The Arken Empire
There was nothing that humans could not conquer.
The Arken Empire, which had raised that slogan, had enjoyed an age of prosperity ever since Godwin’s death.
The founding emperor, Jeffrey Arken, had been a great hero, a tactician, and a statesman. He declared that he would lay a foundation for the empire that would not crumble even across several centuries. That declaration was still proving true to this day.
The current emperor of the Arken Empire, Godfrey Arken, was the most incompetent and greedy king imaginable. It was the sort of thick greed and capricious politics that would have ruined any other kingdom within three years, yet he had somehow kept it going for a full forty. He remained in power, and the empire still stood. One could almost claim that an emperor’s authority descended straight from the heavens.
But an emperor’s authority comes from the treasury.
The treasures and holy relics amassed by the previous emperors were what truly sustained the realm. To lay hands on that storehouse meant sharing in that authority—and not a single noble was ignorant of the fact.
Blinded by gold, and obedient to gold.
As incompetent as the emperor was, they flattered him and praised every wrong turn he took. The rot would only accelerate; the founding emperor’s thousand-year foundation would crumble, and the fall would gather speed.
“So where exactly are you planning to hit?” Jed asked, looking thoroughly unimpressed.
“The Sealed Warehouse.”
“The Sealed Warehouse…”
The Sealed Warehouse. If a treasure vault stored precious relics and artifacts brimming with sacred power, the Sealed Warehouse was its opposite—a place that locked away things evil and never meant for public eyes. Demon grimoires left behind by the great demons, along with books and magical tools developed by their followers, were sealed there.
Jed’s expression soured even further. Raiding a treasure vault was already walking into a death trap; calling it the Sealed Warehouse was like throwing an extra bed of hot coals underneath.
“Just in case I have to ask… can you tell me what you’re planning to steal?”
There was no reason not to.
“One of the grimoires of the Great Demons—Barbatos’s Shadow Magic.”
Among the Seven Great Demons of Hell, Barbatos was the one called the Demon of Shadows and Schemes.
“Barbatos…” Jed muttered with a grave face, then lifted his head. “…Who the hell is that?”
“You don’t know?”
“Even those damn Amon cultists get mentioned now and then, but a demon named Barbatos… I’ve never even heard of him.”
He was ranked among the Seven Great Demons of Hell, yet in truth he was the one with the least influence, the name people heard least often.
“It’s only natural you don’t know. Unlike the others, he’s not a demon who keeps followers.”
It wasn’t that he was too pathetic to be spoken of; it was deliberate. Barbatos preferred to move in secret. He understood that low visibility worked in his favor when using his powers, so he demanded neither initiation rites nor outrageous prices.
The conditions, though, are enormous.
To wield shadows, the requirements he left behind were the most exacting of any magic the Great Demons had ever bequeathed. Even the lowest-ranking spell Ferda had once used—Shadow Hand—was something most mages could never properly control. That was why almost no one followed Barbatos, and almost no one coveted his grimoire.
Which makes it perfect as a hidden card.
An obscure magic meant no one knew how to counter it. For a mage, the ability to strike from an unexpected angle was everything.
“Even if we do steal this Shadow Magic thing…” Jed finally spat out the unease circling in his head. “How do we even get there?”
Ferda crossed one leg over the other.
“You tell me. If it were you, how would you get in?”
“You’re dumping this on me?”
“It’s your field.”
“I’m not some petty thief. The only thing I’ve ever stolen is a woman’s heart.”
“Stop the nonsense and answer.”
“Hmm…” Jed stroked his chin and let out a long breath. After about five minutes of silence he finally spoke. “Plenty of fools have tried to rob the imperial vaults over the years. The closest anyone ever got to success was a team of ten.”
“And?”
“From where I’m standing, you’d need at least twenty people and a full year of prep. Are you going to hire twenty thieves?”
“No.”
Twenty people and a year? They didn’t have that kind of time.
“Then how long do we have?”
“Immediately.”
Jed briefly forgot how to speak. Asking whether Ferda had forgotten what he’d just said would only make his mouth hurt, so he let it pass.
“If we’re doing this right now and leaving no loose ends… that means I have to rob the place alone, doesn’t it?”
“That’s about the size of it.”
“A place ten men failed at—how am I supposed to do that by myself?”
Ferda looked at him with absolute seriousness.
“You can do it.”
Jed felt as if he might die from sheer absurdity. But Ferda felt much the same.
He’s laying it on thick.
Jed Swallow. Right now he was nothing more than a smooth-talking playboy who chased skirts, but he possessed the talent of a master thief. His greatest claim to fame was that he had entered the imperial treasure vault—something no one else had ever managed.
And without a plan, at that.
Officially three times; according to Jed himself, he had already paid a dozen visits. That meant he already knew the gaps in the surveillance and how to exploit them.
Of course, that’s still a story for later.
Expecting the reputation of a grand thief right this moment was unrealistic. At present he was just a skirt-chaser, a long way from being a proper thief. Ferda was accounting for all of that as he laid his plans.
“No need to worry. I’ll set the board myself.”
“You will, my lord Regent?”
Ferda nodded and pointed to his own eyes with index and middle finger.
“All you need are those two eyes of yours. Everything else is secondary. Understood?”
“…Somehow that makes me even more nervous.”
Saying it aloud only deepened Jed’s unease. In his experience, jobs that asked for nothing more than “simple preparations” always demanded the greatest ability.
Should I really keep following this man?
He had come because the promise of an upper-class debut had dazzled him, but the bar kept rising the farther they went.
“That’s quite the worried face.”
“Wouldn’t you look worried? My neck’s on the line here.”
Jed’s reply was blunt. The longer he thought, the more his head ached.
After long deliberation comes the worst move.
If Jed refused, they would have to abandon Barbatos’s Shadow Magic entirely—or the whole affair would become far more complicated.
Time to play that card.
Ferda decided to make the scales easy to tip.
“The Sealed Warehouse holds the dirty secrets the empire wants buried.”
“…Is that so?”
Jed’s expression said, Why are you telling me this?
“Among them, there should be records concerning the Red-Eyed Tribe.”
“!”
The man who had been groaning moments earlier vanished. Strength flooded into Jed’s eyes.
“Are you certain?”
“I have not the slightest intention of breaking our contract.”
Jed had set the condition that he would leave the moment Ferda tried to cast him aside or use him. So he did not think deeply. His answer was simple.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
Everything moved exactly as Ferda had intended.
Before they set out in earnest, Ferda went to see Count Consiler.
“I greet the Regent. I hear you have business in the empire.”
“I do.”
“May I ask the nature of that business?”
“As it happens, I was about to ask you the same thing. There is no real reason for me to go—yet I must go.”
“Ah, so that’s the feeling.” Consiler stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Would it not be best to mention the vacancy left by Tessalos Wolcher? Something about needing a new appointee…”
“I already have thoughts on that. There is a suitable man—he simply has not shown himself yet.”
“If you give the order, I shall make inquiries.”
He could have given a description, but he had no desire to go that far. If word got out that someone was looking for him, the man might simply go to ground, which would be even more troublesome. So Ferda kept it short.
“You will know him the moment you see him—your breath will catch in your throat.”
“My breath will catch… more specifically?”
“Specifics are unnecessary. You will feel it the instant you lay eyes on him. Give that knight the post.”
“Understood. As the Regent wills.”
They had failed to gather wandering knights, but they were still searching for guardians of the territory. Ferda decided to trust that the man would eventually take an interest and appear on his own.
Consiler turned to another idea.
“Would it not be wise to make an inquiry regarding the Grand Council?”
“The Grand Council?”
“Yes. Every king and every noble of ducal rank or higher in Serdes is entitled to attend, but they require someone to vouch for their identity. It would be good to visit the emperor or one of his blood and declare your intention to participate.”
The emperor or the imperial princes. Distasteful company, yet Ferda would be meeting them often enough from now on.
“Very well. We’ll use that as the pretext. What is the empire’s current state?”
“A complete mess.” Consiler shook his head. “They are still forming a three-way power struggle.”
“And the central figures?”
“The emperor, the crown prince, and the second prince.”
“The emperor is fighting his own sons?”
Consiler nodded.
“I know it sounds absurd, but yes. There was a time when the crown prince and the second prince tried to topple the emperor together.”
“And they failed, I take it.”
“Indeed. For all his incompetence, the emperor is razor-sharp when it comes to his own power. He simply pitted the two princes against each other over the succession and snuffed the whole thing out.”
Present a new future that is not the old enemy, and create a new enemy in the process. If nothing but conflict results, strength gradually drains away and the original purpose is lost.
Even a rotten fish has its uses, as they say…
There was a reason he had lasted so long.
“So on the surface it remains a three-way struggle.”
“On the surface… yes, on the surface that is correct.”
Consiler wondered why Ferda had chosen the word “surface,” but did not dig deeper. Ferda considered the three figures for a moment, then asked:
“If it were you, which of the three would you side with?”
“If I must speak for myself, the second prince.”
“Why?”
“The second prince has always valued military strength. He personally travels to many regions, drives back monsters, and expands the empire’s borders. He also takes an interest in the eradication of magical beasts—he is almost comparable to the founding emperor.”
Consiler was right. The second prince’s main support came from the military factions the crown prince had failed to recruit. He was trying to fill the gaps in his power base with tales of valor.
“Of course, even he cannot be called the correct answer. Had he truly cared about proper national defense, he would already have extended a hand to this far eastern frontier.”
“True enough.”
Having heard the count’s opinion, Ferda nodded as if he had made his decision.
“Then I shall write three letters—one each to the emperor, the first prince, and the second prince.”
“Shall I assist you?”
The empire still believed Count Consiler held more influence than the regent. Ferda shook his head.
“No need. I will send them in the name of Regent Baldrova.”
“If that is your will…”
Ferda was writing the three letters because he wanted to know their intentions. The thirsty man digs the well; the desperate man reaches out his hand. Ferda was curious which of them would reach toward him. Count Consiler stepped back for the same reason.
“There is something else I must ask of you, Count Consiler.”
“You need only speak.”
“Do you happen to have any unclaimed corpses?”
Bodies without names, without known origins.
“Unclaimed corpses… yes, there should be. We recently discovered one near the territory.”
Perfect timing.
“Excellent. Have that one burned at the stake.”
“Burned at the stake…?”
Consiler blinked. Cremation was one thing; execution by fire was another. Unable to keep the question to himself, he asked carefully:
“If I may ask… this is for the sake of the Far East, is it not?”
“Of course. It is not something born of private malice.”
“Then I understand.”
“Make him look like the most damnable bastard imaginable when you burn him. That will be enough.”
“Haha… the gods will be angry.” Consiler touched the amulet around his neck—an emblem worn by the faithful of Alte, the state religion of the empire.
“Is there any human who has never committed a single sin?”
“True enough.”
Desecrating a corpse that had done no wrong left a bad taste, yet Consiler did not argue. If he wanted the Far Eastern territories to prosper, he needed to trust Ferda.
After sending the three letters to the empire, Ferda climbed into a carriage. Receiving replies at once was naturally impossible, and he had no intention of waiting for them. That was the entire point of the letters.
What matters is how they react to one-sided communication.
His companions were Jed, the knight Arwen who served under Count Consiler, and a handful of soldiers under Arwen’s command. After a full week of travel they at last sighted the enormous walls rising from the plain.
The Arken Empire.
The capital’s landscape—lush vegetation and carefully tended fields blending together—made the heart race. Jed, gazing out the window, smiled with open excitement.
“The empire looks magnificent every time. There’s a real thrill just arriving.”
“Indeed.”
Every noble and every commoner longed for the imperial capital. The Rosnova family had once dreamed of becoming one of those central aristocratic houses as well. Ferda himself felt no such need. What reason was there to enter a place that was nothing more than a den of monsters wearing human skins—the true beginning of hell?
They reached the great gates. Ferda announced his identity to the gate guards.
“Please wait a moment.”
A guard entered the guardhouse to verify. Minutes passed with no order to proceed.
“Looks like our start isn’t going so well,” Jed muttered ominously, but Ferda disagreed.
“This is a green light.”
“A green light?”
“Making a noble wait means there is a reason worth waiting for.”
A short while later an elegant white carriage drew up just inside the gates. Changing carriages meant they were being taken into the imperial palace—which meant someone had answered his letter.
The knight at the head of the escort placed a hand over his heart and bowed with perfect formality.
“Welcome to the empire, my lord Regent! I am Marco, captain of the Fifth Imperial Knight Order.”
“A pleasure.”
“This way, if you please…!”
Ferda followed the guidance and transferred to the new carriage. When Jed tried to climb in as well, Marco blocked him.
“Forgive me, but who might you be?”
“I’m his employee.”
Marco’s face went cold.
“Employees do not ride this carriage. Only those who have been invited may enter the palace.”
“Ah… is that so?”
“Step back. This carriage is bound for the imperial palace.”
Jed retreated with an awkward look. And so only Ferda rode alone toward the palace.
Ostentatious beyond belief.
As the saying went, one does not show off wrinkles in front of a chrysalis. Ferda’s own carriage had been luxurious enough, yet the imperial carriage possessed an entirely different level of comfort. He turned his gaze to the scenery beyond the window.
True to the empire’s main thoroughfare, the streets were clean and filled with smiling people. It was a place overflowing with hope, exactly as every noble dreamed. There was a reason aristocrats who entered the capital fell into fever the moment they left it again.
Where happiness existed, misfortune of equal measure was never far away. And that misfortune was already setting its sights on Ferda.
His sharp insight caught an unusual gaze. A man was lurking in an alley, repeatedly glancing at the carriage.
He’s targeting this carriage.
The soldiers on perimeter watch had not yet noticed the man. Initial suppression would clearly not happen in time.
Neutralizing him before the attack… is possible.
Only he could protect his own body. Ferda reflexively formed a sphere of mana. Ready for whatever the man might attempt, he prepared a covert counter.
As the distance closed, the man burst out and blocked the carriage’s path.
Neeeigh!
The horses reared in fright and came to a sudden halt.