Wolves of Hader

Chapter 43

The three siblings gathered in the castle's living room.

It was now time to decide on a successor.

I spoke up first.

"Who do you think should inherit the title?"

"Of course, Ross should."

"Then that's settled. Elder Brother, accept the title."

Ross's expression was indifferent.

"Can't we just live as we are? If we go to the imperial family, it'll be like announcing the revival of our house."

"Yeah. The imperial family's not interested in this fortress anyway, right? Just like the past four years, everyone believes we're dead, so no one will care."

I shook my head at their words.

"We can't hide it anymore."

"Because the east army staff officer visited?"

"Yeah. When they report delivering the imperial edict, they'll probably include a few lines about our fortress's current state. It's possible the Syren family sent the edict too."

"That could be."

I continued speaking.

"Even if it's not that, if our business grows, we won't be able to hide anymore. We now have to start business under our house's name, and without a title, it'll put us at a disadvantage."

"Can't we just use the merchant guild?"

"The business itself is fine, but outside private land, you can't hold territory or raise troops."

"Ah!"

Ordinary merchant guilds can't raise a military force. The fortress could even be confiscated.

"It's simply a matter of going to the imperial family and having the succession of the title recognized. We're no longer a ruined house, and we don't have any reason to fear the Syren family anymore."

Rozie and Ross nodded.

They still hadn't felt the weight of our house's power. That's likely why they're cautious first.

"Roger, are you not considering the succession at all?"

"I need to focus on business. I don't have the leeway to worry about running the house as well. You're the oldest, so the title should go to you."

Worry clouded Ross's face.

He truly seemed to find the position of head of house burdensome.

"I'll find an excellent steward. You just manage things overall and consult the steward on important matters. As you learn and manage that way, sooner or later, you'll naturally become a reliable head of house."

"Will I really be able to do it?"

"There's nothing you can't do."

Rozie chimed in.

"Yeah. Ross should do it. But what if you can't inherit the title? Will we lose the fortress?"

"We'll inherit it no matter what. Don't worry. The Emperor's birthday is in two months, so there's more than enough time to get everything ready."

I always kept the worst-case scenario in mind. I had no intention of abandoning this fortress and starting over, even if it meant going to war with the imperial army.

The key is the Emperor. Is the Emperor just an incompetent human, or is there something more we don't know? Much depends on that.

/ / /

About fifty days quickly passed.

Life continued in a daily routine.

The same for me as for the soldiers.

I was now an undisputed Berserker.

I had raised all eight Berserker skills to the highest tier and even created my own ultimate technique.

It wasn't as flashy as the guildmaster's ultimate technique, though.

For Buffer skills, I'd maxed the six most important ones.

The Buffer's ultimate skill is an area-of-effect one, and as soon as I get the ingredients, I'll achieve it.

Those ingredients are in the south of Beltern, so it would take some time.

As for my elite Berserkers, only three of their eight skills had reached the highest tier.

Unless a person's magic power pathways open up to a certain degree, no matter how much magic power is supplied, it won't become their own.

In contrast, for me, every magic power pathway except those in my head had opened.

Even the guildmaster hadn't opened the pathways in the head, so I have no idea what will happen if those open.

Donnie was somewhere between me and the elites, and Russell was similar to him.

Most of the soldiers had raised their six basic skills to the top tier. From intermediate-rank skills onward, it was now up to them.

That's why a knighting ceremony was taking place. An exclusive ceremony for our house. Soldiers lined up in the barracks and entered headquarters one by one.

Each soldier entered and saluted before me, Ross, and Russell, now promoted to knight order commander, then dropped to one knee.

"I, Lonso Malco, as a knight of House Hader, will raise my sword for the honor of the Hader house and will keep this oath with my life. Whatever happens, I swear with this blood signature never to break a knight's vow. Loyalty to the head of house. Glory to the house."

"Rise."

Ross picked up a ring.

"I, Ross Hader, as acting head of House Hader, hereby name Lonso Malco a knight of House Hader. This ring is proof you are a knight of House Hader; keep it always."

Ross handed the ring to the new knight and hung a medallion engraved with a black wolf around his neck.

On the way out, Russell and the eleven captains lined up and handed equipment to the new knight one by one.

Of course, knighting a soldier without battle experience is preposterous, but their skills outstrip most ordinary knights, and they all now possess magic power.

We couldn't treat them as mere soldiers.

These titles only carried weight within our house, but the pay was knight rank, and in the east, they'd be treated as knights.

After all the training, I'd hate for them to end up as mercenaries somewhere else.

In any case, the Hader house's knight order was born. Total headcount: eighty, an order known as the Black Wolf Knights.

Thirty-five Warriors wielding swords and hammers.

Thirty Defenders with spears and shields.

Ten Archers using Flaming Bows.

Five Buffers with musical instruments.

On top of that, there are four guardian knights.

The remaining thirty-five are all members of the special forces. My seven elite Berserkers are also in the special forces.

They'd all survived vicious battles and hardships in the south and mastered their mental discipline.

They'd become so hardened that there was a sense of ease about them—a truly elite special unit.

The knight order commander was Russell.

The deputy-commander and each squad leader were soldiers who'd been with our house since the western territory days.

The special forces were divided into two squads.

The intelligence squad and the strike squad.

The intelligence squad handled intelligence and information.

The strike squad was responsible for striking and recon.

These special forces were jointly led by Urald and Wundbark, and the siblings Bellen and Lok were part of the strike squad.

The intelligence squad consisted of those who'd passed a rigorous aptitude test and wore equipment that enhanced agility.

These soldiers had several assassin skills not found in other jobs.

Since returning from the south, the intelligence squad had been training in information gathering and intelligence at Mouk.

I'd heard that, when fighting the Tak tribe, they assassinated several squad leaders.

The strike squad was composed of those specializing in special operations.

Those who had enhanced strength made up the strike team, and those with improved speed were the recon team.

Each squad member had their own specialized equipment.

The strike squad was the one that had earned the most merit during the Tak tribe battles.

The strike team didn't lose out in head-to-head clashes with the Tak, while the recon team proved their worth through ambushes and sniping.

All members of the special forces, like my seven elite Berserkers, wore black armor and black cloaks.

These thirty-five had departed for the capital twenty days ago.

After the final knight was knighted, Ross slumped into a chair—the ceremony had lasted three hours, after all.

"Phew... Being head of house is tough."

"You did well. Get plenty of rest—we leave tomorrow."

"I'm nervous, having to go to the capital."

"Just think of it as a trip."

"Alright. You worked hard too."

"Yeah."

Ross left headquarters.

Russell approached.

"Soon we'll split the knight order into three for excursions with the miners. Just as you instructed—one location in the far east, two in the south."

"There are probably Tak tribesmen in the south seeking revenge. Be careful."

"You've heard about the southern expedition training."

"Yes. I can't even imagine how the fighting was, but I trust you handled everything well, Russell."

Russell nodded.

"I'm proud of my knights. We'll do anything for the house, but we'll never harm the innocent."

I nodded in return.

I really am proud of Russell.

"We're finally expanding into the south."

At my words, Russell only smiled faintly; there was a serious air about it.

"In truth, I wasn't going to say this, but the special forces unit that left ahead will have to prove their skills against humans."

"Against humans?"

"Yes. According to Wundbark, there's a vicious bandit gang at the Munden Mine in the central region that kidnaps women and children. Our people will pass through that mine on the way to the capital."

"People aren't the same as the Tak tribe..."

"I know you value human life. But I also trained them to be mentally strong. Those who deserve death must die, so innocent lives are spared. They'll be different now."

I could only nod.

The blood of Tak warriors and humans is fundamentally different.

It might normally be a matter for time to solve, but Russell was accelerating that process because of the trip to the capital.

Russell continued.

"Former pirates will join Merchant Goose's trade fleet to gain experience as sailors. On their return, they're to serve right away as crew of our own fleet."

"Is the conversion of the pirate ship going well?"

"They said it'll take about another month. Merchant Goose is supervising, so it'll be reborn as the first ship of our house."

"Yes. Please continue looking after the house's affairs."

"Of course—it's my duty."

Russell, with the best Defender skills. I don't know when he'll create a huge barrier, but just his presence is reassuring.

Russell alone could block a hundred men.

I headed back to the castle.

Tomorrow, Ross and I would leave for the capital.

The seven elite Berserkers had gone ahead with Donnie twenty days earlier.

/ / /

Clatter, clatter.

Clatter, clatter.

"Why are we coming this way?"

"There's something I wanted to check on."

Ross and I were riding a carriage headed for a mine entrance.

It had been six days since we left the fortress.

The carriage sped along the empire's main roads, but moving into the mountains had slowed us down.

We were at the outskirts of the Munden Mine, where the bandits were said to be.

Our special forces had passed through here.

There was quite a crowd at the mine entrance. We stopped the carriage and walked up.

Soldiers blocked the path, and a grisly scene came into view.

We pushed past the horrified villagers and went further in. In the village by the mine entrance, corpses were scattered everywhere.

Huddled families wept here and there, and bodies were hanging from trees throughout the village.

"Do not enter! Step back!"

"What happened here?"

"I don't know who, but someone slaughtered those atrocious lunatics. Thanks to them, the women and children who'd nearly been sold as slaves were reunited with their families."

Apparently, the weeping families were those people.

Not everyone had found their kin, it seemed; some women sat dazed in despair.

"Those bodies hanging from the trees—what are they?"

"The bandits' doing. They killed the families of those who came looking for missing children and hung them like that. Truly fiends deserving of death."

"Do you know who destroyed the bandit gang?"

"We don't. All that matters is that the villains are dead. Our lord, who'd suffered so much because of them, was overjoyed."

Some corpses were decapitated, most had shattered ribs.

Judging by the methods, it seemed our members had come through this bandit den.

Currently, berserkers carry large single-edged swords fitted with steel blades.

The steel greatsword is too heavy for practical use, so is not yet in play.

The Weight Reduction enchantment was only cast on my sword and Donnie's, as materials are scarce.

Just then, soldiers dragged a captured bandit out from within the mine.

The bandit's face was vacant as he was dragged. When he collapsed to the ground, the knight of the territory interrogated him.

"Who did this to your den?"

The bandit didn't answer.

"Speak!"

Smack—

After a slap, the bandit finally opened his mouth.

"T-they were demons."

"A demon's appeared, you say?"

"They weren't human."

The crowd erupted in a stir.

Maybe one of the demons from ancient times had appeared again, they wondered.

"They looked like demons?"

"Black faces... Giant swords."

"Black faces and giant swords?"

"Yes. Demons in human shape."

"They slaughtered you and vanished; if anything, they were knights sent by the gods, not demons."

"No! They are the real demons!"

"Take this man away! Men, sweep this area—track down any hiding remnants! If you find the knights responsible for this, a reward will be given!"

The soldiers scattered.

We headed back to the carriage.

Ross seemed to realize at last.

"So, it was Russell's doing."

"It's a type of trial."

"A perfect trial. I wouldn't feel guilty either, facing monsters like these."

It was a trial they'd all have to go through eventually—

A rite of passage across the threshold of blood.

To become true warriors.

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