50. The Emperor's Sword (1)

Cran's first question took Ezekiel by surprise. In his mind, this mysterious new Primarch would most likely ask about their battle plans here, along with a few minor details.

People from the Inquisition usually did that. They never let any suspicious point slip by, and they often inferred the whole from the smallest details, starting from the minutiae.

Cran was different. His first question was, "How long have you been here?"

"...Three weeks, my lord."

"Did you come in response to a request for support?"

"Yes, my lord. Before this planet's planetary governor was hanged by the rebels, he used his private vessel to broadcast a distress message into space. Our ship received it."

"What was the rebels' reason for rebelling?"

That question made Ezekiel pause. He thought for about thirty seconds before answering cautiously. Given an Astartes' reaction speed, that was already quite a long time.

"I don't know, my lord. In truth, I don't much care why they rebelled."

His answer carried the particular indifference of the Astartes—no matter why you rebelled, and no matter whether you did so willingly, so long as you took part in rebellion and became a traitor, you had to die.

"Is that so? Perhaps you should care a little, Captain Ezekiel."

Cran gave a rare sigh.

"According to the statistics, forty percent of rebellions happen because people cannot go on living. If that is true even for the Navy and the Army, how much more so for civilians? Whether you know this or not, Captain Ezekiel, most planetary governors could be considered synonymous with corruption and incompetence."

"And yet, the Empire still needs them—because compared with corruption and incompetence, what the Empire finds even more unacceptable is disloyalty."

He calmly spoke words that verged on blasphemy, paying no regard at all to