Semi-Coercive Imperialist

A pitch-black sea.

People bobbed on the dark waves, clinging to life jackets. Cold, wet groans rose from the scattered dots of humanity.

"Help me, help-"

"Get your hands off! It'll sink if anyone else climbs on, let go!"

A man desperately reached for a passing raft, only to be kicked away and disappear somewhere beneath the sea again.

"Haa, haa......"

Every breath came out in white clouds. Thick sea fog blocked every direction, and the biting seawater stole away their body heat.

"God, please...... God......"

Mana stones shared out by an unknown Mer.

The stones, soaked in seawater, pulsed faintly and gave off warmth.

One of those stones, burning like a stove in the freezing water, went out without a sound.

Plop.

The mana stone slipped from a loosened hand and sank into the depths. No sound remained where it vanished.

Whoooooosh.

A night when the cold wind swept away countless breaths.

"......?"

An unknown old man suddenly stared through the sea fog. Something large seemed to be shifting beyond his blurred vision.

Was it an illusion, or a mirage said to appear at the end of one's life?

A silhouette swayed beneath the moonlight. A staggering shadow tore through the fog, slowly...... revealing its shape.

It was a ship's bow.

"......!"

The old man's eyes flew open. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

"Over here! Here! There are people here!"

The old man forced his frozen arm into the air. The warmth of the mana stone clutched to his chest made the movement possible.

"Here! Over here!"

At the old man's strange outcry, everyone else's eyes turned in the same direction.

In that instant, a searchlight bright enough to hurt their eyes ripped through the pale fog.

It was an Imperial Navy vessel.

"Here! We're here!"

"Please save us! There are people here!"

"Oh, God!"

Tearful cries erupted from all across the sea. The vessel slowly turned toward the blue lights glittering on the water.

"Lower every lifeboat! Search the mana stone lights first!"

The captain's command rang out. Lifeboats descended from the sides of the vessel.

Splash!

The sailors who hit the water rowed or swam, using the blue mana stones as markers. They made for the lights and grasped the survivors' hands.

Blue stars were gathered aboard, one by one.

* * *

Charlotte slowly opened her eyes.

"......"

An unfamiliar ceiling.

Instead of the Titan's ornate gold decorations, there were gray steel frames and rivet marks exposed across the bulkhead. The smell of paint and oil tickled her nose.

Somehow, she had survived.

"Are you awake?"

Charlotte flinched and turned her head at the voice beside her. An unknown military doctor's face was right in front of her.

The doctor held up several fingers.

"How many do you see?"

"......Three."

"And this?"

"Two."

The doctor wrote something on the chart, then asked her name.

"May I have your name?"

"Charlotte Grossmann...... I'm fine. My head is perfectly fine."

"Yes. Then-"

"I'm fine."

She abruptly sat up. Leaving the cabin, she climbed onto the deck and asked the sailor following behind her.

"Where are we? Where are we headed?"

"This is the Imperial Navy cruiser Berga. We received a distress signal while underway and rushed to the scene last night. We've now made a temporary stop at South Hailand Port."

A resort town in southern Hailand. The Titan's original destination.

Charlotte leaned against the railing. In the distance, Hailand officials and soldiers seemed to be discussing something at the docks.

"Lady Grossmann."

Someone called to her from behind. The speaker wore a naval colonel's uniform.

"I am Captain Ottlich of the Berga. I'm glad you survived."

A soldier.

Normally, he would have been a face she disliked seeing. At this moment, she was glad to see him.

"Yes. Thank you."

"Still, there is something I need to tell you."

The colonel suddenly held out a waterlogged, crumpled note.

"An unusual note was handed to us by one of the survivors."

Charlotte took it, and her eyes shook.

"Did you write this yourself, Lady Grossmann?"

[ This person is acting as an agent in the personal affairs of Charlotte Grossmann. I request your cooperation in ensuring that they suffer no disadvantage or harm. ]

Charlotte's own signature was scrawled beneath it.

"Where is he?!"

"Pardon?"

"The person who had this note! Where is he now?!"

Eli Zella.

That Mer appraiser had survived!

"In the lower cabin-"

Charlotte ran toward the cabin the colonel pointed out. She ran with a bright smile.

Bang!

The instant she threw open the door, her expression wavered.

Her smile froze.

"......"

Eli Zella was not inside.

Instead, there was only a mother holding a wailing infant in her arms, and a father with a hand on her shoulder.

They looked at Charlotte with frightened eyes.

The colonel's voice came from behind her.

"They're Mer businesspeople. It appears their names are on the Imperial Guard's watch list. We suspect they may have boarded the Titan with improper intentions, so they are currently under investigation."

"......"

Waaah. Waaah.

Charlotte quietly looked at the crying child and the parents frozen with fear.

"Ah......"

Charlotte understood at once.

"I see."

He had gone somewhere else.

She tightly gripped the proof of survival she had given him, the note in her hand.

Rather than use it to save his own life, it seemed he had traded it for tomorrow for three people whose names he did not even know.

"Lady Grossmann. Are these the people?"

Colonel Ottlich asked.

Words the Mer had spoken one night returned to Charlotte's ears.

"Survive. All of you, together......"

A foolishly simple dream.

But why had he left himself out of the word "everyone"?

"......Yes. That's right."

Something warm filled the place where sorrow should have come first.

Her eyes reddened, but the corners of her lips kept lifting.

She did not know the name of this feeling.

Only a brief, hollow laugh escaped her.

"These are the people."

As if she were dreaming, she softly spoke to the surviving Mer family.

"I'm glad...... you survived."

* * *

Day 7 of the Titan voyage.

"When are you going to let us off, you bastard!"

Nils, an agent of the Agency, leaned against the railing and watched the docks.

"When are you going to let us off, you stupid bastards!"

He was enjoying the sight of Halbert protesting to the soldiers.

"Hey! What's your name! What's your name! What's your name!"

He diligently pointed at every person blocking his way. If pointing directly at people's faces was a talent, then he certainly had it.

"What's your name!"

"Um, Lord Goring-"

"Who are you supposed to be?! Start with your name!"

"Second Lieutenant Ken-"

"Do you know who I am?!"

He asked who they were, then the moment they tried to answer, he asked if they knew who he was. A method of questioning that made an answer impossible forever.

Nils silently watched him.

Halbert eventually returned without gaining anything and angrily straightened his clothes.

"Those bastards! When we get back to the Empire, I won't let them get away with this! How dare they waste my vacation so meaninglessly! Aaargh!"

He had no gratitude even for the soldiers who saved him. He only acted as though he had been wronged.

Nils stared beyond the horizon and spoke casually.

"That Mer appraiser wasn't on the survivor list."

"......"

Halbert's expression stiffened. He stroked his mustache as though deep in thought.

Honk. Hooonk.

After the geese cried a few times, Nils changed the subject.

"So why exactly are they keeping us here? They must have already spoken with the Hailand authorities."

"I don't know! They say someone's coming!"

"Someone's coming?"

"That's right! Apparently, that bastard ordered them not to let anyone off the warship. Who the hell is he to waste my vacation and Lady Grossmann's like this?!"

Nils gave a quiet laugh.

Halbert Goring was surprisingly optimistic. He had sent most of his valuables to the bottom of the sea and barely escaped death, yet all he cared about was his own prestige and vacation schedule.

"You're right."

Nils was irritated too, and worried.

Halbert Goring was from a cadet branch, so perhaps they could let that slide, but the Grossmanns would be much harder to deal with. If the one responsible was an ordinary soldier, it could affect their promotion.

"It's not as if we're criminals. How many days are they going to keep the victims locked up......?"

That was when it happened.

"That's what I'm saying! I might spend my entire vacation on this warship!"

As Goring continued grumbling, a small commotion rose from the harbor.

"Hm?"

At some point, the crowd parted, opening a path.

Imperial Navy sailors immediately saluted, while Hailand officials stared blankly at someone.

"It looks like someone is coming."

At Nils's words, Halbert stuck out his lips and glared in that direction.

"Let's see what this bastard looks like."

The midday sunlight poured down fiercely. The sun emerged from behind the clouds and painted the entire harbor gold.

The silhouette of a man, hidden behind the crowd, slowly came into view.

"Who could possibly be important enough to......?"

A nobleman in a Sentinel uniform.

There was no one in noble society who did not know that face anymore.

Goring knew it.

So did Nils.

"......Maximilian."

Halbert fell silent. His eyes widened in shock, and Nils also flinched before unconsciously straightening his posture.

Maximilian spoke fluently in Hail language with the Hailand officials and in Imperial language with the Imperial soldiers, then stepped through the warship's gangway.

Step. Step.

To Halbert, the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs sounded like thunder.

"Y-you!"

Halbert urgently grabbed Nils by the sleeve.

"What I just said, keep it absolutely secret......"

Before he could finish, Maximilian stepped onto the deck.

He swept his eyes across the area, then walked straight toward them.

"Good to meet you."

The soft, dark, and deep voice of Ebenholtz.

"......"

"......"

It was Nils's first time seeing him in person. The same was true for Halbert Goring.

Just as the rumors said, no, even more than the rumors, he had a face befitting an Aran. His blond hair and deep golden eyes, standing with the sun over the sea at his back...

"I have already heard the witnesses' statements."

He opened the file he held in one hand.

"You selected survivors from the sinking Titan based on their family registers."

"Ah, well, th-that...... it wasn't really me, there was a Mer appraiser, s-s-sir."

Halbert Goring's tongue twisted.

"That fellow took the lead...... with the appraisals. The family registers, he appraised the family registers......"

It was strange.

When Halbert met Maximilian's gaze, his heart began pounding on its own. It felt as though he had committed some terrible crime.

Had they not been supposed to prioritize family registers? Was there some better method they should have used?

"......Hm."

Maximilian raised his eyebrows as he looked through the documents.

Gulp.

Nils and Halbert swallowed in their tension.

Then a smooth smile spread across Maximilian's lips.

"You have done something very heroic. To uphold the Empire's order even on the open sea."

Praise from Maximilian, completely opposite to their fears.

Halbert tilted his head for a moment. It felt as though he had heard something meaningful.

Heroic. Heroic......?

"......Pardon?"

"You are truly a member of House Goring."

Maximilian held out his hand first. Halbert understood the meaning a beat later and hurriedly clasped it.

"Ah, ahaha! Yes! I did it with this fellow too! Ha ha!"

He hurriedly pulled Nils over as well. Maximilian showed him the same smile.

"You have worked hard. You will probably receive requests for media interviews later, so I ask for your cooperation then."

"Oh, of course! Of course!"

Halbert smiled brightly and twisted his body like a young girl.

"Also."

This time, Maximilian turned his gaze to Nils.

"May the Sentinel take custody of all unidentified passengers here? The matter is directly connected to Imperial security."

"Uh......"

Nils considered it for a moment.

This was an incident discovered through the Agency's intelligence. By rights, the entire Titan affair should have counted as the Agency's achievement, but...

At this point, he had neither grounds nor courage to refuse.

"Of course. I leave it to your judgment, Sir Knight."

"Thank you. Then please accept this as my personal reward for the two of you who protected Imperial Aran."

Maximilian turned with a gesture toward somewhere else, and his attendant approached with a bag for each man.

Nils and Halbert exchanged glances, then cautiously opened their bags.

Whoooosh.

A brilliant blue radiance rose from within. Startled out of their wits, they quickly shut them again.

"......"

"......"

The two of them struggled to suppress the smiles twitching around their mouths.

Then Halbert's face darkened.

"It would have been easier if that appraiser were here. We could have had things like these appraised right away."

Nils asked as if making a joke.

"Is this about the pocket watch?"

"......Do you think I only care about money?"

Giving Nils a glare, Halbert pulled the fake pocket watch that had nearly sunk today from his waist.

He held it tightly in one hand and mulled over the word Maximilian had just used.

Hero.

"Feels more real than a fake should, anyway."

At that moment, a soldier's voice echoed through the ship.

"Attention aboard ship. Attention aboard ship. Disembarkation procedures will now begin."

"Disembarkation will proceed in order, beginning with personnel whose identities have been verified. Those concerned are to bring their belongings and assemble before the starboard gangway."

"Personnel whose identities are unverified and those under investigation are to remain at their current locations. Custody of those concerned will be transferred today to Sentinel Knight Maximilian Ebenholtz. Follow any further instructions issued by the Sentinel."

"That concludes the captain's announcement."

Footnotes:

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