Chapter 334: Debt, Debt, and More Debt (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 334: Debt, Debt, and More Debt (1)
I will surely return…
Despite those words, the moment he stepped out of the subspace of spirit energy, Jin forgot everything he had shared with the living Ruet Damiro Yul.
He forgot her face, her clothes, her red hair, her voice—everything.
He even forgot that two days had passed inside the subspace. That was because the one who told him wasn't the Ruet from the records, but the Ruet he had just forgotten.
Outside, it was still the same beach, where mysterious, lonely violet stars twinkled in the night sky. Jin stared up at them blankly for a moment.
‘I entered the third tomb… and I think I met someone. Or did I? Did I just check on the old Storm Castle?’
A strange sense of disconnect left him feeling uneasy.
‘I didn't even fight, so why this nausea? Or did I fight a battle so massive that my memories and body are in revolt?’
It shouldn't have been possible, yet he felt a wave of dry heaves, as if he had pushed his body to its absolute limit. A skin-crawling sensation, like insects scurrying all over him, was accompanied by a downpour of cold sweat.
Whew.
Jin steadied his breathing and tried to recall what had happened inside the subspace.
‘The interior of the subspace was a recreation of the old Storm Castle, and as always, I checked the recording device.’
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember how he had checked it.
It felt as if someone had handed it to him. Or perhaps he’d found it after opening a small chest. Or maybe it had simply activated on its own the moment he entered the tomb.
‘Neru definitely said there was someone inside. She told me to tell them they’d worked hard for the past thousand years.’
Who was that person? Were they not there?
As questions piled upon questions, the faces of the ancient Runcandels he had seen “through the recording device” came to mind.
Temar, the Head Butler Ruet Damiro Yul, the Ten Great Knights, and the butlers and scribes who had recorded the fading history of the fairies with gaunt faces…
Among them, for some strange reason, the thought of the fairy named Ruet Damiro Yul made his chest feel tight. Even though she was someone he had never met, a sense of longing and bitterness welled up within him.
Jin only remembered the Ruet from the records.
‘Ah!’
While thinking about the ancient Runcandels, he suddenly remembered a problem he had forgotten.
‘The small beastmen! I have to go save them!’
From somewhere, the ominous smell of ash drifted toward him. It was a scent he definitely hadn't smelled when he first entered the Catfolk’s beautiful sanctuary.
It wasn't the smell of a fire lit for cooking or warmth. Jin whipped his head around and gasped.
The forest behind the beach was burning.
The mysterious beach, where no human other than Jin had ever set foot, was being consumed by a massive fire.
Urgency gripped his heart. Now that he thought about it, Neru was nowhere to be seen, even though he had exited the subspace.
"Neru!"
Just as he was about to shout and run, he spotted her in the distance.
"Neru! Are you alright?"
[Ugh… Jin Runcandel.]
Neru was gasping for breath, her fur soaked with sweat. She had no visible injuries.
"Has the attack already started?"
[…Not long after you entered Temar’s tomb, this place was discovered.]
The secret residence had been under attack ever since, and the Catfolk, including Neru, were desperately defending it with every ounce of power they possessed.
Normally, they would have sensed the danger and fled the moment they were discovered. In fact, the Catfolk had sensed an intense threat hours before the enemy invasion began.
However, the Catfolk could not run.
If they fled, not only would Temar’s tomb be discovered, but Solderet’s thousand-year contractor would also be placed in grave danger. Specifically, if Temar’s tomb were to collapse from an attack while Jin was inside, he would be trapped forever.
To repel the attack, the Catfolk had already used most of the sacred objects bestowed upon them by the Cat God. They had deployed barriers using artifacts they had protected for thousands of years, all just to buy time.
Neru had not informed Jin of any of this. She didn't want to burden him with a sense of debt.
"Who the hell are they?" Jin asked in a low voice.
[Zipple.]
He wasn't surprised. He had expected it to be one of three factions: Joshua’s Runcandels, Zipple, or Kinzelo.
But that didn't make it a relief.
[…Listen carefully, Jin Runcandel. From now on, run along that beach without stopping until you meet a Catfolk named Lulu. Lulu will send you to a safe place.]
"And you want me to run away alone?"
[It’s for the best.]
"What happens to you, the Catfolk, and the small beastmen? Can you all escape once I’m gone?"
Neru could not answer.
"I’ll buy time instead. Have the Catfolk evacuate with the small beastmen."
[Zipple has an elite mage unit called the Wraith Squad, much like your family's Black Knights. Five of them are attacking us. I know you’re strong, but you can’t buy time against them.]
The Wraith Squad.
Jin’s face hardened the moment he heard the name. During his time as a reserve flagbearer, he had experienced their terrifying power firsthand.
‘They sent that secret elite unit just to capture the small beastmen and attack my business?’
Neru believed Zipple was attacking because of the cosmetics business. While Jin found that hard to believe, he also had to admit there must be someone sharp at Zipple.
‘Someone saw how much my cosmetics business would increase Runcandel’s influence among the common people. Or…’
They had discovered that Temar’s third tomb was here.
Either way, the grim fact remained: the Wraith Squad had arrived.
[Furthermore, our barrier has reached its limit. It’s already been two days since you entered the tomb.]
"What? Two days?"
Jin’s eyes widened. He never imagined that much time had passed.
He couldn't properly remember what had happened inside the third tomb, and now the realization that two days had slipped by threw his mind into confusion once more.
[Yes. We have one hour. We cannot hold out for a moment longer. So, hurry and escape.]
Grit!
Jin clenched his teeth.
"I can't do that."
[If you feel guilty that the small beastmen might die because of you, don’t. We will do our best to save them. They are still within the barrier, so they’re safe for the next hour.]
"Tell me where the enemy is."
[There are several entrances to our secret space besides the cave. They’re currently breaking the barriers at each entrance, but we haven't identified their exact approach vectors. However, all entrances eventually lead to the cave, so they will converge there.]
He knew it instinctively.
Neru and the Catfolk planned to sacrifice themselves to protect the small beastmen.
He was right.
In fact, the Catfolk had already resolved to use their last remaining sacred object to evacuate the small beastmen and die where they stood. While Jin was inside the tomb, even that had been impossible. If the slightest gap appeared in the barrier, the enemy would have poured into the cave.
The small beastmen in the cave were also aware of the attack. They were trembling in suffocating fear within the barrier that protected the cave and the beach.
"Can you save them all?"
[To be honest, I can’t guarantee that everyone will survive.]
The fact that they had held out for two days against five members of the Wraith Squad and could even talk about saving some of the small beastmen was an incredible feat in itself.
However, Jin could not back down unless he was certain everyone would survive. He hadn't become strong just to use others as a shield and run away.
Of course, he wasn't about to act on some half-baked sense of justice. He had no intention of dying a dog's death either.
"I have experience stalling for time against an even larger group of the Wraith Squad."
[If something happens to you, the thousand-year promise we kept will be for nothing.]
"I’m not saying I’ll fight recklessly just because I don't want the small beastmen to die. Once I engage them, someone from my family or Kinzelo will surely come."
[How would Runcandel and Kinzelo know you’re fighting here?]
"Because I am the only magic swordsman in the world who uses both spirit energy and lightning. I’m a Runcandel flagbearer, and the Jhan Kingdom is part of Huphester's territory. Furthermore, the land of the beastmen is Kinzelo’s domain. They have plenty of justification to intervene."
If Jin fought the Wraith Squad near the cave, there was no way Runcandel and Kinzelo would remain idle. He planned to fight as flashily as possible, forcing the two great powers to join the fray.
‘The key is whether I can hold out against five members of the Wraith Squad until my family and Kinzelo arrive. All while protecting the small beastmen.’
But if he could just hold out, he could save everyone. No matter how powerful Zipple was, they couldn't run rampant in the middle of other great powers' territories.
‘If the family’s knights come, Vellop’s disguise will have been for nothing. It means I’ve caused a major incident while under house arrest. The disciplinary matter the Chairman of the Black Sword Council has been blocking will definitely resurface.’
But that was better than all the small beastmen dying. If he was lucky, it might even be overlooked.
[What if Runcandel and Kinzelo don't show up?]
"Then I’ll survive and escape somehow. The thousand years that so many people sacrificed for will not be in vain because of me."
[Why are you so loyal to the small beastmen?]
"Top told me something once. The small beastmen have a principle: unconditional hospitality for anyone who has earned the favor of the Catfolk, regardless of their race or reasons."
[That’s just something the small beastmen made up among themselves…]
"But they always treated me with hospitality, even before I met you, Neru. I even owe them my life. That’s why I intend to keep my loyalty. And besides, I can't just watch the business I just started go up in flames."
Neru looked up at Jin.
"And as I said, the Jhan Kingdom is Runcandel land. That means it is my land. Running away from here would be the same as admitting I’m not qualified to be a flagbearer of Runcandel."