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***
While Joshua fell, the ceremony honoring the Black Knight Jane was solemnly conducted.
The servants held a long silent prayer outside the mausoleum with mourning flowers in their hands, and Guardian knights, holding their swords upside down, formed a path leading to the mausoleum.
Rosa held Jane's black helmet like a portrait, and Murakan stood next to her.
Black knights, flagbearers, elders, clan scribes, and guardian knights followed behind. All were dressed in black uniforms and mourning attire.
Past the swords densely planted in the courtyard, to the deepest part. Even before the procession entered the mausoleum, it exuded a thick smell of iron, like the scent of blood.
The black sword flag slowly fluttered in the cold wind of the mausoleum. The sound spread through the stones inside like a mournful cry, yet there was no one truly weeping.
Those qualified to weep swallowed their tears, while those who couldn't stifled their emotions. Only the black helmet occasionally sparkled in the darkness.
This was a special place prepared for those who had faithfully protected the clan to the end.
For the Black Knights, the mausoleum could be said to be the final point of their pilgrimage. Unless they committed treason, they were destined to be buried here.
The mausoleum became darker as it deepened.
And the procession gradually became smaller. The clan members, including scribes and butlers, stopped walking at the entrance, and elders stood tall in the middle.
The ones left in the procession until the end were Rosa, the Black Knights, the flagbearers and Murakan. Only their outlines were visible as they reached the end.
Thud...
Rosa placed Jane's helmet on the specially prepared stone coffin.
"Even if the day comes when the Garden of Swords is crumbled to pieces, scattered by the wind, and the world even forgets the name Runcandel. Your loyalty and glory will never leave this place."
Murakan created a mourning flower with shadow force and placed it in front of Jane's black helmet.
"Thank you, Jane."
The stone coffin closed, and the procession emerged from the mausoleum after a while. When leaving, the order was reversed from when entering, and those who had been waiting at the front rejoined the procession.
The procession finally exited the mausoleum, and knights who had been waiting raised mourning flags throughout the Garden of Swords.
Thus, the ceremony to lay Jane's soul to rest in the mausoleum, which had continued from early dawn to noon, came to an end.
Originally, the burial in the mausoleum would take more than a week, but Rosa and the flagbearers held it in an informal manner considering the various circumstances of the clan.
Factors such as the absence of the dead body, the recent significant battle, and the fact that Joshua, the next patriarch of the clan, was imprisoned.
In the Garden of Swords, a more turbulent and sinking current flowed than ever before.
"It feels awkward..."
"Yeah, it does."
Daytona and Haytona. The two of them took shelter under the eaves of the outhouse to avoid the suddenly pouring rain and smoked cigarettes.
Some of the flagbearers naturally gathered there. It wasn't to avoid the rain or because of the Tona brothers.
Because beyond the eaves, a woman was kneeling in front of Joshua's private quarters. She was Ilina Runcandel, whom the siblings knew as Joshua's wife.
She was recognized as Joshua's wife, but she had no real authority, and her position within the clan had become ambiguous, preventing her from participating in the ceremony honoring Jane.
People thought that the reason she came outside the private quarters and knelt down was not to honor Jane in this way, but to make some kind of plea, perhaps begging for releasing her husband.
"I understand her sentiment, but it might have been better to just stay inside."
Ran shrugged his shoulders and spoke. Vigo nodded.
"There must be a reason why Mother chose to leave her in that state. Leave her alone, she'll quit when she knows it is of no use and she might end up dying like that."
Diphus thought that Rosa's not stopping Ilina's actions was ultimately because it provided even the slightest justification for Joshua's reinstatement.
And the two who knew her identity, Myu and Anne, had indifferent expressions.
Jin was focusing more on Myu and Anne rather than Ilina.
'Their demeanor has strangely changed...'
If they were Myu and Anne he knew.
Naturally, they should be showing signs of anxiety because they couldn't be certain that Joshua would be reinstated again just like him and Diphus.
'Did Mother inform Myu and Anne about the fact that Joshua might be reinstated again? No, Mother wouldn't need the help of them or others.'
Now, it didn't feel like Myu and Anne had any hidden power or will, but for some reason, he didn't feel good about it.
'Are they just determined, or is there something else?'
It felt like looking at someone other than Myu and Anne.
"Ran and Vigo orabeoni. Let's talk."
"Us?"
"Yes."
"About what?"
"Is it going to end like this? Even the lower flagbearers need to come together and take charge of a faction within the clan. Otherwise, we will be purged if someone else takes the throne later."
Myu spoke without hesitation, even though Jin and Diphus were listening.
"Myu, Anne. Who says someone will kill you? No matter which of the remaining top flagbearers takes the throne, I don't think that would happen."
"If the youngest takes the throne, it feels like our heads will roll that day, Diphus orabeoni."
"Oh, you might end up dead by the hand of Mary if you keep acting crocky like that. The clan is in this state, and you're still only worried about your own survival? Do your duties in your positions. When are you going to become a responsible person?"
Upon hearing that, Myu and Anne let out a bitter laugh.
"...It seems like becoming a person is a lost cause now."
"Ran and Vigo orabeoni, if you have the intention to talk, feel free to come to my room anytime."
After Myu and Anne left, Petro sought out Jin.
"Young Master, the acting matriarch is looking for you."
Then Diphus nodded as if he knew what was coming.
"Take care, Jin."
"Yes, elder brother."
The reason Jin and Diphus showed this reaction was none other than the fact that Jin hadn't yet handed over some battleship's blueprints and machinery obtained from the 2nd Magic tower vault to Rosa.
Jin followed Petro. Rosa was waiting for him in the central training ground. The training ground had not yet been completely restored after Jin's patriarchy declaration.
The rain stopped on the way.
"Have you come?"
"Yes, acting matriarch."
For a moment the mother and son looked at each other in silence.
"Last night, the prophet sent a message to me."
Rosa spoke about her first, not the blueprints and machine.
'A message? Wasn't Mother in direct contact with the prophet?'
-Mother will never give up the power of the Prophet. The reason she brought down Joshua this time... might be a warning to the Prophet. It is quite possible if the relationship between the mother and the prophet is not as close as that of Joshua.
-So what you're saying is, Mother plans to bind the Prophet, and later blame everything on her and reinstate Joshua?
A conversation Jin had with Diphus not long ago.
As Jin suspected at that time, Rosa had never directly communicated with the prophet. They had met before, but she still didn't know Ilina's true identity.
It wasn't because Rosa lacked the ability; it was simply because the prophet's divine power was that exceptional.
"What was the message?"
"She claims to have the ability to interpret and perfect the unfinished blueprints to create a fleet."
Jin hadn't handed over the items yet, but during the report, he informed Rosa that the blueprints were encrypted with magic codes, making them impossible to decipher with Runcandel's current technological capabilities.
It is natural that, unlike general blueprints, mass-produced battleship's blueprints cannot be deciphered or copied by anyone.
And it was impossible to even guess the use and identity of the obtained 'machine.'
"She also mentioned that she knows the purpose of the 'machine.' She says it's an item that can change the course of the future war...…."
"Acting matriarch."
"Speak."
"Do you know what the catalyst for the power of the Prophet is?"
"Living humans."
Rosa's voice held no remorse or shame.
"The infiltration tunnels and spells used in this mission, and the information related to the key of the 2nd Magic tower were all obtained by the prophet using humans as materials. She used prisoners of Rikalton."
It was the tower of living beings that Dox had seen in Rikalton.
The Prophet used those humans as material for Joshua's Sota Desert mission.
"I sent one of the clan's Black Knights to Rikalton. However, he did not return even after the deadline passed, and when I personally went there, all that remained were the bones of at least ten thousand estimated humans. Perhaps the bones of innocent ones were mixed in as well."
Jin had also sent Dox to the same place, and he still hadn't received any report from him.
And when Dox was in imminent danger of death, it was a Black Knight sent by Rosa who came to his aid.
"The Black Knight has not returned yet?"
"Yes."
"You already knew that the Prophet used humans, so why did you send the Black Knight to Rikalton? What were you trying to confirm? Did you rule out the possibility of the Prophet harming the Black Knight?"
"I don't have to answer all your questions. I didn't call you here to explain everything. If you don't like my judgment and actions, prove me wrong and move forward. You sound so uncharacteristic of yourself. If I seem despicable to you, that only proves that you're afraid of me."
Jin calmed his boiling blood.
As Rosa said, she was not in a position where she had to answer all of Jin's questions.
"Originally, I planned to use those items with the help of the Prophet."
If Joshua had shown signs of awakening, Rosa would have handed over the blueprints and the machine to the Prophet without hesitation.
She did not entirely trust the Prophet, but she was confident that all her actions revolved around 'Joshua Runcandel.'
If anyone who had faced the Prophet's absolute prophecy even once, they would inevitably be convinced.
"But this time, I changed my mind when I suspended Joshua from his position as a flagbearer. I will postpone negotiations with the Prophet. During that period, prove to me that you have a method superior to the Prophet's."
Hister.
And Hister's record magic.
When the constant mission to find 'Arya Aulhart' was given to the flagbearer, as Joshua foresaw, Rosa already thought that Jin was in contact with the survivor of Hister.
"If I fail, you will... hand them over to the Prophet. Is that what you're saying, acting matriarch?"
"That's right."
"Even if I fail, those things will not go to the Prophet. Acting matriarch."
"If you fail and don't hand them over to the clan, I will take them by force."
"What the family seeks is dominance not immorality. Positively accepting and using the Prophet's power is an act that goes far beyond the line. You speak as if you're affected by some kind of curse or something."
"You must have learned a lot about enemies in the Sota Desert. Yet you talk like a spoiled child. Listen well, Jin Runcandel, my youngest son."
To me, the survival and prosperity of Runcandel are values more important than anything else.
Nothing can surpass those values.
"Even if tens of billions of humans die in the process of realizing that, even if the world is destroyed in the desolate struggle, and what remains within it is just a few members of Runcandel. It doesn't matter to me."
"If that's the case, then what I have to do is to destroy you as always, Mother."
"I'm not looking forward to it."
Jin turned and left the training ground.
Rosa stood alone in the training ground for a long time even after Jin left.