In the dead of night,
The knights gathered in silence.
At the base of the Montieri mansion wall in Mallow Hill, an upscale district of Lambart, they confirmed one another’s identities.
Since their faces were hidden behind masks, they used prearranged hand signs in place of recognition.
Only after confirming that everyone was an ally did they push their masks up.
Josephine looked around at the assembled members and greeted them.
“It’s been a while since our last mission. If there’s anything I should know before we move in, report it now.”
No one answered.
Naturally so. Royal hounds must always be ready.
“But Captain, aren’t we short on numbers? Even counting you and me, we’ve only got nine.”
It was a question from Kilsey, the second-highest ranking member of the Knights.
Josephine replied,
“Two members were lost in the last operation.”
“The ones hit by black magic? So they’re dead?”
“They’re not dead, but the aftereffects are severe. They’ll need time to recover. They may never return at all.”
“Tch, that’s why I say if you’re not confident, stay out of the way. The ones who’ve barely joined the unit let their pride get ahead of them.”
Chuckles of agreement rippled among the members. This was confidence that they themselves would never have fallen victim.
After all, the Candela Knights was an elite unit within the royal army, open only to those with the highest skill and ability.
If they lacked pride in their own abilities, that would be strange in itself.
Another member asked,
“When will the vacancies be filled?”
“It’ll take time. We can’t just bring in anyone to join the Knights.”
“At this strength, it’ll be tough to run separate assault, reserve, and retreat teams.”
“Bear with it a little longer. We’ll have a recruit by summer at least. There’s a trainee sweating it out at a frontier training camp right now.”
“Oh, you mean that cute kid who visited your house the other time, Captain?”
“That’s right.”
Josephine thought back to the boy who had come all the way from the countryside a month ago, asking to be admitted into the Candela Knights.
His name was Pierre Chauvin.
He was a talent discovered during the travels of the now-retired former captain of the Knights, who had written him a letter of recommendation.
What had struck Josephine most was the boy’s clear, upright gaze.
“If it were me, Captain, you’re just too kind. If that kid had blabbed about the Candela Knights in front of me, I’d have slit his mouth on the spot.”
The Candela Knights was a unit whose very existence was kept secret.
Because of that boy, Josephine herself had spent a few days with her heart in her throat.
She had even had to make many concessions to her fiancé to keep the secret.
Had Winter not told her he trusted her unconditionally, she would have been in serious trouble.
“He probably just didn’t know any better. Before we were summoned in secret, we didn’t know a thing about the Knights either, remember?”
“Still, there’s a limit to pulling strings. What was the old captain thinking?”
“It’s already done. We’ll just have to trust the old captain’s judgment. Once he finishes training camp, he should at least have the basics down.”
“When he comes in this summer, put him under me, Captain. I’ll make sure he turns into a proper man.”
“Don’t be too hard on him, Troy.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Because it was a place that no one could enter easily, the Candela Knights had their own brand of hazing ritual common to closed-off groups.
But Josephine didn’t step in to stop it.
From the start, the unit wasn’t part of any formal organization. Its members had gathered out of necessity.
She knew that in such a group, bonds between comrades were more important than rules.
Those who went on dangerous missions wanted to entrust their backs only to skilled and trustworthy allies.
“That’s enough chatter. Let’s begin the operation briefing.”
The members fell silent in an instant.
Josephine began her explanation.
“Our objective is to seize the illicit goods hidden on the second floor of the Montieri mansion. Subdue the guards quickly and take the Count of Montieri into custody.”
“Do we kill him?”
“No. Our purpose is to leave a warning.”
Troy grumbled.
“Well, well… so now the higher-ups are sending us to play bandits?”
“The Count of Montieri broke the law. We’re only here to punish him.”
“If he broke the law, shouldn’t he be brought before a court? Why are we the ones holding the swords?”
“There are political reasons involved, so don’t argue further.”
“It’s always the same with this damn unit.”
The Candela Knights were the royal family’s covert execution unit.
That was why their work involved the sinister, dirty business the royal family could never openly touch…and cleaning up afterward.
“Honor is not ours to claim. The Candela Knights prove themselves only through sacrifice and devotion in the shadows. Wasn’t that the oath you swore when you joined?”
“I only got dragged in here because I messed up in the army.”
Not everyone present shared Josephine’s sense of duty, and grumbling of this sort had existed for as long as she could remember.
But as she approached her third year leading the unit, Josephine knew well how to handle them.
“Then I’ll make it easy for you. You can sit out any mission you don’t want to take. Draw your sword.”
“Ah, no need to put it that way, Captain. Hahaha.”
The moment Troy saw Josephine rest her hand on her sword’s hilt, he backed down immediately.
Everyone here knew her skill better than anyone else, and none had the slightest desire to challenge her authority.
It was more than respect; it was awe.
Three years ago, when Josephine had first taken the captain’s seat, a few members had questioned her leadership simply because she was a woman.
Josephine had settled those doubts in the simplest, most direct way possible. And the men had paid for the lesson not with coin, but with their fingers.
Troy had been one of those who’d lost a finger back then, and he considered himself lucky that it had only been his little finger.
After all, he was the only one among those who had ever challenged the current captain who was still active in the unit.
By nature she was even-tempered, but the moment she took hold of a sword, the atmosphere shifted completely. Like a sleeping lion suddenly awakened.
That was the current captain of the Candela Knights.
“Sorry for mouthing off. Just a joke.”
“Watch what you say if it undermines discipline.”
“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Josephine removed her hand from the hilt, and only then did Troy let out a sigh of relief.
“Now, back to the briefing. We’ve got two hours for the mission. The illicit goods are heavy and bulky, so most of our time will go into transport. Taking control of the mansion quickly will be crucial.”
“Those guards won’t even be a match for us. We’re the cream of the front lines, sharpened to perfection.”
“I think so too.”
This mission was like using an ox-cleaver to butcher a chicken—
Which was exactly why the men were grumbling.
But Josephine was a soldier, and a soldier obeyed orders.
“Make sure overconfidence doesn’t lead to mistakes.”
“Understood.”
“Billy, what’s the scouting report?”
“There are forty guards in total. They work in four shifts of ten each, with five two-man patrol teams. They make rounds along the front, back, and sides of the mansion and through the garden.”
“That’s an unusually large number for guarding a single house.”
“Hiring that many private soldiers must cost a fortune. I guess they’ve made good money from smuggling. Disgusting bastards.”
“What else?”
“Since the day before yesterday, Sir Sambro has joined the mansion’s security. He’s a knight in the service of Count Montieri.”
“I’ll take care of him myself.”
“You, Captain? Don’t you usually stay with the reserve unit?”
Normally, Josephine’s method was to adjust the details of the operation as needed and rush to the most dangerous spot if things went wrong.
But today, she intended to be at the very front from the start.
“I just want to get home early and sleep tonight.”
“Do you have something planned for tomorrow?”
At that, Josephine couldn’t help but think of her date with her fiancé scheduled for the next day, and the corners of her mouth lifted on their own.
She regretted it instantly.
Kilsy who was ever quick to pounce jabbed her in the side.
“Oho, if you’ve got something good going on, don’t keep it to yourself; share it with me too.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Oh, it is. It’s written all over your face.”
Josephine quickly controlled her expression.
“What could it be? Tomorrow isn’t even the Royal Guard’s payday.”
“I said, drop it.”
Before her face could grow any redder, Josephine deliberately pulled down her mask.
Right on cue, the city fell into darkness.
Flick, flick. Snap.
One by one, the streetlights in the area began to go out.
Josephine idly toyed with the hilt of her sword, slipping into a state of mental focus.
Regaining her concentration took only a moment.
“Prepare to breach.”
Swish, rustle.
The sound of cloth brushing in the dark.
Following Josephine’s command, the squad members pulled on their masks.
Then they drew their swords. Their blades, coated with charcoal dust, glinted not at all under the moonlight.
“Kilsy and Troy, each take a man and neutralize the soldiers guarding the mansion’s perimeter. The rest of you, with me. We’ll go straight in, take down Sir Sambro, and capture the Count. The others will secure our escape route and prepare to move the seized contraband out. We finish this before reinforcements arrive.”
There were silent nods of acknowledgment.
After meeting each of their gazes to gauge their focus, Josephine gave the signal.
“Move in.”
***
Around the same time,
At a café in the theater district of Lambart.
A man was quietly pouring whiskey into his coffee.
From the start, it seemed he’d had no intention of drinking it as proper coffee. He poured without measuring, and before long, the whiskey outweighed the coffee in the cup.
By the time he’d filled the cup nearly to the brim with liquor and lifted his teaspoon in satisfaction…
The doorbell rang, and someone entered the café.
Jingle-jingle.
“The Candela Knights have moved in.”
Without even turning around, the man stirred his coffee and spoke.
“Have a seat first, Jamie.”
“Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
The woman called Jamie stepped up to the bar and removed her hat.
Under the small lamp, her blonde hair caught the light. She had an asymmetrical bob that began below the ear and ended at chin height.
The man asked,
“Would you like a drink?”
“No. I don’t like how alcohol dulls my thinking.”
“Still a rookie, I see.”
Neither of them smiled.
Partly because they were both naturally blunt, but mostly because they’d been master and disciple for so long that they didn’t bother reacting to small jokes anymore.
Sakis Lubas, Head of Foreign Security Operations for the neighboring Republic of Libron, downed the liquid mixture in his cup which could hardly be called coffee anymore and asked his young apprentice,
“What’s the Candela Knights’ target?”
“Count Montieri.”
Count Montieri was a Laurencian noble whom Sakis Lubas’s intelligence network, the Longsoniere, had drawn into their fold.
He had taken a cut from Longsoniere’s smuggling operations, and in return, the organization had gained political influence within Laurencia through him.
“Fool. His greed finally got him caught.”
“Greed is second nature to nobles. So, what shall we do? Do we rescue him?”
“No. That man isn’t worth committing our resources to. We can replace him easily enough. But the Candela Knights… they’re becoming a nuisance. Haven’t they been disrupting our business more and more lately?”
At Sakis Lubas’s words, Jamie cautiously offered a suggestion.
“Their captain is a woman named Josephine, right? Wouldn’t it be better if we just killed her?”
Leave a Reply