Chapter 27: The Clan’s Brutal Bastard
The companion clutched the lump, sobbing furiously. He crumpled to the ground and shrieked as he fought to stem the bleeding.
Meanwhile, the grey-haired young master stared with widened eyes. He was disheveled to his core—shaken and staring at the blood around him with terror. He looked at his supposed bastard brother, and that one was smiling.
"What’s wrong, senior brother?"
Kage asked him with an eerie smile.
"Why are you trembling so violently? Don’t tell me you’ve never seen blood?"
The boy staggered back, his face ashen and horrified. A natural young master would retaliate immediately, but this one was too rattled by the scene to do anything. He was scared shitless, and even as he collapsed to the ground, his groin area had become soaked with wetness.
Kage grimaced in disgust as he saw it.
’What? Did I overestimate him?’
Right in that moment, a row of guards in pristine white and silver armor surrounded them in an instant.
The atmosphere of the training ground fell silent as soon as they arrived.
Kage looked at the men with irritation.
’The Severance Guards...’
These people were one of the seven major squads in the Ironstorm clan—the ones responsible for protecting the clan’s honor, direct bloodline included.
They were sharp. Coming here, Kage didn’t think he’d spotted any of them. But all of a sudden, ten had surrounded the scene. Their speed and how they operated—he was curious about it.
He’d never had a chance to truly glimpse it before he orchestrated their demise through internal conflict.
His reminiscing was cut short as Butler Guren emerged from amidst the Severance Guards and stood in the middle of the carnage.
"Guren! Seize this monster right now and serve me his head!"
The trembling young master shouted, jabbing his finger at Kage.
Butler Guren chuckled softly.
"I apologize, young lord, but that would not be possible. Moreover, the High Patriarch has summoned young lord Kage."
He turned to Kage, his gaze cold, thoroughly scrutinizing the young boy.
"The High Patriarch has requested your presence."
Kage smiled.
"So quick? I thought I’d have to wait a week."
Then he turned and walked through the rows of Severance Guards, unfazed by their presence.
Butler Guren glared down at the carnage on the floor before following Kage. Immediately, the Severance Guards vanished.
The butler walked behind Kage throughout and remained utterly silent, trying to read the young boy. But it was utterly impossible. He was fifteen years old but didn’t act like it.
Sometimes as they walked, he became lost in thought and admired flowers, like a fifteen-year-old would—but Guren thought it to be a façade.
’What exactly have you been teaching this kid, Shinro...’
To Guren, for someone just emerging from a secluded fortress, Kage possessed too definite a grip on the brutal life within the Ironstorm clan. He was striking his brothers before they could strike him.
Well, they had struck him first this morning by taking away his servants, but Kage’s response was... admirable. He wouldn’t lie—when he’d heard the young bastard of the clan was coming, he was surprised.
But he wasn’t hopeful. Instead, he felt pity and wished the little boy had learned to be content with the life he’d had in Blacksteel forest.
However, looking at this young boy, Guren wasn’t so sure what to think.
Kage looked up as they arrived at the largest, most magnificent hall in the main clan.
It was a mountain. But this mountain was built of iron—towers shot into the sky from different areas of the mountain, making it look like it was being stabbed by hundreds of colossal javelins.
At the base stood an enormous cold steel door. The door was unguarded; anyone who wanted to visit could simply come. Of course, no one would dare visit without permission.
Kage stepped forward, but Butler Guren’s voice sounded from behind.
"Not there..."
He paused and looked back at the Butler.
The man pointed to the side, toward the yard of flowers, his voice sounding as though he spoke through mechanical aid.
"There..."
Kage looked to the left and marched there. He continued down for a few minutes, then arrived at a yard that was nothing but trees and plains. It was like a vast meadow of green life.
Amidst it, a man with a stocky build stood with a watering can in his hand. A black coat bearing the insignia of a silver sword piercing a black anvil rested over his shoulder, flowing with the wind of the meadow.
Kage had never met his father directly before—not even once. He’d seen him from afar a couple of times and had orchestrated his death through delicate means while staying as far from the entire process as possible.
Contrary to what he’d expected—a crushing atmosphere like that of a mountain of iron—the meadow and the man watering flowers created an atmosphere that was soothing and free.
"Feels free, doesn’t it?"
Kage looked at the Patriarch’s back and quickly dropped to his knees.
"Kage Ardyn greets the High Patriarch!"
The man continued watering the flowers.
"With breathable air, even when trapped in a storm of iron, one can feel like the personification of freedom."
The man stopped watering, and immediately, Guren appeared at his side, receiving the watering can as he extended it sideways.
Then he vanished, reappearing far behind them.
The Patriarch slowly turned to Kage, looking down at him with steel-grey eyes and a lined face. His jaw showed stubble from a recent shave, and his lips were somewhat dry. He didn’t smile, nor did he frown.
The expression on his face and Kage’s face looked almost identical—cold, unreadable, and unsettling.
"Get up."
Kage bowed.
"Yes, Patriarch."
"For you, it’s father."
Kage bowed again.
"Yes, father."
Then he stood up.
The Patriarch studied him for several beats and said evenly.
"You have the eyes of your mother."
Kage didn’t respond to that.
The silence between them grew cold.
The Patriarch heaved a sigh.
"In three days of announcing your intention to attend the academy, you have severed the arms of three men. Is this your way of throwing a tantrum given your disadvantageous start?"
Kage looked at his father with a bitter expression.
"Tantrum? I am talentless and a bastard—why would I need to throw a tantrum about that? Even if I were to throw a tantrum, would it be to you? I’m sure you had no idea a talentless boy would be born. To my brothers? Or to knights who have no idea what they’re doing? That would be utterly disgusting.
"However, I’m sure father knows the reason I severed Master Shinro’s arm. He dared to point his sword at a direct bloodline, and I severed his hand for that sin."
The Patriarch laughed faintly.
"Is that so..."
Kage looked at his father coldly.
"And the knight who was to escort you?"
"He insulted a direct bloodline, so I carved up his mouth for it."
The Patriarch looked at him indifferently.
"You did more than carve up his mouth, though."
"He wouldn’t kneel, so I stabbed his leg. He glared defiantly at me, so I blinded him. Oh, the hand was a bonus."
The Patriarch looked at him, his indifferent gaze slightly wearing away, replaced by a small glimmer of intrigue.
"And your brother’s companion just now?"
Kage was mildly surprised.
’He already knows about that? So fast?’
He answered evenly.
"He refused to greet me, even when he saw me greet senior brother."
"You are well aware your brother is responsible for him."
Kage smiled coldly, closing his eyes.
"Should I have severed my brother’s hand instead? But I wouldn’t dare—such is prohibited between direct bloodlines."
The Patriarch looked at him sternly.
"You are familiar with what is allowed and what is prohibited."
Kage responded respectfully.
"Well, with the mountain of books in the Blacksteel fortress, I had to encounter it sooner or later."
The Patriarch looked at him again and curled up a corner of his lips. Then he asked:
"A knight requested permission to leave the clan and become a commoner. Do you have anything to do with it?"
Kage’s eyes widened slightly.
"Ah, I merely shared a few stories with him, considering both of us malfunctioned in certain ways. Who knew he wouldn’t be able to take it."
The Patriarch looked at him for several seconds. Kage looked back. Then suddenly the old man erupted into wild laughter.