The Annual Commemoration of the Guardian Pillars
“History is often compared to a gear or a waterwheel, isn’t it?” Haru said, his voice calm and measured. “Because it repeats itself endlessly. By learning from the past, we prepare ourselves for the future. Thank you all for enduring my lessons throughout the semester. I hope that the upcoming finals—and every good thing to come—brings nothing but happiness. Thank you.”
After recovering Junior, time at the National Academy passed swiftly, free of any major incidents.
“All right! When someone without an Ineung fights against someone who does, what should you do first? Got it? Identify their ability—that’s the top priority, got it? All right, now the reverse: when someone without an Ineung fights against someone who does, never close the distance. Clashing up close with someone who’s only honed their Cheneung is basically suicide. The rest of you can figure it out yourselves.”
The day finally arrived when final exams and vacation loomed on the horizon.
“Winter already, huh. Time sure flies.”
A thin trail of white breath escaped Jubern’s lips as he stared out the window.
“And the one-year anniversary of the Guardian Pillars since you began following them…”
“Um? Brother, doesn’t that mean we should throw a celebration party for the one-year anniversary of the Guardian Pillars’ appointment?”
“Ah? What a splendid idea. To hear you speak so plainly… quite the surprise. What does the Guardian Pillars think?”
One of Jubern’s subordinates offered a brilliant suggestion, and he nodded without hesitation.
“Haha, I suppose it’s up to you all whether you’re fine with it or not.”
“Then let’s hold the celebration party at the right time. The Pillars and everyone else will surely light up the occasion with their presence.”
“I’m already looking forward to it. But the time’s getting late—aren’t you going home?”
“There’s a saying that even cold water has both top and bottom, right? The Guardian Pillars is still hard at work, how could we possibly leave him behind while we leave?”
Jubern seemed to sense that his men were relaxing too comfortably because of him, so he shook a few sheets of paper in his hand.
“No, I was just about to finish sorting these papers and then rest. You shouldn’t worry about it.”
“No matter what, still…”
“Hehe, since the Guardian Pillars said so… then shall we head out first?”
Leaving Tantr to struggle in indecision, one of his subordinates smiled cheerfully and jumped in.
“Hey you! What kind of—!”
“Tantr. I’m fine.”
Jubern waved a hand as if it were nothing and stopped him.
“It’s been a long day of working with me. Go on in. Everyone’s worked hard.”
“No, really…”
While Tantr was at a loss for words, the rest of the guards had already packed their belongings in a flash.
“Then you’ll be left alone, brother. The Guardian Pillars said he’s fine, so we’ll be going ahead.”
“Hey, you ungrateful bastards! If you’re leaving, you should—!”
Tantr turned sharply as he tried to follow his men out.
“Thank you for your consideration, Guardian Pillars. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He bowed respectfully to Jubern before leaving the office.
Meanwhile, in the now-quiet office after Tantr and the others had departed, Jubern’s gaze fell on the papers he had been shaking to dismiss them.
They detailed the chain of murders unfolding across the continent.
Normally, murder cases happened dozens of times a day across the entire continent, so he hadn’t been particularly worried.
But the details about the victims caught his eye.
Jubern couldn’t ignore it and was about to turn the page for a closer look when—
chik. jijiik.
A notification signal rang out from his communication mirror, forcing him to set the papers aside and pick it up.
“Communication secured? Lord Jubern, can you hear me?”
The face that appeared on the screen was Yebaek, the lieutenant of Dongye.
“It’s been a while, Lord Yebaek. I can hear you clearly.”
“I hope you are well. I contacted you because I have something to report… but could you spare me a moment?”
“What could possibly be an issue? Speak freely.”
“It concerns what I stole from ‘there.’ It must only be heard by you.”
“Since I’m alone right now, you can tell me.”
“Yes. The reason I contacted you today is that the decryption of the materials I stole from there has almost been completed.”
“I see.”
“We collided with Count Blanser and his knights inside the mysterious building in Dongye. Yebaek had snatched the materials but almost died when his identity was exposed. Thanks to your efforts, we escaped, but you, in my place, had planned to interpret the stolen materials.”
“I thought it would take longer, but it ended sooner than expected. Well done. What did the materials say?”
“Unfortunately, I didn’t take much, so I couldn’t fully understand everything, but Count Blanser was conducting research on humans, yokai, and Ineung there.”
“Humans and yokai…? And research on Ineung…?”
Jubern repeated Yebaek’s words and tried to guess the situation.
‘Did they use the yokai in Dongye as test subjects? What on earth are they researching yokai for…?’
“A few days later, after I escaped, I went back to check, but everything inside, including Count Blanser, had vanished as if evaporated. I couldn’t find any traces.”
“That’s strange. I can’t figure out their intentions at all.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of much help with the good news.”
“What do you mean? If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even know about that shadowy figure. You’ve done a great thing.”
“Haha, I’m grateful for your words… Ah, by the way, have you heard about the chain murder cases happening across the continent?”
‘That’s the content I was trying to check earlier.’
“Yes, I was just about to look into it after seeing what you mentioned.”
“The victims have several common traits, and the investigators suspect the same perpetrator is behind the crimes.”
Jubern spread out the documents and checked for the section Tantr had mentioned.
“All of them were men who hadn’t reached full maturity, all had some notoriety or fame, they carried swords, and the cause of death was a sword wound. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes. And the final clue is that the perpetrator uses the same dark-water Ineung as you. Based on these clues, the perpetrator is probably…”
“Count Blanser. It must be his doing.”
“…He’s been scouring the entire continent looking for you. He seems to have no concern for me, but I don’t know when his demonic hand will reach you, so please be careful for now…”
bang-dok!
At that moment, the office door burst open roughly.
It was one of the guards who had left with Tantr earlier.
“G-guardian Pillars! Something terrible has ha—”
The usually cheerful guard stood there pale-faced, trembling with fear.
His left arm was half-severed, deep gashes visible, and the amount of blood spilled was already alarming.
“W-what… happened?!”
Jubern slammed the desk and stood up, eyes wide.
“Lord? W-what’s the matter?”
“I’m sorry. An urgent matter has arisen.”
“Understood. I don’t know the details, but please be careful.”
The moment the call with Yebaek ended, Jubern rushed over to check on the guard.
“What the—?!”
The guard clutched his wound, gasping for breath, and pointed weakly outside with bloody fingers.
“F-flee—! Brother, brother is… i-in danger…!!”
He collapsed in a heap after bleeding too much too quickly.
Jubern hadn’t even imagined the situation the others might be in.
boom—!!
Urgently calling for help, Jubern kicked open the door and rushed out.
‘No way… no, it can’t be. There’s no way.’
He suppressed the rising unease and sprinted toward the direction Tantr had gone, full speed.
* * *
Just before Jubern burst out of the office, Tantr and the remaining guards were heading out to eat.
The National Academy and the nearby inn, located on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital, saw little traffic.
Winter was approaching, and the harsh wind that grew colder each day likely contributed to the emptiness of the streets.
“Wait. Why did you even bring that up in front of the Guardian Pillars! I could’ve surprised him if you just kept quiet!”
Tantr suddenly exploded in anger. The guard, confused and unfairly scolded, raised his voice in protest.
“Eh? Brother, you couldn’t even think of that idea to begin with, and now you’re complaining about it!”
“Ugh…! If you’re that smart, you should’ve held it in and brought it up now!! You caused the whole thing to go wrong because of you!!”
“Hey! This is my brother! You don’t have the right to say that, brother!!”
The group was bickering as they walked away when a man suddenly appeared at the end of the alley.
At first glance, nothing seemed off about the man emerging from the alley, but as they got closer, an invisible aura of killing intent slowly tightened around Tantr.
‘He’s strong. Who… is he?’
The pressure was no ordinary thing, so Tantr drew his sword and growled low at the man.
“Who are you?”
“B-brother. Why are you suddenly—…”
But the man approaching them ignored Tantr’s question and only muttered incomprehensible words.
“Hmm. So I came to the right place? None of you are in the group.”
The man sheathed his sword with a sharp sound.
Tantr turned around in a hurry and was about to order a retreat, but—
“All of you…!!”
The man’s sword sliced through Tantr’s upper body before he could even speak.
“C—”
It had happened in an instant Tantr couldn’t react to.
Tantr collapsed, blood spurting from the wound. The guard who had been arguing with him moments ago was frozen in shock.
“Brother—!! What kind of—!! Gaaah!!”
Screams and blood splattered everywhere.
“Tsk. Another failure. But he’ll show himself soon enough.”
The merciless man who had slaughtered them all was Count Blanser. He glanced around once to check if anyone had seen, then walked away calmly.