Semi-Coercive Imperialist

Thump! Thump!

In the stifling heat, the Titan's firemen shoveled mana stones into the boiler furnace.

Thump! Thump!

Blue heat poured from the burning low-grade mana stones, warming the steel tanks.

"Ah, it's hot enough to kill me...... Hwaaam."

Gentra agent Jace Arshtel yawned, his uniform jacket open and soaked through with sweat.

There was not much for him to do.

He only had to kill time supervising the firemen, then find and kill that Imperial Agency bastard once they neared their destination.

Just as the firemen were about to respond with cheers to Jace's words.

Kwoooong!

Something exploded somewhere in the boiler room.

The sudden shockwave tore through the interior. Bulkheads crumpled like paper, alloy pipes were ripped apart. It felt as though the entire space had been turned upside down.

Rumble!

A crack formed deep within the hull.

Rushhhhh.

Cold seawater poured in through the damaged gaps, and steam spread through the interior like sea fog.

"......Ah."

Jace touched the right side of his face.

Sizzle......

His skin was cooking.

"Uh......"

With a vacant sound, he looked around, turning in circles.

The sudden explosion. Most of the firemen working near the furnace had likely died before they had any chance to escape.

"Alive......"

Jace staggered forward.

Something was strange about him. With empty eyes, he searched desperately for something.

Someone alive.

Someone alive.

Someone alive.

"......Cough, hack."

At last, he found the head fireman, whose breath had not yet stopped. The man had taken a heavy blow to the head, but was still alive.

Rushhhhh.

The rising water soaked Jace's ankles in an instant. He spat out the blood pooling in his mouth and approached him.

"......Recover."

Muttering, he placed a hand over the living head fireman's face.

"Recover......"

Crunch!

He gripped the man's skull tightly.

The head fireman's head was crushed, but Jace's burns slowly began to heal instead.

His ragged breathing eased, and his breath steadied.

"Whew. I almost died."

The moment he sighed in relief after draining away the man's life force.

A chain of explosions followed. Burning mana stone fragments spilling out of the boiler furnace flowed into the drainage outlet.

Kwararararang!

Water, fire, and rampaging mana mixed together and struck the heart of the Titan from within......

......

Thump!

A muted impact rose from below the ship. The Titan's hull shook for a moment.

Charlotte tilted her head as she held the railing, while Maximilian pretended not to notice and took a drink of whiskey. He savored the taste for a moment, then let out a faint sigh.

"......"

Charlotte's eyes settled on him. As though she had decided it was nothing serious, a smile returned to her lips.

"How is it?"

"......It's different."

Looking down at the empty glass, he added quietly.

"It really is different. The real thing is different."

"Hm, that much?"

"Yes. That much."

Scratching his cheek, Maximilian thought of himself before the regression.

So I really had been scammed back then.

Thump!

The hull shook once more.

This time, the sound was longer and more ominous than before.

"......Wait a moment. Something's wrong. Stay here."

Charlotte's expression quickly turned serious, and she headed off somewhere. Maximilian watched her leave, then took another sip of whiskey.

"Haa......"

Looking up at the darkening night sky, he felt the lingering taste of Jack Callan on his tongue.

"......Delicious."

Sweet and bitter, with an exquisite balance that felt like earth, water, and mana all blended together. A rich texture and a clean finish.

One more sip.

One more sip.

He drank a little breathlessly.

Then, the third tremor came.

The trembling deck traveled from the soles of his shoes to his heart.

He knew where this explosion had begun.

By now, the boiler room would be flooded with water and fire.

The firemen hauling mana stones. Most of those drenched in heat had been Izenheim.

......Most of them.

The gap between most and all caught quietly somewhere beneath his ribs.

His hand clenched around the whiskey glass, trembling painfully.

"......"

Cut away fewer lives to save more.

The calculation was perfect.

No matter how many times he checked it, the answer stayed the same.

It was something that had to be done.

Still, cutting away lives could not help but hurt.

Maximilian closed his eyes slowly. On the swaying ship, he sank into himself.

Sounds washed over him beyond his closed eyelids.

The strings still leaking out from the ballroom. Small waves striking the deck. A child's crying.

Noises that normally would have passed him by now seemed to have texture, one by one, tonight.

Thump.

The virus pulsed quietly beneath his collarbone.

Thump.

Feeling its beat rise with the presence of people, he repeated to himself in a voiceless murmur.

Sometimes, even I find it hard to endure.

......

The bridge.

First Mate Rusen rushed in, drenched in sweat, and shouted desperately at Captain Erio.

"Captain! An explosion has occurred near the boiler room in the lower part of the ship!"

"I know. The cause?"

"It has not been confirmed. We've sealed the bulkheads and deployed buoyancy magic for now, but......"

Rusen, who specialized in navigation magic, had enough skill to delay the sinking.

"Confirm the extent of the damage first. Evacuate the passengers to the deck immediately and prepare the lifeboats."

"Yes!"

Captain Erio hurried into the radio room and threw open the door.

"Ah, Captain! The ship suddenly-"

He put a hand on the flustered radio operator's shoulder.

"I know. Send a rescue request to nearby vessels immediately, and prepare signal flares......"

After that, crew members rang the emergency bell as they ran through the passenger corridors.

The guidance followed class order strictly. Distinguished guests from the special cabins and first class poured out onto the deck first.

"W-What's happening! What's wrong with the ship?!"

Halbert Goring came up onto the deck. His hair was a mess as he put on a life jacket and looked around. The crew had already finished preparing to lower the lifeboats.

"H-Hey! Didn't I ask what's happening?!"

He grabbed one of them and spun them around.

"Please calm down first!"

"Calm down, my ass!"

"Everyone, please remain calm! The lifeboats are being prepared, so please wait your turn calmly!"

"Calm down, my ass, you bastard! What's happening?! Why are the lifeboats out?!"

"No-"

"Move!"

Halbert hurried toward a lifeboat, then stopped.

"......"

He looked back and forth between the small lifeboat and the Titan.

Titan. Lifeboat. Titan. Lifeboat.

His eyes rolled around.

No matter how he looked at it, the Titan seemed safer.

"Hmm...... Maybe it's not such a big deal?"

Just as he began backing away cautiously.

Thuuum.

A deeper, quieter, but more ominous sound settled heavily over the deck.

A button torn from Halbert's clothes during the scuffle rolled away.

Rattle.

It rolled across the deck.

That meant the ship was tilting.

"!"

Halbert's pupils widened.

"Move!"

"Please calm down!"

"Move out of the way! Agh! I said move!"

"From now on, we will handle the lifeboat boarding order and verify the passenger list. The criteria will be-"

Bang!

A gunshot rang out in an instant, silencing the commotion.

Everyone turned toward it in shock.

A man approached, chewing gum loudly.

"Pure Aran."

It was Nils, an agent of a direct Imperial Agency. Halbert's face brightened at once.

"There is an extremely efficient standard called the 「Imperial Citizens Act」, isn't there?"

After giving First Mate Rusen a light nod, he held up his identification to everyone on deck.

"Nice to meet you. I am Nils of the Imperial Agency. Under the emergency special provisions of the 「Imperial Citizens Act」, I strongly recommend that pure Aran be rescued first."

The 「Imperial Citizens Act」 contained a provision that Aran lives were to receive top priority when a crisis occurred at an Imperial facility or within Imperial territory.

"For whatever reason, the Titan is a facility built with Imperial capital, and I trust that everyone has brought their family registers. Let's verify them and board Aran onto the lifeboats in order."

"Hey! W-Who is going to verify those family registers?!"

The process seemed to be getting complicated, so Halbert shouted angrily.

"There is an expert right there."

Nils pointed somewhere with his chin.

Where everyone's eyes turned, Mer appraiser Eli Zella stood, having appeared at some point.

"Y-You want us to trust our lives to a Mer? On the word of that lowborn thing?!"

Halbert Goring's brow twisted.

Nils answered as though the question was ridiculous.

"Who would doubt someone like Lord Goring, whose face alone proves his status? For the nobility, it is only a formality."

"......"

Halbert's eyes rolled around silently.

"......Let that Mer handle the appraisals! Before he is a Mer, he is a master-grade appraiser! I guarantee his eye! Let the Mer handle the appraisals!"

At Goring's shout, Rusen waved his hands in alarm.

"Wait-"

"Let the Mer handle the appraisals!"

"No, please be quiet!"

"Let the Mer handle the appraisals!"

"Crazy bastard, when are we supposed to inspect every family register?! I'm going insane!"

Nils stepped up before Eli. Halbert hurried over and asked him.

"You! You've verified family registers before, right?!"

Eli answered calmly.

"I've done it tens of thousands of times."

It was not a lie. At some point, inspecting family registers had become a hobby.

Halbert's face lit up.

"Really?! Right?!"

"Yes. Family register verification is such simple work that it hardly even counts as appraisal. I can do it quickly."

"......There you have it."

Nils grinned and turned to Rusen.

"Then good! If you smoothly verify these family registers, I'll personally make sure you live. But if you make a mistake, know that you will die!"

Halbert placed a hand on Eli's shoulder.

Rub, rub.

There was an awfully burdensome trust in that touch.

"Now, hurry! Bring a table or something, and everyone line up! I said line up!"

At Halbert's booming voice, the other nobles rushed over and began holding out their family registers.

* * *

......People formed a long line in front of me.

The nobles presented their family registers first, and I scanned them through the monocle.

"Authentic. You may pass."

Once one member of a family was confirmed, the entire family boarded a lifeboat.

"Authentic. Pass."

The nobles were verified quickly. Even for Izenheim, forging noble status was difficult and dangerous.

Victor Heim was not here, though.

"Authentic. Your family may board with you as well."

The middle-class passengers from second class were the same. Once their family registers were confirmed, they sighed in relief and boarded the lifeboats with their families.

Then a man held out a sheet of paper with trembling hands.

"M-My family register got a little wet......"

Thump.

My heart reacted.

He was Izenheim.

In truth, a considerable number of passengers aboard this ship were already Izenheim in disguise.

After checking his family register, I spoke coldly.

"It is forged."

"No, no! The ink only bled because it got wet!"

"......The special ink used for official Imperial seals would not bleed this crudely from getting wet. More importantly."

I raised my head and looked him straight in the eye.

"How did a second-class passenger's family register get soaked like this?"

It would still be a long time before water reached second class.

In other words, he had done it deliberately to deceive us.

"Ah......"

"Go! I said get out of here!"

Halbert Goring roughly shoved him aside beside me.

"It doesn't mean you have no chance! Aran go first, so get to the back and piss off!"

"No. There is no chance."

Click.

Nils drew his pistol without hesitation and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The man's temple burst open. The passengers' faces froze.

"Forging a family register and impersonating another identity during an emergency is grounds for summary execution."

Nils raised an eyebrow. Halbert swallowed hard and stiffened, but I rather liked the way Nils handled things.

"Next."

At Nils's gesture, the next person approached.

I appraised the document's material, ink, and form.

"......Authentic."

"G-Good. Keep doing it like this. If you keep this up, I'll take responsibility for your life to the end. I promise...... Next! Hurry, next!"

Halbert Goring kneaded my shoulders, acting smug.

"Authentic."

"Good. You're working very, very fast, master. A master really is a master for a reason."

"Next."

"A master really is a master for a reason."

"......You only need to say it once."

"Understood."

At least everyone in first and second class was Aran or had a high proportion of mixed blood.

The proportion of Izenheim was not as high as in third class.

"......Authentic, but this is Yedlem identification."

"Ah, you idiot! I said pure Aran come first! You, go over there to the right! Once all the Aran are aboard, you can board next!"

Halbert shouted like a loudspeaker.

"Aran first! Put pure Aran on the lifeboats first!"

Watching him, I felt something strange.

I always said it, but it was deeply ironic.

In a situation like this, the people I could trust most were these Imperial pig nobles.

"Lower the lifeboat!"

At Rusen's order, the crew pulled the lowering lever.

Whirrr.

The lifeboat descended toward the water, and another lifeboat was placed onto the rails.

While that happened, I inspected the next passenger.

"......"

Nils clung to my back like a shadow. He was watching not only me, but also the family registers I appraised.

His gaze was quite sharp.

He was likely capable of identifying family registers to some degree himself.

I could not underestimate the Agency. He had followed the Revolutionary Faction's trail here on his own. It was only natural that he had at least one exceptional talent.

"Authentic."

Nils's eyebrows twitched at the unquestionably authentic register.

* * *

At the same time, Charlotte ran down to the fourth basement level, where the third-class cabins were located.

"Please remain calm! We will open the doors when the time comes!"

The corridor was already chaos. The crew had blocked the gates.

"We will open them when the time comes! It is to prevent confusion!"

Charlotte ran to a sailor and asked.

"What is happening?"

The sailor glanced at her and answered while checking a watch.

"It is a measure to prevent confusion! We will now open the right gate!"

Click.

The bolt came free.

The third-class passengers poured out like a wave.

There must have been some confusion here as well. Charlotte pushed against the crowd, trying to head farther down.

"Uh, hey! Where are you going?! It's dangerous!"

"There are more people inside! I'll bring them out!"

The gate was not important.

To frightened passengers, this massive ship itself was a maze. More people would be unable to find the way.

Splash, splash.

Cold seawater had already risen to Charlotte's knees around the fourth basement level. She ran through the water.

"Everyone! This way!"

As expected, many people were lost around here.

"Follow me! Everyone!"

She volunteered as their guide and led them.

"Over here!"

Then, at the far end of the opposite corridor, she ran into Shannon Light, Victor Heim.

As though he had thought the same thing she had, dozens of workers followed behind him as well.

"Everyone, follow that lady!"

He directed the people toward Charlotte, nodded to her, then headed down the stairs again.

Charlotte did not have time to look back. She climbed toward the upper floors with them.

"Follow me! Come on!"

She guided everyone she met in the corridors and reached the deck.

Then her brow furrowed deeply.

Creak.

On the shaking ship, people had gathered in a circle.

"What......"

Charlotte pushed through their shoulders and stepped into the middle.

"......?"

The sight before her was strange.

"Um, here......"

People standing in line handed family registers to someone.

"Authentic. Next."

A man classified them without concern.

He was the Mer appraiser Eli Zella.

The man who had said genuine things were natural, while forgeries were unnatural, was now judging people's family registers.

"Forged. Step back."

"N-No! No! It's real! My family register was issued directly by an Imperial office-"

Bang!

Before the man could finish, Nils fired his gun from behind Eli.

Thud!

The man's body collapsed limply to the floor. The deck was stained red in an instant. With frightened faces, the crew carried the corpse away and threw it aside.

"Next! Next! Move quickly! We don't have time!"

Halbert Goring shouted as he urged the next person forward.

"What on earth......"

Some kind of judgment stand had been erected in the middle of the deck.

Charlotte stared blankly at this absurd distortion.

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