The Arrow of Destiny Cuts Through the Night

#34

It was deep in the night.

Kain’s eyelids, now accustomed to lying in bed in the main building’s room, slightly lifted.

He sensed Jersian’s presence.

“…”

Swish, Kain raised his upper body.

Where is he going? At such a late hour.

When he was in the annex far from the main building, he couldn’t fully know Jersian’s whereabouts. But now that they shared the same corridor, it was easy to sense when Jersian secretly went out somewhere in the early morning.

Kain lightly got up from the bed and looked down at the outside of the mansion through the window. He had just left the room, so he should be out of the mansion building by now. Kain’s prediction was immediately proven right.

A small figure was seen entering the forest surrounding the mansion with quick steps. The figure’s black hair fluttered. It was definitely Jersian.

“Come to think of it, he seemed to leave the mansion occasionally before too.”

The image of Jersian’s tired face came to mind. And the smell of half-burned ashes and tangy blood that could be detected from him.

“What on earth is he doing?”

Kain watched the small figure from above for a moment in front of the window, then opened it as if he had made up his mind.

He took the bow and quiver he had left in the corner just in case.

Whoosh – Thud!

Kain, who lightly jumped down from the mansion window, lifted his head towards the direction where Jersian’s figure had disappeared. He could definitely sense multiple presences in that direction. Whether all those figures were friendly to Jersian would have to be confirmed directly.

Blending into the dark night forest is a specialty of elves. Kain, wrapped in a robe, walked into the densely packed trees.

* * *

At a time when everyone in the Gerold mansion should have been asleep, only selected members of the knight order who had the Marquis’s trust were gathered in the forest in front of the west wing. They all had resolute expressions, facing the mission they were about to receive. This was the same for Peter, the knight commander.

Right in front of the knight order stood Marchioness Elmerila and Jersian. The first to open their mouth was Jersian.

“This is a message from the imperial capital.”

Despite being the youngest among those gathered, no one would say that Jersian didn’t belong in this place. He knew how to skillfully use his own abilities and the power his family possessed.

“Recently, information has been obtained that Baron Basiz is preparing for rebellion. Therefore, tonight, we will infiltrate Baron Basiz’s mansion. We must find evidence that the Baron is raising private soldiers in violation of imperial law.”

Jersian’s voice mixed the dignity of one accustomed to giving orders and appropriate arrogance. Marchioness Elmerila continued after Jersian’s words.

“In any case, the Baron will eventually have to disband the knight order. That’s the purpose of this mission, so we just need to find suitable evidence.”

Elmerila, who had been raising the knight order from the beginning for several decades longer than Jersian, spoke in an experienced tone and then shrugged as if it were nothing.

“Understood?”

Immediately, the knights standing in a line with their hands behind their backs answered in unison.

“Yes!”

“Good, the night is short, so let’s depart.”

The knights gave a disciplined salute to their master, Marchioness Elmerila, and then turned. They mounted the horses prepared on one side and spurred them on.

At the very front was Jersian.

Kain, who had been quietly watching this scene from atop a large tree in the forest, frowned.

‘What are they up to?’

He wasn’t sure exactly, but he felt that what Jersian was about to do was dangerous. He was moving with a small number of knights. All of them had swords hanging from their waist belts. It meant they were ready to draw their swords at any moment if necessary.

“…”

Kain twisted his lips for a moment with a displeased look, then quickly followed behind Jersian and the knight order. Fortunately, they were focused on riding their horses and didn’t notice Kain following them.

* * *

The mansion where Baron Basiz was staying was located in a village slightly outside the imperial capital.

Evidence of treason.

Jersian’s red pupils, leading the group, shone brightly in the darkness.

According to imperial law, no imperial citizen except the royal family can organize a knight order exceeding one hundred people. The only person among current imperial citizens who circumvented this law was Elmerila Gerold.

Several hundred years ago, there was a civil war in the empire over the right of succession to the throne. At that time, the Marquis of the Gerold family supported the prince who was farthest from the line of succession. It was the best and last choice that Gerold, who was once an insignificant noble from the frontier, could make. Fortunately, they were able to eliminate the other successors one by one, and the prince supported by the Gerold family claimed the blood-stained imperial crown.

The emperor, who highly valued the loyalty that believed in him until the end, granted the Gerold Marquis family immunity regarding the knight order.

But that wasn’t a right solely for the Gerold Marquis family. From that time on, the Gerold Marquis family took on the role of resolving issues behind the scenes that the imperial knight order couldn’t intervene in.

To put it simply, they could be called the emperor’s dogs. The reason Jersian was going to the Baron’s mansion now was one of those clean-up jobs. This secret mission, passed down for hundreds of years, had now become entirely Jersian Gerold’s responsibility.

As he tightened his grip on the reins, Jersian’s black horse raised its front legs and then lowered them, stopping in place. Immediately, the four knights following him also stopped their horses.

“We’ll leave the horses here and enter the mansion.”

“Yes.”

Jersian stroked the black horse’s fur a few times to reassure it, then loosely tied the reins to a nearby tree. Then, as if trying to survey the surroundings, he raised his gaze to look at the dark night sky and the Baron’s mansion.

Oh no. This caused Kain Starchis, who was watching Jersian from a tree a little distance away, to slightly lower his body. Fortunately, he wasn’t noticed by Jersian.

“Let’s go.”

He secretly entered Baron Basiz’s mansion with the four knights. It seemed quite familiar for one of the knights to throw a hook at the window, connect a rope, then open the glass window from the outside and enter.

Following them into the mansion didn’t seem like a good choice. Hmm, Kain hesitated for a moment, then jumped down from the tree. Then, with a “Shh—” he calmed the horses that Jersian and the knights had tied up, while looking at Baron Basiz’s mansion in the darkness.

It was a few minutes after Jersian had entered the mansion.

“Who goes there!”

Huh? A loud shout reached even Kain, who was far from the mansion. As if someone in the mansion had turned on the lights, the pitch-black glass windows gradually began to brighten.

Eventually, lights came on in all the windows of the mansion.

“…”

A question clouded Kain’s face outside the mansion.

Will they be alright? Not knowing how much time Jersian and the knights who went inside needed, Kain took a step back, hoping they had found what they wanted. They would soon come to this place where the horses were tied.

Fortunately, those who had infiltrated the mansion returned to where the horses were waiting in the same state as when they had entered.

Jersian’s face was stiff.

It was clear that the mission was not going according to his expectations. While closely observing Jersian’s red pupils, Kain had the useless thought that his jet-black hair matched this night very well.

Meanwhile, Jersian untied the reins, mounted his horse, and briefly commanded, “Hiya!”

The sound of five horses’ hooves echoed: clop, clop.

It was then.

Whoosh— From far away in the Baron’s mansion, several arrows with lit tips were shot into the air. In the pitch-black evening, dozens of fire arrows drew lines, embroidering the sky as they rose vertically, then slowly turned towards the ground.

Dozens of bright flames reflected in Kain’s green eyes as he looked up at them from the tree. Some of those fire arrows would fall where they were. If they spurred their horses to run faster, they might just barely be alright.

“Kain?”

At that voice, Kain’s head, which had been looking at the arrows with an indifferent face, turned towards the ground below the tree. Due to the fire arrows in the air, Jersian’s clear face was also visible. So was the furrowed brow of Jersian looking up at him.

Just as Kain was about to say something to Jersian,

“Over there!”

Someone shouted urgently.

“There’s someone over there!”

Immediately, dozens of presences could be felt rushing towards this place.

Oh no, Kain quickly placed an arrow from behind his back onto the bowstring and drew it taut. It was an almost reflexive movement.