Almost five hundred ships approached the eastern port of the Holy Kingdom.
It was a fleet that should never have appeared by surprise. In fact, the fleet wasn't even led by an ally of the Holy Kingdom.
It was a fleet of half-orcs led by Berakt Sidlieker, the great warrior of the white werewolves.
He brought five hundred ships into the territorial waters of the Holy Kingdom without permission. From the Holy Kingdom's perspective, this was practically a declaration of war.
But surprisingly, the five hundred ships flew a strip of black fabric on their highest mast to express their condolences.
The cannons on the ship hulls were removed, and each ship had a white werewolf waving a giant black flag at its helm.
They hadn't come for war. They had come to express their grief.
It was the largest delegation in history ever sent to convey condolences.
"Are those guys crazy? Clearly, they know the Holy Kingdom is in a mess. How could they send five hundred ships with condolences as an excuse?" Murakan shook his head.
"Now that their name was brought to the surface by Deano, the Kinzelo are trying to show off their magnitude, that they're not a third-rate terrorist group. I don't know whose idea it was, but it's a clever move."
"A clever move?"
"The Kinzelo said they would help me, remember? But if the world considers the Kinzelo nothing more than a bunch of riffraff, no one will trust anything they offer to the Holy Kingdom."
"Hm, I guess that makes sense."
"We're a large faction that can afford to send five hundred ships just to express condolences. That's what they're trying to say."
"Those human journalists must be having a feast."
It was quite strange that the Kinzelo were revealing themselves so openly, contrasting with how they had been concealing the scale of their forces until now.
Is it no longer necessary to continue hiding their power? Or have they simply been waiting for the right opportunity to bring it to the surface?
Whatever the reason, the Zipples had to be furious.
They had forsaken their reputation for benevolence to conceal the fact that Karl had been kidnapped by a third-rate terrorist act, but now the Kinzelo were actively flaunting their scale.
The Holy Kingdom only allowed one in every five hundred ships to dock at the port. Not only was it impossible to accommodate the five hundred ships, but it was also too superfluous for expressing condolences.
Berakt, five of his half-orc aides, and twenty bound humans disembarked from the docked ship.
Berakt's towering stature caught everyone's attention. His aides were also renowned white werewolf warriors in the world of halfmen, but they couldn't match the strength radiating from Berakt.
They immediately headed to the portal gate to reach the capital. Once in the capital, they made their way to the central plaza where Lani was.
Every step Berakt took made the crowd around him tremble. They couldn't even look directly at him, like animals facing their natural predators.
Berakt didn't show them any courtesy, but the crowd was too intimidated to begin booing. It was very different from when the White Night had arrived at Kozec.
Berakt finally reached Lani and stood before her. The golden shield sacred knights were on high alert as they waited for him to speak. Jin and Murakan also observed the scene.
"Boy," Murakan said.
"Yes?"
"That guy is pretty strong. I'm not sure if even your older sister can handle him." That was Murakan's assessment of Berakt.
"I am Berakt Sidlieker, the great warrior of the white werewolves and the commander-in-chief of the Kinzelo Revolutionary Forces. I have come to mourn the death of Miklan, the Holy King."
"Thank you, Berakt Sidlieker."
"Lady Lani, you may not know, but I owed a debt to the Holy King about thirty years ago. I was gravely wounded in battle. Miklan was meditating in our lands and healed me."
"I remember my father telling me how he performed penance in the lands of the halfmen around that time, but I didn't know about this particular incident."
"He was the finest human I've ever known. I offer my deepest condolences."
The crowd was completely shocked. The white werewolves were famous for treating humans like insects. The fact that a great white werewolf warrior had come was already a shock, but in their lives, they had never imagined that the werewolf warrior would be able to speak like a gentleman.
Lani's gaze fell on the bound humans behind Berakt. They wore dirty and tattered Zipple robes.
"The bound humans behind me are Zipple prisoners we had under our custody. When we used to be allied with the Zipples, these individuals carried out biological experiments on our land, under the orders of the Zipple patriarch."
"What?"
"These prisoners will confess the rest. I pray for your nation's swift recovery from its grief."
The crowd murmured.
Meanwhile, Jin became curious once again about who could have devised such strategies within the Kinzelo.
After flaunting their might, they treated Lani as if she were the leader of this nation. On top of that, they even caught Keliac, attributing the biological experiments to him.
Shifting all the blame to the Zipples was always going to be a mud fight.
In that sense, Berakt's statement was an excellent attack against the Zipples.
Although it's shameless of them to say it, considering the fact that the biological experiments were a collaborative effort between the Kinzelo and the Zipples.
But for now, expelling the Zipples from the Holy Kingdom was the top priority. They could always press charges against the Kinzelo after the Holy Kingdom had somewhat restored itself. In any case, the Kinzelo were revealing themselves to the world now and could be traced.
Before Lani could choose her response, Berakt spoke again.
"My prolonged presence will only disturb others, so I will depart immediately. It is true that we were also allied with the Zipples, so we will take responsibility for our part at a later time."
It was confirmed that all the prisoners handed over by Berakt were Zipple Academy mages.
They revealed all the experiments the Zipples had conducted on the people of the Holy Kingdom.
Their confessions matched most of the records left by Mirtual Sila, and they also revealed some experiments the Zipples had carried out without anyone's assistance.
And through their confessions, the world learned that there were more experimentation facilities within the Holy Kingdom. The Zipples had built secret laboratories in the northern part of the capital and in some other cities.
That was the conclusive piece. Lani and the sacred subjects of the kingdom were shocked and horrified to discover that the Zipples possessed experimentation facilities even within the kingdom.
Jin thought the same. "I thought the ideal outcome after revealing that Karl Zipple was nothing more than a scapegoat was to expel the Zipples after ruining their reputation. But this changes things. And to think they even made facilities within the Holy Kingdom."
No one in the Holy Kingdom considered the Zipples a benevolent and just mage clan anymore.
But despite all these things, the Zipples had yet to make any additional statements.
"The Kinzelo helped you a lot. No, that wouldn't be correct. Boy, maybe I should say you got a lot out of them," Murakan said.
"That would be correct. I'm not going to let them off either. At this rate, Kinzelo won't lose anything with this incident. They only gained in reputation as a successful organization capable of abducting Zipple mages and tower masters."
"Although the Dark Magic Guild was completely annihilated, and they also lost Riol Zipple's magic tome, that's true."
"That's not enough. We have to show people that the Kinzelo are as dirty as the Zipples. I've practically stripped them of all their uses in the Holy Kingdom, so it's about time I get rid of them."
"What do you plan to do?"
Jin was about to respond when someone abruptly knocked on the door of the room they were in.
"Mr. Jin!"
An urgent voice. It was Kashmir.
"Mr. Kashimir? What's the matter?"
"Karl Zipple has been murdered!"
Jin and Murakan immediately stood up.
"What did you say? Weren't the underground cells guarded by the loyal golden shield knights?"
"The killer broke through the golden shield patrol. They must have been sent by the Zipples."
Karl Zipple shouldn't be dead now.
He had to be alive if they wanted to prove that Keliac had used his own innocent son as a scapegoat. Furthermore, Karl's death deprived the Holy Kingdom of justification to press the Zipple Clan.
Now, it would be interpreted that the Holy Kingdom had executed the man the Zipples had sent as the culprit of the biological experiments. Since Karl was dead, the Zipples could say, the crimes have been paid with blood.
Of course, it was a Zipple assassin who had killed Karl and not the Holy Kingdom. But the truth barely mattered.
The Zipples' bloodhounds could always start spreading fake news about how the Holy Kingdom was making excessive demands, even after Karl was found dead.
To preempt the scapegoats, the scapegoat had to be kept alive.
"The Zipple press is starting to make moves. They claim the Zipples have paid the fair price."
"Human beings are definitely a foolish race, but they won't believe that nonsense, right? Insect, anyone can see that Karl was killed by the Zipples."
"Of course, no one in the Holy Kingdom would believe it. But outsiders would think that Karl was killed in the process of excessive torture to extract confessions. And the murder will be seen as a made-up story by the holy kingdom to cover up that fact. Because..."
Kashmir let out a long sigh and continued.
"The Zipples, those bastards, left Bamel's name at the crime scene."
Jin and Murakan's eyes widened in surprise.
I will wash away the grievances of the sacred subjects with your blood - Bamel
That was the phrase the assassin engraved on the entrance wall of the prison with a sword after killing Karl, according to Kashmir.
"The journalists went and checked the phrase on the wall. They deliberately left it at the entrance, not in the isolated cell where Karl was held. They wanted everyone to see it."
"I understand their intentions. Reputation for justice and power. They lost both thanks to me, so they want me to reveal my identity."
"That would be my assumption as well, Lord Jin."
Karl's killer identified himself as Bamel.
But as Murakan said, no one would believe that. But if the real Bamel didn't come forward to officially deny the accusation, the Holy Kingdom could no longer pressure the Zipples for their crimes.
Regardless of the culprit and the method of murder, Karl was dead.
On the other hand, if Jin, the real Bamel, revealed himself to the public and proved that he wasn't the killer, the Zipples' reputation would hit rock bottom. Not only in the Holy Kingdom but in the entire world.
The title of villainy and dominion, once belonging to the Runcandels, could now belong to the Zipples.
"What are your plans?"
"They're trying very hard to play the villains. I should oblige them. I will make an official statement denying the accusations."
"I respect your will, Lord Jin. But revealing your identity is too risky. Like you said, they have lost their reputation for justice and power. That's why they want to find that man called Bamel, to set an example and show what happens to those who go against the Zipples, isn't it?"
Jin smiled.
"On the contrary, if the one who rebelled against the Zipples remains alive without much trouble, that would be a great loss on their part itself. It turned out for the better. I will reveal myself and mess with the Kinzelo too."