Episode 29
Chapter 11: Advancement and Initiation (Part 2)
No sooner had the junior training squad finished their mission report than the entire Sword Garden was thrown into chaos.
The mission had been flawlessly successful, and Rosa, having heard the news from Garon, looked utterly pleased.
The other Runkandels waiting back at the main house simply couldn’t believe it.
“What? Jin actually fought and defeated a warrior from the White Wolf tribe!?”
“That’s impossible. He probably just killed some bandit wearing a wolf’s pelt. How could a newly minted 3-star knight possibly take down a White Wolf?”
Those were the words of the fourth daughter, Mu Runkandel, and the fifth daughter, Anne Runkandel. Both were seven-star knights, and respectively ten and nine years older than Jin.
A skilled White Wolf warrior was no easy opponent, even for seven-star knights like Mu and Anne. So it was only natural they doubted Jin’s achievement.
“Even if the opponent he faced was particularly weak, a 3-star taking down a White Wolf’s neck just doesn’t add up.”
“Seriously? And Mother actually believed that story?”
As the two women shook their heads in disbelief, other boys watching turned pale.
They were the Daytona and Heitona brothers.
Because of a bitter history that began at Storm Fortress, Jin was more of a monster than a little brother to them.
“D-Do you really think Jin did that?”
Heitona gripped Daytona’s shoulder, his hand trembling slightly.
“No matter how monstrous he is, taking on the White Wolf tribe is still beyond him.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
Just as a relieved smile was about to form on Heitona’s lips, Daytona’s eyes snapped open, and he added sharply:
“But whether he killed a White Wolf or not—that’s not the point, Heitona. If he moves up to the intermediate squad, we’re done for!”
Despair flickered in the brothers’ eyes.
Secretly, they had hoped Jin would utterly fail this mission. If that happened, his promotion could be delayed, giving them time to train hard and stop living in his shadow.
But now, everything was ruined. Not only had Jin rescued the search target, he’d also taken down a White Wolf. Among the junior cadets, he was practically a hero.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it! Back at Storm Fortress, maybe it was different because Heitona and I were younger. But when he joined the junior squad, we should’ve just left him alone…!”
Daytona sighed, recalling the past.
During their second year in the junior squad, the brothers had relentlessly bullied Jin. Since they’d arrived at the main house two years earlier, they’d had a head start in swordsmanship and were stronger than Jin for a while.
Those first few months had been sweet bliss.
Beating Jin, who had bossed them around without respect back at Storm Fortress, under the pretense of duels was the greatest joy of their lives.
But the sweet days were short-lived. Just a few months after Jin joined the training squad, the brothers found themselves getting beaten by him in front of all the cadets every single day.
And now, in just a few days!
They would have to face that demon of a little brother every day again…
“Depressing…”
Heitona, lost in the same memories, spoke in a hollow voice.
“No, no! Maybe it’s not so bad. We might even be able to beat him, right? We haven’t just been sitting around in the intermediate squad all this time!”
Heitona lifted his head, trying to sound hopeful.
“…No. We can’t win. Honestly, I don’t believe he beat a White Wolf, but there’s gotta be some truth behind the rumors.”
“Yeah.”
The brothers lowered their heads again. They knew, deep down, that in the hierarchy, they were clearly beneath Jin.
As the brothers exuded a gloomy aura, Mu and Anne snorted in amusement, clearly finding the whole thing ridiculous.
“Oh my, did we really have such idiots among our brothers?”
“They’re just scared the youngest is moving up to the intermediate squad. Hahaha!”
“Eek!”
The brothers bristled and glared, but only for about two seconds. Daytona, barely mid-3-star, had no chance against his seven-star sisters.
“Daytona, did you just make a growling sound? Hm?”
“Should I break your arm and toss you into the stables?”
“Th-That’s not it!”
“Hmm? Watch your tone.”
“Y-Yes…”
The sisters burst into laughter, then each grabbed a brother and planted a light kiss on his forehead.
“Oh, it’s just a joke! Our little brothers are just too adorable.”
“Exactly! Sometimes they’re so cute I just want to crush them all up.”
As the brothers trembled under their sisters’ excessive affection, Mu suddenly smacked her lips and smiled.
“Hmmm, so our little brothers are scared of the youngest, huh?”
“Sis, surely we wouldn’t be scared of the youngest… Haha, no way…”
“Oh, come on! You can be honest. I really hate liars.”
“We’re scared.”
This time Anne nodded with a wicked grin. Mu and Anne were as perfectly in sync as the brothers.
“Then how about we help you out?”
“How?”
“Oh, there’s a way. After all, it’s just the intermediate squad.”
The Runkandel intermediate training squad.
It was a whole different world from the junior squad. The lowest rank among cadets was 3-star, and the highest reached 5-star.
With many more members than the junior squad, it was pure survival of the fittest—a wild jungle within Runkandel.
Think of 3-stars as herbivores, 4-stars as strong herbivores, and 5-stars as predators.
Unlike the junior squad, where everyone supported each other as ‘comrades,’ the atmosphere here was cutthroat.
Because the intermediate squad had such a wide range—from 3-star to 5-star—many cadets had lingered there for over ten years. Mu and Anne were essentially running a few of these ‘perpetual intermediate cadets’ like slaves.
“I’ll tell our intermediate squad slaves to use those guys to crush the youngest.”
“They may be useless losers who can’t even graduate from the intermediate squad, but since they’re 5-stars, they’re still somewhat useful. Got it?”
“O-Okay…!”
The brothers’ eyes sparkled.
“You mean you’re handing over your intermediate squad faction to us? Really?”
With thirteen siblings, the Runkandel family naturally had many factions.
Even the Daytona brothers had their own faction within the intermediate squad. Jin, for now, had the junior cadets as his faction.
“Hahaha, I’m just lending them to you, you idiots. I don’t want the youngest growing up strong either. He’s a bit unsettling.”
“If you take our slaves and still can’t crush Jin, then you better prepare yourselves, dear brothers.”
The brothers clenched their fists and nodded.
If they could use the seven-star cadets their sisters controlled, defeating Jin didn’t seem like such a far-fetched dream.
“Feels like I keep hearing people talk about me.”
Jin scratched his ear as he returned to his room after the report.
“I heard you completed your first mission successfully. Congratulations, young master. I’m truly moved…!”
“Thanks, Gilly. I want to take a bath, so please prepare some warm water.”
“It’s already ready.”
“As expected.”
Home was the best. Jin hummed happily. After nearly a week of camping, he longed for a warm bath and the scent of fragrant soap.
“Hey, kid.”
But just as he was about to step into the bath, Murakan blocked his way, his face stormy.
“Oh, our little butterfly Runkandel. I missed you…”
“Are you out of your mind?”
“Ah, why?”
Jin flinched and turned his gaze away from Murakan.
“I told you, don’t open your sword like that. How many times do I have to say it? If you mess up, you could die. What’s wrong with you—your ears or your head? Just tell me. I’ll get rid of whichever one it is.”
“Haha… Why would the great Black Dragon speak so harshly? There were reasons, you see…”
“Reasons? Reasons? You had reasons more precious than your own life? The only, the one and only contract holder of Solderet’s life? Where in the world could there be a reason more precious than that? Hm?”
“Murakan, since the young master just got back…”
“Strawberry Pie, stay out of this. This is serious.”
“Understood.”
“No, Murakan, I didn’t do it on purpose. My cadet was kidnapped right in front of me. How could I just let that go? They almost ended up as minced meat for the White Wolves.”
“Pendant! That Orgal pendant around your neck—is it just decoration? You could’ve used it to summon your sister!”
“That’d be a waste! Who knows what kind of strong enemies I’ll face in the future? How could I use it now?”
“Waste it? It’s more precious than your life? Oh dear. Ugh!”
Murakan clutched the back of his neck and collapsed. Gilly rushed over and supported him, clearly alarmed.
“Are you alright, Murakan?”
“Hey, are you okay? What if you just collapsed like that?”
“…Forget it. Damn it, it’s already over, and getting mad about it only hurts me. My neck’s all stiff from it, and I almost passed out.”
But despite being supported by Gilly, Murakan looked surprisingly pleased. It almost seemed like he hadn’t been scolding Jin at all—that maybe his real goal was just to have Gilly help him up.
“Hmm, Murakan. How did you know I’d unleashed my sword?”
“Your spirit energy suddenly shot up to mid-4-star level. How could I not notice? Damn brat. A thousand-year contract holder, and you just go wild like that? Spirit energy doesn’t just jump by a whole star like that.”
“I thought I’d gotten a bit stronger after the spirit energy overload, but I didn’t realize it had gone up a whole star.”
Jin couldn’t help but feel a surge of relief inside. He’d been worried about the sudden spike in his spirit energy, but judging by Murakan’s reaction, it seemed like there was no need to panic.
“Consider it thanks to Solderette watching over you. In my life, I’ve seen ten people go through spirit energy overload—and nine of them died. Actually, make that nine out of eleven now.”
“Who’s the other survivor? The first head of the family?”
“Nope. That’s me. If it were Temar, he’d be dead.”
Both Murakan and Jin burst out laughing.
“Anyway, try that again just once more. Excited about suddenly gaining a whole star? That’s the price of a life-risking gamble. If you get drunk on that sweet growth and try to unleash your sword before reaching 5 stars, you’ll definitely die.”
“I don’t want to go through that pain twice either. Enough scolding for now—shall I go wash up?”
Jin dashed off toward the bathroom.
“Strawberry Pie, don’t feed that one today. Guys like him need to go hungry for a couple of days to get their heads straight. Got it?”
Murakan said that, watching Jin’s retreating back, but—
“I’m sorry… Murakan. I just have a duty to serve the young master, you see.”
“Oh man, I’m so jealous, seriously. You’re one lucky little brat, drowning in blessings for no good reason.”