Chapter 345
Episode 106: The Record Keepers (3)
“Damn it! No way… right now?”
Jin and Siris reflexively reached for their waists.
Meanwhile, Thalaris shrugged as if this were nothing unusual, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“…A human sealed away a full thousand years ago is now surpassing the combined power of Manbing and me. There’s really no need to be so shocked. There was even a time when the seal was more than half broken.”
Though a crack had formed, Elona remained motionless inside the pillar of ice, her eyes still closed.
Thalaris reached out toward the fissure. Manbing’s energy flowed out, seeping into the crack. Gradually, the ice pillar began to restore itself to its original form.
Just repairing the crack left Thalaris looking thoroughly exhausted.
“Mother, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Hm, I hope I didn’t worry our son-in-law for no reason. Ha ha.”
Siris, despite the ongoing teasing about her husband, showed genuine concern for her mother.
“So this woman hasn’t grown tired even after a thousand years, huh.”
“…By any chance, does Father know about Elona Ziphl?”
“He does. Back when he was young and didn’t fully understand our situation, he was desperate to wake her up and have a showdown.”
“Your father?”
Jin’s eyes widened in surprise, and Thalaris chuckled softly.
“In those days, Siron longed for a worthy opponent to challenge him. The fact that if she awoke, it could cause a huge upheaval in the world was of no concern to your father back then.”
Thalaris had become friends with Siron around that time. After countless sword clashes during Siron’s visits to the Hidden Palace, they eventually came to understand each other.
“Of course, your father has since come to his senses and now takes responsibility for the power he wields.”
“Is that responsibility related to the Black Sea?”
“You’ll have to ask Siron yourself. If you don’t know about his affairs yet, it’s probably because he has his reasons.”
“Understood.”
“Jin.”
“Yes, Lady Thalaris?”
“From today onward, you will also take part in guarding this seal.”
Siris’s eyes went wide as she stared at Thalaris.
“Mother? Jin is an outsider… no, surely you don’t actually think of him as your son-in-law?”
“And if I do?”
“Please make some sense…!”
“Hmph. Honestly, teasing my daughter never gets old. Just kidding. I simply believe that Jin’s abilities will be a great help in maintaining this seal. The time has come when I can no longer handle it alone. I can’t just hand over Manbing to you yet.”
For Siris, this was something she had never imagined—that her mother might rely on Jin for something.
Though it stung to realize she wasn’t enough of a help to her mother, there was no choice. If that was her mother’s decision, she would follow it.
After gathering her thoughts, Siris extended her hand to Jin. He looked at it quietly before clasping it.
“I want you to understand that this is not an alliance between the Hidden Palace and the Runkandel family. This is a personal alliance between the Hidden Palace and Jin Runkandel.”
“I prefer it that way myself.”
In truth, Siris didn’t mind Jin being close to the Hidden Palace.
Having grown up as the Hidden Palace’s only daughter, she wasn’t used to the idea of “friends.” Jin was the only peer she had ever really known.
‘I was annoyed when he tricked me the first time we met. But he’s not a bad guy.’
Aside from that initial encounter, Siris had held a good impression of Jin. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have joined the operation to steal the compass.
“Oh my, you two look so good together. Daughter, how about I leave you two alone for a while? Go have some quality time.”
“No need, Mother.”
“Alright then. See you later, daughter.”
Whoosh!
Mote opened a white dimensional gate.
Leaving the two behind, Thalaris rode Mote back to the Hidden Palace outside. Suddenly, Jin and Siris were left alone—well, the three of them, counting Elona inside the ice pillar—staring blankly at the spot where Thalaris had just disappeared.
An awkward silence quickly settled between them.
“…Mother can be a bit eccentric, so please understand, Jin.”
“Of course. Compared to my father, she seems quite normal.”
After a brief exchange, silence fell again.
‘This is uncomfortable.’
‘Very uncomfortable.’
After a few seconds, they both spoke at once.
“Um…”
“Lady Siris.”
“Hmm.”
“You go first.”
Jin quickly urged her on, though he had nothing particular to say.
“…By the way.”
“Yes?”
“Do those guys transform too?”
“Transform? Who are you talking about?”
“The beastmen you brought. Do they, like your Black Dragon, transform into disgusting humans?”
Jin almost let out a laugh.
But he held it back, not wanting to embarrass Siris.
“No, those friends are truly beastmen, not dragons. Only dragons can transform.”
“That’s a relief.”
“It would have been quite reassuring if they were all dragons.”
“Thinking about that cute cat from the banquet being that grim-looking giant still gives me chills. She was so affectionate with me at the banquet.”
“Ha ha…”
Siris frowned, still incredulous at the memory.
“She didn’t leave my side until the banquet ended. Even when you went to watch your duel with Bubar, she was curled up in my arms.”
—Oh! I’m really glad I attended this banquet. To meet the Hidden Palace’s heir up close like this! Nice to meet you, Lady Siris Endorma, right? I’m Veradin Ji…
—Get lost.
—Ah, sorry.
—By the way, watch out for that cat. She once scratched my face, ha ha. A very fierce one.
Siris recalled that conversation with Veradin and shared it with Jin.
Thinking about Veradin now weighed heavily on Jin’s heart.
‘No news has come through, which is frustrating. Dante doesn’t seem to have heard anything either. I should tell him to attend the Ziphl banquet as well, not just the Hylan one.’
While these thoughts swirled, Siris continued talking about the Runkandel banquet.
Like Jin, she had few peers she knew well, and few memories from her youth. Her life had been all training and missions.
Unconsciously, that banquet had become a special memory for her.
Suddenly realizing this, Jin met Siris’s gaze.
He too had passed through childhood and adolescence without any meaningful memories.
‘Unlike me back then, Lady Siris has some sense of accomplishment from her growth, but it must have been lonely.’
Perhaps even lonely.
“Why do you say that?”
“Just… because there’s nowhere else to look, Lady Siris.”
“Hmm.”
“Come visit Tikan often. Now that we’re allies, you’re my comrade too.”
He had thought of Siris as a comrade for some time but hadn’t said it aloud, unsure if she felt the same.
“Visiting isn’t something I’m used to.”
“I wasn’t either.”
“But it doesn’t seem so bad. Thinking of it as ‘playing’ makes me feel a little excited.”
Siris was usually cold and composed, but not dishonest.
Born and raised as the Hidden Palace’s heir, she had always lived a life of discipline, but she was still a person—a girl not yet twenty.
Naturally, she sometimes wanted to connect with others, to just play without a care.
“I’m glad you see it that way.”
By the way, maybe you should drop the formal speech soon? It feels weird with only you using it.
Siris swallowed the words.
If they spoke casually, they’d naturally grow closer—but if that happened too fast, it might confuse her feelings.
“By the way, I wonder when Mother will open the door.”
“She should come by today. Until then, let’s keep chatting.”
“Chatting? I never thought I’d hear that from you.”
“I quite like it.”
Thalaris finally opened the door the next morning.
Until then, the two had passed the night away with trivial but pleasant conversation, feeling as if time had flown by.
Thalaris seemed a bit disappointed that was all, but they were happy.
“My lord, you have returned!”
As soon as Jin left the Hidden Palace, he sought out Tikan. With the beastmen’s problem resolved, he just needed to stop by before returning to the Garden of Swords.
“But how did you get the message? Butler Petro said you were absent, and Lucas said you hadn’t come out since entering the Hidden Palace.”
“You sent a message to me? Why?”
“A guest has arrived.”
“A guest?”
“Um, someone named Aria Owlheart…”
“Where is she?”
“At Lady Latri’s tea shop.”
Despite the morning hour, the line at the tea shop was long.
Jin took a secret passage leading directly to the kitchen (recently installed due to the crowd) and spotted Valeria sitting at a table.
Seeing her, he swallowed a smile.
‘She’s really making good use of the Golden Snow Tribe’s products.’
Her hair dyed black and makeup that made her look at least five years older gave her a completely different, yet natural appearance.
Jin took a seat across from Valeria.
“I didn’t expect you to come all the way here. You said you probably wouldn’t need it, but you’re actually using the items well.”
“Not bad. I heard you’re making a lot of money. You got your second spirit orb, right?”
Valeria was clearly determined not to make small talk. Jin had expected as much.
“Yeah.”
“Let me see it. I want to check what kind of item it is.”
“Isn’t this place too exposed? Let’s move somewhere else.”
“This spot is only visible from the kitchen. Since the four of you are the ‘Dragons of Truth’ in the kitchen, it shouldn’t matter. And the mage who lost their magic probably won’t care either.”
Valeria refused to move because she judged this spot to be much safer.
“You seem to know everything. Even if Beris can read the flow of magic, the fact that Latri is the Dragon of Truth is top secret.”
Jin had found out about Latri by checking the records.
“My own existence was top secret too. Show me the recording device. Let me check if it’s broken again.”
Jin pulled out the spirit orb he’d taken during the raid on Joshua’s villa.
Valeria casually cast a recording spell, and as she said, no one inside the tea shop had seen it.
A blue magical aura wrapped around the orb.
After a moment, Jin noticed Valeria’s eyes shift to the left—a long-standing habit of hers.
‘Is she confused because of the orb? What’s going on?’
The blue glow from the recording spell faded.
“So? Is it broken again?”
What Valeria said next was something Jin never expected.
“…I don’t think this belongs to Solderet.”