A Second Gift
"Sword aura..."
Karoon swallowed hard as he stared at the flames wreathing Raon's blade.
He really reached Expert Low-Class?
Strangely enough, Raon's realm had always been difficult to read. Karoon had taken him for a high-rank Aura User at best. He had never imagined the boy could wield sword aura — the very hallmark of an Expert.
To use sword aura at fifteen years old... the boy was either a genius the continent would count on one hand, or a monster.
But even an Expert couldn't stand against the Mad Blood Demon.
Expert was a realm that could rightfully be called strong — yet measured against the continent as a whole, it was nothing extraordinary.
"Even if you have reached Expert, the Mad Blood Demon's martial prowess is that of a Master. You could never have held him off at your level. The same goes for slaying the Green Thunder Demon! Tell the truth—"
"Father."
Burren, who had been prostrated behind Raon, stepped forward.
"I saw it with my own eyes. Raon cut down the Green Thunder Demon. And even with one arm wounded, he stood alone against the Mad Blood Demon to buy time for us and the villagers to escape."
"He's right."
Runaan stepped out after Burren and nodded. Her gaze was fixed on her father, Lokan Sward, who stood off to the right.
"I did not give you permission to speak!"
Karoon glared at Burren as if the boy were not his son, but a beast he had raised.
"Ha! If you won't even believe your own son, I don't know what you want from anybody. You're blocked up at both ends. I honestly can't tell which hole you eat through and which one you shit from."
"Shut your mouth, Rimer."
Karoon glared at the shrugging Rimer as if he meant to kill him.
"What you did is the biggest problem of all. Catching the Mad Blood Demon with that wrecked body of yours? Unless this whole thing is a fraud..."
"Then how about we go a round? It's been a while since I've seen just how impressive the Master of the Heavy Martial Hall really is."
"Fine. I'll take that scrawny neck of yours right—"
"Enough."
A heavy voice, overwhelming everything in its path, cut between Rimer and Karoon. Choked gasps rippled through the Audience Chamber. Every spine in the room went rigid beneath that colossal presence.
"Head Trainee Raon Zieghart. And every trainee of the 5th Training Ground — listen well."
Glenn lifted his chin from his hand and looked down upon them all.
"What?"
"Father?"
"My lord..."
The Palace Masters, the heads of the vassal houses, even the trainees — every mouth in the chamber fell open at praise no one had expected from Glenn. Every soul in the Audience Chamber stared at him, stunned.
And perhaps that was only natural. Glenn Zieghart was a man more sparing with praise — and more ruthless — than anyone alive. Even the most grueling missions earned nothing more than a word that they had worked hard. For outstanding to leave his lips was the first time in well over a decade.
"I received the first report from Rimer, a second from the branch director who investigated the Sephia region, and a third from all of you. Every account is in agreement."
Glenn raised the right hand that had been propping up his chin.
"First. You recognized that an enemy was present, and you did not move rashly."
He folded one finger.
"Second. Even after you returned, you did not charge in at once. You sought to understand the enemy."
This time he lowered his middle finger.
"Third. You waited for the optimal moment, weakened the enemy with a single ambush, and then snuffed out the Green Thunder Demon's life with a hidden strike."
With every finger Glenn folded, the Palace Masters' eyes grew wider.
"And last. When you met an enemy you could not defeat, you stood in his path so that your comrades and the civilians could flee. That is the fourth."
He closed those four raised fingers, and his crimson eyes gleamed.
"Every judgment you made was as sound as a seasoned warrior's. That not a single trainee or villager died is because of those precise decisions. And..."
Glenn looked to the trainees standing behind Raon.
"You as well showed yourselves worthy of Zieghart swordsmen. House Zieghart stands as it does today because of those who support it from below."
Roen and Rimer nodded deeply as they listened.
"We are not a kingdom — yet we reign over the North more completely than any kingdom could. That is why the people who live on this land must be guarded and protected. If we fail in that, no one will follow us. You have all done well."
"Th-thank you, my lord!"
"Thank you!"
Burren, Runaan, Marta, and the rest of the trainees slammed their heads to the floor and roared their thanks. They trembled as if a god himself had praised them. Burren, in particular, had tears welling in his eyes.
"To each of you, I bestow a bronze tablet."
"Thank you!"
The trainees drove their heads into the floor until blood sprang from their brows.
"And to Raon Zieghart — who created every one of those circumstances and brought them to a close — I bestow a silver tablet."
"Thank you."
Raon followed the other trainees, dropping to one knee once more and bowing his head.
Some of the Palace Masters clicked their tongues, displeased that Raon was receiving a silver tablet. But Glenn himself had moved, and not one of them dared to step forward.
"Roen."
"Yes, my lord."
Roen lifted a broad tray from the table to the right and carried it up onto the dais where Glenn sat. Glenn drew back the cloth covering the tray. Forty-two bronze tablets lay there, and a single silver one.
"Burren Zieghart. Come forward first."
"Y-yes! Understood, sir!"
Burren bit his tongue on the reply, but he gave no sign of it as he climbed the dais.
"To step forward for those we are meant to protect is the right thing to do. However."
At that single word, Burren's mouth went tight.
"To charge in without even grasping the enemy's strength is no different from a beast. Broaden your vision, and learn to see a situation in its entirety."
Glenn's gaze passed beyond Burren to every trainee standing behind him.
"I am speaking to all of you."
"Yes, my lord!"
He presented bronze tablets to Runaan, Marta, and every last trainee. Then, at last, he looked at Raon.
"Raon Zieghart. Come forward."
"Yes."
Raon bowed deeply, then rose and climbed the dais.
I can feel the stares.
Irritated gazes bored into his back like blades aimed at his heart. Karoon's, and those of the other Palace Masters from the collateral lines.
But Burren — Karoon's own son — and the collateral-line trainees watched him with pride, not envy or jealousy. That was enough.
"Raon Zieghart."
Glenn's gaze was still cold and dry, like a field frozen in the dead of winter. And yet something was different from before. A faint light glimmered in those eyes — like a single flower blooming upon a snow-buried field.
Whether that boded well or ill, Raon still could not tell.
"Thanks to you, many people lived. In recognition of that merit, I bestow upon you a silver tablet. Continue to devote yourself to training — of both body and mind."
"If I may have a moment."
Raon stopped short, not yet taking the silver tablet from Glenn's hand.
"What is this?"
"I have something I must report."
"Something to say?"
"Yes. It concerns Eden's purpose."
One of Glenn's eyebrows lifted, just slightly.
"I know why they came to Sephia Village. And I know what they are after even now."
"Do you have any idea what this place is, that you would spit out such lies?!"
A voice thick with fury erupted from behind him. Karoon's.
"Eden's ghosts won't open their mouths even if you tear their limbs off. How would the likes of you know anything about their purpose?!"
The other Palace Masters nodded, finding themselves in agreement. Those creatures were infamous for being immune to torture.
"Can you be certain?"
"I can. However..."
Raon glanced back and met Karoon's eyes — eyes burning like a heated iron plate.
"I have no desire to reveal that fact in front of those who doubt me."
"What did you just—?!"
"That insolent little—!"
"He hasn't even earned the title of swordsman, and he dares—!"
The Palace Masters who followed Karoon unleashed a fierce pressure, but Raon did not flinch. In his previous life he had been weaker than any of them — and he had accomplished far greater things.
"Have I said something untrue?"
This moment was a stage that Rimer and Glenn had laid out for him. A stage on which the reward for the mission could be made even greater. He would not allow a pack of hecklers to interfere.
"Shut your mouth! Do you even know where you—"
"Karoon Zieghart."
The heavy voice from the dais snapped Karoon's mouth shut.
"I believe I told you to close your mouth."
A chill ran through the chamber. The killing intent was not even directed at him, and still Raon felt as though his entire body had frozen solid.
"F-Father?"
"Get out. Every last one of you who was running your mouths just now."
Glenn did not even look at Karoon. He was merciless even toward a son who held a critical office in the house.
Karoon and the five Palace Masters and vice-masters who had spoken with him bit down hard on their lips. They glared at Raon as if they meant to kill him, then filed out of the Audience Chamber.
"Now speak. What did you see there?"
Eden's lackeys were a vicious breed; no torture could pry their mouths open. That Raon claimed to know their purpose had every remaining Palace Master — and Glenn himself — hanging on his next word.
"The Mad Blood Demon must have believed he could kill me and slaughter the other trainees as well. He revealed their purpose."
"Their purpose?"
"Eden was after the magic stones of monsters."
Raon drew the Goblin King's magic stone from his robes. Its red, searing light lit the darkened Audience Chamber.
"Not ordinary magic stones — those of what are commonly called named monsters. This is the magic stone of the Goblin King, who died on Sephia Mountain hundreds of years ago."
As he spoke, he held the stone out.
A low hum resonated through the air. The Goblin King's magic stone rose of its own accord and drifted into Glenn's hand.
Glenn narrowed his eyes and turned the stone over, examining it from every angle. The Palace Masters and squad leaders did not even swallow. They simply watched Glenn and Raon.
"Indeed."
Glenn finished his inspection and lifted his head.
"This is no ordinary object."
He looked at Raon with an unreadable gaze — one that might have held pride, or might have been mocking him for being the one to bring such a thing back.
"You have accomplished something no one else could."
The corner of Glenn's mouth lifted, just slightly, as he took the silver tablet from Roen and held it out.
"...Thank you."
Raon reached out slowly and accepted the silver tablet Glenn bestowed. But the face he kept bowed tightened, just a little.
Did I misread this?
He had believed that even if Glenn disliked him and Sylvia, the man was someone who rewarded merit without fail. He had expected another silver tablet at the least — or, if luck held, a Gold Tablet. The reality was nothing of the sort. Glenn had given him nothing more.
If this was how it was going to go, I should have just asked for it outright.
Regrettable — but he could hardly demand more now. He bit his lip faintly and descended from the dais.
"You are all dismissed. Tomorrow morning I will convene a grand council. Attend."
"Yes, my lord!"
The Palace Masters and squad leaders answered loud enough to shake the Audience Chamber, then bowed their heads.
Raon clicked his tongue where no one could hear it, and Wrath let out a sneer.
To hand over intelligence like that and walk away with nothing... thou art a fool beyond all measure.
I trusted him too much.
Raon shook his head. After the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames, he had begun to place a sliver of trust in Glenn. Apparently that had been a waste. House Zieghart was no different from a jungle. If you wanted something, you took it yourself.
He was leaving the Lord's Palace, irritation in every step, when Roen's voice drifted from the corridor to his right.
"Young Master Raon."
What?
Roen had been inside the Audience Chamber only moments ago. How he had appeared here already, Raon had no idea. And more than that—
I didn't sense him.
Even with his heightened senses, he had not caught the man's presence. Just as he had suspected — Roen was a martial artist. And not just any martial artist. An assassin, the same as Raon had been in his previous life.
"I have something to tell you, if I may."
He approached with a kindly smile.
"Would it be all right if I called upon the Annex at midnight tonight?"
"Pardon? Why would you suddenly...?"
"The Head of House has instructed me to escort you to him."
Roen pointed toward the enormous doors of the Audience Chamber they had just left, and smiled.