greater than hers. When I faced her back there, I had a longsword ready behind my back.
Schatz was, in reality, not much different from an Outcast. Her true nature was that of a genuinely good person, and before the regression, she had been the one to kill Zebestian.
If our paths had diverged, if she hadn't been able to trust me completely, or if I hadn't been able to possess her loyalty entirely...
I would have had to behead her with my own hands.
—Thump.
Suddenly, my virus pulsed heavily.
Schatz’s father, Arthur Heizen, was a far greater genius than I had initially thought. He might have actually created something that approached a true mana engine.
I had destroyed it, but my virus had absorbed some of the shattered fragments and was now in the process of digesting them.
—Thump.
But it seemed to have overeaten; digestion was going to take a while. It continued to throb irregularly, completely unresponsive when I tried to call upon it.
I didn’t yet know what this 'devouring' would mean for me, or what changes it would ultimately bring...
"Will you be alright?" Schatz asked suddenly, breaking the silence.
I replied with a short question of my own.
"With what?"
"It might have been something incredibly important that my father left to this world. Hector searched desperately for it. If that was truly a mana engine..."
I smiled.
She was absolutely right.
If what I destroyed was a mana engine—or at least an invention close to it—and we had been able to thoroughly analyze and weaponize it for ourselves, we could have gained a massive advantage against Izenheim.
However, Schatz was just as important.
She was the talent who had defeated Zebestian.
In a situation where I couldn't guarantee the performance level of a prototype mana engine, there was no need to gamble when I was already holding a winning lottery ticket.
"No. The greatest treasure your father left this world is something else entirely."
There was no need to spell it out for her.
I trusted the certain person sitting right in front of me far more than some uncertain technology.
That was my decision.
"...Hmph."
Schatz cleared her throat. It was supposed to be a sign that she was focusing entirely on her driving, but the crown of her head bobbed in a strange, flustered rhythm.
I suppressed a laugh and closed my eyes.
*
Hector had been dealt with, but the arduous task of dismantling Mason Industries still remained.
"The financial structure of Mason Industries is highly unusual. There are some prime assets, but this particular research institute is running a severe deficit."
Dieter Schmidt, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, adjusted his glasses and handed me a detailed report. He and the talented accountants under his command had thoroughly dissected Mason Industries’ entire financial structure and cash flow.
The slush fund Hector had siphoned off was complexly dispersed through dozens of shell companies, making it incredibly difficult to track. But considering Dieter’s sheer tenacity, he would eventually recover every last cent.
"If you were to acquire this research institute yourself, Sir Knight..."
The item Dieter pointed to was Mason Industries’ premier research complex and its de facto subsidiary, 'T24.'
"Not only is an annual deficit of tens of millions of Imperial dollars expected, but the vast majority of Mason Industries’ debt is concentrated directly in these research complexes."
This, too, was part of Hector's corruption. Borrowing massive sums of money using a research complex trusted by the Imperial Family as collateral. The banks, buckling under the indirect pressure of the Imperial Family's name, couldn’t bring themselves to stamp the rejection seal, nor did they dare press for repayment.
Thus, the Mason Industries research complex had accumulated an enormous debt relative to its actual size.
"I know. Acquire it anyway," I answered firmly.
"We must account for the value of loyalty."
In this particular matter, I had defied the Emperor’s direct command.
Whatever my ultimate purpose may have been, that much was an undeniable fact.
"Yes. In that case, I understand."
"Take down the sign and establish a completely new research institute."
The facility known as T24 would be erased from the face of the earth without a single trace.
"Should we retain the employees?"
"Most of them. However, we need to strictly screen the existing researchers."
I took a pen and firmly crossed several names off the personnel list.
Those who 'normally' followed orders from above—meaning those who immersed themselves in their research like machines, completely devoid of ethical judgment—would be kept.
But those who harbored unnecessary sadism toward test subjects, or those who crossed lines simply for their own twisted pleasure...
Trash like 'Gennadi,' whom Elze had tried to kill, would all be cut.
No, it wouldn’t end with merely firing them.
They were of absolutely no use to the research I envisioned; on the contrary, they were nothing but dangerous variables that would threaten our security.
"This list. Give it to Schatz."
Dispose of the trash and hire only the prime assets. I only needed people who were fundamentally devoid of a guilty conscience.
"Yes. I will see to it."
Dieter accepted the modified personnel list.
*
A new underground research institute was already under construction.
It had no official name. It was simply 'the research institute.'
"Welcome."
Dieter Schmidt politely greeted the researchers who had been brought on board.
For the record, the researchers Maximilian had spared during the Outcast invasion of Mason Industries had absolutely no idea that the 'Dr. Gert' from that incident was actually Maximilian in disguise. Some had even earnestly recommended Dr. Gert for the position of the next lab director.
"You will all be working at the new research institute located in Imperial District 35."
At Dieter’s words, the researchers exchanged bewildered glances. A sudden, drastic change of workplace. It was a natural reaction for those with families to consider.
But these were people who carried out orders from their superiors without a single moral filter or shred of self-regulation. They were the optimal talent, absolutely essential for the dark research Maximilian envisioned.
"These are your terms of employment."
Naturally, the figures and benefits written on the contracts far exceeded their wildest imaginations.
The researchers who received the papers froze, utterly stunned. A heavy silence fell over the room.
"...Is this for real?"
Milo, who had been selected as the new lab director, was the first to speak, raising his hand as if he couldn't believe his own eyes.
"Yes," Dieter replied, gazing at them coolly from behind his glasses.
"It is an official contract, without a single falsehood."
The salary was more than four times what they had earned during their tenure at Mason Industries.
The specific work they were to perform was listed as 'undecided,' but then again, the true nature of their work at Mason Industries had always been kept strictly off the books anyway.
"However, there is something you must keep in mind."
Suddenly, Dieter’s voice turned ice-cold.
"You must maintain absolute silence about everything you see, hear, and do within this research institute."
Strict control paired with immense compensation.
A life of simply doing what you were told, getting paid handsomely for it, never leaking a word to the outside world, and living prosperously with your family.
"If even a single letter of information is leaked to the outside, you will immediately lose everything in accordance with the security breach clause specified at the bottom of the contract."
It was, perhaps, the exact kind of life that this specific breed of researcher desired most.
And so, one by one.
Two by two.
Three by three.
The sound of pens eagerly scratching across paper slowly began to fill the room.
*
Meanwhile, down in the underground city—a place where the laws and order of the Empire could not reach.
Sonette Kandel, a local 'big shot' who was casually inspecting the area's security while strolling through the streets, stopped in front of a certain bookstore.
"...?"
At first, she wondered what she was looking at. An unfamiliar cover, a familiar name, and a flawless art style, all piled high on a display stand in front of the shop. It immediately caught her eye.
[Outcast: The Beginning]
Outcast. They were a fairly famous mercenary group within the underground city. There was no way Sonette wouldn't know of them. They were the foolish mercenaries who had brazenly attacked Mason Industries, only to be systematically beheaded by Maximilian.
But, just as they had wished, Mason Industries had ultimately fallen, and Hector had been unofficially executed. In a twisted way, one could say they had achieved their initial objective.
"Hmm."
Sonette picked up the comic book.
Rustle.
At first, driven by simple curiosity, she began flipping through the pages right where she stood.
[All characters, places, companies, organizations, and all other names, events, and episodes appearing in this work are fictitious creations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.]
The first episode began with that standard disclaimer.
Rustle.
As she turned one page, then another, her gaze grew increasingly focused.
She found herself becoming completely absorbed without even realizing it.
Rustle.
As she stood there reading the comic...
Someone suddenly stepped up beside her and picked up a copy of the same comic. Sonette shifted slightly to make room, but then—sniff, sniff—she caught a whiff of the air.
It was no ordinary scent.
It was the distinct scent of a noble, faint but unmistakably seeping out despite the person's desperate attempts to hide it.
She pulled her robe’s hood down firmly and cast a sidelong glance.
It was a woman in a rather clumsy disguise. But Sonette was fairly certain she knew exactly who it was.
Ezel Luncelot.
The woman who had once almost become Maximilian’s fiancée. A fellow mage and associate of Sonette's older brother, Jun Kandel.
"..."
Ezel silently flipped through the comic, then suddenly glared at the shopkeeper inside and shouted.
"Hey! How much is this?!"
She demanded the price in a ridiculously forced, aggressive tone.
It was a painfully common misconception among arrogant nobles visiting the underground city for the first time. They genuinely thought that in the underground, there was no law, no order, no hierarchy, and absolutely no respect for one's elders.
"...The hell is with this asshole?" the owner muttered, frowning deeply.
Ezel shook the comic aggressively and shouted again.
"How much! This, this comic!"
"What?"
"I’m buying it. Are you deaf?"
You have to act tough in the underground city. If you act weak, you’ll be treated like a pushover... Who on earth had given her such terrible advice?
"Get lost, you crazy fuck."
"Wh-what? You psycho! I said I’m buying it, what’s your problem? I’m buying it!"
There was still a basic level of etiquette in the underground city. It was people exactly like her who would run back to the surface and badmouth the underground for being entirely lawless.
"Hey! I said I’m buying it!"
"Fuck off. I’m not selling to you, you bastard."
"What? Fuck?!"
"Yeah, fuck you! You son of a bitch, you’re dead today!"
"Hey, wai—wait!"
As the furious owner rushed out, brandishing a heavy broom, Sonette lifted her hood slightly and calmly asked,
"How much is it?"
"...20 dollars."
"Two copies, please. Keep the change."
She slapped down a 100-dollar bill, bought two copies, and shoved one into Ezel Luncelot's hands.
Ezel’s eyes went wide the moment she recognized her savior.
"Sonet—"
"Shh."
Sonette gestured with her eyes toward the adjacent alleyway.
"Follow me."
Ezel glanced around nervously for a moment, then swallowed hard, nodded, and followed her into the shadows.