Semi-Coercive Imperialist

Swoooosh.

A tranquil sea, gentle waves caressing the hull.

Having come up to the third-class deck, I studied the ship with my eyes and feet, drawing its layout in my head.

The thickness of the bulkheads, the structures of the boiler and engine rooms, the positions of the connected pipes, even the emergency escape routes. Since the ship's mechanical facilities were close to third class, I could get a fairly accurate grasp of them.

"Mr. Eli Zella?"

I turned at the sudden call.

A man in a neat uniform approached with a smile.

"Yes, that's me."

The mate's point was simple.

A dispute had broken out among some important people in the Prestige Lounge, and they needed the help of a master-grade appraiser like me.

"If you cooperate, there happens to be an empty room in second class. How about an immediate upgrade as your appraisal fee?"

There was no reason to refuse. It would make it much easier to learn the structure of the upper decks.

I told him I would fetch my appraisal equipment from my cabin, then set off with him.

Thump.

The virus beneath my collarbone stirred with every step.

I forcibly suppressed its reaction.

There were too many Izenheim hiding aboard this ship. If it reacted to every single one, I felt like I might go into cardiac arrest.

"Here we are."

"......It really is different."

"Ha ha ha."

Once we passed through the segregated corridor and reached the Prestige Lounge, even the feel of the air changed. Instead of stale sweat, sharp perfume and laughter rushed into my nose.

"......Ah, there he is."

They were familiar faces.

A cadet-branch member of the influential House Goring and several businessmen watched me while lounging on sofas.

Thump.

Quite a few of the businessmen were Izenheim.

What an irony.

The people I could trust most in a place like this were the Empire's pig-like nobles.

"Come over here."

Their eyes carried a deep condescension. Something deeper than the difference in status.

Racial contempt toward a Mer.

"Is this watch genuine or fake? There's quite a large wager on it. Ah, I'm Halbert Goring."

"......Goring."

I deliberately widened my eyes as if startled.

Halbert, a member of House Goring's cadet branch, laughed with satisfaction and nodded.

"No need to be so frightened."

"Yes. I'll appraise it."

Thud.

I set my appraisal case on the table.

Putting the monocle over my eye, I accepted the watch and examined its core.

Tick, tick.

The second hand still scraped at my nerves.

I studied the tiny movements of the mainspring and the gears meshing together inside the mechanism.

The artisan marks engraved into every component. The mana stone that served as the artifact's core.

It looked quite sophisticated at a glance, but the flow of mana revealed through the virus's eyes told a completely different truth.

"Did someone claim it was fake?"

The Goring cadet branch member pointed ahead.

A dark-haired man wearing a coat unsuitable for summer.

I set down the watch and answered calmly.

"It's fake."

"That's what I thought...... Huh? What did you say?"

"It's very cleverly made. It was designed to deceive people. The alloy ratio of the casing and the spring's elasticity closely resemble the genuine article, but the flow in the mana stone mechanism, the important part, is subtly wrong."

As I added that, Halbert's face turned bright red.

Like a blast furnace suddenly overheated.

"Th-that can't be! You! You, do you even know what this is?!"

"Yes. A mana barrier artifact."

"......Ah, so you do know, but-"

"It will activate, at least. But it only imitates the function, so its performance will probably...... It also won't be reusable after a single activation."

"......"

Halbert Goring deflated at once.

As though a wave of dizziness had hit him, he pressed two fingers to his brow.

"How much did I pay for this, that swindling bastard......"

The other nobles watched his reaction, but only for a moment.

Soon, they rushed off to bring over valuables of their own for appraisal.

The man who had called it fake extended a hand to me.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Shannon Light. I'm serving as a trade adviser for this voyage. This is my first time seeing a master-grade appraiser, too."

"Ah...... Yes."

The moment I shook his hand, pretending to be foolish.

Thump.

My heart gave a heavy lurch.

I stared straight at his face.

No, more precisely, I stared beyond his disguise.

Thump.

The virus shook violently, reconstructing the skin attached to his outer appearance.

Thump.

This bastard was disguised too.

An unfamiliar name, an unfamiliar face, unfamiliar clothes.

Yet my library of memories immediately pulled out the answer.

Thump.

A businessman who had manipulated the Empire's veins before my regression.

A snake who had built wealth by selling my name.

Victor Heim.

* * *

The captain's quarters offered a clear view of the sea.

Beside Captain Erio, the mate continued his report.

"There are 3,135 passengers excluding crew, and all have been accounted for. We are currently maintaining a speed of twenty-two knots. At this rate, we will arrive at our destination in seven days. Weather conditions are favorable, and the mana engine's output is stable as well."

"Good work. You may leave."

"Yes!"

After the mate left, a man slowly approached Erio.

"I heard there was a bit of a disturbance in the lounge?"

Erio asked casually.

Shannon Light answered with a faint smile.

"It was just something amusing."

"......Are you all right?"

He said nothing at the question.

It was the silence of someone who was not all right.

"Then are you being driven from the Empire forever as well?"

Shannon Light.

That was his current name. Of his many names, the one most widely known in the Empire was businessman Victor Heim.

"The Sentinel are after me. You know how they are. In the Empire, they're more frightening than execution."

He smiled bitterly.

"Because of the Alchemia incident?"

"Yes. The Empire's delusions and violence toward Izenheim have grown worse. Even though we were the ones attacked by terrorists."

Alchemia, a key hub that laundered money for minorities and helped them escape.

Their plan to transport their own people disguised as skilled workers had been ruined by the variable named Maximilian.

"That's unfortunate. Morgan, the ship's owner, wanted to help you too, but the situation was so urgent."

"It's all right. Boarding this ship alone has been help enough."

"......"

Without a word, the captain handed him a document.

"......It's a request for cooperation. It seems an agent from a direct agency is aboard. It may not be only because of you, but be careful. I wouldn't recommend drawing attention to yourself."

Victor Heim gave a small laugh and shook his head.

His conviction had always been the same.

"No. Blending in among them is the perfect disguise. A proud noble draws less suspicion than a beggar trying to hide......"

* * *

The Prestige Lounge.

Halbert Goring and Victor Heim had already left, but the nobles and businessmen had each laid their valuables out before me.

"Master, take a look at this too."

"The flow of mana in this sword, whether it has the potential to become a famous blade......"

I appraised their belongings.

"It's an imitation. The mana is too uniform."

"A crack formed during the polishing process, reducing its value by half. But if you find a good craftsman, it can be restored."

The mana born inside me.

The virus was gradually beginning to resemble the quiet, sinking nature of Ebenholtz.

It looked at the mana lingering in objects and conveyed its flow to me.

It was a natural process, as though we had always been one.

"So you're someone incredible?"

A man strode over.

The handsome young man who had won a first-class ticket through gambling. A noble young lady stood beside him.

He seemed to have picked someone up already. He certainly had the kind of face women liked.

"A master-grade appraiser. I don't really know what that is, but this young lady has an item she wants appraised...... Ah, my name is Yan."

The young man introduced himself first, and the noble young lady handed me a diamond necklace.

A gem with a red glow against a blue base.

"Could you appraise it?"

I looked between the two of them and gave a small smile.

"It's genuine."

"What? Just like that?"

"Mana stone diamonds are easy to appraise."

Diamonds held a unique kind of mana.

A pulse radiating from the heart of the ore.

"Mana stones are naturally formed through the condensation of mana, so their flow is very natural. Human polishing can never imitate it. It's like God's fingerprint. Especially that diamond......"

Night fell as we talked.

I met a crew member to receive my promised upgrade.

Before going to my room, though, I first asked for a tour of the Titan.

"This is the boiler room."

I was currently touring the inside of the Titan.

"Move, you lazy bastards!"

"Hey, the pressure is dropping! Put in more mana stones!"

"Bring more mana stones!"

A space filled with rough shouting, the sound of burning mana stones, and countless engines.

Amid that noise, the virus below my collarbone pulsed as though screaming.

Thump. Thump. Thump!

Most of the stokers, mechanics, and engineers managing them here were Izenheim.

There were an astonishing number of cockroaches.

"The Titan's employees are skilled workers carefully selected from across the Empire."

I closed my eyes at the crew member's proud explanation.

Suppressing the virus's pulses, I searched for the most important spot in this place.

I judged which corner would be best for leaving my "music box."

"Is it hot?"

The crew member asked.

"......Yes."

"Ha ha, this is the heart of the ship. It can't be helped. Let's head out soon."

Afterward, the crew member introduced the major facilities, including the dining room and banquet hall.

"Um, Mr. Eli. I'm sorry. We originally intended to give you a first-class room, but due to a recent legal amendment, first class is only permitted for Imperial Aran who can prove their family register."

"It's all right."

This crew member was not Izenheim, yet showed no sign of contempt toward minorities.

"Here is your second-class room. Normally, rooms are shared by two people, but for Appraiser Eli, as a special exception."

He opened a second-class cabin door.

The space was incomparably more comfortable than third class, and I had it to myself.

"A private room. Ha ha ha."

"......Thank you."

"Not at all. Ah, and there will be a masquerade in the main hall tonight."

The crew member pulled an invitation from inside his jacket.

"Any passenger in second class or above is eligible to attend. The Titan's masquerade is famous across the continent, so be sure to experience it. And."

He raised his eyebrows with a newly lecherous expression.

"It would be such a waste to use a private room like this alone...... Ahem. There are no restrictions on the late-night curfew from second class upward. Just so you know."

Looking at him, I had this thought.

"Well then. Rest well."

Did I have to sacrifice even a good person like this?

......

Late at night.

A banquet hall between the special and first-class cabins, mana lights pouring down like the Milky Way.

Wearing a silver mask that covered half my face, I blended into the noisy elegance.

Sweet string quartet music played as nobles dressed in the finest silk stepped through their dances.

I sat deep in a sofa in the corner, watching them.

The space itself was familiar, actually.

Now that I thought about it, I was Maximilian of Ebenholtz.

I was not some inexperienced fool.

Before my regression, I was a noble who had sampled nearly every kind of entertainment. I was fairly popular too, enough to be called something of a Casanova.

"Hello?"

Someone suddenly sat beside me.

"Mr. Eli Zella."

She sank into the chair and looked at me.

"I didn't know you were a master-grade appraiser. Then again, an appraiser of your skill would never be able to get a Titan ticket. The Empire wouldn't let you go, just in case."

"......"

The shape of her eyes beyond the mask overlapped with those of the woman in the blue beret who had gotten me the ticket.

"May I ask what you plan to do after leaving the Empire? With your eye for quality, you'd be welcome anywhere."

I put on a bitter smile and answered.

"I'll have to survive somehow. I don't think things will be all that different outside the Empire."

"Who knows? They say blue birds can be found anywhere, don't they?"

It was a proverb from Skashi in Hailand.

The blue bird represented hope, and since it liked clear water, it lived in especially great numbers along Skashi's clean streams.

"A bird only comes where there is a clear stream."

She gave a faint smile at my answer.

Naturally, she had been testing me again.

"Are you Imperial police?"

"No."

She shook her head and looked out at the night sea beyond the window.

"If I were police, I would have arrested you before you boarded. I'm just...... one spectator hoping this ship reaches its destination safely."

Then she held out a gloved hand to me.

"Would you like to dance?"

A smile spread beneath her mask.

A bright smile in her eyes.

She was quite charming.

I willingly took her hand, but I did not let her pull me up.

"......What are you doing?"

I asked the puzzled woman.

"Your name."

People like her usually obsessively hid their identities.

"If only you know my name, it's unfair."

She was absolutely not ordinary, so if possible, I wanted to know her name.

She froze for a moment, then let out a quiet laugh.

"......Only you get to know. But don't run away. I lied to you."

As though pulled by the hand tightly gripping mine, she lightly sat on my lap.

She pressed her lips close to my ear and whispered softly.

"I'm not from Skashi."

The name that left her lips changed the mood of this voyage in an instant.

"Charlotte von Eus Grossmann."

My lips stopped moving.

It felt as though a massive weight inside my head had swayed for a moment.

"......"

"......"

Beyond our masks, we looked at each other without a word.

A particularly strange silence settled between us.

Grossmann.

The surname of a war criminal family that would never be erased from Imperial history, one that would remain in the records even after the Empire fell.

Her older brother, Kurt Grossmann, would later become the Empire's second most powerful man.

Before my regression, Grossmann died by execution in a war crimes trial, but his younger sister Charlotte did not.

Instead, she rose to a key position with the Republic's respect.

She opposed the Empire's subhuman policies and violence. During the war, she used her brother's status to save countless minorities.

"......What? Are you scared now?"

She asked, resting a hand on my cheek.

"No."

I looked into her eyes and answered softly.

"I feel more at ease now."

As though she understood what I meant, a smile that said, Oh, look at you, spread across her lips.

* * *

The Titan's boiler room, on a night when the masquerade was in full swing.

Victor Heim received a secret message there.

It was an urgent communication from the Veil, the heart of the Revolutionary Faction.

[ The Empire is pursuing you. There is an entrance to the Veil in Hailand Ocracy. ]

"Hey. Aren't you enjoying the masquerade? I heard it's famous."

At the sudden voice, he hurriedly folded the letter away.

Haa......

In the darkness he turned toward after sighing, a man appeared.

Arshtel, a core Gentra agent.

"......"

Victor Heim looked at him.

He was currently disguised as one of the Titan's security chiefs.

"There's no time to play, so get moving properly. Imperial bastards are mixed in aboard the Titan."

"Oh, really?"

Arshtel tossed a mana stone into the furnace.

Fwoooosh!

The burning mana stone bathed the two men's faces in blue.

It was a show of force in its own way.

The Empire classified Gentra as part of the Revolutionary Faction, but the Revolutionary Faction did not see it that way.

Gentra itself did not see it that way either.

Put simply, it was the difference between anarchism and republicanism.

Even so, they cooperated because.

"Well, all right. In the end, we want the same thing, don't we?"

Because the great evil called the Empire existed.

For the Empire's downfall, different revolutions functioned as one.

Until the Empire fell.

"......"

Victor Heim turned and left the boiler room without answering.

Arshtel asked.

"Hey. Where are you going?"

"......The masquerade. You just told me to go."

"Ah. That was a joke. Can't you hang out with me?"

"Crazy bastard."

Victor gave a small laugh.

Arshtel snickered too, leaning against a pipe.

Behind the massive furnace in the boiler room where they spoke.

An unseen gap.

Tick.

The tiny mainspring of a music box slowly, quietly wound itself.

Tick.

Inside it, perhaps.

Tick.

There was a certain knight's malice.

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