Do Your Own Revolution

#075

Black-stained earth, thick black smoke.

Grotesque plants growing there, and horrifying monsters that feed and grow on those plants.

This land, like hell descended upon the mortal world, was the product of the Great Rupture that wiped out half the continent’s population.

A land of death where just stepping on the ground allows black poison to seep into one’s body.

Squelch- Squelch-

However, there was a group of humans traversing that unspeakably repulsive land.

“Huff-“

Gas masks shaped like bird beaks.

After checking the contamination density meters on their wrists, they signaled to each other.

Swoosh-!

The one at the front drew the machete from their waist, while the rest formed a circle to scan the surroundings.

Meanwhile, one person in the center slowly lowered their body and reached toward the blackened ground.

“Hmm……”

“How is it?”

“Indeed. The texture is different from normal contamination. It’s not just that the concentration is higher. This is……”

As he wiped away the dust accumulated on his gas mask lens, the man’s eyes became visible behind the lens.

An old man’s eyes, deeply wrinkled.

After examining the soil in his hand with an unreadable expression, he soon frowned and spoke.

“This contaminated area wasn’t created by monsters.”

“……!”

“Your Grace. Does that mean……”

“Yes. This confirms it.”

When the two guards beside him asked that way, the old man nodded with a grave expression.

“Some fool who deserves to be torn to pieces is playing around in my territory.”

When he squeezed the soil in his hand, the contamination permeating it disappeared into smoke.

Crunch-!

The old man’s demeanor clearly showed his anger.

As a similar atmosphere flowed among the others with him…

“Your Grace. The sky.”

At the words of the man beside him, the old man’s gaze slowly turned toward the sky.

“Hooh.”

An airship flying at low altitude, sending light signals toward their castle.

The old man’s eyes deepened as he confirmed the emblem engraved on the gas bag.

The figure of an armored woman, and the spear she held forward.

The flag fluttering at the spear’s tip, and the emperor’s seal engraved there.

It was an assault airship operated by the Imperial Special Magic Forces.

“So these are Freddie’s new hunting dogs.”

Referring to the Imperial Emperor’s name like a friend.

Hearing that, low voices trying to restrain him came from around him.

“……Your Grace.”

“I know.”

No matter how old I’ve gotten, my judgment hasn’t become clouded enough to show such an attitude in front of the Emperor’s faithful hounds.

Adding that like a joke, the old man gave the withdrawal order with practiced gestures.

The knights formed ranks and returned to the castle under the order.

Even while receiving their escort, the old man’s gaze remained on the sky.

“…Still, it’s surprising. To think that green cadet officer I met back then would grow this much.”

Looking at the airship approaching his castle,

Margrave Gloucester smiled faintly.

“Eugene, Lorentz.”

What kind of incident would that flame that stirred both the Empire and Republic bring to this land?

With a strange anticipation unfitting his age, Count Gloucester quietly muttered.

“Welcome to Gloucester.”

***

“What the hell is with these clouds……”

“There’s heavy turbulence! Hold on tight!”

Though I heard the tense voices of the pilots, looking around the cabin, I could only shake my head as if it was already too late.

“Urgh… Urk……”

“So dizzy… I’m, I’m dying……”

“Hehe, mommy… I’ll be there soon……”

1st Company Commander Guille hugging a trash can in one corner of the cabin while repeatedly vomiting.

Adjutant Leopold clutching his chair while suffering from acrophobia.

And our imprint specialist Rennie who had lost consciousness and was calling for her mother.

“Complete annihilation.”

“Eugene! I’m fine!”

“Yes, as expected, you’re the best, Irene.”

“Right! Right?!”

While patting Irene’s head as she clung to me happily, I looked at my subordinates sprawled across the airship cabin.

Two days from departing the Eastern Front until arriving at Gloucester territory.@@novelbin@@

In that short span of two days, the officers of my Special Magical Power Unit had suffered near-devastating casualties.

‘These good-for-nothings, worse than sunfish……’

When we get back, I’m putting them all through reinforcement training.

Especially you, Guille.

The unit members are playing fine on the lower deck, but you, a company commander, get airsick?

Bump-!

“Kuhuk?!”

“Kieek?!”

“Khing?!”

“What a diverse range of sound effects, you bastards. Aren’t you going to prepare for disembarkation?!”

At my outburst after finally losing patience, the half-dead officers one by one returned to their positions.

The Special Magical Power Unit members disembarked one after another as soon as our tumultuous landing was complete.

Being the first to exit the airship, I observed the surroundings while confirming the soldiers moving in formation.

“Lieutenant Colonel Eugene Lorentz. Is that correct?”

As expected, someone was already waiting.

Thinking that, I turned to see a young man about my age extending his hand.

Neatly swept brown hair and a pure white face.

Though he had the impression of an innocent country youth, there was an undeniable intelligence in his bearing.

“I am Harpel Gloucester, second son of the Count Gloucester family. It’s an honor to meet a hero of the Empire in person.” (+)^[1]TLN: I use the “Margrave” title for this story is not because it is higher than a “Count” nor it is a “Marquis”. Instead, I used Margrave in this story for the meaning of “Frontier Count” which is the author uses for calling Gloucester (변경백). So, in this story, please remember that Margrave = Count for Gloucester.

“Special Magical Power Unit Vice Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Eugene Lorentz. Though it will be brief, I look forward to working together.”

As expected, he was nobility.

And legitimate blood at that.

After responding to his ceremonial praise with equally ceremonial courtesy, Harpel guided me to a car bearing the Gloucester family seal.

Clank-!

High suspension, thick armor, and glass that looked as thick as that armor.

Rather than a vehicle for transporting dignitaries, it was an armored car optimized for traversing contaminated regions.

“Being such a remote region, these are the only vehicles we can mobilize. I hope you understand.”

Smiling sheepishly as he said that, Harpel immediately pulled something from inside his coat.

A flask full of liquid, and a pack of cigarettes.

At his gesture asking which I preferred, I gladly took the cigarettes.

“Compared to the armored trains of the Eastern Front, this is quite luxurious. Thank you for your hospitality.”

Offering cigarettes and alcohol at first meeting.

He knows his courtesies.

Though we’d only met 5 minutes ago, I was already starting to like this fellow Harpel.

“The head of the family is carrying out pioneer area inspection duties, so I regrettably had to come greet you myself.”

“Pioneer area inspection… you mean he’s entering the contaminated zones directly?”

“Yes, that’s right. Though we advise against it given his age, he won’t listen at all……”

Hearing those words, I recalled Margrave Gloucester’s appearance at Vark’s execution ground.

The sight of him facing Vark on the frontlines despite his advanced age.

Indeed, he didn’t seem like someone who would easily retire from active duty.

Whoosh-!

As we made conversation, the scenery of Gloucester territory began to appear outside the window.

The massive wall surrounding the entire territory, and farmland spread out within it.

Mechanical devices harvesting in the fields, and territory residents working between those machines.

It was too peaceful a scene for a place where monsters frequently appeared.

“Are those devices catching your attention?”

“Yes. Those are like…”

“If they look like equipment used in the Republic, you’re seeing correctly.”

Agricultural machinery reminiscent of the Republic’s armored infantry.

As I was looking at them, Harpel sitting across from me added those words.

“They’re items made by immigrants from the Republic.”

“That’s right. Gloucester territory is always short on people. Empire, Republic, stateless refugees… we accept them all into our territory without discrimination.”

“It doesn’t look easy to control the residents, but are there no other problems?”

“You mean whether rebels have made their nest here, right?”

Sharper than I expected.

When I answered with silence, Harpel smiled slightly while looking at the territory residents tilling the fields.

“Rebel activity is proof that dissatisfaction is rampant among territory residents. However, that won’t happen in Gloucester.”

“……”

“To the Gloucester family, they aren’t mere labor force but fellow pioneers sharing our fate in developing this wasteland.”

When Harpel who said that looked my way, I nodded in understanding.

‘If rebellion breaks out in this monster-filled land, this territory would literally wither and die.’

The Empire’s major cities are all connected by railways, and armored trains traveling those railways maintain the transportation network while subjugating monsters.

Count Korhonen’s domain at the Empire’s northernmost point is no different.

However, Count Gloucester’s domain was different.

Monster appearance rates and contamination levels on a different scale from other cities.

Attempts to lay railways and deploy armored trains had already turned to bubbles and disappeared long ago.

That was also why I and the Special Magical Power Unit used an airship instead of a train.

Gloucester territory maintained an odd form of belonging to the Empire while being cut off from it.

‘As expected……’

The Gloucester family seal stamped on farming tools.

The bright expressions of territory residents working.

Though it looked very peaceful unlike other nobles’ territories, that wasn’t what interested me.

‘They say a Black Sun will rise in the middle of this territory.’

Considering the timeline in the story, Count Elcryer would already be conducting experiments in the contaminated area.

The alchemist Elcryer, who held great authority in magical engineering research even among magic nobles.

United by intellectual curiosity bordering on madness, they would conduct forbidden experiments in the heavily contaminated Gloucester territory, ignoring the emperor’s warning.

Experiments to fuse monsters and humans.

And they would put Irene, the product of those experiments, into a monster nest to observe the results.

‘No…! No……!’

A girl who spent her whole life in a laboratory, suddenly thrown into the middle of a monster nest one morning.

Seeing dozens of monsters approaching her, Irene’s mind completely collapsed…

‘He, hehe……!’

The monster core embedded in her body would begin to go berserk, causing a catastrophe that would engulf all of Gloucester territory.

‘Wh-what is that?!’

‘A-a mage?! No, rather that is……!’

‘It’s the Great Rupture!’

What triggered it was the spatial movement coordinates placed in Irene’s possession to retrieve the test subject.

Irene, who had transformed into a monster along with the rampage, traced those coordinates to find Gloucester territory.

The Black Witch appearing in the middle of the city would tear space apart right there, creating a rupture.

This would be the Black Sun Incident caused by Irene.

With the appearance of the Great Rupture, Gloucester territory would be destroyed, and the emperor would designate her as an enemy of the Empire and launch subjugation operations.

‘However, this is just fragmentary setting from game tooltips.’

Where I met Irene was in Count Elcidore’s castle.

Why was she, Count Elcryer’s test subject, in the basement of Castle Elcidore?

Though I kept thinking about it, even with my knowledge as someone who had possessed the character, I couldn’t guess.

The only certainty was that I had to stop the catastrophe they would cause.

And……

‘The fact that the Elcryer family is conducting experiments using monsters. And if we play our cards right, the Special Magic Unit can catch evidence of it.’

Research on monsters is strictly prohibited in the Empire.

This is stipulated in imperial law, and even members of prestigious magic families cannot ignore this law.

That was also why I brought Irene here.

Using the lost test subject as bait, we could catch Count Elcryer’s pawns hiding in the contaminated zone.

‘And if we catch evidence of Elcryer researching monsters, at that moment……’

As I was organizing my complicated thoughts…

“Lieutenant Colonel. We’ve arrived.”

Servants who came out from the Gloucester mansion opened the doors.

Stepping out of the car revealed an elegant mansion decorated with harmoniously arranged foliage and vines.

And in front of that mansion’s gate, someone was waiting for me.

“Welcome, Lieutenant Colonel Eugene Lorentz.”

The Gloucester knights escorting him lined up on both sides and bowed their heads.

Gas masks shaped like bird beaks and protective suits, and machetes at their waists instead of swords.

Compared to the other knights wearing breastplates and fancy coats, it was an extremely alien appearance.

And one person wearing the same outfit as those knights.

When he removed his gas mask, a familiar elderly face appeared.

The Pioneer of the East, Kalkas Gloucester.

The master of this fortress built in the middle of monster territory.

• 1. TLN: I use the “Margrave” title for this story is not because it is higher than a “Count” nor it is a “Marquis”. Instead, I used Margrave in this story for the meaning of “Frontier Count” which is the author uses for calling Gloucester (변경백). So, in this story, please remember that Margrave = Count for Gloucester.

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