“So much happened in a single day.”
“Right? Who would’ve expected a thief to hit the duke’s manor?”
The citizens of Faern gossiped about the events at the Seca estate, only glancing at the pillar of fire on occasion.
An eavesdropper was eager to share what he knew. “I heard this wasn’t just your average thief.”
“Really?”
“My cousin works in one of the nobles’ mansions nearby. He said the estate’s walls and manor are in ruins. You think a mere thief would be able to do that?”
“Goodness, that sounds like a big deal.”
“Seriously! They even wiped out those wyvern sculptures!”
“They destroyed the sculptures? How? Oh no, the Guardian Knight household is in trouble this time!”
Another citizen who’d been listening gruffly chimed in, “Is that really our biggest problem right now?”
That shut the others up. All three of them faced the Lake of God’s Tears, where the massive column of flame raged on. It burned brightly despite the duke’s claim that it would be swiftly contained. Due to the sheer size of the conflagration, its heat was palpable even from the plaza. It was so warm, in fact, that the citizens’ palms were sweating.
“Are we really safe?” one man asked.
He was concerned for the capital’s welfare. Although the fire had yet to advance beyond the lake, he couldn’t help but worry. They’d never seen anything like it before. A giant fire of unknown origin burning in this cold, arid climate made them all nervous.
Guardian Knight Clope felt the same way. As he stood gaping at the pillar of fire, without a thought to spare for the estate’s restoration, one of the knights under his command hurried over. It was the same man he had ordered to search the eastern forest.
“Captain!”
“What’s—” Clope stopped short, the greater situation forgotten when his eyes snagged on something the knight held. “What’s that in your hand?”
“We found it at the heart of the eastern forest,” the man said awkwardly. “It seems to have belonged to the person you were looking for.”
Clope accepted the garment. It was a white priest’s robe, elegant in its simplicity. No crest adorned it. It was something one could purchase anywhere, but for Clope, it held a different meaning.
Both he and the knight had seen this robe a few days prior. This was definitely the outfit that white-haired priest had been wearing when Clope met him not long ago. “This wasn’t there when you searched a few days ago, was it?” he asked the knight.
“No, sir. We happened upon it by chance today.”
The knights hadn’t found this robe during their initial sweep of the forest. With another glance at the pillar of fire, Clope shook out the robe.
Whish.
A small sheet of paper slipped from its folds. Clope looked at the fallen page.
Your god has not forgotten.
“Ah, I’m the only one who read the note,” the knight piped up. “I found it strange, so I brought it to you right away.”
Clope picked the piece of paper up with halting fingers, reading the next line of text.
The lake will someday flow into a river.
“How odd,” Clope remarked. “You said you’re the only one who read it?”
“Yes, sir. I remembered you told us to be discreet, so only I read the note. Isn’t it peculiar?”
“It is. Anyway, good work. Let me know if anything else comes up.”
“Yes, sir!”
The knight bowed and ran back to the forest. As Clope watched the man leave, he tossed the piece of paper into the fire. With a crackle, the flames devoured the note.
Clope then spoke in a hushed whisper, just loud enough for the trusted subordinate beside him to hear. “Kill him.”
“…As you wish.”
Understanding that this would be the last day of his own subordinate’s life, the man dipped his head. He didn’t know why Clope had told him to kill the knight, but it was his job to obey.
Unheeding of the look on his trusted subordinate’s face, Clope faced the pillar of fire once more. His heart thundered in his chest. Boom. Boom. Boom.
“The lake will someday flow into a river.”
How did the priest know the Seca family secret? Was the man really a divine messenger? The true history of Faern was known only to the successors of House Seca, passed down through generations. Because of this, Clope had believed he was the one who’d inherited the god’s will.
He thought back to the other note he had found while tracking down the white-haired priest.
Only the birth of a new legend will keep the glory alive.
Clope had considered himself the main character of that legend.
His eyes bored into the flaming column that seemed to scorch the very skies. The people whispered among themselves that it was a manifestation of the god’s rage, but Faern’s greater powers suspected the Empire’s alchemy and were investigating accordingly.
“Your god has not forgotten.”
As the words on the note he’d burned swam through Clope’s mind, he struggled to steady himself. He had gleaned a deeper meaning from that sentence.
Your god has not forgotten his wrath.
Clope watched the fire for a moment longer before closing his eyes. Even then, the unease within whirled on.
✦ ✦ ✦
Cale opened his eyes. He was back in Rowoon, having zipped through multiple magic teleportation circles before riding a carriage to the meeting spot.
Click. Someone opened the carriage door from the outside.
“Young master,” Ron greeted him, “you’ve gotten so thin.”
Frizia, the assassin responsible for the sculptures resembling a demon and its hellhound, welcomed Cale too. “Gosh, it’s been ages!”
Rosalyn and Choi Han had already returned to the stone guardian’s villa, but Raon remained with him as always. Ohn and Hong were also present.
“Meeeow.”
“Meow.”
The three children, Ron, and the intelligence group led by Frizia—as well as Vice-Captain Hilsmann, who should have arrived in Guiller territory by now—made up the team for the next operation. They had come here to smother Antonio, the future duke of House Guiller and the most powerful man in the southwestern region.
“Is everything ready?” he asked Ron.
Though Ron spoke in his usual kindly tone, his answer came as a surprise. “Mm, there was a bit of a problem.”
Cale’s face stiffened. “What kind of problem?” One of the Guiller family’s vassals had commissioned a kidnapping, and Cale had hoped to use this fact against Antonio. What could have happened?
Ron gently explained, “I strolled through the area to check in, and it seems the vassal in question is now involved in human trafficking.”
Oh. Cale understood the dilemma. He’d planned to use a past criminal offense to their advantage, but now the guilty party was doing something ridiculous in the present.
Cale furrowed his brow and said to Frizia, “But all the groundwork is complete, right?”
“Indeed, young master,” Ron replied in her stead. “Everything is in place for us to gut them.”
For once, Cale didn’t find the vicious assassin’s response unduly savage. “I’m sure you prepared exactly what they deserve.”
Ron’s years of experience did not betray him; he had arranged every aspect perfectly.