Chapter 100
The Accretia Empire's foreign policy stance was simple.
The Bellato Federation and the Holy Corite Alliance were objects of both love and hate from the Empire's perspective. They were archenemies, yet at times, also companions. This was because they shared a common origin as humans. Even in hostile situations, non-governmental exchanges were never completely blocked.
However, when it came to alien species, the Empire maintained a strict stance of contempt and exclusion. Aliens were never granted equal rights with humans in the Empire. Most were either slaves or illegal immigrants. Only a select few who were deemed useful were given mere permission to stay.
‘Either way, aliens were a rare sight in the Empire.’
That didn’t mean the Empire tried to hide their existence.
In fact, within the Imperial Guard and military, some alien species were even specifically studied.
‘Fredo, Saura, Crawler… and Equessian.’
These were the names of alien species I was familiar with. They all had one thing in common—they were so warlike or possessed such exceptional combat prowess that they were known as warrior races.
In other words, they were species highly likely to be encountered as enemies of the Empire. And today, I had come face to face with one of them.
Bzzzz!
The Equessian before me extended his spear sharply, observing me. His hand gripping the spear had four fingers, and beyond his mask, his fierce eyes gleamed ominously. The stripes on his body glowed with an orange hue, releasing excess heat accumulated within.
‘The mercenary race, Equessian.’
That was what people called them. Equessian mercenaries were renowned for their unwavering loyalty.
And right now, their loyalty was being demonstrated before my very eyes. Even in the outskirts of Akbaran, he was operating within the Empire to protect his employer. As long as they were paid, they would work even in a place like the Empire, where xenophobia was rampant.
‘This one is an elite warrior, even among Equessians.’
I instinctively knew he wouldn’t be easy to deal with. The energy shield deflecting my shock rounds alone was no ordinary piece of equipment. His combat prowess was bound to match the quality of his gear.
An alien fighting in the Empire? That alone was proof of his skills.
Bzzzt.
I let Crucis hang loosely, dragging the tip of my blade along the ground.
‘Fighting a being that isn’t human.’
Once again, I would learn something here.
Would I survive and grow, or would I fall?
A warrior’s fate was ultimately that simple. The strong were born atop the deaths of others.
Clink.
The Equessian moved first. His arms were so long that his fingers nearly reached his knees. On top of that, he was a full two heads taller than me.
‘And his weapon has reach—a spear.’
I was the one who had to close the distance. If I stayed too far away, I would only get pressured and eventually stabbed.
‘Dodge his attacks while moving in.’
My parallel thought process, split between combat and tactics, rapidly devised a plan.
Kiit!
I fixed my gaze on the thrusting spear as I moved. The weapon grazed past my shoulder, barely missing me.
Whoosh!
I pushed forward, closing the gap. Now I was within the range of my blade.
I struck diagonally, deflecting the spear and slashing at his torso.
It was a textbook maneuver. And textbook moves were called such because they were always the most effective.
…And experienced fighters always set traps to counter textbook moves.
Tch!
I extended my front foot and abruptly stopped. Mid-charge, I took a step back.
The Equessian swung his left hand at the spot where my head had been just moments ago. A blade the length of a forearm had silently emerged from the vambrace wrapped around his left arm.
‘A concealed weapon to exploit an opening.’
That meant he was a seasoned warrior.
Had I continued my charge, I would have been either stabbed or forced into a vulnerable position while trying to block. That would have put me on the defensive.
‘But I anticipated it and dodged. Now it’s my turn.’
I pressed the attack. The Equessian’s stance was faltering. His glowing eyes widened as he looked at me.
Swish!
My blade tore through his left arm. Thick bone and muscle were severed cleanly.
Yet the Equessian didn’t scream. He didn’t even flinch from the pain. His sharp gaze remained fixed on me, already preparing his next move.
He was an incredible warrior—troublesomely so. If he had wavered from the pain and shock of losing an arm, I would have continued pressing my advantage.
He had lost our battle of wits and paid the price with his arm, but he wasn’t panicking. That meant it was now my turn to defend. My sword was still extended from the wide swing I had used to sever his arm.
My head and left shoulder were completely exposed.
‘With his bare hand?’
Realizing he had no time to recover his spear, the Equessian abandoned his weapon without hesitation. He reached for my head with his remaining right hand. His palm was large enough to grab my skull in one grip.
He wouldn’t do this unless he was certain he could crush my head with a single squeeze.
Kiit!
I didn’t stop the momentum of my swing. Instead, I drove my blade’s tip into the ground, utilizing its weight to my advantage.
My Crucis was a high-density, heavy weapon. It was incredibly hard and carried significant weight. With the blade buried in the ground, my body was propelled upward like a pole-vaulter.
Whoosh!
I released the sword’s hilt and shot into the air.
In an instant, I was above the Equessian’s head.
The Equessian had swung his right arm, leaving his back completely exposed. The nape of his neck was wide open.
I swiftly drew my dagger, Graken Vuth. It was a blade symbolic of the Equessian race.
…To think the first life my Graken Vuth would take would be that of an Equessian. Even with my barren sense of sentimentality, the irony of it felt both unfortunate and senseless.
Thud!
I pressed down on the Equessian’s back and drove the dagger deep into the base of his skull. The blade severed his central nervous system as it pierced into his brain.
Crunch!
I twisted the blade, shredding his brain matter.
—If we all fail, then the price… does not… need to be paid…
A garbled mechanical voice crackled from his translator. His final words were not meant for me but for his employer, Bao Zakanan.
I stood up, pulling Graken Vuth free. I flicked off the blood, and its white blade gleamed as if it were still brand new.
The dead Equessian didn’t move.
Just moments ago, we had been fighting fiercely for each other’s lives, yet I felt no hatred toward him. He had merely fulfilled his contract with unwavering loyalty.
And the Equessian hadn’t harbored hatred or resentment toward me either. Likely not even in the final moments before his life was severed.
‘So this is what it means to be a mercenary race…’
If all Equessian mercenaries were like this, then they were certainly worth trusting—despite their loyalty being bought with money.
I expanded my awareness, widening my tightly focused senses. The hearing I had dulled before now sharpened, allowing me to clearly pick up the commotion outside.
‘Iskan is still fighting.’
It even sounded like he was up against two Equessians. The clashing of weapons suggested as much. I had finished my fight—I needed to go assist him.
But first… I had something to take care of.
"Bao Zakanan."
I looked down at him. Bao Zakanan let out a deep sigh, as if he had resigned himself to his fate.
"Fine, take me. Let’s negotiate like nobles."
He still believed there was room for bargaining. If I were just another member of the Custoria family, I might have taken him alive for interrogation.
But I was the Emperor’s Overseer. I knew the larger plans and the greater flow of events.
If I wanted to protect the Custoria family here… then Bao Zakanan had to die.
"Nikolaos’s assassination was ordered by the upper echelons of the Empire, wasn’t it? That’s why you contacted Nemesis and commissioned the hit. That’s the truth buried beneath all the convoluted lies, isn’t it?"
Bao Zakanan’s eyes widened even further than when he had been caught in disgrace. His pupils dilated, swallowing the whites of his eyes.
"You… how…?"
That response and reaction were more than enough to confirm the truth.
Thud!
I picked up the Equessian’s spear and drove it through Bao Zakanan’s head. The spearhead pierced his forehead and jutted out from the back of his neck.
Bao Zakanan was dead.
I didn’t want to see the Custoria family fall. Even Juppe and Eva, who despised me, I didn’t want them to die. And even more so, Hemillas and Giselle.
‘The Empire deliberately killed Nikolaos Custoria to create chaos. They must have expected Hemillas to respond like this.’
The vague unease that had hovered like mist finally took a clear shape. I had wanted to avoid seeing it. Every time I caught a glimpse of the truth, I had tried to deny it.
Silently, I bit my lower lip.
‘The Empire wants to eliminate the Custoria family.’
For that, they needed justification. The ones sitting at the top wanted the Custoria family to turn against the Empire.
It was dangerous—both for Hemillas and for me.
And in that moment, I understood. I realized, with a chilling certainty, why Akies Victima was the condition for becoming an Overseer. Because even if I didn’t want to know, I would inevitably come to understand all these connections.
Without anyone telling me, I understood the mission given to me by the Imperial Household and Kinuan. They didn’t need to spell it out—I could see exactly what they wanted.
If I wanted to be officially recognized as an Overseer, like Kinuan…
‘I have to assist in bringing down the Custoria family from within.’
A trial and test so impossibly difficult it was almost laughable.
Yeah, honestly, this was just utterly fucked.
---
To put it bluntly, the Equessians we fought weren’t even close to the Imperial Guard’s average combat level.
I didn’t know where they ranked among their own kind, but they weren’t weak by any means. Still, we were an elite combat unit, even by the Empire’s standards.
Of course… Iskan, who belonged to the higher-tier units within the Imperial Guard, had taken down two Equessians on his own with ease.
“The target died in battle? Can’t be helped. They were a real hassle.”
Iskan glanced at Bao Zakanan’s corpse and made a casual remark.
“I interrogated him beforehand, so we got most of the information we needed.”
“Well, at least that’s something.”
Iskan didn’t seem particularly disappointed. He was only on this mission out of loyalty to Hemillas. Whether things went well or not, it wasn’t really his concern.
“I didn’t expect Equessians to be part of the escort. I only ever heard about them in lessons.”
I shifted the topic. It wasn’t strange for a cadet like me to find alien species fascinating.
“Equessians have excellent stamina and exceptional patience, making them well-suited for long-term escort missions, especially in high-risk environments. Bao Zakanan had plenty of shady dealings, so he relied on Equessians for personal security. He probably had an Equessian summoning device implanted in his molar. Alien communication technology follows its own unique standards, making it difficult even for the Empire to intercept.”
Iskan spoke like a senior Imperial Guard member offering guidance.
As Bao Zakanan himself had said, sometimes alien species with no direct stakes in the Empire’s politics were more trustworthy. That was likely why certain nobles secretly employed aliens for covert affairs.
I organized the information I had extracted from Bao Zakanan and reported it to Iskan.
“This facility was a financial pipeline connected to Nemesis, and because of that, Bao Zakanan was essentially forced to cooperate with them?”
“He claimed it was due to blackmail… but from what I gathered, it seemed more like he occasionally fed Nemesis information to indulge his perversions and satisfy his cravings. However, it doesn’t appear he ever handed over critical secrets. If he had, he wouldn’t have survived this long.”
It was a report mixed with both truth and deception. I occasionally furrowed my brows, letting my visible disgust for the facility and Bao Zakanan slip through while concealing my deeper thoughts.
Of course, this place was horrifying. I genuinely believed that.
“You should head to the communication zone and call the Security Patrol. I’ll finish clearing out this place. There are probably more people deeper inside.”
“We’ve killed quite a few nobles here. Are you sure calling the Security Patrol is a good idea?”
“If we want to keep this incident entirely secret, the only option would be for me to kill all the surviving victims as well. I don’t want to do that. Do you understand? Besides, the Empire won’t come after us just for getting rid of some scum. The noble families will bury this quietly out of sheer embarrassment.”
I suppressed the urge to smirk.
Acts of kindness and justice could sometimes make a person seem weak. But Iskan’s kindness never came across as weakness. His reputation and accomplishments formed an unshakable foundation beneath him.
Iskan was a good man. Probably one of the rare few with such integrity within the Imperial Guard.