Chapter 427: Elders in Crisis (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 427: Elders in Crisis (1)
After the Ghost Song Castle group departed, Murakan could not contain his rage.
He had dreamed of a blissful moment with Strawberry Pie, but once again, the situation had unfolded exactly as that "damn brat" had predicted.
Nearly a hundred Guardian Knights had raided Jin’s private training ground.
It was a number far too large to be considered a mere warning from Myu and Anne to Jin and the Ghost Song Castle. Consequently, the moment Murakan laid eyes on them, he erupted.
The entire sky was dyed black with spirit energy. With just a few of Murakan’s breaths, Jin’s private training ground was half-destroyed, its ceiling torn wide open.
The Guardian Knights, their commanders, and even the five hundred mercenaries who had been sitting on the dirt floor, warily watching the prickly Black Dragon—none of them had expected things to escalate so violently.
In an instant, Murakan had completely suppressed the Guardian Knights.
For the knights, being subdued was actually the better option. Even though they were acting on Myu and Anne’s orders, they knew it was suicidal to fight the family’s guardian deity to the death over a group of mercenaries.
Besides, Myu and Anne had never imagined that Murakan would actually be protecting the Ghost Song Castle mercenaries in the first place.
"Hey! You goddamn, miserable, low-life bastards! You saw me and didn't sheathe your swords immediately? Huh? Get your faces in the dirt! Right now! None of you are sleeping tonight, and neither am I! You hear me? You absolute pieces of—"
After the Ghost Song Castle safely departed, a truly bizarre spectacle unfolded in the inner courtyard of the Garden of Swords.
Murakan was putting the Guardian Knights who had raided the training ground through a grueling disciplinary drill.
"On 'one,' we praise the Great Black Dragon! On 'two,' we won't be cheeky again! You, in the front, yeah, you. You lead the chant. One!"
"We… praise the Great Black Dragon!"
"Two!"
"We won't… be cheeky again!"
It was a surreal sight, yet no one dared to step forward and stop Murakan. Had it been Jin, things might have been different, but Murakan was an uncomfortable existence for everyone in the clan to some degree.
Meanwhile, from a window in an inner chamber, a few people watched the scene with fuming indignation.
"Ha! Seriously, this is a complete circus. How can the Garden of Swords be run like this?"
"Brother, this is really too much. Both the youngest and that strange Black Dragon!"
Myu and Anne were on the verge of losing their minds as they watched the unexpected outcome and the disciplinary drills from Joshua’s room.
Joshua did not respond to his sisters' shrill voices, remaining lost in thought.
Did the youngest predict all of this just from Myu and Anne stirring up a little trouble?
It was a level of foresight that couldn't be described as mere caution. And yet, he always acted with a boldness and impact that threw the family into an uproar…
Though his face remained expressionless, Joshua felt a growing sense of urgency.
He felt as if his youngest brother already had a knife to his throat. The little brother whom he thought he could trample and kill at any moment was gone.
"…In the future, when you deal with the youngest, think twice before you act."
When Joshua finally spoke, Myu and Anne blinked in surprise. It was a completely unexpected response.
"Brother?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"It means you two poke the beehive far too thoughtlessly. If you try to pick a fight with him the way you do with the Tona brothers, you'll only end up looking like fools."
Joshua smiled gently as he looked at Myu and Anne, who were gritting their teeth.
"And your reputation affects mine."
Myu and Anne flinched and looked up at Joshua.
Luna always looked down on them; Luntia found them annoying no matter how much they tried to win her over; Dipus and Mary openly despised them; and Ran and Vigo were indifferent.
Among their older siblings, Joshua was the only one who had cherished and acknowledged them. It had been a very long time since he had spoken to them with such coldness.
"We're sorry, Brother."
"We'll do better from now on."
"…Right. Our job is to tidy up the mess he's making of the clan. We must not provoke him clumsily anymore. We must build up our strength and prepare for a full-scale war when the time comes."
"Yes."
"We'll keep that in mind."
"No matter what the youngest does, it's best that we don't lose our pace."
"Understood, Brother."
Joshua turned his gaze back out the window. His head throbbed at the sight of Murakan huffing and puffing while punishing the Guardian Knights.
The Ghost Song Castle, huh… There will be another clash between the youngest and the Elder Council.
Joshua was aware that the Elder Council had commissioned the Ghost Song Castle to assassinate Jin.
The mission failed, and instead, some sort of relationship has formed between Jin and the Ghost Song Castle. In that case, the Ghost Song Castle will have to silence or deal with their clients. I wonder how Elder Council Head Jorden will handle this.
Head of the Black Sword Council, Jorden Runcandel.
Joshua hoped that Jin would waste his strength clashing with Jorden, and eventually, break him. If that happened, Jorden would be the first to reach out to him for help.
*
November 16, 1799. A villa in the eastern region of Huphester.
A group of old men sat on an open terrace, looking out at the beach. A large, round wooden table was covered with high-end gambling tiles, and the hands holding them looked remarkably firm and powerful for men of their age.
"I'm out, damn it. The tiles aren't going my way."
"At this rate, you're going to lose your entire fortune, my friend. Are you feeling anxious? You're pushing too hard."
"I can't stop thinking about the Ghost Captain visiting the 12th Flagbearer. I wonder if that fellow told the 12th Flagbearer about the contract."
"And what if he did? Neither the 12th Flagbearer nor the Ghost Song Castle can touch us easily. If they do, they risk turning the entire Runcandel Clan into their enemy. Besides, if word gets out that they sold out a client's identity, the Ghost Song Castle's reputation will plummet. No one would ever use them again."
"The Ghost Captain wouldn't be that stupid."
"Hmm, I suppose."
"I was planning to talk to the Elder Council Head when the opportunity arises anyway. Let's just wait and see."
They were the Elders of Runcandel.
Elders held a rank that did not require them to stay in the Garden of Swords or even request leave unless there was a special situation.
Some devoted themselves to training, some stayed to guard the Garden of Swords, and others, like these men, spent their remaining years enjoying pleasure and leisure.
Several women—courtesans from brothels that catered only to those with power rivaling the Viment Imperial Family—lounged nearby, and wine bottles that cost hundreds of gold coins each rolled across the floor.
"Why don't you stop for now, Elder?"
"That's right, let's go to the beach and cool our heads a bit."
The moment the women spoke, the look in the Elders' eyes changed.
"Shh, quiet."
The Elders stood up in unison, their gazes fixed on the pitch-black sea. Only the sound of crashing waves could be heard from the moonless night, but they sensed something else hidden within it.
"What is it, a rowboat?"
Naturally, the beach where the Elders' villa was located was not a place that could be reached by normal means.
"It wouldn't be a lost fisherman. Does anyone have an idea who—"
Thwack!
A dagger appeared out of nowhere and pierced the back of the speaking Elder's neck. The one holding the dagger was the woman who had just suggested a walk on the beach.
In that instant, the remaining Elders drew their swords to strike her, but—Crack!—the floor of the terrace split open, and a group of masked assailants leaped out to block their blades.
"To think you're all playing around so complacently after touching someone that even my brother regards as a monster."
The woman's disguise melted away, revealing her true form. It was Fey Prochi. As she shrugged her shoulders, another Elder's head fell.
The Elders were all skilled warriors who had survived in Runcandel until now, but habit and complacency had dulled their blades.
The predictable entertainment held in the same place every time, the arrogance that no assassin would ever dare touch a Runcandel Elder.
That was exactly why they were being helplessly slaughtered by the Ghost Song Castle today.
When Rata finally made his appearance, the veins on the Elders' necks bulged.
"Ghost Captain…!"
"You crazy bastard!"
"Just as I thought. I don't feel a single chill."
Flick. Rata lit a cigarette and looked down at the surrounded Elders.
Just as when Fey had attacked Jin, the interior of the villa was already filled with paralytic poison. Furthermore, dozens of snipers stationed all around had already hit the Elders' limbs with poisoned arrows.
Despite this, the most powerful of the Elders exuded a fierce aura, showing their spirit. However, even at their best, they were no match for Rata.
With the elite members of the Ghost Song Castle led by Rata himself, their deaths were predestined the moment they allowed the infiltration.
"Chills? What… are you talking about, Ghost Captain?"
"I don't feel that spine-chilling sensation from you lot at all—the one I felt when I faced the 12th Flagbearer."
"Do you think you'll get away with this? Even if you kill us, the fact that you took our commission is already documented. The Elder Council, Runcandel! They will destroy you! Ghost Song Castle will vanish without a trace!"
The Elders did not beg for their lives. They only shouted with certainty that the Ghost Song Castle would also meet its end.
"I chose the right person. Seeing as those words don't scare me at all."
"Are you talking about the 12th Flagbearer?"
"Of course. Why do you think I went all the way to the Garden of Swords to find him? It was to get on the same side. Blame your own complacency and incompetence for not preparing, even after seeing me there. It seems the name Runcandel sometimes makes people this stupid."
"You bastard!"
Squelch—!
As Rata began to swing Ghost, the Elders' heads began to fall.
After finishing off all the Elders with his subordinates, Rata spoke.
"Take only the heads. Put the bodies on the rowboat."
*
The next day, at the Elder Council Hall.
"…Nearly ten Elders were found as headless corpses. What on earth is happening?"
"This is an insult to Runcandel, a challenge! We must find out who did this and who is behind them! We must make them pay the price in blood."
"I wonder what kind of madmen would commit such an act…"
Almost all the Elders had gathered to discuss the assassinations that had occurred the previous night. Elder Council Head Jorden was nowhere to be seen.
"President of the Guardian Association! Please, say something. How are we, the Elders, supposed to accept this situation?"
Just as Lin Milkano was about to answer—Clang!
The main gate of the Elder Council Hall swung open, and a person appeared.
"Greetings, Elders."
The one who walked in with a casual greeting was none other than Jin. He carried a black sack over his shoulder and held a single sheet of paper in his hand.
The moment Jin entered, the Elders instinctively realized that something was terribly wrong.
"…What is that you're carrying on your shoulder?"
When an Elder asked in a thin, trembling voice, Jin set the sack down on the long table of the meeting hall. Thud… roll. The heads of the Elders who had died the previous night rolled across the table.
"These are the heads of the Elders who targeted me," Jin said calmly. "And this is the contract they gave to the Ghost Song Castle, commissioning them to assassinate me."
The moment he finished speaking, most of the Elders felt a cold, sharp sensation crawling up their spines.
It was an emotion they had forgotten for a very long time.
Fear.