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The Imperial System: Architect of an Empire

Chapter 182: A Rescue, Not a Hunt · Nov 04, 2026

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Chapter List (352)

Page number / 8

151 Chapter 151: The First Steps 2026-11-04
152 Chapter 152: Something in the Forest 2026-11-04
153 Chapter 153: The Guardian of the Ruins 2026-11-04
154 Chapter 154: The Ancient Seal 2026-11-04
155 Chapter 155: Six Days 2026-11-04
156 Chapter 156: The Voice Beneath the Earth 2026-11-04
157 Chapter 157: The Secret of the Asterion Blood 2026-11-04
158 Chapter 158: The Road Back 2026-11-04
159 Chapter 159: The Promise to His Mother 2026-11-04
160 Chapter 160: The Empty Archives 2026-11-04
161 Chapter 161: The Emperor’s Questions 2026-11-04
162 Chapter 162: The Imperial Council 2026-11-04
163 Chapter 163: The First Steps Toward a Greater Blackwood 2026-11-04
164 Chapter 164: The First Stone 2026-11-04
165 Chapter 165: The Adventure Guild 2026-11-04
166 Chapter 166: The Guild Begins 2026-11-04
167 Chapter 167: A Market Worth Traveling For 2026-11-04
168 Chapter 168: The Guild’s First Quest 2026-11-04
169 Chapter 169: Into the Forest 2026-11-04
170 Chapter 170: Beneath the Den 2026-11-04
171 Chapter 171: The Source Below 2026-11-04
172 Chapter 172: The Broken Heart Beneath Blackwood 2026-11-04
173 Chapter 173: The People Blackwood Lacked 2026-11-04
174 Chapter 174: The First Bell 2026-11-04
175 Chapter 175: A Man Aurelia Threw Away 2026-11-04
176 Chapter 176: The Weight of Sir 2026-11-04
177 Chapter 177: What the Crystal Was Built to Hold 2026-11-04
178 Chapter 178: Lines Beneath the Soil 2026-11-04
179 Chapter 179: The Man Who Never Came Back 2026-11-04
180 Chapter 180: What Walked Back 2026-11-04
181 Chapter 181: The Name Beyond the Border 2026-11-04
182 Chapter 182: A Rescue, Not a Hunt 2026-11-04
183 Chapter 183: What Blackwood Chose to Protect 2026-11-04
184 Chapter 184: The Woman in White 2026-11-04
185 Chapter 185: The Oath Before the Title 2026-11-04
186 Chapter 186: The Men Who Chose the Banner 2026-11-04
187 Chapter 187: The Line That Still Lived 2026-11-04
188 Chapter 188: The Brother Who Stayed 2026-11-04
189 Chapter 189: What Hector Brought With Him 2026-11-04
190 Chapter 190: The Heart Beneath Blackwood 2026-11-04
191 Chapter 191: The Man Who Collected Doors 2026-11-04
192 Chapter 192: The Second Witness 2026-11-04
193 Chapter 193: What the Title Costs 2026-11-04
194 Chapter 194: The Candidates Who Remained 2026-11-04
195 Chapter 195: The Road to the Coliseum 2026-11-04
196 Chapter 196: The City That Watches 2026-11-04
197 Chapter 197: Four Shields Beneath One Roof 2026-11-04
198 Chapter 198: Before the Empire 2026-11-04
199 Chapter 199: The Weight of a Choice 2026-11-04
200 Chapter 200: The Ones Others Follow 2026-11-04

Redpine Ridge lay eleven miles northwest of Blackwood’s central settlement, where the cultivated fields gave way to dense pine forest and uneven hills.

The lumber camp sat in a shallow valley beneath the ridge.

By the time Galahad Charney reached it, the rain had turned every cart rut into brown water.

Nobody had returned to work.

Axes remained buried in chopping blocks. Half-cut logs lay where men had abandoned them three nights earlier. A pot still hung above a dead cooking fire, rainwater filling it one drop at a time.

Mara Fen pulled her hood back.

I don’t like empty camps.

Marcus Wintermere looked over the abandoned tents.

You tracked a marsh cat through a ravine two days ago.

Marsh cats don’t whisper people’s names through walls.

Fair.

Galahad dismounted.

Enough.

The others followed.

Leon Ashford immediately checked the camp perimeter while Marcus studied the ridge.

The two Black Dragon soldiers wore the same dark armor and dragon insignia, but Galahad had already noticed how differently they carried themselves.

Leon looked for what might hurt someone.

Marcus looked for what he could fight.

There was a difference.

Galahad pointed toward the other two adventurers.

Calder Rusk. Check the outer tree line.

The former hunter nodded.

Guild Master.

Tessa Marrin, with him.

Tessa adjusted the short sword at her hip.

She had guarded caravans for twelve years before walking into Galahad’s examination field and discovering that experience did not exempt her from F-rank.

She had complained for an hour.

Then returned the next morning.

The two moved off together.

Marcus watched them go.

You trust two F-ranks alone?

Galahad turned.

They’re checking trees, not invading a fortress.

Marcus gave him a look.

You know what I mean.

Yes.

Galahad walked toward the largest timber shelter.

And you should learn something before the Knight Examination reaches Blackwood.

Marcus’s expression changed.

What?

Not every mission is improved by placing the strongest fighter at the front.

Marcus looked toward Leon.

Leon pretended he had not heard.

Galahad continued.

Calder has spent twenty years hunting these woods. Tessa has crossed more dangerous roads than most soldiers see in training.

They’re adventurers.

Yes.

You’re Black Dragon.

Yes.

And today, you’re support assigned to an Adventure Guild mission.

Marcus’s jaw tightened slightly.

Galahad stopped.

If that bothers you, tell me now.

Leon finally turned.

It doesn’t.

Galahad looked at Marcus.

Marcus took another second.

No.

Good.

Galahad continued toward the camp.

Because if we find the missing man, I don’t care which badge gets credit.

I care whether he comes home breathing.

That ended it.

For now.

Bren Talley had marked the charcoal kiln on Mara’s map.

It stood behind the northern edge of the camp, where generations of lumber workers had burned unwanted timber into charcoal.

The kiln itself was little more than an old stone dome blackened by years of smoke.

Mara walked around it once.

Then twice.

She crouched beside a pile of wet branches.

Here.

Leon came over.

What?

Mara pulled the branches aside.

A dark opening appeared behind them.

Not natural.

Someone had widened a gap between two old foundation stones.

Marcus crouched.

That’s where Bren and Jory went?

According to Bren.

Galahad approached but did not enter.

How stable?

Mara examined the soil.

Bad.

That’s not very precise.

She pointed toward the slope above them.

Rain’s running directly over the entrance.

Then she touched a cracked support beam someone had wedged into place.

And whoever did this knew enough to keep the opening from collapsing, but not enough to trust it.

Marcus reached toward the beam.

Mara slapped his hand away.

He stared at her.

Did you just—

Yes.

I’m not touching it.

You were.

I was looking.

With your hand?

Leon turned away.

Marcus glared at him.

Don’t.

Leon’s shoulders moved once.

Galahad hid his own smile.

Then his eyes settled on the darkness.

The humor disappeared.

Bren had said smooth stone walls were beneath the camp.

Jory had entered.

Then someone at the surface claimed to see Jory near the tree line while Bren knew he was still underground.

Galahad had been paid to enter worse places during his mercenary years.

But mercenary work had taught him something he intended to carry into the Guild.

Payment could make a man enter danger.

It should never make him stupid.

He turned.

Nobody goes down until Calder and Tessa return.

Marcus frowned.

We might be wasting time.

Maybe.

If Jory’s bleeding—

Then running underground without checking whether something is waiting to seal the entrance behind us won’t help him.

Marcus said nothing.

Leon leaned his shield against his leg.

We wait.

Galahad nodded.

That was why Kael had chosen him.

Calder returned twelve minutes later.

Tessa came from the opposite side of the camp.

Calder spoke first.

No fresh tracks coming in.

Leaving?

Several old ones from the evacuation. Rain ruined most.

Tessa lifted something.

A strip of dark blue cloth.

Mara recognized it.

Jory wore blue?

Bren said he did.

Tessa nodded toward the western tree line.

Found it caught on thornbushes.

Marcus immediately looked that direction.

So he came back out.

Calder shook his head.

Not through the camp.

The cloth is two hundred paces west.

Footprints?

None I trust.

Galahad looked toward Mara.

You?

She thought.

If Jory came out of the hole, crossed the camp, then reached those thorns, someone should have seen something in the mud.

Unless the rain erased it.

Calder shook his head.

Rain started after midnight.

Camp fled before that.

Marcus folded his arms.

Then what are you saying?

Mara looked at the underground opening.

I’m saying the cloth doesn’t make sense.

Galahad nodded.

Good.

Marcus frowned.

Good?

Better to know something doesn’t fit than force it into an answer.

He looked at the group.

We go down.

The order mattered.

Mara first.

Not because she was the strongest.

Because she was the best at noticing where the ground wanted to kill them.

Leon followed with his shield.

Galahad came third.

Calder and Tessa behind him.

Marcus took rear guard.

Marcus objected immediately.

Why am I last?

Galahad looked over his shoulder.

Because if something follows us, I want the man with the strongest raw Aura between it and our backs.

That quieted him.

Mostly.

The descent behind the kiln was tight for the first twenty feet.

Mara had to turn sideways twice.

Water dripped through cracks overhead.

The smell changed gradually.

Wet soil became old stone.

Old stone became something metallic.

Then her boot touched flat flooring.

She stopped.

Lantern.

Leon passed one forward.

Mara lifted it.

Bren had told the truth.

A corridor extended beneath Redpine Ridge.

Its walls were smooth enough that no ordinary miner had carved them.

But unlike the enormous western chamber Kael had described, this place was cramped.

Practical.

The ceiling barely cleared Leon.

Narrow grooves ran through both walls at waist height.

Marcus came down last.

He stared at them.

Same channels?

Galahad stepped closer.

Maybe.

Marcus looked at him.

You’re starting to sound like Tavian.

Don’t insult me.

Tessa snorted.

Galahad pointed at her.

You too.

They continued.

No one touched the walls.

The first knock came after fifty paces.

Three dull impacts.

Knock.

Everyone stopped.

Marcus drew his sword.

Leon raised his shield.

Calder whispered.

That wasn’t stone settling.

Galahad looked toward the wall.

Mara?

She listened.

Nothing.

Then—

Knock.

From behind them.

Marcus turned.

His Aura flared around the sword.

Too much.

The corridor brightened faintly around him.

Galahad’s voice sharpened.

Wintermere.

Marcus glanced over.

Pull it in.

If something attacks—

Then you’ll need Aura after the first swing.

Marcus’s expression tightened.

Kael had told him almost the same thing.

Sir Darius had told him worse.

He reduced the output.

The glow around the sword thinned.

Leon noticed.

Better.

Marcus looked at him.

Don’t start.

Galahad pointed forward.

Move.

The knocking followed.

Never close.

Never far.

Always somewhere inside the walls.

Calder eventually muttered.

I preferred the goats.

Mara answered.

The goat paid less.

I’m reconsidering my priorities.

They found Jory’s lantern eighty paces deeper.

Broken.

Blood smeared the floor beside it.

Not much.

Mara crouched.

Handprint.

Galahad looked.

The print dragged toward the wall.

Marcus raised the lantern.

There’s no door.

Mara moved closer.

There.

A seam ran vertically through the stone.

Almost invisible.

Leon put his shield down long enough to test the edge with the back of a dagger.

Hollow.

Marcus looked at Galahad.

Open it?

No.

Why?

We find Jory first.

What if he’s behind there?

Mara shook her head.

His blood continues ahead.

She pointed.

Faint drops.

Galahad looked at Marcus.

We’re following the man, not the mystery.

Marcus nodded reluctantly.

They moved.

The corridor opened into a low chamber filled with timber.

Modern timber.

The missing workers had dragged supports down here.

Some had been placed against the ceiling.

Others were stacked beside tools, rope and two empty water skins.

Tessa examined them.

They worked down here more than once.

Mara frowned.

Bren made it sound like they found the hole three nights ago.

Calder picked up an axe.

Not theirs.

Galahad looked at him.

How do you know?

Camp axes are marked at the handle.

He showed them.

No mark.

Leon walked to the stacked supports.

Someone was already excavating.

Before the lumber workers found it.

That explained the reinforced entrance.

Galahad’s face hardened.

Bren and Jory had not discovered an untouched ruin.

They had stumbled into someone else’s operation.

Marcus looked around.

Where are they now?

That was the right question.

A noise answered.

Not knocking.

Breathing.

Slow.

Uneven.

From the next passage.

Galahad raised one hand.

Nobody spoke.

Leon went first this time.

Shield forward.

Galahad behind him.

Mara remained slightly left.

Marcus covered the rear.

They entered another corridor.

Twenty paces.

Thirty.

Then Leon stopped.

Jory lay on the floor.

He was alive.

Galahad knew that before reaching him.

The man’s chest moved.

Barely.

His blue work shirt had been ripped along one shoulder.

His hands were raw.

Several fingernails were broken.

Mara knelt.

Jory?

His eyes opened.

He jerked violently.

Leon caught his arm before he reached Mara.

Easy.

Jory fought anyway.

No!

His voice tore through the corridor.

No, no, don’t let it—

Galahad crouched where Jory could see him.

Jory.

The man’s eyes moved.

Focus on me.

Who—

Galahad Charney. Adventure Guild.

Jory stared at him.

Guild?

Yes.

We’re taking you home.

Jory’s breathing became faster.

No.

Marcus frowned.

No?

Jory grabbed Galahad’s sleeve.

You can’t take me up.

Why?

It follows.

The knocking returned.

Directly behind Jory’s head.

Knock.

The man started shaking.

Mara spoke softly.

Jory, what follows?

He looked at the wall.

It knows voices.

Galahad’s eyes narrowed.

What does that mean?

Jory whispered.

It called me like Bren.

Then my mother.

My mother’s been dead eight years.

Nobody said anything.

Jory continued.

Then it used mine.

Marcus looked toward the wall.

Your voice?

Jory nodded.

I heard myself farther down.

Tessa swore.

Calder whispered.

That is enough underground work for one life.

The wall knocked again.

This time a voice followed.

Mara.

Everyone froze.

It sounded like Jory.

No.

Not quite.

The voice came through stone.

Mara.

Mara’s face drained.

Marcus raised his sword.

Galahad snapped.

Do not attack the wall.

It knows her name.

It heard us talking.

That conclusion was bad enough.

Then the voice changed.

Marcus.

His grip tightened.

Again.

Closer.

Marcus Wintermere.

Marcus stepped toward the wall.

Leon blocked him with the shield.

Move.

No.

It knows my name.

So?

Marcus stared at him.

So how?

Galahad answered.

Doesn’t matter.

We’re leaving.

Jory could not walk.

Leon lifted him.

Marcus immediately objected.

Give him to me.

Leon looked over.

Why?

You have the shield.

True.

Marcus sheathed his sword.

Then took Jory across his shoulders.

Galahad noticed what he had done.

Marcus gave up his sword arm so Leon could remain free to defend the group.

Small decision.

Good one.

Galahad nodded.

Marcus looked confused.

What?

Nothing.

Move.

They started back.

The voice followed.

Never shouting.

Never pleading.

Just speaking names.

Calder.

Tessa.

Leon.

Mara.

Galahad.

Then silence.

They reached the timber chamber.

Galahad stopped.

Something was different.

Tessa noticed too.

The tools.

One axe had moved.

Only inches.

But it was no longer where Calder had left it.

Leon raised his shield.

Mara pointed toward the floor.

Tracks.

Bare feet.

Fresh.

Calder went pale.

We were alone.

No.

Galahad drew his sword.

Apparently we weren’t.

The lantern flame bent.

No wind.

Then something stepped from behind the stacked timber.

A man.

At least shaped like one.

Thin.

Barefoot.

Dressed in torn work clothes none of them recognized.

His head hung forward.

Marcus shifted Jory higher.

Friend of yours?

Jory looked.

His entire body went rigid.

No.

The stranger raised his head.

His face looked wrong in a simpler way than monsters looked wrong.

Everything belonged.

Eyes.

Nose.

Mouth.

Yet the expressions arrived a fraction too late.

As if someone inside him were remembering how a man was supposed to move.

He smiled.

Galahad.

The Guild Master did not answer.

The stranger looked at Mara.

Mara.

Then Marcus.

Marcus.

Leon stepped in front.

Stay back.

The stranger’s eyes moved to him.

Leon.

Its smile widened.

Knight.

Leon’s expression hardened.

Not yet.

Something about that answer made Marcus almost laugh despite himself.

Galahad pointed his sword toward the side passage.

We’re not fighting unless we have to.

Marcus looked at him.

It’s blocking the exit.

Then we move it.

Alive?

If possible.

The stranger bent sideways.

Not backward like Senn had.

Sideways.

Farther than human joints allowed.

Purple-black vapor leaked from between his teeth.

Leon braced.

Now?

Galahad nodded.

Now.

The stranger came at Leon first.

Fast.

Too fast for a starving man.

Leon absorbed the impact with his shield.

His boots slid half a yard.

Marcus swore.

Leon!

I’m fine.

The stranger struck again.

No weapon.

Only hands.

Each impact against the shield sounded like hammer blows.

Galahad moved left.

Tessa right.

Calder stayed with Mara and Jory.

Marcus lowered Jory to the floor.

Stay with him.

Mara grabbed Jory beneath the shoulders.

Go.

Marcus drew his sword.

Aura ran along the blade.

Not flooding the corridor.

Not spilling around his entire body.

Just enough.

The stranger turned toward him.

Marcus.

Marcus hated hearing his own name from that mouth.

He attacked.

One cut.

Controlled.

The stranger twisted away.

Marcus stopped the swing before striking the wall.

Darius would have approved.

He had no time to enjoy that thought.

The stranger lunged.

Galahad intercepted.

His sword struck the man’s forearm with the flat.

Not the edge.

Bone cracked.

The stranger did not react.

That was useful information.

Galahad changed tactics immediately.

No pain response!

Leon understood.

He drove the shield into the stranger’s chest.

Tessa swept the legs.

The body fell.

Marcus placed his sword at the throat.

Stay down!

The man smiled up at him.

Sir Marcus.

Marcus froze.

Only for half a heartbeat.

But Galahad saw it.

So did Leon.

The stranger’s broken arm snapped upward.

Leon smashed it aside with the shield.

Marcus stepped back.

Not Sir.

The man’s mouth opened.

Black vapor poured out.

Galahad shouted.

Back!

Everyone retreated.

The body collapsed.

The vapor expanded.

Not large.

Enough to fill half the passage.

Mara dragged Jory away.

Calder grabbed her pack and ran beside them.

Marcus raised his sword.

Can Aura cut it?

Sir Darius did.

Galahad glanced at him.

Are you Sir Darius?

No.

Then don’t experiment with your lungs.

Leon grabbed Marcus by the shoulder.

Move.

They ran.

The vapor followed.

The corridor was too narrow.

That saved them.

The black-purple mass moved quickly in open space but slowed when forced through the tight passage.

Tessa reached the entrance first.

Then Calder.

Mara.

Jory.

Galahad pushed Leon upward.

Go.

Marcus remained.

Galahad looked at him.

I said go.

Marcus stared at the approaching vapor.

Someone has to cover you.

That’s my job.

You’re Guild Master.

Exactly.

Marcus almost argued.

Galahad pointed upward.

Black Dragon follows orders, doesn’t it?

Marcus’s jaw tightened.

Today, you’re the one giving them.

Galahad grinned.

You’re learning.

Marcus climbed.

Galahad followed.

The vapor reached the bottom of the shaft.

A voice rose from it.

Galahad.

He did not look back.

Then another voice.

His own.

Stay.

That made him look.

For one moment, the vapor gathered into a rough human face.

It wore Galahad’s expression.

His mouth.

His eyes.

Wrongly.

Galahad stared.

I’ve met better copies.

Then he kicked loose one of the old support wedges.

The entrance did not collapse completely.

But enough stone fell to choke the shaft.

He climbed into daylight.

Rain hit Galahad’s face.

He had never been happier to be wet.

Marcus and Leon immediately dragged the outer support timber away.

Calder threw loose branches into the opening.

Tessa helped Mara move Jory farther from the kiln.

The underground voice continued faintly through the stones.

Marcus.

Leon.

Mara.

Then—

Kael.

Everyone stopped.

Galahad turned toward the sealed opening.

It had never heard Kael’s name underground.

Not from them.

Not once.

Marcus stared.

Did anyone say Lord Kael’s name down there?

Nobody answered.

Leon knew the answer anyway.

No.

The knocking stopped.

Galahad’s relief disappeared.

He looked toward the road.

We return to Blackwood now.

Marcus glanced at the kiln.

Don’t investigate farther?

Galahad stared at him.

We found the missing man.

The quest is rescue.

Not prove how brave we are.

Marcus looked toward Jory.

Then nodded.

Yes.

Galahad corrected him.

Guild Master.

Marcus almost smiled.

Yes, Guild Master.

That would do.

They returned near sunset.

The rain had weakened into mist by the time Blackwood’s central settlement came into view.

Workers noticed them first.

Then merchants.

Then children.

Word moved faster than horses.

The missing lumber worker was alive.

By the time they reached the unfinished Adventure Guild, a crowd had begun gathering.

Kael came from the manor road with Sir Darius beside him.

He did not look at Galahad first.

He looked at the returning group.

Mara.

Calder.

Tessa.

Leon.

Marcus.

Jory.

Then Galahad.

All present.

Kael’s shoulders eased slightly.

Galahad saw it.

He didn’t mention it.

Kael approached Jory.

Alive?

Mara answered.

Alive, my lord.

A healer hurried forward with two assistants.

They moved Jory inside.

Kael turned toward Galahad.

Report.

Galahad looked at the crowd.

Not here.

Kael nodded immediately.

Good answer.

Before they entered the guild hall, Darius stopped Leon and Marcus.

Both men looked exhausted.

Mud covered their armor.

Marcus had a shallow cut above one eyebrow.

Leon’s shield carried three new dents.

Darius examined them.

What happened?

Marcus opened his mouth.

Leon answered first.

Mission completed, Sir.

Darius’s eyebrow rose.

That’s not what I asked.

Marcus smiled tiredly.

I told him you’d say that.

Leon ignored him.

Darius looked toward Galahad.

Galahad answered.

They did well.

Darius looked back at the two soldiers.

From Galahad, that counted for something.

Marcus tried not to look pleased.

He failed.

Darius noticed.

Do not become unbearable.

Too late.

Leon muttered it.

Marcus stared at him.

You’re becoming funnier since getting endorsed.

Darius turned toward the guild hall.

Both of you eat before debrief.

Marcus blinked.

No training?

Darius glanced back.

Would you prefer training?

No, Sir.

Excellent judgment.

The debrief lasted almost an hour.

No one interrupted Galahad while he spoke.

Not even Kael.

The illegal excavation.

The timber supports.

Jory.

The voice.

The host.

The vapor.

The imitation.

Then Galahad reached the last part.

It said your name.

Kael’s fingers stopped against the table.

Mine.

Yes.

Were you mentioned underground?

No.

Leon shook his head.

Not once, my lord.

Marcus agreed.

Kael looked toward Tavian.

The mage had gone unusually quiet.

Darius asked the question.

Can these things communicate with each other?

Tavian looked at the map rather than answering.

We have seen the same contamination in separate locations.

Western chamber.

Eastern ruin.

Senn.

The deer.

Now Redpine Ridge.

Kael watched him.

That’s not an answer.

No.

Tavian finally looked up.

But if the underground channels connect these sites, then perhaps the corruption doesn’t need to travel aboveground to share information.

Silence.

Kael looked toward the Blackwood map.

Lines beneath villages.

Fields.

Wells.

Roads.

Places they had not mapped yet.

The thought was unpleasant.

Darius spoke.

Then our problem isn’t several isolated creatures.

Tavian nodded.

It may be one network expressing itself through several places.

Galahad leaned back.

Meaning?

Hugo Stone, standing near Tavian, answered.

Cutting one branch doesn’t kill the tree.

Kael stared at the map.

That was the clearest description anyone had given him.

He looked toward Tavian.

Can we isolate Redpine?

Maybe.

Kael gave him a look.

Tavian sighed.

We can try.

Better.

Galahad returned to the guild hall after dark.

Most of the crowd had gone home.

A few workers remained.

Mara sat at one table with hot food.

Calder had fallen asleep with his head against his folded arms.

Tessa was telling anyone willing to listen that she had always hated underground work.

Nobody believed her.

Galahad walked to the quest board.

The lumber-camp request still hung there.

Two missing workers.

Investigation requested.

One had already escaped.

One had remained below.

Galahad removed the parchment.

Mara looked over.

Done?

He took a charcoal stick.

At the bottom he wrote:

Jory recovered alive.

Underground threat confirmed.

Camp closed by order of Lord Kael pending further investigation.

No adventurer deaths.

Then he stamped the Guild seal beneath it.

Not COMPLETE.

Not exactly.

Instead:

RESCUE SUCCESSFUL — SITE RESTRICTED.

Mara read it.

That’s not very dramatic.

Galahad hung the parchment back on the board.

Good.

Why leave it up?

He looked around the unfinished hall.

Because people should see what a mission actually looks like.

Not every victory means the danger is gone.

Not every successful quest ends with a monster’s head on a table.

Sometimes—

He looked toward the room where Jory slept under a healer’s care.

—you bring one man home.

Mara took another bite of stew.

That sounds almost noble for a mercenary.

Former mercenary.

You’re still counting the reward.

Of course.

Galahad smiled.

I’m not a saint.

Outside, the first bell hanging above the Adventure Guild entrance rang.

Only once.

A worker testing the rope.

The sound carried through the growing settlement.

People looked up from homes, shops and evening fires.

Blackwood’s Guild had completed its first true rescue.

And for one family waiting near the lumber road, that single life was enough to make the entire institution worthwhile.

For Kael, the report waiting on his desk told a different story.

Five known sites.

One buried network.

And something beneath his territory had learned his name.

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