Observation

Coated paper. A page divided into rectangular panels. Exaggerated scenes and dialogue packed into speech bubbles, all painted in bright, colorful ink.

KWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG!

Inside the comic, a Mason Industries building collapsed.

Debris exploded outward. Far below the collapsing structure, a woman fell.

[ Elje: ......Meden! ]

It was Elje, the heroine of "Outcast." She cried out for Meden and reached into empty air. Her platinum hair whipped around her, and her blue eyes glimmered as if filled with mana.

[ Meden: Elje! ]

Meden, the other lead, stepped farther forward even as he fell and grabbed Elje's hand. The two held each other and landed safely on the road.

But the relief lasted only a moment.

[ Falkenrat: Haha. ]

In that chaos, Falkenrat, the final boss of "Outcast: Mason Industries Arc," appeared.

Thud!

Half his body had been replaced with machinery, and he came to a stop right in front of them.

[ Falkenrat: You're a useful one. ]

Noise effects crackled through his dialogue. Even the whites of his eyes were blood red. Both legs had been replaced with mana stone and steel. Dark exhaust rose with every breath.

Meden looked at that monstrous thing and smiled instead.

[ Meden: Of course I'm useful. I'm about to blow your head off too. ]

...Ooh.

Before my regression, the me in those memories used to feel a crackling chill run down my spine and marvel.

"Enjoying it?"

The homeless man beside me snickered.

We were in a corner of the subway.

"...Ahem."

For no reason, I put on airs and lowered the comic.

"Keep reading, punk. Why are you worrying about what other people think?"

At that, I quietly picked it up again.

"Outcast: Raid on Mason Industries"

It was the highlight sequence where Mason Industries' private troops kidnapped Elje, and every member of "Outcast," including Meden, charged in to rescue her.

That was the comic's golden age, when it was a massive hit in the Republic.

"...Then I'd be grateful."

"Heh heh. You're a funny guy."

Back then, I wandered the streets and read comics people had thrown away. Sometimes I stole them too. A little of my physical ability from my knight days still remained.

"Here, take it."

"...Thank you."

I was living on the run, never knowing when I'd be caught, but still.

Back then, I could laugh with pure sincerity.

"By the way, they say this was a real story from way back. What do you think?"

Compared to my knight days crushed under Sebestian, compared to today where I pursued humanity's great hope, that time when I had nothing and had lost everything was...

maybe freer.

"Hey!"

I suddenly opened my eyes. Someone was standing right in front of me.

"Wow, Max, you still nap in broad daylight? I thought you'd changed even that."

It was Ezel. I frowned and sat up.

Since fusing with the virus, my body had become stronger than ever, but sleep was still important mental rest.

"What are you doing here?"

"...Are you senile? The Magic Tower sent an official notice saying I was coming today."

Ezel clicked her tongue and pulled out a thick file folder.

"Here, this is the analysis you asked for."

The Cliff case. Ezel had become a high-ranking mage of Sentio, and she brought the result as the tower's representative.

"It's confirmed. The detonator was attached to the condenser. It means Knight Cliff is innocent."

"Ah. Thanks."

I took the file with a smile. Ezel stared at me for a while.

She looked like she still had something to say.

"What?"

......

She slowly opened her mouth.

"It's nothing major, but there's a rumor going around lately... no, I'll be direct. A suspicious subcontract request came into the Magic Tower."

I folded my arms quietly.

"The client is some lab called T24. Something's off there. If you look at what they're requesting... I'd say their intentions are impure."

"Then shouldn't Sentio refuse it?"

"Do you think I'm the Master of the Magic Tower? They seem like a huge client, so even the Master is struggling with them."

To me, it felt strange all over again.

Because this was exactly what happened in the comic I had once read.

"Then are you asking me for a favor?"

"...Knights are the Empire's watchers. Those bastards are obviously dirty, but mages can't do anything about it."

Mason Industries had captured the cross serial killer, in other words "Outcast." Since their human experiment that they thought had failed had actually succeeded, they restarted the experiments and outsourced equipment work to the Magic Tower...

That had been the prologue of "Outcast: Mason Industries Arc."

"All right. I've received mage Ezel Runselot's public-interest report."

"...Huh?"

I accepted Ezel's request. I needed a reason to inspect them more closely anyway.

"I'll dig into it myself."

For some reason, I felt like a character inside that comic.

* * *

"Thank you."

Sentinel Order, deputy commander's office. Jerome stood in front of Kairon's desk and bowed his head deeply. Kairon leaned back in his chair and merely shrugged.

......

To be honest, this was how Kairon really felt.

There was no real reason for gratitude.

He had boldly said he would persuade Maximilian about the Cliff matter, but before he even went to see him, Maximilian had already forgiven Cliff.

Still, one thing remained.

Something in Jerome's attitude still bothered Kairon.

So Kairon said nothing. He just flipped through documents.

"Ahem."

Jerome seemed to notice belatedly, cleared his throat, and spoke politely again.

"...Thank you, Deputy Commander-nim."

Only then did Kairon lift his eyes from the papers.

Of course. Even if they were the same age, their ranks were different now. Honorifics were necessary for order.

Kairon gave a faint smile.

"It's fine, Jerome. The Cliff case was Sentinel's business from the start. Neither the Imperial Palace nor the Imperial Guard could interfere."

Sentinel was the sword that served the Empire. Guardians with the sun behind them, and watchers who stared into darkness.

It was naturally something we had to resolve internally. Well, it wasn't easy.

He lightly added that part, as if he had sweated to persuade Maximilian. Gestures like that were also necessary to manage subordinates.

"Yes. Then I'll take my leave."

"Right."

Jerome bowed politely and left the office.

Kairon rubbed his stiff neck and looked out the window.

"...I miss Yulian."

That guy was still in the East, trying to win what he wanted with his own hands.

Like me, I hoped he would get what he wanted someday.

As for the Imperial Palace...

Kairon had been listening closely to the subtle wind blowing from the palace lately.

The air there was unusual.

"Is Leutern at the center?"

The cause was none other than Leutern II.

After suddenly showing his claws, he was now widely acknowledged as the one who released Anton Jefren's recording transcript to the public.

To Kairon, that brought equal parts gratitude and caution.

It meant Leutern II was a core palace power who had to be watched closely.

......

......Leutern II had been in a good mood these days. Watching that bastard Kents Bertem run his mouth and crash out of the Executive Affairs Minister candidacy had been deeply satisfying.

Anyway, now that bastard would never crawl back up, so Leutern planned to ignore everything and study military strategy for once.

Ding.

Another terminal message. Even his mana parchment wriggled.

"Ah, damn. Why is everyone so annoying..."

He had been getting far too many contacts lately. Meal appointments, banquet invitations, requests. There were so many he could not accept them one by one, so he was rejecting most of them.

"This is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous."

He guessed, no, he did not even need to guess, it was all because of "Lilac Vita."

Guys who used to say they were too busy when I invited them out were now buttering me up like this. It made him feel disgusted with people.

Knock knock.

"Who is it now? Who is it!"

Leutern snapped. The door opened and his trusted aide Bern walked in.

"Duke Leutern, Chief Secretary Grossman has proposed a meeting."

"...Huh? Him?"

Leutern's brow tightened slightly.

Even for royalty, Grossman was extremely difficult to deal with. The Emperor's closest aide, an unreadable old snake. It was hard to refuse a meeting carelessly.

"Yes, sir. That's correct. He said he wants to build camaraderie..."

"Ah, wait. No way."

Leutern's eyes sparkled.

"Has Grossman never been to Lilac Vita either?"

"...Yes. That's probably true. The Chief Secretary rarely does anything outside the Imperial Palace."

......

"Well now. Even Grossman could not resist the temptation of Lilac Vita and had to reach out to me."

"Tell him I agreed. I'll specially arrange a seat."

Leutern lifted his chin arrogantly and added,

"Ah. Tell him he can bring that Kents bastard too."

"That poor guy would probably die without ever getting a reservation, so with my sea-wide generosity, I'll grant him at least one meal."

"...Yes. I will deliver the message."

Merciful Leutern.

That was me.

"Mwahaha."

* * *

In the western Empire, in a shabby building not far from the underground city.

I arrived in front of the "T24 Lab."

The exterior looked ordinary and not very tall, but this was a devil's den where brutal human experiments were carried out.

"...Just like the comic."

Who the hell was that cartoonist, and how was it this accurate?

A large guard blocked me as I tried to enter.

"Restricted area. Entry is prohibited."

I silently took out my Sentinel knight ID and handed it over. The man flinched in surprise and hurried to raise his radio to contact someone, but I did not wait.

I pushed straight into the lobby.

"W-wait, please! Just a moment, Sir Knight!"

Ignoring the panicked voice, I looked around. The first floor, covered in white tiles, looked no different from any other hospital or research facility.

Clatter clatter.

Several researchers in white coats and glasses rushed down from the stairs.

"...Sir Knight!"

The one in front stood in my way, breathing hard.

"Your sudden visit has caught us off guard. I don't know why you've come, but this is a legally restricted area with strict outside access control. I'm sorry, but please follow procedure and visit again."

I looked down at him and shook my head.

"In imperial territory, no law or place takes priority over a knight's duty."

The researcher's brow narrowed.

"Excuse me? What do you-"

"It means my word is law."

I snatched the ID card hanging from his neck.

Director Manuel. In the future, he would become a war criminal hanged for carrying out thousands of human experiments.

His excuse, that the Empire ordered him and so he had no guilt, was famous even before my regression.

"S-sir Knight! Sir Knight! Please return my ID!"

I walked down the corridor.

It was fascinating how exactly it matched the comic.

There was probably a human experiment chamber underground, and plenty of research data in the aboveground labs too.

Research tied to life and ethics was legal only when the Emperor chose to close his eyes.

"S-sir Knight! You can't go there! That's a classified area!"

The researchers turned pale and grabbed my arm. I shoved them aside and kicked open the steel door.

Bang!

The inside of the lab was fully exposed.

Inside transparent cylinders, red blood and fragments of mana stone boiled together. On the desks, files were scattered with human dissection diagrams and mana circuits drawn all over them.

"...Sir Knight!"

"If you do this, w-we'll have no choice but to sue!"

I did not answer their whining and just picked up the files. It was classic Imperial Guard-style chaos.

"Sir Knight!"

...?

I stopped for a moment. It was because I felt like someone was watching me.

"Stop this."

A cold voice echoed through the lab.

I turned toward it.

Thud. Thud.

A shadow walked out from the corridor outside the lab. For a moment, I felt like I was looking at a comic panel.

......

A modified human with an unreal appearance. His name was Falkenrat.

Thud. Thud.

Half his body was made of cold metal and machinery, and blue mana pulsed through each seam.

A fusion of human flesh, machine, and mana, he glared at me with his dark artificial eye and asked,

"Imperial knight. Do you even know who we are working for, and what cause we serve."

His words were short. That was his trait, so I let it pass.

"Do I need to know?"

I threw the stack of files on the floor and answered calmly.

"...State your purpose for this visit clearly."

Sparks jumped from Falkenrat's mechanical arm. He was notorious in the underworld, but I did not avoid his gaze.

I stared straight at him and answered.

"Cross Killer. The cross serial killer."

The researchers' shoulders visibly flinched.

Every victim killed by that bastard came from this place, T24 Lab.

Falkenrat looked down at me. He was over two meters tall, built on a level close to Sebestian.

In the comic, he had been described that way too, and in appearance at least, it was accurate.

Right now, more than that.

Still, I was not afraid of this man. I did not feel like I would lose either.

He only felt like a lump of metal.

When I thought about why, the answer was my strength.

Status, background, power, authority, and even my own martial force, which had grown before I noticed it.

I overwhelmingly surpassed them in every way.

"I don't like your attitude."