C211 - The Secret of the 32nd Island in the Bluebird Islands (1)
The land was part of the Bluebird Islands, located in the waters north of the Allied Realms of Hufester.
Although it had a very beautiful name due to the hundred islets that formed a flock of birds, the entire area was uninhabitable.
It was constantly plagued by rainstorms and thunderstorms, which caused fires and rock avalanches.
Furthermore, the surrounding waters were rough and made it difficult to reach the mainland.
Therefore, it was unsuitable for living and also not useful for military installations.
The Bluebird Islands were only useful as low-grade tourist spots in the winter months when there were fewer thunderstorms.
The people who owned an island in the area were mostly commoners who had the dreamy idea of owning an island, romantics who wanted to impress their lovers by gifting them an island, or scammers who tried to appear wealthy by boasting about their cheap properties.
The contractor who was presumed to be working for Joshua was going back and forth daily between Island 32 and the Allied Realms of Hufester.
"If the place wasn't an island, this person's movements wouldn't have been so apparent on the Compass."
The sacred relic that Jin and his companions stole after six months of unparalleled effort, the Compass, couldn't show the precise location of a contractor.
If there were twenty contractors in the Allied Realms of Hufester, it could only show twenty red dots in the center of Hufester. It wasn't possible to find out where exactly the contractors were in Hufester.
However, it worked differently on the islands.
The contractors would appear on their respective islands, even if the island was under the jurisdiction of the Allied Realms of Hufester on the mainland.
The Compass could be used to accurately track the contractors under the special premise that they were on the islands.
"Yes, Young Master. The only time the red dot moves away from Hufester is when the Contractor is on the island. And this particular island belongs to Joshua under a borrowed name, so I think we should investigate it," said Gilly.
"Since it's highly unlikely to be a mere coincidence..."
"Yes, that's right."
"First, inform the agents of the Seven-Colored Peacocks to closely monitor him and gather information about the Bluebird Islands as well. We might raise suspicions if we rush into action immediately."
"Do you think Joshua has information about the Compass?"
"We have no way of knowing. But we must consider the possibility that he's colluding with Kinzelo or Zipple. It won't harm us to be cautious."
"Do you think it could be a trap?"
"The chances are slim, but if Joshua is in collusion with a faction that knows about the Compass, he must be aware that the Compass's abilities are particularly powerful on the islands. If that's the case, he might be luring the thief of the Compass, namely me, to the island."
"Then we'll limit ourselves to tracking the movements for now. I'll also send some agents of the Seven-Colored Peacocks to the islands. I won't have them go directly to Island 32, but I'll ask them to gather information about the area."
Nyaa~
When they finished talking, Shuri rubbed against Gilly's body, seeking attention.
Shuri seemed to really like Gilly.
He had been constantly trying to win his affection ever since arriving in Tikan.
"Oh, wow. Shuri is so cute. I was initially taken aback by his size, but the more I see him, the cuter he gets. By the way, are you also going to name this cat Runcandel?"
"Well, we've already set the standard with Butterfly Runcandel. Shuri Runcandel. Sounds good, doesn't it?"
Then Murakan also transformed into a cat, climbed onto Shuri's head, and dropped into Gilly's embrace. Jin grabbed Murakan by the scruff of the neck and put him back on the ground.
"Ah, and they're going to renovate my room to expand it starting today. It's too small for Shuri to stay with me in my current room."
"That makes sense. It must be uncomfortable for Shuri to have to stay inside the ruby all the time."
Puff!
Murakan returned from his cat form and looked at them with a sparkle in his eyes.
"So I guess I'll have to share the room with Strawberry Tart until the renovation is done, right?"
"What the hell are you talking about? Why would you share a room with Gilly when they're renovating mine?" Jin asked.
"Is that how it works? Aren't they expanding my room too? Lately, I feel like it's getting cramped."
"Even if they decide to renovate your room as well, there are plenty of empty rooms in this mansion. You and Gilly will never have to share a room. Out. Get out, you pervert."
Murakan turned back into his cat form and unleashed a flurry of feline punches on Shuri's paw. Then Shuri licked Murakan with his giant tongue and started playing with him, rolling him like a ball.
"Oh, wow. Haha."
Gilly burst into laughter at the spectacle, and Jin shook his head at the lost cause.
A month passed.
In the meantime, everyone dedicated their time to focusing on the tasks assigned to them or training.
The Contractor of the Bluebird Islands that appeared on the map had not yet left the area, and Jin finally decided to pay a visit to the place.
"I'm going, whether it's a trap or not, just out of curiosity. Besides, I think we've taken enough precautions."
He decided that it was unlikely to be a trap.
To the public, Joshua was known to be the first in line of succession of Runcandel.
The possibility of Joshua being in cahoots with Zipple and Kinzelo would be a huge leap, as it would suggest that most of his forces in the Sword Garden had also switched sides.
But this was impossible as long as Cyron was alive and kicking. They might have some spies in high positions, but it was highly unlikely they had such a close relationship to share critical information like the Compass.
"Are you sure you'll be fine there with just Murakan? You don't know what dangers you might face if it really is a trap," Kashimir asked.
"Even if it turns out to be a trap, I can escape on Murakan since the Bluebird Islands are not part of the Lutero Magical Federation. Besides, I also have Shuri."
Flying on dragons in the Lutero Magical Federation, which was under Zipple's control, was extremely dangerous, but things were very different for the Allied Realms of Hufester.
As long as the dragon didn't belong to Zipple or was on the wanted list, the nation wouldn't deploy forces to kill or capture a non-hostile dragon.
In Jin's case, people talking about a man flying on a dark dragon wouldn't be a big problem because the highest authority in Hufester, Cyron, had already approved of Murakan, as unofficial as it was.
"Don't you think you should bring Quikantel-nim too?"
"I don't think it's necessary. She seems busy teaching magic to Enya. We'll go alone. I hope the renovations are finished by the time I return."
And so, Jin, Murakan, and Shuri set off for the Bluebird Islands.
As they traveled through Hufester, they had to pay special attention to their disguises.
Shuri stayed inside his ruby, which had been shaped into a collar, while Jin and Murakan dyed their hair blue.
"These golden mice thing is really pretty. Maybe I should mention it to Sir Kashimir and start a business with it. I don't think it would be too difficult to get supplies."
"Yes, they would sell quite well."
They went through several portals (Murakan vomited during all the jumps).
It took them three days to reach the port of Nazca, the closest one to the Bluebird Islands.
The Seven-Colored Peacocks agents had a fake merchant ship waiting at the port.
They boarded the ship as discreetly as possible.
The ship set sail from the port that night, but it didn't head straight to the islands.
If they ran into trouble by going directly to the islands, it would cause huge problems if other factions traced it back to the Seven-Colored Peacocks.
Since it wasn't the travel season to the Bluebird Islands, most of the islands were closed to visitors.
Once the port was completely out of sight, Jin and Murakan took advantage of the darkness of the night to swim to the islands.
They used the Compass they had brought with them to check for the presence of the Contractor on Island 32 and, after doing so, sent it back to Tikan.
Shuri was in charge of swimming.
The feline had already impressed Jin and his group with its agility in the Black Sea. This was not limited to solid ground.
Shuri swam through the choppy waters near the Bluebird Islands with ease. Thanks to Shuri, Jin and Murakan arrived on the islands without getting soaked in seawater.
They reached the seventh island.
"Finding the thirty-second island is going to be a challenge."
"It's dark, so let's fly in search of it. How are we going to find it this way?"
Finding the thirty-second of those hundred islands wasn't an easy task without a guide.
Jin was starting to think that the sun would rise before they found the island when Shuri started drawing something on the beach.
Surprisingly, Shuri was drawing the map of the islands with its claw.
"Woah."
"Look at you, Furball. You have a fascinating talent. Have you been to these islands before?" Murakan said.
Nyaa.
As the cat of the Witch Heluram, Shuri had been to many lands.
In the process, it memorized over several hundred maps.
Of course, the world map was updated to reflect the changes in geography over the past thousand years, but luckily, the Blue Bird Islands were mostly similar to Shuri's memory.
The drawing was so detailed that it was almost identical to the paper map they had brought.
"This is the thirty-second island. Can you find it?" Jin asked as he pointed at the map.
Shuri nodded.
"You deserve all the love. Let's go, Shuri."
They soon found the desired island.
It was one of the smaller islets in the area.
It was similar in size to the uninhabited Vimenth Island, where they had fought against Andrei.
Jin put Shuri back into its ruby and began exploring the area.
That's when it started pouring rain.
The well-known weather of the Blue Bird Islands welcomed the two explorers.
Thunders and lightning tore through the ominous darkness as the winds raged, intending to uproot the trees.
They couldn't even see if there were any houses in this weather.
"How is it possible for the weather to be so unsettled?" Murakan frowned and whined. Meanwhile, Jin started feeling a strong vibration at his waist.
"Hey, kid. Your sword. What's happening to it?"
Sigmund, the Thunder Sword, the Sacred Sword of Legends that he received from Vahn, the Goddess of Battle, was resonating with something.
Jin unsheathed the sword to inspect it and saw a mysterious symbol appearing across the entire blade.
"I have no idea."
"Wait, this symbol. I've seen it before. Is it the symbol of Peitel? No, it's slightly different from Peitel's."
Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck and completely engulfed a large tree that was in front of them.
The tree shattered as if it had been bombed and collapsed without much resistance.
Something happened next...
Their gaze immediately fell on a tombstone standing beyond the tree.
The same symbol as Sigmund was shining on the tombstone.
"This is the tomb of a God!"
"What?"
"Now I can see what's going on. Kid, your sword is..."
Murakan was about to continue when both Jin and he raised their heads in alarm.
A wave of blades rushed toward Jin.
And for Murakan, a wind-based spell flew toward him.
Jin wielded Sigmund to dodge the wave, while Murakan blocked the spell with Shadow Energy.
It's them!
Kuzan and Beris: Taimyun Marius' hounds. Jin didn't need to see their faces to realize who they were.
But before they could counterattack, a sharp bolt of lightning struck Murakan's Shadow Energy barrier.
It wasn't a natural lightning like the one that had struck the tree. The lightning had been conjured by Yulian, the Contractor of Peitel.