Episode 438
Episode 126. Someday, when you’ve all forgotten, like an unforeseen disaster (1)
Five days had passed since the Exiles and Ronin attacked Tikan.
Yet, despite numerous news reports, the 12th Order had shown no significant movement, leaving the elders trapped in growing anxiety.
In a secluded villa of the Elder Council in the city of Karon, Jorden and the other elders sat around a round table, their faces dark and heavy with frustration.
Before them lay a stack of newsletters covering a recent incident.
“Tikan Free City Attacked by Unknown Assailants.”
“Some facilities and equipment were damaged, but no casualties reported…”
“The reason the Tikan Free City Guard became the Iron Army: The True Runkandel.”
“As proven during the Black Emperor Star incident, the Runkandel 12th Order has an extraordinary edge in counter-terrorism.”
“It’s not that the 12th Order is especially talented—it’s simply a virtue inherent to Runkandel’s knights…”
“Twelve wounded, zero dead! All terrorists neutralized—The Free City’s dignity preserved.”
“Why have terrorists been so rampant lately, just after the Black Emperor Star attack?”
“The identities of the terrorists remain unknown… What kind of response will the 12th Order show?”
The front pages of every newsletter were plastered with coverage of the Tikan attack. This was true not only in Hupester but also in Biment and the Lutero Magic Federation’s publications.
Some of the elders sighed as they scanned the reports.
In truth, everyone wanted to sigh, but they held back, wary of Jorden’s furious trembling. Only the senior elders allowed themselves the luxury of a breath.
“There were… no casualties at all…?”
Jorden shouted, gripping the newsletter so tightly it crumpled. His bloodshot eyes burned with dark rage.
“How is this even possible?!”
BANG!
His fist smashed the round table to splinters, shards flying everywhere.
When the decision was made to send the Exiles to Tikan, Jorden never imagined this outcome.
He knew it was impossible to completely wipe out Tikan, but at the very least, he expected devastating civilian casualties—and the deaths of a few of Jin’s comrades.
Given that the Exiles and their seven-star allies carried out the attack, expecting that level of damage was hardly unreasonable.
“This is nonsense, Elder Jorden. Even in the worst case, there should have been hundreds of civilian casualties—no, that’s too low. At least a thousand should have been affected.”
“Calm down, Elder Jorden. Here, drink this cold water. Hey! Bring some colder water!”
“The Exiles must have betrayed us.”
“Why would they betray us? Their goal is revenge. They know the Black Sword Society’s power better than anyone. There’s no way they’d value the 12th Order above you.”
“But if it wasn’t betrayal, then how do we explain these results? Moreover, these articles are based on information deliberately leaked by the 12th Order. It’s highly likely that even the claim that all Exiles and Ronin were killed is false.”
“Then the claim that there were zero casualties in Tikan could be false as well?”
“After facing the 12th Order, you still doubt? That demon never acts against his own interests. If we investigate thoroughly, the truth will come out. The damage in Tikan has already been verified by other agencies.”
“Hah, the 12th Order… The one who dared to bring the heads of elders last time still hasn’t made a move. That only makes me more uneasy.”
The elders all looked to Jorden, waiting for his decision.
How he chose to act could either bury the incident or let it spiral out of control.
Jorden’s ragged breaths—hissing and rasping—slowly began to steady. He was barely containing his fury.
“…I understand your worries. That madman of the 12th Order is silent for now, but he won’t let this slide. Just like last time, when he brought the elders’ heads, he will surely retaliate.”
At Jorden’s words, the elders’ faces darkened further.
Some quietly thought Jorden had lost his touch. He had boldly declared war on the 12th Order, unveiling a secret weapon, only for things to start like this. Disappointment was inevitable.
“What do you suggest we do, Elder Jorden?”
“I’m troubled by what the acting head of the family said last time. If we disappoint once more, he threatened to temporarily dissolve the Elder Council…”
“Bah! Stop spreading such defeatist talk!”
Jorden pressed his palm to his forehead.
“First, we must deal with the Black Sword Society…”
Before he could finish, hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor.
“Elder Jorden! There’s been a serious problem!”
It was a guardian knight of the council.
His urgent tone, twisted expression, and anxious eyes sent a chill through Jorden and the elders.
It seemed the 12th Order had finally begun their retaliation in earnest.
“What is it? Speak calmly.”
Jorden’s brow twitched as he forced himself to stay composed.
“The Exiles… have come to the Sword Garden!”
The elders sighed deeply from their cores.
“Prepare the carriage immediately!”
December. Despite the heart of winter, an absurdly heavy downpour drenched the land.
Under the gloomy, capricious sky, the guardian knights protecting the Sword Garden often glanced upward, as if seeking answers.
The sky seemed to weep bitterly.
“It’s midday, but it feels like night. What kind of rain is this?”
“Days like this just make you feel down. After this, I’m having a stiff drink…”
The gatekeeper knights chatting quietly straightened and fell silent as a figure clad in gleaming gray armor approached from afar.
That gray armor marked him as an Execution Knight, the enforcer of the family’s laws.
The black helmet and the rank commanded the respect and reverence of all the family’s guardian knights.
“Click!”
The knights snapped to attention and saluted sharply.
The Execution Knight returned the salute with equal precision, and the gate to the Sword Garden swung open.
The knights held their salutes until the Execution Knight disappeared from sight.
“Definitely, the atmosphere around an Execution Knight is different from the regular guardians.”
“Wasn’t that armor the old model? I think I saw it in the cadet training manuals.”
“Maybe. I don’t know much about it. We rarely see it… I wonder if the day will come when we wear armor like that.”
The gatekeepers had no idea that the man who just passed was a knight purged long ago.
Even if the armor was old, they never imagined anyone crazy enough to forge and impersonate a Runkandel Execution Knight—especially not here, in Hupester Karon, the Sword Garden.
“That armor isn’t something just anyone can wear. That’s why we show such respect.”
Clomp, clomp, clomp.
Mud and water squelched beneath the Exile’s feet.
His heavy, soaked cloak felt like the weight of all the years it had taken to return here.
The 12th Order had been right.
The best revenge they could exact was to tarnish Rosa’s authority, to cry out the truth, and to die gloriously.
‘Why didn’t I think of something so simple all this time?’
The Exiles knew the answer.
Their vengeance was aimed at Rosa Runkandel—not at Runkandel itself.
If they entered the Sword Garden now and revealed they were still alive, Rosa would surely suffer a heavy blow.
But it wouldn’t end there.
If other knights learned that loyalty and devotion to the family had earned them this terrible fate and purge…
It could shake the entire Runkandel clan.
Though they denied it fiercely, the Exiles had always loved Runkandel, even after being purged. Some might mock it as twisted loyalty, but they didn’t care.
Their brightest days belonged to this land.
“As the 12th Order said, this is the only revenge we can take. But what we’re about to do threatens not just Lady Rosa, but all of Runkandel.”
“That’s true.”
“The family’s unity will weaken, and powerful forces like Ziphl will seize the opportunity. Don’t you realize that?”
“Is that the Runkandel you want?”
“What did you say?”
“I doubt you want a family so filthy and weak that it’s devoured by enemies if it can’t hide its stench. Anyway, the choice is yours. Will you die, or will you reveal the truth?”
Suddenly, before entering the Sword Garden, a conversation with the 12th Order flashed through his mind.
“If the 12th Order had been born just a little earlier, we would have been their knights. We could have upheld our honor to the end.”
Swallowing the fierce regret rising within, he took step after step, savoring the Sword Garden they had built.
He paused briefly, gazing at the countless swords planted throughout the garden, and silently recalled the names of the old stewards and scribes he recognized.
Just as he thought the scene was no different from before their exile, he noticed a restoration project underway on one side.
‘Is that the work of the 12th Order?’
It was the image of Jin declaring himself the ‘House Master’ and utterly crushing the Central Arena. The Exile stood there for a moment, imagining just how fierce and monumental that battle must have been.
Cold raindrops dripped indifferently through his armor.
Eventually, the Exile resumed walking, but his steps halted at the courtyard right in front of the main building.
Slowly, eyes began to gather, all fixed on the Exile standing tall, staring up at the high walls of the main house. People were starting to sense that his behavior was anything but ordinary.
“Why is the Execution Knight just standing there like that?”
“Are there still Execution Knights who wear outdated armor these days?”
As passersby whispered their doubts one by one, the Exile shouted toward the person who must be inside the main building—the very person he had come to despise so deeply.
His voice thundered out, vast and resonant.
“Knight, Rosa Runcandel, come outside and listen to what we have to say!”