Do Your Own Revolution

#083

“Six casualties… Not bad considering they went into that monster-infested territory.”

“I think we should try changing the personnel formation. Having four-person fire teams is good, but the flanks keep getting exposed.”

“Maybe we should divide roles for the formation… Thinking about it is giving me another headache.”

Inside the returning airship.

Gathered around the passenger cabin table, I and the Special Magic Unit officers were focused on post-battle procedures while chewing on cheese, a specialty provided by the Gloucester territory.

Casualty count. Weapon inspection, strategy modification, and report writing.

While soldiers who finished battle are given sweet rest, officers who finished battle find new work beginning.

“Eugene! Look at this! It stretches! It’s so delicious!”

“Ooh.”

“Here, Rennie too! Aah~!”

“Ah, no. I-I’m fine…!”

While Irene cheerfully held out a well-packaged chunk of cheese, the other officers including myself awkwardly smiled and waved it away.

Now, three days after leaving the territory.

The soldiers in the airship were at the point of cringing just from smelling cheese.

The cheese that filled the storage compartment and even invaded the passenger cabin where I and the officers were.

Right now, the only one happy looking at that was Irene, who was grinning while massacring the cheese.

“No. It’s impossible.”

Meanwhile, Rennie, who was wearing precision lenses instead of glasses, shook her head and spoke.

What Rennie held in her hand was the Count Elcryer’s seven stroke imprint, [Eyes that Observe the Abyss].

Originally, we had planned to use it as the base for the Special Magic Unit’s standard imprint, but seeing Rennie’s expression, even that seemed unfeasible.

“There’s no way to make it work?”

“Hmm. Rather than explaining this… it would be faster to show you.”

Saying that, Rennie took out a piece of parchment from her carry bag and placed the imprint on top of it.

And at that moment.

Crackle-!

“Whoa?!”

“Wh-what is that?!”

Seeing the black veins instantly spreading out from the center of the imprint, Leopold and Guille were startled. Rennie spoke with a short sigh.

“This imprint’s magical power wavelength is completely different from humans’. Forget creating derivative imprints, just implanting it would probably turn body parts into monster flesh.”

“Is there no way to purify it?”

“It might be possible if we take time… but I can’t guarantee how long it would take. Even if purification succeeds, I question whether this imprint would remain intact.”

If an imprint specialist who ranked among the top even in-game says this, it was easier to assume there were no other options.

“So the imprint is a bust. That’s a bit unfortunate.”

“But we still got something out of it. We gained a reliable ally in Gloucester after all.”

Saying that, Guille pointed at the cheese filling this airship.

“How favorably must they view us to pack this expensive cheese so tightly? Right?”

“…Yeah. That’s true.”

Saying that, I opened one of the boxes labeled ‘cheese’.

Woong-

Instead of cheese, what was inside was monster mana cores emanating a mystical light.

This was the real gift that Margrave Gloucester had provided – the number one strategic resource needed to create magic imprints for the Special Magical Power Unit.

‘Count Gloucester will support the Emperor and me in the upcoming reforms.’

Just looking at how they diverted all the mana cores that should have gone to the Knight Order to our side shows their determination is clear.

Gloucester’s main products are oil, iron ore, and mana cores.

Having secured a stable supply route for these means the relationship between the Empire and Gloucester will become even closer.

However…

“This isn’t our job anymore, right?”

What comes after can be left to the politicians.

If consultation requests come in, we can leave it to Erich.

Speaking of which, I heard he just handed over the Special Magic Unit’s administrative work to the staff below.

Time to throw him some new work.

I told you Erich.

There’s no paradise in the place you ran to.

“So Battalion Commander, where are we headed now?”

While I was thinking about how to put the idle Erich to work, Leopold, who was looking out the window, asked me.

After flying for three days straight, we arrived at a field a bit away from the imperial capital.

Confirming we had reached our destination, I immediately spoke to my subordinate officers.

“Everyone, go to your cabins and get dressed in your formal uniforms.”

“Formal uniforms?”

“Why so suddenly?”

To my sudden instruction, the confused members asked, and

“We need to have an audience with His Majesty the Emperor.”

At my following words, everyone except Irene turned pale.

***

‘Where did the Knight Order go! Withdrawal?! These crazy bastards, withdrawing in this situation…!’

‘Battalion Commander, this way! Walter! Where are the weapons?!’

It was a familiar nightmare.

The Knight Order abandoning the frontline citing political logic.

The monster invasion that followed, and the main camp being violated.

My soldiers dying endlessly.

Outstanding strategist.

The Empire’s great general.

An incompetent youngster too focused on receiving such praise, who didn’t even realize what was truly important.

And what kind of catastrophe that fool met.

‘Anna… Anna…!’

‘You can’t, Battalion Commander! The monsters are still…!’

‘Let go Miriam! It couldn’t have ended like this…! She must still be alive…!’

‘Otto! What are you doing not coming quickly?!’

A pandemonium of shouts and screams, cries and wails mixed together.

Her corpse bursting out from the monster’s entrails.

And even the beating of the child writhing in that belly…

Anna.

If I had magical power.

If I had been just a little stronger.

Could I have protected you?

If only that were the case…

“Lord Keiren.”

“……”

Western Front Headquarters.

Imperial Army Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant General Keiren Buckenheim opened his eyes surrounded by piles of documents in his office.

“How long was I like this?”

“About three hours.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“What a great loss it would be if the Imperial Army Commander-in-Chief died from overwork.”

Walter brought coffee to him as he chuckled.

On his briefly exposed arm was a tattoo that didn’t match his neat attire.

The text engraved on Keiren’s shoulder, and on many others including Miriam and Otto.

While looking at it, Walter, who had lit up the dark office, spoke.

“Were you dreaming about the 372nd Battalion days?”

At Walter’s words, Keiren smiled awkwardly and took a sip of the coffee placed in front of him.

A liquid made by dumping sugar into cheap military supply coffee.

Something that would horrify other high officials, but Keiren at the frontlines always drank only this.

“…I must have been quite rough in my sleep.”

“I could tell from your characteristic atmosphere. Without fail, when you furrow your brow, Lord Keiren.”

Knowing someone too long isn’t always good.

Muttering that, Keiren nodded and leaned back in his chair.

Almost 20 years since losing Anna.

Yet the sense of loss and powerlessness felt then still weighed heavily on Keiren’s heart.

After some time passed like that.

“You originally didn’t intend to go this far, did you?”

When Walter spoke first, a strange light flickered in Keiren’s eyes.

It was quite unexpected for Walter, who rarely revealed his thoughts, to speak up.

“The Republic, monsters, magic nobles. You said to forget the grudges against them and focus on what remains. That’s what you said, and I and others decided to follow those words.”

Since it was a scene Keiren remembered as well, his answer came immediately.

“It was when Mari took her first steps.”

The only thing Anna left him.

Such a precious treasure.

On that day when she stood on two legs and came towards him, Keiren had resolved to let everything go.

“That’s how it was then, but how about now?”

Keiren looked around at the numerous plans, blueprints, and strategic maps placed on his desk.

Mari’s happiness.

That had been his only life goal, yet now he had become an ambitious figure shaking the entire Empire.

When was the last time he saw Mari’s face?

Thinking about it now, it felt somewhat ridiculous.

“My current self must look quite foolish. Isn’t that right, Walter?”

“No. The opposite.”

Walter said.

“The young lady has grown enough to be independent now. She lives not by receiving our help, but by helping us.”

If she had grown up like a greenhouse flower under his protection, this would never have happened.

Understanding the implied meaning, Keiren smiled bitterly.

“You mean it’s the change that Eugene brought about.”

Truly it was.

A child to send to the military in Mari’s place.

Someone he had thought would just be that much had grown this much already.

Making him embrace again the ambitions he had given up.

The child who made the Emperor who had given up on the Empire move again.

And now, he was imprinting his existence as the symbol of the Imperial Army that killed the Republic’s hero.

The Emperor and himself.

The one who would inherit the Empire they had operated on would probably be that child.

Then his job was to quickly take control of the family and change this Empire.

“The armistice agreement proceeded as expected. The Republic lost much, and the Empire gained much.”

Keiren said as he examined the newspaper.

Starting with Major Klaus’s defeat, the Imperial Army under Keiren’s command drove back the Republic’s forces everywhere with the Special Magical Power Unit at the forefront.

This war that the Republic started and ended in the Republic’s defeat.

As the price for the armistice, the Empire was able to prepare for the next battle while occupying all major military strategic points, and various industrial bases and factories captured in this process came under Imperial control.

“And what’s even better is that the spoils of this war became the possession of the Imperial Army and Imperial Family without exception.”

Since the Knight Order and magic nobles stayed out of the war under the pretext of blocking the Revolutionary Army, it was only natural.

Materials seized from the Republic. Industrial complexes. Farmland.

These would become weapons to empower the Imperial Army in future political situations.

And if that happens, they could further expand the Special Magical Power Unit that led this victory.

As Eugene planned, it means they could be reborn as a military organization to replace the Knight Order and Magic Corps, not just expendable shock troops.

“How is the Special Magical Power Unit recruitment status?”

“It couldn’t be going better.”

Saying that, Walter showed the prepared documents.

As a result of continued recruitment from various places, the Special Magical Power Unit had now secured a thousand new recruits.

Thanks to this, the Special Magic Unit currently had staffing plans up to the 4th Battalion, including Eugene’s 1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion, and 3rd Battalion.

Moreover, what was even more surprising was…

“A competition ratio of 17 to 1? You’re saying seventeen thousand applied?”

“That’s correct.”

Hearing Walter’s words, Keiren couldn’t help but be astonished.

Seventeen thousand.

Excluding those of noble birth, practically all magical power awakeners in the Empire had applied.

“I thought we just wouldn’t have to worry about numbers, but this…”

“The barrier to entry is low and the benefits are great, after all.”

The Special Magical Power Unit’s first appearance left a unique impression on the Empire’s people.

Victory reports arriving day after day.

The street parade by Eugene and his unit members.

And even the medals bearing the Emperor’s seal given to them.

When this happened, Magic Awakeners throughout the Empire thought:

Rather than going to the Knight Order with its barriers or the Magic Corps requiring military academy credentials, joining the Special Magical Power Unit would be much more beneficial.

A smile appeared on Keiren’s lips.

If they just maintain this state.

Overwhelming the Knight Order and Magic Corps would be just a matter of time.

“So, how about the one who created this unit? I heard he went to Gloucester territory.”

Given the Margrave’s personality and personal history, it probably wasn’t for something too major.

An exploratory move for future political situations.

He probably just did some formalities and came back.

While thinking that, an officer with a pale face entered the office and spoke.

“A-a telegram has arrived from Major Eugene Lorentz!”

“Report.”

“Y-yes! Th-that is…!”

How urgent must it be for him to not even speak properly.

While Keiren was thinking that, even he couldn’t help but doubt his ears at the soldier’s following report.

“C-confirmed that the Count Elcryer was conducting monster-related research in Gloucester territory! Confirmed the appearance of a Great Rupture and prevented it!”

“…What?”

His head spun at the suddenly arriving unbelievable news.

Monster research? Great Rupture?

What is all this about?

But that was just for a moment.

Looking through the report handed over by the thoroughly shaken soldier, Keiren clenched his fist with a hollow laugh.

‘The Count Elcryer and Count Elcidore.’

‘Requesting public enemy designation for all individuals and organizations related to this.’

‘Special Magical Power Unit 1st Battalion Commander, Eugene Lorentz.’

“The time has come.”

This time that emerged while clearing the monsters on the Eastern Front and blocking the Republic’s threat.

This opportunity that arose while growing the size of the Emperor and Imperial Army.

Keiren thought.

Two years at minimum.

During that time, the Emperor and himself could fight the ‘real enemy’ within the Empire.

“If a telegram came, they probably already got wind of it on the other side. Have you confirmed the Elcryer side’s movements?”

“U-until now they haven’t shown any particular movements. However, we’ve confirmed the Knight Order gathering at several branch family locations recently. Given the circumstances…”

They noticed that Count Elcryer died and are busy destroying evidence.

Making sure nothing can be found even if an investigation comes later, cutting off loose ends.

‘However, it’s already too late.’

The testimony and physical evidence from Margrave Gloucester, a fellow member of the 12 Great Magic Houses.

The existence of the research facility and the corpses of test subjects sacrificed there.

Everything was crystal clear, and the sources of supplies and weapons distributed to the fortress were all secured.

Even if they make the extreme move of declaring them public enemies, no one would be able to raise objections.

“Organize reinforcements. This operation might be too much for the Special Magic Unit alone.”

“I’ll make preparations right away.”

Walter immediately left the office upon receiving Keiren’s instructions.

With just around 100 troops, they eliminated one of the 12 Great Magic Nobles?

What a monstrous fellow.

If his son-in-law was going to act like this, he couldn’t just sit still either.

“We’ll have to hurry the plans.”

Saying that, Keiren looked at the document placed at the very top of his desk.

A document bearing the Emperor’s seal and Imperial Knight Order Commander Andrei’s seal.

Looking at the document titled ‘Kalhyram Army Integration Plan’, Keiren wore a meaningful expression.

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