Episode 258
Episode 80. Veradin’s Memory
Only one figure emerged from the teleportation gate. But with a hood and mask concealing their face, it was impossible to tell who it was.
“I don’t think that’s Veradin.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
Jin and Dante exchanged glances.
Even without seeing the face, the build was completely different. The person who stepped through the gate had the physique of a seasoned warrior, honed through years of training.
And with a longsword strapped to their waist, there was no way it could be Veradin.
—This is the address of my villa. The family never monitors or interferes with what happens here.
—I’ll tell the butler your names so you can come and go freely.
Veradin’s words about this place’s address echoed in their minds.
“By the way, is there a butler? When we first came here, no one was around.”
As Dante said, the two hadn’t yet met anyone called the ‘butler.’ When they arrived at the villa, it was empty, the door locked tight. They’d forced their way in and had been waiting for Veradin for three days.
“This guy seems a bit too tough to be a butler.”
“That’s true.”
The masked figure’s gaze landed on the broken gate.
The sound of waves crashing nearby filled the air indifferently as the masked person stared intently at the shattered entrance. There was clearly something displeasing about it, and the two men felt a heavy weight settle in their hearts.
Swish!
Suddenly, the masked figure drew their longsword.
“I think they believe there’s an intruder.”
“Yeah, maybe we should just go out and explain honestly?”
“If that mask isn’t Veradin’s, then killing or subduing them would be the right move. You might not know, but if I get caught now, I’m in serious trouble.”
There was no ruling out the possibility that this masked figure was one of Ziphl’s henchmen.
Jin drew his sword, Bradamante, activating Multa’s rune. Dante hesitated briefly, then tore his robe to fashion a makeshift mask and followed Jin.
The two cautiously stepped into the corridor, lowering their energy and taking cover—one hiding near the left room entrance, the other near the right.
Soon, they sensed the masked figure’s presence. Unlike them, the figure walked down the corridor with a fierce, deadly aura.
Just as the masked figure was about to pass the room where Jin was hiding—
Jin sprang out and tackled him. With practiced skill, Jin grabbed the figure from behind, pressing a blade to their throat. At the same time, Dante lunged forward and knocked the sword from the masked figure’s hand.
“Don’t scream. Answer my questions, and you’ll live.”
It was a flawless capture.
Yet Jin felt an odd unease. Despite the blade at his throat, the masked figure remained unnervingly calm.
“Who are you?”
No answer.
“Don’t make me ask twice. This is your last chance—who…”
Before Jin could finish his threat—
Shhhhhh!
Suddenly, the masked figure’s body vanished.
More precisely, his form dissolved into water. Jin’s grip faltered as the blade slipped against the fluid body, and Dante looked around in alarm.
A dragon!
Jin’s instincts screamed the truth.
The masked figure was a dragon—specifically, a water dragon, a servant of the water deity Itelmion.
Over eighty percent of dragons active in Inse were allied with Ziphl. So this water dragon they’d just encountered was likely one of Ziphl’s minions.
The water dragon flowed swiftly toward the end of the corridor.
Jin and Dante hurried after him. Even without Jin’s explanation, Dante knew they couldn’t let the dragon escape.
But their worries were unfounded.
“This is the first time I’ve met such a bold one. No wonder Veradin takes an interest.”
At the corridor’s end, the water dragon reformed into human shape, shrugging his shoulders.
“Stop attacking. I only tried to catch you because I thought you were intruders.”
Jin and Dante exchanged glances.
“…What brings you here, Dragon? Were you sent by Veradin?”
Jin sheathed his sword and bowed slightly. The dragon nodded.
“Well, you could say Veradin sent me. I’m the butler here. Don’t look at me like that. Is there some rule that dragons can’t be butlers?”
“I didn’t say anything. And I wasn’t looking at you strangely.”
“Good. Then that’s settled.”
The dragon removed his mask.
His face was surprisingly delicate, at odds with his bulky muscles. His shoulder-length blue hair shimmered, making him look almost like a woman.
So Veradin is contracted to Itelmion?
Jin’s mind spun.
He’d never thought of Veradin as a divine contractor. In his previous life, Veradin was known only as a nine-star warrior; there was no record of any divine contract.
And Itelmion’s contractors didn’t exist in my past life.
Of course, Jin couldn’t have known everything in his previous life. Without an intelligence network like the Chilsaekjo, he had limited access to hidden information.
Still, even if Veradin was a contractor, it wasn’t surprising. Ziphl’s family had the most contractors, and divine contracts were usually granted based on talent and potential.
Veradin was the most gifted of Ziphl’s second generation—it made sense he’d be a contractor.
“My name’s Tuyan. You must be Jin Runkandel and Dante Hairan. Nice to meet you.”
Before Jin could respond—
[Tuyan, I think there’s an intruder inside!]
Outside the villa, a new presence suddenly appeared.
The dragon who called Tuyan by name lowered his long neck, resting his head just outside the corridor, peering down at the two with large eyes.
[Ah, aren’t those the kids Veradin mentioned?]
“That’s right, Finia.”
[Jin Runkandel and Dante Hairan, right? Nice to meet you! I’ve wanted to see you both at least once.]
Finia transformed into human form, smiling brightly.
She was the earth deity Rikta’s subordinate dragon.
At this point, even Jin couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. Dante looked dazed, glancing back and forth between Jin and the dragons.
“Did you come to see Veradin?”
Finia stepped forward and asked.
“Yes.”
“She should be here within the hour. We have some preparations to make before she arrives, so rest in the parlor. By the way, did you break the gate?”
The two nodded, and Finia sighed.
“Next time, there’s a key under the big rock by the entrance. If neither Veradin nor we are here, use that to get in. It’s a pain to bring materials all the way here to fix things.”
Jin and Dante nodded absentmindedly.
Without further explanation, Tuyan and Finia headed toward the storage shed beside the villa.
To their surprise, they returned with cleaning supplies.
“What are you doing? I told you to wait in the parlor.”
Were they really planning to clean before Veradin arrived?
Jin’s mind was a mess. Dante seemed equally confused and said,
“W-we’ll help too.”
“No way. We can’t make guests do chores. Veradin would scold us.”
Tuyan began mopping the floor, forming water from thin air, while Finia gently nudged the two toward the parlor.
Jin and Dante had no choice but to sit and wait, feeling increasingly uneasy.
“…Are the dragons really cleaning right now?”
They seemed intent on tidying the villa before Veradin’s arrival, acting as her butlers.
“Yeah. Well, at least it’s not some other Ziphl minions. Still, it’s a bit unsettling.”
They sat quietly, waiting for the cleaning to finish.
Dante fidgeted nervously, while Jin pondered which of the two dragons was Veradin’s guardian.
Water? Earth? Which one is it?
That question was answered an hour later when Veradin finally arrived at the villa.
“Friends! Haha, it’s so good to see you again. I thought this would be the last time. My guardian dragons haven’t been rude, have they?”
Guardian dragons.
Veradin clearly referred to the dragons that way, and both bowed respectfully in greeting.
Though the scene was shocking in many ways, Jin resolved not to be surprised anymore.
Whether Veradin had contracts with the gods or was hiding something, the fact remained that he had risked everything to defy Ziphl.
And Jin himself had many secrets he kept from them.
“By the way, I didn’t expect you to be here, Jin, even if Dante was. Were you worried about me while I was wanted? I’m so touched I could cry. Look, my eyes—they’re all watery.”
“Feeling a bit cooler now?”
“Yeah, thanks to you. I was out of my mind back then. If not for you, I’d have died. From my father. I really thought I was going to die. The mana backlash was so severe, I still have headaches.”
Veradin spoke with a forced casual tone.
The three shared a brief, silent look. Then the dragons brought out tea.
“Jin.”
“Yeah?”
“You have a plan… right?”
Veradin’s eyes held a bitter edge.
He asked if Jin had a plan because he himself had no good way to help.
Rebelling recklessly, like setting fire to gold bars, was pointless.
Veradin felt miserable. Jin had saved him, but he couldn’t even return the favor.
Even if only his own family was after him, he might as well be dead. But with the Runkandels hunting Jin with burning eyes, Veradin couldn’t see any way for Jin to survive.
“You’re making a face way too serious for someone like you, Veradin. I’m not the type to act on impulse like you—I’ve already paved my way to survive.”
“Really?”
“So don’t worry about that. I actually want to make you a proposal.”
“What is it?”
“Drop the name ‘Zipl.’”
Splash!
Dante spat out the tea he’d been holding—and he even dropped the cup, burning his thigh. But ‘burned’ didn’t even begin to cover it.
Jin’s words hit him that hard.
“My plan is to completely dismantle Zipl. And that name doesn’t suit you. Your brothers, the ones I killed, and your uncle—they were all involved in horrific acts, including human experimentation.”
“So it was you who harmed my uncle after all…”
By now, the death of Myuron Zipl had been exposed as the work of ‘Barmel’—that is, Jin’s doing. Dino’s article on the royal incident had brought the tragedy of Colon back into the public eye.
“How much do you know?”
“About what?”
“Zipl. What your family is preparing.”
Veradin gave a bitter smile.
“Honestly, I’m not sure. I don’t even know how much I actually know.”
“I’m asking seriously.”
“I’m answering seriously, Jin Runcandel. Have you ever experienced this? You try to write in your diary, but when you check what you wrote yesterday, it’s completely different from what you remember…”
“What?”
“My memories are being manipulated. By someone. At first, I thought my uncle was the culprit—because nothing like this ever happened after he died. But look at this.”
Veradin pulled a notebook from his coat and flipped it open.
Inside was a diary entry dated December 25, 1797—the day after Jin revealed his true identity.
*(December 25, 1797.
Yesterday, if it weren’t for that guy, I almost died. I was fed up with the family’s decisions, but I never thought they’d lose their minds like that… My jaw still aches from his blow. Thanks to that, I survived. His judgment was right.
If he had harmed the family’s mages, my father might have killed me.
I almost said goodbye to them both. I hope they’re both safe.)*
Though no names were mentioned, it was clear the entry referred to Dante and Jin.
“This diary was written right after the magic reflux treatment ended. But after further treatment, I lost all memory of that day. I can’t even recall the moment I set fire to the gold bars. When I said I didn’t expect to see you guys as soon as I arrived here, that was based solely on this diary and the articles.”