Chapter 167
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: Jinovan
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Jun had several reasons for suspecting Jinovan's behavior.
First, Jinovan showed no particular change even after Jun and his companions arrived here.
He neither called Jun aside separately nor lavishly entertained the visiting members of the Imperial Family.
'It felt like he was hiding his presence.'
That's why it seemed strange.
'If he had any intentions against the Imperial Family, he would have acted as naturally as possible.'
Second, there was the middle-aged man named Botan.
He seemed like an acquaintance of Jinovan at first glance, but the bracelet wrapped around his wrist was unmistakably...
'Venom Serpent. That's the bracelet he makes his subordinates wear.'
Venom Serpent.
He was the name Jun had thought of when Dexter mentioned that Javier's food had been poisoned.
Even in the game, the Venom Serpent was unrivaled in handling poisons for the Firmament Cult, and his uniquely vicious abilities had caused many difficulties.
'If it was that guy, it makes sense why they haven't caught the culprit who's been neutralizing the poisons all this time.'
And one of that man's subordinates had come to Jinovan.
Jun didn't know everything about the man named Jinovan, but at the very least, it seemed unlikely he remained friends with someone who used poisons.
So he tested him.
Pretending to be a hired servant without using illusion magic, he went to his room.
Of course, it was an extremely dangerous act.
This operation involved not just Jun, but the Imperial Family as well.
But even so, Jun trusted his instincts.
'If the me from a year ago saw this, he'd grab me by the collar and call me insane.'
Just last year, he'd nagged Aiden not to trust people, yet here he was trusting a man named Jinovan and acting on it.
Anyway.
When he arrived at Jinovan's office and saw that the man recognized his face but kept silent, Jun inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
Even more, he didn't interfere with Jun's brazen act.
'No need to toy with people's nerves like that.'
He felt embarrassed for his past self, who had worried about what to do if Jinovan had betrayed them.
'Now all that's left is to wait...'
After waiting outside for a while, Jun spotted Botan leaving after finishing his business and glanced at Jinovan before re-entering the office.
What Jun sought was none other than an empty flower vase.
More precisely, the recording device inside it.
"Hm. Good. It's working fine."
As Jun turned to leave.
Suddenly, [Exceptional Memory] activated on its own.
The desk was different from before.
There was only one difference.
A single worn book placed next to the flower vase.
Jinovan.
In his life, despair was closer than he thought.
His family had been gradually declining since his childhood.
His father and mother's faces were always filled with worry and concern.
With the family head and matriarch both in poor spirits, the servants grew anxious and busily sought other jobs.
"Someday, I want to fill this house with laughter."
In that earnest wish, Jinovan swung his sword, and fortunately, he had ample talent and passion.
As his skills improved day by day, his parents began to smile at him more.
By the time his exceptional swordsmanship earned him entry into the Imperial Academy.
Despair struck suddenly.
On a day when the sun blazed fiercely.
While sweating and swinging his sword as usual, news of his parents' deaths reached him.
The cause: mission failure.
It was common enough.
Death was never far from a knight.
Those around him clicked their tongues in sympathy, but forgot it all after a day.
Even though for Jinovan, it wasn't something to forget by day's end.
In the dead of night, when all were asleep.
Gazing at his sword under the moonlight in the training grounds alone, Jinovan resolved himself.
Someday, with this sword.
With this swordsmanship that alone brought smiles to his father and mother, he would raise the family name high.
So he resolved.
The recording device, hidden in the flower vase, couldn't film Jinovan's office, but it captured the audio perfectly.
-The princes showing up out of nowhere. What's going on?
Botan, the man who had eyed the mansion suspiciously, spoke freely in Jinovan's office.
-I don't know either.
-You don't know? Come on, Jinovan. You didn't call them, did you?
-How could I, Uncle? I've already sworn allegiance to the Firmament Cult.
-Watch your words. The higher-ups have ordered us to be wary of the Imperial Family's recent movements.
-Wary? The Imperial Family hasn't only visited here, have they?
-You know better than anyone that the Imperial Family aren't pushovers. Saying that when they've cornered us like this?
-Calm down, Uncle. We haven't done anything here to begin with. Why are you so sensitive?
-You might not know, but I do. Isn't that why you're here?
-You're the one who came all this way, Uncle. They came here even without you. I don't know why you're angry.
A deep sigh followed Jinovan's words.
-...Sorry, Jinovan. There have been issues with our recent operations, so I've been overreacting.
-What exactly happened?
-The guys gathering poisonous herbs got tailed by the Black Guard. I got chewed out by Lord Venom Serpent over it.
-I see. But traces of the poisonous herbs we need here have been found smoothly lately, haven't they? A little more patience, and he'll surely come.
-Ugh... Right. Anyway, you properly absorbed the Evil Spirit Orb?
-You have no idea how shocked I was. To receive such a gift out of the blue.
-Ha, handle it carefully. I haven't even been granted one yet.
A hint of jealousy laced Botan's voice, while Jinovan asked as if puzzled.
-That's what I want to ask. Why give something like this to someone like me who had nothing?
-It means he saw talent in you. Your swordsmanship is impressive, isn't it? If your father were alive, he'd weep with joy.
-...Anyway, things here are going well. You should hide for a while too, Uncle.
-Got it. You be careful around those princes too.
-Don't worry. I'm keeping my distance.
The conversation ended there.
He must have come to check on his well-being.
With the Imperial Family coming here personally, it was natural to worry.
"Botan, Botan..."
"Heard the name before?"
"Unfortunately not. Guess I'll have to send a letter to Natalie in the capital... (Actually, because it's a hassle.)"
Natalie, who stayed in the capital city of Bijo, not wanting to be a nuisance.
She might know about this Botan.
"Ah, I remember now."
"Hm?"
It was Javier, who had been silently lost in thought, who spoke up.
"I heard he's the manager of a herb merchant caravan contracted under Mother's name."
"Herbs, huh. Then he's not unrelated to the ones the Black Guard have been chasing."
"...Could Mother be involved in this?"
"I doubt it. Lady Benes is too meticulous for poisons... ahem. She wouldn't get directly tangled with the Firmament Cult."
It was wishful thinking, but in truth, Benes wouldn't have let her child suffer a carriage accident.
She must have heard it was the Firmament Cult's doing, so they had incurred the wrath of the rear palace.
"By the way, Mage. How did you obtain this?"
"Jinovan's movements seemed suspicious, so I acted on my own. I apologize for moving without permission."
"People might not know, but I'm surprisingly a results-oriented man. I won't blame you for that. More importantly, Jinovan's movements seemed suspicious?"
"Yes."
With that, Jun explained in detail his impressions of the man named Jinovan.
From his initial approach, the Goblin Lord subjugation and follow-up strategy, to later helping the Gilenoi Merchant Guild in their crisis.
"He had ambitions to revive his fallen house, but he wasn't consumed by them."
"But exiled here, couldn't he have developed twisted thoughts?"
"His life hasn't had that many twists for that."
"They could have built up and exploded."
"Exactly. So I decided to test him first."
"That's why you apologized to me earlier."
If Jinovan had reacted strangely toward Jun then, the operation would have been ruined.
The Firmament Cult members they had barely cornered would have scattered.
Of course, they could catch Jinovan and Botan on the spot, but compared to the massive net they had prepared, those two were too small a catch.
Meanwhile, Dexter nodded along to Jun's words.
'Indeed, this man has no intentions toward the Imperial Family.'
Normally, even good-natured Dexter would have been furious, but... a man who cares for his people like that.
Especially as the leader of his half-brother's group, it sat well with him.
"Well, enough. We'll let this slide."
"I am honored."
"Anyway. Botan, huh. How should we lure him out?"
Should they tail him now and see his movements?
'But that feels insufficient.'
If they did, their role would diminish greatly.
'We came all the way to Blackout. We need to catch something big.'
These were the ones who harmed his brother and sought to spread war across the empire.
Shouldn't he grab them with his own hands and snap their necks like a chicken?
"So, Mage. Let me ask you one more thing. How can we round them all up?"
"I don't know about the rest... but there's one thing I can guarantee."
"What is it?"
"A way to catch the one who poisoned the Third Prince's food."
Dexter had thought about Jinovan and Botan, but not yet about the Venom Serpent they mentioned.
When Jun mentioned that the one who poisoned Javier's food was the Venom Serpent, Dexter asked with a grave expression.
"Do you know this Venom Serpent fellow?"
From here, he had to be careful with his words.
The other was royalty. The First Prince, closest to the throne.
Speaking falsehoods rashly before him could endanger Jun.
'But I can't just throw out bait without more.'
This was the Venom Serpent, no less.
The master of evasion and infuriation in the game.
If they could catch and kill him this time, the risk was worth it.