Flame Before the Throne
"What is that sorry state you're in?"
Glenn looked down at Rimer, who was prostrating himself in an awkward, clumsy posture, and lifted his chin with a tilt of his head.
"The balance between your body and your energy has drifted even further out of alignment. What have you gone and done this time?"
"It wasn't me this time, I swear."
"Regardless."
Glenn's brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed. His aura unraveled like strands of yarn and sank into Rimer's body, and a low hum resonated through the air. The pain in Rimer's mana circuits and energy core — the aftereffects of having opened a Sword World — began to subside.
"Huh..."
Rimer let out a hollow laugh.
Has he gotten even stronger?
To realign a body's disharmony with nothing more than a circulation of aura... it would be no exaggeration to say Glenn had now reached the realm of a demigod.
No. He's always been this powerful.
Glenn hadn't revealed his true strength even once in over a decade. It wasn't that he had grown stronger — he had simply allowed a fraction of his real power to show.
The hum faded. Glenn's aura, which had been soothing everything from muscle and bone to the organs themselves, dissipated like smoke, and Rimer's condition was vastly improved.
"Thank you."
Rimer stilled his fidgeting fingers and bowed his head properly.
"Enough. I have no desire to watch a weakling like you tremble like that."
"Heh. I suppose I'll be imposing on you again in the future."
"Quiet. State your business."
"Ah, right."
He lifted his head and smiled.
"I've brought news of the grandsons you've been waiting so eagerly to hear about."
Glenn said nothing, looking down at Rimer with indifferent eyes.
"That look says 'spit it out already.'"
Rimer snickered and pushed himself to his feet.
"Truth is, something rather interesting happened during the mission."
"Interesting?"
"Yes. Eden was in Sebu Village."
"What did you just say?"
Even for Glenn, who had reached the realm of a demigod, the news was startling. His pupils widened like lanterns.
"Even the branch office that surveyed Sebu Village and Mount Sebu beforehand never detected them, so they must have arrived after the investigation."
"Get to the point. Quickly."
"Understood. Then I'll start from the beginning. When I arrived there first, I discovered the Crimson Ghost. I debated what to do, then decided to put my faith in the children for once. And so..."
Rimer nodded along as he recounted, one after another, everything that had unfolded in Sebu.
"...By the time I arrived, Raon was already broken in body — and still he refused to yield before the Blood-Crazed Ghost."
Rimer's deep green eyes shone with a vivid light.
"The Blood-Crazed Ghost? Do you even hear yourself right now..."
"You're right. It doesn't make sense. A fifteen-year-old trainee who hasn't even received the title of swordsman, splitting the Green Lightning Ghost and surviving the Blood-Crazed Ghost's fists? Anyone who heard that story would curse me for a liar. But!"
He raised a long finger.
"It's the truth. I saw it. The trainees saw it. The villagers saw it. And once you see Raon yourself, my lord, you'll know. The boy has already reached Expert Low-Class."
"You said he survived. Then is his body all right?"
Doubt and worry flickered in the eyes of Glenn, a Transcendent.
"I bring you a story this astonishing, and the first thing you worry about is his body. Blood really does tell, doesn't it?"
"Quiet. Just answer."
"The bones in his left arm were broken, and the muscle was torn. He took the first blow trying to save the village chief, apparently."
"Hrm..."
At those words, Glenn's mouth twisted ever so slightly.
"It's been a long time since I've seen that look on your face. Proud of your grandson, and worried about him all at once."
"His condition now?"
"I gave him the sap of Elbrin. He'll come back even sturdier than before."
"That..."
Glenn's eyes narrowed. Elbrin was the name of the second World Tree. Its sap was a treasure that even a fortune in gold could scarcely buy.
"The injuries were so severe that without immediate treatment, he never would have recovered fully. And besides... how should I put this? Strangely enough, I didn't feel the slightest bit of regret using it."
Rimer shrugged.
"Where are the trainees now?"
"They'll arrive at the house the day after tomorrow."
"The moment those children return, I will convene a family council. Summon the Hall Masters."
"Understood."
As Glenn closed his eyes and issued the order, Roen — who had been standing frozen in astonishment — stepped forward.
Raon. Looks like I can squeeze a handsome reward out of this.
Rimer grinned as he watched Glenn's face.
"Rimer."
"Ah — yes?"
He'd thought they were finished, but Glenn's voice cut in without warning.
"Why did you go there yourself, instead of sending another instructor?"
"No particular reason. I wanted to watch the children grow."
"Is that so..."
Glenn scratched his chin and continued.
"Oh? H-how long has it been since I last heard praise from you? Nearly twenty years..."
"If you hadn't spent all your time on nonsense, you would have heard it a few more times."
"Hahaha! Well, that's true enough."
Rimer burst into a hearty laugh. He couldn't even remember the last time he had laughed from the heart in front of the Patriarch — or the last time the Patriarch had worn a smile that actually showed.
Thanks to Raon, a house that had stood still for so long seemed to be moving once again.
It was a full two weeks later that Raon and the trainees finally arrived before the main gates of House Zieghart.
With a roar as if the very ground were writhing, the silver gates — which had looked as though they would never open — swung wide. Beyond them, the gatekeeper swordsmen who guarded the walls and the gates stood tall.
The same sight as when they had departed on their mission. But something was different. Surprise and doubt now lived in the eyes of the gatekeeper swordsmen, who had once been as heavy and still as stone statues.
"Welcome back."
Even the captain of the guard's voice had changed. He no longer sounded as though he were addressing green trainees, but swordsmen who had completed a mission and returned.
"Thank you."
Raon bowed his head to the gatekeepers, his eyes narrowing.
Rimer spread the word.
It was obvious. The branch office people were still in Sebu Village, so Rimer had clearly gone around spreading the story himself.
"I'm sure you want to rest, but there's somewhere you need to go first. All of you, proceed to the Lord's Palace. The Patriarch is waiting."
"What?"
"The Lord's Palace?"
"The Patriarch?"
At the mention of a summons from the Patriarch, every trainee's eyes flew wide.
"Go at once."
The captain of the guard pointed in the direction of the Lord's Palace and ordered the gates closed.
"Let's go."
Raon had already expected as much. He nodded and led the trainees toward the Lord's Palace.
Every person they passed along the family's main avenue stopped and stared at him, dazed. Thanks to his sharpened senses, even their whispers reached his ears.
"That's him, right? Raon Zieghart."
"He's that small, and he took down the Green Lightning Ghost?"
"That's nothing. They say he withstood an attack from the Blood-Crazed Ghost."
"But I can barely feel any presence from him. Is he really an Expert? He seems more like upper User rank to me."
"Maybe Rimer's been spreading nonsense again?"
"Rimer's lazy, but he hasn't fallen so far that he'd fabricate a rumor."
They took the rumor Rimer had spread and ran with it, arguing among themselves over whether it was true or false, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Raon let out a quiet sigh and entered the Lord's Palace.
"Welcome back from your mission."
Roen, Glenn's butler, bowed his head. Following his lead, every servant lowered theirs as well.
It's different here, that's for sure...
This was where the real ones were. Unlike outside, their reactions hadn't changed at all.
"This way, if you please. Everyone is waiting."
"Everyone...?"
"Not only the Patriarch. The Hall Masters are present as well."
"Hrm..."
"Th-the Hall Masters too?"
"Oh no..."
At the thin groans behind him, Raon glanced back. Every trainee wore a tense expression, wetting dry lips.
"There's no need to be nervous. All you have to do is tell them what happened."
"He's quite right. You need only report exactly what you saw and experienced during the mission."
Roen smiled brightly and nodded.
He's different, all right.
Roen had stood at Glenn's side and seen countless talents, but he had never encountered a child like Raon. It wasn't that the boy was too young to understand the weight of this place. He understood all of it — and still carried himself with that much composure. That kind of mindset was anything but ordinary.
"This way, please."
Roen dipped his head and led them down a wide corridor.
"Come on."
Raon followed directly behind Roen toward the Audience Chamber. The doors stood open, and from within, terrifying auras poured out.
He exhaled, then stepped inside. Unlike the Selection Ceremony, there was only a single jade throne upon the dais, and below it, swordsmen he had never seen before stood in a line.
Those are the Unit Leaders and Hall Masters of House Zieghart.
The presence of those standing in line sent a chill down his spine. The energy they possessed, the very temperament of them, was nothing like that of ordinary humans.
And then...
Having reached Expert, he could feel it even more clearly. Glenn Zieghart. His aura was so vast it couldn't even be properly perceived. It seemed to reach beyond the Audience Chamber, spanning the entirety of the Zieghart Domain.
Terrifying.
Even in a room packed with the powerful, he stood alone in another dimension.
"We present ourselves before the Patriarch!"
Raon stopped at the center of the Audience Chamber, dropped to one knee, and bowed his head.
"We present ourselves before the Patriarch!"
The trainees followed him, lowering their heads in the same posture.
"Rise."
All of them felt Glenn's heavy voice in their chests as they lifted their heads.
"Raon Zieghart."
"Yes."
"I am told you stood at the center of the incident in Sebu Village. Tell me everything."
"Understood."
Raon organized his thoughts as he rose to his feet.
"When we arrived at Sebu Village, I sensed that someone was watching us. At first I assumed it was one of the instructors, but it wasn't. In order to gather accurate information..."
From the Unit Leaders standing at the very back, through the Hall Masters, past Rimer — who was yawning in that infuriating way of his — all the way to Glenn, Raon met every pair of eyes in the chamber. Then he told them everything.
"I held off the Blood-Crazed Ghost until my strength gave out. The moment I prepared myself to die, Instructor Rimer arrived — and I survived."
A silence heavy as iron settled over the entire Audience Chamber after Raon's account.
"Patriarch."
Karoon Zieghart, Burren's father and Glenn's second son, lifted his chin.
"Do you actually believe that makes sense? These are children who have barely turned fifteen or sixteen. They should have been slaughtered by the Green Lightning Ghost, and you're telling me they withstood the Blood-Crazed Ghost? This is clearly nonsense!"
"But brother. Word has come from the branch office as well. Traces of Eden have appeared everywhere."
Denier Zieghart, Glenn's third son and Marta's father, stepped in beside him. He had always taken their side.
"I told you I saw it. You people really don't trust a damn thing."
Rimer dug at his ear and snorted.
"That's the problem right there! How is a wreck like you supposed to have taken down the Blood-Crazed Ghost? The evidence—"
A sudden metallic clatter snapped every gaze toward the space in front of Raon. Two lumps of metal now sat before him. The helmets of the Green Lightning Ghost and the Blood-Crazed Ghost.
"The helmets of the Green Lightning Ghost and the Blood-Crazed Ghost..."
"I-it was real?"
"Hrm..."
The Hall Masters' eyes flew wide at the sight of the helmets.
"The helmets of those Eden scum aren't the issue! What I want to know is how you captured them! A sneak attack? You're no assassin — how is that even possible?!"
I was an assassin, actually — was not something he could say.
"Patriarch."
Raon didn't look at Karoon or the other Hall Masters. He looked up at Glenn, who sat directly before him.
"May I draw my sword?"
Glenn gave the slightest of nods.
"Thank you."
Raon bowed his head and drew the sword hanging at his waist. Scarlet flames surged up over the nicked silver blade.
Like the dense fire of a furnace, the blaze that sheathed the blade lit the entire Audience Chamber.
"S-sword aura. And flames like that..."
"I heard it was nothing more than a tiny spark?"
"A Sword Expert? At that age?"
"Th-that's impossible..."
"At that level, he could go toe-to-toe with the Green Lightning Ghost."
The Hall Masters stared, eyes wide with shock, at Raon's sword aura.
"I told you. That kid's a monster."
Rimer cackled as he watched the stunned Hall Masters.
Glenn Zieghart's expression was scarcely different from before. But anyone who knew him well would have noticed the corner of his mouth twitch.
Raon lowered the sword blazing with crimson fire and tilted his chin.
No answer came.