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"Did you say he came with armed mercenaries to the Garden of Swords?"
"Yes. He has bought roughly over five hundred mercenaries."
"Five hundred mercenaries... he certainly has some nerve. It's almost insane. When did they arrive?"
"They arrived about three hours ago."
"The mercenaries wouldn't have been able to be hospitalized."
As Jin said, the only one who entered the Garden of Swords was Lata Proch.
Lata and the Ghost mercenaries had been in the Sword Emperor Castle until just a while ago. In other words, Lata came straight to the Garden of Swords as soon as he left the Sword Emperor Castle.
Of course, Runcandel couldn't welcome them since he had come without any prior notice with such a large army.
'At least, they avoided the worst case scenario since they are host mercenaries.'
If any mediocre mercenary group had made such an unexpected visit with that size, Runcandel would have wiped them out from the face of earth.
The Ghost mercenaries are one of the more prominent neutral factions, and their base, the Ghost Castle, served as a meeting ground for major factions, and because of this they get away with such a breach of etiquette.
"Yes."
"That nasty-eyed bastard probably came to you because of his younger sister, but why did he bring five hundred subordinates? Does that mean he wants to intimidate us with these cute threats?"
"I don't know why he brought his subordinates either. We'll find out when I meet him."
The group began to move, and the cheers from the crowd grew louder.
A group of boys and girls who were shouting Murakan's name at the top of their lungs was particularly impressive, and Gilly gently pushed Murakan's back to ensure that he wouldn't disappoint his young fans.
"They're young fans, so please shake hands with them, Lord Murakan."
"Strawberry pie, if you wish, then... ."
The most shocking part came when Murakan smiled at them, and suddenly people among the group of boys and girls fainted one after another.
"My goodness, I thought only Enya was capable of that."
"I don't think Enya has ever fainted."
They left the transfer gate and climbed onto the steel wagon.
The red evening sunset embraced the entire city warmly, but Jin had a nagging feeling that something tiring was about to happen and shook his head.
Jin suddenly stopped the carriage while they were making their way toward the Garden of Swords.
"Wait a moment."
He stopped because he saw Lata's subordinates standing idly at the entrance to the Garden of Swords.
Even though there were more than five hundred of them, they simply stood amidst the bushes. It was unthinkable for them to set up tents on Runcandel's territory, especially near the Garden of the Sword.
However, there was no place for them to sit or rest, and there were no inns to accommodate the sudden arrival of five hundred mercenaries.
So, Lata's subordinates had no choice but to stand there as if they were trees, thinking they might as well be.
Jin stuck his head out of the carriage, and all the mercenaries' eyes turned towards him.
"Follow me."
The carriage once again start moving after Jin said that, and Lata's subordinates exchanged glances for a moment before quietly following behind.
"12th flagbearer is hospitalized!"
The gate's bars were lifted, and the guardian knights patrolling inside saluted.
'The enforcement knights brandished their swords at me when I returned last time.'
It was the day when the patriarchy declaration was made. Even if it wasn't that day, Jin hardly had any memories of being welcomed back from his days as a reserve flagbearer.
It is safe to say that there was no one to welcome him except Gilly and Petro.
Whether they were his siblings or elders, someone always showed hostility and murderous intent, and every one of them was a formidable adversary(outwardly).
But today was different.
10% of 1st Division Guardian Knights, a very small number of enforcement knights and elders.
In other words, it was a force that was slightly less than 10% of the total strength of Runcandel, but now there were knights welcoming back Jin.
"Thank you for your hard work, 12th flagbearer!"
"You are here, 12th flagbearer. Your name has been making quite a stir in the Garden of Swords all this time."
The knights and elders greeted Jin on his way, and he felt that he had finally returned to Runcandel as a flagbearer.
However, those who greeted him still seemed curious about the reason why he had brought the mercenaries waiting outside.
And Jin saw some people walking towards him with a crumpled face from the main house.
It was Myu and Anne.
"12th flagbearer."
"What on earth is this?"
Jin couldn't help but admire them in a way after seeing their sudden and confrontational expressions.
Were they foolish?
Or fearless?
One thing was for sure: they had a spirit that even Jin had to acknowledge.
Jin clearly showed the power gap between them during the patriarchy declaration, but it's evident that they are still fighting without regard to it.
Moreover, they were absolutely certain that the two of them together could 'never' defeat Jin even now, but their attitude remained unchanged.
"What were you thinking when you hospitalized these bugs?"
"Hah, even these bugs start disrespecting the Garden of Swords since you behave like this. Last time, didn't Kinselo's beasts audaciously come here looking for you? The clan's situation is beyond ridiculous. We can't even kick you out!"
Jin silently gazed at his sisters for a while, and then burst into laughter.
"Are you laughing?"
"I was almost disappointed, my sisters. I don't feel like I am home unless someone yells at me like this."
"What, what did you say?"
"This punk…."
"They are my guests. Just like me, they were staying in the Sword Emperor Castle because of the recent terror attack, so they couldn't notify the Garden of Swords about their visit in advance."
"What kind of guest brings over five hundred mercenaries without any prior notice?"
"Is that even a problem? Five hundred ghost mercenaries are no more than a threat equivalent to five hundred falling leaves in the Garden of Swords. In fact, Lata showed me respect by bringing as many subordinates as possible."
Jin continued to smile unlike his enraged sisters.
Their bizarre confrontation, or rather, a one-sided display of power by Jin, left the mercenaries who had followed him in awe.
'It's clear that the 12th flagbearer is more crazy than our leader, anyway. Can he do that to the higher-ranking flagbearers?'
'We can just wait outside and leave quietly when the leader comes out.'
'Our headquarters, the Ghost Castle, is quite respectable, but compared to this place, it's like dust, just dust.'
'But it feels like we're being somewhat ignored. I can't believe we are being compared with leaves…'
None of the mercenaries shouted that they were displeased by Jin's remark.
Instead, Myu and Anne continued to raise their voices.
"Falling leaves? Have you reached a new level of mediocrity to be talking like that? According to your words, didn't the Ghost leader show you respect, yet you're making statements that disregard them."
"I don't think it would be very rude to say this compared to the fact that they were waiting outside."
Anne took a step toward Jin, but Myu blocked her path.
"She can't do this. They're not just ridiculous now, but they even look cute. Anne wants to step forward, and Myu is trying to stop her. It's like they planned this in advance.'
Then, Myu and Anne continued to grind their teeth and spoke.
"Can you take responsibility?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, can you take responsibility if any problems arise because of the guests you brought here?"
"You're talking as if problems are bound to happen. Well, let's do that. I'll take responsibility."
Whoa!
Gilly heaved a sigh of relief when Myu and Anne turned away and walked.
She wasn't concerned about Jin.
"Phew, I was so nervous that the young master would cut down the young ladies."
"They are quite troublesome sisters, but there's no need to take care of them just yet."
"Your other sisters aren't like that, so I don't understand why only those two are so cheap. Kid, I'm going to enjoy some strawberry pie now, so you meet that nasty-eye alone."
Murakan looked at Gilly with sparkling eyes, but Gilly cleared her throat and avoided eye contact.
"No, Murakan. You have work to do."
"What?"
"Take care of the Ghost mercenaries and lead them to my personal training ground."
"What? Hey, kid. I am the mighty Black Dragon. Haven't you seen all those people praising me earlier? Can you really make me do such menial tasks? Huh?"
"And protect them."
"What? Why are you talking about protection all of a sudden?"
"There's a very high chance that the Ghost mercenaries will be attacked. Do you think my sisters just left without a reason? It's the perfect opportunity for them to give me a blow."
"What... You can't be serious, right? Doing something like that?"
"They can do anything. There's no harm in being careful. Want to make a bet? I'll bet that my sisters' knights will attack the mercenaries. If that's not the case, then why were they asking me to take the responsibility, right?"
The reason Jin insisted on taking the mercenaries to the training ground instead of the guest rooms or reception area was precisely that it would be much easier to protect them in the spacious training area.
Murakan frowned.
"Damn it, fine. I'll also bet. If I win, I get an absolute 15-day vacation to enjoy with strawberry pie. I'll order you to take the vacation even if you don't want to go. Got it?"
"I don't really need a vacation..."
"Deal."
"Kid, what are your conditions?"
"I don't have any conditions. I'm going to win anyway. Instead, take proper care to ensure that none of the mercenaries get injured."
"Don't give me any excuse later. Hehe, let's go! You mercenaries!"
Murakan led the mercenaries to the training ground while humming a tune. He was already overjoyed at the thought of enjoying 15 days of vacation with Gilly.
Jin couldn't help but laugh as he watched his departing figures, and Gilly offered an awkward smile.
"The Acting matriarch has stated that you can skip the report."
Petro said.
Rosa was still in the process of recovering from the injuries she sustained during the patriarchy declaration.
"Then I should meet with Lata immediately. He's in the reception room, right?"
"Yes, Young Master. Should I prepare a different room for you?"
"No, I'll just go meet him in person."
The spacious reception room was filled with guests. There were merchants for doing business with Runcandel, nobles, and mercenaries hired for missions, etc.
The most outstanding figure was undoubtedly Lata among them. He was exuding a heavy and sharp aura with his arms crossed.
He was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, and there were no people standing within about ten paces around him.
"Sir Lata."
Jin entered the reception room and called his name.
Lata slowly opened his eyes and…..
Stomp, stomp! He then quickly approached Jin with fast and threatening steps...
Swoosh!
He suddenly drew a short dagger from his waist when he was one step away from Jin.
This sudden gesture frightened the people around them and guardian knights.
"Stop...!"
The guardian knights shouted and threw themselves in front. It appeared as though Lata's dagger was moving toward Jin.
Shak-!
However, Lata's dagger didn't land on Jin's body.
Tuk
What fell to the floor with a dry sound was Lata's right index finger.