The Captains Convene
Footsteps. Footsteps. Thud... thud...
"Long time no see, Geomgye Headquarters."
A man with sky-blue hair tied back gazed up at the massive Eastern-style building before him. Geomgye Headquarters. In a continent where stone walls, spires, fortresses, and knight banners were the norm, this place stood out as strangely alien. Black tiles. Long, sweeping eaves. Crimson pillars. A vast courtyard paved in white stone. And at the peak of the main hall's highest eave, tiny metal ornaments swayed ever so faintly in the morning breeze.
Tinkle. Tinkle.
Each gust carried that delicate sound through the headquarters' chill air. It was as if whispering that this was no mere military outpost.
Geomgye. The Humanity Union Super Sword Inspection Organization. A collective of superhuman swordsmen who held the front lines with their blades, cleaved through magic beasts, and severed the Demon King Army's hordes. The center of all swords.
And the dwelling of Commander-in-Chief Ena.
Arsel Libern narrowed his eyes as he looked up at the building. His sky-blue hair stirred lightly in the wind. He tied it loosely at the nape of his neck—a clear, serene blue, like threads spun from a cloudless morning sky. It gave him the air of someone better suited to a research lab window than a battlefield smeared in blood and mud.
But the sword at his waist denied that impression outright. A blue-silver longsword: Lumina Rigra. Its scabbard was slender, its hilt etched with intricate spell runes. Even sheathed, anyone approaching could sense it. A blade that read spells. That tore magic circles. That severed the knots of barriers. The sword of the 5th Squad.
Which was why Arsel looked like a mage among swordsmen. And why he didn't care for the label.
I'm a swordsman, not a mage, he always thought. The sword comes first. Magic is merely a tool to light the blade's path.
"The last summons was three years ago, surely."
He murmured low, his voice soft but laced with faint fatigue.
Three years. Not a long time for Geomgye's superhumans. Certainly not for Captain Level swordsmen like him. To ordinary folk, three years might bring changes in life, growing children, deepening illness, new wrinkles. But to Geomgye's captains, it was short. Especially for Arsel, leader of the 5th Squad—scarcely enough to complete one experiment log.
Yet in that brief span, the headquarters' atmosphere had shifted. Arsel felt it.
On the surface, all was calm. More orderly than usual, even. But beneath lurked tension. Like a sword still in its sheath, thumb already pressing the guard.
Arsel didn't mind that tension. It was information. Battlefields always spoke first through subtle changes. Swordsmen who ignored them didn't last.
He glanced up at the Geomgye emblem over the main gate.
"Eastern Front," he said to himself.
The name alone sufficed. The reason for this summons. The front the 7th Squad had barely held. Or nearly lost.
Magic beast hordes. Calamity Entity. Black crystals. The Demon King Army's Observation Spell.
And finally, Baekil.
Arsel hadn't been there himself. The remnants had withered under Baekil, most internal spells lost. An ordinary analyst would have gleaned nothing.
But Arsel had.
Those crystals weren't mana amplifiers. Nor cores to empower magic beasts.
They were eyes.
Precisely: observation organs linked to some distant spell, relaying battlefield mana reactions. The Demon King Army hadn't sent a calamity. They'd sent a scout.
And what they sought was one thing.
Commander-in-Chief Ena's Baekil.
Arsel's fingers brushed his sword's scabbard. A faint smile touched his lips—not from pleasure. No sane person enjoyed this. Merely, facing the unexplained deepened his thoughts naturally.
Baekil. He'd analyzed it countless times. Always the same conclusion: inexplicable. No magic circle. No activation sequence. No medium.
Arsel hated that. Or rather... he craved to know it madly.
"Captain Arsel."
A young 1st Squad swordsman bowed at the gate.
Arsel lowered his gaze.
"The Commander-in-Chief awaits."
"As expected," Arsel replied curtly. "The small conference room?"
"Yes. Not Room 1, but the eastern small room."
"Headcount."
"1st Squad aide Roen, 9th Squad Captain Serka, 10th Squad Captain Kaion. And you, Captain Arsel."
Arsel narrowed his eyes. Not a full assembly. Not all ten squads.
A select council. From the lineup alone, he grasped the meeting's nature.
Holy Sword. Observation Spell. Internal intel. 10th Squad reform.
All intertwined, likely. Or rather, with the Commander-in-Chief summoning these few personally, certainly so.
"And the 7th Squad captain?" Arsel asked.
The young swordsman hesitated, then answered cautiously.
"Captain Rushekan is currently restrained on a bed by the 4th Squad medical examiners."
"Good. Restrained."
"Yes."
"Bound?"
"The official report calls it a stabilization measure."
Iron chains, then. Arsel fell silent a moment, then nodded.
"Appropriate."
Rushekan warranted it. 7th Squad captain. Heavy sword monster. The man who'd held before the Calamity Entity even with a broken greatsword.
Better to chain such a one.
Arsel guessed who'd ordered it: likely the Commander-in-Chief. Or Roen. Either way, fitting.
He passed the gate, entering the courtyard. Vast, floored in white stone gleaming cold in the dawn light, flanked by low ponds and black pines. Exotic. Like the Commander-in-Chief herself: quiet, restrained, spare on ornament. Serene on the surface, yet harboring unbearable heat within.
Arsel didn't slacken his pace. His footsteps barely sounded.
Before the main hall, he paused. Shadows stretched long under the eaves. Beyond lay the Commander-in-Chief's office. Today, the adjacent eastern small room.
At the door, Arsel adjusted his gloves. Flexed his fingers once. A habit before drawing his sword.
Then—
"Long time no see, Arsel."
A low voice from beside him. Arsel turned.
Black uniform. Black gloves. A black longsword absorbing nearly all light. 9th Squad Captain Serka Valentinon, by the door.
Quiet as ever. Presence-erasing.
Arsel's face showed no surprise. "Still no presence, Captain Serka."
"9th Squad basics."
"An annoying basic from the 5th Squad's view. Moving without tripping mana flows is poor etiquette."
"No need for etiquette with surveillance targets."
"Am I under surveillance?"
"Everyone is."
"Check the Commander-in-Chief too."
"...I'm not one to stare down the sun."
Arsel chuckled softly. Serka didn't. As usual.
She scanned him once—brief, but Arsel knew it packed volumes. That's Serka.
No one relaxed fully before her eyes. Arsel didn't hate it. Just found it mildly uncomfortable.
"This summons," Serka said.
"Not by the aide."
"No. Direct from the Commander-in-Chief."
"Then not solely the Eastern Front."
"I see it that way too."
Arsel eyed the door. "The lineup says it: 1st, 5th, 9th, 10th."
Serka's eyes narrowed. "Command, analysis, surveillance, future."
"Neat summary."
"Just facts."
Silence fell between them. Then rapid footsteps from afar. Not quiet. Youthful. Hurried. Slightly winded.
Arsel knew who without turning.
Moments later, a golden-brown-haired young man appeared at the corridor's end. 10th Squad Captain Kaion Belkrad.
Younger-looking than the others. Bright hair. Blue eyes. Face unmarked by deep lines or old fatigue. Not young by human standards, but starkly so among captains.
Kaion straightened at the sight of them. "Captain Arsel. Captain Serka."
"Not late," Arsel said.
"A bit winded, though."
Kaion flushed faintly. "Straight from the training grounds."
Serka: "Swung your sword before the meeting."
"Yes."
"Good habit, but wash your hands before reading reports."
"Pardon?"
"Bloodied gloves leave marks on documents."
Kaion glanced at his gloves. Not magic beast blood—his own from a training nick.
He removed them, embarrassed.
Arsel watched, thinking: 10th Squad. Future swords. Unfinished blades. And likely this meeting's main subject.
The Commander-in-Chief calling the 10th captain wasn't casual. Rumors of 10th Squad talks post-Eastern Front had reached him. If she meant to reshape it... this touched Geomgye's future.
"Inside," Serka said.
Arsel nodded. Kaion steadied his breath, straightened.
The door opened.
The eastern small conference room. Modest. Far smaller than the 1st Conference Room for all ten squads, spare on decor. Long table. Wall-hung Geomgye emblem. Low incense burner by the window.
And at the far inner seat: Ena.
Black Eastern garb. Silver-white hair. Black-sheathed sword at her side: Illyun.
She read reports without lifting her head. Morning light fell across the table but missed her face. She sat between light and shadow.
Quiet. Just sitting.
Yet the room's air already oriented around her.
Arsel didn't mind the sensation. An incomprehensible, undeniable center. Geomgye's pinnacle. Commander-in-Chief Ena.
Roen stood at her right. Black uniform. White sword emblem. Neatly stacked documents. He looked up as they entered.
"Commander-in-Chief. 5th Squad Captain Arsel Libern, 9th Squad Captain Serka Valentinon, 10th Squad Captain Kaion Belkrad. All present."
Only then did Ena raise her gaze. Brief. But all three straightened instantly.
Arsel. Serka. Kaion.
No one first.
Her gaze carried that weight.
Ena regarded them a moment. Then lowly: "Sit."
They sat. Arsel left. Serka near the door. Kaion inward of her. Roen remained standing.
The room quieted again.
Ena nudged a report across the table with her fingertips.
Scrape. Paper sliding over wood.
It stopped before Arsel. Eastern Front residual mana analysis.
He knew at a glance: his turn.
He opened it.
"The Calamity Entity's black crystals were not amplifiers," he said.
"They were eyes."
The room's air grew heavier. Kaion's fingers tensed slightly. Serka's gaze locked on Arsel. Roen prepared the next document, expression unchanged. Ena said nothing.
Arsel continued. "The Demon King Army didn't just send magic beasts. They sent an observer. One purpose."
His eyes flicked briefly to Ena's scabbard. Black sheath. Slumbering sun.
"Your Baekil, Commander-in-Chief."
Brief silence. In it, Arsel watched Ena. Unshaken. Unsurprised.
She already knew. That's why she summoned us.
Ena's inner thoughts differed slightly.
As in the original... no, more hassle than the original.
Damn. Screwed.
But her face betrayed nothing. Cool and quiet. Thus heavier.
Roen spoke lowly. "The Commander-in-Chief anticipated this and ordered inspection of the Holy Sword seal chamber."
Arsel nodded. "Logical."
Ena's mind: No. Just wanna know when the protagonist shows.
But she stayed silent. Silence usually let Roen frame it convincingly. And he wasn't wrong.
Arsel turned the page. "We must inspect the Holy Sword seal chamber."
"If the Demon King Army observed your Baekil, the Holy Sword's status may already be under watch."
"Meaning..."
"The Holy Sword's owner not appearing may not be mere timing."
Kaion looked up. "The next owner's being interfered with?"
"A possibility."
Arsel spoke calmly. "Not confirmed. But ignoring it is riskier."
Serka spoke quietly. "The Cathedral won't open easily."
Arsel nodded. "Hence the 9th Squad."
Serka didn't look at him. Her gaze went to Ena. "Commander-in-Chief."
"Speak."
"If the Cathedral hides records, it's not faith."
Her voice low and clear. "It's wartime intel concealment."
Kaion's face hardened. Such words against the Cathedral weren't light. Royals, Mage Tower, Geomgye—all tangled with it. Faith bound people even in war.
But Serka didn't waver. "If needed, the 9th Squad will probe the Cathedral's networks."
Ena thought: Whoa. Too aggressive?
But not bad. The Cathedral was hiding something. As in the original. And twisted plots from secrets? Hard pass.
Ena said curtly. "Leave justification."
Serka's eyes shifted. "Follow procedure, but seal escape routes."
Yeah. That works. Probably.
Ena nodded. "Do it."
Serka bowed. "Understood."
The meeting streamlined. Arsel outlined spell needs for Holy Sword inspection. Serka set directions for pressure drafts to Cathedral and royals. Roen recast it all as orders, not minutes. Kaion listened quietly. His turn hadn't come.
Then Ena's gaze reached him.
Kaion straightened unconsciously.
"Reform the 10th Squad," Ena said.
Kaion's fingers twitched toward his hilt. An anxious habit. He stopped at once.
But all had seen. Ena too.
She thought: Dangerous. These types always overdo it.
Kaion sealed his lips, then opened. "Commander-in-Chief."
"Speak."
"You mean the 10th Squad lacks strength?"
His voice steady. But tension clear.
10th Squad. Future swords. Young blades. Unfinished geniuses.
To their leader Kaion, reform wasn't trivial.
Ena met his eyes. "Not strength that's lacking."
Kaion's wavered. "Then..."
"Survival."
The room stilled. Kaion lost words.
Ena pressed. "Take those who grasp retreat over those who embrace death. The 10th Squad is Geomgye's future."
Her hand rested on the Eastern Front report. Fresh ink. Fallen list. Missing marks. Critical wounds.
"No one builds futures on graves."
Kaion swallowed. Arsel narrowed his eyes. Serka silent. Roen bowed deeply.
The words lingered.
Futures not on graves.
Ena's true intent was simple: Don't be reckless.If you die, I go out.If I go out, I die.So survive.
But outward, it rang differently. A declaration to end Geomgye's death-embracing culture. To cease strong dying for weak paths. To forge the 10th not in death's growth, but survival's legacy.
Not wrong. Thus riskier. Stronger.
Kaion bowed slowly. "Understood."
His voice lower, heavier. "The 10th Squad will learn survival first."
Ena inwardly sighed relief. Good. One corrected. Probably.
The meeting didn't end. It began then.
Roen summarized promptly. "Conclusions from today's meeting."
His voice unwavering.
"One: Eastern Front Calamity Entity likely a vector to observe the Commander-in-Chief's Baekil."
"Two: Push direct Holy Sword seal chamber inspection."
"Three: If Cathedral refuses, send joint copies to royals and Mage Tower citing Eastern Front Observation Spell records."
"Four: 9th Squad probes Cathedral and internal networks for concealment."
"Five: 10th Squad reforms selection and training."
Roen paused, adding: "Six: All ten squads submit survival rate improvement plans by next meeting."
Ena nodded quietly.
Things had escalated. Massively.
Originally, just when's the Holy Sword owner appear?
But not bad. Good, even.
Waiting passively? No. Idling to die as in the original? Pass.
Reshape the board.
Whether Holy Sword owner or protagonist emerges.
A board where Ena doesn't die.
Where growth needs no deaths.
And above all, for her survival.
Ena surveyed the room. Few in number. But these four moved Geomgye.
Lowly: "Begin."
All four bowed as one.
In that instant, Geomgye's current shifted.
Holy Sword owner yet to appear. Original protagonist absent.
But now.
Ena wouldn't just wait.
She'd remain at the apex.
Not to shatter.
But unyielding.
And for her.
"""Your command."""
Geomgye began to move.