Chapter 342
Episode 105: A Belated Greeting
Breaking News! The Lutero Magic Federation launches a surprise attack on the Golden Swallow Guild. In the process, Ziphl’s mages directly strike the Hupester Federation.
Mr. Paeng, the number one leader of the Golden Swallow Guild, expresses gratitude to Runkandel for saving them…
All executives and staff of the Golden Swallow Guild are currently missing. It is presumed they are under Runkandel’s protection.
As of now, Runkandel has decided to support the Golden Swallow Guild. Could this signal a shift in the House of Paedo? If so, the cause is believed to be the supernova-level Runkandel…
June 10, 1799.
Led by Dino Jaglun, the Hupester newsletters are flooding with reports on Ziphl’s recent assault.
Most articles, adorned with carefully measured praise, laud Jin, while the more aggressive pieces condemn Ziphl in harsh tones.
As usual, Jin thought to himself how well Dino handled the coverage—though his face flushed a bit whenever he read the praise.
“Heh heh heh, Strawberry Pie, take a look at this. They’re calling you a supernova. Again, a supernova! Our little one’s officially a star now. Huh? Feels like just yesterday you were a trainee who couldn’t even use your real name.”
Murakan chuckled, shaking the newsletters in his hand. Gilly smiled warmly as she plated the strawberry pie.
Slurp! Cough! Cough!
Murakan, lying down and devouring the pie, suddenly choked and started coughing. Gilly scrambled to find water.
But it was all an act. She came over to support his neck and pretend to give him water.
“How does Gilly fall for that every single time…? Or is she just humoring him?”
Jin wasn’t sure anymore. At this point, he just let them be.
“Ah! That’s better. Thanks as always, Strawberry Pie. I’m lucky to have you.”
His ears were starting to itch from all the flattery—he couldn’t take any more.
“Hey, Murakan.”
“Yes, almighty supernova. Did you call?”
“Don’t you remember Runkandel’s old steward? The ancient fairy named Luet Damiro Yul?”
“I told you, I do.”
Jin had asked Murakan several times since returning if he recognized Luet from the recordings in the third tomb, but Murakan always seemed clueless.
Jin himself had no memory of ever meeting Luet.
“…And my lord, the ten young knights, and I still remember that the fairies fought alongside Runkandel, don’t we? Solderet, Murakan, and Misha all remember.”
Recalling Luet’s words from the recording left a bitter taste.
“Nothing at all comes to mind?”
“The ancient fairies were already extinct back then, at least as far as I remember.”
Murakan folded the newsletter and sat up.
“But there’s no way Solderet’s device would lie. A thousand years ago, I must have remembered Luet the fairy, but not anymore. Maybe my memories got corrupted while I was asleep, or Ziphl’s historical tampering finally got to me too.”
Murakan rubbed his forehead, and Gilly placed a hand on his shoulder.
She was the one person who could see the deep darkness inside Murakan—darkness even he barely understood.
Every time he realized those memories had faded or vanished, it dealt a heavy blow to his mind. His heart was wearing down without him even noticing.
“They need a way to record things that no one can ever tamper with.”
Jin recalled what Sara had said in the recording.
Absolute records, the magic of Hister. Thinking that far, he remembered the letter he had sent to his master not long ago.
“Should be about time for a reply.”
He figured he’d have to stop by the secret palace and visit Tikan soon.
“Heading out again?”
“I’m taking the Golden Snow tribe to the secret palace from Diphus’s safe house.”
“Hah, our little one really has some nerve. Did the secret palace lord owe you something in a past life? What if they refuse to accept you?”
“I still have 30% of the 50% I was supposed to offer the house. I’ll try negotiating with about 10% of that.”
Over 150 small folk were all safely sheltered in Diphus’s safe house.
Jin gathered them and headed straight for the secret palace. The journey took about three days using dimensional gates and ships, but the house had given him time off from duties until the business stabilized.
When the ship docked at Manji Island, Lucas Manfran, the unofficial informant for the Seven-Colored Bird and Talalis’s direct contact, greeted them.
“Lord Jin, if you had contacted me earlier, I would have informed Lady Talalis in advance.”
“Lucas, long time no see. How have you been?”
“Thanks to you, I’ve been well. But you look terrible—exhausted. Are you feeling unwell?”
“No, but I appreciate your concern.”
Lucas winked at the small folk standing behind Jin.
“I’ll notify Lady Talalis immediately.”
Bang! Bang!
Lucas fired signal flares, and suddenly, a giant toad-like motte appeared in midair.
“Uh, uh, toad! Toad!”
“Scary, toad, toad!”
“Ahhh! Jin, what are you doing? A toad?!”
The small folk instinctively feared the enormous toad.
Ignoring their panic, the motte opened its massive mouth and began swallowing the small folk in groups.
From the outside, it looked like a predator devouring prey, and the small folk quickly fell into a panic.
‘I should’ve explained this beforehand.’
But there was no time.
After five dimensional jumps, the motte transported Jin and the small folk inside the secret palace.
“W-we’re alive?”
“Gasp! I thought we were going to be eaten!”
“Quiet.”
A cold voice spoke as soon as they arrived.
The Abyssal Spider, Talalis Endorma. The small folk immediately dropped to their knees and bowed their heads—an instinctive reaction.
It had been nearly two years since Jin last saw her.
She usually called Jin “our son-in-law,” but today her gaze was far from kind.
“Lady Talalis, I apologize for the late visit…”
“Hmph, enough. Shut your mouth for a moment, son-in-law of another. I was worried you’d become a knight and maybe lost a foot or two. How could you only come now?”
Jin could be shameless when necessary, but right now, his chest felt tight and stifled.
After becoming a knight, he should have visited the secret palace to greet her at least once.
“I fought dozens of ghost squads because of you, son-in-law, and even though we won the West Sea battle, the secret palace officially declared it a defeat… Hmph, those were interesting days.”
Every word felt like a stab to his conscience.
“Anything to say?”
“No.”
“Right, nothing. Ha ha ha. I thought you came to ask me for something again. And who are these furballs?”
“…They’re my business partners, brought here to request protection from the secret palace.”
How could he be so shameless?
Talalis felt both deeply annoyed and strangely fond of him.
Because Jin reminded her of her old friend, young Sir Shiron Runkandel. Back in the day, Shiron often showed the same brazen attitude when asking her for favors.
Still, why do I always end up helping them at critical moments?
Talalis thought this and stifled a smile.
“You should have come earlier, but I waited until things settled to express my thanks, so it’s late.”
Click…
Jin pulled a small box from his chest and opened it. Inside gleamed a shining ore.
Ancient Eternal Iron.
A mystical ore coveted by all warriors, the reward for the Black Knight assassination mission. Jin had brought it as a token of goodwill for Talalis.
In truth, this amount of Ancient Eternal Iron was more than enough to repay all the help Talalis had given so far.
Since the Black Knight of Runkandel and Ziphl’s Kozek and Baekya had fought over it, the ore’s value was beyond imagination.
But that was by ordinary standards. For Talalis and her only daughter, who used “Manbing” magic, Ancient Eternal Iron wasn’t particularly useful.
“Ancient Eternal Iron, huh? To me, it’s just scrap metal—no different in value.”
Yet the next moment, Talalis couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
‘So this is a cute side of you, unlike Shiron.’
Because beneath the ore lay hundreds of letters.
Throughout the journey to the secret palace, Jin had stayed awake, writing letters of apology to Talalis.
The letters didn’t just contain apologies but detailed most of the events Jin had experienced.
It was proof of how much Jin trusted Talalis. He even included stories about the “Temar’s Tomb” that he hadn’t told Shiron yet.
That was why Lucas had said Jin looked so worn out.
After scanning the letters for a long while, Talalis’s expression softened a little.
Inside, she wrestled with herself—whether to forgive Jin and call him “our son-in-law” again, or keep treating him as “someone else’s son-in-law.”
“Motte, go fetch my daughter.”
Whoosh!
In an instant, Motte returned to the grand hall of the Bow Palace, carrying Siris.
“Mother, you called… Jin Runcandel?”
It had been quite a while since she last saw Siris. Siris’s gaze toward Jin wasn’t exactly warm either, but unlike Thalaris, there was one key difference.
She seemed somewhat unsettled by the small beastfolk Jin had brought along.
Usually, she was as cold and unyielding as ice in most situations, but when it came to furry creatures, she showed a surprising softness.
That was why she had been so shocked to learn that the delicate Butterfly Runcandel she admired at the Runcandel banquet was actually Murakan in disguise.
“Daughter, listen to me. Do you know what that man’s son-in-law said? Not only did he show up late to greet us, but he even had the nerve to—oh?”
Ssshh!
Without warning, Siris drew her sword from her waist.
Since Jin, her prospective knight, left for Lafrarosa, not a single day had passed without her thinking of him.
Not out of love, but because she wanted one more chance to prove herself.
“I want to see the skill of the 12th Runcandel Knight firsthand. Draw your sword, Jin.”