Chapter 342: Belated Greetings
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 342: Belated Greetings
Shocking! Lutero Magic Federation Attacks Golden Top Merchant Group! Zipple Mages Strike Huphester Alliance in the Process!
Head Administrator of Golden Top Merchant Group: "We Owe Our Deepest Gratitude to Runcandel for Saving Us..."
Golden Top Executives and Employees Vanish—Sources Speculate They Are Under Runcandel's Protection.
Runcandel Pledges Support to Golden Top! A New Wind Blows Through the House of the Overlord, Likely Stirred by the Supernova, Jin Runcandel...
June 10, 1799.
Led by Dino Jagrun, Huphester’s newsletters were churning out articles about Zipple’s recent raid.
The articles, adorned with moderately restrained flair, mostly praised Jin, while those written in a more aggressive tone focused on condemning Zipple.
As he scanned the articles, Jin thought, as he always did, that Dino was exceptionally good at his job. Of course, his face still flushed a bit whenever he read the pieces praising him.
“Keke, Strawberry Pie. Look at this. They’re calling him a Supernova. A Supernova again! Our kid is a full-blown star now, a star! What do you think of that, eh? Man, it feels like just yesterday he was a reserve flagbearer who couldn't even use his own name.”
Murakan chuckled, waving the newsletters in his hand. Gilly smiled pleasantly as she placed some strawberry pie on a plate.
Slurp! Cough! Hack!
Murakan, who had been inhaling the pie while lying down, started coughing as it went down the wrong way. Gilly hurriedly looked for water.
It was an act. He was putting on a show, hoping Gilly would come over, cradle his head, and feed him water.
How does Gilly fall for that every single time...? Or is she just playing along?
Jin had reached a point where he couldn't tell anymore and decided to just let them be.
“Ah! I feel alive again. Thanks as always, Strawberry Pie. I’m lucky to have you.”
Jin’s ears were starting to burn; he couldn't listen to any more of this.
“Hey, Murakan.”
“Yes, O Almighty Supernova. Did you call for me?”
“Do you really not remember Runcandel’s former head butler? Ruet Damiro Yul, the ancient elf.”
“I told you, I don't.”
He was thinking of the Runcandel from a thousand years ago, the one he had seen in the recording device from the third tomb.
Since his return, Jin had asked Murakan several times if he knew the Ruet from the recording, but the dragon seemed to have no idea.
Furthermore, Jin himself had no memory of ever having met Ruet in person.
— ...And the Patriarch, the Ten Great Knights, and I have not forgotten that the elves fought alongside Runcandel. Neither has Solderet, nor Lord Murakan and Lady Misha.
Recalling Ruet’s words from the recording device left a bitter taste in his mouth.
“Nothing comes to mind at all?”
“Ancient elves were already extinct back then. At least, according to my memory.”
Murakan folded the newsletter and sat up.
“But there’s no way a device made by Solderet would record lies. It seems the ‘me’ from a thousand years ago remembered an elf named Ruet, but the ‘me’ of today doesn't. Either my memory was damaged while I slept, or Zipple’s history manipulation finally worked on me too.”
As Murakan touched his forehead, Gilly placed a hand on his shoulder.
Gilly was the one person who could see into the deep darkness within Murakan—a darkness he himself often failed to recognize—better than anyone else.
Every time Murakan realized that his memories of that era had blurred or vanished, he suffered a significant psychological shock. His heart was being worn down without him even realizing it.
— We need a way to leave a record that those bastards can never touch.
The words Sarah had spoken in the recording device came back to him.
Hister’s magic—an absolute record. His thoughts led him to the letter he had sent his teacher not long ago.
It’s about time for a reply.
It looked like he would have to visit the Secret Palace first and then head to Tikan.
“Going out again?”
“I have to take the Gold Snow Tribe from Brother Dipus’s safe house to the Secret Palace.”
“Hah, our kid really is thick-skinned. Did the Palace Master owe you a debt in a past life or something? What if she doesn't take them in?”
“I still have thirty percent of the fifty percent share I originally intended to offer the clan. I’ll have to try and strike a deal using about ten percent of that.”
*
The small beastmen, numbering about a hundred and fifty, had all been under protection at Dipus’s safe house.
Jin took them and headed straight for the Secret Palace. The journey took about three days via teleportation gates and ship. Fortunately, the clan had given Jin a grace period from missions until his business ventures were stable.
When the ship reached Manji Island, Lucas Manfran—an unofficial informant for the Seven-Colored Bird and a direct line to Talaris—greeted the group.
“Sir Jin, if you had contacted me, I would have informed Lady Talaris in advance.”
“Lucas, it’s been a while. How have you been?”
“Yes, I’ve been well, thanks to you. But you look terrible. Completely haggard. Are you ill?”
“No, but thank you for your concern.”
Lucas gave a wink to the small beastmen standing behind Jin.
“I shall inform Lady Talaris immediately.”
Pop! Bang—!
As Lucas fired a signal flare, the Snow Toad Mort suddenly manifested in the air.
“W-W-W-Toad!”
“Scary, t-toad!”
“Aaaah! Jin, what are you doing?! A toad?!”
The small beastmen seemed to have an instinctive terror of the giant toad.
Regardless, Mort opened his mouth wide and began swallowing the small beastmen a few at a time.
To an outsider, it looked exactly like a predator devouring prey, so the small beastmen naturally fell into a state of panic.
I should have explained it to them beforehand.
There hadn't been time.
Through five dimensional shifts, Mort transported Jin and all the small beastmen inside the Secret Palace.
“A-Are we alive?”
“Hah, hah! I thought I was being eaten!”
“Quiet.”
As soon as they arrived, someone spoke in a chilling voice.
It was the Spider of the Abyss, Talaris Endorma. The small beastmen immediately knelt and bowed their heads—an action also born of instinct.
It had been nearly two years since Jin last saw her.
She used to constantly call Jin "our son-in-law," but today, the look she gave him was far from pleasant.
“Lady Talaris. I apologize for the late visit...”
“Mmm, stop, stop. Keep your mouth shut for a moment, someone else’s son-in-law. I was just wondering if someone else’s son-in-law had his legs cut off after becoming a flagbearer. How else could it take this long to visit?”
Jin could be quite thick-skinned when the situation called for it.
But right now, he felt a sharp pang of guilt in his chest.
After becoming a flagbearer, he definitely should have visited the Secret Palace at least once to pay his respects to Talaris.
“I even fought dozens of members of the Wraith Squad because of someone else’s son-in-law, and the Secret Palace even made an official announcement that we lost the West Sea Battle despite winning... Mmm, those were quite interesting days.”
Every word felt like a stab at his conscience.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
“I do not.”
“Right, right. Nothing. You have nothing to say. Ahaha, is that so? And yet, it seems you’ve come here to ask me for another favor. What are those furballs?”
“...They are my business partners, whom I’ve brought here to request protection from the Secret Palace.”
How could he be so shameless?
Talaris found the fact deeply unpleasant, yet at the same time, she didn't entirely hate it.
It was because she saw glimpses of her friend Cyron Runcandel’s youth in Jin. Back in the day, whenever Cyron had to ask Talaris for a favor, he would always act this shamelessly.
And yet, why do I always end up helping these people at every critical moment?
Talaris hid a smile as that thought crossed her mind.
“I should have visited sooner. I was delayed because I wanted to wait until things had stabilized to some degree before expressing my gratitude.”
Click...
Jin pulled a case from his robe and flipped it open. Inside was a brilliantly shining ore.
Ancient Ten Thousand-Year Steel.
A mystical ore that was the dream of every martial artist, and the reward for the Black Knight Assassination Mission. He had brought it to show Talaris his sincerity.
In truth, this amount of Ancient Ten Thousand-Year Steel was more than enough compensation for all the help Talaris had provided so far.
Given that it was an item Runcandel’s Black Knights and Zipple’s Kozec and White Night had all fought to claim, the value of Ancient Ten Thousand-Year Steel was beyond imagination.
However, that was only by general standards. To Talaris and her only daughter, who utilized 'Ten Thousand Ice,' Ancient Ten Thousand-Year Steel wasn't particularly necessary.
“Ancient Ten Thousand-Year Steel, hm? To me, this is no different in value from useless scrap metal.”
But in the next moment.
Talaris couldn't help but let out a sudden laugh.
He has a cute side too, unlike Cyron.
She had seen the hundreds of letters piled up beneath the Ten Thousand-Year Steel.
During the entire journey to the Secret Palace, Jin hadn't slept a wink, spending the time writing letters of apology to Talaris.
The letters didn't just contain apologies; they also detailed most of the events Jin had experienced.
It was a sign that Jin trusted Talaris. He had even written about the 'Tomb of Temar,' something he hadn't even told Cyron yet.
This was why Lucas had commented on how haggard Jin looked the moment he saw him.
After skimming through the letters for a long while, Talaris’s expression softened slightly.
She was conflicted internally. Should she forgive Jin and make him "our son-in-law" again, or keep him as "someone else’s son-in-law"?
“Mort, go bring my daughter.”
Vwooom!
In an instant, Mort returned to the Secret Palace’s Great Hall with Siris on his back.
“Mother, you called... Jin Runcandel?”
It had been a very long time since he had seen Siris as well. She didn't look at Jin with friendly eyes either, but there was one key difference between her and Talaris.
She was struggling to maintain her composure as she looked at the small beastmen Jin had brought with him.
She was a woman who remained as cold as ice in most situations, but she had an incredible weakness for furry animals.
That was why she had been so shocked to find out that Nabi Runcandel, whom she had adored so much at the Runcandel banquet, was actually Murakan.
“Daughter, listen to this. Do you know what someone else’s son-in-law said? Not only did he just now come to pay his respects, but he actually asked me... Oh?”
Shring!
Siris abruptly drew the sword from her waist.
Since Jin, then a reserve flagbearer, had left for Laprarosa, there hadn't been a single day she hadn't thought of him.
Of course, it wasn't romantic affection, but a desire to settle the score once more.
“I’d like to experience the skill of a Runcandel 12th Flagbearer. Draw your sword, Jin.”