Chapter 257: Thoughts of Father and Son
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 257: Thoughts of Father and Son
The patriarchs of two great families had personally stepped forward, placing bounties of 300 million and 100 million gold coins, respectively.
A bounty in the hundreds of millions was a first since the dawn of history. The world, already in an uproar over the Holy Kingdom Incident, was shaken once more by the wanted posters.
Elite mercenary groups like the Black King Corps and the Ghost Squad began their own independent searches, while lesser groups formed alliances. Even the regular armies and knight orders of small to medium-sized kingdoms grew desperate to find Jin. This was only natural, considering 300 million gold coins was enough to revitalize a nation's economy.
However, their pursuit was nothing compared to that of the real players.
The two great families, Runcandel and Zipple, were searching for Jin with unmatched ferocity. Thousands of Guardian Knights, mages, subordinate forces, and allied families formed hunting parties to track him down.
"Young Master… I truly don't know if he'll be alright."
Gilly let out a heavy sigh. Before her lay a wanted poster for 'Reserve Flagbearer Jin Runcandel.'
She and the rest of Jin's companions were gathered in Tikan, monitoring the situation. The promise Jin had once extracted from Cyron remained in effect: no one from Runcandel could set foot on Tikan soil without Jin's permission.
Thanks to that, the Runcandel Guardian Knights did not enter Tikan directly, though about fifty of them were waiting just outside its borders.
The Zipple mages, on the other hand, had already scoured Tikan like a fine-toothed comb before departing. They had combed through the records of teleport gates worldwide, tracing every path used by 'Jin Gray' and 'Barmul,' and deduced that Jin had a base in Tikan.
Of course, the Zipple mages left empty-handed. Ignoring the fact that Tikan was a neutral power, they had aggressively searched even inside Casimir’s residence, but they could not find Jin.
Jin was not in Tikan.
"He'll be fine. Don't worry too much, Strawberry Pie."
Murakan grimaced as he looked at Gilly, who was nodding weakly. It wasn't a look of irritation; he was purposefully scrunching his face into all sorts of bizarre shapes to make her laugh.
"Pfft."
"There we go. Don't keep wearing a long face because of that brat. Smile like that. It looks much better on you."
When Gilly couldn't help but burst into laughter, Murakan grinned broadly.
What a lunatic… Is that actually funny?
Watching the scene, Beris frowned and cursed inwardly. Then, surprisingly, Kuzan followed Murakan's lead and began scrunching his face at her.
Pfft! Seeing Beris struggle to hold back her laughter, Julian had a similar thought.
Kuzan, Beris. You two crazies certainly know how to play together.
However, when Yuria approached Julian and started poking him in the ribs playfully, he couldn't help but break into a smile himself.
While the rest of the world was filled with people trying to catch Jin, Tikan enjoyed a surprisingly peaceful atmosphere—a stark contrast to the day before, when they had been plagued by visits from various factions.
"He has truly become a titan, Young Master Jin. He’s become the most famous person in the world."
Casimir ran a hand through his hair, looking exhausted.
"The Zipple mages searched my safehouses so thoroughly… I’m sick to death of it."
"But because you cooperated with their search, Zipple will have to be wary of us for a while. They searched someone else's home without any justification or evidence," Alisa said, patting Casimir on the shoulder.
It was true that Jin had stayed there, but Zipple had little pretext to search Tikan, a neutral power. Thanks to that, as Alisa said, Zipple wouldn't be able to return to Tikan for the time being. No matter how powerful they were, they couldn't treat a neutral power outside the Lutero Magic Federation however they pleased.
"I was so startled when the Viment Imperial Guard showed up," Enya added. Quicantel, sitting beside her, nodded in agreement.
Viment hadn't searched Tikan as thoroughly as Zipple, but the two of them were still unofficially wanted by the empire. Especially since the name Jin Gray had been revealed to the world, Viment was now tracing the identity of 'Austin Gray,' the pseudonym Enya had used during the Dark Magic Association Remnants Incident.
However, the three academy cadets Jin and Enya had treated like subordinates back then—Chip, Maura, and Orel—had still not informed the Viment higher-ups that Austin was actually Enya. Because of that, Viment hadn't searched Tikan as aggressively as Zipple had.
"Phew, still, we should be glad Runcandel didn't come. If it were Runcandel, they would have smashed, dug up, and overturned everything. It would've been total chaos."
Jet shrugged and continued.
"But honestly, I can't understand Lord Cyron's thinking at all. Didn't he favor our Young Master quite a bit? That's clearly why he overlooked so much and still prevents Runcandel from touching Tikan. I never dreamed he'd suddenly put out a 300-million-gold bounty."
Jet seemed personally offended by the fact.
"If you're so curious, why don't you go and ask him yourself?"
"Hmph, I, Jet, would be more than happy to ask if Lord Murakan would give me a ride to the Black Sea where Lord Cyron is."
"Is this guy insane? Who's giving who a ride? And you, you punk, you wouldn't even be able to open your eyes or breathe in front of Cyron. You'd be crushed by his aura."
"No, but Lord Murakan, aren't you upset too? I naturally thought Lord Cyron would look out for our Young Master. But now Runcandel is acting even more determined to kill him than Zipple! It's driving me crazy!"
"The brat's father must have his reasons. I told you that yesterday."
"What reasons could there be? Hmph, I have a son too. I would never do that."
"Yeah, sure. I get how you feel, but… Hey, is he taking his anger out on me now? Hey, you pathetic mortal. What do you know about being a father?"
"But I agree with Mr. Jet! If Young Master Jin gets caught by bounty hunters or Runcandel, how am I supposed to live?"
Murakan's eyes widened at Enya's shout.
"Wait, why wouldn't you be able to live?"
"Young Master Jin is my light, my motivation for living—he's practically my life itself! A world without him isn't worth imagining. This won't do, Mr. Jet! Let's go together and demand answers from Lord Cyron."
"Let's do it!"
Clap!
Enya and Jet high-fived and gallantly marched out of the room. Murakan clicked his tongue as he watched them go, while the rest of the companions laughed it off. Quicantel, however, let out a deep sigh.
Of course, the two of them never actually went to Cyron. They were headed to Latri’s confectionery to vent about him over cookies and tea.
*
Scratch, scratch.
Cyron scratched his ear. As his senses, which had reached the realm of a demigod, had proven time and again, whenever his ear itched like this, a noisy guest was bound to arrive.
Vooooom—!
The Snow Toad Mort opened a dimensional gate.
"Cyron!"
Unlike Enya or Jet, there was one person who could actually come to demand answers from Cyron. Talaris Endorma, the Palace Master, was huffing and raising her voice the moment she saw him.
"You're going to burst my eardrums."
"I'm sick with worry! What on earth are you doing? Aren't you considering my position? No, my daughter's position?"
They weren't even engaged, let alone married, yet she spoke of Siris's position. It was absurd, but Cyron simply closed his eyes and didn't bother responding. Looking back, Talaris had always been this way.
"Cyron, think carefully. You must know how terrible Kelliark Zipple looks for killing his own son, Kall, just to cover up that incident."
"The situations of Zipple and Runcandel are different, Talaris."
"It's not like Jin harmed Runcandel, is it? If anything, he brought nothing but benefits. Instead of rewarding him, you put out a bounty? Aside from the fact that he broke the covenant, there's plenty of reason to look after him."
Voom, voom! Mort let out a rough cry as if agreeing with Talaris's frustration. But when Cyron glanced at him once, the toad turned his large eyes away and feigned distraction.
"The decision has been made. There will be no reversal."
"My god, are you really planning to kill Jin?"
"Of course."
The answer came without hesitation.
Talaris started to shout something, then pulled a cigarette from her robe and lit it. She inhaled the entire cigarette in a single breath and immediately lit another. After chain-smoking five cigarettes in an instant, Talaris glared at Cyron.
"Cyron, did you get consumed by chaos while fighting the Kings of the Black Sea? I felt you were losing your humanity after reaching the realm of a demigod… but this is wrong. You couldn't do this unless you were insane."
Ching…
Ice gathered in Talaris's right hand, forming a sword. It was Ten Thousand Ice, the divine sword that had chosen her.
"And what are you thinking?"
"If you truly have been consumed by chaos, then as the master of Ten Thousand Ice—and as your friend—I cannot just stand by. I will count to three. Give me proof that you are sane. If not, I will strike."
"One, two…"
Watching Talaris, Cyron let out a faint smile.
"You haven't forgotten our promise. Sheathe your sword, Talaris. Your assumption was wrong."
This had been Cyron's test for Talaris. In turn, Talaris summoning Ten Thousand Ice had been a gamble to hear Cyron's true intentions. She felt that if she didn't go this far, he would never reveal his inner thoughts to her, an 'outsider,' no matter how close they were as friends. She had also been genuinely considering the possibility that Cyron had been consumed by chaos.
Talaris withdrew Ten Thousand Ice. Behind her, the ground in the center of the Black Sea had frozen in a massive fan shape. A vast area, almost too large for the eye to follow, had been frozen by her power.
"I don't know where the charming Lion of Runcandel went, leaving only this eccentric old man behind. Fine, now tell me. What exactly is your intention?"
*
"Father has given me another chance."
"How can you interpret it that way? You certainly have an audacious way of looking at things. Runcandel, just like Zipple, had the Patriarch—your father—personally issue the bounty. There's no way it's just for show."
Dante replied as he set down the newsletter.
"Even if I were to hide you within my own family, I wouldn't be confident in keeping it a secret for more than two months. The same goes for Lord Veradin's villa here."
If Runcandel and Zipple simultaneously exerted their full power, there was absolutely no one in the world they couldn't find. No matter where one hid, their trail would eventually be caught. This was even more true for a famous figure like Jin.
"You're right. If I'm caught, I definitely won't survive. But that's only if I'm caught. Conversely, if I remain uncaught for over a year and return on my own two feet, my reputation will pierce the heavens. I'll become the Reserve Flagbearer who toyed with both Zipple and Runcandel."
While it was a disgrace for Zipple to be toyed with by Jin, for Runcandel to be toyed with by Jin was, paradoxically, an act that would bring great honor to the family.
"…Does that mean Lord Cyron would withdraw the bounty on you then?"
"He wouldn't withdraw the bounty on Reserve Flagbearer Jin Runcandel. But there was never a bounty on Flagbearer Jin Runcandel to begin with."
"Hah… I feel like you might actually pull it off somehow, but honestly, I'm not sure. Are you really confident you can survive for over a year while evading both Runcandel and Zipple?"
If he were hiding in the human world, even Jin would find it impossible. However, if he were in the land where his brothers were, the story would be different.
Father likely knows I'll hide in Laprarosa. He must have received Lord Casimir's report.
There was no need to tell Dante that much.
Just as he was about to answer with a smile, he saw the villa's private teleport gate glowing beyond the window.
"Get down."
Jin and Dante pressed themselves against the wall below the window. It wasn't entirely impossible that the person emerging from the gate was another Zipple agent rather than Veradin.