Chapter 254
Episode 78: The Feats of the Prospective Mage (3)
“Beradin…?”
Jin’s eyes, having just slid off Shuri’s back, widened considerably.
‘Why is this guy showing up here? And what’s with those gold bars looking like that…?’
The flames engulfing the gold bars were massive—enough to be called a blazing inferno.
Considering these gold bars could sustain the kingdom’s treasury for decades, the scale of the fire was anything but ordinary.
“Did you do this?”
Just as Jin was about to ask, a familiar voice rang out once more.
“Lord Beradin! The fire’s spread all the way to the back! We should get out of here… Huh? Jin!? Is that really you?”
A small frame and a rough voice.
It was Dante Hylan. He hadn’t been visible earlier because he was checking if the fire had caught properly behind the gold bars.
“Dante too?”
Even Jin stammered at the sight of Dante joining the scene.
‘Why do these guys always pop up from the most unexpected places?’
It happened every time—when leaving the Storm Fortress, at the Cosmos arena, in the nameless city of Samil, and now again.
Jin steadied himself and looked over the two.
Their eyes sparkled with delight, clearly happy to see him.
“Well, meeting here of all places! Seems like there’s some kind of bond between the three of us.”
“Yeah, yeah. Haha, heh, hehe. Last time you were causing trouble in Samil, now it’s our turn to stir things up.”
“By the way, what’s with that cat? It’s huge.”
“And you’re riding that Red Jade Cat! How did you come to be connected with that spirit beast? Anyway, great to see you. Haha.”
Dante and Beradin both pointed at Shuri as they spoke.
Watching the two of them so cheerfully standing in front of the burning gold bars, Jin felt a headache creeping in.
“Wait, didn’t you guys just say we should run? Did you start this fire?”
“Technically, Lord Beradin here did.”
Dante pointed at Beradin with a finger, like a kid tattling on a friend caught red-handed.
“No, you started it.”
Beradin shot back, pointing not at Dante but at Jin with a serious look.
Jin blinked, then pointed at himself with his index finger.
“Me? When did I?”
“Lord Beradin, this guy just arrived. The fire’s definitely your doing.”
“Let’s just say Jin did it. He’s a prospective mage of Runcandel anyway, so we can count it as him making some achievements…”
Clink!
As Dante tried to wave his hand dismissively at Beradin, a gold bar suddenly slipped from his pocket and clattered to the ground.
Jin flinched, glancing back and forth between Dante and the fallen gold bar.
“…You guys, are you crazy? You didn’t just sneak one of these here, did you?”
“Oh, no! It’s a misunderstanding! I just followed Lord Beradin because he said he’d pay me if I helped.”
“Dante! You didn’t secretly pocket gold bars behind my back, did you?”
Beradin’s sharp reprimand made Dante’s eyes nearly pop out.
“Lord Beradin! Why are you saying such strange things? You started the fire, and this is the payment I’m supposed to receive…!”
It was a complete jumble of nonsense.
Jin sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead.
‘Right, Dante’s too straight-laced to be swayed by some gold bars. And Beradin… something’s off with him. His eyes look a little… glazed.’
Beradin wiped cold sweat from his brow, glancing around nervously.
Dante grabbed his collar, raising his voice in protest at being accused of theft.
“Anyway! I don’t know. Let’s just say Jin did it. Otherwise, both of us are in trouble, Dante!”
“When we came here, you didn’t say anything like that!”
“I lost my cool for a moment back then!”
“Lost your cool? We spent three days on that sailboat on the way here. You were perfectly fine the whole time. Was all that righteous fury about your family’s misdeeds just an act?”
“Ughhh.”
Beradin twisted his body awkwardly, like a broken wind-up doll.
“Beradin, shut up and let Dante explain the situation. We don’t have time—those Ziphl mages who want to kill me are about to show up.”
“Jin, what are you talking about now?”
“I’m the one who exposed the whole kingdom incident. I just revealed it in the square, fought off the attacking Ziphl mages, and now I’m on the run.”
“What? You mean you’re Bamel?”
“You’re Bamel!?”
Dante and Beradin leaned in close to Jin, their faces full of shock.
All three were reeling from one revelation after another. Jin barely managed to keep his composure. If he joined this parade of fools, the whole situation would become a joke in an instant.
“Plus, I revealed that I’m a prospective mage of Runcandel, so the Ziphl have no choice but to kill me. I headed this way to wipe out the gold bars the Ziphl generously gave the kingdom.”
“Jin, it seems we really are destined.”
Dante clenched his fist, moved.
“Our goals are the same. Beradin’s a bit out of it right now, but he came to me for help because he can’t forgive his family’s misdeeds. As the next head of the Ziphl, he feels responsible.”
In other words, the three had come to this port for the same purpose.
Beradin and Dante had heard about the kingdom’s situation through newsletters and were outraged.
Beradin, despite being from the Ziphl family, had decided to personally step in and right the wrongs.
Jin and Dante, as heirs of great noble houses, understood how significant that decision was.
Though reluctant, Dante, the next head of the Hylan family, had agreed to help Beradin for that very reason. He was moved by Beradin’s resolve.
Though his rambling after the fact somewhat diminished that impression.
“So, it’s fine to say I started the fire. If you hadn’t been here, I would have done it anyway.”
“Jin.”
Beradin’s expression shifted as he met Jin’s gaze.
“So your mages attacked you? To cover up the truth and protect the family’s reputation?”
Jin nodded silently in response.
Beradin’s eyes darkened.
“And now they’re chasing you?”
“Yes.”
“Those… bastards… shameless. I’ll kill them all.”
Beradin’s hair began to ripple as if caught in a breeze—he was drawing on his magic.
Eighth rank.
Or maybe even higher.
Jin swallowed hard at the surge of power radiating from Beradin.
‘When did he get this strong? I thought he was only seventh rank. I’d heard he reached ninth rank at thirty in his past life.’
Jin had assumed Beradin’s power capped at seventh rank. Given his ability to cast simultaneous spells, he was already stronger than many eighth-rank mages.
But no. The magic now emanating from Beradin was close to ninth rank.
“Calm down, Beradin.”
“Family honor? How many innocent people do you plan to kill for something so trivial?”
Suddenly, Jin recalled the day he first met Beradin.
—“…Well, alright. Impressive. But as a senior in a similar position, here’s some advice: if you meet other Ziphl and have unpleasant encounters, don’t go cutting off fingers recklessly. It’ll just make our families’ lives harder.”
—“That’s a funny joke, Beradin Ziphl.”
—“Why? If we and Runcandel keep fighting bloody battles over petty issues, the world won’t survive. I’m saying this for the sake of the people suffering in the wars.”
That conversation had taken place when Jin tried to cut off Beradin’s finger inside Mittel Kingdom’s transit gate.
‘I always thought Beradin was an enigma. I figured the next head of the family couldn’t be unaware of the Ziphl’s misdeeds.’
But now, Beradin seemed genuinely unaware of the Ziphl’s atrocities.
His behavior was odd, but maybe Beradin was far removed from the ‘Ziphl’ Jin thought he knew.
“Do you know what these gold bars mean, Jin? If we accept them and let things slide, the kingdom will be impoverished for decades. That’s basically sentencing over a million civilians to starvation.”
Beradin was back to the earnest expression that had moved Dante earlier.
Jin understood why Beradin was so inconsistent.
‘He’s scared.’
Though furious at his family’s crimes, Beradin was also trembling with fear over what might come next.
But hearing that Ziphl mages had attacked Jin, his anger once again overwhelmed his fear.
More precisely, the fact that Jin had been attacked left Beradin with nothing but rage. All reason and other feelings vanished.
If Jin had made the same choice in the same situation—
Runcandel would cripple him and exile him from the family, no matter the reason.
With the family desperately trying to maintain its prestige, an heir overturning everything out of a sense of justice was unthinkable.
“I know that. That’s why, after revealing the truth, I tried to deal with the gold bars.”
“Then why tell me to calm down?”
“There’s a difference between me stepping in and you stepping in. I’m a third party who can give the kingdom a reason to reject the gold and then run away. But you? If you kill the mages coming here with your own hands, what then?”
“My father will understand my intentions.”
“I hate to say it, but your brother—Karl Ziphl—was killed by an assassin sent by your own father. Karl, one of the Four Tower Lords, was just bait to lure me out. And you really think you can…?”
Fire! The gold bars are burning!
There’s no doubt—that bastard set the fire. We have to catch him. No matter what!
Suddenly, a shout rang out from afar.
The mages chasing Jin had arrived at the harbor.
“Stop. Jin, Dante. You two get out of here first. I’ll hold them off.”
Veradin spoke in a low voice. Magic flared in his hands, forming a new flame.
The Annihilation Dark Flame Orb, Type 1. Unlike in Samil, this time the incantation was perfectly formed.
“Lord Veradin.”
“It’s been a pleasure.”
Ha.
Jin let out a sigh.
‘Is this some kind of late teenage rebellion? I get the sentiment, but getting drunk on anger and making mistakes—that’s just reckless. Not like a moth to a flame or anything.’
In Jin’s mind, there were plenty of cleaner, more efficient ways to end this.
“Fine. We’ll get out of here first, Veradin.”
“Jin! If only we run, what about Lord Veradin?”
Dante turned his head, shouting.
“Dante, you lost gloriously trying to stop me.”
Crack!
Jin’s right fist landed squarely on Veradin’s jaw.
“Ugh.”
Bam! A follow-up front kick struck Veradin’s solar plexus. He doubled over, coughing up blood and collapsing forward. Jin stomped once more on the back of Veradin’s head, driving it into the dirt.
The sudden attack caused a violent backlash of magical energy.
Grrrk, grrk. Veradin gritted his teeth, foaming at the mouth.
“J-Jin?”
“You don’t want to see this guy go down, do you? Come on.”
Jin wrapped Dante up like a bundle in his own robe.
“If it stings a bit, keep your mouth shut until I give the signal. Shuri, bite.”
Climbing back onto Jin’s back, Shuri clamped down on Dante’s mouth.