Do Your Own Revolution

#115

Despite numerous voices of concern, Margrave Korhonen’s Rift expedition plan was proceeding without a hitch.

Automatons being transported to the North Sea glacier region, along with their special equipment.

While preparing to enter the Rift, regular soldiers and Count Korhonen’s knights were deployed to fill the gaps left by the automatons.

The city of Korhonen, now empty except for minimal security forces.

“Aaargh–!”

In a mansion at its center, a man was screaming in frustration.

“Why won’t they cooperate, these stubborn fools-!”

Wham-!

As the items on the table shook, Emma’s eyes narrowed as she looked in her vanity mirror.

“It seems persuading the knights isn’t going well?”

“Not going well is an understatement. Those stubborn bastards, they won’t budge an inch!”

The one spitting out these words in response to Emma’s comment was Russell Korhonen, First Son of Korhonen.

His repeated attempts to recruit the family knights had been met with only cold stares.

‘We deeply apologize, but our Knight Order’s loyalty lies with Lord Kassel and his heir, Young Lady Reina.’

‘While it’s true that you are a direct member of the family, Lord Russell, that doesn’t mean you have the authority to issue such orders to us.’

“Just like that damned father of mine! There’s no talking sense into them!”

Russell ground his teeth as he shouted.

Watching him quietly, Emma could guess the situation in Korhonen.

‘Is it time to prod a bit?’

Time to do what the Duke ordered.

With that thought, Emma began to provoke Russell with her characteristically seductive voice.

“If the expedition succeeds as planned, His Lordship’s authority will only grow stronger.”

“……!”

“The Conqueror of the North who subjugated the Rift and Young Lady Reina who inherited his will… I don’t see any room for you to squeeze in, Lord Russell?” ȐἈΝꝋ𝖇ΕṢ

At her provocative tone, Russell’s face crumpled.

“Even so, Reina can’t walk and she’s blind. Plus, that girl is sick. She’s nothing more than a walking corpse!”

“But isn’t it true that she has the qualities needed to inherit Lord Kassel’s magic imprint?”

Hearing Emma’s words as she applied her lipstick, Russell fell silent.

Is he starting to heat up?

After confirming Russell’s reaction, Emma continued to goad him.

“If the Young Lady inherits the imprint, she could easily slow the progression of her illness with that magical power. Just as Lord Kassel did.”

Margrave Kassel was exposed to contamination at a young age and contracted a disease that caused his entire body to rot.

Normally, he should have died long ago.

But Margrave Kassel was still alive, controlling over a thousand automatons.

The reason this was possible.

It was thanks to the body regeneration ability built into his seven stroke imprint, ‘Steel Puppeteer’.

“If the Young Lady inherits the imprint, I imagine… she could easily last at least 20 years?”

“What……!”

“And if during that time she finds a suitable mate and bears an heir, what then?”

Reina, the successor personally acknowledged by Kassel.

And what if such a Reina had a child?

If that happened…….

“Your chance to become the Conqueror of the North would disappear forever.”

Emma said with a playful smile.

Hearing those words, Russell ground his teeth and jumped to his feet.

This moment could be his last chance, after all.

“Yanik!”

Russell called for his trusted subordinate.

When a man in a suit entered, he asked with bulging eyes.

“What about the knights?!”

“All gathered, Lord Russell. They await your orders.”

A voice full of confidence.

Hearing this, a smile spread across Russell’s face for the first time.

Margrave Kassel preferred automatons with guaranteed production and technical capability over unstable human resources like Magic Awakening users.

As a result, now that the automaton army was complete, the quality and scale of the repeatedly downsized Korhonen Knight Order was far inferior to other magic noble houses.

Even as the family’s Knight Order, they were just a ragtag group of fewer than 50 people.

‘But I’m different.’

Magic Awakening users who couldn’t find positions due to being pushed aside by automatons as weapons.

Russell used capital and imprints provided by magic nobles to draw them into his faction and secretly trained them as knights.

After decades of work, the number of knights following him rivaled that of a Knight Order.

And now was the time to use the cards he had kept hidden for so long.

“The expedition begins in two days. Due to the rushed preparations, security inside the castle is lax.”

Emma, sitting on the bed, casually hinted as if reading Russell’s thoughts.

“With all the automatons gone, only regular soldiers and a few knights will remain. If you target that timing…”

Suggesting that the coup could succeed.

If so, there was only one remaining problem.

“Eugene Lorentz. That man is the issue.”

A seven stroke imprint mage who came to the North at this crucial time.

If he moved, the coup would be suppressed before it could even begin.

Russell furrowed his brow, his mind clearly troubled.

Watching him, Emma slowly rose from her seat.

“You don’t need to worry about that.”@@novelbin@@

“Don’t worry? About a seven stroke mage?”

“Yes.”

We have just the right weakness.

Saying this, Emma recalled the information she had gathered about Eugene.

“There was a girl his age traveling with him, wasn’t there?”

“Y-yes, there was.”

“When I investigated her, some quite interesting information came up.”

Her name was Irene.

She had been with Eugene since being adopted by Keiren, and even now stayed by his side year-round.

For Eugene, who had no other connections, this girl was like his only family.

“Wait a moment, Emma. Are you…….”

As if guessing Emma’s meaning, Russell’s brow furrowed.

“Are you suggesting we take a hostage and threaten the hero of the Empire ?”

“My, how crude. Not take hostage, but ‘invite’ her to this mansion for ‘protection.'”

Chuckling as she said this, Emma continued.

“We’ll specially ‘protect’ her to ensure no innocent victims are harmed during your coup.”

“H-hmm…….”

“Since the Imperial Army can’t interfere in internal Northern affairs, it would be quite a convenient excuse for Brigadier General Eugene too, don’t you think?”

Eugene’s reason for coming to Korhonen was clear.

His aim was to draw Korhonen, which kept its distance from magic noble factions, into the Emperor’s faction.

In that case, Emma thought to use that very situation.

“Secure the girl Irene and buy time, then use that time to succeed with the coup.”

Then inherit the position of Margrave Korhonen.

If successful, even a seven stroke mage wouldn’t be able to move rashly.

From that point on, it would be the realm of politics, not power.

He wouldn’t be able to use force carelessly.

“Then, securing the girl…”

“You shouldn’t do it personally, Lord Russell.”

After all, we can’t have the future Margrave Korhonen involved in something as unsavory as kidnapping.

Saying this, Emma clapped her hands twice with a slight smile.

Then shortly after.

Swoosh-

A man in red clothes appeared from behind her.

Then two, six, ten.

As their numbers grew, Russell’s eyes widened at the sight.

“Emma. This, this is……!”

“Don’t worry.”

First-class assassins personally dispatched by the Duke.

Looking over their faces with chilling gazes, Emma smiled slowly.

“This sort of thing is my specialty, after all.”

***

“Your Lordship. This is…….”

“Take it. I rarely meet young men I get along with, I should at least offer a drink.”

In Margrave Kassel’s office.

Though he called me to discuss expedition plans, what the Margrave handed me wasn’t an operation plan but a wine glass.

Saying we should have a drink before tomorrow’s expedition since the automaton transport work was all finished.

I hadn’t enjoyed alcohol in this life or my previous one, so I tried to politely decline the glass, but….

“Come now, take it, Eugene. My arm’s already rotting away—do you want to be responsible if it falls off?”

Seeing his arm trembling, I had no choice but to accept the glass the Margrave personally offered.

What a crafty old man.

If you say it like that, doesn’t it make me the bad guy?

“Good. It’s been so long since I shared a drink like this.”

One glass, then two.

After emptying what was clearly an absurdly expensive wine, the Margrave examined the clear glass and spoke.

“Let me ask you something, since I’m tipsy.”

“Please go ahead.”

Though neither of us is particularly drunk.

The Margrave set his glass on the table and asked me.

“You must have killed countless times, through many battlefields.”

“That’s right.”

“Put bullets in enemies’ heads, cut throats with daggers, and pierced hearts. Isn’t that so?”

“Correct.”

Stating the obvious at this point.

As I thought this, the Margrave’s voice grew deeper.

“Then at those times, what emotions did you feel?”

“No different from any other soldier.”

Does alcohol make one more contemplative?

At the Margrave’s question, I recalled events from long ago, one by one.

After my first kill in a back alley, I trembled at the lingering sensation and chilling feeling.

During the Knifehead training, I feared seeing my peers die, and raged at Elcidore who killed them.

When such people calmly ordered me to kill, and I followed those orders to kill uninvolved people….

Honestly, there were countless times I wondered if I really had to live like this.

“But why do you ask that suddenly?”

He won’t say something crazy like ‘killing is wrong!’

As I thought this, the Count’s expression behind his mask grew serious.

“The more one repeats combat and war, the more human emotions wear away.”

“…….”

“Guilt, disgust, fear, anguish… After suffering through that violent whirlpool of emotions, eventually one becomes unable to feel anything at all. And humans who reach that point ultimately…”

“Go insane.”

A sight I’d seen countless times on battlefields.

A new recruit stabbing an enemy corpse with vacant eyes.

A soldier wailing over a family photo found on the corpse of an enemy he shot.

An officer who couldn’t bear the guilt of civilian casualties from his bombing orders and committed suicide.

In this game world where wars never end, countless people were still dying and going mad.

“To prevent that emotional erosion, I created this puppet army. Using machines to eliminate monsters… to eliminate the North’s enemies.”

After saying this, Margrave Kassel’s gaze turned to me.

“Then what about you?”

“…….”

“Those numerous mages under your command. Those superhumans who spread countless deaths and destruction… How do you maintain them as humans rather than monsters?”

Suddenly turning philosophical, are we?

Putting that thought aside, I spoke.

It was simple, not even worth thinking twice about.

“I redirect the guilt they would feel onto myself, their commander.”

The Special Magical Power Unit is the Empire’s spear for killing its enemies, and they’ve killed the Empire’s enemies through all sorts of battlefields.

The Revolutionary Army, knights, Republican forces, and numerous other anti-establishment groups.

But were all those killings truly justified?

‘Of course not.’

Not all Revolutionary Army members are ignorant masses corrupted by the Republic.

Just as not all magic nobles are virtuous, even if the Republic is our enemy, their individuals are just people like us.

But I and the Special Magical Power Unit point our guns at them without hesitation.

We torture, kidnap, and kill, using any means necessary to achieve our goals.

No matter how much we claim it’s justified, it’s not something a sane person could do.

“A soldier’s profession is killing. The more actual combat they experience, the faster their emotions wear away.”

“…….”

And soldiers’ emotions are a resource that’s hard to replenish and easily depleted.

“That’s why I used every possible method to minimize my subordinates’ emotional wear.”

The Revolutionary Army are terrorists shaking the Empire.

Magic nobles are a cancer eating away at the Empire’s strength.

The Republic is the main enemy eyeing the Empire’s territory.

After defining the enemy with simple dichotomies, I use superior authority and discipline to declare:

That the Special Magic Unit is a tool for my advancement.

That they are emotionless combat machines, and I am the one using them.

Therefore, all the slaughter and violence they commit is no different than if I did it myself.

Thus I justify their killing and dilute their morality.

I numb the guilt of those who return with gold and honor, and through memorial services and tears, process the deaths of comrades into lubricant of hatred and hostility toward the enemy.

“That’s difficult. Taking on your subordinates’ responsibility to maintain their humanity.”

“I believe most commanders already do this. It’s nothing special, just a matter of degree…”

“Wrong.”

Wrong? What is?

As I wondered this, Margrave Kassel looked carefully at my face and said.

“Taking on the malice and responsibility committed by a group. That’s not a commander’s job.”

“Then whose…”

“That is the duty of a king.”

What?

King?

“A king sitting on the burning throne… Just as Freddie said.”

“Pardon?”

The Margrave used the Emperor’s nickname as if speaking of a friend.

Come to think of it, Margrave Gloucester spoke that way too.

Is there something between the three of them?

No, more importantly. What the Margrave Kassel just said.

I’ve heard it somewhere before……?

Bang-!

“Your Lordship!”

Just as my thoughts were deepening, a knight burst through the office door and called out to Margrave Kassel urgently.

“Lord Russell and a group of knights… They’ve occupied the first floor of the mansion.”

Good grief.

I thought something felt off, and now they’ve gone and done it.

Perfect timing.

I was just wondering how to kill them in a way that would make for good rumors, and they’ve crawled right into my sights.

As I thought this and started to rise…

“And bad news for you too, Sir Eugene…”

Who? Me?

Wondering what it could be, I waited for his answer. After fidgeting for a while, the knight bowed his head with a grave expression.

“Suspects believed to be working with Lord Russell… They’ve kidnapped Young Lady Irene who was staying on the first floor.”

“……Pardon?”

What kind of nonsense is this?

Kidnapped?

Irene?

Is this some new form of suicide?

“Haah…”

Seeing this truly unprecedented strategy, I let out a dry sigh.

‘I wondered what gave them the nerve to act in this situation where I’m present…’

So this is how they decided to play it.

Thinking this, I loaded magic bullets into the Heresy holstered at my side.

“Let’s hurry.”

“Y-yes! If we delay, Young Lady Irene…!”

As I stepped forward with a troubled expression, the knight nodded hastily and led the way.

Right.

We really needed to hurry.

‘As that knight just said, if we delay…’

Forget interrogating them—we won’t even find their corpses.

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