Episode 8
General Kim Jung-hwa couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the warriors that stood before him.
It was no question that there is a cold and heavy atmosphere among the members of the Second Elites. Other than noticeable beat up state of their well-beings despite the stiff posture of any warrior in the presence of their superior, it was hard not to zone to the obvious of the tension between a certain Demon and Angel of the troop. But Jung-hwa dared not to ask for it might only add fuel to the flame.
Jung-hwa shrugged it for the mean time and may bring it up in private with his cousin afterwards. He was to prioritized more urgent matters after all.
“If you must, you may take a seat.”
Jung-hwa gestured to the single and double couches situated at the middle of his large office.
Without wasting a second standing, three of them took the chance to get off their feet. They didn’t bother to sit properly because that too takes energy to do. As for the captain and the medic, they remained standing even though they did not look any better than the rest.
“Sungjae made me aware of the rigorous training you all were having before I called you in,” Jung-hwa mumbled to himself when he saw the three men slouching and even almost relaxing on the couches.
“What prompt you to punish them to such extent, cousin?” Jung-hwa casually questioned, addressing Nam-kyu as such to let his dongsaeng know that he’s not actually asking as their general.
“I doubt all of them did something worth punishing to the point they looked like they just came back from an actual war.”
“You called for us, hyung,” Nam-kyu shifted the topic away from him and his troop.
“Ah, yes. Since the Second Elites will be leading the next border patrol at the end of the week, I figured that I must feel you in on about the recent reports from your assigned border to protect. Which is the Southern border of Supremus Imperium,” Jung-hwa began as he made his way back to his desk.
“A troop from the top-tiered warriors managed to capture a Rogue for interrogation just last week at the Southern border where majority of the Rogue sightings were recorded. And the interrogation just finished this past noon. It’s not much but it is something.”
Jung-hwa grabbed some papers off of his mahogany desk and casually leaned his behind on the edge of the table.
“Do we now have a motive for their presence?” Nam-kyu asked.
“The Rogue only mentioned that they were looking for someone,” Jung-hwa scanned through the detailed written report of the interrogation.
“Why don’t they just give us the name and let the authorities find that person for them? They seem to be looking for a person within the borders of a kingdom after all.”
Kim Seung So followed up on the matter as he stood beside but a bit behind his captain.
Nam-kyu looked back at the Seungso and attempted to see eye to eye with the Angel. But he was disheartened by the latter’s indifferent avoidance towards him.
Seungso refused to look at Nam-kyu and further moved away from the Demon. He then situated himself beside the youngest Demon, sitting on the armrest of the double couch. He gently touched the tired Demon’s hair to which the younger sighed in comfort offered by the troop’s mother-like figure.
“Just my thoughts, Seungso. They wouldn’t be lingering anywhere near a kingdom if whoever they are looking for is beyond our jurisdiction,” Jung-hwa lowered the papers for a moment and looked at the Angel.
“But that’s just it,” Jung-hwa sighed.
“They have no name for this person.”
Everyone else in the room perked up at this information.
“According to this Rogue, an anonymous request came in one day: a simple errand to look for this person. Unfortunately, the Rogue refuses to tell us what they will be getting in exchange for the request. But given their efforts as they took their search across the nation, the reward must worth quite the importance to them; enough for them do this to such extent of even attacking anyone who gets in their way.”
Other than that, the request only supplied a vague description about this person they’re looking for. They’re only relying on the physical attributes because whoever sent the request couldn’t provide an actual picture. The interrogation ended at that part with no enumeration on the details because—well, the Rogue was loyal to their cause because he used a forbidden curse to take one’s own life, before our men could prevent him to do so.”
Jung-hwa finally reached the end of the report and had no more to share. With this, he placed the papers down beside him before he crossed his arms; ready to listen to the inputs of the rest.
“You’re saying that they are looking for this one person and their basis is just by the looks—Nothing else?”
Min Yong-sun took his time in processing what he just learned and remained his lazy position with his head leaning back on top of the headrest of the couch, eyes closed. He was almost out of it that is why he was asking for confirmation to what was shared by the general.
“Exactly,” Jung-hwa patiently nodded.
“Now that’s just stupid,” Yong-sun ran a hand through his bright black hair before he lifted his head up, groaning as he did.
“The possibility of people matching their said description would be endless at this point. The population of people residing in each kingdom outnumbers the people living at the provinces and villages outside the borders,” Yong-sun added.
“We have no idea if this person is of the commoners, part of the authorities, a warrior, a solder or what—or a royalty even.”
Jun Hwan Min voiced out his worry while he plopped his arms on the armrests of the single couch he sat on. He suppressed a yawn and peeked an eye open when he felt Nam-kyu pass the couches and towards the general.
“No matter how vague their motive is as of now, they pose a great threat to all the kingdoms. They already did instigate attacks just so that they can extend the scope of their search,” Jung-hwa reminded as he handed the report to Nam-kyu to further analyze.
“With the increase in numbers of Rogue sightings just outside, there is no more room for doubt. They clearly plan on breaching through our borders and invade our capitol—even the palace.”
Jeon Jun Hyun concluded and sat up more, clearly intrigued and concerned at the same time about his conviction that he put together just now. Then again, he still hopes for the best that those Rogues won’t bother to even attempt in getting in.
As the rest continued to comment and further assess the situation, when Nam-kyu went to place the papers back on Jung-hwa’s desk, he saw an open loose-leaf folder on missing people.
“Hyung, what are these? Who are these people?” Nam-kyu asked.
Jung-hwa pushed himself off his desk and went around it so that he can sit down on the general’s chair.
“Missing persons,” Jung-hwa sighed in distress and patted on the two separate stacks.
“These are from provinces and villages outside Supremus Imperium then the rest are from the places outside the other kingdom. They sent it over in hopes that the search will increase the chances of finding them. Feel free to look through it if you must.”
Jung-hwa ungracefully let his body drop on his seat while he waved his hand, giving his dongsaeng the permission to look through the files on his desk.
Nam-kyu frowned and looked back at a particular page of the interrogation report where a statement of the capture Rogue caught his attention. He could just see the implied connection of the statement to the missing persons list.
“For every time you see us,
For every time you focus on us,
you lose what’s closest to you,
as we serve our purpose,
to our deserved liberty.”
Nam-kyu read the inked quotation of the Rogue’s last statement before the Rogue supposedly performed the forbidden curse and ended his life to stay loyal to whomever he served.
“Hyung, when were the first Rogues sighted?” Nam-kyu inquired.
Jung-hwa raised an eyebrow at the sudden inquiry about the crisis. He simply got a paper that summarizes the list of dates regarding to the Rogue sightings.
“First recorded sighting was on the peak of Spring this year, 25th of April, almost three months ago,” Jung-hwa read.
“Where?” Nam-kyu followed up.
“A village outside the Northwest borders of the Kingdom and Realm of Angels, Inlustris Noctis,” Jung-hwa answered not a moment longer after being asked.
“Why—What are you getting at, Nam-kyu?” Jung-hwa urgently asked as he stood up, getting the attention of the rest of the Second Elites in the room.
Nam-kyu looked through the folder of missing people that were from the other three kingdoms. He then saw that there were two missing persons from the villages outside the Kingdom of recorded that exact same date.
“Another date—give me another one. Just mention a date and then the location of the Rogue sighting from the list,” Nam-kyu stated.
“Give me a when and where.”
“Alright—uh, Summer—the second of July,” Jung-hwa read before looking over at the papers Nam-kyu was going through frantically.
“A province outside our borders, Southeast,” Jung-hwa quickly added and watched as Nam-kyu pulled out four missing persons fliers with the same exact date.
“This can’t be a coincidence,” Nam-kyu worriedly stated as he placed the fliers back down.
“What’s happening—What’s wrong?” Hwanmin quipped while the rest gathered around the general’s desk.
“Rogue sightings coincide with the dates of these people who went missing,” Nam-kyu assessed.
“Not far from where this Rogues were seen, someone is reported as missing.”
“I don’t doubt that they are behind all of these,” Yong-sun stated after he took hold of the list of the Rogue sightings and matched some of the dates with other fliers of missing people. He was distressed at the number of cases that matches.
“It’s alarming how majority of these missing people are from outside Supremus Imperium. And there was an increase a week after the general came back. Anyone would have thought the opposite would happen now that the general is back at his home kingdom,” Hwanmin crossed his arms.
“Hold on.”
Junhyun looked closely at the details of the most recent fliers.
“Look here, hyungs,” Junhyun pointed at the part of the flier that indicated where the last person was seen.
“These five missing persons all live within Supremus Imperium’s borders—they reside at the capitol,” Junhyun read and felt the dread becoming more prominent at the end point of this.
“If they went missing within the kingdom then that only means one thing!”
“Rogue sightings were mere distractions,” Seungso covered his mouth horror afterwards as the realization dawn on all of them.
“They already got pass the borders,” Junhyun concluded.
Jung-hwa’s eyes turned red at the dreaded confirmation. He then called out for the two Elites situated outside his office:
“Kang Min Yoon! Kang Min Joon!”
Jung-hwa hollered at the twins of the First Elites who were known for their exceptional speed and their clan’s ability to teleport. He instructed the two of them to use their teleportation ability to quickly inform all troop leaders from the Royal Army down to the lower-tiered warriors to report to the general’s office that instant.
The twins nodded in sync and disappeared mid-air.
Within a minute or two, the twins returned with troop leaders from the majority of Demons to the few Angels, and to the three Vampires and two Werewolves. All left their business unfinished and rushed to the genera’s office. They now stood before the general, ready.
“Rogues have breached through our patrols! I want all troops dispatched as soon as I dismiss you and head out to your assigned borders and villages to protect! Be thorough and make sure to let no Rogue get pass you!”
“Now!”
Jung-hwa sent them off; each maximized the exits of the room to alert their corresponding troops.
“Get the First Elites along with the Fourth and Fifth. Tell them to surround the palace this instant! Inform the Emperor of this while you’re at it,” Jung-hwa ordered Minyoon and Minjoon and the twins teleported right after.
“Nam-kyu, I want your troop to head out to the capitol. Take the Third Elites too. That should be enough to sweep capitol of Supremus Imperium and see if there are Rogues in our premises.”
Jung-hwa looked at the remaining troop in his office.
That’s when he realized something.
“Where is Kim Tae Hyeon?”
Before anyone could answer and explain on the boy’s possible whereabouts at this time, a distant explosion resounded from outside the Military Institute.
“What the hell?” Jung-hwa cursed and rushed towards the large glass doors that leads to his balcony just behind his desk.
The rest followed and looked ahead to the direction of the capitol.
There was a prominent smoke that was just starting to rise up above the buildings. It was no question that that was the exact location of the explosion.
After a few more moments of silence ever since the sound of the initial explosion resounded across the kingdom, a bright one-of-a-kind flare shot out from the center point of the smoke and flew straight to the sky.
The silver-grey ray of smoke was a sight that it was a personalized flare for the members of the Royal Army. But the final color that will only be revealed once the flare explodes at its highest peak would determine who among the Royal Army owns it.
A flare was only to be used when the situation calls for immediate assistance or medical attention. But the general implication of a flare is that there is a situation: one is in danger.
Dread and panic conquered all of their emotions when they realized who was in danger the moment the flare exploded; revealing a solid dust of blood red.
“Taehyeon.”