Chapter 147: An Unexpected Victory (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 147: An Unexpected Victory (1)
The morning of September 8, 1796.
After successfully fending off the senior cadets’ attacks all night, the three of them finally returned to their room at the inn.
Curiously, despite having devastated the city, they had made a point to stop by the restaurant where the trouble started. They left behind a pouch of gold coins, even though the establishment was now a half-collapsed, scorched ruin.
“Blegh!”
The moment the tension finally broke, Veradin hunched over a wooden basin and began retching. He had inhaled a lungful of the poisonous mist the cadets had scattered through the streets and hadn't been able to purge it in time. As a mage, he didn't possess a body of steel like Jin or Dante.
Furthermore, even by a mage's standards, Veradin was exceptionally frail.
“Veradin, are you alright?! Here, drink some water. Take deep breaths; you have to expel the toxins.”
Dante patted Veradin’s back with a worried expression. Even as he vomited, Veradin was continuously casting healing magic on himself, offering a weak thumbs-up whenever he felt a slight improvement.
This feels strangely familiar. Those two really get along well.
It reminded Jin of Murakan getting motion sickness every time they used a transfer gate, or Gilly’s fear of heights. Jin shook his head.
“He's breaking out in a cold sweat. Jin, is there anything we can do for him?”
“He’s right, Jin! You should worry about me, too! It'd be even better if you took care of me.”
Jin stared blankly at Veradin.
I can never figure out what’s going on in that guy’s head.
Unlike Dante, Jin knew perfectly well that Veradin was laying it on thick.
No matter how weak his constitution, a mage of his caliber should have instantly neutralized such a diluted poison with healing magic.
What was his motive?
Jin decided not to overthink it. He walked over, pulled several herbs from his robe, and began grinding them with the pommel of his dagger. He was preparing an antidote based on a method he had recently read about in a library book.
“Here.”
“Whoa!”
Veradin’s eyes sparkled as he took the antidote. He swallowed it in one gulp and nodded with a satisfied look.
“I feel alive again. You knew how to do this, too?”
“Oh, are you feeling better now?”
“Thanks to Jin. Hehe, this is the first time I’ve ever taken an antidote a friend gave me.”
Veradin placed a peculiar emphasis on the word 'friend.'
He had put on an act simply to savor this feeling of friendship. If he didn’t do things like this, Jin would always keep his distance, so Veradin felt he had no other choice.
Of course, Veradin didn't view Jin solely as a friend. He simply didn't want to miss any opportunity to grow closer.
“Everyone, get some sleep. The cadets won't attack again until sunset.”
“How do you know?”
“I have a bet with someone high up in Samil. The rule is that they won't attack during the day, but they’ll send squads at night.”
“What do you get if you win?”
“Experience and growth.”
“You came all the way to Samil to make a life-or-death bet just for that?!”
“Is there a problem?”
When Jin answered so calmly, Veradin let out a sound of admiration, while Dante clenched his fist, thinking, As expected of you.
In truth, Jin wasn't exactly putting his life on the line. He had a safety net thanks to Quicantel’s item. Nor had he come solely for experience and growth.
However, he had no intention of sharing the Ten Thousand Poison Liquor with the other two, so there was no need to mention it. It wasn't an item he was guaranteed to obtain, anyway.
It’s not that I dislike them, but I can’t share that.
If he obtained something other than the Ten Thousand Poison Liquor, he was willing to share. Although they had followed him like stalkers, they were also the kind of people who would step up and fight off cadets for a handful of gold coins.
Who else in the world could motivate these two with such meager compensation?
“Thanks.”
Jin’s casual remark sent a shiver down their spines.
Did you hear that?
Did you hear what he just said?
They exchanged a look, feeling a surge of gratification. They were glad they had come. Jin turned away, closed his eyes, and entered a state of meditation.
I’m realizing once again that actual combat is the surest form of training. After dealing with those cadets for a few days, I can feel myself getting closer to the realm of the Mind’s Eye…
See with the eyes of your heart.
He had heard the phrase hundreds of times from Luna during his own cadet days. It had been years since he’d first started training his Mind’s Eye, and only now was the meaning of those words becoming clear.
Jin felt impatient, but he was by no means behind schedule. In fact, if Dante knew that Jin was on the verge of opening his Mind’s Eye, he would be shocked out of his wits.
Ordinary warriors usually opened their Mind’s Eye after reaching the mid-7-star stage. Even then, it was a feat reserved for those with exceptional senses, a skill that had to be constantly refined through the 8-star and even 9-star levels.
It was both a foundational and an ultimate ability for the warriors commonly known as ‘super-elites’ or ‘transcendents.’
Jin was approaching it before even reaching 7-star. It was the result of innate talent, Luna’s early education, and the life-or-death struggles he had relentlessly thrown himself into.
Life-or-death struggles.
He made it sound easy, but no one would readily believe that a sixteen-year-old 6-star knight had survived a bloody, multi-day battle against the senior cadets of Samil.
“You two sleep first. I’ll inspect your equipment along with mine.”
“Thank you!”
“You’re the best!”
The two began snoring the moment they lay down. Their stamina had been utterly drained by the sudden, continuous skirmishes.
Dante’s constitution is still weak, but he’ll surely overcome it. Now then… how should I utilize these two starting tomorrow, and how do I protect them?
The utilization part was simple. The three of them had a strange synergy in battle, naturally covering each other's blind spots.
However, from now on, Jin also had to think about protecting them.
Sister Yona will definitely start sending higher-level cadets. I have to prepare for the arrival of real assassins. Those two are superior in martial power and magic, but they don't have much experience with the threat of assassination.
He had sensed it during last night’s fight. They had held their ground because their power overwhelmed the cadets, but they would be quickly overrun if stronger assassins swarmed them.
While Jin was deep in thought, he suddenly flinched and scanned his surroundings.
A presence?
The moment he turned his head back.
Hah!
A man in a pure white mask was standing there.
It was Nameless King Oul, but since he had come without his black belt, Jin didn't immediately recognize him.
For a few seconds, Oul simply stared down at Jin through the mask. Within his eyes, which seemed to glow faintly, flickered a refined, shimmering killing intent.
Those eyes felt as though they could overwhelm even inanimate objects like rocks or trees.
Jin knew instantly.
This was a man who could kill him a hundred times over. The gazes of the transcendental warriors Jin had encountered so far had always felt like this.
He let me sense his presence on purpose. To test if I would recognize him.
Was he one of the top assassins of the Nameless?
No. There was no reason for a top assassin—other than Yona—to go out of their way to test him.
“A distant junior greets the 85th Generation Nameless King.”
Though he spoke politely, Jin remained seated. Oul was slightly surprised but continued to look down at him, motionless.
“Lord Cyron gained a true jewel in his later years. Indeed, you possess a spirit worthy of the marriage talks with the Secret Palace. However, you recognize who I am, yet you do not stand. I find you quite presumptuous.”
Jin almost foolishly blurted out, “Excuse me?” It wasn't surprising that the Nameless King knew his identity.
But the marriage talks weren't the important part right now.
First, he had to consider why the man had come and what he could gain from this.
“I am merely being bold. The Master of the Nameless could take my life at any moment, and a Runcandel does not grovel, even in the face of death. I assume you are here to hold me accountable for the destruction of the city over the past two days.”
“You assume quite easily that I won't kill you. You have a lot of nerve, stirring up my land as you have.”
“Since you went out of your way to mention my father’s name, I figured I was being treated with more consideration than I deserve.”
There was no reason for the Nameless King to draw his blade against a Runcandel who invoked Cyron’s name—not when he was in a position that required him to balance relations between Runcandel, Zipple, and Viment.
As long as he treats me as Jin Runcandel rather than Jin Gray, it’s far more advantageous to show some bravado and lead the conversation. Showing fear will only put me at a disadvantage.
This held true even if he didn't know the exact relationship between Yona and the Nameless King.
He knew the relationship between Runcandel and the Nameless very well. Jin intended to use that knowledge to seize the initiative.
Fighting him blade-to-blade was a realm he couldn't even imagine, but a battle of words and conditions was a different story.
This was especially true now, when he was certain the Nameless King had come with a sense of urgency.
From the start, Jin didn't think Oul had come to hold him accountable for the city's destruction.
If that were the case, Oul would have sent a top assassin while feigning ignorance of Jin’s Runcandel identity, or he would have summoned him directly to the Nameless Hall for punishment.
Instead, Oul had slipped into his room like a thief.
What could be so urgent that the Nameless King would come here personally and even give me a guarantee of my life?
Jin’s mind raced while Oul’s deep gaze weighed down on him. If he couldn't figure out the context, the conversation would flow entirely according to the Nameless King’s will.
If it’s not the city's destruction, it can only be something related to Sister Yona.
Jin spoke first.
“If you have a command for me regarding Sister Yona, I am ready to hear it.”
“Haha...”
Oul let out a low laugh. It was laced with a killing intent as sharp as a blade, causing the hair on the back of Jin’s neck to stand on end as a chill ran down his spine.
“Even Lord Cyron does not recklessly exploit our weaknesses in the land of the Nameless. And yet, a mere low-ranking brat of Runcandel dares…!”
Gasp!
Jin reflexively clutched his throat.
He couldn't breathe, crushed by a type of Fighting Spirit he had never experienced before.
Cyron’s Fighting Spirit possessed a vast, boundless power that shook heaven and earth. Talaris’s was the essence of cold that could blanket the world in frost. Luna’s gave one the certainty that there was nothing in the world she couldn't cut down.
The Fighting Spirit of the absolute warriors Jin had met always had an expansive quality.
But Oul’s Fighting Spirit was different. It was like a silent, pitch-black night, a darkness so profound it couldn't be fathomed whether one's eyes were open or closed.
As his consciousness began to fade, Jin desperately clung to a single word.
Weakness…?! Sister Yona is a weakness of the Nameless?
Oul was mistaken.
He thought the reason Jin had trashed the city, the reason he acted so confident, and the reason this fledgling dared to show the typical Runcandel arrogance before him…
Was because Jin already knew the Nameless depended on Yona.
This isn't just a negotiation. I might even be able to make threats.
Hack, wheeze. Jin spat out his trapped breath and straightened his posture.