“Mikael, hear this.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Empire was arrogant.
“Without your sword, all this glory would never have been achieved. Suppressing the uncivilized north, forcing the south to submit—”
Seated at the center of the continent, the Empire swallowed the Northern Republic, the Southern Kingdom, and countless other city-states one after another.
In only a few short years, the human race was unified beneath a single banner.
“—driving the other races from the forests and mountains was also thanks to the power of the man who became the youngest Swordmaster in imperial history—”
Humans were greedy.
Elves, dwarves, dragonkin, beastfolk—
All the races that had once coexisted with humans on the continent had now been driven out.
“—all of it is the fruit of your blood and loyalty. In only a few years, the entire continent has gathered beneath one banner. This is an achievement unprecedented in imperial history.”
And I had stood at the vanguard.
His Majesty the Emperor recited my achievements one by one, then paused briefly to catch his breath.
“However.”
“…….”
“Unification is not the end, but the beginning. On the frontier, the shadow of the demons grows deeper, and the Empire's borders are threatened day by day.”
It was true.
For ten years, I had roamed the battlefields and faced the demons again and again. Even during the war of unification, the frontier had been under constant demon attacks.
“I appoint you Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Knight Order. I entrust this Empire, and the future of humanity, to your sword.”
Was it because he was overcome with emotion?
His voice trembled as he sat upon the golden throne.
“Your subject, Mikael, will obey Your Majesty's command and lead the Imperial Knight Order with my life. Even if this body burns to ash, I will uphold Your Majesty's will.”
That day, I became the second-highest authority in the Empire.
I was twenty-eight years old.
That day, I headed for the Northern Front.
The situation was not optimistic enough for me to remain in the capital.
***
Coo, coo. Coo, coo.
A cold that seemed to cut into flesh.
A barracks on the northernmost front, holding back the demons' offensive.
Through the smell of iron and smoke, a carrier pigeon flew in unsteadily.
The small scroll tied to its leg came loose and fell to the ground with a seal mark stamped on it.
「This is an imperial edict from His Majesty the Emperor.
Supplies to the Northern Front are denied.
Commander-in-Chief Mikael is to return to the capital immediately.」
Supplies were denied? In thirteen years of war, I had never once seen supplies cut off.
‘What in the world happened…….’
I headed straight for the capital.
At its core, every war was about logistics.
When supplies were cut off, the front collapsed.
As soon as I arrived in the capital, the first place I went was the Empire's armory. I had to grasp the situation accurately.
And—
“Fuck, what is this?”
That was the first thing that came out of my mouth.
When I opened the armory doors, the smell of rusted iron rushed out.
“A sword.”
The armory keeper hurriedly brought me a sword. I drew it from the rack.
‘……It is light.’
Too light. Its balance was a mess as well.
I raised the blade to eye level and examined it.
Tiny air bubbles were visible along the blade.
Proof that it had not been smelted properly.
I sent a faint thread of aura through it.
SCREECH—
The blade shrieked, unable to withstand the mana.
CRACK!
A fracture ran through the blade.
“……?”
The armory keeper broke out in a cold sweat.
I threw the sword aside and picked up another.
Then another.
Then another.
Two out of three could not withstand aura.
“You expect us to fight demons with this garbage?”
“I am sorry!”
The steel the dwarves smelted could never be matched by human technique.
When I opened the military granary, the situation was even more miserable.
Because the dried grain and mana-stone catalysts that had flowed in from the elven forests had been cut off, food was hopelessly insufficient.
Dragonkin scales were the finest materials for shields and armor, and the beastfolk's medicinal herbs were restoratives that kept soldiers standing on the battlefield.
But after trade was cut off, none of those goods could be obtained anymore.
“Bring me the logistics ledger.”
The military administrator brought the logistics ledger.
Flip. Flip. Flip.
The pace at which I turned the pages quickened. After turning one page, then another, I could see the Empire's logistical state at a glance.
Riiip. Rip.
The paper tore. From some point on, even I found it hard to control my own madness.
“Haa…….”
The Empire no longer had the ability to wage war.
“I will personally request an audience with His Majesty the Emperor tomorrow. Call the Chancellor. She will accompany me.”
“Yes, Commander.”
***
Clack-clack. Clack-clack.
On the road to the imperial palace.
The Chancellor and I sat facing each other inside a military carriage.
“Chancellor, it has been a long time.”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Please tell me…… how exactly all this happened.”
I forced down the rage rising in my throat.
“We no longer have the capacity to procure military supplies. That is all.”
“Can we not simply pay the merchant companies a premium and buy from them?”
“Of the 273 merchant companies, none are actually operating.”
“Not even the major merchant companies?”
“That is correct…….”
I looked back at the Chancellor in disbelief.
No wonder. A major merchant company was comparable in scale to a small nation.
For a single trade expedition, a couple of Mercenary Guilds would be attached to the front and rear, and hundreds of wagons would set out in a line.
Merchant companies contracted with the Magic Tower even mobilized magic golems to haul mountains of supplies.
“How did… all the merchant companies collapse? Demand within the Empire should not have been insufficient.”
The Empire's scale was vast, after all.
The Chancellor folded down her fingers one by one.
“First, when trade with the other races was cut off, the major merchant companies took a hit. They depended on the other races for 70% of their trade volume.”
“…….”
“Second, when the major merchant companies collapsed, the small and medium-sized merchant companies beneath them went bankrupt in a chain reaction. They were companies that moved along the major merchant companies' supply networks. Third….”
The Chancellor let out a brief sigh.
Unable to listen any longer, I opened my mouth.
“Still, this is the Empire that waged war for ten years and unified the continent. How could it, in only three years…….”
“In the first year, everything seemed fine. The war had ended, and the Empire was in a festive mood. But from the second year onward, the quality of military supplies began to decline, and now, in the third year… it is exactly as you have seen.”
I clenched my teeth.
Even so, we could not simply fall into ruin like this.
“What if the military had entered trade directly after the merchant companies collapsed?”
“Impossible. Trade is the guilds' exclusive right. Moreover—”
At that moment, shouting and cries rang out from outside.
“……!”
What was it? An attack? A riot?
My body, seasoned on battlefields, reacted first.
Click.
I moved one hand to the hilt of my sword and opened the carriage window.
“What is this in the capital…….”
PUFF—!
A sack of flour burst open at the street corner. White powder scattered through the air as someone shouted.
“It is mine! That sack is mine!”
“Get back! The military is coming!”
Two soldiers held spears, but the crowd did not retreat.
“Do not stab us! There are children here!”
“They raised taxes and now they are blocking us with this crap?”
Click.
She closed the window and looked at me.
“The state coffers are already empty. Trade taxes, port taxes, and guild dues once accounted for half of our revenue, but compared to three years ago, they are now only 3%.”
And then, finally, she added.
“……It is already over.”
Those words pressed down on the air inside the carriage.
That day, we could not meet His Majesty the Emperor.
He had already lost the ability to communicate.
***
A few days later, the northern defense line collapsed.
I directed the defense of the capital, but the soldiers' swords broke because they could not withstand aura, and because the granaries were empty and they were starving, they could not fight properly.
Without proper supplies, humanity's defensive line was nothing more than a sandcastle on the shore.
Before a single wave called the demons, it was swept away without a trace.
Three months.
That was how long we lasted.
Yes, humans were arrogant, greedy, and weak at the same time.
And—
In the end, the world was destroyed. At the Demon King's hands.
Right now, I am watching the final moments of our race with my own eyes.
The Demon King sits on the throne where the Emperor once sat.
At his feet lies His Majesty the Emperor's severed head.
The face that had once commanded the Empire is now nothing more than a chunk of meat whose shape can no longer even be recognized.
“You son of a bitch…….”
Cough. Cough.
Every time I speak, dark-red fresh blood leaks from my mouth. My organs have all turned to mush, and I cannot even release the faintest trace of aura.
〔 It is over, Mikael. 〕
The Demon King's voice echoes inside my head.
〔 Your race was arrogant, greedy, and weak. This is the result. 〕
I cannot accept it.
The Empire's sword is strong.
We were only hungry.
We simply had no weapons to fight with.
It is too unfair.
If we had not forced the war of unification so recklessly.
If we had stopped the nation's storehouses from rotting just a little more.
They say there are no what-ifs in history, but we would not have collapsed this helplessly.
“…Shut up.”
I staggered and groped inside my clothes.
A cold, hard object touched my hand.
An item a merchant had handed to me several years ago.
[This is a relic of the Time Merchant.]
[The moment you break the hourglass, you return to a turning point in your life.]
[To the moment when everything began to branch apart, to your final chance to make a different choice.]
[However, a price must be paid.]
At the time, I had thought it was the nonsense of a fraud.
What? A Time Merchant? No matter how highly magic developed, that made no sense.
But now, I had no other choice.
I had nothing to lose anyway.
‘A turning point in my life…….’
When I awakened aura?
When I led the war of continental unification to victory?
When I became Commander-in-Chief?
Honestly, there were so many that I was not sure.
Looking back, I had literally been a madman who knew only how to swing a sword.
My diary had been nothing more than a butcher's ledger.
It was not as if there had been no results.
I had driven out the other races and unified the continent.
But while a sword might win battles, it could not win a war.
First, I had to fill the Empire's storehouses. I had to buy iron veins, seize control of sea routes, and pile up gold.
In this life, all I had managed was to hold out while leading a starving army.
If there was a next life, I had to arm the entire Empire.
And—
On the day the Demon King came, I would take up the sword again.
…Even if I returned to the past, if I took up the sword immediately, we would only collapse the same way.
In the end, when I could face the Demon King—
That was the best option.
…Of course, assuming this worked.
〔 What are you trying to do? 〕
The Demon King reached out his hand.
Too late, bastard.
CRUNCH—!
The hourglass shattered to pieces.
The spilling sand turned into light in midair.
In an instant, the palace collapsed in reverse.
The Demon King rose from the throne.
The bastard staggered backward and went out the door.
The blood on the floor flowed backward up into the Emperor's neck. The severed head that had fallen with a thud found its place and attached itself again.
Whirrrrr—
……Ah, I can see myself.
It is me on the day I received the position of Commander-in-Chief.
The Emperor's youthful face flashed past.
Was this even further back than ten years ago?
My vision whirled around once more.
Now it was too fast for me to follow every scene.
My first battle.
My enlistment.
My awakening.
…But.
‘Huh… it is not stopping?’
Further back than my awakening.
Am I going back to my childhood?
Why is that the turning point?
Was I supposed to remain a merchant?
Or is there another reason?
……Well, I will only know once I get there.
At least the Time Merchant did not lie.
Before I knew it, my vision had been dyed white.
***
Whooooooosh.
Blink. Blink.
I have returned.
But where am I?
It is warm.
My body is jolting slightly….
“Mikael, I told you not to sleep on the mule!”
“……?”
I hear a voice.
It sounds familiar, but who is it?
“Look at you. Father told us to go by ourselves for the first time today. We need to go to Uncle Grape and pick up the wine.”
Ah, my eldest sister.
Memories surge in all at once.
Uncle Grape. Right, the owner of the winery our merchant company traded with.
Wait, then when is this?
Am I sixteen……? The time when I first learned merchant company work by following Father.
I hurriedly lifted my hand.
It is thin. Too thin.
“Mikael? What is wrong? Are you sick?”
My eldest sister came up beside the mule.
Worry filled her eyes.
‘……She is alive.’
In my previous life, three years after I was assigned to the Imperial Court, Father's letters stopped, and after that I could not even hear any news.
Perhaps by then, she was already—
“No, I am fine.”
My voice came out. Not a hoarse voice, but the perfectly normal voice of a boy.
“Then let us hurry. We have to come back before sunset.”
The mule began moving again.
Clop, clop.
The vineyard came into view. Rows of purple clusters stretched out before me.
‘…….’
I searched through the memories of my previous life.
What happened around this time?
……Ah.
‘Ten days from now, there was a demon attack in the west.’
It had been a small incident.
A couple of frontier villages were reduced to ruins, and the imperial army mobilized and suppressed it.
At the time, it had merely been a passing piece of news.
‘The price of wine doubled.’
Because most of the western vineyards burned down.
The only ones left were here, the southern vineyards.
In an instant, supply was cut in half, and the price skyrocketed.
‘Ten days.’
If I buy up as much as possible right now, I can sell it for twice the price in ten days.
But at this point in time, we have no cash, and we also lack transport.
“Mikael, we are here!”
……I have to find a way.
Credit, collateral, anything.