Episode 57
Chapter 20. Into the World (3)
Sember dashed straight into the main house, his mind racing.
“Jin Runcandel! The unparalleled prodigy who became a five-star knight at fifteen, my lifesaver. To think he would come looking for someone like me in the dead of night, asking for help!”
He was overwhelmed with gratitude. The last time Jin had saved him, he’d even brought along Runcandel’s royal guards. Such generosity was a luxury few could afford, no matter how wealthy.
What could have happened? As the prince of Runcandel, Jin must be swimming in money. Maybe this was some urgent need during a secret mission?
“No matter what, I’m now a small part of the great deeds he’s about to accomplish. Someday, when historians write Jin’s biography, maybe Sember of Vilga will get a line or two.”
In the ten minutes he took to gather the money, his imagination ran wild.
When Sember returned, his large leather bag was stuffed with all sorts of valuables and gold coins.
“Pant, pant. Jin-nim, here it is!”
There was so much—at least thirty kilograms of treasure. There was no way he could carry it all on his journey.
He sifted through the bag, taking only a handful of gold pieces and about five hundred gold coins. Even that amount was unimaginable wealth to ordinary thieves.
“Take only this much. It was a pleasure meeting you, Sember Vil.”
“The honor was mine, Jin-nim. I don’t know what mission you’re on, but please stay safe and see it through…!”
“Yeah, see you later. Oh, and I took care of the guards at the entrance when I came in.”
“I understand perfectly. I’ll make sure everything is cleaned up neatly, so don’t worry. And I’ll keep today’s events under wraps until you say otherwise.”
When Jin first saved Sember by chance near the southern border of Zhan, he hadn’t thought much of him. But now, Jin considered Sember a pretty decent friend—someone who remembered his kindness and had good instincts.
“I should repay him somehow, someday.”
Sember waved energetically until Jin’s figure disappeared from sight.
Apprentice knights of Runcandel usually spend their first couple of months in extreme poverty.
Born into a family famed for swordsmanship, they only knew how to fight—punch, stab, slash—and had little sense of money. Having never earned a single coin, it was natural they’d struggle once out in the world.
So, until they could gather money by hunting down Mammit bandits or joining the Bimant patrols as mercenaries, they had no choice but to endure hardship.
Crunch, crunch.
But on the third day as apprentices, Jin, Gili, and Murakan were currently devouring the finest restaurant in the Zhan Kingdom. They’d ordered dozens of dishes, yet their money bags remained untouched.
“Murakan, don’t eat so much. We have to catch the portal in an hour. If you throw up again like last time—”
“Shut up, kid. Even if I end up puking it all out, a glutton like me lives to eat first.”
“Sure, sure.”
“My lord, you should try this too. The Zhan Kingdom’s cuisine isn’t bad.”
“Haha, strawberry pie. Just yesterday you told Jin, ‘Isn’t that extortion, my lord?’ and now you’re eating it up.”
The reason they weren’t riding Murakan to the portal wasn’t Gili’s fear of heights.
Their destination, the Akin Kingdom, was a mess thanks to the dark organization Tesing, but it was still officially part of the Lutero Magic Federation. The Federation was all under the control of Ziphl.
And currently, eighty percent of active dragons were allied with Ziphl. Entering on Murakan’s back recklessly would be tantamount to declaring war.
“That’s why Runcandel can’t break its pact with Ziphl—the dragons.”
And the gods who forged those dragons.
Jin was the only divine contractor in Runcandel, but Ziphl had dozens supporting their clans.
They all eagerly awaited the day Siron died.
Without Siron, they could easily destroy the thorn in their side—Runcandel.
“Time’s almost up. Let’s go.”
At three in the afternoon, the three finished their meal and headed to the Zhan Kingdom’s portal, completing the necessary procedures. Murakan had no ID, so he had to transform into a cat to board.
“Teleportation will begin shortly.”
A soft hum filled the quiet VIP waiting room as the attendant announced the activation.
A shimmering blue magic gently enveloped them, and moments later, they opened their eyes at the Akin Kingdom’s customs.
“Welcome to the Akin Kingdom of the Lutero Magic Federation.”
Their fake IDs passed without issue. Stepping out onto the street, the bright sunlight stabbed their eyes.
“Fifteen years…”
The capital of the Akin Kingdom, where Jin had spent the last year before his reincarnation.
Though fifteen years had passed since his previous life, the city looked much the same. Street vendors lined the roads, homeless people crouched nearby, and the faces of passersby were grim.
The warm, bright climate clashed with the bleakness of the streets.
“Must be because of those Tesing bastards. I heard it was especially bad around this time.”
Gili seemed to share the unease, scanning their surroundings carefully.
“This city feels strangely dark, even with such nice weather.”
“Colon’s mages say the scenery’s nice, but it’s no place for decent people. Let’s find lodgings first, then look for prey.”
“Yes, my lord.”
But Jin had already chosen their lodging and their first target.
An informant named Jet.
Jin had been fairly close to Jet in his previous life. When he first arrived in Akin, Jet had helped him settle in.
But it wasn’t a good kind of closeness. Jet was a master at stabbing people in the back.
“That bastard. Right now, he’s probably scamming fools, calling himself a top-tier informant. Damn it, just thinking about it pisses me off.”
Jin had been considered a fool by Jet in his first life, too. Jet had introduced him to Tesing’s underground auction and scammed him countless times.
This time, Jin planned to break Jet’s habits from the start.
“Once I’ve got Jet under control, it’ll be useful in many ways. It’ll also make it easier to convince Gili and Murakan while we operate in Akin.”
Jin had no intention of revealing he was a reincarnator to Gili and Murakan.
So every time he acted on knowledge from his past life, he had to come up with plausible excuses for them.
Just like now.
“Kid, do we really have to find a place in this shabby alley? There were plenty of decent inns on the main street.”
“My lord must have his reasons, Murakan.”
“We have money to spare; no need to stay in a dump like this, strawberry pie.”
“If we come in smelling like money right away, in a neighborhood full of unregistered mages, that’d be a real problem. Right, Murakan?”
“Hah! Because of those insignificant pests, I, Murakan, have to sleep in a shabby inn even orcs would avoid?”
Jin was forcing a reason to lead the two to Jet’s inn.
He couldn’t do this every time, but once Jet was under his command, these problems would vanish.
“Hey, my lord, how did you know that?”
“Kid, whenever Gili and Murakan ask that, I just say I got the info from Jet. They buy it every time.”
“Hmm, this looks good.”
After an hour of bickering with Murakan, Jin finally stood in front of Jet’s inn. Listening to Murakan’s grumbling had felt like ten hours.
“‘Please find Jet at the entrance.’”
Seeing that sign again, Jin couldn’t help but chuckle.
Even then and now, the inn’s name was hard to understand. But since it was really an informant’s den rather than an inn, it was a fitting name.
“Why here, of all places?”
“Colon’s ruins mages said… no, I just had a feeling.”
Murakan’s lips stuck out as they entered, while Gili seemed to trust their lord regardless.
At the counter, a skinny man with spiky hair was dozing off. Jet. He hadn’t noticed their presence, snoring loudly with a strong smell of alcohol.
“You the innkeeper?”
“Ugh… Ah, guests? Welcome.”
Jet sluggishly straightened up, glanced over them quickly, and immediately pegged them as fools.
“A shirtless gigolo, a novice traveler swordsman, and who’s the girl? A maid? Clearly a bunch of nobles playing adventurers.”
Though he thought that, Jet put on a bright smile.
“Got any rooms?”
“Well… all rooms are empty. You came to the right place. I take pride in offering travelers the best rest at the lowest price! Come on, take a look upstairs and pick whichever you like.”
Jet sprang up and practically pushed them toward the stairs, telling them to choose their rooms.
Not telling the price and making them use the rooms first—that was a classic con artist’s trick.
On top of that, while they were upstairs, Jet quickly prepared three cold drinks, planning to charge them an arm and a leg once they’d drunk them.
If the opponents had been moderately experienced mercenaries, it would have ended there.
But Jet had no intention of dealing with this seemingly naive party so simply.
“Once they come down and drink this, the three of them will line up and head straight to the underground auction house to start their new lives. Heh heh. What a jackpot!”
The moment Jet saw them, he made up his mind.
He would drug all three with a sleeping agent and sell them as slaves at Tesing’s underground auction. Quick planning and swift action—that was the foundation of Jet’s rise to becoming a major information broker in Akyn.
Of course, Jin was perched right on top of Jet’s head.
“He’s probably all excited, thinking he can fleece us again with that tired old trick. Get ready to die, Jet.”
When they came back down to the first floor, Jet was waiting with drinks in hand, just as expected.
“Oh dear, you must all be parched from your travels. Have a drink, please! Heh heh. This is our inn’s special orange juice—absolutely delicious. Nobles come here just for this.”
Thanks to Runkandel’s blessed physique, he had some resistance even to strong poisons, so cheap sleeping agents like this wouldn’t work on him.
Jin considered his options.
Should he gulp down a glass, then start beating Jet while praising the taste of the sleeping agent? Or should he pressure Jet into drinking first, forcing him to confess?
But there was one thing Jin overlooked.
“Has this insignificant little pest lost his mind?”
Murakan had been feeling uneasy for some time.
He clearly noticed the bubbles of the dissolved sleeping agent floating on the surface of the juice.
“Hey, kid! You say you have a good sense for these things? While I’m beating you up, you can take some time to reflect on whether that’s really true.”
With a creak, Murakan quietly closed the inn’s door behind them. Jet was destined to endure Murakan’s beating and eventually spill everything.