That Would Be Me

Catching the real culprit.

Luke opened with a low stance, thrusting straight at my thigh.

Supple lower body — real ability behind it.

I fell back and deflected, and Luke pressed after me with rapid follow-up thrusts.

“You think taking care of my brother made you something special!”

Clang-clang-clang!

I retreated in a weaving zigzag, drunk-stepping through each thrust — and swept every last one aside.

The confidence drained from Luke’s face.

I stood balanced on one foot and crooked a finger at him.

“My, how frightening. Come on in.”

“……What are you?”

“Don’t feel like coming in? Then I’m coming to you.”

I pressed forward, putting mana into the blade.

Luke tried to catch it low, but I swung upward from beneath — like throwing a ball with an underhand lob.

Clang!

“AAGHK!”

Luke’s guard shook and he skidded back.

Recovering from the stagger? I was faster — telekinesis snapping my posture upright, controlling my own momentum.

Thunk!

My blade punched through Luke’s shoulder.

Blood welled up.

Luke bit down hard, wrenching himself free with a Mana Sprint.

“Hh — hhah. Hah……”

“You’re not in my league.”

Even now, I was a shadow of what I had been at my peak — but the feel for it was still there.

To stand any real chance against me, you needed enormous reserves of mana, something with the force of a bomb, and the mental flexibility to expect a blade from any direction without warning.

Picking close-range combat against me, of all things, was simply foolish.

I leveled my blade at Luke.

“Why did you target Miriel?”

“Nnngh……”

Luke’s eyes darted, scanning the room.

Looking for some knight, some noble who might step in.

But I had already made my strength plain to the crowd — crushed any thought of resistance before it could form. And now that Luke was under suspicion of terrorism, not a soul was going to come to his aid.

“……Right. In this world, you save yourself.”

Luke shoved two fingers into his mouth.

A sharp whistle cut through the hall.

Soldiers in full arms came pouring into the banquet hall.

Thirty, at a glance. Easily more.

BANG! BANG!

The doors of the hall slammed shut — soldiers locked them from the inside, standing tall with their chests out.

“Trying to win through numbers?”

“No — I just need you busy long enough.”

Luke’s smile turned cold.

Shik.

And somewhere in the distance, a wet tearing sound.

“Oh——”

A soldier had drawn his blade and driven it straight into the side of a noblewoman without a word.

The woman had no idea why it had happened. She didn’t understand at all.

“EEEEK!”

“AAAGH!”

Then the slaughter began.

The soldiers unsheathed their blades and started cutting.

Nobles and knights with mana of their own drew quickly and fought back, but they couldn’t get control of the situation instantly.

In seconds, the banquet hall became a storm of screams and blood.

People fled — footsteps scrambling in every direction, desperate to dodge the blades.

Luke smiled, flush with satisfaction.

“You’d better move fast, hadn’t you?”

“Why would I?”

“……What?”

It was obvious what he was angling for — the moment my eyes left him, he’d attack, or he’d run.

Luke faltered. His calculation had broken down.

“You — you’re going to let everyone die?”

“I arranged for extra help.”

KABOOM!

The banquet hall doors that the soldiers had just locked exploded inward.

“Railway Military Police!”

“Invoking Emergency Provision Article Eight! We are taking control of this scene!”

Railway Military Police officers swarmed in and threw themselves at the soldiers.

They had moved out the moment Heinkel sent the signal.

The sudden reversal left Luke’s face blank.

“What — the Railway Military Police? We’re in the imperial capital! The Railway Military Police has no jurisdiction here!”

“Apparently they do.”

“That’s — that’s impossible, that’s——”

The Railway Military Police’s authority was legally bounded to the railways.

That was exactly why Luke hadn’t been worried even when he learned I had ties to them.

Luke stared at me in pure disbelief.

“They got here that fast — like they were waiting for it! Deploying inside the capital means running straight into the police and the imperial military! This is insane!”

“Hey — you’re calling someone else insane? You’re a terrorist.”

“……”

“And those men do whatever I tell them.”

Because I was the one who built the Railway Military Police. Because I was the emperor who wrote the empire’s laws.

I adjusted my grip on my sword.

“Drop the weapon. Go to the interrogation room and tell them everything you know. Do that, and I’ll see to it the sentence is commuted to hanging.”

“Nnnngh.”

Luke poured mana into his blade — then turned and brought it slashing down onto the unconscious Jade.

“GUUAAGH!”

“It’s your fault! Yours! Everything fell apart because of you! You useless piece of shit!”

Jade, who had been lying senseless on the floor, suddenly found himself on the receiving end of a blade. He rolled in a spreading pool of blood.

But Luke kept swinging.

Hacking like he was breaking apart a fish on a cutting board.

“Hh — hhah. Hhah.”

Luke’s hands and face were drenched in blood by the time he finally stopped, chest heaving.

Jade was gone.

Luke had killed his own brother. He turned to me with a hollow, spent look.

“……You want to know why I did it?”

“You jumped the queue — I was planning to kill him myself. I’ll settle that account later.”

I glanced behind me.

The Military Police and the knights were working together, bringing down the soldiers one by one.

It was nearly over.

Luke broke into a sudden tirade.

“I cannot stand incompetent people! Born first, inheriting the house by default, swanning around like he owns everything — it turns my stomach!”

Luke’s burning eyes swept up to the staircase landing.

To Miriel, still holding Lisera’s hand.

He stared at her.

“You want to know why I targeted that princess? Because she’s incompetent!”

“What?”

“Incompetent! Her siblings are all out there doing something — but she’s still a child, weeping away! Coasting on her family name, a parasite who just takes up space! When I look at someone like that, I can’t stand it — I can’t breathe!”

His voice rang through the entire hall.

Loud enough to reach Miriel on the landing.

“I could have picked anyone! But I genuinely can’t stand weak, incompetent people! So I told my brother to make her suffer! Hahahaha! Of course you’d cull the most useless one from the litter!”

“By that logic, you’d be first on the list.”

“……”

His laughter died.

“Wh-what, incompetent? Who? Me?”

“Why did you bring your proposal to me in the first place? You’ve never heard the saying — don’t trust anyone who comes to you uninvited?”

Coming out of nowhere to propose a parricide and a murder-by-proxy — who would take that at face value?

But this man had been confident.

Toss me the information I wanted, the source of the bomb, and I’d bite.

“Was the whole plan that everyone would blame your brother, everything would wrap up neatly, and you’d walk away clean? That was a fantasy inside your own head. You have no idea how ordinary people think.”

“……What?”

“Ordinary people don’t cut family loose that easily. Incompetent? She’s a child — of course she is! Children don’t need to be anything other than healthy and growing! And——”

A Roar.

I let my voice fill the banquet hall.

“Miriel is not incompetent! She could have asked Lisera for help, but she lied instead — to protect her sister! A person who protects their family is more than enough!”

“Wh — what are you——”

“And you killed yours. You rotten bastard.”

Luke said it like he’d been wronged.

“You — you’re the youngest too, so why do you——”

“Why would I sympathize with a lunatic? Not every youngest is the same.”

I shook my head.

“Wait — don’t tell me all of this was because you wanted to become Marquis Kedrik? You’re that confident in your own ability and you never thought to just go independent? Don’t tell me you turned to terrorism because you were too scared to leave the house.”

“Nnng……”

“The real incompetent one is you.”

“RAAAGH!”

Luke came charging with a Mana Sprint, sword leveled in a thrust.

Fast as he was, the timing was readable.

I turned my torso slightly and brought my blade around.

SCHHHHHK!

The sword glanced off — and both of Luke’s arms, severed at the shoulder, spun up into the air.

“Ah — ahhh. Ahhhhhh……”

Luke crumpled to the floor, arms gone.

Blood loss — shock was possible. But he was still breathing.

A Military Police officer stepped up.

“Special Officer Rigen — interior suppression complete! We’re currently assessing casualties!”

“This man is the ringleader. Take him into custody.”

“Yes, sir!”

Two officers forced Luke to his knees and began applying pressure to the wounds.

There was too much to extract from him to let him die here.

I dusted off my hands and turned around.

On the staircase landing — Miriel and Lisera. Heinkel and the dark elf agents had moved in close around them.

Both of them safe.

The tension went out of me——

CRASH!

The sound of breaking glass.

Then people came sliding down ropes through the shattered windows, one after another.

Black suits, fitted close to the body.

Dark elves.

They descended fast, claiming the second and third floors in moments — and pushing right up to where Lisera and Miriel stood.

Heinkel and the other agents had their blades out, but they were surrounded.

“What’s happening!”

The Military Police officers reacted, but the dark elves were too quick.

That was their trade, after all.

Once each had taken position, three of the dark elves dropped down to the first floor.

They walked toward me and made their declaration without preamble.

“From this point forward, our dark elf special agents will be assuming command. Please remain calm and follow our instructions.”

“……Wh — what did you just say?”

The Military Police officers and the partygoers alike were dumbfounded.

The dark elf at the front spoke.

“I am Albert, serving as Division Chief for the dark elves. I commend you for your efforts. Special Officer Rigen of the Railway Military Police.”

“Keep commending me and I might be compelled to kill every one of you.”

These were not Orca’s agents.

Division Chief placed him above a department head, below a commander.

A high rank among the dark elves — not the sort who typically showed up to a scene like this.

Which meant these were the Queen of Assassins’ own people.

“Watching from the sidelines and stepping in for the kill, is that it?”

That confirmed it.

Why the Queen of Assassins had come to the imperial capital.

How the Fifth Empress had been planning to resolve Miriel’s situation.

Albert said,

“Your frustration is entirely understandable. But we had been considering every angle for the safety of both princesses.”

“And?”

“We ask that you hand over the two princesses — and transfer Luke Kedrik to our custody. We will allow one Military Police officer to be present during questioning, as a gesture of good faith.”

“Remarkable. I do all the work, and now you want to swoop in and take everything.”

Albert said it solemnly.

“This matter was resolved through an agreement between our Queen and the Fifth Empress. It is no private affair — we ask that you cooperate as a citizen of the empire.”

“Is ‘performing public service’ now synonymous with watching civilians get slaughtered?”

When Luke’s soldiers had begun cutting people down, these agents could have intervened and reduced the casualties.

Albert, to his credit, looked faintly uncomfortable.

“Should you choose not to cooperate, we will be forced to——”

“Mirei!”

“Yes! Second-Rank Officer Mirei!”

Mirei came sprinting at my call, snapping into a sharp stance — she had already read that something serious was happening.

I looked at Albert and spoke to Mirei.

“Where is Arsen right now?”

“Sir! He has already entered the grounds!”

Albert and the two agents beside him went rigid.

Arsen was the head of the Military Police — and a demon.

When a commander arrived, he brought soldiers. And no matter how elite the dark elf special agents were, they could not stand against that head-on.

“……”

Albert held steady and studied me.

Looking for a bluff.

I smiled.

“You heard I’d drawn a hundred Military Police officers and assumed that was the full picture, didn’t you? That the Queen’s own Division Chief and her special agents could handle that much.”

“That can’t be……”

“You put too much faith in your own intelligence.”

With the Queen of Assassins’ shadow hanging over everything, I could not afford to be sloppy.

For Lisera and Miriel’s safety, thoroughness was the only option.

When I had quietly ordered Arsen to have a hundred officers standing by, that order spread through the Railway Military Police’s internal channels.

Which meant it had reached the dark elves’ ears as well.

Security was life — but within the Railway Military Police, there were plenty who resented me as an outsider dropped in over their heads.

Of course it had leaked.

So earlier that day, just before arriving at this party, I had given Arsen a separate, quiet order.

The moment Heinkel sent the signal: wait one beat, then move in with a second force.

WHOOOAAAH!

Shouting from outside.

“Charge! We are the Emperor’s left arm!”

“Secure the civilians and cut down anyone who stands in the way!”

“……”

The color drained from Albert’s face.

Right now, if I gave the order, I could wipe out every dark elf in this room.

I said it plainly.

“Pull your people back from the princesses. All of them. Unless you want to bury everyone here tonight.”

“……”

Albert made a gesture toward the floor above.

The dark elves surrounding Miriel, Lisera, and Heinkel drew back.

With that handled, I rolled my lower back out.

“Ugh — that was a workout. Loosened up the body and now my back’s complaining. Someone bring me a chair.”

“Yes, Special Officer, right away——”

Mirei started forward. I shook my head.

I jerked my chin at Albert instead.

“You. Bring the chair yourself.”

There was a message to send to everyone in this room — ally and enemy alike.

Who ran this floor.

Who stood at the top.

That would be me.