034. Breaking News
Central continent, near the Royal Tomb.
Bin headed toward Plentel Castle to inform the Bascon family of the Grander family's misdeeds. The countless skeleton soldiers and the enemy squad bound with ropes had all been stuffed into Codic's skull.
Thud.Thud. As Bin took a step, he heard quick movements darting around him.
Pat pat pat. They were the children who had been trapped in Shobe Cave. Bin smiled at the sight of the innocent kids running about carefree.
They must finally feel a bit relieved.
Compared to when they emerged from Shobe Cave, their expressions had changed dramatically—from gloomy despair to gradually brightening faces. But watching them like this still tugged at a corner of his heart. Bruises like hammer blows to their knees. Protruding spines. Thinking of their suffering made him frown involuntarily.
The culprit who had tormented these children flashed in Bin's mind.
Gangble Grander...
His fist clenched without him realizing it. Even though he'd dealt with the bastard in the Royal Tomb, the memory still grated on him. Rage boiled at Gangble's twisted sense of normalcy.
Regaining his composure after a moment, Bin turned to Ront with one burning question.
"When we go looking for Noni, are you planning to bring all these kids along?"
They could just stuff them into Codic's skull, but Bin worried the children might face some danger.
Ront nodded as if it were obvious.
"If Noni's got that superior weapon on him, it might just reverse what was done to these young'uns... The lad's got a rune too, ye see."
"A rune, huh..."
Rune. A crystal that amplified a weapon's power exponentially. A priceless treasure that money couldn't easily buy. Even with the same superior weapon, the difference between one with a rune and one without was night and day.
Bin had runes in mind as well. Helden Grander, head of the Grander family. To topple that monster, he'd need to boost Luminare's power further. And for that, he'd need a massive haul of runes. His plan was to crush the Super Novas and Gana Imperial Guards one by one, plundering their runes.
As Bin scowled with resolve, one child approached.
"Scary big bro, ease up on the frown. You're freaking out the others."
A girl with a ponytail—Mia.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Bin glanced around. Just as she said, the kids were peeking at him warily, stepping back a pace. Having suffered horrors from the enemy squad, they were skittish around people.
Guess my face got too dark.
To reassure them, Bin forced the corners of his mouth up. It came out awkward, the kind that'd embarrass anyone watching. Despite his effort, the children retreated another step.
As they shied away from him, Bin pondered how to seem more approachable—when Codic, dangling from his belt, suddenly gnashed his teeth at the kids for offending him.
Click! Click!
"How impertinent!"
His scolding fell on deaf ears. Mia poked curiously at the talking skull-head. Normal kids might've freaked, but these had spent time in the Royal Tomb. They showed no revulsion toward the skeletal Codic—in fact, they grew intrigued by his chatter.
"The skull's talking!"
Fascinated, Mia stuck her hand into one of Codic's eye sockets. It passed right through the gaps between bones. Staring bug-eyed at the novelty, the other kids widened their eyes too. Codic cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Ahem!"
He bristled at their antics. Having lived several lifetimes longer than these brats, he couldn't stand being treated like a toy. But his cough was futile—the kids swarmed him.
"Me too! Me too!"
"Lemme play with the fun thing!"
In seconds, they clustered around, fiddling with Codic's head like a Rubik's cube. His frowning skull spun every which way, the ground and sky blurring together. Dazed, he gnashed again.
Click! Click!
"Cease this at once!"
The kids ignored him, their glee drawing even more. Overwhelmed, Codic couldn't escape on his own and called out to Bin.
"M-my lord, aid me!"
But Bin just grinned at the spectacle.
"The kids like you. Play along."
Not his problem, so Bin lounged back leisurely. Codic, buried under tiny hands, gaped wide and wailed.
"M-my lord...!"
A few days later. In the mansion of Keron, Moden's second wife, at Plentel Castle.
Creeeak! A maid burst in through the open door, calling urgently.
"Ma'am! Breaking news! Huff... huff..."
Gasping for breath, her frenzy screamed importance.
Keron, knitting at the table, eyed her.
"What's all this commotion?"
Moden's second wife and mother to Willie, Billy, and Shirley. Adorned in flashy jewelry, her haughty nose was her hallmark.
At Keron's sharp tone, the maid bowed deeply again.
"S-sorry. It seemed so urgent, I rushed right over."
"Breaking news? About what...?"
The maid glanced around cautiously before whispering.
"It's about that one."
At "that one," Keron's brow furrowed. Venom flashed in her eyes.
"You mean... that wretch Bin Bascon."
"Yes... ma'am."
The maid hesitated at Keron's sudden shift. Her eyes trembled, teeth grinding at the mere thought of Bin.
Keron had every reason for her loathing. Bin Bascon—not content with humiliating Billy and Shirley—had bested even Willie. All her precious children fallen to one runt, the family disgrace no less. Her fury knew no bounds. She'd crush him if she could. But as days passed, Bin's standing rose, forcing even her, the duke's second wife, to tread carefully.
Sighing at the thought, Keron exhaled.
"Hoo..."
The breath mirrored her frustration, caught between action and restraint.
Composed, she pressed the maid.
"So, what is it?"
"He's been promoted to 4th Class knight."
"This is the prestigious Bascon dukedom. That's hardly..."
Keron paused mid-knit, recalling his age.
Fifteen years old, and already...
No Bascon had ever risen so young in her knowledge. The thorn in her side achieving a first only made it worse.
Gauging her reaction, the maid continued.
"That's not all. He's a candidate for 7th Division Centurion of the Black Wolf Corps."
"C-Centurion candidate?!"
Keron's eyes flashed. A centurion commanded knights and bore responsibility for their lives. It demanded more than skill—battle insight, judgment, experience.
Steadying her shock, she murmured.
"How... a centurion post."
The maid explained to her stunned lady.
"The former 50-man captain of 7th Division, 'Donka,' was exposed as a spy. They're reforming the division."
Keron's pupils dilated. No wonder her shock—a mere fifteen-year-old potentially overseeing lives on the line.
A question bubbled up.
"Who nominated that brat for centurion...? Whose recommendation?"
"That's just it... It was the family head himself."
"...!"
In the Bascon house of survival of the fittest, centurions were chosen by recommendation or duel. Nominees faced the family head's trials and combats. Only seven centurions and the head held nomination power.
Moden's personal endorsement left Keron reeling.
How could Moden...
Many had risen via recommendation, but none by Moden himself—only the centurions'. This hinted at his immense expectations for Bin.
Propping her chin, Keron grudgingly accepted it.
"I see. And the other candidates?"
The maid smiled meaningfully.
"Three candidates for 7th Division Centurion: 'Bin Bascon,' 'Willie Bascon,' and 'Silva Bascon.'"
"Si-Silva Bascon...!!"
Thud. Her yarn dropped to the floor. Her face paled as if she'd seen a ghost.
Plentel Castle, Moden Bascon's mansion—the Bascon family head's residence. As always, countless taxidermied monsters lined the walls. There stood the beastly giant Moden, with Bin and several children before him.
......
In the silence, the children huddled behind Bin, instinct driving them. Their uneasy eyes trembled. Just facing Moden made their bodies quake—like helpless lambs before a predator.
Bin, however, stood tall before his father.
He'd come to report everything from Shobe Cave and the Royal Tomb: the dwarves were these children, and it all tied to the Grander family.
But he hadn't spilled every detail. Gauging Moden's mood, he'd concealed Ront's whereabouts.
No need to reveal that.
A courtesy to the dwarf who kept his kind's secretive pact.
Moden pondered Bin's account, arms crossed. His expression darkened.
"Bin Bascon, dost thou know what thou hast wrought?"
......
A brief hush. Bin grasped the question's weight.
Touching Gangble—a pureblood Grander during truce.
One word summed it: war.
Blood winds loomed between the houses.
Moden fixed Bin with a steady gaze.
"What possessed thee to strike at Grander blood?"
His tone edged aggressive. One slip, and he'd not let it pass.
In the tense air, Bin boldly gestured.
"If you would, please look this way."