The Imperial Supreme Commander Has Returned - Chapter 59

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Empire’s Supreme Commander Returns — Episode 59

It’s classified as top secret!
Delram’s eyes gleamed as he asked.

“I won’t breathe a word of it anywhere.”
“The Mage Tower’s analysis of the demon has arrived.”
“Already?”
“Thanks to his majesty’s order, every mage of Advanced Rank and above threw themselves at it. In any case, the report included an opinion that the spider might be an artificially engineered creation.”
“I see.”
“…You’re not surprised?”
“Well, it differs too greatly from ordinary magical beasts, doesn’t it? The Demonic Energy, the way it fights—the more I turn it over in my mind, the more it feels like a weapon optimized for killing humans.”
“Truly exceptional insight.”

The Commander marveled at this.
In truth, Delram was equally astonished.

The Mage Tower had delivered similar research findings in the past.
That demons were far too alien as a species.

Demons possessed countless biological defects as living creatures.
Yet paradoxically, every single one of those defects served as a potent advantage in slaughtering humans or other forms of life.
It suggested something was profoundly warped.

All living creatures evolved by a single principle.
Those suited to survival endured, and they scattered their offspring.
In this way, those advantageous traits spread.
That was what the mages argued.
If that logic held true—

‘Then demons evolved with each moment to kill their prey, and through that process maintained and flourished as a race.’

But in a finite continent, such a thing could not occur.
Kill without producing anything, and nothing survives.
So the mages had proposed the Dimensional Wanderers hypothesis.

‘That is, before attacking our continent, they’d likely already destroyed other worlds.’

This had been Delram’s hypothesis before the Regression.
Now, not long after the demon’s capture.
Research had emerged that, while not identical, drew close to it.

‘The response this cycle is considerably faster, isn’t it?’

Yet the conclusion seemed somewhat different.
They appeared to regard the demon as a kind of Chimera.
A malevolent weapon engineered by someone, targeting humans.
Opinions likely still differed on who that someone was.

In any case.
The reason the Commander had rambled on so lengthily was simple.
Delram’s assignment had been reassigned.

“Your new task is to hunt demons. After all, you were the first to discover one, and you even struck it down.”
“A demon tracker, then.”
“Fitting. Elite units will be dispatched from the Royal Knight Order and the Mage Tower as well. You won’t travel as one group; you’ll divide the cities and investigate them separately.”

The Commander pulled back the cloth hanging on the wall.
Revealed was a detailed map only the military high command was permitted to see.

The map contained a comprehensive record of every town and city throughout the kingdom.
Even the roads of the neighboring Bille Rune Kingdom were included.
It seemed they’d been running an extensive spy network in preparation for the invasion.

Red Flags marked the major cities across the map.
According to the investigation, these were places where suspicious activity had recently surfaced.

Towns oddly obedient to the crown, or conversely, openly defiant.
Locations plagued by disappearances, or places where strange incidents had occurred.

“So I choose from here, then?”
“That’s right. You get first pick.”
“Lucky me.”

Delram meant it sincerely.
As it happened, there were places he’d been wanting to visit.

Delram accepted the Blue Flags from the Commander.
Three flags in total.
He pressed them deep into the map.

First, the city where Tas had mentioned slave traders operated.
Another was the Border City, close to Bille Rune.

“The first two are fine, but that last one comes out of nowhere.”
“Is that so?”
“The upper two share a route, so that works. But why pick the Southern City when you’d have to detour all the way around?”
“Intuition.”
“Ah… intuition.”

The Commander deliberated, then nodded slowly.
If anyone else had said it?
He’d have called them out for wasting time and struck them across the wrist without hesitation.

But the Commander had served with Delram through the years.
He’d even been briefed on his every action and decision.
So he knew well enough.
He’d seen what came to pass when Delram spoke of “intuition” and moved accordingly, and what disasters befell when he ignored it.

“Uncanny fellow.”
“A compliment, I take it?”
“High praise indeed. Which is why you’re now a Royal Special Dispatch Official.”
“A Special Dispatch Official has its perks.”
“Know what the rank actually does?”
“Inspecting the existing garrison forces stationed in major cities, isn’t it?”
“Exactly right. Feels almost like doing military service all over again.”
“Please don’t say such terrible things…….”

For a moment, Delram’s face looked like death itself.
As if a blade had been driven deep into his very core.

“Now, now—don’t make that face.”
…….
“A man’s allowed a joke. In any case, depart as soon as you can and conduct your investigations in those cities. You know you need to file two separate reports, yes?”
“One on Demon-related matters, one on garrison readiness.”
“I’m counting on you.”

With that, the meeting concluded.
Delram received a simple Appointment Letter and departed from the command headquarters.

Regression was the prologue; the Sambala Campaign, Act One.
And if demon subjugation was Act Two……
Delram looked up at the sky and murmured.

“At last, Act Three begins.”

* * *

Delram finished packing.
This life’s concept was attachment-free living anyway.
So there wasn’t much to bring.
He purified the Dimensional Pocket Space that had been tainted by Demonic Energy, then filled it with rations, a sleeping bag, and other emergency supplies.

‘Now I just need to say goodbye to everyone.’

This time he planned to ride a horse.
He’d walked from Sambala to the Royal Capital before, for Spirit Arts training.
He’d lightened his body with Wind and pushed forward.
But now he’d progressed beyond needing anything like that.

With all preparations complete in a flash,
Delram headed to the Training Ground after a final check.
He’d already told the head of the Bistache Family and Nuark.
Only Rubian and Tas remained.

Truth be told, Rubian worried him more than the young Tas.
There was the matter of Rubian teaching him the Secret Technique, and his usual behavior was so erratic that even Delram struggled to predict his reactions.
Yet Rubian proved surprisingly docile.

“Hmm… travel safely.”
“You’re not going to say anything else?”
“What else is there to say? It’s a soldier’s fate.”

Rubian nodded as if understanding.
But something in his eyes seemed slightly off.

Delram sensed it immediately.
No doubt—he’d follow in secret, one hundred percent certain.

‘Ah, this troublemaker.’

Rubian following wasn’t inherently unwelcome.
Whether out of genuine care or something else entirely, the man had shown him affection, and Delram wasn’t cold enough to reject that.
The question was whether it would actually help.

Rubian was certainly a skilled knight.
But to speak plainly, he fell short in crucial ways.
He was only Intermediate-rank, after all.

Especially since Delram’s task this time was infiltration and reconnaissance.
Working alone was far simpler, and even if Rubian came along, he couldn’t keep pace with Delram as he moved with the owl, pushing stealth to its absolute limit.
He’d be dead weight.

“Don’t do what you’re thinking of doing.”
“What, what are you talking about?”
“Raise your rank. I don’t like weak people.”
“What are you saying! I’m an Intermediate-rank Knight.”
“Then why can’t you beat me?”
“That’s, that’s because it’s a sparring match.”
“Shouldn’t you win more easily in a sparring match?”
“Ugh…….”

Rubian, who had been protesting, clamped his mouth shut.
Every word had been painfully accurate.

But his eyes had shifted to a different kind of turmoil than before.
A strange heat writhed within those violet irises.
It was the look of someone drowning in anger, humiliation, and shame all at once.

He had reason enough.
He had just been told he was weak—by Delram, the very student he had trained.

Of course, he had suspected it vaguely during the match itself.
That Delram might be stronger than him.
But there was a world of difference between what he’d privately imagined and hearing it spoken aloud by his opponent.

Besides, Rubian wasn’t truly weak.
An Intermediate-rank Knight, by his own measure.
Called a prodigy even by the kingdom’s standards, and possessed by an obsession with the blade.
He even had combat experience behind him.

‘Insulting. That’s what it is.’

Delram perceived Rubian’s greatest flaw as an [absence].
And the name of that absence was [desire].

No matter how much people denied it, desire governed their every movement.
The desire to grow stronger.
The desire to climb higher.
Such hungers drove a person forward, one step at a time.

‘But he has none of that.’

Lord of the Bistache Family?
His older brother was already designated for that—it would never be him.
He had no hunger for power.

Nor for wealth.
As the eldest daughter of a great house, there was scarcely anything beyond her reach.
Whether a legendary sword or legendary armor, one command and it was crafted for her.

So the principle that moved Rubian was simple.
Merely [a love of the blade].
Or perhaps [because it was what she had always done since birth].
A level of desire so meager it was barely worth a sigh.

‘Up to Intermediate-rank, that’s enough.’

But not beyond that.
From Advanced-rank onward, one must desire with specificity and burn oneself away entirely in pursuit of it.
Through that crucible, a knight is refined.

No one could predict what would burn away in the refining.
The essence that remained could be ugly or brilliant.

Yet it had to be done.
To glimpse one’s true inner self—the part even you don’t know.
Only by gazing into that abyss could one earn the minimum qualifications to step onto the path toward Advanced-rank.

In any case, Rubian’s appetite for ambition was wanting.
So Delram had just fabricated one for him.

It wasn’t even difficult.
Rubian was the type born stubborn yet at the same time painfully vague.
With people like that, a single phrase sufficed.

[You’re mediocre. It’s the truth — so why are you scratching at it?]

The eldest daughter of the Bistache Family had never heard such rudeness!
And the effect came immediately.
You could see it clearly — a faint crimson aura gathering around her eyes.
The fierce spirit and grit of a true warrior was rising to the surface.

“Good… I swear I’ll become overwhelmingly stronger than that boy, strong enough that he’ll never dare speak so presumptuously again…….”
“A noble resolve indeed.”
“And when that boy returns… we’ll have a proper match.”
“Ha, I’ll be waiting for it.”
“If you lose… you must grant me one wish.”
“Well, that’s fair enough. But what wish do you want?”
“That the boy never leaves the Bistache Family.”
“…What?”

Rubian turned without a word and walked away.
She moved toward the Training Ground as though there was no time to lose.
She seemed to have hardened her resolve in earnest.

Delram suddenly felt a gaze from beside him.
It was Tas, who had been wailing just moments before about parting ways.
The tears had stopped, and she was staring at him now.
Her expression asked silently: [Is this really okay?]
Delram answered with confidence.

“Don’t worry. I won’t lose…….”
…….

Tas said nothing.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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