Chapter 651: After the Shock (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 651: After the Shock (5)
“A Contractor of Truth… and an orphan. A fate particularly prone to misfortune.”
“Cut the nonsense, Orgal. She’s a child.”
“My apologies if I offended you. Aside from the dragons you know, all others are but children to me. Then again, since you personally rescued the Contractor of Az Mil, perhaps her fate is not so unfortunate after all.”
“Why?”
“A Contractor of Truth cannot verify me. I would appreciate it if you kept that in mind.”
“So it’s not that you’re unwilling, but that you can’t be verified?”
“Precisely. It would be best not to even try. The attempt would inflict a blow that the contractor and her young guardian dragon could not withstand. I am telling you this for your own good.”
It was impossible to tell whether Orgal was telling the truth.
However, if Jin were to test him and Yuria and Latri suffered profound damage as a result, there would be no turning back.
“I assume you’ll agree to indirect verification through Vishkel or Margiella?”
“Of course.”
“And Zipple? Do you agree?” Jin asked, turning to their delegation.
“…I agree. Though some prior notice would have been appreciated.”
As Ronil stepped forward to answer, Octavia seemed to be suppressing her anger. While Ronil was not her superior, he clearly held a position that could not be easily ignored.
“Consider it the price for kidnapping the Dragon of Truth in the past,” Jin retorted.
As the delegates began to enter the conference hall, the crowd waiting outside erupted in cheers.
Journalists from various nations—everywhere except Huphester, it seemed—had gathered, not just those from Tikan. They tirelessly sketched the attendees and scribbled notes.
This was no unofficial meeting.
The public had been disillusioned when the recent ceasefire between Zipple and Runcandel collapsed so spectacularly, but their hopes were high for this conference—especially since Jin himself had organized it.
Inside the hall, refreshments and light snacks prepared by Latri were laid out. Sandra had been obsessed with those cookies when she last visited Tikan with Veradin, but today, she showed no reaction.
Octavia, on the other hand, took a bite of a cookie, and her eyes widened in surprise.
After a brief meal filled with ritualistic pleasantries, Yuria entered the hall.
Yuria, who had only just turned thirteen, carried herself with a dignified gaze, showing no sign of intimidation even in the presence of the world’s most renowned powerhouses.
“Hello. I am Yuria Alfrion, here as the censor for today’s conference. Please converse freely. You may request a verification from me whenever you feel it is necessary.”
“And I am Yuria’s guardian dragon, Latri. If any problems arise during the verification process, I will speak up beforehand.”
Jin couldn't help but let a warm smile spread across his face at the pair's bold yet adorable introductions.
“And so, a conference to decide the fate of the world begins with a smile, thanks to these cute orphans,” Orgal mused.
“That term ‘orphan’ has been grating on my nerves for a while now,” Jin said, his smile vanishing.
“I keep forgetting we’ve reached an era where one cannot call an orphan an orphan.”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘orphan’?”
Jin had heard the Witch Heluram use the term inside Solderet’s recording device. It hadn't seemed like a simple metaphor, and he had been curious ever since. He also recalled Quicantel once telling Murakan that the expression felt strangely familiar.
“It is quite literal. It refers to those who have lost their Parent of Life.”
“You surely know that Yuria is the daughter of Sir Casimir and Lady Alisa,” someone interjected.
Orgal responded with a meaningful smile. “Before the parents who gave birth to you, there was a parent who brought you into existence.”
“Are you talking about a god?”
“A being beyond that.”
“Sir Vishkel, Lady Margiella,” Jin called out. “Have you ever been told this by Orgal?”
“We have!”
“Yuria.”
At Jin’s call, Yuria nodded.
“Sir Vishkel, Lady Margiella, please meet my eyes for a moment. If what you say is true, a blue string of light will form between our gazes. If it is a lie, the string will be red.”
Yuria resonated with Latri and met their eyes. After about three minutes, a shimmering blue string formed between them.
“It’s not a lie, Big Brother Jin.”
Even if Orgal’s story was a complete fabrication, he had at least told it to his closest confidants, Vishkel and Margiella. It seemed unlikely that he would go out of his way to feed them false information.
“I have no intention of telling lies, Jin Runcandel, even without a Contractor of Truth present,” Orgal said. “The reason the world is in this state is because the Parent of Life has been extinguished.”
“That’s a rather sudden revelation. Regardless, it sounds related to the goals of Kinzelo I’ve heard about.”
“That is a topic outside the scope of this conference. First, why don’t we reveal the cards we each hold? I shall refrain from using the term ‘orphan’ from now on.”
“Agreed,” Jin said. “Then let us begin by assessing the damage to each faction. I will speak first. The Barmul Alliance and its allies have suffered no damage, aside from my own injuries and those of Lady Talaris and the Snow Toad Mort.”
“Has the Palace Master recovered?” Ronil asked.
“She is in a state where combat is impossible due to internal injuries and Chaos encroachment. It is unknown how long her recovery will take.”
“Miss Yuria, I request verification.”
At Ronil’s request, Yuria met Jin’s eyes. A blue light flickered between them.
Ronil continued, “Zipple has lost approximately seventy percent of its fleet, and Lord Kadun has suffered grievous injuries. Furthermore, over three hundred elite mages, including twenty-seven members of the Wraith Squad, have died. We suffered about a thousand other casualties, but most have been resurrected using Demon God Stones. However, fleet restoration will require two months.”
The Seven-Colored Bird had estimated Zipple’s fleet loss at fifty percent, but Jin knew they and Kinzelo had continued to fight Ram for some time after he escaped Huphester. They must have lost the additional twenty percent then.
“Your Patriarch did not participate in this battle,” Jin noted. “However, I am curious. Did the Zipple Patriarch suffer no damage at all in this fight?”
Ronil paused in thought before answering. “…He did suffer a blow. However, I cannot disclose the details.”
“Yuria.”
“Yeah, just a second.”
Jin’s request for verification wasn’t because he doubted the damage report. He simply couldn't believe that restoring such a massive fleet would only take two months.
A blue string formed between Ronil and Yuria.
To be able to restore that entire fleet in just two months is astonishing, Jin thought. That wouldn’t be possible with manpower alone.
Jin didn’t press Ronil for the method. Yuria was here to verify facts, not to dig up every faction’s secrets. Besides, he knew they wouldn’t answer anyway.
Orgal spoke next. “Kinzelo lost ten percent of its fleet and about fifteen hundred mass-produced artisans. I, too, have been injured. It seems I will need three years to recover without special measures.”
“Three years?” Jin shot back. “We may have to settle things with Rosa long before then. Does this mean you won't be able to fight at full strength? It sounds like we can't even guarantee what will happen tomorrow, let alone in three years.”
“Correct,” Orgal said calmly. “Had I been whole to begin with, things would never have escalated to this point. You may not fully realize it, but she is no longer human. She has become a god.”
“A god?”
“An Evil God. Born from Chaos. And since everyone seems worried about when Rosa will move, let me tell you one thing: it will take at least a year before she can act personally. Until then, the world will not end.”
“That’s still shorter than the three years you need to recover,” Jin pointed out. “You must have a way to accelerate your recovery if the worst-case scenario arrives.”
“Indeed.”
“What’s the basis for your certainty that it will take her at least a year to move?”
“When a human becomes a god, would she not need an adaptation phase? She also needs to procure the sacrifices necessary for movement. As you know, Rosa and the Prophet use living beings—including humans—as sacrifices. Are you aware that on that day, every single person in the city of Kalon became a sacrifice?”
“…I had suspected as much.”
“From now on, even more humans and living beings will become Rosa’s sacrifices. To reduce that number, even slightly, there can be only one battle.”
“You mean we must strike only when we can crush the Garden of Swords in a single blow,” Hedo, the Butler of Zipple, concluded.
“Correct, Butler of Zipple,” Orgal replied. “If you don’t care about how many humans die, you could always try attacking multiple times.”
“Ethics aside,” Octavia added, “I also believe that if we provoke Rosa needlessly, she may accelerate her procurement of sacrifices, which would create unwelcome variables.”
“That is obvious,” Orgal agreed. “But the most important thing is something else.”
Orgal’s gaze landed on Jin.
“Jin Runcandel must be able to win a one-on-one duel against Rosa.”
The meaning behind his words was clear.
“Is that because I’m immune to Chaos?” Jin asked.
The fact that Jin was immune to Chaos was no longer a secret. Everyone present had seen that he remained unaffected by Chaos encroachment even after facing Rosa directly at the Garden of Swords.
Orgal nodded. “Because you are the only one immune to Chaos. Currently, you are likely the only being in the world with the possibility of killing Rosa Runcandel. Unless Zipple possesses some special means…”
“Yuria.”
Just as they had done for the matter of the orphans, Vishkel and Margiella underwent verification on Orgal’s behalf.
Once again, everything Orgal said was revealed to be the truth.
“If one is not immune to Chaos, can they not kill Rosa even if they have reached the Realm of Creation?” Jin asked.
“If your father could return from the Black Sea right now and join the fight, the story would change. But you are currently unable to contact him, are you not?”
“That is true.”
Jin did not bother to hide the facts regarding Cyron. This time, it was Ronil who requested verification. Zipple had long wanted to confirm the status of communication between Cyron and Runcandel.
A blue string appeared between Jin and Yuria, just as expected.
A brief silence fell over the hall.
“Knowing that only I can face Rosa makes my shoulders feel a bit heavy,” Jin said, breaking the quiet. “Kinzelo at least has the variable of Orgal’s recovery, but does Zipple have no trump card at all?”
“…We have one.”
“I never thought hearing that an enemy has hidden strength would be so reassuring,” Jin said with a wry smile. “Tell me what it is. I believe this is a matter you must answer, for the sake of facing our common enemy.”
“It is History Manipulation. However, it is a means that can never be realized without a survivor of the Hister family, your allies.”
Jin’s expression changed in an instant. He leaned forward, his eyes sharp.
“Sir Ronil. Does Zipple currently know the location of a Hister survivor?”