Chapter 101: Resonance of Truth
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 101: Resonance of Truth
February 1, 1796.
Under a somber sky, a man walked silently through the rain-swept Black Sea. As always, Guardian Knight Khan carried a single letter tucked inside his robes.
"You’ve arrived."
"Yes, Patriarch."
Before Cyron could even ask, Khan produced the letter. As Khan respectfully held it out with both hands, a faint smirk played on Cyron’s lips.
"What do you think the outcome was?"
"Are you referring to the match between Young Master Jin and Dante Hairan?"
"Indeed."
"Logically speaking, Dante’s victory should have been a given. Young Master Jin is currently fighting with two of his abilities sealed. However, considering the Young Master’s recent accomplishments… I suspect there may have been another upset."
Rip.
As Cyron tore open the letter, he felt a rare flutter of anticipation for the first time in a long while.
Sender: Casimir
Recipient: Cyron Runcandel
Report: Jin Runcandel defeated Dante Hairan and won the Arena of Cosmos.
Note: Jin Runcandel has reached the 6-star rank in swordsmanship.
Four lines.
That was the entirety of Casimir’s letter. There were no flowery greetings or idle chatter, which was his usual habit—not a single unnecessary sentence.
It was the very definition of concise. Yet, after reading it, Cyron couldn't help but feel a strange sense of irony.
…Did he really send it like this just because I told him to keep it short?
Of course, as Khan had said, the fact that his youngest had caused another upset was highly gratifying. But for some reason, he felt as if he were being mocked.
"Patriarch, has something happened to the Young Master?" Khan asked cautiously, observing Cyron’s stiff expression.
"No… it’s not that. The boy defeated Dante."
"Then…"
"It’s nothing. When you return, tell Casimir we should have a drink soon. I want to see the look on that man’s face myself."
"Understood!"
*
Shiver.
"Did a sudden chill just pass through here…?"
"A chill, Sir Casimir? The stove is burning quite brightly," Jin said, pointing toward the fireplace.
Beside them, Enya and Yuria burst into giggles, while Alisa just shrugged and looked at Casimir.
"Last time, you said you had heatstroke in the middle of a January blizzard…"
"What’s wrong, honey? Have you been feeling weak lately?"
"No, no, it’s not that. I must have imagined it."
"I should probably prepare some herbal medicine for you."
Casimir shook his head lightly.
They were all gathered in Jin’s room, chatting idly. Jin had just finished his private training, Alisa had completed her shift, and Casimir had dropped by after finishing his work.
Enya and Yuria had simply come to ask Jin to play with them, while Murakan and Gilly had just brought out a puzzle for Yuria.
"Hey, Ice Candy. You play with this."
"No. Turn into a cat."
"I don't want to."
"Do it."
"No. Hmm… fine. If you finish this puzzle, I’ll do it."
"Promise."
It was a thousand-piece puzzle—a daunting task for a girl who had only just turned six. However, Yuria began assembling it with startling speed. Without even needing to test the pieces, she filled the empty spaces the moment her hand touched a fragment, as if she had the entire image memorized.
"Lord Murakan, my daughter is the Contractor of Az Mil. Puzzles are useless against her."
"Ah! Right. Dammit, she got me."
"What do you mean, 'got you'? You’re the one who suggested it. Honestly, you just wanted to play with her. Stop grumbling for no reason."
"Quiet, kid. I did enough cat transformations to last a lifetime back at the Runcandel main house. Hmph."
Poof!
As the transformed Murakan let out a soft meow, Yuria beamed with joy.
"Hehe."
The onlookers couldn't help but smile warmly at the sight. Murakan, perhaps deciding it was better to tire Yuria out quickly so she would go to sleep, began playing with her quite enthusiastically.
There’s nothing like a game of tag to drain a kid’s stamina.
Swish, swish!
As Murakan darted between the floor and the table, Yuria began chasing him as if enchanted.
"He says all that, but he’s always such a kind soul, don't you think, Young Master?"
Yuria struggled to catch Murakan, stumbling about. Murakan, for his part, seemed to be enjoying himself, teasing her by staying just out of reach.
"Uuuugh!"
Finally, after five minutes of chasing, Yuria attempted a desperate leap toward the table where Murakan sat.
Hop!
The table was too high for her to clear in a single jump.
"Oh!"
"Yuria!"
Thud!
Yuria collided with the table and fell backward, bringing the short game of tag to an end. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt, but it was only natural that everyone turned a sharp glare toward the meowing Murakan.
"You stupid Black Dragon! What if she had gotten hurt?"
"Meow…"
While Murakan’s ears drooped in sudden dejection, a piece of paper slipped from the table drawer and fluttered down before Yuria like a falling leaf.
"Ooh?"
While everyone crowded around Yuria to ask if she was okay, the girl herself looked perfectly fine. Her gaze was fixed on the paper that had fallen before her.
"Whoa! It’s a treasure map!" Yuria shouted, her eyes sparkling.
It was the treasure map Jin had received as his prize for winning the Arena of Cosmos. Upon his return, Jin had neatly placed the trophy on his desk but had long since forgotten about the seemingly meaningless map, leaving it tucked away in a drawer.
He had assumed a map prepared by a group of pirates as a prize couldn't possibly be valuable. In fact, Cosmos had hoped the winner would take the treasure chest instead of the thousand gold coins, as he had judged the map—which he’d obtained by plundering a merchant ship—to be nothing more than a worthless scribble.
In other words, it was supposed to be a dud prize. Of course, because Jin had taken both the money and the chest, Cosmos hadn't been able to cheap out on the awards ceremony.
"Anyway, be careful when you play from now on. Who’s going to take responsibility if she gets hurt?"
"That’s right, Lord Murakan. Still, Lady Yuria is quite brave. It looked like a pretty hard fall…"
"There’s something important here!"
Suddenly, Yuria jumped to her feet and held up the map, shouting.
"There’s something… something very important!"
Her eyes were filled with absolute certainty. If any other child had shouted such a thing, they would have laughed it off as a common childhood fantasy.
But Yuria was the Contractor of Az Mil, the possessor of the Absolute Eye that could solve a ten-thousand-piece puzzle in an instant and perceive all objects and phenomena 'as they truly are.'
In other words, the map was a real treasure map.
It was a map with an 'X' marked on a crudely drawn piece of land, with ancient script written in the margins.
Even Murakan and Quicantel couldn't recognize that ancient script, so I thought it was just someone’s prank.
There were few ancient languages a dragon of Murakan’s stature wouldn't recognize. Even if he couldn't read them, he could usually identify the approximate era the script belonged to based on its form.
"Something important is buried there? Yuria, can you tell me more?"
The moment Jin asked the question, the curiosity shining in Yuria’s eyes was replaced by a sudden surge of tears.
She collapsed to the floor and began to sob.
"Waaaaah! It’s so… so sad!"
With the power of Az Mil active, Yuria was seeing a landscape entirely different from what the others saw.
A treasure hidden deep somewhere.
And the scene of a tragedy caused by that very treasure.
"…It seems the power of Az Mil is manifesting. We have to stabilize her first, kid! Go get Latri, quickly!"
It was rarely a good thing for a young contractor’s powers to manifest involuntarily—especially since Az Mil’s abilities were related to the future and the truth.
In times like this, the help of a Guardian Dragon was necessary.
"Y-Yes!"
Casimir rushed outside, and Alisa pulled Yuria into her arms, skillfully beginning to soothe her.
"This has happened a few times before. My daughter isn't exactly an ordinary child, after all."
Before long, Latri arrived.
"Where is Yuria!"
"Here!"
As soon as Latri sat cross-legged beside Yuria and closed his eyes, a blue energy flowed out and began to envelop the two of them.
It was 'Resonance.'
Now, the sad and depressing parts of the visions brought forth by the power would be borne by Latri, the Dragon of Truth, instead of the contractor, Yuria.
Yuria gradually began to find her composure.
On the other hand, Latri, who took the form of a young boy, kept his eyes closed while his brow furrowed occasionally, as if he were witnessing something shocking.
About ten minutes after the resonance began, Yuria fell into a peaceful sleep. Latri let out a heavy sigh, drenched in sweat.
"Phew…!"
As Murakan approached, Latri stood up and bowed politely. Although Latri hadn't even been born during Murakan’s prime, he held him in great awe.
"Ah, Lord Murakan. I apologize for not greeting you properly in the confusion."
"Forget the formalities. What did the Ice Candy see?"
"It was… not the future, but the past."
"The past? There’s only one reason a Contractor of Az Mil would see the past."
"Yes. Only when they touch an object or visit a place imbued with deep-seated resentment or obsession. Phew, it would have been dangerous if we were any later. It was so horrific…"
Even if he looked young, he was a Dragon of Truth who had lived for over five hundred years. Latri trembled slightly as he recalled what he had seen in Yuria’s place.
"Hmm. I dismissed it as nothing because it was in a language I couldn't read. It seems this map was an object steeped in quite a bit of sorrow. So, what did you see?"
"A land with a primitive landscape… a group of people who looked like an indigenous tribe living there. And an altar they worshipped…"
Latri took a breath, steadying himself as he recalled the vision.
"Other humans… came to find them. They appeared to be mages. About ten of them. At first, the mages joined in their worship rituals and such."
"And then?"
"One mage killed an indigenous child. A very young human, even younger than Yuria… and he did it while the child was still alive…"
As the shocking explanation continued, the room filled with gasps of horror. Enya even began to cry upon seeing the tears welling in Latri’s eyes.
"…And then they killed more children. They kept doing that, demanding the tribe hand something over. It seemed to be… a sacred object they worshipped."
Hearing that, a specific story immediately came to Jin’s mind.
"Lord Latri, could you perhaps draw what that sacred object looked like?"
"Ah, just a moment."
Taking a pen and paper, Latri quickly sketched the form of the sacred object. It was shaped like a round disc.
"Light kept flowing from this disc, but when the light faded, it looked like an ordinary silver mirror."
The Colon Ruins.
What the treasure map pointed to was an artifact of the Colon Ruins—the 'Mirror.'