"Beradin?"
Jin had his eyes just as wide with surprise as he dismounted Shuri.
What is this idiot doing here? And what's with the gold on fire?
The flames over the gold were massive and worthy of being called a conflagration. Since the amount of gold was enough for the entire Holy Kingdom for decades, the fire engulfing it was equally grand.
Is this your doing? Jin was about to ask Beradin this when he heard another familiar voice.
"Beradin! The fire has broken out even at the back. We should escape now and... huh? Jin? Is it really you?"
A small physique and a husky voice: Dante Hairan. He had been checking if all the gold was completely aflame, which is why Jin didn't notice him at first.
"Dante? You too?"
Even Jin had to stammer as Dante joined them.
How is it possible that these idiots always show up in the most unexpected places?
Whenever they met, it was like this: when Jin left the Storm Castle, in the Cosmic Arena, in the city of the Anonymous, Sameel, and even now.
Jin composed himself and inspected the two. His eyes sparkled with joy and happiness.
"To think we would meet here, of all places! There must be something that truly connects us, dear friends."
"Yes, that's true. Haha, hee, huhu. Last time, you guys were wreaking havoc in Sameel, but it seems this time it's us causing trouble."
"By the way, what's that cat? It's huge."
"Look at that! You're riding a ruby cat! How did you come across this spirit beast? Well, anyway, I'm really glad to see you. Hahaha."
Dante and Beradin spoke, both pointing at Shuri.
Jin felt a headache coming on as he saw those perfectly happy fools in front of a burning pile of gold.
"Weren't you talking about an escape? Did you guys set the fire?"
"To be precise, it was Beradin."
Dante pointed his finger at Beradin like a child tattling on a friend after being caught misbehaving.
"No, it was you who did it, remember?"
Beradin quickly denied but was actually pointing at Jin, not Dante.
Jin widened his eyes and pointed at himself incredulously. "What? Me? When did I do that?"
"Beradin, this guy just arrived. The fire was undoubtedly your—"
"Well, let's say it was Jin. He is a reserve flagbearer of Runcandel, so I might as well count it as one of his achievements."
Dante was waving his hand to scold Beradin, but a gold ingot suddenly fell out of his pocket and dropped to the ground.
Jin abruptly stopped and glanced from the gold ingot on the floor to Dante's face.
"Guys, come on. This is insane. Don't tell me you just looted a bar."
"It's a misunderstanding! Beradin told me he would give me some money if I helped him. That's why I followed him here."
"Dante! Did you really steal a gold ingot behind my back?" Beradin reprimanded him.
Dante's eyes widened so much in surprise they were almost popping out.
"Beradin! Why do you keep changing your words? You set the fire, don't you remember?"
Beradin quickly shook his head, but he was actually pointing at Jin, not Dante.
Jin slapped his forehead and took a deep breath. Yes, it was impossible for that honest guy Dante to stoop so low as to steal a gold ingot. However, Beradin seemed to be acting quite strangely. His eyes were also quite dazed.
Beradin was sweating profusely and desperately looking around. Dante grabbed Beradin by the collar and shouted, accusing him of being a thief.
"Oh well, it doesn't matter! I don't know anymore. What I do know is that we have to blame Jin for this. If we don't, both of us will be in trouble, Dante."
"You didn't say anything about that until we got here!"
"I briefly lost my mind due to my anger!"
"You briefly lost your mind? We were together on that ship for three days until we got here. You were perfectly fine the whole time. Are you telling me you were faking that determination when you said you couldn't forgive the atrocities of your clan?"
"Urghrfaff." Beradin writhed like a broken wind-up toy.
"Beradin, just shut up for a moment. Dante, tell me what's going on. We don't have much time. The Zipple Magicians pursuing my life will arrive soon."
"Jin, what do you mean by that, my friend?"
"I was the one who exposed the incidents in the Holy Kingdom. I just revealed it in the capital plaza and am now fleeing after fighting against the Zipple Magicians who opened fire on me."
"What? Does this mean you're Bamel?"
"Are you Bamel?"
Dante and Beradin brought their faces closer to Jin.
The three of them were in a state of shock. Jin could barely keep himself sane. If he also joined in this foolish charade, the situation could become infinitely more absurd.
"Besides that, I even revealed the fact that I'm the reserve flagbearer of the Runcandel clan, so the Zipple have no choice but to kill me right away. The reason I chose to escape this way was to get rid of the gold that the Zipple provided me with feigned goodwill."
"Jin, we are truly meant to be friends." Dante clenched his fists, his face overwhelmed with emotions.
"Our intention is the same, Jin. Beradin seems to be out of it right now, but he asked for my help after telling me he couldn't forgive his own clan. He wanted to take responsibility as the successor of the Zipple patriarchate."
In other words, the three of them were at the port for the same purpose.
Beradin and Dante were furious after reading about the situation in the Holy Kingdom.
Beradin, in particular, decided to correct the wrongs, even if it was his own clan that was responsible for the incident. As pure-blooded members of important clans, Jin and Dante knew how difficult it was to make that decision.
Setting aside Beradin's request, it was this understanding that made Dante, the successor of the Hairan patriarchate, assist Beradin. Dante was moved by his determination.
Of course, now he was less impressed after seeing Beradin spout nonsense while carrying out the act.
"That's why you can blame me for the fire. It doesn't matter. If you hadn't set it on fire, I would have done it myself."
"Jin?"
Beradin composed himself and looked Jin in the eyes.
"You said my Magicians attacked you? To hide the truth and protect the dignity of the clan?"
Jin didn't respond but nodded.
Beradin's face darkened. "And not only that, they are pursuing you right now?"
"Yes."
"Those bastards. Don't they have any shame? I'll kill every single one of them myself."
Beradin's hair stood on end as if blown by the wind. His mana was increasing.
He was an eight-star, or maybe even stronger.
Jin gasped as he felt Beradin's mana.
'How did he become so strong? It was said that he reached nine stars at thirty years old in my past life.'
Jin thought Beradin's powers were of seven stars. Since Beradin was capable of extremely fast simultaneous spellcasting, he was stronger than eight-star magicians at his seven stars.
But he was mistaken. The mana that started rising in Beradin was close to a nine-star level, even at a glance.
"Calm down, Beradin."
"Clan's dignity? Who cares about that? How many innocent lives must be taken to protect something like that?"
Jin suddenly remembered the first day he met Beradin.
"Well, it's not bad. Impressive. But let me give you some advice as someone who's a few years ahead of you in this line of work. If you encounter another Zipple who offends you, try not to rush and cut off their fingers. Don't you think that would create a lot of trouble for our two clans?" Beradin had said.
"You're quite the jester too, Beradin Zipple."
"Hm, what makes you say that? If my clan and yours went into a bloodbath over every little dispute, the whole world would already be demolished. I gave you that advice so you would consider the suffering of the citizens in war."
That had been the conversation with Beradin at the Mytell Kingdom's portal when he nearly cut off Beradin's finger.
Jin always thought Beradin was the mischievous type and was so sure he would be well aware of the Zipple clan's illicit activities.
But right now, Beradin didn't seem aware of the atrocities committed by the Zipple clan at all.
Sure, Beradin was quite odd and eccentric, but maybe he wasn't the type of Zipple that Jin had always believed him to be.
"Do you know the meaning of this gold, Jin? Basically, my clan threatens to plunge the Holy Kingdom into poverty for several decades if they don't accept this gold and turn a blind eye to the incident. Essentially, that means we will starve over a million civilians."
Beradin regained the determination that had once moved Dante.
Jin understood why Beradin swung from one extreme to another.
He must be scared.
He was furious at the atrocities of his own clan, but on the other hand, he was also terribly scared of the events that would follow his actions.
But when he learned that Jin had been attacked by the Zipple Magicians, his anger triumphed over his fears.
The fact that Jin was attacked left nothing but anger in his mind. All other emotions and reason dissipated. Things would have been very different if Jeremias had made the same decision in similar circumstances.
The Runcandels wouldn't care about the reason. They would incapacitate him and excommunicate him from the clan.
They would never tolerate a mere son of the clan sabotaging the efforts of the whole clan to safeguard their dignity, especially if it was for a petty sense of justice.
"I realize that too. That's why I tried to destroy the gold even after my identity was revealed."
"Then how do you expect me to calm down?"
"It's different when I do it and when you do it. All I have to do is give the Holy Kingdom a reason to reject the gold and flee, because I'm just the third party involved. And you? What are you going to do after staining your hands with the blood of those Magicians?"
"My father will understand my intent."
"It's not pleasant for me to say this, but look at your brother. Even Karl Zipple was killed by an assassin sent by your father. Karl, the master of the Fourth Tower, was used as bait to lure me, understand? Do you think you could...?"
"Fire! The gold is burning!"
"It must be him who set it on fire. Catch him! You must not fail!"
They heard shouts from afar. The Magicians pursuing Jin had just arrived at the port.
"Wait. Jin, Dante. You go ahead. I'll be the one to stop them." Beradin spoke quietly. The mana in his hands ignited a different kind of fire, the first version of the flamewrought decimator orb. This time, the spell worked, unlike the previous time in Sameel.
"Beradin, my friend."
"It's been fun, guys."
Jin let out a sigh.
'Has puberty come late for him? I understand how he feels, but this is too reckless, angry or not. What does he think he is? A moth to a flame?'
Jin can think of a thousand better and more efficient ways to resolve this situation.
"Well, we'll go ahead, Beradin."
"But Jin! If we escape alone, what will happen to Beradin?"
Dante turned his head and shouted. "But in return, let's say you were horribly defeated while trying to stop me."
Bam!
Jin's right fist landed squarely on Beradin's chin.
"Uff."
Crack! Jin followed up with a front kick to the solar plexus. Beradin fell forward, blood gushing from his mouth. When Beradin fell to the ground, Jin even stepped on the back of his neck to bury his face completely in the ground.
The sudden ambush even caused a mana reflux in Beradin. They could hear Beradin gurgling blood.
"Jin?"
"You don't want him to be punished in his clan either, right? The same goes for you. Come here."
Jin wrapped Dante in his cloak as if it were a gift box.
"It might hurt a bit, but keep your mouth shut until I give the signal, alright? Shuri, bite him."
Jin climbed onto Shuri's back, and the cat shoved Dante into its mouth.