The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 91: Chapter 91: The Kingdom’s Unseen Protector

The night after the competition, the forest surrounding the abandoned laboratory was anything but quiet.

The first explosion had been heard from several kilometers away.

By the time the knights stationed in the nearest city arrived at the site, the remains of the noble estate were still smoking, while fragments of stone and wood were scattered across the surrounding grounds. What had once appeared to be an ordinary aristocratic mansion had been reduced to a ruined shell, and beneath it, the underground facility had suffered even greater destruction.

The knights immediately began searching the ruins.

"Spread out. Check every section of the estate."

"Yes, sir!"

"Don’t assume the entire structure is stable. The underground passages could collapse at any moment."

They moved carefully through the wreckage, expecting to find little more than bodies and debris.

Then one of the knights stopped.

"Captain!"

"What is it?"

"You need to see this."

The captain hurried over.

Behind a partially collapsed wall was a large chamber that had somehow survived the destruction. Several enormous capsules stood inside, their thick glass surfaces covered in dust and cracks.

There were people inside.

Not corpses.

People.

Some were unconscious, barely breathing, while others were so weak that they could hardly move.

The knights stared in silence.

"Get them out."

The order came immediately.

"Carefully. Some of them are in terrible condition."

The rescue operation continued until morning.

News of the discovery spread before the sun had fully risen.

For years, numerous people had disappeared without explanation. Some families had spent months searching for children, siblings, husbands, wives, and relatives who had simply vanished without leaving behind a trace.

Now, suddenly, some of them had been found.

The families came rushing to the city as soon as they heard.

"Is he here?"

"My daughter... they said they found her here. Please, let me see her."

"Was she among the survivors?"

"Please, I only want to know whether she’s alive."

The knights struggled to maintain order as the families gathered outside the temporary medical facility.

Some were reunited with their loved ones.

Others weren’t so fortunate.

There were people who had already been subjected to experiments for far too long, their bodies unable to withstand the damage inflicted upon them.

Still, dozens had survived.

And every survivor told essentially the same story.

"They came wearing black."

"They killed the people who were experimenting on us."

"There were several of them."

"I don’t know who they were."

"They called themselves... Eclipse."

That name quickly spread throughout the city.

Eclipse.

The organization responsible for destroying the laboratory.

The organization that had rescued the prisoners.

The organization whose members had appeared without warning, slaughtered the people responsible for the experiments, and vanished before anyone could identify them.

Within days, the matter reached the highest levels of the city.

The city lord summoned the nobles residing within his territory, while representatives of the knight order were ordered to submit every piece of information they had gathered.

"They operated a laboratory beneath a noble estate for years."

"And none of us discovered it."

"That is precisely what concerns me."

"If Eclipse had not intervened, how many more people would have disappeared?"

No one had an answer.

A thick silence settled over the meeting room.

One of the nobles finally spoke.

"Do we consider this Eclipse organization an ally?"

Another shook his head.

"We don’t know enough to make that judgment."

"But they rescued the prisoners."

"That does not tell us why."

The city lord remained silent for several moments before looking over the reports spread across the table.

"Whatever their objective may be, we have no evidence that they intentionally harmed civilians. For now, we will not provoke them."

The decision was cautious rather than trusting.

No one knew where Eclipse operated.

No one knew who led them.

No one knew how many members they possessed.

And perhaps most concerning of all, no one knew how an organization apparently composed of young individuals had managed to destroy a facility protected by experienced fighters.

For the time being, however, there was one thing they could agree upon.

Eclipse was not an organization they could afford to ignore.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Meanwhile, outside the city, our carriage was already preparing to leave.

The competition was over, and there was no reason for us to remain any longer.

As the other students gathered their belongings, the subject of the destroyed laboratory naturally came up.

"What do you think happened there?" Charlie asked, looking toward the distant mountains.

"I heard that the Eclipse Order rescued many of the people who had gone missing," Lea said. "Apparently, they also destroyed the organization responsible for the experiments."

Abel folded his arms.

"I’ve heard of them before. Whatever their purpose may be, they still saved those people. If they hadn’t appeared, the number of casualties would probably have been much higher."

"You’re right," Lyra said.

She looked thoughtful rather than celebratory.

"But I still wonder what their actual purpose is. An organization doesn’t expose itself to that kind of danger without a reason. Let’s just hope they’re on humanity’s side."

No one answered immediately.

After everything that had happened over the past several months, it was difficult to be certain about anyone’s intentions.

I had been listening quietly the entire time.

I couldn’t help smiling.

Eclipse, huh?

That’s one way to put it.

I looked out through the carriage window.

The ruined laboratory had been destroyed exactly as planned.

I had deliberately left several of the larger containment capsules intact. Destroying the entire facility would have been easy, but doing so would have left no survivors and, consequently, no evidence of what had happened there.

The rescued prisoners had served another purpose.

They would spread the name of Eclipse far more effectively than any announcement could.

Not bad.

I leaned back.

The organization is gaining a reputation without me having to do anything.

The carriage finally began moving.

One by one, everyone climbed inside.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

The inside of the carriage was considerably quieter than usual.

Charlie sat beside me, while Lyra, Lea, Abel, and the others occupied the remaining seats.

The wheels rolled steadily along the road.

I closed my eyes.

The competition was never really about the competition.

That was the conclusion I had reached after piecing together the information gathered by the Orders.

The event had been presented as a friendly competition between kingdoms, but there was no audience, no public celebration, and barely any political ceremony surrounding it.

That alone made the official explanation suspicious.

You don’t arrange a competition between several kingdoms, gather their most promising young fighters, isolate them inside a dungeon, and invite almost no spectators unless there’s another purpose behind it.

The truth was considerably more serious.

It’s preparation.

The Kingdom of Ramwel had been gathering information about the military capabilities of this kingdom while using the competition as a convenient cover.

Their hostility toward the king was not exactly a secret among certain high-ranking nobles. There had been political disputes between the two kingdoms for some time, and according to the information my people had gathered, Ramwel’s upper echelons were preparing for something far more dangerous than a simple diplomatic dispute.

A meeting involving high-ranking nobles and influential figures from several territories had already been arranged.

The competition served as a useful excuse.

It brought capable young fighters together.

It allowed the participating kingdoms to observe one another.

And most importantly, it created an environment where their movements would not immediately appear suspicious.

Honestly, calling this a competition is almost insulting.

A real competition exists to determine who is strongest.

This one exists to determine how strong everyone else is.

The exact date of whatever they were planning remained unknown.

But based on the information we had obtained...

One year or less than a months.

That was my estimate.

I opened my eyes slightly.

No wonder Father has spent so much time in the capital.

Everything was beginning to make sense.

Even the behavior of the Ramwel representatives during the competition.

Their eagerness to sabotage us.

Their willingness to use prohibited potions.

Their attempt to accuse us afterward.

They had been far too desperate to win.

So that’s what was behind it.

A faint smile appeared on my face.

Even their instructors were involved.

That made the situation considerably more troublesome.

I shifted my attention toward another matter.

The Starlight.

The businesses operated under Eclipse.

The people working tirelessly to expand everything we had established.

That’s the real problem.

I couldn’t simply ignore a conflict between kingdoms when it had the potential to interfere with everything we had built.

Our headquarters was fortunately located far beyond ordinary civilization, deep within the mountains.

The surrounding monsters had already been subdued and tamed by my people, making transportation through the region surprisingly convenient despite its remote location.

That gave us a considerable advantage.

But it didn’t solve everything.

If Ramwel actually starts a war, trade routes will be affected. Merchants will become cautious. Cities will close their borders. Information will become harder to move.

And if things escalated further...

The Starlight could become involved.

I sighed internally.

What a pain.

There was no way I could simply wipe out the Kingdom of Ramwel.

Doing so would kill countless innocent people who had absolutely nothing to do with the ambitions of their nobles.

I’m strong enough to do it.

That isn’t the problem.

The problem is that having power doesn’t mean I should use it recklessly.

I leaned against the carriage wall.

I’ll have to interfere somehow.

The question was how.

"What’s wrong, Ares?"

Charlie’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"You’ve been unusually quiet."

"Ah."

I looked toward him.

"I’m just thinking about what I should do once we return."

"Is that so?"

Charlie smiled.

Then, as though remembering something, he suddenly spoke again.

"By the way, you seem to be particularly good at history."

I stared at him.

"Would you be willing to study with me sometime?"

"No."

The answer came immediately.

Charlie blinked.

"Eh?"

"I don’t like studying. Find someone else."

"You rejected me before I even finished explaining."

Charlie stared at me as though trying to determine whether I was joking.

"I only thought it might be easier if we studied together."

"I refuse."

"Why?"

"Because studying is unpleasant."

Lea suddenly covered her mouth.

Abel looked away, but I could see his shoulders moving.

Lyra’s expression remained composed for perhaps two seconds before she finally laughed.

"Princess?"

Charlie looked toward her helplessly.

"I’m sorry," Lyra said, still smiling. "I wasn’t laughing at you."

"Then what was that?"

"Nothing."

Lea finally gave up trying to suppress her laughter.

Charlie sighed.

"You people are enjoying this far too much."

Lyra glanced between the two of us.

"Perhaps you should stop trying to convince Ares to study."

"I was only being friendly."

I leaned back again.

Why does this guy have so much persistence?

A moment later, Charlie suddenly looked toward me with a slightly embarrassed expression.

"Actually, Ares..."

"What?"

"Would you at least consider helping me with the history assignment?"

"No."

"It’s still a no?."

"I know enough."

Lyra covered her mouth again.

Lea turned toward the window, apparently trying not to laugh.

Abel simply shook his head.

Charlie looked genuinely defeated.

"You’re impossible."

"Whatever."

The carriage continued down the road as the others laughed quietly at our exchange.

I closed my eyes again.

The journey home had only just begun.

And somewhere far beyond the road ahead, the political storm surrounding the kingdoms was already beginning to gather.

One year or less than a months.

That’s how much time I probably have.

I let out a quiet breath.

I’d better figure out how to deal with it before everyone else decides to start a war.

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