Chapter 381
Episode 117: Who Is the Real Runcandel? (Part 1)
Because the central portal in Baria was completely destroyed, Jin only managed to reach Karon by nightfall.
“M-Master Jin… Master Jin…!”
The first to rush over, panting, was the butler, Petro.
Since Mary had publicly revealed information about Temar’s tomb during the council meeting, Petro had been waiting every day at the central portal in Hupester, anxiously hoping for Jin’s return.
It had already been ten days since Mary’s announcement on September 15th. During that entire time, Petro’s worry had eaten away at him like acid.
“I knew you’d be the first to come find me again.”
Unlike Petro, who was sweating nervously, Jin smiled calmly, though his robe was soaked in the blood of the Ghost Corps assassins. To Petro, that sight looked utterly exhausting.
“Are you hurt? Someone, call the medics! Bring warm towels at once!”
“No need for medics.”
“Master Jin, and what about that huge sack?”
“Oh, this.”
With a thud, Jin dropped the sack-like robe he’d been carrying over his shoulder onto the ground.
Petro instinctively peered inside—and immediately paled.
“Is that… that woman? Fey Prochi of the Ghost Corps?”
Inside the sack lay Fey, unconscious and bound hand and foot.
“She’s a bargaining chip.”
Jin had spared Fey’s life because she was a valuable prisoner. Killing her would only deepen the Ghost Corps’ grudge, but keeping her alive meant she could be used strategically.
“The Ghost Corps attacked you?”
Petro clenched his fists, grinding his teeth.
“Yes. Lata Prochi sent his sister and ten assassins. As you can see, Fey was captured alive.”
“…The Council of Elders is behind this.”
Petro immediately guessed who had commissioned the attack. At this time, only the Council of Elders would have the means to hire the Ghost Corps.
Jin nodded.
“After Miss Mary revealed the information she got from me, I suspected the Council would make a move. But I didn’t expect it to be this fast. We were unprepared. I apologize.”
“What could you have done to prepare? It’s fine. What about Gilly?”
At the mention of Gilly’s name, Petro’s expression darkened sharply.
“She’s currently detained.”
A flash of cold steel entered Jin’s eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.
“Where? It can’t be the underground prison. If it were, Murakan wouldn’t have stayed quiet.”
“When the detention was announced, Lord Murakan actually damaged part of the Sword Garden. The guardian knights had a hard time restraining him.”
“Murakan wasn’t punished?”
“Correct.”
Despite breaking part of the Sword Garden and knowing more about Jin than anyone else, Murakan faced no consequences.
“If Gilly hadn’t intervened, things might have gotten irreversibly worse.”
Murakan’s status as the family’s long-standing guardian deity had its limits. Had he crossed that line, even he wouldn’t have escaped punishment.
“A small mercy in misfortune.”
“I’ve heard that instead of prison, Gilly is being held in one of the Council’s secret chambers. Chairman Homin promised humane treatment, so there’s no need to worry too much.”
Gilly was detained because of her involvement with Jin in searching for Temar’s tomb. As Jin’s nanny, she knew more about him than anyone else, so the Council naturally wanted to interrogate her.
‘Temar’s tomb’ was a highly sensitive topic in Runcandel.
‘I regretted not having Murakan in the Wantaramo Forest, but it was wise to leave him behind at the estate. With him there, no one dared mistreat Gilly. If they’d crossed the line, it would have been dangerous.’
Moreover, Chairman Telrot had tactfully looked after Gilly this time as well. While he couldn’t prevent her detention, he did his best to consider Jin’s feelings.
“There’s a lot to handle as soon as we get back.”
Jin wiped the dried blood crusting his face with a towel brought by a servant.
It was time to get fresh blood on his hands.
“Let’s go.”
He boarded the steel carriage and headed to the Sword Garden.
The other guardian knights at the portal had already rushed ahead to the Sword Garden to announce Jin’s return.
Clank…!
The heavy sound of the gate’s bolt being undone echoed ominously.
As expected, the atmosphere at the Sword Garden’s entrance was tense. Hundreds of guardian knights stood in intimidating formation, with the Council elders and captains standing tall before them.
As Jin stepped down from the carriage, four swords suddenly pressed against his neck—executioner knights.
“Disarm the twelfth captain.”
The executioners’ low voices made Jin smirk.
“Feels like I’m a traitor.”
“I said, disarm him.”
“And if I refuse?”
“You have no choice but to obey the law.”
The Council Chairman!
Suddenly, Jin shouted, his voice ringing with concentrated energy that shattered the garden’s silence.
It was unthinkable.
For the family’s youngest, the twelfth captain, to address the Council Chairman so disrespectfully.
A thick vein bulged on Jorden’s forehead, and the elders’ eyes nearly popped out in shock.
‘Wow, this madman. He’s my brother, but he’s truly a magnificent madman.’
Among the captains, only Mary clenched her fists, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction. The others just stared in disbelief. Even Runtiazo, who usually seemed indifferent, blinked in surprise.
“Th-This…!”
“Such sacrilege! How dare the twelfth captain address the family’s Council Chairman so disrespectfully!”
The elders, finally regaining their composure, scolded Jin while watching Jorden’s reaction.
Jorden seemed deeply shocked, still staring at Jin with a dazed expression.
The executioners kept their blades pressed to Jin’s neck, expressionless.
“…Sir!”
“Pfft. Ahem, ahem.”
Mary couldn’t hold back her laughter any longer and coughed awkwardly.
Though she had been quite angry at Jin for missing the meeting, the youngest always managed to entertain her so much she couldn’t stay mad.
“I doubt you’ll kill me here, so why not treat me a little more lightly?”
“What did you say…?”
“The family has a lot to hear from me. How else will you find the founder’s tomb without me? How will you restore the family’s former glory?”
Jorden’s brow furrowed deeply.
He now barely held onto his composure, glaring at Jin as if ready to kill.
“Do you really think you can act so recklessly on that belief, twelfth captain?”
Despite the murderous look in his eyes, Jorden’s tone was very polite.
“Yes.”
“You’re reckless with your life. I don’t know if the information you gave the seventh captain is even valuable.”
“Chairman, it seems you don’t value your honor much either.”
Each word grated on Jorden’s nerves like sandpaper. The vein on his forehead throbbed as if about to burst.
“Do you think you can lecture me about honor?”
“And why not? I actually want to help you, Chairman. You brought executioner knights from the Black Sword Society and pressed blades to my neck…”
Tap, tap.
Jin tapped the executioners’ blades with his fingers and continued.
“If you let me go without killing me, what kind of humiliation would that be? There are more than a few witnesses. You can’t just silence the rumors.”
Petro, standing beside Jin, felt his lifespan shrink with every word. His face was deathly pale, sweat pouring down relentlessly.
But Jin was certain.
‘The Council Chairman won’t kill me.’
Not that he couldn’t.
It was entirely possible that Jorden, losing his temper at the provocation, might order the executioners to take Jin’s head.
But possible didn’t mean beneficial.
It would only bring massive losses. Losing the means to check Joshua, and if other factions gained from Temar’s tomb, rumors would spread.
Besides, even if Jorden lost control and ordered Jin’s death, his mother would likely intervene.
Unless Rosa knew more about Temar’s tomb than Jin, she had every reason to keep him alive.
Though neither Jorden losing control nor Rosa stopping him was guaranteed, Jin was confident.
He glanced up toward the Sword Garden’s main building, focusing on Rosa’s office, and smiled slyly.
Silence fell.
An unprecedented situation—there was no better way to describe it.
“You’re arrogant and insolent beyond measure. That someone like you can raise Runcandel’s banner… the times truly have changed.”
When Jorden decided to pressure Jin with executioner knights upon his return, he never imagined this scene.
What he wanted was for Jin to recognize the gravity of the situation and seek help to defuse it.
If Jin had proposed a deal to pass the Council’s pressure onto the other cohorts or Telrot, Jorden would have used that as a pretext to figure out exactly who Jin and his potential allies were.
But no one had expected Jin to act so recklessly—no one who had ever faced him before.
That’s why Jorden had no choice but to make a decision.
If he let this slide now, as Jin said, the disgrace would spread far and wide.
“Adapting to change isn’t easy, is it, Chairman?” Jin said.
“That’s true,” Jorden replied. “But you still haven’t disarmed yourself.”
Shaking his head, Jorden added quietly, “Cut off his arms.”
With a swift, unhesitating motion, the execution knights obeyed the order and severed Jin’s arms.
Thud, thud.
The detached limbs hit the floor with heavy sounds.
Jin didn’t even glance at his fallen arms.
Instead, he took a step closer to Jorden.
“Are you done?” he asked.