Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 771: Jilted Father

CH771 Jilted Father

***

Castin Town…

It had been a week since Alex met with the family heads.

The population of the town had noticeably declined as a large group of people departed for Fonterra. Despite this, the town remained in high spirits, as everyone expected the substantial sum of money promised by the domain lord—in the form of the garrison’s salary arrears—to arrive soon.

Caught up in the excitement sweeping through the settlement, the garrison failed to notice a new group of shadowy individuals now operating within the town.

One such individual, wearing an eagle-shaped mask, slipped silently into a garrison building.

The masked figure moved unseen towards the rear of the structure, bypassing multiple patrols along the way.

There, a middle-aged man dressed in a garrison uniform paced back and forth anxiously.

“You actually came,” the man said as the shadowy figure materialised before him.

“Who are you?”

“Who I am is irrelevant,” the masked figure replied calmly.

“What matters is whether the information I shared with you is true.”

“Why should I trust you or your information?” the middle-aged man demanded aggressively.

“What’s stopping me from raising the alarm and keeping you here until you tell me everything you know and everything you’re planning?”

“Drop the posturing,” the shadowy figure said dismissively.

“We wouldn’t be having this meeting if you didn’t already harbour doubts.

“Besides, the fact that I came here alone should tell you something. You’re not foolish enough to believe I would walk into this place without confidence in my ability to leave.

“If you raise the alarm, the only person who loses is you. After all, you’ll never learn the truth about your wife and daughter.”

The middle-aged man’s jaw tightened.

For a moment, anger flashed through his eyes.

Then his shoulders gradually slumped in defeat.

“What do you want?” he asked quietly. “What are you after?”

“I’m looking for an ally of sorts,” the eagle-masked figure replied.

“And I believe that once you’ve seen the evidence I possess, we’ll discover that our goals are aligned.

“If that happens, helping each other will become the natural course of action.”

The masked figure handed over a rolled bundle of documents.

The garrison member accepted them and began reading.

The further he read, the more violently his hands trembled.

“Is this true?” he asked, his voice laced with both wrath and despair.

“You can see for yourself that the documents came directly from your clan,” the eagle-masked figure replied.

“What do you think?”

“My… my wife and daughter…” The man’s voice trembled.

“Can… can you save them?”

“Yes.” The eagle-masked individual nodded.

“We can not only free them from the clan’s grasp, but also cure them completely.”

The middle-aged man’s breathing grew ragged.

“If— if you can do that… then I’ll do whatever you want.”

“It’s not merely what we want,” the shadowy figure replied. “It’s also what you truly want, deep down.”

The masked individual stepped closer and whispered temptingly into the man’s ear.

A few moments later, the figure departed as silently as they had arrived.

The middle-aged man remained standing there alone.

Slowly, he raised his head.

His eyes had become cold.

The warmth with which he once looked upon the garrison members around him—as fellow clansmen—had vanished.

Now, when he looked at them, it was as though he were looking at corpses.

Later that night, a sickly mother and daughter disappeared from an infirmary controlled by the Winkler Clan without anyone noticing.

Most likely, it would not be until the following morning that their absence was discovered.

By then, however, neither the Winkler Clan nor any of the other clans would have the luxury of worrying about them.

For with the darkness of midnight came a retribution none of the Castin Clans saw coming.

Winkler Family Estate, Castin Town…

The strongest member of the Winkler Clan had suddenly called for an emergency meeting, gathering the clan head, elders, and influential members of the family in one place.

Those attending arrived expecting the discussion to revolve around the proposal offered by the new domain lord.

Opinions varied, but the general consensus remained the same.

The new lord had yielded to their influence.

And if he yielded once, he would yield again.

Once most of the expected attendees had arrived, the person responsible for calling the meeting finally appeared.

Alain Winkler.

Trailing behind him was a cloaked figure.

However, almost nobody paid attention to the stranger, assuming the individual to be one of Alain’s personal attendants.

Alain greeted the attendees before taking his seat to the left of the chubby clan head.

Soon, the final attendees arrived.

Alain glanced towards the clan head as though seeking permission to begin.

The chubby middle-aged man nodded.

Alain rose to his feet, drawing the attention of everyone in the hall.

“I would like to thank everyone for attending this emergency meeting at such short notice,” Alain said with a smile.

The attendees responded with polite acknowledgements.

“I am thirty-nine years old this year,” Alain continued as he stepped away from his seat and slowly walked through the hall.

“And for thirty of those years, I have done nothing but serve this clan.

“In return, the clan has given me many things.

“Not only was I able to reach the Gold Rank thanks to the clan’s investment in me, I was also promoted to captain within the town’s garrison through the clan’s support.

“More importantly, thanks to the help of the clan head, I was able to marry the love of my life despite all the obstacles and opposition that stood in our way.

“Not long afterwards, my wife and I were blessed with a beautiful daughter.”

A nostalgic smile appeared on Alain’s face.

“But even then, the clan head’s assistance did not end there.”

He turned towards the clan head and smiled.

“As everyone here knows, my wife and daughter mysteriously fell ill following the most recent major beast tide from the Great Berserk Beast Forest.

“Since then, the clan head has worked tirelessly to secure treatment for them, spending a tremendous amount of the clan’s resources on their behalf.”

“It is nothing,” the clan head replied benevolently.

“Most of those resources were gathered through your own contributions to the clan in the first place.

“It is only right that they be used to help you during your time of greatest need.”

“Yes, that is true,” Alain agreed.

“I have indeed contributed greatly to the clan, but I still cannot bring myself to accept that so much of the clan’s resources continue to be spent on my family alone.”

He paused.

“The family no longer needs to bear such an enormous burden on our behalf.

“Therefore, I have decided to leave with my family and search for a cure elsewhere.

“That way, the clan’s resources can be put to better use.”

The declaration caused a stir throughout the hall.

“What?!” The clan head shot to his feet.

“Is there a problem, Clan Head?” Alain asked, feigning confusion.

It was not only the clan head who reacted.

The elders and other influential members present all looked visibly disturbed.

If Alain left, the clan would lose its sole Gold-ranked combatant—their greatest advantage against both the other four clans and the magistrate’s administration.

“Alain, don’t be hasty,” the clan head urged.

“I’ve already told you that I’ve invested a great deal of the family’s resources and connections into finding a complete cure for your family.

“You only need to wait and be patient.”

The other influential members quickly joined in.

Most echoed the clan head’s sentiments, urging Alain to reconsider.

Only a handful supported Alain’s desire to leave and seek a cure himself, believing it would save the clan from continuing to expend resources on his family’s treatment.

“Ah…” Alain suddenly sighed.

Tilting his head back, he closed his eyes for a moment.

“Are you finished with the farce?”

The cloaked individual he had brought into the hall finally spoke.

“Yes, I am,” Alain replied with a nod.

Everyone present was experienced.

It did not take them long to realise something was wrong, especially when the cloaked figure casually moved towards the doorway, cutting off the hall’s only exit.

Alain slowly opened his eyes.

“I had hoped only the clan head was involved.

“But it’s obvious to me now that many more of you knew the truth.”

His gaze swept across the room.

“What was I to all of you?

“A puppet? A convenient weapon to be controlled and discarded whenever it suited you?”

A faint aura began to radiate from his body, slowly spreading throughout the hall.

“I could have tolerated it if your schemes had targeted only me. After all, as I said before, I am grateful to the clan for helping me become who I am today.

“But to target my wife and child…”

The temperature in the room seemed to plummet.

“That…”

His aura exploded outward.

“I cannot forgive!”

The pressure of a Gold-ranked combatant descended upon the room, forcing many of those present back into their seats.

“What are you doing, Alain?!” the clan head shouted.

His own aura erupted in response, pushing back against Alain’s pressure.

“Give me your head, you pig!” Alain roared.

The fury he had concealed for so long finally burst free.

At the doorway, the cloaked figure spoke quietly.

“Begin the operation.”

The individual pulled back their hood.

An eagle-headed mask was revealed beneath.

***