Shadow Garden (2)

My push to dive straight into a mission was, unfortunately, denied.

'Complete the proper induction ceremony first, then start moving!'

Even Lunan, who had been endlessly accommodating toward me, wouldn't budge on this one. Apparently, since I was now officially part of the order, introducing my face to everyone came first.

'I can't really argue with that.'

If some stranger I'd never seen before suddenly started operating under the Shin Guild name, I'd be thrown off too.

"Haam."

Still, there was no denying how tedious it all was — the yawns just kept coming. While the induction ceremony was being prepared, they showed me to my quarters, and since I'd arrived with no luggage to unpack, I found myself with nothing but free time on my hands.

"Still, this beats rolling around in that academy dorm by a mile."

The dormitory had been barely a step above a medieval prison cell, whereas this room was spacious and cozy — as if someone had lifted a noble's bedchamber straight out of a manor. Granted, it lacked the lavish ornamentation and chandeliers you'd only ever see in works of fiction.

'Which suits me just fine.'

Decorations like that would only clutter the mind. A room with nothing but a bed and a wardrobe like this was clean and comfortable.

"Mmm."

I got up from the bed and opened the window. An endless stretch of green grass spread out below, dotted with beautifully tended plants, and at its center stood an elegant monument carved in the shape of an enormous moon.

"The Shadow Garden."

The headquarters of the Black Moon Knights — and the territory where Prince Leo, the second prince, resided. Beyond the moon monument, a colossal castle rose into view.

"So that's the Dark Palace, the place Leo supposedly holes himself up in and never leaves."

True to its name, it had been built with black stone dominating its design, as if darkness itself had been sculpted into the shape of a castle. Anyone thinking of sneaking in there uninvited was going to have a rough time of it.

'Is Leo really Grempel, though?'

Honestly, I didn't know much about Grempel. The being I'd met at the gate was already the monster called the Nameless King, and even after I'd given him the name Grempel, he had remained the Fallen King all the same.

'What on earth happened to him?'

The only conclusion I could draw was this: for some reason, the grand consecration never came to pass, and the prince who should have become king never received his name. All that remained was a land in ruin and knights turned to phantoms.

"……"

As always, there was only one thing for me to do. Enter that towering castle and come face to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠face with the prince. For now, I'd focus on that and nothing else.

"Allow me to make a formal introduction. This is Lee Tae-hyun, who will be joining the 2nd Division."

After a fair amount of time had passed, I officially completed my induction into the Black Moon Knights. There was no grand ceremony to speak of — just stamping my face into the memories of the members of my new division.

"Induction… you say?"

A crew-cutted man narrowed his eyes.

"Captain, it's hardly recruitment season, is it?"

"I know. I brought him in myself. From Etrun."

"Etrun? You mean that knight academy? Well, a graduate of that place would certainly be—"

"Ah, he's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not a graduate."

Lunan tossed it out as if it were nothing at all.

"He's still enrolled. Well, early graduation — but he has his diploma in hand, so don't you worry!"

"You enrolled a cadet who hasn't even finished the academy?!"

The man's voice cracked into a near-shriek of disbelief.

"Captain Lunan! Does that make any sense at all?! Even if recruitment authority rests with the division captain…!"

"Pon. What exactly do you take me for? I brought him here because his skill has been proven."

His gaze swung around and landed on me. It was a look that made his distrust and displeasure unmistakably, deliberately obvious.

"What."

"Wh-what did you say?! What insolence!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, easy."

Lunan wedged herself between us and calmed the man down.

"Tae-hyun, this is Pon, the vice-captain of the 2nd Division."

With his plain, unremarkable face, I'd assumed he was a rank-and-file grunt like me — turns out he was the vice-captain himself.

"Is that so."

"Now that you know, apologize for that rudeness just now!"

"Why would I? You're not the one who scouted me — Captain Lunan is."

Besides, if anyone had been rude first, it was him.

After struggling for a while longer to rein in the frothing crew-cut, Lunan said,

"Pon. Seriously — butting in before the conversation is even finished? That's a bit much."

"There's nothing left worth hearing! He's a mere cadet, and yet—"

"A mere cadet, you say?"

She planted both hands on her hips, utterly unashamed.

"This young man here single-handedly slew a high-tier monster!"

"A… a high-tier monster?"

"At a mere cadet's level, that's possible?"

"Not even mid-high tier — a full high-tier…!"

A stir rippled through the assembled members. Once again, I was given a visceral sense of just how exalted the rank of high-tier monster truly was.

"Is that true?"

"Yep, absolutely."

"……"

Pon still looked unconvinced.

"Phew… if the Captain vouched for you, I won't say more. But I still can't bring myself to trust you, member."

His deeply scrunched face sagged like a deflated soccer ball.

"Slaying a high-tier monster alone at your age… frankly, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have my doubts about that too."

"Don't worry about it. I'll make you believe it soon enough — whether you want to or not."

"What did you…?"

I pulled out what I'd prepared from my pocket.

A commission slip written on fine paper, detailing the job to be done. While I'd been idling around my quarters with nothing to do, I'd wandered every which way and, by pure luck, stumbled upon a place with a commission board.

'Welcome. Oh, yes, sir knight. Here to take a commission? In that case, just look over the notices on the board and bring whichever one suits you.'

I'd filtered out all the low-rank jobs and gone hunting for one that might catch a prince's interest.

'Hmm…'

Nothing had leaped out at me, and I was racking my brain over it when—

Found it. The one and only commission that triggered a target marker.

'I'll take this one, then.'

I approved the commission in a hurry, before anyone else could snatch it away.

"Looking at this, that commission seems even harder than slaying a high-tier monster. Am I right?"

Lunan read over the slip and spoke up.

"…An SSS-rank commission is, at minimum, on the level of taking down two high-tier monsters at once. And on top of that, 'beyond measurement'."

"Then if I pull this off, that ought to be more than enough proof of my qualifications."

"It would…! Yes! Exactly!"

I turned to Pon and the members watching us and made my declaration.

"Listen up, all of you who think I'm some nepotism hire. Feel free to mess with me, rag on me, pick fights — do whatever you like. But honestly, isn't that all a bit clichéd?"

I simply didn't have the time to sit around patiently tolerating that kind of thing.

"So just wait a little while. I'll make it easy for you to understand."

"You're saying you're taking that commission?"

Pon let out an incredulous snort.

"A wet-behind-the-ears rookie who just joined — taking that?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Of course there is. No one has ever been allowed to take that commission lightly."

He stretched out a finger and pointed at the section marking the difficulty.

"This commission was originally S-rank. Then it kept climbing, higher and higher, until it was marked beyond measurement. Do you know why?"

"Beats me."

"Because of how many people that commission has sent to their graves. From the Black Moon, from the White Sun — even famed mercenaries who'd made their names all accepted it, and not a single one ever came back!"

Come to think of it, the board administrator had worn a rather wistful expression when processing my paperwork. He'd probably assumed yet another person was about to die.

"A commission that has effectively become an unsolvable problem — and you're going to take it on?"

"If it needs doing, I'll do it."

"The gall on this whelp…!"

Veins bulged on Pon's forehead.

"I couldn't care less if you die. But don't you realize that if you go down pathetically, you'll drag Captain Lunan's name — the one who brought you here — straight ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into the mud with you?"

"On the flip side, if I solve it, that's a feat for the 2nd Division and a shine on Captain Lunan's reputation, isn't it?"

"Do you genuinely believe you can actually solve that commission?"

Sarcasm began creeping into Pon's tone.

"If you can just make it back alive, that alone would be a miracle—"

"What's the matter, Vice-Captain? Not confident in yourself?"

"…What?"

"You've been going on about failure this whole time. I was just curious what exactly you expect to fail at, when you haven't even tried anything yet."

Anyone with even a shred of social awareness would have understood — but what Pon had been throwing at me wasn't concern. It was closer to a curse. A curse soaked in the message: you are destined to fail.

"Drop the notion that just because the Vice-Captain can't do something, no one else can either. It's a bad look, honestly."

"You insane little bastard—!"

The moment his hand finally went for his sword—

Shring!

Lunan's blade cleared its sheath first.

"Vice-Captain Pon. One more move and this becomes a disciplinary matter."

"B-but Captain…!"

"Tae-hyun is right. What kind of vice-captain presumes to dictate a member's limits on a whim?"

Gauging someone's capability and arbitrarily capping their potential were two very different things.

Shlick!

She sheathed her sword, then let a faint smile curl across her lips.

"And besides — I believe Tae-hyun can pull it off. This commission."

"What on earth are you saying?!"

"As your captain — and as a knight. I'm evaluating my member with a clear head."

Pon's face contorted into something different from before. Call it the expression of a second child whose parents' attention had been stolen by a pretty newborn.

"You can solve that commission for certain, yes?"

"That's the plan."

"Good. I believe in you, member Tae-hyun."

"Ah… aah…"

Watching the two of us chat away like old friends, Pon's hand trembled violently.

"One more thing — anyone who harasses Tae-hyun, gives him unfair orders, or discriminates against him will be punished by me, personally, on the spot. Are we all clear?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

The members answered in unison, crisp and loud.

"Vice-Captain Pon. I don't think I heard your answer."

"…Understood."

Swallowing hard, Pon finally turned on his heel and disappeared.

Lunan stared after him for a long moment, then shook her head.

"Good grief. He's usually so decent and reliable — it's the strangest things that set him off."

"Is the Vice-Captain strong?"

"Strong. He's a high-tier knight, and he's being called a candidate for the next top-tier."

So he was more capable than his unremarkable looks suggested.

"Where would that rank him here in the Shadow Garden?"

"Hmm~ I'd say around eighth."

"Oddly specific number."

"The Black Moon has seven divisions, you see. Considering every division captain is a top-tier knight, Pon's actually the strongest among all the vice-captains."

Put that way, it sounded different. The strongest of every vice-captain, huh….

"If the two of us fought, who do you think would win?"

"You'd win, wouldn't you?"

"Wait… sorry?"

Isn't this the part where you're supposed to say something like 'that's still going a bit far' or 'beating Pon might be a stretch for now'? Hearing her state so matter-of-factly that I'd win left me a little off balance.

"I've gone over it any number of times, you know."

Lunan rested her chin on her hand.

"That demon you slew… could Pon really have beaten it as cleanly as you did? Without a single scratch? That's what I kept asking myself."

"……"

"My conclusion was no. Someone who can take down a high-tier monster of that caliber without so much as a wound is rare enough that you'd struggle to find them across the entire continent, let alone the Shadow Garden."

She turned to look at me. My reflection caught in her clear, wide purple eyes.

"I'm not sure I could manage it myself."

It was a single line, heavy with more feeling than she let on.