Hero’s Downfall Report

9 – The Woman Without Eyes that Men See (4)

The inspection showed little change. Students napping anywhere or engaging in intense conversations with serious faces were a common sight.

What differed was the Imperial Guard. Unlike on the streets, there were no calls for courtesy to the royal personnel. Instead, they went as far as to slow down to avoid hindering the students’ passage.

The campus was exclusively the space for professors and students, and this was adhered to as a fundamental principle. Even if the emperor himself were present, these principles were upheld. It was also a sign of the empire’s respect for intellect and youth.

The carriage stopped at the main entrance of the main building.

A guard opened the carriage door. Lily, who was sitting on the side with a cane, got off first, followed by Cain, and lastly Anna. It was their consideration for Anna, who was fixing her disheveled clothes.

“Both of you, it’s been a while.”

“Yes.” “Indeed.”

Cain also briefly lost himself in old memories. The way he remembered them remained unchanged.

Professors were still aging but energetic, while students, though looking young, were full of vitality.

An inexplicable sense of injustice welled up in Cain’s heart.

Cain had never thought of himself as old. For a moment, he fell into the misconception that it was the students who were young, not him.

It couldn’t be. The young Cain from those days was irretrievable. The Cain present here now was just a seasoned security officer. That’s all.

“Oh, Lily?”

“Yes.”

“I almost forgot, but the Grand Commander is here. It’s across the Ivory Oak Hall in the conference room.”

Lily’s face stiffened.

“… Father, you say? I had no idea.”

“How about seeing his face after such a long time?” Anna unfolded a fan. Crimson fabric fluttered. “The commander would be pleased to see his daughter’s face.”

“I think so too.”

It didn’t seem that way at all. Lily was visibly shaken. It was as if she never expected to meet her father in a place like this, caught like lovers on a secret date.

“Since you have some time, come and see me. You can wait in the lobby when everything is done, or you can take a walk around campus, which you haven’t done in a while.”

Anna didn’t respond to the situation. Lily bowed her head deeply and stepped back.

Because of that, Cain couldn’t stop Lily from taking her document bag or take it away from her.

“Right. It reminds me of the old days, Cain. Doesn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Just for a moment, I want to feel more of the old days. How about it?”

Anna’s hair fluttered in the wind. It looked incredibly cozy.

It was strange. Cain felt unjust about his own age, but Anna, who was even older than him, seemed more content and free.

“That’s fine.”

* * * * *

Like other professors, Anna also had a personal research room and a personal library. The personal research room was not small, but the library was so huge that it could be called a library hall rather than a room.

The bookshelves were packed, and students who were aiming for a degree were moving around. They organized books, brushed off dust from old parchment, and transcribed the text onto new parchment. There were also students fixing books and replacing leather covers.

Teaching assistantship. Cain had also done that job.

Once you pass the exam, you don’t have to worry about tuition. The Imperial Academy operates with free tuition and fees.

The problem was living expenses, school supplies, and the cost of textbooks that you hardly use.

The cost of living in the capital was high, and there were many people looking for jobs. It was a reality where even working all day made it difficult to have a meal. For students like Cain who left home secretly, it was days of hunger.

Anna didn’t just let those students go unnoticed.

“Stop doing odd jobs right away. It won’t help the future of the Empire at all. If you have the strength and energy, you’d better help me manage my library. I have a lot of books and not enough hands.”

Ding. Ding.

Anna shook a bell. It was a bell from the past. When that bell rang, everyone, without exception, had to gather in the professor’s research room. Energetic and lively students gathered around.

“Lunchtime, isn’t it? Leave work early today. Don’t forget to grab today’s allowance from the basket.”

“Thank you for your hard work!”

Like a flock of sparrows on a clothesline, the students flew away as captives. Finally, Anna leaned back on the leather chair. Cain sat on the hard chair across the desk. His cane was laid on the floor.

“Busy, isn’t it?”

“Still, it’s lively, so I like it.”

“You were like that too.”

Anna gazed gently at her old disciple.

“So it’s even less believable. Why do you want to quit?”

It was a perplexing question. Cain hesitated, looking at his respected teacher. Anna didn’t call him to dig up old memories.

But still, Anna mentioned ‘old memories.’ When meeting with students, Anna had emphasized multiple times.

Don’t talk about inside matters outside the classroom. Conversations in the professor’s research room should stay there. Inside matters should be concluded inside.

‘She wanted to have a secret conversation.’

Anna was a strategist. She had come in unprepared when Cain wasn’t ready. Cain tried to buy time.

“Do you know?”

“Of course, I knew. I had to know. I’ve been consistently receiving reports about you from Director Vernice. The evaluations were good, but Vernice was worried about you. Lack of enthusiasm. When a report suddenly came in about your retirement process, I doubted my eyes.”

It was hard to believe that the grumbling old lady had written such words.

“It happened to coincide with some business in the Security Bureau. It was my luck to see you there. Even with Lily. I can’t express how relieved I was that heaven didn’t abandon the empire.”

It was a strange thing. Anna didn’t give praise without reason. Therefore, such expressions were unfamiliar.

Was the encounter on the street that grandiose?

“I want to know the reason.”

“Venice is your boss, and Lily is your subordinate. From what I know, Lily is straightforward. Her excessively straightforward nature might be a concern, but she’s a person who won’t break even if she bends. As for you…”

Anna turned her head for a moment. After laughing for a while, she finally faced Cain.

“I can’t be objective, but what I wanted to see was your appearance in the Security Bureau. Some people show different sides to their superiors and subordinates. The image shown to colleagues is also different.”

As expected. It seemed Anna was not just chatting with Lily without any meaning.

Anna wondered how much Cain had planned, what he had seen, and how much he knew. Cain couldn’t know.

“Some trees grow and bend. Some trees die for no reason, and some trees twist. But you didn’t seem to be like that. The way you were in our student days… Kairos. It was the same.”

Kairos. Cain’s real name. A name he thought he had discarded, forgotten.

“Professor.”

That was all Kairos could say.

“Kairos. I won’t ask for an explanation of your decision. You’ve probably been asked about the reason for retirement many times, and yet you haven’t yielded. That means your decision is already made. I respect your decision.”

“Professor.”

Kairos couldn’t bear it any longer. He couldn’t read Anna’s thoughts and intentions at all. But Cain, or rather Kairos, was being stripped away unilaterally.

Even his remaining identity as a Security Bureau agent.

Anna tried to expose Cain and bring out Kairos. Trying to walk the last tightrope of hiding even the embarrassing last secret.

Kairos didn’t want to show such a side.

“If you wish, Professor, you can do it. If you want to command, you can command. If you had ordered me, I would have followed.”

“Kairos.”

Anna’s voice was calm, enough to cool Kairos’s excitement a bit.

“Kairos. That’s the Emperor’s business.”

Anna stood up. With Kairos in her gaze, she stood by the window. Even after such a long time, talking about the Emperor seemed difficult for her.

“The emperor is not the one who seeks the answer, but the one who determines the answer. The path itself is the answer, and a decision becomes right simply by being a decision. I have known that answer since I was very young, but I hesitated at the last moment. When I reached out to my beloved husband, at that moment, I was no longer fit to be an emperor. If I had made up my mind to stand alone, I should have walked alone to the end, even if it meant falling.”

She was called a genius. She was the woman responsible for the future of the empire. And yet, such a woman was baring her heart to Kairos.

Kairos dared not interrupt. What words could he possibly say to someone who had aspired to be the sun itself?

“Yes. That is the path of the emperor. You must become the answer yourself, and you must become your own purpose. When everyone expresses the questions of life, you should be the one to provide the answer. That is why the emperor must always be right. There can be no mistakes. Those who worship the emperor are living to turn even wrong answers into right ones. If one cannot live believing they may be wrong and continue to believe they are right, the emperor’s throne becomes a hangman’s noose. I believed I knew what the emperor was, but…”

Anna, who had been gazing at the sky, turned back to Kairos. She sat down and took a deep breath. Like the brilliant sun breathing within the clouds.

“The Academy was my new dream and the future of a new empire. It was a place where anyone with ability, not status, could pursue their ambitions—a kingdom like that. But the results did not come as expected. Before you enrolled, I even considered studying abroad again. Kairos, you changed me.”

“…Why me?”

“Because you were the first commoner to enroll. I saw hope in that. I cannot express how relieved I was. I had not smiled that much even when I had a child. Finally, the empire responded to my struggles. The empire accepted my will. Just the fact that you enrolled, that you graduated and secured a position in the Security Bureau, made me happy.”

“I… Professor. Professor. I…”

Kairos could not find the words. Yes, he did not know.

“I did not know.”

“The pebble in the lake…”

Anna let out a quiet sigh.

“The

“Like Gots von Bäreningen?”

Hide and seek was over. Anna knew everything. Kairos nodded silently.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Kairos looked up. Anna was crying silently.

“If it was so painful, why didn’t you say anything? Why did you suffer alone? At least to me. I was happy looking at you. I didn’t even know you were rotting away… I did a terrible thing to you.”

No apology came out. Anna wiped her tears with her fingers.

“Still, I’m glad to be able to tell you this. Gots will never see the world again. If that brings you even a little comfort…”

“…Me?”

Kairos clenched his knees. Anna managed a faint smile.

“He was taken in by the Knights of the Holy Grail. He will be investigated for heresy. In a month at the latest, the Pope will issue a decree. Anyone who conducts a trial by combat or condones such acts will be excommunicated. Whatever answer Gots gives, he will burn at the stake. It’s the Pope’s decision, and it will be done.”

The Knights of the Holy Grail.

The forgotten, momentarily discarded Cain had returned. The reason the Pope’s personal guard, the Knights of the Holy Grail, had visited the Security Bureau building was precisely because of Gots.

The remaining pieces of the puzzle were falling into place. The bandit knights would no longer be able to conduct trials by combat. Those who had tormented the people would now be on the receiving end.

But at the same time, it was strange. The Pope was willingly giving such a large gift to the Empire. Moreover, trial by combat was not the Church’s law but a secular law.

The Emperor, by allowing the Pope to interfere in secular imperial law, was essentially giving his consent.

“Professor.” Cain took a breath. Unconsciously, his voice became urgent.

“I had requested the Minister of Justice to release Gots.”

“I see. You knew about our movements. Venice bought us time. The Minister of Justice will step down soon. He’s been moving in the Ministry of Finance.”

A jolt of electricity ran down Cain’s spine. It was because of the report that had troubled Lily.

“‘We spent a lot of money on hiring new soldiers and buying weapons, but we had to reduce the unit’s maintenance costs… We had to increase the patrol guards, but there aren

“Because of the Knight of the Sun?”

“Yes. Figures like Gotes drawing bandits to their side… Bandits joining the regular army or under the command of knights…”

“The Minister of Justice will release them if there’s no evidence. Immediately… A hundred nobles have submitted petitions… Not a single pretext to capture Gotes…”

“The Minister of Justice is stepping down. He’s moving to the Ministry of Finance.”

“So, Prince Bomong the First raised funds and acquired the Minister of Justice. The bandit Gotes was nothing more than Bomong’s subordinate.”

“Not only in the Kingdom of Taranto. Cain.”

The professor and the student were gone. In their place were the Empire’s sister and the Security Department manager on the verge of retirement.

“Things are happening everywhere. The same in all pre- and post-territories. Bandit knights maintaining order that soldiers should, and the pre- and post-lords employing them like mercenaries. Just as they establish small territories within their territories.”

Only now did Cain understand the true meaning of trial by combat. If the Pope could classify both the accused and those who sanctioned it as heretics, the pre- and post-lords couldn’t maintain the bandit knight system.

Those who were already close to a group resembling dishonorable bandits would naturally attack the pre- and post-lords’ territories. The nobles’ ankles would be bound, and their prestige would rapidly decline.

But it was by no means a positive signal for the Empire. Allowing the Pope to interfere in secular law undoubtedly came with a considerable cost.

Yet the Empire was willing to pay all that. Then why did Anna bring herself here with Lily?

Why was Lily’s father, the Commander of the White Blood Knights, on campus? Why did Anna willingly reveal all this?

Suddenly, Cain recalled the report Lily was analyzing. The report on the territories the pre- and post-lords had seized that Gotes had caught wind of. It didn’t seem like a mere coincidence.