The Song of Flowers - Chapter 2: The Heir of the Lord (5)

“Then no thanks. Pretending to be a knight isn’t my style. I wouldn’t be able to pull it off anyway. Oh, by the way, I stopped by the captain’s. He said we’re heading to the Kingdom of Saul tomorrow.”

“I thought he said he’d wait a few more days.”

“The client pushed for a faster departure. I’m leaving with them tomorrow, but you can catch up with us after you finish your job.”

Ron frowned, thinking it over. He didn’t like the idea of Leon going ahead alone.

“Why rush off? Just wait until I’m done here, and we’ll go together. Knowing you, I’m worried you’ll get into trouble.”

“Trouble? Please!” Leon scoffed.

“Just don’t flirt with married women.”

“Hey! She said she was single, alright?” Leon protested.

“And don’t get into drunken brawls.”

“That happened one time!” Leon huffed.

“Don’t pick fights with knights,” Ron warned.

“You have no idea how arrogant those bastards are,” Leon muttered, avoiding Ron’s steady gaze.

“Fine, fine. I’ll just stay behind the captain and keep my head down,” Leon grumbled.

“Don’t put yourself in danger.”

“I said I get it! No wonder people call you my nanny,” Leon said, pouting.

Ron chuckled, which only made Leon glare at him in annoyance. When they first met, Ron had been smaller than Leon, a scrawny kid who couldn’t even skin a rabbit without gagging. Leon had taught him everything—how to climb mountains, gather firewood, light a fire, and hunt. But somewhere along the way, Ron had started acting like his protector.

Where did it all go wrong? Leon wondered, feeling a strange mix of pride and frustration. Maybe it started when Ron grew taller than him, or when his sword skills surpassed Leon’s.

Leon prided himself on being one of the best in their mercenary band. He was tall, skilled with a sword, and not bad-looking either. But the problem was, Ron was always just a little bit better at everything. It didn’t bother Leon too much—he was proud of Ron, who was more than just a brother to him. But sometimes, Leon wished he could be the one Ron relied on, the older brother who could protect him.

He could never forget the first time he saw Ron, covered in blood and barely clinging to life. Back then, Ron was like a newborn kitten, fragile and helpless. Leon had vowed to protect him.

“You really going tomorrow?” Ron asked again.

Leon, still a bit grumpy, responded with a huff, “I told you, I’ll be fine.”

“I’m just worried about the job the captain picked up,” Ron said, his tone more serious.

“When aren’t you worried?” Leon teased, rolling his eyes. Ron always seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Ron opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again.

“Let me guess—you’re going to tell me I’m stressing for no reason,” Ron muttered.

“That’s right. Nothing bad’s going to happen. You just finish up your job here with the Haran wizard. You know how important that is—you don’t want to mess it up.”

“Yeah, I know,” Ron sighed.

Leon stretched and got up. “Man, I’m beat. I need to hit the sack. I’m not as young as I used to be. Back in the day, I could drink twice as much and still be fine the next day.”

Not exactly something a young man like Leon should be saying.

As he headed toward the bedroom, Leon paused and turned back. “Ron. If anything happens to me, you can have all my money.”

“…You idiot,” Ron said, shaking his head in disbelief.

“I already told Julio. You know, just in case. He’s in on it too, so you’re covered,” Leon said with a cheeky grin.

“Go to bed.”

Leon snickered as he went into the room, leaving Ron to debate whether he should march in there and kick Leon’s backside for that tasteless joke. It wasn’t funny at all.

***

It was a pitch-black darkness, so thick that the boy couldn’t even see his own hand. At first, he screamed and cried, but no one came, no matter how much he shouted until his voice grew hoarse.

Crying, the boy groped along the walls as he walked. The stone walls were cold and damp. No matter how far he walked, the darkness didn’t disappear. After a long time, the boy realized he was trapped.

With nothing else to do, he crouched down and sobbed.

“Mother… Father…”

Calling out for his family, he cried until he eventually fell asleep. When he awoke, it was still pitch black. He had no idea where he was or why he was trapped in such a place.

The boy felt his way along the wall again, walking. Something rolled away with a clattering noise after he kicked it. It hadn’t been there before. Crawling on the floor, he groped around and found a hard object.

It was cold and round. After feeling it for a while, he realized it was a brass plate. Thinking of a plate reminded him of meals, and his stomach growled with hunger. The boy searched the floor more eagerly and found a soft, crumbly lump.

He cautiously put it in his mouth. It was bread. He devoured it, but one small loaf wasn’t enough to fill his stomach. The boy began to feel drowsy, not from fullness, but from something mixed in with the food. He collapsed to the floor as he fell asleep.

He had no idea how much time passed. The boy no longer cried. He noticed that whenever he woke up, food was already there, brought while he slept. In the endless darkness, he repeated the cycle of eating and sleeping.

The boy eventually forgot who he was. He gave up questioning why he was imprisoned. Overtaken by the darkness and drugged food, his mind began to break down.

Suddenly, there was a scraping sound, and the stone door opened. A faint light crept into the pitch-black room from outside, revealing the blurry figure of the boy lying in a corner.

A man dressed in a black robe with a hood entered. The stone door shut behind him, and darkness enveloped the room again. But for the robed man, the darkness posed no obstacle. From beneath his hood, two red, glowing eyes shone.

Even in the darkness, the man moved unhesitatingly toward the boy as if he could see everything clearly. He bent down, bringing his nose close to the boy’s body, and took a deep breath. Growling like a wild beast, he gritted his teeth in dissatisfaction.

―”A pathetic half-breed.”

His voice was eerie and scratched at the air around him.

The man removed the glove from his right hand, revealing ghastly, emaciated fingers. The skin was so dry it clung to the bones, and the tips of his fingers were stained a vivid purple, glowing faintly in the dark.

He grasped the boy’s neck with one hand and lifted him. The boy hung limply, like a small animal caught in the claws of a giant predator.

A sticky energy, like ivy winding around the man’s hand, wrapped around the boy. Purple mist seeped into the boy’s nose, open mouth, and ears.

At the moment the red glow from the man’s eyes intensified, the energy flowed out from the boy’s body and was quickly absorbed into the man’s hand. The boy, unconscious, twitched and convulsed.

When even the slightest movements ceased, the boy was dry and lifeless, no longer breathing. The man tossed the body to the floor. The boy’s frail frame made barely a sound as it hit the ground, disintegrating into dust, leaving no trace.

The man inspected his right hand, turning it over. His skeletal fingers now had a faint hint of life. But it was barely noticeable.

―”Not enough.”

His voice was filled with frustration.

It wasn’t nearly enough to restore his full power. He needed pure energy. The diluted blood of mixed human ancestry only left him unsatisfied.

The man put his glove back on. The special energy within the glove concealed the purple glow emanating from his hand.

He left the chamber. The dimly lit hallway allowed just enough light to distinguish walls from open paths. The man walked down the long corridor and ascended a staircase.

He reached a dead end. After adjusting a mechanism on the wall, the entire wall shifted. After he exited, the wall closed behind him, seamlessly hiding the secret passage. To any observer, it was just an ordinary library.

Inside the library, a man was waiting for him.

―”What is it?”

“There’s a problem. A wizard from Harlan is moving to investigate the missing people.”

The man in the robe remained silent. He slowly paced the library before sitting down at a table.

Behind the child disappearances across the continent was an organization. A human trafficking syndicate with immense resources hired mercenaries and criminals to kidnap children. Even if a kidnapper was caught, they knew nothing of the organization that hired them, so the crimes were treated as isolated incidents.

The organization operated in a cell structure so that even its members didn’t fully know its size or the identity of its leaders.

―”Cut off the tail.”

“To what extent?”

―”You’ll have to offer the body too if you want them satisfied.”

Malcolm flinched. It was as if he was being told to abandon the entire organization. Over the years, they had grown large through secretive activities. Many nobles and wealthy individuals from various countries were involved. The profits from selling kidnapped children at secret auctions were enormous.

Now, the man in the robe was telling him to discard it all too easily.

―”It’s grown too large. Clean it up.”

To Cabal, the trafficking ring was just a tool to achieve his goal. To conceal one crime, he would commit ten others to divert attention.

He needed children, but not just any children. He was after those who inherited a specific lineage, and only he could identify them. However, he couldn’t act directly. So, he formed the organization and had them kidnap the children. The useless ones were sold for funds rather than killed.

Cabal still needed children. But now that he knew where the real ones were, there was no need to capture mixed-blood children just to absorb their weak energy.

“…Understood.”

Malcolm’s face darkened. Losing the source of funds would create significant setbacks for future operations.

―”I will create the magic stones.”

Malcolm looked up.

“Are you referring to the Tium?”

Tium was a magical stone produced in Harlan. Every magical item sold on the continent required Tium stones to function.

The changes Harlan’s magical items brought to the continent were immense. Now, people could hardly live without them.

When Cabal first mentioned that he could create Tium, Malcolm had his doubts. But when Cabal showed him a prototype, he was ecstatic. It was only a matter of time before they would be sitting on a mountain of wealth. However, Cabal had postponed the plan, saying the time wasn’t right yet.

―”Are the preparations ready?”

“As you instructed, I’ve secured an amethyst mine. It’s in a remote area, with no settlements nearby, and it doesn’t officially exist on any records.”

A smile returned to Malcolm’s face, who had been gloomy moments earlier.

―”And the search for the girl?”

“We’ve deployed all available resources as you ordered.”

―”It’s the top priority.”

“Yes, Master.”

―”Have you secured the final site for testing the Dark Knights?”

Cabal shifted the conversation. Even if it wasn’t as urgent as finding the girl, a significant matter was still in progress.

“Yes, Master.”

Malcolm recalled.

“It’s in a count’s estate in the Saul Kingdom.”

***

The job was incredibly easy. It almost felt shameful to be paid for something like this.

Dressed in a mage’s robe, Julio wandered around the old mansion of the baron where the incident had occurred, pretending to investigate. He randomly picked up objects and made a show of examining inconsequential spots, acting as though he was deeply immersed in the investigation.

Ron, wearing a knight’s armor, followed Julio at a reasonable distance, appearing to faithfully fulfill his duty as a bodyguard. He kept a careful eye on their surroundings, but contrary to their concerns, there were no attempts to attack them, nor any suspicious figures lurking around.

‘Maybe the mages were wrong,’ Ron thought, wondering if the mages had simply made a mistake.

They passed the time without incident, returning to the count’s mansion in the evening. It was only natural for a noble to offer rooms to a prestigious mage from Harlan. No one in the count’s household knew that the two of them were actually mercenaries.

Julio acted with an appropriate level of arrogance, while Ron looked every bit the flawless knight, raising no suspicions.

The days passed uneventfully, except for one thing.

“Ugh!”

Ron stifled a scream as he jolted awake. The dark bedroom felt unfamiliar. He tensed up, then sighed in relief as he realized where he was. His entire body was soaked in sweat.

Perhaps it was because the bed was far too comfortable. Ever since he started sleeping in the soft bed provided by the count’s household, he had been plagued by nightmares every single night.

No matter how easy the job was, it didn’t matter if he couldn’t sleep properly. The constant tension, from his nerves being on edge, only made him more exhausted.

“Haa…”

He let out a long sigh, running his hands over his face.

‘It’ll be fine.’

The bad dreams made him worry about Leon constantly.

‘Nightmares are just aftereffects.’

The past incident that had nearly taken his life had left him with gruesome scars on his back and nightmares he could never shake off. It was just another of his usual nightmares, Ron reassured himself, trying to push away his unease.

About ten days into their assignment, the mage who had hired them summoned them to the tavern where they had first met.

“You’ve done well.”

Without further comment, the mage handed them the agreed sum, down to the last coin.

“I feel guilty accepting payment for doing so little,” Julio said, but he swiftly pocketed the money bag.

“Will we be seeing the person who accompanied you that day again?”

Ron asked about Deborah’s whereabouts.

“She’s far away now. Did you discover anything while investigating the mansion?”

“No, I had a personal question, but it’s not important.”

Ron had wanted to ask about the ring.

‘It’s probably for the best. What difference does it make now who Leon’s real father is?’

Finding out who Leon’s biological father was wouldn’t necessarily make him any happier. If Leon’s father turned out to be a powerful figure, it could drag him into a dangerous succession dispute. Power struggles among the elite were always brutal and ugly, and Ron didn’t want Leon to be caught in that kind of mess.

“Make sure you come to Harlan,” the mage urged Julio.

“That man doesn’t write letters of recommendation for just anyone. You’re truly talented.”

Julio responded with an awkward smile.

The assignment was over. On rare occasions, if they were exceptionally lucky, they would get paid a lot for doing very little. This job had been one of those rare cases. Julio was in a great mood as he held the hefty money bag in his hands. But Ron wasn’t just happy.

“Julio, let’s head for the Saul Kingdom immediately.”

“Right now? It’s almost nightfall. We can leave at dawn tomorrow, what’s the rush?”

“I just want to hurry.”

“Is this about Leon? Come on, he’s not a kid anymore.”

“You leave tomorrow, Julio. I’m going ahead.”

Julio watched as Ron quickly walked ahead and sighed heavily.

“Ugh, honestly. Those two. It’s like they’re sick, and they’ll die if they’re apart for even a moment. Yeah, they did manage to stay apart for quite a while this time.”

Grumbling to himself, Julio hurried to catch up with Ron.

“Wait up, you idiot!”

***