Chapter 123: The Drifter Jet is Surprisingly Useful (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 123: The Drifter Jet is Surprisingly Useful (2)
“Wait, how did you even know my people were digging into Alu lately?”
“I didn’t have much of a choice, Lord Casimir. The Seven-Colored Bird came to me first. It seems they’d flagged me as a Tessing remnant.”
“Hmm. Lord Casimir, what do you think? I don’t think it’s a bad idea to bring Jet into the Seven-Colored Bird.”
“If that is your wish, Young Lord, then I must comply. He certainly has some talent, considering he decoded our agents’ ciphers. Someone, bring an enlistment form.”
A servant hurried off and returned with a Seven-Colored Bird enlistment contract.
It was a thick document, nearly fifty pages long. Over ninety percent of it consisted of confidentiality clauses and warnings about the dire consequences of breaking them.
Jet didn’t even bother reading it before scribbling his signature.
“I’ll check the major prohibitions later, Master!”
“Members of the Seven-Colored Bird do not call me ‘Master.’ From now on, you will call me Lord Casimir or Sir. After a probationary period, you will be assigned as a recruit to Intelligence Team 3.”
“Yes, sir! I shall serve Sir Casimir, the Seven-Colored Bird, and my Lord here with my life until the day I die!”
And just like that, for the first time in his life, Jet had a proper profession.
It was an incredible stroke of luck. While he had been admitted on a whim due to Jin’s special recommendation, becoming an official member of the Seven-Colored Bird was normally more difficult than joining the Viment Investigation Squad.
“We’ll handle your probationary training later. For now, answer the Young Lord’s questions about Spider-Hand Alu’s past. If your information is trivial, your enlistment will be canceled.”
Jet rubbed his hands together and began to divulge everything he knew about Alu.
* * *
Spider-Hand Alu.
He was born in the Delki Kingdom, a member state of the Huphester Alliance, and had passed the Runcandel cadet exam as a boy.
The name he used back then was not Alu, but Tagan Marius.
That was the real name of ‘Spider-Hand Alu’—a name whose records had been erased from the world.
—Alu is an extremely dangerous man, unlike me. Rumor has it he has ties all the way across the sea to the Runcandels, and it’s highly likely to be true. And the underground auction…
Those were the words Jet had spoken when he first took Jin to the Tessing underground auction house.
The reason Jet had said Alu might have ties to the Runcandels—and that it was likely true—was because he knew this history.
It was information known only to the executives of Tessing and a few henchmen who acted as intermediaries—in other words, only those high enough to share a drink with Alu directly.
The reason the Seven-Colored Bird had failed to uncover Alu’s real name and hometown was simple.
After the ‘Tessing Collapse Incident,’ every surviving executive was either captured and killed by the Zipple or was in the process of being tortured. They had not only been deceived by a ‘Veradin impersonator’ but had also been caught distributing ancient magic tomes and artifacts behind the Zipple’s back. It was a natural consequence.
In short, other than Jet, there was no one left in the world with deep ties to the dark organization Tessing. This left the Seven-Colored Bird struggling to find any leads.
“That fellow Jet… he brought some truly useful information. To learn the real name and hometown of a man the entire Seven-Colored Bird couldn't identify despite months of effort… this is a major breakthrough for our intelligence gathering.”
“Tagan Marius. Marius, Marius… I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before…”
“You have, Young Lord?”
“Yes, it feels strangely familiar.”
“Since the man once took the Runcandel cadet exam, perhaps you saw it while looking through related documents?”
“Alu took the cadet exam about twenty years ago, before I was even born. Those documents would be buried deep in the archives. Besides, you can’t access those records before becoming a Flagbearer.”
As Jin muttered the surname ‘Marius’ in frustration, Gilly brought in some tea.
“Marius, Marius…”
“Oh? Young Master, why that name?”
“Ah, Spider-Hand Alu. Apparently, his real name is Tagan Marius, and it sounds familiar for some reason.”
“Haha, Young Master. That’s the surname of Lady Luna’s nanny, Taimun. It’s not a common name, but it isn’t unheard of, either. It makes sense that it would sound familiar.”
Jin’s hand froze as he reached for his tea.
“…Right. Nanny Taimun’s surname was Marius. Taimun Marius. Wait, Gilly. Do you happen to know where Nanny Taimun is from?”
“Lady Taimun is… let’s see, hmm. Ah! Delki. She said she was from Delki. Come to think of it, I remember her often sending specialty goods from Delki to the Storm Castle when you were very young.”
Jin and Casimir stared blankly at each other.
“Young Lord, could it be…?”
“What is it, you two?”
“Tagan Marius. Spider-Hand Alu is also from the Delki Kingdom.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s possible Alu is related to Nanny Taimun. No, the probability is very high. Furthermore, I’m told Alu once took the Runcandel cadet entrance exam.”
Gilly set the teapot down, her mouth hanging open in surprise.
“That is strange. And for him to have even taken the cadet exam… when did they say that was?”
“1776. According to Jet, exactly twenty years ago.”
“If my memory serves me right… the Delki Kingdom was in the midst of a brutal civil war at that time. Everyone who could hold a sword was on the battlefield. Even the princes and princesses were fighting. For a mere commoner to take the Runcandel cadet exam…”
“Ah, I remember as well,” Casimir chimed in, delving into his old memories. “Back then, Delki was split between the Royal Faction and the Prince’s Faction. Every newsletter was reporting on their civil war, and the Runcandels had issued a statement saying they would support whichever side emerged victorious.”
As a prince of Viment twenty years ago, he had closely followed all sorts of international affairs. Even for those less interested in politics, the Delki civil war had been a major event, as the war took place in Runcandel’s sphere of influence and garnered significant public attention.
“If it’s true that Alu, a native of Delki, took the cadet exam during that era of war… then Nanny Taimun, who was already a Runcandel nanny at the time, must have exerted her influence.”
“Most likely. Delki was under a complete blockade during the civil war. It was impossible for outsiders to enter or for its people to leave until the war ended.”
A ‘nanny’ in the Runcandel family was not someone who merely handled childcare like in a typical noble house.
Depending on the prestige of the pure-blooded Runcandel they served, they could wield immense power within the family and directly influence major affairs.
In that sense, the power Taimun held back then was essentially greater than that of most pure-bloods. It was a time when the entire world pointed to the fifteen-year-old Luna as the ‘Next Patriarch.’ It was an era when even Cyron would subtly hint at official gatherings that he intended to establish Luna as his successor.
If we assume Alu is a blood relative of Nanny Taimun…
Does that mean… the one who placed the ‘Delusion of the Blade’ curse on me was actually Sister Luna?
As Jin swallowed his unspoken words, the conversation he had with Alu before his death flashed through his mind.
—In any case… you cannot stop that person.
—What?
—Even if it failed back then…
Could the ‘person’ Alu mentioned be Luna? If not for that final conversation, Jin would never have entertained such a thought.
His blood began to pump faster.
Was the reason Sister Luna visited the Storm Castle on my ninth birthday… because the curse hadn’t taken hold?
In Jin’s previous life, Luna had never visited the Storm Castle. After he left the castle, there were almost no occasions for the world-renowned Luna to cross paths with Jin, who was always treated like trash. And, of course, Luna had never shown any interest in him back then, either.
Jin had merely lamented from afar, wondering why he couldn't have been born with a talent for the sword like his sister—or even half of half of it.
Then what about the way Sister Luna looked after me after I left the Storm Castle? The way she trained me and saved my life multiple times? Did she change her approach once she realized I was immune to the curse?
Jin shook his head violently, startled by where his thoughts were leading.
What on earth am I thinking? I’ve only found one possibility—that Taimun and Alu might be related. Even if they were blood relatives and it was connected to my curse, Sister Luna might not know anything about it.
He felt pathetic for doubting Luna, even for a moment.
However, the unpleasant feeling did not dissipate. It was a fact that Luna’s actions and attitude in this life were so different from the last that she felt like an entirely different person.
The miserable life before his regression. The cold-hearted family.
The siblings of his past life had offered nothing but ridicule, pointed fingers, or indifference, even when he was being exiled. The fact remained that Luna had been among them.
Those memories made one side of Jin’s chest feel heavy.
“…For now, I have to check. Whether Alu is indeed Taimun’s relative, and if so, why Alu—who passed the cadet exam—was acting as an underworld boss in Akin. Who is behind them, and what is their goal?”
“Wouldn't it be fastest to ask Lady Luna directly? By sending a letter, I mean.”
Gilly didn’t know that Jin had been afflicted with the ‘Delusion of the Blade’ when he was one year old. None of Jin’s comrades did.
“No, that might put Sister Luna in a difficult position. If they are relatives, it would be like I’m investigating Nanny Taimun for corruption.”
“Ah, that’s true. The Eldest Lady cherishes Lady Taimun dearly, so if the issue is minor, it might be better to keep it quiet.”
“Yes, that’s my intention. If Taimun’s corruption were revealed to the family, even if Sister Luna stayed quiet, the other siblings would tear into Nanny Taimun like mad dogs. Especially Brother Joshua, or Sisters Myu and Anne.”
The best-case scenario was this:
Taimun simply didn't want her relative to become fodder for the war, so she had arranged for Alu to take the cadet exam. Then, despite passing, Alu wandered for some reason before finding his calling in Akin. In that case, it would have nothing to do with the curse, and Taimun would have merely committed a common form of corruption.
Jin could let that slide.
“First, please send the Seven-Colored Bird agents to Delki. If you find anything significant, I’ll go myself.”
“Understood, Young Lord.”