Chapter 658 – Underground Railway Underway.

“Thank the gods, you’re back, child!”

An older woman embraced a younger one who bore a strong resemblance to her.

“Don’t thank the gods, Mother. Thank the Rune Knights!”

She spoke while glancing over her shoulder. Behind her stood several armored riders on horseback. At their head were two knights clad in runic equipment, the so-called Rune Knights who had recently appeared in the city of Aldbourne.

“You should wave at them.”

The robed knight Curtana, whispered to Durendal, the leader of their group. He did not move as disappointment weighed on him.

“I don’t deserve it. These people should never have been captured in the first place.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. We brought everyone back safely and cleared out their hidden base of operations.”

Curtana reminded Durendal, whom she knew as Robert, and her husband, of what they had accomplished.

“They do seem happy. I can’t imagine what they must have endured for this to be enough to win their hearts.”

Robert spoke quietly, and Lucille nodded. They had been here for months. Time had passed since the culling event and since they seized this territory from Theodore Valerian.

“Why wouldn’t they be happy? This is probably the safest the city has ever been. After we removed the thieves guild master, crime is at an all time low. We reduced the number of slaves and freed the ones that were turned into slaves through illicit means. To them, it is all thanks to us.”

“I suppose so.”

He nodded, recalling what the city had looked like when he first arrived. The other nobles had been driven out. Though the mayor remained, he was little more than a puppet controlled by Robert and Lord Arthur Valerian. Their ranks held knights of even greater power, such as Sir Wischard, who commanded a regiment enhanced with rune prosthetic limbs.

“You need to stop doubting yourself. Those smiles are real, and they are because of us.”

Lucille gestured toward the cheering crowd. Trade from one direction had diminished, yet the city was neither starving nor in ruins. With support from Albrook, they had managed to keep everything functioning, though problems remained.

For now, the city was a burden on their operations. Without money and resources from Albrook, sustaining it would be impossible. Part of the population had already left, and many merchants could no longer make a living.

Even though they had managed to eliminate the fake bandits created by Theodore, the problem would eventually return to haunt them. Merchant convoys would be forced to hire more armed guards for protection, cutting deeply into their profits. Most would then choose to avoid the volatile route altogether and use the more established roads instead, since their concern was profit, not whether a city prospered.

Even if Robert managed to make the roads safer, he could do little about the malicious rumors spread by various intelligence guilds in the region. Every minor incident was falsely reported as a massacre, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Still, there was supposedly a plan already in motion to overcome this predicament.

“Sir Durendal.”

As he returned to his base of operations within the mayor’s mansion he currently occupied, one of his men approached him. He was still not accustomed to being a tier three knight commander, a position he had once dreamed of attaining. Now that he held it and was respected by many, he questioned whether he truly deserved it. It felt as though the title had been granted out of necessity by his brother rather than earned solely through merit.

Although he had some doubts about his ability to lead, he did not shy away from the responsibility. He was determined to prove that he was worthy of the position. Even if it had come to him through family ties, he needed to show everyone, and himself, that he truly deserved it.

“Speak.”

“The High Knight Commander has sent a personal message.”

Robert nodded to the squire who had delivered the news. It was the same boy Roland had asked him to mentor. His first squire was quite skilled for his age and, more importantly, eager to learn.

“Good. I will see to it.”

His brother was a secretive man. Unless absolutely necessary, he avoided sharing direct information with anyone outside his inner circle. Robert was not even certain that he himself was fully trusted, as his brother clearly kept certain secrets from him.

“Shall we proceed, Sir Durendal?”

“Yes, Lady Curtana.”

Even so, Robert did not resent his brother’s secrecy. For someone so young, he possessed remarkable wisdom. At times, it even felt as though he were twenty years older than Robert, despite Robert being the elder. His plans, though occasionally reckless, somehow always worked out in the end. Robert would not call him a traditional leader but rather a visionary. Roland lacked the charisma and eloquence that Arthur Valerian possessed in that regard. To Robert, both men were exceptional, and the more he served under their banner, the prouder he felt of his role.

He and Lucille moved forward into a newly built chamber in the mayor’s mansion, once a basement. It had been expanded significantly to house large machines and complex runic devices that he did not fully understand. Although he was a knight capable of using runes, his knowledge could not compare to that of a rune mage or runesmith. Fortunately, his wife stood beside him, fully capable of operating the intricate contraptions.

“Leave us.”

After they arrived in the large underground chamber, their squires and guards withdrew to stand watch outside. Once they were alone, both quickly removed their helmets.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to wearing one of these. I’m not sure how your brother manages it.”

Lucille sighed with relief as she lifted the helmet from her head. During the mission, they had been forced to keep their faces concealed at all times. The threat of being discovered by their families was still real and would probably never truly disappear.

“I don’t know. Even I get tired of wearing one eventually.”

Robert set his heavy helmet on a nearby table, then rolled his neck until a sharp crack echoed through the chamber.

“Perhaps we should try those face masks instead. I heard the high-quality ones feel like a second skin.”

“If you wish.”

Lucille had recently heard about Roland using advanced facial concealment technology, and the idea clearly intrigued her. Robert did not care much either way. He was accustomed to the helmet, but his wife seemed eager to experiment with a new appearance.

“Should I be blonde or brunette, or perhaps emerald-green? What do you think?”

Robert shrugged. Hair color did not matter much to him. Lucille’s blue hair, a trait of her mage ancestry, was something he had always liked.

“Well, you’re no fun…”

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She sighed when he refused to choose, then turned to the large console at the center of the chamber. Its surface was covered in runic symbols and fitted with a display screen similar to the one in Roland’s workshop.

“Let’s see what our High Knight Commander has left for us, shall we?”

After a few beeps and the clatter of keys, a voice message appeared on the display. As always, it was brief and direct.

“I’ve seen your progress with the bandits. Good work. As for the trade routes, the rune train project should be completed soon, so prepare a few willing merchants to test the new underground route.”

“Oh. They finished preparing it while we were gone?”

Robert watched as Lucille’s fingers danced across the interface. A diagram soon appeared on the screen. It showed a map between Albrook and Aldbourne. A line connected the two cities. It had once been red and shorter, but now it stretched farther and glowed blue.

“They did it. Wait, the rune train is moving right now? Why didn’t anyone tell us that they would be doing this today!?”

Without elaborating further, Robert saw his wife nearly trip over her own feet as she hurried to open a doorway leading into another tunnel. The door slid open slowly, forcing her to shuffle impatiently in front of it.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

He called as she was about to dash through.

“What?”

He pointed to the helmet resting off to the side. Realizing her mistake, she quickly covered her mouth with her hand and rushed back to retrieve it.

“Oh gosh, what a scatterbrain I’ve become…”

She blushed as she secured the helmet on her head. Robert chuckled and followed after her. She was practically giddy with excitement. The tunnel led to a restricted area, one of the passages discovered during the recent dungeon break incident. It took them a few minutes to reach it, and they arrived just in time to hear a distant rumble approaching.

“Rob… I mean, Sir Durendal, the rune train is coming. Look!”

“I’m looking, Lady Curtana.”

Lucille was usually calm and composed, but anything involving runes transformed her into an eager child. Her eyes sparkled beneath the helmet. As Robert focused on the machine barreling toward them, he had to admit it was an extraordinary sight.

“It’s coming quite fast. Maybe we should take a step back.”