Episode 101
Chapter 34: Resonance of Truth
February 1, 1796.
Under a gloomy sky, a man walked silently through the pouring rain in the middle of the Black Sea. As always, Khan, the guardian knight, carried a letter tucked inside his coat.
“Have you arrived?”
“Yes, Master Siron.”
Now, Khan no longer needed to be prompted; he instinctively pulled out the letter first.
Khan respectfully handed the letter to Siron, who smiled faintly.
“What do you think?”
“You mean the duel between Young Master Jin and Dante Hiran?”
“Yes.”
“Logically, Dante’s victory would be expected. Young Master Jin has two powers sealed within him. But judging by his past actions… I suspect there was another unexpected twist this time as well.”
Rustle.
Siron broke the seal and, for the first time in a long while, felt a flicker of excitement.
Sender: Kashimir
Recipient: Siron Runkandel
Report: Jin Runkandel defeated Dante Hiran and won the Cosmos Arena championship.
Note: Jin Runkandel has reached six-star swordsmanship.
Just four lines.
That was all Kashimir’s letter contained this time. Unlike usual, there were no flowery greetings or idle chatter—nothing but the bare facts.
Clean and straightforward. Yet, Siron couldn’t shake a strange feeling.
‘Could it be that I told him to keep it brief, and this is what he sent?’
Of course, as Khan said, the youngest’s unexpected victory was satisfying. But still, this feeling of being toyed with lingered…
“Master Siron, has something happened to the youngest young master?”
Seeing Siron’s stern expression, Khan spoke cautiously.
“No… that’s not it. He did defeat Dante.”
“Then…?”
“Nothing to worry about. When you return, tell Kashimir to join me for a drink soon. I think I need to see his face in person.”
“Understood!”
A shiver.
“Did something cold just pass through here…?”
“Cold? Sir Kashimir, the fireplace is blazing right now.”
Jin pointed to the hearth. Enya and Yuria, standing nearby, giggled, and Alisa shrugged, glancing at Kashimir.
“Last time, you said you felt overheated during the heavy January snowfall…”
“What’s wrong with you? Feeling a bit weak lately?”
“No, no, it’s nothing. Must be my imagination.”
“I should prepare some tonic for you.”
Kashimir shook his head lightly.
They were gathered in Jin’s room, chatting casually.
Jin had just finished his personal training, Alisa had clocked out, and Kashimir had wrapped up his duties and come straight here.
Enya and Yuria had simply come to play with Jin, and Murakan and Gilly had just pulled out a puzzle for Yuria.
“Hey, Ice Cream, here—play with this.”
“No, transform into a cat.”
“No.”
“Do it.”
“No. Hmm… okay, if you finish this puzzle, I’ll do it.”
“Promise!”
For a six-year-old, completing a thousand-piece puzzle was no small feat.
Yet Yuria began assembling it astonishingly fast. Without even trying pieces, she placed each one perfectly, as if she had memorized the entire puzzle.
“Murakan, my daughter is a contractor of Az Mil. Puzzles are useless against her.”
“Ah! Right. Damn, I’ve been outsmarted.”
“Outsmarted? You suggested it. You just wanted to play, didn’t you? Quit complaining.”
“Shut up, kid. I’m tired of transforming into a cat back at Runkandel. Ugh.”
Bang!
Murakan transformed, meowing like a cat, and Yuria beamed with delight.
“Hehe.”
Watching this, everyone couldn’t help but smile warmly.
Murakan seemed to decide it was better to tire Yuria out quickly and send her off, so he played enthusiastically.
‘Nothing beats a game of tag to drain kids’ energy.’
Swish, swish!
Murakan darted between the floor and the table, and Yuria chased after him like she was spellbound.
“You know, despite what he says, he’s always kind. Right, Young Master?”
Yuria struggled to catch Murakan, who seemed to enjoy teasing her, barely letting her get close.
“Ugh!”
After about five minutes of chasing, Yuria gathered all her strength and leapt onto the table where Murakan was.
Hop!
The table was too high for her to jump onto in one go.
“Ah!”
“Yuria!”
Crash!
Yuria hit the table and fell backward, ending their short game of tag. Fortunately, she wasn’t hurt, but all eyes turned to Murakan, who had been darting around like a cat.
“You stupid black dragon, what if the kid got hurt?”
“Meow…”
Murakan’s ears drooped as he sulked.
Flutter…
A single sheet of paper slipped out from the table drawer and drifted down like a leaf in front of Yuria.
“Huh?”
While everyone gathered around to check if she was okay, Yuria remained calm, her gaze naturally fixed on the paper.
“Wow! It’s a treasure map!”
Her eyes sparkled as she exclaimed.
It was the treasure map Jin had received after winning the Cosmos Arena.
When Jin returned, he neatly placed the trophy on his desk but had long since forgotten the seemingly meaningless treasure map tucked away in a drawer.
He thought a map prepared by some pirate crew as a prize couldn’t possibly be valuable.
In fact, Cosmos had hoped the winner would take a treasure chest instead of a thousand gold coins, but Jin had once plundered a merchant ship and judged that the treasure map was nothing more than meaningless scribbles.
In other words, a ‘loser’s prize.’
Thanks to Jin taking both the money and the treasure chest, Cosmos couldn’t just skip the awards ceremony altogether.
“Anyway, be careful playing next time. What if the kid gets hurt? Will you take responsibility?”
“That’s right, Murakan. Still, Yuria is tough. She fell pretty hard…”
“There’s something important here!”
Suddenly, Yuria jumped up, holding the map high.
“There’s something, something important!”
Her eyes shone with conviction.
If it had been another child shouting, it might have been dismissed as childish imagination.
But Yuria was a contractor of Az Mil, who could solve a ten-thousand-piece puzzle in an instant and possessed an absolute perspective that saw all things clearly.
In other words, this map was truly a treasure map.
A roughly drawn land with an X marked on one side, and some ancient script written in the margin.
‘That script was unrecognizable even to Murakan and Quikantel, so we thought it was just someone’s prank.’
There are few ancient scripts that a dragon like Murakan wouldn’t recognize. Even if he couldn’t read it, he could usually tell roughly when the language was used by the shape of the characters.
“Something important is buried here? Yuria, can you explain in detail?”
The moment Jin asked, Yuria’s bright, curious eyes suddenly welled up with tears.
She sank down and burst into sobs.
“Waaah! It’s… so sad!”
Yuria’s Az Mil powers had activated involuntarily, showing her a vision unlike what others could see.
A treasure hidden deep somewhere.
And the tragic scene that unfolded because of that treasure.
“…It seems Az Mil’s power is manifesting. We need to calm her down first. Little one! Go fetch Latri quickly!”
When a young contractor’s power activates against their will, it’s usually not a good sign. Especially Az Mil’s ability, which relates to the future and truth.
At times like this, the help of a guardian dragon is essential.
“Yes, sir!”
Kashimir hurried outside, while Alisa cradled Yuria and began soothing her skillfully.
“This has happened a few times before. My daughter isn’t an ordinary child, after all.”
Before long, Latri arrived.
“Where’s Yuria?”
“Here!”
Latri immediately sat beside Yuria, closed his eyes, and a blue aura began to flow, enveloping them both.
It was the ‘Resonance.’
Now, the sorrowful and gloomy visions that Yuria’s power had revealed would be borne by Latri, the dragon of truth, instead of the contractor.
Yuria gradually began to calm down.
Meanwhile, Latri, appearing as a young boy, furrowed his brow occasionally with his eyes closed, as if witnessing something shocking.
About ten minutes into the resonance, Yuria peacefully fell asleep, while Latri wiped sweat from his brow and sighed deeply.
“Phew…”
Murakan approached, and Latri stood, bowing respectfully. Though Latri was born long after Murakan’s prime, he held great reverence for him.
“Ah, Murakan. Sorry I couldn’t greet you properly earlier; things were hectic.”
“No need for formalities. Ice Cream, what exactly did you see?”
“Well… it wasn’t the future. It was the past.”
“The past? The only time an Az Mil contractor sees the past is when…?”
“Yes, only when I touched objects or visited places steeped in deep grudges or obsessions… that’s when I could sense the lingering resentment. Phew, if I’d been any later, it could’ve been dangerous. It was utterly horrifying…”
Even though he was young by human standards, Latri was a dragon of truth who had lived for over five hundred years.
He shivered slightly as he recalled what he had just seen on behalf of Yuria.
“Hmm, I dismissed it at first because it was in a language I couldn’t read, thinking it was nothing special. But this map must be tied to something with a heavy grudge. So, what did you see?”
“A land with a primitive landscape… groups that looked like indigenous people living there. And an altar they worshipped…”
Latri took a steady breath as he recalled the vision again.
“Other humans came to them… they seemed to be wizards. About ten of them. At first, the wizards joined in their worship rituals.”
“And then?”
“One of the wizards killed a native child. A very young human, even younger than Yuria… and alive, no less…”
As the shocking details continued, the others couldn’t help but let out gasps.
Enya, seeing Latri’s glistening eyes, even began to cry.
“…And then they killed more children. They kept demanding something, and it seemed to be a sacred relic worshipped by the natives.”
At that moment, Jin immediately recalled a related story.
“Latri, could you try drawing what that sacred relic looked like?”
“Ah, just a moment.”
Taking pen and paper, Latri quickly sketched the shape of the relic—a round disc-like object.
“This disc was constantly emitting light, but when it wasn’t glowing, it looked like an ordinary silver mirror.”
The Colon Ruins.
The treasure map pointed to an artifact in the Colon Ruins—the ‘Mirror.’