Chapter 129: Taimun Marius (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 129: Taimun Marius (2)
A mansion in central Huphester.
“…You show up after three days, and this is all you have to say? That you lost Den and exposed your faces and names to some unidentified magic swordsman?”
Beris and Kuzan lowered their heads.
They had only just returned, having narrowly escaped the pursuit in Delki. Beris was still suffering from the aftereffects of mana backflow, and the wounds Kuzan had sustained in his fight with Jin had not yet fully healed.
“We have no excuse, Lady Taimun.”
Grind.
Taimun looked down at them, her teeth clenched. For a brief moment, she seemed lost in thought, a deep shadow cast over her face.
“You fools… I can’t stand the sight of you. Get out. I will never issue you another order again.”
The two assassins’ eyes widened in shock.
“You will never issue another order to us…?”
“You heard me. You’ve made too great a mistake.”
“L-Lady Taimun. Are you… abandoning us?”
“Lady Taimun! We were wrong! Please, forgive us just this once!”
Kuzan’s voice trembled. Beris immediately fell to her knees, tears welling in her eyes as she began to beg. She looked like a child pleading with a parent for forgiveness.
“Forgive you? Does a hound that failed the hunt dare ask such a thing of its master?”
“Lady Taimun, Lady Taimun, Lady Taimun. I was truly wrong. I’ll never make a mistake again, I promise. Please. Please don’t abandon us.”
Beris grabbed the hem of Taimun’s skirt, her wails intensifying.
Thud! Thud!
Taimun, however, remained indifferent as she kicked Beris in the face. Kuzan also fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face.
“How are we supposed to live without you, Lady Taimun! You can hit us more, you can torture us to death and we’ll accept it… Just please, don’t throw us away! Please…!”
The cruelty they had shown when slaughtering the survivors of the Moon’s Sacrifice was nowhere to be found. Beris was nearly out of her mind, wringing her hands desperately.
“Is that so? If you’ll accept anything, then die. I’ll kill you right now.”
Shring!
Taimun drew her sword, but Beris made no move to avoid it. She simply closed her eyes and continued to sob.
Just as Taimun swung her blade, Kuzan threw his arms around Beris to shield her.
Taimun stopped her sword inches from the nape of Kuzan’s neck and looked down at the pair.
“…Lady Taimun. No, Mother.”
Kuzan slowly straightened his back and looked Taimun directly in the eye.
“Please… stay healthy and strong forever.”
“Never seek me out again. Never.”
Kuzan retreated, carrying the unconscious Beris in his arms. The bond between them and Taimun Marius ended that day.
Watching their retreating figures, Taimun clicked her tongue.
‘The magic swordsman they saw is definitely Young Master Jin. Since they said he used spirit energy, there’s no doubt. Lady Luna and Young Master Jin will come looking for me soon. It’s a good thing I heard about the Young Master’s strength from that person, or I would have been in serious trouble.’
For a moment, Luna’s face flickered in her mind—the face of the lady who was once Taimun Marius’s entire world.
‘The Lady can’t kill me anyway. And I’ve learned something new. Not only is Young Master Jin a Contractor of Shadows, but he also possesses magical abilities? This is information even that person doesn’t know…!’
A faint smile touched Taimun’s lips. The hounds, she thought, hadn’t been entirely useless after all.
*
“Yes, yes. Is there anything you find uncomfortable lately?”
“No, Lady Luna. Thanks to your care, everything is perfect. My kin have all found work, and we people of Colon are finally living like human beings.”
Having returned to her territory after a long absence, Luna was having tea with Tika.
“I’m glad to hear it. Oh?”
“What is it, Lady Luna?”
When Luna suddenly flinched and looked around, Tika set down her teacup and followed her gaze.
“I just felt our youngest brother’s energy. What’s going on? This is my land. Am I imagining things?”
“You can feel things like that?”
“His energy is a bit unique. I’m sensitive to it, but… wait, what? I didn’t imagine it after all.”
Outside the window, in the spot Luna was pointing to, stood Jin, draped in a robe. Though he was in disguise, it was hardly enough to let him stroll through her territory in broad daylight without consequence.
Perhaps that was why Jin couldn't approach the gatekeepers and was simply loitering near the wall.
“That fearless brat, just waltzing over here openly? What if our other siblings find out? And he calls himself a reserve flagbearer!”
Though she grumbled, Luna’s eyes were already sparkling as she ran down the stairs.
“Hey!”
Leaping over the wall in a single bound, Luna immediately delivered a sharp bonk to Jin’s head.
Whack!
“You’ve lost your mind, youngest. You’re going to get in big trouble if you keep this up.”
“Ugh, Sister. That’s a rough way to say hello.”
“You’re the rough one, you troublemaker. I’ll probably die young because of you. Let’s go inside for now, before someone sees.”
They entered Luna’s room through the main entrance. As soon as she locked the door, Luna gave Jin another series of bonks on the head, grinning widely.
Whack, whack! Thud!
“Now, what kind of favor has our youngest come to ask for this time? Hmm? Or did you just come because you missed your big sister?”
Either way, Luna was simply in a good mood.
Lately, she had found herself missing her youngest brother quite often. The last time she had seen him in person was the day they had visited their father together and turned the main house upside down. She had been curious to see if he was growing well.
‘Even if Taimun is involved with my curse, it’s clearly a separate crime, unrelated to my sister. There’s no way a person like her would try to harm me.’
Jin felt a pang of shame for ever having doubted his sister, even for a moment.
“First, I must offer my thanks, Sister. If not for you, it would have been difficult to find a home for the people of Colon.”
“You could have just written a letter like you did when you sent them. I might not have been here if I had business elsewhere. But are you really going to start with such formalities? Didn’t I tell you? Among siblings, there is at least one who offers unconditional love.”
Jin had intentionally avoided writing because Taimun might have inspected the letters first.
“Yes, Sister. I remember…”
“Hmm? Youngest, you don’t look so good. Did something happen that’s hard to handle?”
Something hard to handle. That wasn’t exactly wrong.
‘After me, Sister probably cherishes Nanny Taimun more than anyone else in Runcandel. No, perhaps even more than she cherishes me. And I have to tell her that Taimun might have tried to harm me.’
His heart had been heavy even before he arrived. But looking at Luna’s bright, innocent face made his chest feel even tighter. Taimun Marius was undoubtedly one of the people Luna loved most.
“Sister.”
“Speak, brother.”
“The reason I sought you out is because I have something to confirm with Nanny Taimun.”
“Nanny? Why her all of a sudden?”
“Do you remember what I told you the first day you came to see me at Storm Castle?”
“You mean about how someone tried to assassinate you?”
“Yes.”
The smile vanished from Luna’s face.
“Tell me everything.”
“Recently, I had a conflict with people from Delki who use the surname Marius. And it turns out there is only one family with that surname in Delki…”
Taking a deep breath, Jin began to recount everything he had experienced—from the story about ‘The Master’ he heard from Alu while destroying Tessing, to all the information he gathered while investigating, and the details of his encounter with Kuzan and Beris.
By the time the story ended, Luna was breaking out in a cold sweat, her body trembling so violently she could barely control it.
Never in her life had she felt such an ominous pounding in her chest.
If her youngest brother’s words were true, then regardless of whether Taimun was involved in the assassination, her nanny had committed high treason. Whatever the circumstances, Taimun’s subordinates had laid hands on a pure-blooded Runcandel.
“…Therefore, I came to see your nanny and confirm the truth for myself.”
“Nanny… was keeping orphan assassins from Delki? That… that can’t be. I’ve never heard of such a thing. There must be some misunderstanding, youngest.”
This was the reaction Jin had feared.
He had considered seeking out Taimun on his own. But if Taimun was the culprit behind the curse, or even an accomplice, he could not let her live. And if she was, it would be too cruel not to give Luna a chance to speak with her first.
‘But to think even Sister knew nothing about her private forces. Taimun Marius, just what are you? What do you want?’
Tremble, tremble.
Luna’s hands, gripping her own shoulders, were shaking like leaves.
“Nanny is… on vacation right now. She said she had business in central Huphester. Wait until she returns… no, no. I must go see her immediately.”
“I’m sorry, Sister.”
“What do you have to be sorry for? Nanny won’t have anything to do with this. It must be a frame-up by those assassins. Even if she is involved… there must have been… some reason.”
Jin didn't answer and simply took Luna’s hand.
‘Looking back, Nanny did visit Delki often. She took a lot of vacations, and she mentioned sponsoring orphans whenever she had money.’
At the time, Luna hadn’t thought much of it. In her twenties, she had even followed her nanny’s advice and volunteered at orphanages, but they were all ordinary places, not the Moon’s Sacrifice.
—Nanny, I know it’s a good thing, but why do you go to such lengths for orphans?
—I was an orphan myself. Ah, I suppose I never told you, My Lady. Hoho, if your puberty had been a little less colorful, there might have been a chance. You should have shared a drink with this old nanny at least once back then.
—Ah, oh… sorry. I didn't know. I was so thoughtless.
—Don't be sorry, My Lady! Other nannies in Runcandel couldn't even dream of such luxury. It’s only because you give me so much personal time that this kind of service is possible.
—Right. Um. Do you need more vacation time?
—Then shall I take one more day?
Recalling a conversation they once had, Luna shook her head.
‘Looking back… I don’t know much about Nanny’s life at all. I only found out she was an orphan when I was in my twenties, and I just thought she went volunteering during her vacations.’
Taimun’s favorite food, favorite drink, favorite book, favorite clothes.
She couldn't even immediately recall such trivial things. It was beyond her imagination that Taimun had been commanding 8-star assassins as her subordinates.
Luna certainly loved Taimun, but she had never been very curious about her. Since they had been together constantly from the time she was one year old until now, at thirty-five, Taimun was simply a constant, familiar presence.
“Let’s go, Jin. If what you say is true, Nanny… by my own hands… no, wait. Wait a moment, youngest… let’s just stay here for a moment before we go…”
Luna slumped to the floor, curling into herself. Jin could find no words to say. He could only pat his sister’s back with a heavy heart.