C342 - Belated Greetings
Shock!
The Luther Magical Federation attacks the Peng Clan.
In the process, Zipple's magicians directly attacked the Hufester Alliance.
The First Leader of the Peng Clan, Mr. Peng says, "We express our gratitude to Runcandel, who saved us..."
The whereabouts of the Peng Clan's executives and employees are unknown.
It is speculated that they are under Runcandel's protection.
Runcandel has decided to support the "Peng Clan" from now on.
Has there been a change in the Sword Masters' clan?
If so, the cause is presumed to be the new supernova, Jin Runcandel...
June 10, 1799.
Led by Dino Zaglan, Hufester's newspapers were filled with articles about Zipple's recent attack.
The moderately toned articles mostly praised Jin, and the stern-toned ones condemned Zipple.
While Jin skimmed through the articles, he thought, as always, that Dino had done a good job. Of course, his face blushed a bit when reading the praise-filled articles.
"Haha, Strawberry Pie. Look at this, a supernova. Haha, supernova! Our boy is now a star, a star. Huh? Yeah, the other day, he was just a Provisional Flagbearer, unable to use his real name," Murakan mumbled as he waved the newspapers he held in his hand.
Gilly smiled happily as she placed the strawberry pie on a plate.
Slurp! Cough! Cough!
While lying down and eating the strawberry pie, Murakan choked on something and started coughing, and Gilly hurried to get water.
But he was acting.
He was acting in anticipation of Gilly coming to support him and give him water.
Why does Gilly fall for that every time...?
Is she playing along?
At this point, Jin couldn't figure it out and just let them be.
"Oh, I'll survive. Thanks again, Strawberry Pie. I'm lucky to have you."
Jin felt his ears tickling, and it would be hard for him to keep listening.
"Hey, Murakan."
"Yes, Almighty Supernova. Did you call me?"
"Do you remember Leuth Damiro Yul, the Fairy who worked for the ancient Runcandels?"
"Is that so?"
From the recording device of the Third Tomb, Jin saw Leuth from a thousand years ago.
Jin asked Murakan several times after his return if he recognized Leuth, but he seemed completely clueless.
And Jin himself didn't remember meeting Leuth in person.
-...And me and the Patriarch, the Ten Great Knights, haven't forgotten that the Fairies fought alongside Runcandel, have we? Solderet and Lord Murakan and Lady Misha haven't forgotten either.
Jin felt bitterness thinking about Leuth's words on the recording device.
"Doesn't anything come to mind?"
"The Fairies had already gone extinct back then. At least according to my memory."
Murakan rubbed his forehead and stood up.
"But there shouldn't be any incorrect information recorded in Solderet's device. I vaguely remember the Fairy named Leuth from a thousand years ago, but not anymore. Either my memories were affected while I slept, or Zipple's manipulation of history ended up affecting me."
As Murakan touched his forehead, Gilly put her hand on his shoulder.
Gilly was someone who could see deep inside Murakan, a darkness he himself wasn't fully aware of.
Every time Murakan realized his memories from that time were becoming vague or disappearing, he suffered a significant emotional shock.
His mind was wearing thin without him realizing it.
-We need a way to leave records that those bastards can't tamper with.
Jin remembered what Sarah had said on the recording device.
An absolute record, the Magic of Histor.
As Jin pondered on it, he remembered that not long ago he had sent a letter to his Master.
"It's about time for a response to arrive."
It seemed he would have to visit Tikan after stopping by the Hidden Palace.
"Where are you going again?"
"I have to take the little beastmen to the Hidden Palace from the older brother Dyfus' safehouse."
"Wow, you've got thick skin, kid. Did the Mistress of the Hidden Palace do something to you in your past life? What will you do if she doesn't accept you?"
"I still have about 30% of what I originally should have offered to my clan. I'll try to negotiate with her for at least 10% of that."
---------------
More than a hundred little beastmen were being protected in Dyfus' safehouse without anyone missing.
Jin headed directly to the Hidden Palace with them.
It took about three days of travel through teleport gates and ships, but Jin asked his clan not to give him any missions until his business was settled.
When the ship arrived at Manji Island, Lucas Manfran, an agent of the Seven-Colored Peacocks and also a direct line to Talaris, welcomed the group.
"Sir Jin, if you had contacted me, I would have informed Madame Talaris in advance."
"Lucas, long time no see. I hope you've been well."
"Yes, thanks to you, I've been doing fine. But seriously, your face says it all. You look extremely tired. Are you okay?"
"Yes, thank you for your concern."
Lucas winked at the little beastman who was behind Jin.
"I'll inform Madame Talaris immediately."
Bang! Bang!
When Lucas fired a signal flare, the figure of a giant toad, Mort, suddenly appeared in the sky.
"Ah, ah, a toad!"
"How scary, a toad!"
"Aah! Jin, what is this! A toad!"
The little beastmen instinctively found the giant toad very frightening.
Intentionally or not, Mort opened its mouth wide and began swallowing some of the little beastmen.
To the little beastmen, it seemed like the predatory creature was about to eat them, which caused them to panic.
"I should have explained it to them beforehand."
But there was no time for that.
Mort used five space jumps to transport Jin and the little beastmen to the Hidden Palace.
"Did we survive?"
"Haha! I thought we were dead!"
"Silence."
As soon as they arrived, someone spoke with a chilling voice.
Talaris Endorma, the Abyssal Spider.
The little beastmen immediately knelt and lowered their heads, an instinctual response.
It had been almost two years since Jin last saw her.
She often referred to Jin as "my son-in-law," but today her gaze toward him was far from pleasant.
"Madame Talaris, please accept my belated visit..."
"Hmph, enough already. Shut up for a moment, unfilial son-in-law. I wondered if you lost a leg or something. How could you come now?"
Although Jin could have thick skin when necessary, right now he felt a sharp pain and a lump in his throat.
After becoming a Flagbearer, he should have visited the Hidden Palace at least once to pay his respects to Talaris.
"I even fought with dozens of Specters because of this son-in-law. The Hidden Palace even officially announced that we were defeated in the Battle of the Western Sea... Ohoho, quite turbulent days indeed."
Every word felt like a whip on his conscience.
"Do you have anything to say?"
"Nothing."
"Fine, fine. Nothing to say. Haha, true. It even looks like you've come to ask me for something. And who are these balls of fur?"
"...They are my business partners whom I brought to request protection from the Hidden Palace."
How could he be so shameless?
Although Talaris found the fact very distasteful, she couldn't completely hate him either.
There was a part of her that felt a slight familiarity in Jin, as if he resembled a younger version of her friend, Cyron Runcandel.
Young Cyron used to exhibit the same shameless behavior whenever he wanted to ask Talaris for something.
But why did I always end up helping them in crucial moments?
Talaris chuckled to herself when this thought crossed her mind.
"I should have come to see you earlier. I delayed expressing my gratitude until things were somewhat stable."
Click...
Jin pulled something from his embrace and opened it. Inside was a gleaming ancient iron.
An enigmatic mineral, the reward for the mission to kill the Black Knight. Jin brought it as a token of sincerity to Talaris.
In reality, this amount of ancient iron would have been more than enough compensation for all the favors Talaris had done for him.
The value of ancient iron was beyond imagination, as it was an item that Runcandel's Black Knights, Zipple's Kozecs, and the Twilight Mages (White Night Mages) were all trying to gain.
However, that was just a general rule.
For Talaris and her daughter, who possessed "Myriad Ice," ancient iron held no special value.
"Ancient iron is no different from worthless scrap to me."
But then, in the next moment.
Talaris couldn't help but let out a small, unexpected laugh.
'There's such a cute side to him, unlike Cyron.'
It was because she saw that under the ancient iron were hundreds of stacked letters.
Throughout the entire journey to the Hidden Palace, Jin had been writing apology letters to Talaris, without taking a single break.
Inside the letters were not just simple apologies but also a list of most of the incidents Jin had experienced.
This indicated that Jin trusted Talaris, as he even wrote about the history of the "Temar Tombs," which he had not yet told Cyron about.
The reason Lucas had asked for a "tired face" upon seeing Jin's countenance was precisely this.
Talaris had been reading the letters for a while now, and her expression softened slightly.
She was conflicted.
Should she forgive Jin and accept him again as a son-in-law, or should she keep him as someone else's son-in-law?
"Mort, go and fetch my daughter."
Boong!
Mort quickly brought Siris back to the Hidden Palace.
"Mother, you summoned me... Jin Runcandel?"
It had been a long time since she last saw him. Her gaze toward Jin wasn't as unpleasant as Talaris', but there was a difference.
She seemed somewhat dazed, unable to fully collect her thoughts, as she looked at the little beastmen Jin had brought.
In most situations, she tended to be cold and devoid of emotions, but when it came to furry animals, she displayed an extraordinarily tender side.
That's why she was so surprised when she found out that the Butterfly from the Runcandel banquet was actually Murakan.
"Listen, daughter. Do you know what this unfilial son-in-law is saying? Not only has he come to greet me so late, but he even..."
Shriek!
Siris drew her sword from her waist.
Not a single day had passed without her thinking about Jin since he left as a Provisional Flagbearer to Lafrarosa.
Of course, it wasn't romantic affection but rather the desire to challenge him once more.
"I want to experience the strength of Jin Runcandel, the Twelfth Flagbearer. Draw your sword, Jin."
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