Episode 277
Chapter 88: The Delegation of Congratulations, An Unexpected Encounter (3)
“Are you saying they didn’t send a delegation because of Gilly?”
Her eyes and gestures conveyed a flood of emotions—embarrassment, awkwardness, guilt… and beneath it all, a bitter worry.
All the negative feelings that make a person shrink away were wrapping around her.
When Gilly lowered her head, Jin didn’t press further. Instead, he gently patted her shoulder.
“It’s okay. Gilly has nothing to apologize for. I won’t hold any special grudge against the Macloran family because of this, so don’t worry.”
Jin had immediately pinpointed exactly what Gilly was worried about.
“…I’m truly sorry. Thank you for understanding, Young Master.”
But in truth, Jin’s thoughts were different.
If the Macloran family had dealt Gilly a deep wound—something that still tormented her to this day, so much so that she couldn’t even confide in him or Murakan about what happened back then—
Then he intended to punish the Maclorans later. The fact that they hadn’t sent a delegation was nothing compared to that.
“Strawberry pie, don’t look so sad. Come here. That little rascal’s game of king is almost over, so I think it’s the perfect time for the adults to have a drink together.”
As Murakan naturally took Gilly away, Jin sought out Petro.
“Petro.”
“Yes, Young Master!”
“Could it be that the Voltagas didn’t send anyone?”
“I’ll double-check right away.”
By the time Petro returned, it was already past midnight.
“This is strange. All the other fallen nobles came and left, but only the Voltagas didn’t send a delegation.”
Families like the Voltagas, who were truly scraping the bottom of the barrel, didn’t have to worry about what their siblings thought when it came to sending delegations.
They simply weren’t valuable enough to have direct dealings with Runcandel.
No matter which fallen noble Jin met, the siblings wouldn’t care. Not even Rosa.
In fact, the weaker the family, the more desperate they were to forge ties with pureblood Runcandel at times like this.
They’d scrape together money to send tributes or bring heirlooms to curry favor.
But the Voltagas acted completely differently from the other fallen houses.
“Hmm… I see.”
Jin fell into thought.
‘Could it be that someone in the Voltagas knows there’s a descendant of Picon Minche in the family? At a time like this?’
Picon Minche.
Undisputedly the greatest blacksmith in the continent’s history, the one who forged Barisada and Bradamante.
Though nearly a thousand years had passed since Picon Minche’s death, the continent’s finest blacksmith guild was still the Minche Blacksmith Association.
Official blacksmiths of the Minche Association were treated better than most knights or mages, whether in Huepester or the Lutero Magic Federation.
Especially the three great blacksmiths of the Minche Association, known as the Anvil, the Hammer, and the Fire—they were even shown special respect by Siron himself.
Given all this, who would have imagined that Picon’s direct descendant was working as a butler for a fallen noble family?
‘I first discovered this in my previous life when I was about twenty-three or twenty-four, just before reaching first star in swordsmanship.’
He still remembered it vividly. It was the event that shook the entire Huepester region.
Picon Minche’s descendant was using the name “Vin Blanche.”
Like everyone else, he didn’t know he was a descendant of Picon, nor did his parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents.
In other words, at some point, Picon’s descendants lost the surname and identity of “Minche” and lived as ordinary commoners. Their surnames changed multiple times according to the marriage laws and customs of the era.
Then, out of nowhere, the god of blacksmithing awakened in Vin Blanche, the Voltagas’ butler.
More precisely, Vin was the first to ‘recognize’ the already contracted god of blacksmithing when Jin was about twenty-four.
‘It’s possible my previous life’s information was wrong. Maybe the story of Vin Blanche only became known around that time, and the family might have known his identity earlier. Especially since Joshua has a prophet in his ranks.’
Jin nodded as he organized his thoughts.
Back then, unlike now, he wasn’t even a rider and was subtly looked down upon by the servants.
So he couldn’t fully grasp the family’s situation. He spent his days training alone in some corner, then quietly retreating to his room.
Meanwhile, Joshua was much the same as he is now.
Even if another sibling had secured Vin Blanche, there would have been no reason to share him with the family’s “trash.”
Jin didn’t even know which faction Vin Blanche belonged to after being revealed as the god’s contractor.
He only assumed he was affiliated with Runcandel.
In any case, the only way to be sure was to meet in person.
“The Voltagas’ territory is a rural area in the Kingdom of Shuteron, right? Is there a direct teleportation gate?”
Are you seriously planning to visit the Voltagas now?
Petro was not the type to ask such things.
“There isn’t one, Young Master. I’ll immediately issue an order to the gatekeepers to open a gate to the nearest city in Shuteron.”
As soon as they arrived at the southern teleportation gate of Shuteron, Jin rode Shuri all the way to the Voltagas estate.
By now, riding Shuri openly was no problem, but Jin preferred to avoid unnecessary attention and stuck to mountain paths.
“Wh-who are you?”
The Voltagas’ small estate looked so dilapidated it could collapse at any moment.
At the entrance, two scrawny boys stood guard—barely worthy of the title “gatekeepers.” Whether they were starving from unpaid wages or just lazy was unclear.
“I am Jin Runcandel, 12th Rider of Runcandel. I’ve come to see the head of the Voltagas. Show me in.”
“Uh… oh!”
“Ah, understood! M-mistress! The Rider of Runcandel has arrived!”
The two boys jumped up and shouted for the head of the family.
When the head appeared shortly after—though even he looked as shabby as the boys—Jin almost chuckled.
The doorframe had broken as he pushed it open a little too forcefully in his haste.
At this point, Jin had to erase all the theories he’d been entertaining about why the Voltagas hadn’t sent a delegation.
‘No teleportation gate, not even a horse to spare. What kind of delegation could they possibly send?’
The Voltagas hadn’t sent a delegation simply because they had no money.
It was almost unbelievable that such a family existed in Huepester, even as a fallen house.
“W-why has the 12th Rider of Runcandel come to this shabby place?”
“I have questions. But first, how did things get to this state?”
Though they were strangers, Jin couldn’t help but ask.
“Ah, recently there’s been a famine in the territory… and bandits and monsters have been rampant… I’m ashamed to say.”
“Why not ask the Shuteron royal family for aid?”
“Truthfully, the royal family has long since abandoned this land. As you can see, it’s a worthless piece of land…”
Jin immediately understood. The Voltagas’ territory truly seemed worthless.
“Still, this year’s winter crops are coming in well, so we should be able to sustain ourselves… No, what am I saying? I apologize, Sir Jin Runcandel. We didn’t have the means to send a delegation, so I couldn’t come to meet you.”
Just as the Voltagas head was about to kneel, Jin grabbed his shoulder.
In truth, Jin wanted to embrace him and hand over a bundle of money. He was certain the Voltagas had remained unnoticed by anyone in the Garden of Blades.
If anyone knew about Vin Blanche’s existence, they wouldn’t be living like this.
So from Jin’s perspective, the Voltagas head had done his part.
“I’m not here to scold you. I came to see a friend named Vin Blanche. I heard he’s working as your butler.”
The Voltagas head’s eyes widened.
“Vin? Why do you want to see him?”
“Is that any of your business?”
Jin’s calm voice made the Voltagas head and the gatekeepers shake their heads quickly.
“No, Sir Jin. It’s just that Vin, our butler…”
The Voltagas head’s eyes reddened instantly.
“He was captured by bandits three days ago. He was sweeping snow just outside when it happened. Honestly, it would have been better if I, old and useless, had been taken instead…”
It was painful to see the Voltagas head sobbing, but there was no time to comfort him.
“I’ll bring him back immediately. Let’s hope Vin Blanche is safe.”
He probably was—unless the changes from Jin’s return had somehow reached this remote village.
“Uh?”
“Direction?”
“N-north. The bandits headed north.”
“Let’s go, Shuri!”
[Meow!]
Suddenly, Shuri kicked up a cloud of snow and shot forward like an arrow.
For a while, the Voltagas people just blinked, staring after Jin’s retreating figure.
After three hours of riding north, they finally spotted the bandits’ hideout.
“What the—!”
“Who’s there?!”
Jin pushed aside the flimsy curtain covering the natural cave entrance and stepped inside.
The bandits, caught mid-drink, jumped up and shouted.
Without a doubt, he was the lowest of the low—a scoundrel unlike any Jin had ever encountered, even back in his trainee days.
Not every city in the world was a bustling metropolis, and not everyone was exceptional.
Jin had grown up surrounded by monsters and superhumans, but even so, there were people who struggled against petty thieves like this one.
“Vin Blanche, raise your hand.”
“Who’s that?”
“Looks like some noble from the capital. Just keep walking. Don’t get yourself hurt.”
From the back, a slender young man raised his hand. That was Vin Blanche.
After that, there was no need to throw a punch or draw a sword.
Jin revealed just a tiny fraction of his energy, and the thieves instinctively dropped to the ground or trembled in fear. When Jin increased his power, every single one of them passed out without exception.
Vin glanced around with terrified eyes, then cautiously approached Jin.
And the closer he got, the stranger the sensation Jin felt—a peculiar resonance, like the one he’d experienced back in the Cheongsae Archipelago. It was almost identical to the way Sigmund had reacted to Gram’s tomb.
Vvvvvrrrmmm…!
But this time, it wasn’t Sigmund resonating—it was his reclaimed beloved sword.
Bradamante.
The god of the blacksmiths, with whom Vin had made a pact, was resonating with Bradamante.
“Looks like today’s a lucky day for both of us,” Jin said, extending his hand to Vin. The moment Vin grasped it, a voice he’d never heard before echoed inside his mind.
[Bradamante! Vin, hurry and take the sword from that guy. Hurry!]