A 5-star knight.

Jin had predicted that he would take at least three years and five at most in order to reach that stage. In fact, the average Runcandel reached the 5-star stage by the age of 20.

However, Jin had defeated the 5-star knight Kajin at the age of 15.

While it was true that Kajin had underestimated Jin and had let down his guard, the boy would still win even if they had another duel.

“You… lost against the youngest?”

“Haa, are you seriously going to lie to us? Does that even make sense? The youngest was only a 3-star knight until not long ago. No matter how much of a moron you are, this is just impossible.”

Myu and Anne couldn’t believe what they heard from Kajin’s report. 

This wasn’t a surprising reaction. Jin hadn’t done a surprise attack and Kajin hadn’t given himself a handicap. The 5-star knight had far more experience and physical strength than the Runcandel boy.

“I have no excuses.”

“Or did you go easy on him since he’s a pure-blooded Runcandel?”

“Or did you get bribed by him?”

“…That is definitely not the case, Miladies.”

“Then what is it? Are you seriously telling me the youngest reached the 5-star stage in such a short amount of time? Do you seriously want us to believe that?”

“Everyone else at the training ground can testify for me. His aura was that of a 5-star knight at least.”

“Ha!”

Myu frowned deeply and Anne sneered.

“Forget it. It’s my fault for having high expectations for someone like you. Get out of my sight.”

As soon as Kajin left the room, the two women stared at each other.

“The youngest is officially baring his fangs against us, isn’t he?”

Anne asked her sister.

“No, it’s not just to us. He’s baring his fangs against everyone in the clan. We’ll have to assign him a mission that’s certain to kill him next time… by sending some of our men as well.”

***

The Garden of Swords was suddenly in an uproar.

The rumour that Jin had defeated Kajin and had officially become the strongest cadet in the intermediate class had spread amongst the servants. However, many amongst them couldn’t believe this story, just like Myu and Anne.

That was how unbelievably fast Jin had grown. If you counted all the Runcandels who had become 5-star knights before the age of 16 in the clan’s thousand-year history, there were only three: the first patriarch Temar, Cyron, and Luna.

However, the clansmen only knew of his growth in swordsmanship.

‘5-star in swordsmanship, 4-star in magic, and 4-star in spiritual power.’

The person in question hadn’t expected to reach the 5-star stage so quickly either.

He was simply training with the Clear Stones ever since returning from Mamit, but his aura reached 5-star in no time.

During the breaks from the Clear Stone training sessions, he would cover his sword with aura and maintain it as such. And every time, he could sense aura amassing inside his body at an incredible speed.

This phenomenon wasn’t happening solely because of Jin’s natural talent for swordsmanship.

It was due to the synergy.

The synergy between the three powers flowing in his body: spiritual energy, mana, and aura.

Ordinary people have never had the chance of using all three types of energies, so they’re unaware of this fact, but Jin noticed that the energies interacted with each other.

If one of the powers gets stronger, it influences and strengthens the other two as well. Moreover, the most influential energy amongst the three is spiritual energy. 

Therefore, due to the ‘spiritual energy congestion’ Jin had experienced last time, his spiritual energy had increased, strengthening his two other powers as well.

In consequence, the channels through which aura and mana flow in his body had increased in number. It was as if Jin had won the lottery without doing a single thing.

‘Now that I’ve publicly revealed having reached 5-star at the age of 15, my siblings will start getting properly nervous here on out.’

Jin had made an incredible accomplishment.

However, he wasn’t strong enough to face his siblings yet. Excluding the Tona twins, the other flag-bearers of the clan could easily trample on Jin if they ever had the chance to.

It wasn’t just Myu and Anne.

There was Joshua, Cyron’s most likely successor, along with Jin’s other older siblings who were aiming to take that position for themselves as well. They now had no choice but to keep an eye on Jin and his growth.

The youngest was a thorn in the side of those who were aiming for the position of patriarch.

Choosing Barisada during the Selection Ritual could be considered a coincidence. But revealing his true talents and gaining prominence was a completely different story.

‘It might’ve been a good idea to stay low and hide my talents for now, but no.’

Had he revealed his abilities when he was 18, the candidates for the throne would’ve been less wary of him.

However, Jin believed that he had benefited far more by doing the reveal today.

‘From today onwards, people outside of the Runcandel Clan will learn of me—of how I became a 5-star knight at the age of 15. Countless clans and alliances will come and take a look at me out of curiosity and wariness. My siblings won’t be able to move or aim for my life recklessly due to the observant eyes on me.’

Moreover, his father—Cyron Runcandel—would most definitely return to the Garden of Swords.

He was currently thinking of having someone other than Joshua take over the clan, and was keeping an eye on all his children in the hopes of finding a better successor. Yet, all his children after Luna hadn’t been able to satisfy him a single time.

However, the only child whom he was content with—Luna—wasn’t interested in the throne. In fact, she said that she didn’t like this familial conflict and wished to simply observe from the sidelines.

Therefore, no matter how strong she was, Cyron judged that Luna wasn’t suited to rule and lead the clan.

He then designated his second child Joshua as his provisional successor, as he was the best alternative after Luna. Joshua was suited to lead the clan personality-wise. While he wasn’t extremely satisfactory, he was decisive, level-headed, sharp like a blade, and had a powerful drive. 

Alternatively, if something ever happened to Joshua, Cyron still had a third option.

Cyron’s second son Dipus, his second daughter Luntia, or even his third daughter Mary were decent candidates for the throne as well.

That was the order amongst the candidates for the Runcandel throne, which solidified over the years as no one stood out particularly.

‘But now, there’s me.’

With Jin’s arrival, the battlefield for the throne had an upheaval. Cyron was someone who didn’t care about age and gave opportunities to his children according to their accomplishments.

‘Just like when he sent me on the special mission when I was still in the beginner class, my growth and achievement this time will definitely be reported to father… And he’ll issue some orders.’

Jin predicted that whatever Cyron’s orders were going to be, they would include two things:

First was a trial.

Cyron would test Jin with the intention of checking whether the boy was able to overcome his age difference with his older siblings who were already candidates for the throne.

Second was protection.

Having revealed his true abilities, it was inevitable that Jin’s older siblings would start attacking him personally. However, Cyron didn’t want Jin to be trampled on by his siblings before he could even test his youngest child.

Jin was a special case. He was just far too young compared to his other siblings, which was why Cyron would exceptionally intervene in his children’s conflict.

“Gilly.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“In the near future, many important clans and organizations will request a meeting with the Runcandel Clan. They will want to see the new 15-year-old 5-star knight with their own eyes since rumours of the youngest child of the Runcandels will spread throughout the world.”

The Yvliano Clan of swordsmanship, the Ken Clan of spearmanship, the Tuko Clan of hand-to-hand combat, and all the other martial clans would want to see Jin.

Even national organizations like the Vermont Empire’s Imperial Guards and Special Forces as well as the Dragon King Knights would send some men. It was the same case for the armed forces around the world like the Hidden Palace, the Black King Mercenaries, and the Ghost Mercenaries.

“Geez, look at you, bragging with such a smug face, kid. Do you think they’ve got nothing else to do but to come visit you?”

“To those people, figuring out the changes and trends in the Runcandel Clan is of the utmost importance. They’re all expecting my achievements to bring change to the current hierarchy amongst the candidates for the throne. So they all need to come personally to check on me.”

Jin was certain about his predictions not only because he was good at reading the political changes in the clan, but also because of a story he had heard from his past life.

He had heard that when Luna became a 5-star knight at the age of 15 as well, countless people had gathered at the clan in order to see her. It was like a legend amongst his siblings.

“Geez, good for you. Nobody ever cares about a lowly black dragon like me.”

“Yep. That’s exactly right. Anyways, once the official requests to visit the clan arrive, father will return to the Garden of Swords. He’ll probably start a banquet as well.”

“I see. The patriarch will vacate the Black Sea once again. I shall make preparations in advance.”

“I’ll leave that in your care, Gilly. And make sure to keep Murakan hidden away from the public. If he transforms into a human and sneaks into the banquet, we’re done for. Do you understand?”

“I’m not a kid. I can take care of myse—”

“I will bear that in mind.”

Murakan glared at Gilly, but the nanny simply avoided making eye contact and looked away.

***

Two days later, the clan began receiving letters regarding the Runcandels’ youngest child just as Jin had predicted.

As Jin had never shown himself to the public outside of the clan, the reporters and envoys were desperate to get more information about him.

In fact, all that was known about him outside the clan was his age and his 5-star rank.

The rich reporters and journalists bribed the servants of the Garden of Swords in order to get some insider information, whereas the skilled ones went to find the receptionist at the Mitel Kingdom’s Transfer Gate and the Black King Mercenaries’ 3rd Corps.

Those two were the only group of people around the world who had met Jin in person. However, the receptionist was someone who cared for her life and didn’t reveal her clients’ information, while the Black King Mercenaries absolutely detested journalists.

Meanwhile, the less skilled reporters—in other words, the naive ones who didn’t know much about the world—thought that the Runcandels had spread a fake rumour in order to gain some attention.

“Just what kind of person is Jin Runcandel?”

The reporters were all sighing and groaning to each other.

The Garden of Swords wasn’t a place mere reporters could set their foot into. All they could do was wait impatiently as they tried to make use of their connections with other clans; those that had enough influence to enter the Garden of Swords as visitors.

And so, another week went by. It was now May 1795.

Countless demands and requests to visit the Garden of Swords came rushing to the clan like a broken dam. Everything was going as Jin had predicted.

“It seems the butlers are extremely busy writing replies to all the requests these days, Young Master. When I asked Petro, he mentioned that even the Vermont Imperial Family sent an official letter.”

“The Imperial Family? I didn’t expect that. Those mystics couldn’t hold back their curiosity either, it seems.”

“I find it more mystical that you managed to predict the future so accurately, Young Master Jin.”

Gilly smiled as she felt proud of the boy and continued speaking.

“Also, Guardian Knight Khan returned to the main house today and announced the patriarch’s decision. He will return in one month. The clan is now matching the timing of the visitors with the patriarch’s return.”

The clan was in an uproar both on the inside and outside due to Jin.

However, there were no movements or odd actions from his siblings as of yet. They were simply going on missions or training as usual, and it was the same for Jin.

But this wasn’t a surprising outcome. Trying to attack or keep Jin in check while the entire clan’s attention was on him was a stupid move.

The moment they would try to keep him in check, they would be announcing to the world that they feared and/or detested their youngest sibling. It would cause great damage to their reputation.

But it wasn’t as if all his siblings weren’t willing to make this stupid move.

“Y-Young Master!”

The man who came running to Jin with a distressed expression was Petro, the 2nd butler.

As soon as he saw the butler’s face, Jin knew the time had finally come.

‘Elder Sisters Myu and Anne must’ve schemed something again.’

Petro’s entire body was drenched in sweat. It appeared he had run across the enormous Garden of Swords to tell Jin of this urgent news.

“Take your time to catch your breath, Petro.”

“Haaa, haaa… Thank you very much. Phew… You have been assigned a new mission, Young Master. But the place you’ll be dispatched to is…”

“Where is it?”

“The Kollon Ruins.”

“Ha! The Kollon Ruins? Young Master, the flag-bearers have gone too far this time. The Kollon Ruins are in Zipfel territory!”

“That is correct… The flag-bearers have gone too far. Thus, Madame Rosa has become enraged. She has already summoned the flag-bearers to admonish them. I believe Young Master Jin should go see Madame Rosa as well.”

Jin calmly nodded and began making his way to the main building.