Chapter 17: Clash
Sian finished eating at ‘Karac’s Horn,’ located further out from El-Lua Road on his way to his patrol. That was when a red signal fire soared up into the sky.
‘Huh? Red signal fire?’
The Guarran-Tias patrolled alone to take care of the small incidents on the roads. However, when something big came up that could not be handled alone, the signal fires would be used.
Red and blue signal fires.
A red signal fire was used to gather all Guarran-Tias within sight of it. It usually meant that the incident involved powerful individuals.
A blue signal was to request help from the Knight Guards. Unlike the 1st and 2nd, the 3rd Knight Guards were able to leave the Palace to help with city peacekeeping.
The red signal fire meant the incident was an emergency and immediate a.s.sistance was needed at the scene. Sian swallowed down the dessert he was snacking on and started running.
“b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
“Come at me, you Narsha dog!”
It was a mess. Men from the two factions got into a fight while eating at the same restaurant. One of the building walls was crushed, and the fight had now leaked out onto the street.
It looked like Sian was the first one to arrive as there was only one Guarran-Tia escorting citizens away from the fight. Sian sighed. The fools didn’t seem to realize that fights did not have to be so vulgar. As he felt from Celine’s case, these people seemed eager to destroy and plunder.
It was a rule for the Guarran-Tias to wait for backup to arrive in the case of a red signal fire. However, any more damage would be severely problematic to the restaurant owner, who was already looking pale at the side.
Sian decided to handle the issue on his own and took out his sword without unsheathing it.
“Hey! Wait!”
The Guarran-Tia called out to him, but Sian ignored him as he began swinging his sword toward the back of each person’s head that was fighting.
They began to fall unconscious, one by one. A few tried to fight back as they started to realize what was happening, but it was too late.
“It’s clear now. I’m going back to my patrol in El-Lua.”
“Oh, uhm. Good work, Sian.”
The Guarran-Tia answered in awe as he searched for a yellow signal fire to indicate that everything had been taken care of. He looked up to the sky and stopped.
“What is going on…?”
Sian turned toward the sky at the question and frowned.
The sky was filled with blue signal fires from all over.
“This is crazy. Is it over now?”
“Yes, Madame Celine.”
Celine thought that it was the worst day of her duties.
Six blue and thirty-nine red signal fires.
That was the number of Guarran-Tia signals in just one day.
Celine even suspected an uprising had happened when she looked at the sky. It was the first time she had seen such a large number of signal fires.
The damage report she received showed that it was much worse.
“28 buildings damaged, 7 arsons, 132 wounded civilians, 3 dead, 35 Guarran-Tia wounded, 4 Knight Guards wounded. Estimated loss and damages of 983,000 gold… what in the world is happening?”
This was too much.
The budget meeting that was held the day before had ended in chaos as the n.o.ble and Royalist factions opposed each other fiercely. She had expected something to start, but she didn’t expect it to be so soon.
“But the number of Guarran-Tia casualties is lower than expected. None dead either,” the lieutenant explained, and Celine thought of Sian. She remembered Rian’s reminder when she was lost as to what to tackle first.
‘Don’t worry about the red ones and go for the blues… the reds will be taken care of… was it?’
She couldn’t remember much of what Rian had said as she was concentrating on the matters at hand. However, as she thought about it now, it seemed that it wasn’t just to let her concentrate on her own work.
Captain Rian must’ve known that the red signal fires would be solved easily and he also knew his brother would be the one to do it.
‘I can’t be sure, but he sure is a strong warrior.’
Celine did not think he was strong because of his looks, but the circ.u.mstances proved otherwise. It was her job to place the right individual in the right place for better distribution of workloads. She had the right to command the Guarran-Tia in states of emergency to keep the peace, and this was one of those times.
Celine grinned as it was a good chance to repay her debt from before. Sharlotte had informed her that he was very lazy, so it would be a good present.
‘Hehe… I look forward to working with you.’
“What’s this?” Sian asked the operating officer of the Guarran-Tia as he looked at the notice that was delivered to him.
“It’s a help request to you from the 3rd Knight Guards.”
Sian turned to the notice and began reading it.
“Was this request sent to the others as well?”
“No, just to you. We did think it was weird…”
The officer shook his head and answered that he did not know the details.
Sian asked himself if it might be his brother that requested this. However, it seemed unlikely. He thought about it, but he could not see the reason and dismissed it from his mind. He decided to accept since he loved this job and didn’t want to lose it. Refusing this request seemed like a bad idea.
Besides, he thought the incidents like yesterday was an abnormality and would not happen again.
He was not tempted for additional payments for the job.
He signed the paper, agreeing to help when needed.
‘DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!’
He had made the wrong choice. He cursed himself on the wrong decision he made weeks ago as he ran toward the blue signal fire. The capital was overrun with problems. The city was in so much chaos that problems began spreading to the outer perimeter of the capital, and the Guarran-Tia were all dispatched, leaving the 3rd Knight Guards to defend the inner capital.
Sian was supposed to follow the other Guarran-Tias out to the outer capital, but because he signed the paper, his patrol area was now three times larger, and he had to support all the blue signal fires.
“Why don’t you think of the bright side? You are helping your brother, Captain Rian, after all.” Celine spoke with a tired face as she ran beside Sian. She requested Sian to help to tease him, but it proved that she had made a fantastic choice as time went by.
She had only worked with him for a few days, but one thing was certain. ‘This guy is too strong.’
He did not look strong. He moved like he always did, even when he fought. There was no excessive force or emotional outburst. He just swung once, every time.
That was the chilling part.
Just like how a lumberjack swung his axe, Sian swung his sword naturally. There was nothing wasted, and no one who could evade his attack either. It took him just one swing per person to quell the situation.
‘This world is unfair.’
Celine could not stop herself from thinking that way, that he could be so powerful without any training.
Sian was already working once they got to the scene and Celine jumped in as well, thinking she should work hard to keep up.
Kial, the second son of Baron Gnon, loved the current situation at the capital.
He had never been blessed with a lavish ceremonial as his family was small. However, he had talent. He trained hard using Bander and was appointed by Marquis Narasha to be trained in sword fighting and to use the Marquis’ Bander-Roa. After training beside Lennon, he loved everything of the life under Marquis Narasha, except for one thing.
Battle.
The capital was too peaceful. He knew that he could not cause trouble as it would damage Marquis Narasha’s reputation, but it made him feel depressed. Sparring wasn’t enough to satisfy his hunger for battle.
The reason he applied to be a Guard at the Great North Wall wasn’t because of fame, the aim to become a Master, or Talic Stones.
All he wanted was to sate his hunger.
He loved the life at the wall, but he also wanted to return and repay the grace that Marquis Narasha had bestowed upon him. He readied himself for a boring life in the capital, but things were different now. When he heard from Marquis Narasha a few days ago, he could not believe it.
‘Destroy everything. Start a fight, taunt the enemies, and destroy them.’
That was the signal. His friends were creating a ruckus in all other parts of the capital.
He had no interest in picking fights with the weaker ones like the others. He wanted to fight a strong warrior. That’s why he came to fight Karan from Count Kravel. The other five stronger individuals had a chance to ignore his taunts, but this man was sure to react.
And he did.
“YOU b.a.s.t.a.r.d! How dare a Narasha dog like you belittle me! I’ve hated you since the Wall. I’ll kill you!”
And the fight started. Buildings were destroyed, and everything was thrown upside-down. A Master-rank Bander’s sword was unstoppable.
A Guarran-Tia lit a blue signal fire, but he did not think there was anyone powerful enough to stop them. It seemed he could fight until that Captain from the 3rd Knight Guard arrived.
Kial was excited at the thought. He dodged Karan’s sword and jumped at him.
THUD
That’s when a cracking sound was heard, and Karan fell.
Kial stopped, confused from the sound and the fact that Karan that had fallen. Then, he also felt a sharp jolt at the back of his head as he lost his vision.
“Wh…what…”
He fought hard to keep his conscious when he heard a voice, “Oh my, these misters destroyed so much. Why are they so unsophisticated? Aren’t these n.o.bles? Why can’t they fight with some manners? Gosh.”
That was the last thing Kial heard before he fell unconscious.