Semi-Coercive Imperialist

Half of Zerpha was collapsing.

The republic they had championed scattered and sank like a dream that had lasted years, while countless people became refugees and poured onto the roads.

A procession of refugees followed in the wake of the fleeing Republicans. Yet their ships could not carry everyone, nor did they intend to. More important people had to be saved.

"..."

The last port under Republican control, Alcansa. A Hailand-flagged cargo ship, the Brendal, was moored there.

Captain Cameron stood on deck, looking beyond the dock.

"Hey, Ollan. See that over there?"

He pointed into the distance and handed his navigator a telescope.

The navigator looked as well.

Countless people filled the dock and stretched all the way to the horizon.

Women carrying bundles. Soldiers leaning on crutches. Elderly people loaded onto handcarts. Everything that could walk was coming toward the sea.

"What are they doing?"

"They're fleeing. So the rumors were true.

"The Republican faction has fallen completely. Whether they aided the Republicans or not, the people who lived in Republican-held territory won't have peaceful lives ahead of them."

"Captain, what will you do?"

"..."

Captain Cameron considered it. He considered his own hesitation.

It was not in the contract. The company would be furious, and the insurance would not pay a cent. Those people were not even from his country.

"...What else can I do?"

If that were all he thought, he would have left long ago. He would not have waited at this dock for three days.

"As you can see."

It was not some lofty sense of duty.

Just the whim of a somewhat troublesome captain.

"We're a cargo ship. There's plenty of cargo over there, so we'll take it aboard."

The captain spoke, and the crew lined up behind him listened.

"Load them up."

People were people.

There was nothing on this ship more important than people.

"Open the cargo hold. Take in as many as we can."

The crew followed their captain's orders. They went down to the dock, opened the cargo hold doors, and began accepting the refugees with nowhere else to go.

"From the front! Board from the front!"

At the crewman's shout, they moved.

They shoved, clung to one another, and pulled each other aboard.

"Wait! Wait! I'm a vice minister! Of the Republic..."

One man demanded to board first because he held an important Republican post.

"So what?! Who do you think got us into this mess?!"

Someone beat him with their fists.

"...Sweetheart. It'll be all right. Get on the ship, and we'll only have to go a little farther."

A mother put her family's necklace around her crying child's neck. Knowing she could not board herself, she placed only the child into a stranger's arms.

Nameless children flowed in like waves above the crowd.

"Captain. There are too many."

The navigator spoke. The deck had already sunk low. It had quickly reached the waterline, the limit at which the hull submerged along its boundary with the water.

Cameron watched them and gave an order.

"...Throw out what needs throwing out."

"Pardon?"

"I said throw it out!"

The things that needed throwing out were the goods they had been meant to transport. The goods listed in the contract that they were not supposed to discard.

Even so, the crew followed the captain's command.

The cranes turned. Crates of cigarettes, bales of fabric, machine parts, cola, stockings, and other goods splashed into the sea.

As the cargo sank, people took its place.

* * *

I got into a car and looked around Zerpha's capital.

The cityscape had changed quite a bit, even compared to several years ago.

Banks built with Imperial capital. Theaters, libraries, museums, broadcasting stations, insurance companies, currency exchanges, and more.

New buildings lined the downtown area that had been destroyed by civil war, while distinctive shops settled in between them.

People sat at cafe terraces with cola and coffee before them, and Zerphan editions of the Empire's great classic Baltaras were displayed as bestsellers in bookstores.

The Zerpha Republic from before my return had disappeared.

This civil war showed me what was possible.

Just as I had changed Zerpha's future, humanity as a whole was also...

"...Developing with each passing day."

I smiled at Colonel Kai Han's words. It was quite pleasing to see an ally's standing change.

"In some ways, it even resembles the Empire."

Most of the mana stones extracted from mines such as Guernica were purchased by Imperial refineries at fair prices, processed into mana-stone chemical products, and exported back to Zerpha.

On top of that, Zerpha had become a passage through which Imperial goods reached the west. Beverage bottling plants and distribution networks had been established. Cola and nylon spread through Zerpha to Prozen, Hailand, and other countries.

Zerpha's high-end food industry had been highly successful. Ham, olives, wine, cheese from the northern mountains, truffles, and Zerphan beef crossed the border. The finest products were exported to the Empire, while only the rest remained.

"That's a good thing."

We had reached our destination, the Zerpha royal palace.

We got out of the car and entered.

"Sir Maximilian!"

In the palace's private reception room, the Crown Prince came toward me with both arms wide and embraced me warmly.

"It's been a long time. This is wonderful news, isn't it?"

"Yes. You have worked very hard."

"You worked even harder!"

"Haha... Ah, these are Colonel Kai Han and Johann Georg."

I introduced Kai Han and Johann Georg. Kai Han had already met the Crown Prince before, while Johann greeted him clearly in the Zerpan he had prepared.

"It is an honor, Your Highness."

"Yes. A pleasure. A great pleasure."

I watched Johann shake hands with the Crown Prince.

This troublesome man.

Before my return, he had brought disaster upon the continent with the potential to become a great writer. Compared to then, he had become gentler.

But that gentleness was not weakness. If anything, he had become stronger. His gentleness was flexibility.

Johann no longer forced the Empire's position on foreign countries. He first thoroughly absorbed their culture and circumstances, then assembled and adjusted strategies suited to them before planting the ideology.

Of course, it was difficult to deny that my part in that process was substantial. Johann was a genius of agitation and propaganda, not a genius of language.

Most scripts Johann wrote were first translated by me, then delivered to Zerpha's broadcasters, newspapers, and playwrights.

It was only natural that Zerpha's monarchy was filled with pro-Imperial figures, but the Zerphan people were turning their heads in the same direction without even realizing it.

What was true did not matter. Since every news outlet was controlled by the Empire, everything simply stood as a single "whole."

"Maximilian. There is something I wish to discuss with you."

The Crown Prince sat down, his expression hardening.

"The treatment of prisoners..."

There were countless Republican prisoners locked in camps. There were likely more than several hundred thousand.

Yet the civilians who had originally lived in Republican-held territory numbered more than twenty times as many.

"The leaders of the Republican Party and those who served as their arms and legs must, of course, be executed. Especially the vermin who were not even Zerphan, yet incited the people of this land and drove them into civil war."

"I agree. Those Izenheim Volunteer Army bastards..."

For a moment, I almost laughed at the Crown Prince's words, but I held it in.

"On the other hand, I believe civilians who were merely swept up by the Republic should be allowed to maintain their livelihoods."

"But how can we distinguish them..."

"There is no need to distinguish them."

I gestured to Johann.

"The Republican faction was truly vicious. They created organizations called associations and made it impossible to work at companies or in public service without joining one."

"The Association registry?"

"Yes. It cannot serve as proof of who is a Republican."

The Association registry therefore held the names of most people who lived under Republican rule. Names signed to earn money for bread and feed their families. If we started identifying crimes through that registry, half the country would become criminals.

So, rather than punish them all...

"Johann will demonize the very people who created the registry."

The Republican Party. The Republican faction. People steeped in Eastern ideology and traitors supported by the Izenheim.

"To do that, we need a great number of civilians. As victims who were coerced."

"...I see. That is highly desirable. I will discuss it with my close advisors later."

"Yes."

Crown Prince Alonso believed anything I said.

He would think it was his own decision, but he had always been a very weak person, and weak people could only be swayed.

Just as I once had been...

Knock. Knock.

The sudden knock made the Crown Prince frown.

"At a time like this, what could it..."

"It's all right. Tell them to come in."

The door opened. An attendant lowered their head in apology, then whispered something to the Crown Prince.

"Your Highness. A foreign vessel has taken aboard Republican refugees..."

I heard enough.

The Crown Prince scratched his cheek with an awkward expression.

"Ah... What a situation."

"Your Highness, may I go?"

At my words, the Crown Prince waved a hand.

"No, no. There is no need..."

"No. Since I am here, I can fly there quickly."

A newly designed helicopter prototype, improved again and again, was parked in front of the palace.

It was a task worth taking on, and a chance to test its performance.

* * *

Late at night, the cargo ship Brendal sailed onward.

They had set their course toward Hailand's southern route. The deck was packed with people, so even a slightly rough current made the entire ship sway as though groaning.

Shooosh.

Whenever waves struck the hull, people clutched one another's arms and hems. Nobody complained, despite being soaked through by the spray.

A Zerphan folk song that someone began humming softly drifted across the deck in place of weeping.

"...Captain."

The situation on the bridge was not good.

"The enemy will reach us soon."

The captain gritted his teeth at the navigator's words. A pursuing vessel had appeared not far behind them. It was a warship.

The cargo ship had no means of resistance. It was not even armed.

"Just keep going."

Then, as they continued forward as though nothing were wrong...

Wheeeee.

A loudspeaker blared from the bridge.

"ALTOS! NAVE FARENCY! KONTROL DE MARINA!"

A searchlight shone upon them. Uneasy voices and cries thick with exhaustion rang out.

"FARENCY! ORDEN IMPERIO! PUEGO PARADAGIO!"

They seemed to be shouting something in Zerpan, and everyone on deck appeared to understand. Sobs began to mix into the noise.

Of course, the captain could not make out the words.

"What the fuck are they saying..."

The crowded cargo ship was slow, and they were caught before long.

"Give me the loudspeaker!"

Captain Cameron seized it and climbed onto the bridge.

"Hey! This is a Hailand cargo ship! If you fire, it'll be a diplomatic incident!"

"FARENCY! ORDEN IMPERIO! PUEGO PARADAGIO!"

"I don't know what you're saying! If you want a diplomatic incident, go ahead and shoot! This is a Hailand cargo ship! Hailand!"

"FARENCY..."

Their shouting suddenly stopped.

"I know. This is The Knight of the Empire speaking."

The next moment, fluent Hail language rang out.

The words "The Knight of the Empire" made the captain's back stiffen.

"What kind of crazy talk is that? Why would a knight be here..."

"Captain! Over there!"

The navigator pointed into the distance.

A man stood on the warship's railing, then lightly crossed the distance between the two vessels.

It was a leap that made it seem as though he had flown.

He walked across the deck crowded with people.

"The Knight of the Empire!"

Someone behind them relayed the same words in Zerpan. Everyone on deck lowered themselves.

A silence so deep that even breathing seemed to stop. They knew the weight of a single person could sink the ship.

Creak.

The knight walked as though pressing down on the deck.

Creak.

He slowly stepped through the packed crowd.

Whenever his gaze fell upon them, they lowered their heads.

Then the knight noticed a child.

A newborn held in its mother's arms.

Giggle.

The child looked at the knight and laughed. Everyone nearby turned pale. The mother hurried to bury the child's face in her arms, but...

"No. It's all right."

He smiled faintly, removed his glove, and reached out.

He gently placed his finger in the child's tiny hand.

Giggle. Giggle.

As the knight watched that lovely smile...

"...Are you truly The Knight of the Empire?"

Captain Cameron had approached and asked.

Waaaaah!

The child burst into tears at the sight of the captain's scarred face, and the people on deck quickly made room.

"Yes. I am. I flew here in a hurry."

The captain did not understand what he meant by flying there, but from this point onward, only the knight had the right to ask questions.

"Captain. Is everyone here your cargo?"

He pointed at the people filling the deck.

Captain Cameron swallowed.

"They are."

He put on a brazen face.

"I'm transporting them to Hailand. They've already paid me."

Speaking of a fare he had never received, the captain deliberately nodded toward the Hailand flag.

"..."

The knight said nothing.

Cameron was tense because of the knight's dangerous presence, yet inwardly impressed as well.

His complexion was white as a crescent moon, touched with a delicate gold. It was a face impossible to read.

After looking at him for a while, a faint smile appeared on the knight's lips.

"I see."

The knight considered it.

There was no need to kill them.

There might be Republicans among them. People who bore ill will toward the Empire. Perhaps there was even an agent or lackey among them.

But one thing was certain.

There were no Izenheim among them.

Zerpha had always had a low Izenheim population. They had likely fled with the Republican faction's high-ranking officials, leaving the useless people behind.

"Yes. I understand a captain's duty."

The knight acknowledged their safe passage.

"A captain I once knew was the same."

Then he held out a hand to Cameron.

"May you have a safe voyage."

"..."

Captain Cameron stared blankly at him.

Did it mean he was letting them go? Or was it merely deception, perhaps hypocrisy?

He shook the knight's hand without knowing.

"Then I'll be on my way."

Apparently, there had been no falsehood in the knight's intentions.

Just as he turned away and climbed onto the cargo ship's railing...

"W-wait! Your name! What is your name?!"

Cameron asked without realizing it.

Moonlight flowed over the knight's profile as he glanced back.

"...You will learn it later."

The knight smiled and leaped back to the other ship. He said something to its captain, and the searchlight went dark. The warship slowly began moving away.

Shooosh.

The sound of water parting. The rumble of the massive vessel retreating.

Only darkness and stars remained upon the sea, and silence settled over it.

"..."

For a while, the captain breathed heavily as though he were dreaming.

"F-full speed ahead!"

His voice returned as he shouted.

"Move forward!"

* * *

The scales of Zerpha.

Crown Prince Alonso signed a document in the palace with his own hand.

[ As of today, the traitors have been annihilated. The Royalist Army has achieved its final military objective. ]

[ The war is over. ]

[ Crown Prince of Zerpha, Alonso Mateo de Valderosa ]

Those words were delivered to radio stations across the continent, not only in Zerpha, and echoed throughout the country.

Celebratory bells rang in every Zerphan city. Whether it was sincere or flattery meant for survival. Royal flags hung from every street, and banners praising the Empire fluttered between them.

Naturally, there were Zerphans who did not welcome this.

Pablo, an artist who had become more famous than Zerpha itself, settled in Prozen, while Zerphans in various countries signed documents renouncing their citizenship.

Captured Republican Party officials were assigned to forced labor, while the public, as Johann had said, was used for repentance, agitation, and propaganda.

Postwar reconstruction followed. Several Imperial factories began construction in Zerpha's western region, once held by the Republican faction.

For now, they would produce nylon, cola, and the like. In time, their purpose would change to weapons production.

And I...

[ The war is over. ]

As I looked at those words, a strange feeling washed over me.

This ending was likely a new beginning.

The Zerpa Kingdom Army would undergo ever harsher training and conscription, becoming a strong ally of the Empire.

"Sir Maximilian."

Inside a car headed somewhere, someone called to me.

It was Schatz Heizen, her black hair cut short.

"What are you thinking about so deeply?"

As she asked, she placed her hand over the back of mine. Her calm, as a trusted aide, settled over me as I wavered.

"..."

I was fortunate to have someone I could trust.

Even with such weak thoughts, I could not let go of the fear and sorrow.

That seemed to be the essence of who I was...

I met her eyes and answered.

"It's time to do what must be done."

"Believe, Maximilian."

"You will surely fulfill your mission."

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