Chapter 258: Veradin’s Memory
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 258: Veradin’s Memory
Only one person emerged from the teleport gate. They wore a hood and a mask, making it impossible to identify their face.
“I don’t think that’s Veradin,” Jin said in a low voice.
“I agree,” Dante whispered back.
Even without seeing a face, the physique was completely different. The person who stepped out of the gate had the powerful build of a warrior who had trained for a long time. Furthermore, they carried a longsword at their waist. It couldn't possibly be Veradin.
—This is the address of my villa. The family never monitors or interferes with anything that happens here.
—I’ll tell the butler both your names so you can visit whenever you want without any issues.
Jin recalled the words Veradin had spoken when giving them the address.
“Ah, perhaps it’s the butler? There was no one here when we first arrived,” Dante suggested.
As Dante said, the two had yet to meet the person Veradin had called the ‘butler.’ Upon arriving at the villa, they found it empty and the doors locked, so they had simply broken in and had been waiting for three days.
“He seems a bit too strong to be just a butler.”
“That is true.”
The masked figure’s gaze fell upon the broken front gate.
Swaaaa…
Amid the indifferent sound of the waves, the masked individual stared intently at the shattered gate for a long time. They were clearly displeased, and for some reason, both Jin and Dante felt a weight settle on their chests.
Screng!
Soon, the masked figure drew their longsword.
“He thinks we’re intruders.”
“Uh, shouldn’t we go out and explain ourselves?”
“If that mask doesn’t belong to one of Veradin’s people, it’s better to kill or subdue him. You might be fine, but I’m in a difficult position if I get caught right now.”
Jin couldn’t rule out the possibility that the masked figure was a Zipple henchman.
He drew Bradamante and activated the Rune of Mul-ta. Dante hesitated for a moment before tearing a strip from his robe to make a makeshift mask, then followed Jin’s lead.
The two stepped cautiously into the hallway and took their positions, suppressing their presence. They hid themselves just inside the doorways of rooms on opposite sides of the corridor.
Soon, they felt the masked figure approaching. Unlike the two of them, who were hiding their presence, he was stalking down the hallway with a murderous aura.
Just as the masked figure was about to pass the room where Jin was hiding—
Jin lunged. He skillfully took the figure’s back and pressed his blade to their throat, while Dante charged in simultaneously and knocked the sword from their hand.
“Don’t scream. You’ll live as long as you only answer what you’re asked.”
It was a perfect ambush.
However, Jin felt a strange sense of dissonance. Even with a blade at his throat, the masked figure showed no signs of losing his composure.
“Who are you?”
The masked figure did not answer.
“Don’t make me ask twice. This is your last chance. Who are—”
The moment Jin tried to continue his threat—
Chwaaaa!
Suddenly, the masked figure’s body vanished.
To be precise, the matter composing his body had turned into water. Because of this, Jin, who had been holding a sword to his throat, momentarily lost his balance. Dante looked around in shock.
‘A dragon!’ Jin realized instinctively.
The masked figure’s true identity was a dragon—specifically, a dragon of the Water God, Itelmion.
More than eighty percent of the dragons active in the human world were aligned with the Zipple Clan. If so, the water dragon they had just encountered had to be a Zipple subordinate.
The water dragon, now in liquid form, was already flowing toward the end of the hallway.
Jin and Dante hurriedly gave chase. Even without an explanation from Jin, Dante knew they couldn't let that dragon escape.
But they needn't have worried.
“I’ve never seen such audacious brats. No wonder Veradin is interested in you.”
At the end of the hallway, the water dragon had already reformed into a human shape and was shrugging his shoulders.
“Stop attacking. I only tried to kill you because I thought you were intruders.”
Jin and Dante looked at each other.
“…What brings a dragon here? Did Veradin send you?”
When Jin sheathed his sword and gave a slight bow, the water dragon nodded.
“Well, you could say Veradin sent me. I’m the butler here. Don’t give me those strange looks. Is there some law that says a dragon can’t be a butler?”
“I didn’t say anything. And I wasn’t looking at you strangely.”
“Is that so? Then fine.”
The water dragon removed his mask.
He had a delicate, beautiful face that didn't match his heavily muscled body at all. With blue hair that flowed down to his shoulders, one might have mistaken him for a woman based on his face alone.
‘Does this mean Veradin was a contractor of Itelmion?’
Jin’s mind was thrown into confusion.
He had never considered that Veradin might be a god’s contractor. Even in his past life, Veradin was only known as a 9-star mage; the fact that he was a contractor had never been revealed.
‘Furthermore, there was no known contractor of Itelmion in my past life.’
Of course, the Jin of the past couldn’t have known everything. Back then, he didn’t have an information organization like the Seven-Colored Bird, so there were limits to accessing information that wasn't public knowledge.
Above all, even if Veradin were a contractor, it wasn't that surprising when he thought about it. The Zipple Clan had the most contractors, and contracts with gods were usually determined by ‘talent and potential.’
Since Veradin possessed the greatest talent among the Zipple’s second generation, it was actually more natural for him to be a contractor.
“My name is Tuyan. From the looks of it, you two must be Jin Runcandel and Dante Hairan. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Tuyan, it looks like we have intruders!”
Before Jin could respond, a new presence suddenly appeared outside the villa.
A dragon, who familiarly called the water dragon ‘Tuyan,’ lowered its long neck and peered down at the two with large eyes, its head positioned right in front of the hallway.
“Ah, aren’t these the kids Veradin mentioned?”
“That’s right, Pinia,” Tuyan replied.
“Did he say Jin Runcandel and Dante Hairan? Nice to meet you, boys! I’ve wanted to see you at least once.”
Pinia smiled brightly as she transformed into a human.
She was an earth dragon of the Earth God, Rikta.
At this point, even Jin couldn't help but feel flustered. Dante looked completely dazed, glancing back and forth between Jin and the dragons.
“Are you here to see Veradin?” Pinia asked, trotting forward.
“Yes.”
“He’ll probably be here within the hour. We have some things to prepare before he arrives, so wait in the drawing room. By the way, did you two break the front gate?”
When they both nodded, Pinia let out a sigh.
“Next time, there’s a key under the large rock near the entrance. If neither we nor Veradin are here when you arrive, use that. It’s quite a pain to transport materials all the way here whenever something breaks.”
Jin and Dante nodded reflexively.
Without any further explanation, Tuyan and Pinia walked toward the storehouse next to the villa.
What they brought back was, surprisingly, cleaning supplies.
“What are you doing? I told you to go to the drawing room.”
Are they really going to clean before Veradin arrives…?
Jin’s mind was a mess. Dante seemed to feel the same, as he even offered, “W-we can help.”
“Nonsense. We can’t have guests doing menial chores. Veradin would scold us.”
As Tuyan began mopping after splashing some water on the floor, Pinia ushered the two away.
Jin and Dante eventually ended up sitting in the drawing room. For some reason, they felt extremely uncomfortable.
“…Are the dragons really cleaning right now?”
The two dragons, acting as butlers, seemed intent on tidying the villa before Veradin’s arrival.
“It seems so. Well, it’s a relief they aren't other Zipple subordinates. But it is a bit bewildering.”
They sat quietly and waited for the cleaning to finish.
Dante was on edge the entire time, unable to sit still, while Jin pondered which of the two was Veradin’s Guardian Dragon.
‘Water? Earth? Which one is it?’
That question was resolved an hour later, as soon as Veradin arrived at the villa.
“Friends! Haha, it’s so good to see you again. I thought that might be the last time. My Guardian Dragons didn’t treat you rudely, did they?”
Guardian Dragons.
Veradin explicitly referred to them in the plural, and the two dragons bowed their heads, politely greeting him.
It was a series of shocking sights, but Jin decided not to be flustered anymore.
Whether Veradin had contracted with two gods or was hiding something else entirely, the fact that he had risked his life to rebel against the Zipple Clan remained unchanged.
Besides, Jin himself was hiding many things from them.
“Anyway, I expected Dante, but I didn’t think you’d be here, Jin. Were you worried about me even while being a wanted man? I’m so touched I could cry. Look at my eyes. They’re getting misty.”
“Have you cooled your head a bit?”
“Yeah, thanks to you. I was a bit crazy back then. I would’ve died if it weren’t for you two. At my father’s hands. Ah, actually, I thought I was going to die anyway. The mana backflow was so severe I still have a headache.”
Veradin spoke in a deliberately nonchalant tone.
The three of them looked at each other in silence for a moment. Then, the dragons brought out tea.
“Jin.”
“Yeah.”
“You have… a plan, right?”
As Veradin spoke, a trace of bitterness flickered in his eyes. He asked because he knew there was no proper way for him to help Jin. It was useless to rebel without thinking of the consequences, like when he had set fire to the gold bars.
That was why Veradin felt miserable. Jin had saved him, yet he couldn’t even help his savior.
Being targeted by his own family was as good as being dead, but now the Runcandels were also searching for Jin with bloodshot eyes. Veradin couldn’t think of any way for him to survive.
“Why the serious face? It doesn’t suit you, Veradin. Unlike you, I’m not the type to act on impulse without weighing the consequences. I’ve already secured a way to live.”
“Really?”
“So don’t worry about that. I have a proposal for you.”
“What is it?”
“Abandon the name Zipple.”
Pfft!
Dante spat out the tea he was drinking. He even dropped his teacup and scalded his thigh, but he was too stunned to even register the heat.
Jin’s statement was that shocking.
“I plan to completely destroy the Zipple Clan in the future. And you don’t belong with that name. Your siblings who died by my hand, and your uncle—they were all committing horrific acts, including biological experiments.”
“I knew it. You were the one who killed my uncle…”
The death of Myuron Zipple was now known to the world as the work of ‘Barmul’—that is, Jin. It was thanks to Dino writing an article about the Holy Kingdom incident and bringing the tragedy of Colon to light once more.
“How much do you know?”
“About what?”
“About what the Zipples, your family, are preparing.”
Veradin gave a bitter smile.
“I’m not sure. I don’t know how much I actually know.”
“I’m asking seriously.”
“I’m answering seriously too, Jin Runcandel. Have you ever experienced something like this? You go to write in your diary, but when you happen to check yesterday’s entry, it describes something completely different from your memory…”
“What?”
“My memories are being manipulated. By someone. I originally thought my uncle was the culprit, because this stopped happening after he died. But look at this.”
Veradin took a notebook from his coat and showed it to them.
There, an entry was written for December 25, 1797—the day after Jin had revealed his identity.
[December 25, 1797.
>
If it hadn’t been for that fellow yesterday, I might have died. I was sick of the family’s judgment, but I didn’t think I’d lose my mind to that extent… My jaw still stings from where he hit me. Thanks to that, I survived. His judgment was correct.
>
If I had harmed the family’s mages, Father might have killed me.
>
It was almost the end for those two as well. I hope both of them are safe.]
Though no names were mentioned, it clearly referred to Dante and Jin.
“I wrote this diary entry as soon as my mana backflow treatment was finished. However, after the follow-up treatment, my memory of that day vanished. I can’t even recall the moment I set fire to the gold bars. The only reason I said I didn’t expect to see you here when I arrived was because I was acting based on this diary and the news articles.”