What Was Bound to Come... Far Too Soon
What was bound to come had finally arrived… but wasn’t it far too soon?
Thirty years had passed since the Empire entered a state of complete peace. Not once in all that time had an emergency standby order been issued. Even monster raids were met with immediate Imperial Army deployments that cleaned everything up without fail. After that, a true era of peace had finally dawned. Unless they plunged into wartime again, the officials of every Imperial department and the soldiers of the Imperial Army had all believed no standby order would ever fall again.
That is, until today, when an emergency standby order suddenly dropped out of the blue.
“What kind of bolt from the blue is this?!”
“Any word from the Special Affairs Ministry? What are they saying over there?!”
“They say they only found out about it yesterday themselves!”
“If they knew yesterday, why didn’t they say a single word to us?!”
“They sent people to confirm the facts, but then they moved again mid-check, so now we’re reconfirming…”
The Ministry of the Interior, which oversaw every province, and the Ministry of Finance, which handled all budgets, taxes, and fiscal matters—two of the most powerful departments in the Empire—had been hit by a storm. One side was losing its mind trying to track the situation reports and movement paths flooding in from every outpost. The other was going completely insane trying to forecast reconstruction budgets in case any damage occurred. Their reasons for panicking differed, but one fact was certain: both departments now stood on the brink of their absolute worst nightmare coming true.
Especially the Interior Ministry. Unlike the Finance Ministry, which was still only on the verge of nightmare because no damage had yet occurred, the Interior was already staring down two direct-line members of the John Nassen family charging forward like an unstoppable tide. They were so rattled it was as if the Emperor himself had just walked into their offices.
“Does this make any sense?! You said they were clearly in the northern plains yesterday. So why did today’s report suddenly come from the central border region?! Even the fastest courier takes three days to cover that distance!!”
“Maybe… maybe someone misidentified them? Then it would make sense…”
The man trailed off and clamped his mouth shut the moment his superior’s face twisted into a furious scowl. Honestly, even he knew how ridiculous that sounded the second it left his lips. Reports didn’t climb all the way to the Imperial Ministry of the Interior without proper verification. One scrap of false information and the Interior’s hammer would come crashing down. They hadn’t mis-seen anything. This had been reported, confirmed, and reconfirmed all the way here.
“Where’s the Minister?!”
“He went to the Special Affairs Ministry. Said this was completely impossible and…”
Like barging over there is going to produce some brilliant solution. I’m going to lose my mind.
The superior muttered under his breath and raked his fingers through his hair in irritation. On his desk lay a single map with a movement path drawn across it. The line’s starting point was the John Nassen barony at the far northern edge of the Empire.
Meanwhile, the Minister of the Interior who had stormed into the Special Affairs Ministry held a brief meeting with its minister. After a short discussion the two of them marched straight into the Ministry of Education, practically kidnapped the Minister of Education, and headed for the Academy. There they summoned the one person who might know something about the current crisis.
“I have one question. Has any letter arrived from your family recently?”
At the Interior Minister’s words, Kyle—second son of the John Nassen family and currently enrolled at the Academy—shook his head. No letter had come. That left them with no way of knowing why they were coming.
Aside from traveling to the Academy, those people had never moved once. And now, out of nowhere, two direct heirs of the family head were bulldozing their way into the Empire. The silver lining, if it could be called that, was that the absolute worst-case scenario seemed to have been avoided. There were no reports of anything collapsing, no Imperial Army units wiped out—nothing of the sort. In other words, they weren’t approaching with hostile intent toward the Empire.
“It would probably be fastest to meet them and ask directly.”
“I agree.”
“Let’s move quickly. There’s no telling how far they’ve already come.”
Just as the three ministers reached that conclusion and started to rise from their seats—
“Um, Ministers. Actually, there’s something I should tell you.”
From Kyle the three ministers received a relatively detailed explanation of why those two had charged all the way into the heart of the Empire like madmen.
“Kyle, my boy.”
“Yes, Minister.”
“So you’re saying your older brother and sister are coming here because… they’re worried you might have been hurt in that incident?”
“Uh… no. That’s not it. They’re just interested in the fact that those guys did something weird to their bodies and got stronger…”
Kyle had explained the real reason. The ministers, however, refused to take it at face value.
No matter how obsessed the John Nassens are with strength…
Surely worrying about their child—their little brother—would come first.
The John Nassen barony must dote on their youngest far more than I expected. Surprising.
If Kyle could have read their thoughts, he would have shouted something like: What kind of nonsense is that?! Those people aren’t soft-hearted like that! Yes, they’re coming to see me, but not because they’re worried about their little brother—because they’re worried their little brother’s muscles might have atrophied!
“Anyway, thank you for being honest with us. That puts one worry to rest.”
“We’ll be going now. I hope you continue to have a fruitful time at the Academy.”
The three ministers rose, left the Academy, and immediately boarded carriages. According to the latest report, the John Nassen guests had just crossed the Rhine River—meaning they were already extremely close to the capital and the Academy. If they truly harbored no hostility toward the Empire, meeting them face-to-face seemed best.
“Should we bring the Finance Minister along as well?”
“Dragging that man along will only give him a heart attack. Leave him.”
The Special Affairs Minister’s words earned vigorous agreement from the Education Minister. He was certain his old classmate would foam at the mouth the moment he laid eyes on Leah John Nassen. Honestly, the Education Minister himself wasn’t entirely sure he wouldn’t do the same. The one small mercy was that Lear John Nassen had lived a relatively uneventful Academy life, so hope and anxiety currently held a precarious balance.
“I believe that’s them up ahead.”
After racing for some time, a Special Affairs agent’s shout brought every carriage to a simultaneous halt. Ministers who almost never left their departments—three of them, no less—stepped down. These were people who had no reason to feel intimidated in front of any noble short of the Emperor or a grand duke. They were the core figures who carried out the Empire’s overall affairs under imperial command; in a sense, they were direct subordinates of the Emperor himself.
Even so, all three ministers stared with tightly wound nerves at the figures who had appeared ahead.
“Hm.”
The first to appear was a man whose body looked extraordinarily solid. His build was so impressive that, from silhouette alone, one could have mistaken him for an ogre still in its growth phase. The strange part was that, for all that aggressive physique, his face gave off an extremely gentle impression. Of course, one scowl from that face and everything would probably change in an instant.
“Oh my.”
The woman who appeared next was both similar to and completely different from the man. Their features were clearly related, yet her build was the exact opposite of his. At a casual glance one might have mistaken her for a beauty escorted by a giant bodyguard knight. But the three ministers standing here—especially the Education Minister—knew the truth. They knew exactly what that delicately beautiful woman had done at the Academy.
At first he had thought he was dreaming when he saw the devastation with his own eyes. The Academy looked as if a massive storm had slammed into it head-on, ruins everywhere. This is a nightmare, this has to be a nightmare, he had muttered—only for the prime suspect to appear right in front of him.
“Leah John Nassen.”
“Minister. I never expected to meet you again like this.”
Leah apparently remembered the Education Minister as well. She smiled softly in recognition, then jabbed her elbow into the side of the person standing next to her. From the ministers’ perspective it looked less like a light jab and more like a solid punch.
“It’s the Minister, Oppa.”
“…Lear John Nassen.”
Nothing particularly special about the voice—just a calm, serious tone. Yet that single utterance made the knights and Special Affairs agents escorting the ministers flinch in surprise. The overwhelming presence leaking through the voice made them shrink back involuntarily.
“A pleasure to meet you all.”
The first to offer greetings was the Special Affairs Minister. This was a man who never smiled under ordinary circumstances; even long-time Special Affairs veterans had never seen him smile. Yet today, as if the world had turned upside down, a full, blooming smile spread across his face. His subordinates stared with “Is this actually real?” written all over their eyes.
“We were a little surprised by this sudden visit.”
The Interior Minister also smiled as he spoke, though the real meaning behind the words was crystal clear: Why did you suddenly show up and turn our entire departments upside down?
“We’re headed for the Academy.”
“We want to see our little brother’s face and hear a few things.”
As expected—it really was because of Kyle.
All three ministers thought the same thing at once and nodded.
“We’ve already heard the rough outline from Kyle.”
“We fully understand your concern for your younger brother. We have absolutely no intention of interfering with a family reunion. However, there is somewhere you must go first.”
At the words “somewhere first,” Lear and Leah tilted their heads. They had clearly said they were going to the Academy—why bring up anywhere else?
“His Imperial Majesty, the great sovereign of the Empire, has personally invited the two of you to the Imperial Palace.”
Inviting mere members of a baronial house to the Imperial Palace—and by the Emperor himself, no less. Searching the entire history of the Empire would not turn up a single precedent for what was happening right now.
But the even more astonishing part came next.
“We’ll go later.”
“…Excuse me?”
“I said we’ll go later.”
Lear’s voice alone was enough to make anyone listening instinctively shrink back. Leah added with a gentle smile:
“My brother and I are going to the Academy. We’ll head to the palace after that.”