Do Your Own Revolution

#006.

Each of the 12 Magic Nobles who form the foundation of the Empire has their own military group symbolizing their family.

For example, the Red Lion Knights of the First Seat, House Valkheim.

Their magic crest, ‘Steel Wall Lion,’ earned them the nickname “Shield of the Empire” by effortlessly deflecting 270mm siege gun armor-piercing shells mounted on armored trains.

The Second Seat, House Nachtval, specializes in large-scale firepower warfare using custom-made armored trains, and Duke Nachtval himself is one of the three great magicians who control all battlefields of the Kalhyram Empire.

In comparison, what about Count Elcidore, holder of the Third Seat?

While his magical power is certainly formidable, it hasn’t reached the level of absolute power.

Though his forces and knights are exceptional, there are a few areas lacking that prevent them from claiming to be the empire’s finest.

Put kindly, they’re versatile; put unkindly, they’re mediocre.

The reason House Elcidore holds the Third Seat among the empire’s magic nobles is due to the numerous black operations he commands.

Assassinations, sabotage, kidnapping, information manipulation.

Count Elcidore possessed abilities superior to anyone else in these areas, and he carried out operations without distinguishing between friend or foe.

And at the forefront of these black operations stand we who were trained solely for this purpose.

The [Knifehead].

The downpour was so heavy I could barely see ahead. The wind blowing from the side made it feel like I might be blown away at any moment, but it wasn’t unbearable.

The sharp spike blade dug into the castle wall. Below my feet was already a thousand-foot drop. It was far too late to turn back.

“No…! No more…! Why do I have to do this here…!”

Mark, who was climbing the castle wall beside me, whimpered.

‘That looks dangerous.’

I observed his physical condition. Judging by his trembling hands gripping the spike, his mind seemed to have reached its limit.

“Send me home! I, I can’t do this anymore! Please save me! Someone help me!”

That’s when his hands slipped from the spike.

“Uh, urk?!”

Mark’s face turned pale. The situation I’d worried about had happened.

“N-Nooooo—!”

With a piercing scream, Mark’s body fell. A child of about twelve was falling, but there was no one to catch him, no one to worry about him.

After the sound of a watermelon splitting on the ground, Mark’s voice was heard no more. He had talked big about being the top trainee when he first arrived, but this was how it ended.

No time to think about the dead. I hurriedly climbed the castle wall, driving spikes into it.

The target point was the top of the castle wall. Lightning briefly illuminated everything. At the top of the cliff, a woman with a smiling face was watching me.

– Fourth evaluation complete. Eugene Lorentz, 10 points.

“Whew-!”

As soon as I heard Supervisor Ben’s voice, I took off my gas mask. Blood scabs and sweat were mixed all over it; I had no idea how to wash it.

Well, what’s the need to wash it?

I could just take one from the corpses of my classmates below.

“Eugene, you did amazing!”

“…Thank you, senior.”

While I was grumbling inside, the senior member who had supervised my test stuck her face close to mine.

Red hair and a lively face.

It was Karin, a member of the 39th generation of Knifehead.

“Only me and Dwayne from our class got 10 points in all subjects, you know? But how did a rookie get 10 points? And the youngest one at that…!”

“Wait a moment… I feel like… I’m about to die…”

While restraining the excited Karin, I glanced back at the training ground I had just gone through.

Five forged documents, both Westraine and Imperial style.

Shooting four death row inmates acting as observers, then kidnapping the target.

After clearing the obstacle course, executing the kidnapped person at the designated location. Then destroying all evidence, including the corpse.

Every task was too burdensome for a child’s strength, but I managed somehow.

“Aaaaargh–!”

While I was catching my breath, a similar scream came from far away.

Another child who had met the same fate as Mark earlier.

Watermelon splitting sound, take 2.

Looking down at the ground, corpses of blood-covered children were strewn about like garbage.

At first, I vomited and cried my eyes out, but now I’m even sick of looking at it.

I wiped the sweat from my head and took in the dark scenery of this place.

Rain pouring like a waterfall. Friends falling with the raindrops, and their corpses pooling like rainwater.

It was truly a fucking miserable sight.

“Sigh……”

Count Elcidore’s territory, Belkers.

It had already been two years since I was brought here by the Count for training.

Chapter 7’s boss, Lupeon Elcidore.

A notorious mass murderer who slaughtered 100,000 territory residents under the pretext of rooting out the Revolutionary Army, and simultaneously a power-mad monster eyeing the imperial throne from behind.

True to his villainous setting as the very epitome of evil, the Count’s training methods for me and the children were beyond horrific.

‘Ah, aaargh?!’

‘The blood… The blood won’t stop!’

‘It hurts… It huuurts……..!’

Every child who entered the Count’s house underwent forced magical power opening surgery without exception, and five died from its side effects.

“Huff… Huff……”

“Can’t… can’t do it anymore. Please… water……”

Two died from exhaustion during high-intensity training for magical power cultivation.

“No! I, I’ve never killed anyone before!”

“Still refusing to kill at this point… This one’s useless.”

Two were executed for refusing to participate in prisoner execution training.

After going through such ‘basic training’ for two years, the final selection test awaited the surviving children.

Only those who passed all parts of this test would finally become Knifehead.

“Sh*tty reincarnation difficulty for real.”

“Hm? What did you say?”

“I said the test difficulty is fucked up. Senior, how did you pass this?”

Just as I tried to change the subject, Ben’s voice came from afar.

– What about the remaining personnel?

Supervisor Ben asked through amplification magic from the watchtower. Seeing the hand signals from other seniors, I felt deflated.

It seemed I was the only survivor from this test.

– Confirmed. Karin, begin final evaluation.

“Yes yes!”

– Answer once.

Following Ben’s instruction, Karin took an exaggerated stance.

The woman who had killed three of my classmates in previous tests.

She gave me a sweet smile before putting on her gas mask.

‘Crazy bitch.’

As I thought that and got into position.

Without delay, Karin’s roundhouse kick came flying.

“Kuh?!”

“Wow, you dodged it! Even though it was a surprise attack!”

Though Karin spoke with an innocent voice, from my position, it was nothing to laugh about.

What came was clearly a kick, but the air cracked as if a whip had been swung.

‘One beat slower and I would’ve died instantly from brain trauma.’

A chill ran down my spine, but sadly, I had no time for further thoughts.

A dagger flew toward my face. I managed to dodge by lowering my body, but the tip of my gas mask was slightly cut off.

It was a threatening move, but this wasn’t the real attack.

‘According to training. Just as the supervisor taught.’

I focused on Karin’s movements rather than the dagger, while drawing magical power from my magic circuit.

As I expected, she rushed in almost simultaneously with the dagger, throwing a punch at me.

In an instant, fists and feet crossed as we exchanged dozens of moves.

The final task of the Knifehead selection test was one-on-one combat with a senior generation member.

Unlike her earlier casual demeanor, Karin was now relentlessly targeting my vital points and gradually increasing the pressure.

Even though it was called sparring, there was no mercy in her movements.

Each strike was a lethal assassination technique.

A direct hit would mean death.

‘However!’

I calmly defended against the senior’s attacks while looking for an opening. Checking attack patterns and finding the timing to slip through.

During this, Karin’s attack route concentrated on the front. She was in her mid-teens; being larger than me, a ten-year-old, she intended to overwhelm me with her weight class.

‘Now!’

I grabbed her fist with my right hand and her neck with my left, immediately drawing magical power from my magic circuit.

“Uh, uhh?”

Subduing an opponent larger than myself was an extremely dangerous tactic. However, with a body enhanced by magical power, it was a different story.

I easily gripped Karin’s neck and.

Pinned her down, securing both her arm joint and neck.

“Kh, khk……”

“Signal surrender. Otherwise, I’ll really break it.”

As I said this and concentrated magical power into the hand holding her neck, Senior Karin’s struggling intensified.

Five minutes until the strength enhancement ends. Until then, I could break her neck with one hand.

Senior Karin nodded and raised her hand toward Supervisor Ben. It was a sign of surrender.

– Stop.

As soon as Ben’s order came down, I released my hold on Karin.

“Kehek?! Kek! Wow, I really almost died……”

Shortly after I assumed attention position, Senior Karin stumbled to her feet.

After some time passed, Supervisor Ben came down from the watchtower and approached me.

“Is Eugene the only test passer?”

Ben asked, looking at me and the other members lined up.

“Hehe, that’s just how it turned out. Our junior was really good…”

Before she could finish her answer, Senior Karin’s body went flying. Ben had kicked her away.

Several wooden barrels shattered as Karin crashed into the corner of the training ground.

“Karin Felice. You’re in charge of cleaning the training ground. Eugene stays here, the rest may leave.”

“Pft!”

“That’s what you get, Karin! We’re heading out first!”

After Ben finished speaking, the senior members headed to the cafeteria while teasing Karin.

“If you don’t leave any food for me, I’ll kill you all!”

Karin’s voice came from amid the broken box debris. Despite the gut-wrenching impact, her face was still smiling.

“Cough, cough! Ah Supervisor! What if I can’t have children later because you keep kicking my stomach! Are you going to take responsibility?! Huh?!”

“If your body was that fragile, you wouldn’t have made it here! Shut up and go clean up!”

At Ben’s thunderous shout, Karin approached me with a pouty face.

“Supervisor must be unmarried. Don’t you think so too, Eugene?”

“Don’t drag me into this. I don’t want to get involved.”

I said while gently pushing away Senior Karin who was sticking her face close to mine.

Whether it was Supervisor Ben who led with his fists rather than words who was crazy, or this woman who kept grinning after getting hit like that.

No, maybe the craziest one was the person who questioned this after entering this place.

In a village of cripples, the one who doesn’t use crutches is the fool, after all.

“Eugene.”

“Yes, Supervisor.”

I almost missed responding in time. Got to stay alert.

As I faced Ben with an expressionless face, he looked at me for a moment before speaking.

“You’ll be deployed to actual operations starting tomorrow.”

“…!”

My back stiffened at the words ‘actual operations.’ But at the same time, I had questions.

Field deployment was supposed to start from at least the third year of training, so why deploy me so early?

“You don’t like it?”

“No, sir. I’m just curious about the mission details.”

I answered immediately. For a Knifehead member, refusing a mission wasn’t an option, and even showing such an inclination was forbidden.

“Take it.”

Looking at me like that, Ben handed me a newspaper.

“This is……”

As I received it, I couldn’t help but frown at the all-too-familiar phrases.

[The time has come to end the Empire’s oppression! The time has come to return Kalhyram to its citizens! Rise up, oppressed people!]

A revolutionary newspaper distributed by the Revolutionary Army throughout the Empire.

However, the reason for my frown was different.

[Claude Elcidore, heir to House Elcidore. Defected to Revolutionary Army?!]

“The mission is a VIP kidnapping. The target is…”

And when I heard that name, I could finally recognize the boy’s face.

‘I’m sorry Eugene. However……’

The ending of [Revolution Empire].

One of the protagonist’s companions who offered a pathetic apology to the protagonist imprisoned and covered in blood.

One who fought countless battles and hunted numerous monsters alongside the protagonist, growing to eventually usurp the position of Revolutionary Army Commander-in-Chief.

“Count Elcidore’s successor, Claude Elcidore.”

The protagonist’s comrade who betrayed him.