Do Your Own Revolution

#022.

The harsh cigarette smoke seeped into the ten-year-old body.

Though my throat burned and my head spun, I still enjoyed this feeling.

“Phuuu……”

A cigarette I’m smoking for the first time in 10 years since reincarnating.

Savoring that lingering sensation slowly, I looked at the man in military uniform sitting across from me.

Keiren Buckenheim.

A figure belonging to the Second Prince’s faction who had the highest right of succession to the throne, known as the empire’s last great general who blocked the Revolutionary Army in the final chapters.

The master of defensive warfare who decimated the Revolutionary Army with strategy and tactics alone, even after they had defeated all the prominent family heads and upper magic nobles.

An NPC who should appear in the final chapters was now looking at me with incredibly interested eyes.

‘I got mixed up in something bad.’

All the main figures of the Elcidore family died in the battle with the Revolutionary Army.

What remained were only the executives and knights belonging to the Magic Corps.

I thought I could somehow manage to deal with just that much when I caused this mess, but who knew I’d meet this person at this timing.

Nothing was going according to plan.

“Is that… really true?”

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me. I’m the only one who can properly testify anyway.”

In the end, I dropped the act of being an innocent victim and spilled everything.

‘I could try to play more mind games… but it’s too dangerous.’

The reason I could deceive Maximilien was because he believed in me.

The reason I could manipulate Lupeon was because he looked down on me.

Right now, I was just a street urchin, a child, and someone marked with the Mark of Control.

One side with sympathy, one side with carelessness.

However, unlike those two, Keiren neither sympathized with nor underestimated me.

His sense of privilege diluted through countless battlefields experienced firsthand.

His tenacity to doubt everything regardless of appearance or background.

And the unique circumstance of being the only survivor of a mansion turned into a sea of blood.

The situation wasn’t favorable enough to handle with half-baked psychological warfare.

“Maximilien killed Elcidore, and both the Revolutionary Army and Elcidore’s side were nearly annihilated. I killed Maximilien when he was mortally wounded and took his magic imprint.”

After saying that, I rolled up my sleeve to show the magic imprint implanted in my arm.

“Hmm…!”

Keiren let out an exclamation when he saw the ‘Wings of Crimson’ emitting a red light.

“Then what about that child next to you?”

“She’s just an ordinary girl. I rescued her from the underground prison.”

However, while revealing my own cards, I concealed information about Irene sitting next to me.

She was a being who had a monster’s core implanted instead of a magic circuit, and who grew stronger by eating people.

If it became known that she had massacred the mansion’s people, there was a possibility that Keiren’s attitude towards us would completely change.

Besides, I was the one who ordered that.

If we’re found out, both of us die, that’s what I mean.

“We confirmed Count Elcidore’s corpse in the center of the mansion.”

Seeming quite satisfied with my smooth testimony, Keiren asked while relaxing his expression.

“I heard his right arm, which should have had the magic imprint, was completely torn off. Do you happen to know where it is?”

“I do. Because I hid it.”

“You hid it? A magic noble’s magic imprint?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

With that, I leaned forward slightly and opened my mouth while looking at Major General Keiren.

“Because I wanted to make a deal with someone from the empire who came looking for me.”

“… Heh, a deal.”

Hearing my words, Keiren’s eyes narrowed.

He probably thought it wasn’t even worth laughing at, a 10-year-old kid talking about making deals with an imperial division commander.

But I didn’t think he would refuse.

‘He won’t be able to resist hearing it.’

I had deceived both the Revolutionary Army and Elcidore’s side, killed the Revolutionary Army’s leader, and usurped his magic imprint.

Unlike before, I was no longer just an ordinary child.

As if my prediction hit the mark, Keiren gestured with his chin for me to continue.

‘Now, this is where it really begins.’

After clearing my throat, I slowly opened my mouth.

“I’ll give you both the achievement of killing Maximilien and Elcidore’s magic imprint, Major General.”

And hearing those words, Keiren stared at me with wide eyes.

“Major General suppressed Elcidore’s Magic Corps and immediately cleaned up this mansion. With testimony from me, the only survivor, you could easily claim the achievement.”

“That’s true, but…”

Though Keiren nodded, he seemed somewhat suspicious.

“Why make such an offer? You could just report directly to the imperial capital under your own name.”

“Would the imperial family believe my word?”

“If you show that magic imprint, they would. If needed, I could even submit the report under my name.”

“I appreciate the offer, but that won’t work.”

I shook my head at Keiren’s words.

“I’m just a child without any backing. If someone like me tries to claim the achievement… I don’t think the Elcidore family would leave me alone.”

“Oho.”

Though Count Elcidore was dead, his influence was still intact.

Numerous lower houses, branch families, and nobles connected to Elcidore.

If I tried to make deals with Elcidore’s magic imprint, they wouldn’t leave me be.

Moreover…

“And if you report to the imperial capital, you’d also lose the ‘Wings of Crimson’ implanted in your right arm. Right?”

“……”

The second reason. And the most important reason came from Keiren’s mouth.

‘Wings of Crimson’ was one of the five imprints stored in the imperial palace underground. Moreover, it was the most powerful among them.

Originally, someone like me shouldn’t have been able to possess it, nor should I have it.

“You’ll give me the achievement of killing Maximilien and Elcidore’s magic imprint, in exchange for keeping quiet about yourself?”

I nodded and added an explanation.

“The Revolutionary Army’s leader Maximilien was designated as an imperial achievement, with a huge bounty on his head. Whoever kills him would instantly gain the Emperor’s exclusive favor.”

“That’s true.”

“And on top of that, Lupeon’s magic imprint would fall into Major General’s hands. You could probably get quite a price if you negotiate with the Elcidore side.”

“With Lupeon’s magic imprint of all things, they’d certainly struggle desperately to obtain it.”

An opportunity that would make any noble’s eyes roll back.

However, Keiren’s reaction to my words was lukewarm.

“But everything you’ve mentioned so far cannot be established as trading material.”

What came from his mouth next was a cold rejection.

Keiren’s eyes sank coldly as he looked at me.

“Do you know why?”

“……”

How could I not know.

“Because Major General, you could just take everything I mentioned.”

Hearing my answer, Keiren finally nodded with satisfaction.

It was frustrating, but I couldn’t deny it.

He was the commander of the Empire’s 72nd Division.

The hidden magic imprint could be found by searching the mansion, and the achievement of killing Maximilien could naturally be obtained by torturing me.

An overwhelming difference in power.

I had no material to threaten him with, and he could take what was mine at any time.

‘Is the negotiation falling apart.’

If he’s going to be like that, I have nothing left to hold back either.

I started slowly channeling magical power into my magic imprint.

“If Major General intends to do that, I’ll destroy what I have. If I make the magic imprint go berserk right here…”

However, at that moment.

“Kuk, kuhahahahaha–!”

“…?”

Keiren’s cold atmosphere that he had maintained all along changed in an instant.

“Wrong.”

The cunning eyes that seemed ready to use any trick were gone, replaced by Keiren chuckling as if he found this situation absolutely hilarious.

Wrong?

What?

“The reason your conditions don’t stand isn’t that.”

As I stood there dumbfounded for a moment, Keiren leaned back against his chair and spoke in a much more comfortable voice.

“The real reason is that I have no intention of accepting it.”

What nonsense is this now.

Won’t accept it?

The achievement of killing the Revolutionary Army’s leader and Elcidore’s magic imprint, you’re just going to give up on them?

“I’m planning to retire soon.”

“…Pardon?”

Planning to retire?

The person who would later become the Imperial Army’s Commander-in-Chief?

My head became complicated.

He seemed like a completely different person from the Keiren I knew in the game.

“I’m a major general. Having reached this rank means I’ve done everything I could as a soldier.”

“……”

“Even if I accept your deal and climb higher, all I’d do is engage in petty politics. Rather than that, I’d much prefer watching my daughter’s antics back in my territory.”

Moreover, what Keiren said next was even more outrageous.

“Besides, I don’t really like this situation where we’re fixated on the Revolutionary Army while setting aside our main enemies, the monsters and Westraine.”

Don’t like going after the Revolutionary Army?

That Keiren?

As if noticing my surprised gaze, Keiren shrugged and said.

“Surprised to hear an imperial army general say such things?”

“…Yes, I am.”

“Can’t help it. The Revolutionary Army’s uprising is nothing but the empire’s karma.”

Saying that, Keiren pulled out a cigarette from his pocket.

“The magic nobles who led us to victory in the Monster War suddenly rose as the empire’s new power. The Magic Corps controlled by magic nobles threatened the imperial army’s authority, and the imperial family became nothing but a puppet that couldn’t respond.”

“……”

“As the imperial family’s authority weakened, checks on magic nobles became lighter, and the magic nobles who gained power are eating away at the empire. It’s ridiculous that individual families possess knight orders in a country ruled by an emperor in the first place.”

As if these were thoughts he had held for quite some time, Keiren began enthusiastically criticizing the current empire.

“In the end, it’s the ordinary imperial citizens caught in the middle who suffer. How could they stay quiet when the country isn’t fulfilling its role?”

“……”

“The Revolutionary Army’s rise was inevitable. We can’t stop it, nor do we have any justification to stop it.”

Is this really something that should come from an imperial division commander’s mouth?

If others heard this, they might arrest this person for treason rather than Maximilien.

“How should I put it… You’re quite scathing.”

When I muttered in bewilderment, Keiren smirked as if he understood well.

“It is rather amusing. A magic noble defending the Revolutionary Army.”

“No, that’s not what I…”

“Hmm?”

As Keiren looked at me while lighting his cigarette, I shook my head as if it was nothing.

The reason I found Keiren unexpected was for a different reason.

‘Is this really… Keiren Buckenheim?’

The Keiren who appeared in the original work was someone desperate to kill the Revolutionary Army.

[Even in death, I will curse you… I will hunt you down and slaughter you all!]

[Until I kill all of you Revolutionary Army members, I… I…!]

Poisoning water sources, luring monsters to encampments, taking the protagonist’s companions hostage.

He was a vicious character who would use any means necessary just to kill one more Revolutionary Army member.

To the point of cursing the Revolutionary Army until his dying moment. That’s how intensely he hated the Revolutionary Army.

But what is this now?

What exactly happened before the main story?

“I’ll process it as Maximilien and Count Elcidore mutually destroying each other.”

While I was thinking, Keiren casually spoke words that were anything but casual.

“We conducted a search but couldn’t confirm either of their magic imprints. Based on circumstances, I’ll report that the Revolutionary Army retrieved them.”

“That’s fine for me, but you plan to hide Elcidore’s magic imprint too?”

“Yes, that’s what I plan to do.”

When I asked that, Keiren nodded.

“I saw Elcidore’s internal documents. They were assassinating allies for power and experimenting on children. Rather than returning the magic imprint to such people, it’s better for you to keep hiding it.”

“……”

Elcidore’s magic imprint had completely fallen into my hands.

Moreover, I even got confirmation that a member of the Buckenheim duchy would cover for me.

An unexpected harvest.

No, such a huge harvest that I couldn’t figure out how to handle it.

“And for this whole process…”

Saying that, Keiren looked straight into my eyes and slowly spoke.

“I plan to adopt you as my child.”

……

………

…………

Wait.

What did he just say?