Chapter 500: Tower Keeper of the White Night (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 500: Tower Keeper of the White Night (6)
Sandra plummeted through the air, her arms spread wide and a beaming smile stretched across her face.
To anyone unaware of the circumstances or her eccentricities, she looked exactly like a desperate lover finally reuniting with a long-lost partner.
‘Is that… Sandra Zipple?!’
‘Did she just call the Young Master… “darling”?!’
‘What kind of relationship is there between the 12th Flagbearer and Sandra Zipple?’
Joshua, Dipus, and Jane could only stare up at her, their eyes wide with shock.
It was absurd enough for her to appear out of nowhere and call Jin “darling,” but it was even more shocking to see the monstrous Hedo instantly look troubled by her words.
Snap!
With an agility and lightness unbecoming of a mage, Sandra landed about ten paces from Jin.
“Hehe! I thought you’d catch me in a dashing embrace. Are you just going to dodge me like that?”
“Some people are best kept at a distance,” Jin replied.
“How do I look today? I had this specially ordered based on a recommendation from the Golden Top Merchant Group. Do you like it?”
Jin didn’t look at her black coat and shirt, which resembled the Runcandel uniform. Instead, his gaze fell upon her golden prosthetic hand. He could see that the image engraved on the inside was his own face.
—Since it’s the right arm… I think it’s just right.
—What do you mean, “just right”?
—It feels a bit too early to take everything from you. A right arm is neither too much nor too little. After all, today is the first day of our relationship.
The memory of their conversation in the Gaifa Archipelago sent a fresh shiver down his spine.
Everyone who had been fighting was now speechless. For a moment, the only sounds were the clatter of falling debris and the blaring of alarms.
Jin simply nodded.
It wasn't a difficult gesture. He actually did like the style, and more importantly, he sensed that playing along would be the best way to escape this dire crisis.
“I’m so glad! If you had lied, I was going to have those cute little mice slaughtered. I was going to make this stupid muscle-head do it… this damn hunk of meat… Dammit! Hedo! What are you going to do about this? How are you going to take responsibility?!”
Wiaaaaaaaaang—!
The alarms grew louder. In the sky outside, the dragons of Drakka had already begun to take flight, and the flagship Kozec was preparing to sortie.
“You promised you’d let me have dinner with Jin!”
“…There was a slight complication, My Lady.”
“A complication? A complication! At a time like this? Do you want to die?! Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting?!”
The Runcandels couldn't wrap their heads around it. Seeing that monster so flustered by a mere girl like Sandra was utterly surreal.
At that moment, Jin realized why Hedo hadn't actively tried to kill them.
‘It was because of Sandra’s orders.’
A complicated mix of emotions churned within him.
The realization that he was only surviving Hedo’s onslaught thanks to Sandra was more humiliating than it was a relief. It was an unavoidable truth, given that the enemy's nonsensical antics were somehow working in his favor.
If not for Yona, and if not for Sandra…
This mission would have already been a failure. They might have been able to flee, but Runcandel would have suffered a massive blow with nothing to show for it.
‘It wasn't just Zipple and Hedo who were complacent. I, and Runcandel, also took this too lightly.’
But now was not the time for regret or self-reproach.
He could fix the problems later. Today’s humiliation would be repaid with even greater disgrace in the future.
‘The only saving grace is that the enemy didn't account for all these variables either.’
If so, he had to be the first to perfectly read the variables that no one had expected.
‘For whatever reason, Hedo is someone who prioritizes Sandra Zipple’s orders above all else. However, since Sandra and I can't actually have dinner together today, he was just trying to let me leave alive—to avoid earning Sandra’s resentment.’
—If you have taken anything from here, leave it behind. If you do, I shall let you live for now.
Recalling Hedo’s words, the phrase "let you live for now" grated on him.
‘After recovering the blueprints, Hedo intended to kill everyone except me, or perhaps just me and Murakan.’
Not just Joshua, Dipus, and Jane, but even the Wraith Squad members who had been playing the role of pitiful collateral damage. Jin was certain of it.
‘He wanted to eliminate the Wraith Squad either to destroy evidence that he prioritized Sandra’s orders over the clan’s, or simply because he didn't want things to get messy. And the reason he called the main force even though I might die… was because if it became known later that we escaped so easily with the ship blueprints, it could harm Sandra.’
The rapid-fire realizations threatened to overwhelm him.
‘Not just me and Murakan, but everyone from Runcandel must survive. At least until we get out of the 2nd Magic Tower!’
Since Drakka’s main force was coming as reinforcements, a grueling battle was inevitable even after they left the tower.
To increase their chances of breaking through and escaping the Lutero Magic Federation, everyone—Yona, Dipus, Jane, and even Joshua—had to survive for now.
‘What should I do? I need a way to negotiate with the Tower Keeper.’
The moment that thought crossed his mind…
Jin spotted something familiar far behind Hedo, amidst the fleet filling the open sky.
And the moment he saw it, one phrase came to mind.
A godsend.
‘Heaven is helping me. No, perhaps this was already foreseen from the moment they arrived.’
Jin immediately knew how to use this newly revealed variable. Furthermore, he felt he shouldn't miss this chance to understand the man named Hedo as much as possible.
Jin pressed his blade against Sandra Zipple’s neck. Even with the sword at her throat, she looked delighted just to be close to him.
“Open the way, Tower Keeper.”
Hedo shrugged at Jin’s words.
“Taking the Lady hostage? You should know that’s meaningless. Did you not experience it in the Gaifa Archipelago?”
“Of course, I’m well aware that Sandra Zipple is semi-immortal. However, that fact hasn't been properly revealed to the world yet, has it? Moreover, it wouldn't look good for you or Sandra if the fact that she tried to help me escape became public knowledge.”
“I have said this several times: return the blueprints. If you do, I will let you live.”
“And I keep giving the same answer. I have stolen nothing. And when I say open the way, I mean you will not harm any Runcandel here from this moment forward. Not just me and Murakan.”
Hedo’s gaze hardened.
“You’re making quite an unreasonable demand for someone in the heart of enemy territory.”
“Even if you block us, I’m confident I can leave this place with Sandra. After that, do you think you can keep this strange woman’s mouth shut? You can only control the news so much.”
“You’re crossing a line.”
“Even if we get into a fierce battle during our escape, Sandra won't die. Her semi-immortality is actually a favorable condition for us in this situation.”
“You speak with confidence, but you must know it’s impossible to escape the Lutero Magic Federation with the Lady in tow. Just you and Lord Murakan should leave.”
Jin shook his head firmly.
“I will say this one last time. Open the way, Tower Keeper.”
As if frustrated, Hedo pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
‘The 12th Flagbearer is obsessed with the Lady because he needs insurance. But he must know that even if I let them go, they won't be able to evade the pursuit of the main force. Why is he being so stubborn? I thought he was smarter than this.’
Whether he moved aside or not, unless they were blessed by divine providence, all the Runcandels here were destined to die. That was what Hedo had been thinking since the moment he called the main force.
The only reason he intended to personally kill everyone except Jin and Murakan was because he needed a justification.
He needed something to say when Kelliark questioned him later. He would say that although he let Jin and Murakan slip away due to a moment of carelessness, he had killed everyone else.
“Um, darling.”
Sandra, who had been happily staring at Jin’s profile, spoke up.
“I have a rough idea of what you’re thinking. You hate that damn hunk of meat, right? I feel like tearing him apart myself today. How dare he put you in danger… but shouldn't we consider Hedo’s position a little bit?”
Surprisingly, she was accurately reading the hidden flow of the conversation between Jin and Hedo—the fact that Jin needed insurance and Hedo needed a justification.
However, because she had been busy admiring Jin’s side profile, she hadn't noticed the change in the sky.
“If everyone escapes safely, it won't just be Hedo; I won't be safe either. I’ll definitely be interrogated. You don't want that, do you? Our married life hasn't even properly begun. If I get thrown into some underground torture chamber in the clan, you’ll be sad too, right, Jin?”
“Underground torture chamber? There’s no way the Lady would be thrown into such a place.”
“Shut up, Hedo! I’m handling this!”
After shouting viciously, Sandra turned back to Jin with a grin.
“So, let’s just leave together—just you, me, and the Black Dragon. If we do that, you’re almost guaranteed to survive. I’ll be the bait. Then no one gets hurt, right? And we get to have a date while we escape!”
It was as if she didn't even consider the other Runcandels to be people.
Instead of answering her, Jin met Hedo’s eyes.
“It seems the Tower Keeper still doesn't understand why I’m being so stubborn.”
Jin pointed a finger toward the sky behind Hedo.
“If you look at that, you might think accepting my proposal isn't such a bad idea.”
Hedo turned around.
In the sky, over a hundred of Zipple’s mass-produced flying ships were hovering, but strangely, only one among them was shining its lights.
It wasn't a Zipple ship.
It was the ship Gruneil.
The flagship of Kinzelo, the one that had struck the Sword Emperor Castle.
The Gruneil’s cannons were aimed directly at the stationary mass-produced ships.
“Why don't you let us go and stop that instead? I don't think there’s a better justification for you and your Lady than that.”
Jin smiled, and Hedo’s expression crumpled as he snapped his cigarette in half.