There were a total of five flag-bearers who came running to the main building with Rosa's summons.
They were the third son Ran, the fourth son Vigo, the fourth daughter Myu, the fifth daughter Anne, and finally, the second daughter Luntia.
Rosa made them stand straight in a single file and glared at them with a dark, heavy gaze. The flurry of shouts and reprimands she had been hurling at them had calmed down a bit.
But once Jin entered the room, she raised her voice again.
"How can you people who call themselves 'flag-bearers' mess up so badly?!"
As Rosa let out a thunderous roar, the documents and pen holder on her table went flying in all four directions. In fact, the pen holder cracked and broke apart due to the energy in her voice.
Haaaaa…!
She let out a deep sigh and turned to Jin.
"…You've arrived."
"Yes, Mother."
His siblings' attention turned to him as well.
Ran and Vigo's gazes were dyed in annoyance and irritation. Their reactions were natural as they weren't involved in the issuing of his mission.
Myu and Anne were openly showing their animosity towards Jin.
Their lips were curled upwards, but their pupils were dyed red in bloodthirst, as if they were warning him they'd kill him if they ever had the chance.
Meanwhile, Luntia had a calm bearing. She was merely curious to know if her youngest sibling—whom she hadn't seen in a long while—was truly a 5-star knight as the rumours said.
"Have you heard of the news? Your next mission will be at the Kollon Ruins."
"Yes, I've been told."
"I'm cancelling that mission. You won't be going to Kollon."
""Mother!""
Myu and Anne raised their voices simultaneously and took a couple of steps forward.
"You wenches only care about killing the youngest, don't you? Did gaining the petty authority and power of a flag-bearer grant you nonexistent balls to stand against your mother?"
Rosa looked down at her daughters with ice-cold eyes.
However, the two daughters didn't let themselves get intimidated.
"Mother, is it really so strange that we're trying to kill the youngest?"
"What…?"
"To be honest, I cannot understand why you try to protect the youngest so much."
Myu stared at her mother in the eyes.
"Go on, I dare you to continue yapping with that piehole. Have you lost your mind?"
"Ever since we were born, you have merely watched us from the sidelines with father and even encouraged us to fight amongst each other, Mother. Was that not because competition is a necessity in our family?"
"She's right, Mother. In fact, you must know how much everyone here has been oppressed and pressured by our older siblings while growing up. Back when I was in the intermediate class, I was also sent on highly difficult missions assigned to me by my older siblings! Dozens of times!"
A moment of silence followed.
Myu and Anne weren't completely in the wrong. Conflict and secret harassment between siblings in the Runcandel Clan was inevitable. In fact, it was the fate of all Runcandel children. Moreover, Cyron and Rosa never intervened to stop the bloodbath occurring amongst their children.
"Indeed, you two aren't wrong. Competition is necessary, and you can use whatever means at your disposal to come out on top."
Rosa spoke with a soft smile. Myu and Anne understood their mother's intentions.
"Be that as it may, did you two reach the 5-star stage by the age of 15?"
"Huh?"
"You two are different compared to the youngest. Had you two made the same achievements as him in your teenage years, I would've protected you as well. However, you didn't."
Rosa openly revealed that she was giving Jin preferential treatment.
"In other words, you two weren't worthy of my protection and care. As a matter of fact, seeing how you two are now insolently talking back to me after becoming flag-bearers, I don't regret never having protected you two."
Myu and Anne's faces distorted as they blinked, dumbfounded.
No matter how harsh of an environment the clan was and how cruel one's siblings were, every child in the world would be hurt after hearing such heart-wrenching words from their parents.
"…Haa, you are correct, Mother. I was being insensible and naive."
"Thank you for your guidance, Mother."
The two girls lowered their heads and turned around, exiting the room. Despite having turned their backs to Jin, their burning rage and hatred towards their youngest sibling could be distinguished more than ever.
"Luntia, Ran, Vigo."
"""Yes, Mother."""
"As Myu and Anne's fellow flag-bearers, you three aren't guilt-free either. Especially you, Luntia. I'm very disappointed in you. You will need to reflect on your oversight for a while. Ran and Vigo, return one of your swords each."
Luntia merely shrugged and went along with it, whereas Ran and Vigo protested.
"M-Mother? Y-You want us to return a sword?"
"Are you dissatisfied? You should be glad it's only one sword. I personally would've preferred confiscating all the invaluable swords you two took from the clan's armory, so be grateful I didn't do that."
The brothers couldn't say anything in return and lowered their heads. Ran and Vigo felt like they were being framed for a crime they hadn't committed, and obviously enough, their frustration and anger diverted to Jin.
'Our family is so messed up. Things are getting troublesome.'
Jin discreetly clicked his tongue and thought to himself.
Rosa Runcandel.
Was she truly rebuking the flag-bearers out of love for Jin?
Jin was certain that it wasn't the case.
'Mother… wants me to clash with my siblings far more fiercely and violently. She purposefully summoned Elder Sister Luntia and Elder Brothers Ran and Vigo—even though they're unrelated to this incident—in order to have them develop animosity towards me.'
Correct.
Rosa had summoned three other flag-bearers in addition to Myu and Anne in order to test Jin.
To be more precise, she was testing every single child in this room.
She wanted to see how far she could push her children, and whether they'd persistently try to tear each other apart.
'I wonder how the youngest will pull through this situation. He's a smart boy, so I'm sure he won't act conceited from here on out just because he thinks I'm favouring him… So what will he do?'
Rosa asked herself. She was excited and curious, but made sure to maintain the furious expression on her face.
Would he pretend to defend his siblings and tell her to punish him instead?
If he simply stood there with a content smile for having his mother on his side, then that was the end of it. While Jin was a rare genius for reaching 5-star at 15 years old, if that was the extent of his reaction and intelligence, then Rosa was planning on erasing all her interest in her youngest son immediately.
Needless to say, even if she were disappointed, he would still be her beloved youngest son. He would just be eliminated from the list of candidates for the succession.
If Jin did nothing when she gave him an advantage, Rosa would judge that he wasn't suited to lead the Runcandel clan.
"Mother."
"Speak freely, Jin."
Rosa spoke in a low tone, hiding her excitement.
"I quite like the mission Elder Sisters assigned to me."
"Do you even know where the Kollon Ruins are?"
Rosa sneered.
"Yes. It's in Zipfel territory, and the Runcandels once tried to invade and capture it, but failed to do so. It happened long before I was born, though."
"So you are aware. Back then, Elder Tellot went to battle with thirty guardian knights but faced a predicament. It's now a tourist spot, but the Zipfels are still greatly involved with it. You won't be able to do anything even if you go there."
The mission that was assigned to Jin was 'theft'.
He had to steal some of the ancient relics the Zipfels were excavating from the Kollon Ruins. Jin hadn't checked the list of items he had to steal yet, but there were probably at least three relics on it.
"We can't verify that if I don't head there. While it's a dangerous place, I do not believe it's an unreasonable mission. Don't you think Elder Sisters assigned this mission to me as they believed I was skilled enough for it?"
"What reckless bravado. That, or you're trying to test your mother."
Reckless bravado.
It wasn't a bad reaction, but it wasn't what Rosa was hoping for.
"Moreover, if we suddenly change the issuing of the mission, we will be showing our clansmen how lax and careless our clan's system is."
"No clansmen would question the Runcandels just because of something like that. Your sisters were simply trying to harm you. And since they couldn't attack you physically, they took advantage of their authority as flag-bearers."
"That is exactly what I mean, Mother."
Jin grinned brightly.
"I do not plan on backing away from this fight. If I were to duel Elder Sisters right here, right now, I will definitely lose miserably. However, if I successfully accomplish my mission, I would be able to deal them a powerful blow."
Rosa's eyes glittered.
"In other words, I have a slight chance of winning this fight. I know it would be wiser for me to back away now, develop my strength, and defeat them in a duel in a few years… But I simply cannot wait that long, as Elder Sisters are getting on my nerves."
"You could easily die at the Kollon Ruins with the smallest of mistakes. Are you really confident in yourself?"
"Yes. And if I return successfully from the mission, I'd like to be awarded the swords that were confiscated from Elder Brothers. Since you judged this mission to be extremely dangerous, Mother, I wish to be rewarded according to the amount of risk I took."
""What was that?""
Ran and Vigo spontaneously glared at Jin, whereas Rosa hid her delighted smile.
The youngest was provoking his older siblings just as she had hoped for, as if he had read her mind.
"Brother, why are you saying you'd like to take the swords we're returning—"
"Good. I'll allow it."
Rosa interrupted Vigo's remark.
Nevertheless, Ran sighed deeply before giving a piece of his own mind.
"If you desire to gain some top-notch swords, I can simply give you one of the weapons I own. But give up on this mission. Your achievements have spread around the world already, so you must remain alive until father returns to the Garden."
If Cyron returned to the Garden of Swords in one month and Jin wasn't present, then all the guests who came to visit the Runcandel Clan would be disappointed.
Thus, people would raise suspicions and say that the 5-star 15-year-old knight was a false rumour started by the Runcandels. Some would even believe that the clan tried to cover up the false rumour by saying the child had died on a mission right before the visit.
Ran acted as if he were worried about this outcome, but Jin tilted his head in confusion.
"You're being hypocritical, Elder Brother Ran. If that were such an important problem you were wary of, you should've stopped Elder Sisters from assigning this mission to me in the first place."
Ran was pretending to be generous and kind-hearted, but Jin didn't buy it. Ran and Vigo hadn't opposed Myu and Anne when they decided to assign the Kollon Ruins mission to Jin.
Jin could see that Ran was blatantly acting broad-minded in order to gain their mother's approval.
"Hahaha… That must be quite humiliating, Ran. You should've stayed silent like your elder sister instead."
Ran couldn't stop his ears from turning bright red as their mother laughed.
"I'm quite curious to know whether the youngest will be able to steal his brothers' swords now. I'll be watching carefully to see whether it was just an empty provocation, or whether he'll be able to make it a reality. You may all take your leave now."
Once all her children left the room, Rosa propped her chin on her hand.
'…I trampled on the others' pride so that the youngest doesn't turn out like Luna, but it seems that was unnecessary.'
The youngest seemed to be famished for conflict. Today, it was a verbal battle and not a physical one, but he had completely dominated the flow of the conversation, overwhelming his siblings who were several years older than him.
'Cyron will be happy to see the youngest's growth so far when he's back.'
Of course, such a thing wouldn't happen if Jin didn't return alive from the Kollon Ruins.
As soon as they exited the building, Ran and Vigo immediately returned to their rooms. Luntia hesitated to talk with the youngest for a bit, but simply returned to her room as if she couldn't be bothered to do so.
"Do you actually think you'll be so lucky this time around as well?"
Myu spoke up without even looking her brother in the eyes. She and Anne were standing against the wall, waiting for him to come out.
"Who knows? Elder Sisters might not know this well, but I'm actually pretty unlucky in life."
"This is the last time you'll ever act so easygoing. The mission isn't a solo mission. You won't be feeling so lonely on your way to your destination."
"Haha, thank you for your concern, Elder Sisters. Well then, I shall see you another time."
The two women glared at the boy's back as he strided away until he disappeared from their sights.
***