Imperial Reincarnation: I Came, I Saw, I Survived Volume 1 [Parts 1 to 8] by Masekinokatasa

Author:Masekinokatasa
Language: eng
Format: epub

Interlude: The Founding Day Festivities

New Calendar, 460th Year, 10th Month, A Certain Day

Imperial Capital Cardinal

The imperial guard were a storied fighting force, wreathed in history and tradition stretching back to the days of the Rotahl Empire. Only the elite of the elite from among the soldiery were chosen for their ranks, and their duty was to be the emperor’s shield unto death. The people saw them with respect and awe, and there was no end to the number of candidates who applied for the honor and fell short.

However, this was a story of the past. Edward III, the sixth emperor of the Bundarte Empire, implemented the infamous venal office policy, placing official positions up for sale to the highest bidder. Naturally, the honor of an imperial guardsman was no exception—in fact, such opportunities sold like hotcakes.

Ultimately, the position became no more than a tool for nobility and rich merchants to add to their prestige. Edward IV, the seventh emperor, abolished the venal office system, but the damage had already been done. The appointive power for the imperial guard had been transferred to the Chancellor in the time of Edward III (he’d sold it off himself), and Edward IV was unable to recover it.

In the modern day, the entire outfit was a mere shadow of its former self.

But rotten and decayed as their role may be, a guardsman was still a guardsman, and one who could not fight was no guardsman at all. Thus, several individuals of genuine ability were appointed to the position. One such man was Balthazar Chevillard.

Balthazar’s common birth led his superior officers—who were nobility—to shun him, while his former unit ridiculed him for becoming a toady of the blue-bloods. He had but a singular comfort in this world, and that was spending time at the Goose tavern.

Well, more accurately, it was visiting the Goose to see its pretty barmaid.

＊＊＊

“Inaaa... Listen to a man’s woes, would you?”

“You’ve had too much to drink, Mister Balthazar. Aren’t you on duty tomorrow?”

The nineteen-year-old Ina was something of a local celebrity, known as one of the most beautiful girls of commoner birth around. Still, the terrifying appearance of her father—the tavernkeep—meant that the Goose’s business wasn’t much more successful than any other tavern in the area.

Presently Ina was dealing with a drunkard named Balthazar Chevillard.

“Heehee!” laughed a tavern regular. “You heard her. Better get going, Sir Imperial Guardsman.”

“Oh, shut up, Shuvalov. Don’t call me that.”

At twenty-four, Balthazar was in the prime of his working years, yet sitting there in the tavern, his disheveled figure made him look markedly older.

“What, you’ve got a problem with the job now? Said the pay was good, didn’t you?”

Balthazar frowned at the other regulars across the table. “Sure, but what’s an unmarried man like me to do with it? It’s just gathering dust. And don’t get me started on the work. You try running errands for blue-bloods all day without wanting to puke your guts out.”

One of the regulars raised his tankard. “So what I’m hearin’ is

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