Semi-Coercive Imperialist

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Imperial Highway was nearly complete. A vast river of concrete crossing the Empire from east to west. Broad lanes in both directions, with not a single intersection, allowing travelers to drive nonstop from one border to the other.

As civilian transport along the main routes expanded, the trucking industry spread like wildfire, and the supply of vehicles surged.

No one cared who had nearly monopolized the Empire's transport and automobile industries. Nor did they care that the road's width and bridge load limits had been tailored precisely to the specifications of a single tank battalion.

The railways expanded as well. They were first connected to Zerpha's royal capital, and construction began in several key cities.

Through Zerpha in the west, with Gennen as a bridgehead in the east. Two lines of steel stretched toward opposite ends of the continent.

Ports were built along the western coast under the name Sea Plan, and ships were produced at every dock.

The use of the room-temperature liquid mana stone mined at Guernica had been determined: dilute it with water, then spray it over the land to improve soil fertility.

All of the Empire's specifications were brought in line with the Imperial Standard.

A standard championed by Maximilian, developed by Lorenzo Academy, and finalized at Aternum, the Empire's largest military-industrial zone.

It changed the entire Empire.

The locomotives running the rails had once come in hundreds of models, but they were reduced to only five. Trucks and automobiles were handled the same way, so that a single part would fit anywhere on the continent.

Even buildings, homes, screws, bolts, communications, equipment, ammunition, mana stones, blood types, industrial standards, food ration specifications, and more.

Maximilian pursued standardization and uniform specifications with near-mad obsession. Many businesses resisted because of the cost...

That was all.

To survive, they followed the directives from above.

Factories that could not meet the standards lost their buyers, and factories that lost their buyers were sold cheaply to competitors who met them.

The Imperial regular army had already undergone tremendous change. Thanks to conscription, revived years ago, it had grown powerful enough to stand alongside the Imperial Guard. Volunteer enlistments also increased by the day.

The Empire discreetly but steadily supported several small eastern states, including Finnomia, that did not cooperate with Lobrus. This helped make their militaries more elite, while the Empire trained domestic units resistant to winter and cold in Finnomia.

Several years had passed since the directives from above began spreading through the Empire.

Now, they were taking root.

"...Is this your intention?"

"Yes, it is."

Maximilian and Princess Justine, in their private hideout.

Justine received an Oath Document from Maximilian.

"..."

Without a word, the Princess slowly read through it.

Every sentence had been painstakingly written, one character at a time.

It was too respectful to be called a contract, and the handwriting was beautiful. Loyalty seeped from every clause, and its terms left him no way out.

It was as though he were putting a rope around his own neck and handing it over...

"Why?"

The Princess asked.

Maximilian smiled faintly.

"There is a need to put into writing whom everything I have accomplished has been for."

If the Empire had rulers, it was to reassure them.

"And I need to internalize that promise and oath myself..."

Justine looked back and forth between the Oath Document and Maximilian.

The paper would not change, and the emotion on his face was not false. She could at least see that much.

Still, the instincts forged by a lifetime of suspicion, the heart that trusted no one, remained dark.

Maximilian, what part of yourself are you trying to reveal?

"That is how I feel."

The Princess's fingers tightened around the Oath Document.

The desire to believe, and the feeling that she must not. Instincts forged over countless years.

"My signature is already on it."

A crescent-moon smile rested on Maximilian's lips. More perfect than any clause written in the Oath Document, and therefore impossible to read.

"...I can see that. I have eyes."

The Princess was quite flustered. This was the first time she had ever struggled with the question of whether she could trust someone.

"Your Highness."

Maximilian, on the other hand, was certain.

He had grounds they could trust, grounds that would make them trust him.

"My name is Maximilian Ebenholtz."

...Because he was Sebastian's son.

* * *

"...Don't you think Maximilian's power has become too great?"

One day, Leutern II heard something strange from one of his close associates.

"What are you talking about? Max?"

Leutern II's brows furrowed on their own.

"Yes."

Lately, voices calling for Maximilian to be kept in check were often heard in the Imperial Palace.

Though Maximilian had reached into countless fields without treating any as off-limits, he left no room for corruption or favors to take hold.

No, he tolerated a reasonable amount of corruption and favors, so long as they did not cross a certain line.

But there were still plenty of scum in the palace who resented him for cutting down those who committed crimes beyond that line.

"Though he is a knight, people say he shows far too little respect toward the nobles of the Imperial Palace..."

"Hey. Is Max just any knight? And listen, do you know this?"

"What are you referring to...?"

"Well... Hah. Never mind."

Honestly, Leutern did not know either. Nor did he want to. These days, he was busy touring academic and military lectures with his professor friend.

Promoting the Empire's greatness and spreading his knowledge far and wide. Even an entire day was not enough for such demanding work~

"Don't come looking for me over pointless things like this. I'm already..."

Leutern I had recently been admitted to Imperial Royal Hospital. Leutern was sick with worry over his critically ill father.

"I'll handle Max myself, so don't worry about it."

"...Yes. My apologies."

"Go."

Leutern put on a tough front and sent them away. Those words of Leutern's were then delivered to...

Chief Secretary Grossmann.

"...Why? Why is he doing nothing?"

To Grossmann, Maximilian certainly needed to be checked. The share of businesses Maximilian now held was enormous. He had swallowed even the portion meant for the Imperial Guard, and now the regular army and knightly orders were almost loyal to him as well.

The assessment that he was the Empire's most dangerous man could not apply only outside the Empire.

That was when it happened.

"Lord Grossmann."

Liesel, the Princess's newly appointed secretary, approached Grossmann and quietly relayed something to him.

Leutern's eyes widened.

"...Is it true?"

"Yes. I heard His Majesty the Emperor has read that Oath Document as well. It is top secret for now."

Grossmann's mouth fell open without his realizing it. He looked stunned.

"...Huh."

A hollow laugh escaped him.

If it was true, then Leutern's reason for making no preparations made sense. From the beginning, those making preparations or trying to keep Maximilian in check would be the ones in danger.

"Sebastian's son..."

Was it some kind of hereditary disease?

Father and son alike, how could such loyal subjects possibly exist in this world?

"Did that bastard Leutern know in advance?"

From now on, every blade aimed at Maximilian would become a blade aimed at the Princess. Anyone who sought to keep him in check would become a traitor.

He had pretended not to know while feeding on Maximilian's scraps. What a cunning fox...

But did Maximilian truly intend to uphold that Oath Document?

Chief Secretary Grossmann harbored an inexplicable suspicion in his heart.

...

An art exhibition hall somewhere in Prozen.

"What do you think?"

Halbert Goring was there, discussing a business built around Camps.

"Not bad. Though it doesn't seem like the sort of conversation we should be having in a place like this."

It was Nils from the Agency, whom Halbert had recruited as a business partner.

"This is exactly the sort of place to have it. No one can hear us. We're in Prozen."

The Camps being established across the Empire lately.

Using their labor to run factories absurdly cheaply, then selling the goods at high prices for profit.

Factories with labor costs erased completely. A miracle that would make any businessman drool.

"But will we get permission? Have you spoken to your uncle?"

He meant Augustus Goring, Halbert's uncle, who held a key post in the Imperial Guard.

"We'll get it. Lately, he keeps bitching about needing money. He only looks after his own son too, damn it. He's making a huge fuss about turning him into a knight. Doesn't look like the brat has what it takes to become one."

"People naturally only look after their own children."

"..."

Halbert glared at Nils. Nils awkwardly turned his gaze toward the paintings.

"The question now is what sort of people the Camps will take in. I hear they are still classifying the races."

"Um... How about the Mer?"

"...The Mer?"

"Yes. You know, that person on the Titan."

At Nils's words, Halbert stroked his chin.

"Well, not bad. I was thinking of the Dromon, but the Mer would be more than suitable..."

His voice trailed off as he took out his pocket watch. His number one treasure, which had survived even the Titan.

"Nils. What time is it?"

"Three fifty-nine. Prozen time."

It was three fifty-nine, but the pocket watch read four thirty-three.

"Argh... This cheap watch can't even keep time."

Ever since it got wet, it had been losing time whenever it pleased.

"It's fake anyway. Why don't you replace it?"

"..."

Without replying, Halbert put the watch away.

"Anyway..."

He was about to continue when he stopped in front of a painting.

His lips stiffened for a moment.

"Wow..."

"Oh, this is the..."

Where the Light Points, by Pablo, the continent's great master.

Honestly, Guernica had seemed like an odd painting despite its fame. But this portrait was beautiful, its composition holding something subtle and sacred.

"..."

"..."

The mouths that had been discussing the buying and selling of people closed side by side.

The two stared blankly at art portraying a person.

* * *

...I was thinking.

No, I had gone beyond thinking. I was making plans.

For the military operations and numerous policies that would soon unfold.

"First, register all property held by the Izenheim and Mer. Assets above a certain value must be declared. Appoint trustees to the reported businesses and real estate, then gradually sell them to Imperial citizens..."

The Imperial Guard's new commander and officials in several key posts coveted the property of those minorities.

"Kenshi, Elina, Yedreum, and Dromon. Establish and register their places of residence as well, then restrict their acquisition of real estate outside designated areas."

Racial discrimination had reached its extreme, meant to strip the capable of their abilities and the wealthy of their wealth.

I wanted to focus all that hatred solely on the Izenheim, but the Princess was present.

She had permitted an exception for the Yaken, but she remained as demonic as ever toward every other subspecies.

"I will convey His Majesty's will."

Princess Justine had silently listened to every word they said.

At last, she spoke.

"Make repeated demands of Volkas that they cannot accept."

Volkas, an eastern nation.

The greatest threat in the east before striking the west.

"At the latest, in a year or two, the Empire will regain its glory."

"...Your Highness, forgive me, but if we provoke Volkas too quickly, we may clash with Prozen and Hailand."

It was Berens, Chief of the Army General Staff.

In place of the Princess, I glared at him.

He closed his mouth under my gaze.

"Your Highness, may I speak?"

I raised my hand.

The Princess looked at me.

"Regarding Volkas, I propose that we first demand the cession of Genson."

A Volkas region bordering the Empire's northeast. A port city facing the sea.

"Nearly nine-tenths of that region's population are Aran who emigrated from the Empire."

It had begun when criminals and remnants of rebels who fled the Empire long ago crossed the border and settled there.

Their native tongue was the Imperial language, and all of them were perfect Aran.

"Yet there are reports that the Volkas government persecutes the Aran there."

Of course, it was a lie. A lie that would become truth next week through Johann's propaganda.

"Therefore, I believe we should first demand the return of Genson, then discuss the next step afterward."

"What if Lobrus objects...?"

The Chief of Staff kept raising objections.

A man who disliked war.

This was why people said the regular army could not do politics.

"Nonaggression treaties are made for that purpose. The price we will offer Lobrus is half of Volkas once we occupy it."

It was the same as I remembered from before I returned.

But the Princess lightly furrowed her brow, and Grossmann, watching her reaction, asked again.

"Half of Volkas? Is that not excessive? I understand Lobrus's military command structure itself is unstable due to the purges."

"That is exactly why. If we give them half of Volkas, their border will become wider..."

Managing their expanded border would throw their command structure into even greater confusion. They would spend their time connecting railways to the newly occupied territory and relocating their fortress lines, rather than rebuilding their army.

That had been the Empire's strategy before I returned as well.

"...It is a reasonable opinion. Proceed accordingly."

The Princess nodded slightly, seemingly persuaded.

Was it the effect of the Oath Document? Or had she judged it to be practical herself?

I did not know yet, but everyone here listened closely to my words.

The Empire slowly took another step forward.

* * *

After the top-secret meeting ended, Princess Justine dragged herself back to her private chamber.

Dealing with officials who did not see eye to eye with her, or were simply stupid, was quite tiring. Still, there had been results.

At least in that regard, she was satisfied.

Indeed, the opinion Maximilian had put forward today was completely identical to her own.

Amazingly identical.

"..."

She sat on the sofa and looked at Maximilian's Oath Document.

The paper that had made her father rejoice as he personally told her, "You have gained a loyal subject of your own as well."

The contents of the Oath Document were... complicated.

Put as simply as possible, they were this.

Ten years from now, Maximilian will nationalize everything he has built.

Of course, it was only a scrap of paper.

Nothing more than a clump of ink on a scrap of paper.

But what mattered was whose hands held it.

Maximilian Ebenholtz's signature and family seal were stamped on that pure white page.

Therefore, it became justification in itself. If he refused, he would have no choice but to become a rebel...

The ten-year limit was likely for the Imperial succession.

Her father intended to transfer real power to her one day, and judging by the timing, it would be around then.

"Ten years..."

Justine quietly fell into thought. Moonlight from the night sky slanted down onto her shoulder.

Suddenly, that touch felt like a revelation.

"...You can become my loyal subject."

Suppressing the doubt that still burned like lingering heat at the bottom of her heart, she repeated it to herself.

She pictured the man called Maximilian.

"..."

Justine smiled broadly.

I will now become the master of the Empire.

I will reign as the new Emperor of a continent cleaner than ever, with all its filthy refuse swept away...

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