Chapter 45: Departure I
The moment Kazuto arrived at the dining hall, everything shifted. Kazan snapped into his best behavior, and Aira transformed into a chatterbox, regaling him with every detail of the slap saga that had just unfolded.
Kage noticed something amusing about the couple. When Kazuto reached the table, he didn’t demand his wife stand. He could have claimed the seat at the far end, but instead he chose one close to his wife—opposite Kage and beside Aira.
The man’s presence exerted a strange pressure on Kage. It was faintly suffocating, uncomfortable.
Kazuto was the first person caught in his weave of homicidal plans. His death had triggered the entire success of the Black Lotus War. Kage never knew him personally, but when Kazuto died, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it had happened too easily.
Now, watching the man with his family, he was still baffled by how easily Kazuto had fallen. Kage had woven three layers of contingency—plan A, plan B, and plan C—yet the damned heir succumbed to just plan A?
He’d thought Kazuto was the strongest. Sitting here now, he still felt that way, which only deepened his confusion.
But he wouldn’t be getting his answer anytime soon.
After the meal, he followed Kazuto to his office. The Patriarch’s first son wasn’t a mirror image of his father, but they shared something in common.
There was an air around both of them that felt... free. The only thing preventing Kage from wanting to sink into it was the animosity he harbored toward the clan.
Besides, he didn’t trust any of them. It could have been any one of them who’d ordered the assassination of his mother.
Kazuto’s office was vast and nestled at the peak of the fortress tower, overlooking the expanse of the Iron Gate and a considerable stretch of the Eastpass.
"I was briefed about your journey to the academy. I have to say, it was a little surprising to hear. But I also understand that if Father is letting you go, you must have proven yourself to him. Frankly, it doesn’t concern me."
He released a tired sigh.
"Even having to prepare an aircraft to take you all the way to Pearl Harbor is a drag on my time. I heard you sustained a serious injury and the examination had to be delayed on your behalf. Now you have to get there as soon as possible. On Father’s instruction, the aircraft is ready. Your total travel time will be thirty-five hours."
He picked up the locket watch from the table he was leaning against, flipped it open and inspected it with his steel-grey eyes, while his ashen hair flowed gently down his shoulders.
"You leave in forty minutes. In the meantime, feel at home."
That was all, and Kage was dismissed from his office.
[The Wolf of the North is worried on your behalf. He wonders why your supposed eldest brother is so cold to you]
’I’m disappointed you’re still asking me that sort of question at this point. Everyone who grew up in that clan basically learns to be as cold as metal. I don’t know what manner they were all brought up in, but the cost of strength carved into them was their emotions. And it’s beginning to reflect in the little boy.
’He looked to be around ten. At that age, the cold, pragmatic teaching of strength takes form as arrogance and disdain toward things lower than you.’
[The Wolf of the North shakes his head pitifully and says he has a bone to pick with whoever created the clan]
Kage smirked.
’But frankly speaking... I don’t see anything wrong with it. I appreciate the coldness. I think it’s hypocritical to berate it, and I think the only reason I’m berating it—if I am—is because I’m on the wrong end of the stick. I made peace with my powerlessness long ago and had to go through a difficult journey accepting the dark reality of my situation.’
Kage paused his thoughts as he descended the stairs.
’But then... their coldness, I believe, is normal. People like his wife and my mother are the strange ones in this kind of world.’
[The Wolf of the North looks at you with compassionate eyes]
’Don’t do that.’
[The Weaver of Sorrow sheds "a single tear" on your behalf and asks if you’d like to have it]
Kage gave a slightly disgusted frown just as he shut the door behind him.
"What am I supposed to do with your tear?"
[The Weaver of Sorrow says it will move you to tears]
"I’m not interested in crying..."
Kage entered his room and took the Scroll of Rejected Disciples. Then he collapsed onto the sofa, propped one leg on the armrest, and continued from where he’d stopped.
A few minutes later, there was a knock on his door. But this time it wasn’t the cute little turquoise pumpkin. It was a young man with lazy eyes and rough black hair, who held his helmet at his side.
"You’re ready for departure, Young Lord."
Afterward, Kage found his way to the Lady’s room and bid her farewell. He rubbed Aira on the head and pinched Kazan’s cheek before leaving.
He was certain that sometime in the future, he would see these two again. What he wasn’t certain about was whether or not he’d have to do something extremely bad to them.
’I wish it isn’t extreme, at the very least. Would be a bit sad to have to cut off Kazan’s hand.’
[The Wolf of the North looks at you with pale horror]
Kage was escorted out of the fortress, through the backyard of one of its towers that led them to an elevated dock where a massive, ornate sky vessel—shaped like the fusion of a warship and temple—waited for him.
There were other knights around as well. Workers lifted large crates onto their shoulders and walked toward the vessel, climbing the metal ramp that connected the elevated dock to the sky vessel.
Kage followed and ascended the aircraft. From here on, his next stop was Pearl Harbor, from which he would most likely proceed directly to the Academy, and the Examination would begin without any waste of time.