Ch.236Chapter 236 – The Battle Between the Family Head and the Elder

Count Ecatos and the elders of House Ecatos were all staring at the same spot.

It was the place where Pathos, who had come all this way to repair the divine sword “Storm Guide”—the family heirloom of House Ecatos—had been sitting.

He had vanished in an instant with his fiancée.

Before leaving, Pathos had said to Count Ecatos and the family elders:

“Since there seems to be a disagreement between the head of the family and the elders, I’ll consider the repair of Storm Guide as if it never happened.”

Seeing the family head and elders fighting over their differences of opinion, he had abandoned the repair and left as if he had no choice.

The family head wanted Storm Guide repaired, while the elders did not want it repaired.

Both the family head and the elders were people with tremendous influence within the family.

So when opinions diverged within the family, taking sides with either party would put one in an awkward position.

That’s why Pathos had postponed the repair of Storm Guide—both to avoid being put in a difficult situation and because it wasn’t an urgent matter.

“……”

“……”

Seeing this, Count Ecatos and the elders of House Ecatos stopped their argument, stared at the empty space where Pathos had been, and then looked at each other.

“Count Severio has left! How are we going to resolve this?”

“Head of the family! Wasn’t it you who proceeded with this matter without consulting us?”

“Are you saying we should just sit and watch our family treasure remain shattered?”

“There’s a reason why Storm Guide is broken!”

Count Ecatos and the family elders were bristling at each other, looking as if they might fight at any moment.

But that intensity lasted only briefly. Count Ecatos and the family elders softened their sharp demeanors.

Fighting among themselves now wouldn’t help—spilled water couldn’t be put back in the cup.

“Sigh… Count Severio has left. What shall we do about this? We invited a guest who came all the way to our territory after receiving our letter to repair our family treasure, only to let him leave empty-handed… We would have no defense if other houses were to mock us.”

Count Ecatos pressured the elders by bringing up the family’s reputation.

Indeed, in the Celebrio Empire, it was considered extremely shameful to invite guests and then send them away without proper hospitality.

In other words, Count Ecatos was pointing out that House Ecatos had committed a serious breach of etiquette by failing to properly host Pathos as their guest.

“Head of the family. I don’t know about other matters, but I absolutely will not agree to repairing Storm Guide, our family treasure.”

But the elders would not budge from their position.

For them, Storm Guide had broken of its own will, and that will needed to be respected.

“As you know, Head of the family, Storm Guide broke itself after sealing an evil entity. That was the sword’s will to prevent someone’s misguided actions from releasing that evil entity back into this world. Shouldn’t we respect the sword’s will?”

“Then let me ask the elders this: If the sword has a will, why isn’t it expressing that will now? If the sword had a will, it should have communicated that will when I touched it.”

“That too is the sword’s will! Storm Guide is a divine sword. The fact that the divine sword did not communicate its will means that you, Head of the family, have not been chosen by the divine sword. Of course, not being chosen by the divine sword doesn’t mean you’re unqualified to be the family head. After all, only the first head of the family was ever chosen by the divine sword.”

Count Ecatos was slightly offended by the elders’ words, but there was no denying the truth in what they said.

He hadn’t been chosen by the divine sword, but that didn’t mean he was unqualified to be the family head.

The divine sword had broken itself after sealing the Abyssal Beast, a subordinate of the Demon God, to ensure that no one could ever break the seal.

“And Head of the family, didn’t you lie to Count Severio?”

“What lie are you referring to?”

“You told him that repairing the divine sword was necessary to strengthen the seal. But when we checked the seal, we found that the seal’s strength had actually increased significantly. So there was no need to repair the divine sword.”

“……”

Count Ecatos couldn’t respond, as if struck at his core.

It was true that he had lied to Pathos.

And Pathos had accurately pointed this out, and the repair of the divine sword had almost proceeded smoothly after Count Ecatos spoke honestly.

“Wouldn’t the seal remain intact as long as the divine sword isn’t used? That’s why I, as the head of the family, wanted to repair the sword to uphold our family’s honor!”

“Head of the family! If our family’s honor depends on repairing an heirloom, then we’re better off without such honor! Our ancestor who received and wielded the divine sword did so to protect the world, not to enhance his reputation!”

“I am the head of the family! How dare the elders question my decisions!”

“You’re acting for your own honor now! Aren’t you trying to achieve the impossible feat of repairing the divine sword so you can be recorded in our family history as the head who restored our heirloom?”

Raised voices began to fly between Count Ecatos and the elders.

“Is that so wrong? The honor I gain as the head of the family becomes the honor of the family itself!”

“Head of the family! Come to your senses! You were so bright when you were young—how have you become so corrupted since becoming the head of the family?”

“Enough! This meeting is adjourned! Everyone, return to your quarters!”

The elders couldn’t hide their complicated feelings as they looked at Count Ecatos.

What had corrupted him so?

Was the honor of being a professor at Glesius Academy not enough?

Could he not see that the honor gained from repairing the heirloom was nothing compared to the risk that someone might break the seal that was containing an evil entity?

Of course, the divine sword’s will would cause anyone unsuitable who touched it to collapse on the spot, but…

If someone strong enough to handle the divine sword appeared and broke its will, then the situation would truly become irreversible.

The family elders were worried about precisely this point, which is why they opposed the head of the family’s attempt to repair Storm Guide.

‘It seems we need to hide the divine sword somewhere.’

‘I agree. If we’re not careful, the head of the family might take the divine sword to Count Severio to have it repaired.’

‘I’ll take care of hiding the sword.’

The elders made their decision.

They didn’t understand why Count Ecatos had become so obsessed with honor, but…

For the sake of the family, and for the peace of the world, the divine sword had to be hidden.

That was the unanimous opinion of the elders.

After all, the seal containing such a powerful entity capable of causing catastrophe must never be broken.

With this in mind, the elders of House Ecatos methodically began the work of hiding the divine sword.

“Can you make a broken sword that looks very similar to the divine sword? It’s for the good of the family.”

“If it’s for the family, I’ll do whatever it takes.”

First, they commissioned a blacksmith to create an exact replica of the divine sword and then broke it.

The elders were satisfied to see that even the cross-section of the broken blade had been precisely replicated.

After the replica was made, the elders infiltrated the family sanctuary and switched the swords.

“Everyone be careful.”

“Don’t worry. In my prime, no one could match my infiltration skills.”

True to their long years of experience, the family elders successfully switched the divine sword in the family sanctuary without being detected by anyone.

“I’m counting on you.”

“Don’t worry. No one but me knows the entrance to my underground storage.”

Finally, they entrusted the divine sword to the elder with the most secret and discreet storage among them.

His storage was so secretive that even the Imperial Intelligence Department had consulted him when building their safe houses.

After hiding the divine sword, the family elders more desperately opposed the head of the family who insisted on repairing it.

“Why can’t we do it!”

“There’s no need to repair it! The divine sword has value because it’s broken! If restored, it would be just a sharp sword! But in its broken state, the divine sword is a relic honoring our ancestor of House Ecatos who sealed away an evil entity! How can you not understand something so simple?”

“…and that’s what’s happening right now.”

Serin Ecatos visited Glesius Academy and explained to Pathos what was happening in her family.

“This is driving me crazy, seriously.”

After hearing this, Pathos had to run both hands down his face.

‘Ah, maybe I should give Count Ecatos a good hammering…’