Establishing Authority

"I thought I was taking command of warriors. Now I see you're nothing but a heap of rotten meat waiting for the Dark Races to swallow you."

The entire camp erupted in unrest. Some men were furious at the insult; others squirmed because it had struck home.

A young knight flushed scarlet, his right hand tightening around his sword hilt. Hans, standing beside him, reached out to stop the hot-blooded young man.

Hans frowned up at Shien on the mound. An unease he could not explain rose in his chest, but he still sneered. "Let him talk. Let's hear what wisdom he has to offer."

On the mound, Shien ignored the clamor below.

His gaze passed over face after face, then fixed on several glaring red numbers above heads in the crowd.

The numbers had already been negative. After his words, they sank even lower.

"Several things have happened these past few days that I cannot tolerate," Shien continued.

"For instance, someone has been spreading the notion that instead of bleeding outside the wall, you'd be better off slipping away in the chaos. Run fast enough, duck inside the Great Wall, and no one can catch you. That sort of nonsense."

Hans's heart plunged. Those were the very words he had quietly steered several trusted men into spreading.

He had never truly intended to run. He only wanted the men to waver. Once they entered the Graymist Defense Zone, he could use their fear to seize control of the force and reduce this wet-behind-the-ears young lord to a figurehead.

But now the little brat had repeated those words as casually as could be. What was he after?

Worse, the men Shien's gaze swept over were almost all Hans's own confidants. A chill crept down his spine.

A coincidence... or...

Shien's lips curved slightly, and his tone grew colder. "Hah. What an astonishing thought, fit for vermin."

He suddenly raised his hand and pointed at the enormous Sacred Flame banner in the center of the camp. "Lift your heads and look at that banner!"

Firelight fell across the cloth, and the emblem of the Sacred Flame stirred in the night wind.

"You were invested under the Sacred Flame, which makes you Nightwatch. Under Church law, taking one step back makes you Heretics. Abandoning your territory is betraying the Sacred Flame! Betraying humanity!"

Where the light of the Blood Moon and the Sacred Flame crossed, the white-haired boy seemed almost holy.

In that moment, he was no longer a bastard cast aside as a pawn.

He had placed himself on the side of the Church's absolute authority. Even if the Pope stood before Shien now, he could not refute a word.

"A Long Night Lord who abandons his post, along with his followers, faces only one sentence under the laws of the Most Holy Church—death!

"The inquisitors of the Holy War Council will pin you deserters and your Lineages to the pillar of shame and burn you alive like so much refuse.

"And your souls will fall forever into Long Night, never to find shelter beneath the Sacred Flame."

As his words ended, Shien watched several red numbers plunge like stones over a cliff.

Found them. The corners of Shien's mouth lifted.

In the crowd, Hans could feel the bodies of several confidants beside him stiffening little by little.

Mad... The little bastard's gone mad! He's planning to purge the knights before we've even reached the Great Wall? Does he have a death wish?

Hans's throat went dry, and sweat broke out on his palms.

But a moment later, his mind raced. This was not as bad as he had imagined.

He had never said those things himself. He had only reminded his men to leave themselves a way to survive if they truly could not hold out.

Those foolish boys had spoken such treasonous words on their own initiative.

Even if a traitor had informed on them, there was nothing to pin on him.

Shien was only bluffing. He could not do anything to Hans, nor would he be able to. After all, he needed Hans—the captain of knights who had served on the Eternal Night Wall.

If someone really was exposed, Hans needed to work out how to cut ties and save himself. Or perhaps he could turn the scheme to his advantage, using his knights to put the young lord in his place and teach him not to be so arrogant...

But while Hans was still trying to sort through his thoughts, Shien gave him no time.

The boy turned, his gaze settling on the ring of Church Knights in gray-white cloaks.

They had kept their distance throughout, sitting apart from the secular knights like blades still in their sheaths.

"Brother Fabien." Shien gave the Church Knight at their head a slight nod. "Under Chapter Five of the Sacred Flame Wartime Disciplinary Code, anyone who spreads talk of desertion before battle and shakes the will of the Sacred Flame shall be warned through a fire offering."

The air around them went utterly still.

Fabien, captain of the Church Knights, froze for an instant.

He clearly had not expected a boy of only fourteen to cite Church law in public—much less give him an order.

He turned to that page of the code in his mind and found that the provision did indeed exist. Shien had quoted it word for word, without a trace of ambiguity.

The law was sound and the order justified. For a fanatical Church Knight, refusal was not an option.

"As you command, my lord." He stepped forward with a dull thud. The sound was not loud, yet the air throughout the camp seemed to turn cold.

Hans and the others fell into a panic. None of them had anticipated this move from Shien.

Shien's gaze moved slowly across the crowd. Amid the gray-white numbers in his vision, several patches of deep red flickered erratically.

"Moke."

The crowd stirred. The knight whose name had been called froze where he stood, then a Church Knight behind him pushed him forward.

"Thorne."

Another startled cry rang out, followed by a jumble of excuses. The Church Knights paid them no heed and dragged him straight out.

Like the King of Hell calling names from his register, Shien soon had several knights hauled from the ranks.

The camp grew noisy. Some men swore oaths; others hurried to shift the blame. The Church Knights listened to none of their explanations.

With their years of experience, one glance at a man's expression was enough to tell truth from lies.

"One last man." Shien's voice did not waver. "Hans Croft."

Hans went rigid.

Only moments before, he had been telling himself over and over that nothing would happen. Shien had no evidence, and he needed Hans. He could not move against him so easily.

So when Shien called "Hans Croft," it took him completely by surprise.

"I never said it!" Hans's mind went blank, leaving him to protest on instinct. "This is a frame-up! I'm a knight of Greywood. You can't—"

As the Church Knights closed in, he reached for his sword without thinking. His fingers had barely gripped the hilt and drawn an inch of gleaming steel when a Holy Silver Greatsword bore down from the side.

The blow was clean and decisive, its edge descending toward his shoulder.

Battle Aura had only just gathered within Hans when a denser surge of Battle Aura crushed it apart.

He stumbled back on instinct, trying to bleed off the force.

But the blade was already pressing down with him.

His knees slammed into the mud. The edge of his armor struck the ground with a heavy thud.

The shock ran up through his bones, leaving him unable to draw breath.

At the same time, another Church Knight seized Hans's shoulder armor from behind and forced him facedown.

His cheek pressed against the cold, wet earth. Mud seeped between his lips, and its rank smell filled his head.

Clenching his teeth, he struggled. He summoned his Battle Aura again, trying to drive himself up with the strength of his waist and abdomen.

It was no use. The weight on his back pinned him to the ground without yielding an inch.

"I never said it! Help me!" Hans managed to lift his head. His voice sounded painfully sharp in the night.

The crowd around him had fallen hollowly silent.

The knights who had been arm in arm with him moments ago now kept their heads down, staring at the toes of their boots, terrified of meeting his eyes.

Only then did Hans realize that from the moment Shien had begun speaking, events had slipped beyond his control.

"I didn't... I truly never said that! I only urged them to be careful! I only told them not to underestimate the enemy!

"Lord Fabien! I served on the Great Wall for two years! How could I undermine morale? This is a misunderstanding... Someone is framing me!"

His defense tumbled out in a jumble, faster and faster, as though he could still save himself if he never stopped talking.

"My lord, I've been loyal to Greywood to the bone! If I spoke even half a word about deserting, I'll submit to the Sacred Flame's judgment. I can swear it. I can swear it before everyone!"

His voice cut harshly through the night, but no one dared respond.

On the mound, Shien merely watched. His expression remained calm, untouched by Hans's shouting.

Whether Hans had personally said those words did not matter to him.

Evidence did not matter, either. Others might need witnesses, physical proof, and a point-by-point interrogation.

For Shien, the deep red above Hans's head had already told him everything.

Hans was the heart of the Greywood Lineage's knights, the man most of them instinctively followed.

That he harbored hostility toward Shien, his lord, was something Shien could not tolerate.

So even if Hans had done nothing, Shien would have found an opportunity to kill him.

After all, his territory had no need for two suns. His authority had to stand alone!