Chapter 474: Times of Choice (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 474: Times of Choice (1)
By the time the main force of the Zipple Magic Tower and reinforcements from their central estate arrived, only fifteen people remained on the Gaifa Archipelago.
Five from Zipple, five from Viment, and five from Kinzelo.
The rest had all been slain by Vigo, his knights, and the Prochi siblings.
Having lost both their strength and their will to fight, the survivors from the three factions were no match for the Runcandels and Prochis.
During the cleanup, Vigo had considered capturing Sandra Zipple alive.
However, he made a shrewd judgment. Since Murakan and Jin had simply left, it wasn't his place to take her captive. He realized it would be a slight against the clan's guardian dragon and a Flagbearer who—despite his lower public rank—held far more real authority than himself.
“Vigo Runcandel, was it? Kyahaha! He must have been dying to catch me, but he made a pretty smart call.”
Sandra giggled as she downed the fruit wine set before her.
She was currently in the captain’s quarters of the flagship, the Kozec. The other pureblood Zipples in the rescue party had naturally cleared out once she claimed the room.
“If he hadn't given up on capturing me, Vigo would have died today. Hmm, I wonder if my dear Jin would have been sad if that happened? They didn't seem particularly close, though.”
“Sigh.”
The old man sitting across from Sandra let out a heavy, frustrated sigh. He was Hedo, Zipple’s 2nd Head Butler.
Hedo possessed a muscular physique that hardly fit the image of a butler for the world’s greatest magical family. The way his massive muscles twitched betrayed his extremely foul mood.
“My Lady, you should have counterattacked, even if it was after Jin Runcandel left.”
“Is that so?”
Hedo felt his insides twist at Sandra’s beaming, cheerful attitude.
“Vigo aside, if the Prochi siblings had died, my dear Jin definitely would have been sad, Hedo. You have to consider that. Jin and I are in love, you know.”
Hedo pressed a hand to his forehead.
He had known for a long time that Sandra was a thoroughly mad young woman.
But suddenly, love? Romance?
And of all people, with the 12th Flagbearer of Runcandel. What kind of cruel joke is this from the heavens?
Nothing like this had ever happened before.
He could be certain of one thing, however. Whatever the reason she had suddenly decided to love Jin, Sandra would never let go of that feeling.
That was the Sandra Zipple Hedo knew: a completely unhinged child, terrifyingly uncompromising.
This wasn't a problem that would blow over like a childish game or a fleeting crush. He found it difficult to suppress his agitation.
“...And My Lady, that hand. Are you really going to leave it like that?”
“Yes.”
“You can recover it, can’t you? Why on earth are you leaving it be?”
“From now on, I can look at my severed right arm and commemorate the day I met him.”
“My Lady, you are right-handed. You have spent your entire life doing everything with your right hand…”
“I can just eat with my left hand from now on.”
“It. Will. Be. Extremely. Inconvenient.”
Hedo’s words were clipped as he struggled to contain his rage.
“Kyahahat! It’s fine. Anything for love!”
Fwoosh!
Hedo pulled a cigarette from his breast pocket and lit it. With one long drag, the entire stick burned away like a fuse. He exhaled a great puff of smoke that drifted out of the captain’s quarters.
Only after incinerating five cigarettes in an instant did the urge to scream and shout seem to subside.
Hedo smoothed back his hair and met Sandra’s eyes.
“...Fine. Very well. I understand. But what do you intend to do about the technology leak? It's not just your right arm that Jin Runcandel took; the Spacetime Device is also likely to become a problem.”
The former was a simple problem to solve, for now. If Sandra used the Authority of Time for super-regeneration instead of ordinary healing, her sealed right arm would return.
But My Lady won't restore her arm until the window for recovery has passed.
As for the latter, the ‘Spacetime Device,’ it did have measures installed to prevent technology leaks.
However, Hedo wasn't the type to trust such things. He felt nauseated just thinking about the elders and engineers who had blustered about how it could never be leaked because they had prepared foolproof safeguards.
“Yes, that’s true. But Hedo.”
“Speak, My Lady.”
“I have to do at least that much to let my lover compete with our family—or at least put up something resembling a fight, right?”
Sandra smiled thinly as she continued.
“The gap between my dear Jin and our family is like an egg hitting a rock. Even if he’s an incredibly sturdy egg. So, I just thought it wouldn't be bad to give him that much of an opportunity.”
“Ah, so you had such deep intentions.”
Hedo gave a half-hearted nod of resignation. Sandra burst into laughter, finding his reaction amusing.
“Hedo, you’ll understand me, right?”
Eventually, Sandra stopped laughing and looked at Hedo. After a brief pause, he replied:
“...Yes, of course. For now, I will do my best to explain things favorably to the Patriarch.”
“I knew it, there’s no one like you, Hedo. Hehe.”
*
The Land of the Beastmen, Kinzelo Main Branch.
“Aaaargh! Kaaargh! It hurts, it hurts so much! I’m going crazy! Gyaaaah!”
Bubar Gaston had been screaming in agony for days. Every time he writhed and let out a shriek like a pig being slaughtered, his strangely bloated belly fat wobbled.
“Bring more sedatives, hurry!”
“Just kill me instead, aaaaaah!”
The medical staff and beastmen barely holding Bubar down were breaking out in cold sweats.
Verakt, Margiella, and Cold Jo stood at a distance, watching the scene.
“Sigh, the Great Task is upon us, yet these misfortunes just keep piling up...!” Jo clicked his tongue as he spoke.
“Shut up, Jo. I’m already frustrated enough to die. Hearing your annoying voice only makes me feel worse.”
“My apologies, Lord Verakt.”
“I told you to shut up. Not a single word. Unless you want to be eaten.”
Jo turned his head away, cursing inwardly.
Misfortune.
As Jo said, Kinzelo had been suffering a string of disasters lately.
During the terror attack on the Sword Emperor Castle, the Leader had fallen ill after using far more power than expected. To make matters worse, Zephyrin had run wild on her own, putting further strain on the Leader’s body.
And now, it was Bubar.
Even though almost everyone in Kinzelo loathed him—with the exception of someone like Margiella—Bubar Gaston was undoubtedly a figure who played a vital role in their Great Task.
The cause of his suffering was his ‘fusion’ with Amela. The process of undoing it hadn't gone smoothly, damaging both Bubar's soul and his chaos.
If the Leader were healthy, he could have brought it under control in an instant. For now, sedatives were the best they could do.
Kinzelo had planned to win Amela over by proving they knew more about ‘chaos’ than any other faction. That was why their top warriors had taken a portion of Bubar's chaos to the Gaifa Archipelago, using his sculptures as a medium.
The result had been a resounding success.
As soon as Amela learned that chaos could be fused and that the resulting amplification could grant even greater power, she appeared highly satisfied. It was as if she'd finally found a clue she had long been searching for alone. From that point on, Amela didn't even bother negotiating with other factions.
That was because someone had spoken to her through Bubar's chaos.
If you become my person, I will tell you everything you desire to know about chaos... That voice had been strangely trustworthy.
“The Leader himself, despite his failing health, personally delivered a message to that human, Amela. We were even prepared to endure her killing our warriors as the price for bothering her after the negotiations,” Verakt snarled, grinding his teeth as if he were going mad with rage.
In the treatment room on the opposite side, the five White Wolf and Red Tiger warriors who had returned alive from the Gaifa Archipelago were receiving care.
“But Amela is dead, the warriors were massacred, the survivors have gone so mad they can’t even control their bowels, and Bubar is in that state! We didn't just fail to gain anything; we took a devastating blow.”
Verakt simply couldn't comprehend how Jin Runcandel was at the center of all these misfortunes.
Margiella, who had been listening, wore a rare, dark expression.
“I’m sorry, Uncle Verakt. I didn't know Sir Jin would be this uncooperative.”
“...You have nothing to be sorry for, Margiella! I’m only saying this because I’m so frustrated. The Leader is constantly in danger... Shouldn't we make some changes?”
Verakt shrugged as he pointed to an operational map laid out before them. It was covered in various markings, with pieces representing Kinzelo, Runcandel, Zipple, and Viment scattered in a chaotic arrangement.
Verakt pointed to a spot on the map where the pieces were clustered and continued.
“What if Jin Runcandel causes trouble here as well? If he interferes again! What should we do then?”
That location was where the ‘matter bigger than Amela,’ which Jin had anticipated on the Gaifa Archipelago, was unfolding.
“At that time...”
Margiella paused for a moment.
“At that time, Uncle Verakt, I will have to seriously consider whether Sir Jin is truly someone fit to be with us.”
“Indeed, such consideration is necessary.”
“I truly hope Sir Jin doesn't know what is happening here. If he continues to interfere, we will have no choice but to truly become enemies.”
“Ahem!”
Since he hadn't expected Margiella to be so composed, Verakt let out a dry cough to hide his embarrassment. In truth, even if Margiella had stubbornly insisted she was right, Verakt would have been powerless to change her mind.
“Well, he probably doesn't know. If he did, he would have gone there first instead of seeking out Amela.”
“That’s true, Uncle Verakt.”
“By the way, it’s a shame our Vice Captain isn't here to see this... she would have loved seeing Bubar in such agony.”
“You’re right, she would have loved it. But you know, don’t you, Uncle Verakt? Mr. Bubar is our friend.”
*
Meanwhile.
Dox McLoran, a Runcandel Black Knight, was carrying out Jin's orders. He had infiltrated Ricalton, a city in the southern region of Huphester.
While investigating the area beneath Ricalton's execution grounds, he discovered something strange and horrific.
What... on earth is this?